Colonel William Lee

• General Notes
  • http://www.rootsweb.com/~bmuwgw/joellsurname2.htm
    
    Elizabeth's father, William Lee, was born in Charleston June 21, 1747
    and baptized January 1, 1748, son of Thomas Lee and Mary Giles. Ann
    Theus, wife of William Lee, was born August 4, 1750, daughter of
    Jeremiah Theus, a noted artist & portrait painter, and Catherine
    Elizabeth Shaumloffel. The Gazette of February 28, 1769 carried this
    notice: "Married, Mr. William Lee, Clock and Watchmaker, to Miss Ann
    Theus, Daughter of Jeremiah Theus, a very handsome and agreeable young
    lady."
    
    William Lee served in the Cherokee War under Col. Richard Richardson
    [son of William Richardson, mariner & shipbuilder of Bermuda?], and
    was one of thirty Americans who went to London to present to the House
    of Commons a petition against the Boston Port Bill. He was a Captain
    in the militia and one of forty leading citizens of Charleston who
    were imprisoned by the British and exiled to St. Augustine during the
    Revolutionary War. His wife, Ann Theus Lee, elected to join him as a
    prisoner. She died August 7, 1797; William Lee on November 29, 1803.
    
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    Book - The Descendants of Thomas Lee of Charleston, South Carolina -
    by Thomas Carpenter Read, 1964.  Printed by R. L. Bryan Company. p.
    84.
    
      "Colonel William Lee was a watchmaker.  In 1771 "Mr. Lee" during the
    absence of Joshua Lockwood, cared for and wound the clock in St.
    Michael's Steeple, for which he was paid One Hundred and Sixty Pounds
    Sterling.  The Mr. Lee mentioned in the Minutes of St. Michaels may
    have been Col. William Lee although some historians have attributed
    this service to Major Stephen Lee, Col. William's brother.  Col.
    William Lee was a member of St. Michael's Episcopal Church and at his
    death his estate received Fifty Dollars as compensation for the sale
    of his pew.  The records of Charleston indicate that he was
    comparatively well off.
       During the Revolution he was a Captain of a True Blue Company in
    the Militia and was later made Colonel.  Colonel Lee was one of the
    forty leading citizens of Charleston whose devotion to the Continental
    Cause resulted in his being imprisoned by the British on a prison ship
    in Charleston Harbor and sent to St. Augustine, Florida, a prisoner in
    exile.
       During the Revolutionary War he sent his family to Philadelphia for
    better safety.  They returned to Charleston in 1780.  In 1790 he was
    listed in the Charleston Directory as "Watchmaker" with an address at
    91-95 Broad Street and in 1802 his address was shown as 55 King
    Street.
       Colonel Lee was a patriot and intrepid soldier.  His name is not on
    the roster of the Society of Cincinnati but in his obituary appearing
    in the City Gazette of December 5, 1803, the Motto, "Omnia Relinquit
    Sevare Republican" was used, indicating that he was considered worthy
    of being a member of that group of patriots."
    
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    Book - The Descendants of Thomas Lee of Charleston, South Carolina -
    by Thomas Carpenter Read, 1964.  Printed by R. L. Bryan Company. p.
    89.
    
    Biography of Judge Thomas Lee
    From O'Nealls Bench and Bar of South Carolina, 1839
    
    "Thomas Lee, the son of a watchmaker in the city of Charleston, an
    ardent friend of his country, and a colonel of one of the regiments of
    South Carolina, was born 1st December 1769...
       ... His father was one of the Charleston prisoners sent to St.
    Augustine; his family was sent by himself, for better safety, to
    Philadelphia.  After this return of the family, 1780, ..."
    
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    Book - The Descendants of Thomas Lee of Charleston, South Carolina -
    by Thomas Carpenter Read, 1964.  Printed by R. L. Bryan Company. p.
    94-95.
    
    Discourse of the Life and Character of the Honorable Thomas Lee, late
    Judge in the District Court of the United States.  Pronouced in the
    Unitarian Church, Charleston, S. C., on Sunday Evening, Nov 3, 1839,
    by Samuel Gilman, D. D.
    
    ".. His father, who pursued the industrious and skillful occupation of
    watchmaker in Charleston, entered among the foremost into the
    conflicts, exposures and sacrifices, encountered by the inhabitants of
    the colonies.  This gentleman must have been distinguished for
    considerable energy of mind and character, since he was for some time
    a  Commissioner in the American army, and was afterwards appointed
    colonel of one of the regiments of South Carolina.  We also find his
    name in the list of that honorable band, who, for purposes of
    intimidation, were exiled to St. Augusting by the enemy when in
    possession of Charleston.... His father had transported the whole
    rising family for safety to Philadelphia...."