JohnsonFamily2/19/24 - Person Sheet
JohnsonFamily2/19/24 - Person Sheet
Spouses
Birth1656
Death1724, Lyme, New London, CT191
FatherBalthasar DeWolf (1620-1696)
MotherAlice Peck (1625->1687)
Family ID3206
Marriageabt 1668, Lyme, CT87
Notes for Lt. Thomas Lee
Hall Ancestry
Author: Charles S. Hall
Call Number: R929.2 H178
A series of sketches of the lineal ancestors of the children of Samuel Holden Parsons Hall and his Wife Emeline Bulkeley of Binghamton, N. Y.
Bibliographic Information: Hall, Charles S. Hall Ancestry. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. 1896.
Lieut. THOMAS LEE, the first of the name in Lyme, was born in England and came to this country in 1641 when a mere child. His father died of smallpox on the passage and was buried at sea, leaving him with his mother and two sisters, Phebe and Jane, in charge of his grandfather, a Mr. Brown. The mother and children settled in Saybrook, and Mr. Brown went to his home in Providence. It is not positively known who this Mr. Brown was, but the Salisburys, in their genealogy of the Lees, state facts which together make it almost certain that he was the Mr. Chad Brown who settled in Providence and was the founder of the distinguished Rhode Island family which gave its name to Brown University. If this was true, why his daughter and her children did not accompany him to Providence is not clear, unless we suppose, as the Salisburys suggest was the fact, that the original intention of the family was to locate at Saybrook, which at that time attracted many English settlers because of the general expectation that in time it would become a large city, and that they had friends residing there who induced them to remain notwithstanding the death of Mr. Lee. These friends, if they had such, must have been the Griswolds, for the two families seem to have been very intimate from the first, both socially and in business, and to have several times intermarried.
Little is known certainly of the English ancestry of the Lees, but they are supposed to have belonged to a younger branch of the noble family of Lees of Lyme in Cheshire. All the facts of Thomas Lee's life and the inferences from them, tend to show that he descended from a family of wealth and position, which in those days could hardly have been other than one belonging to the English gentry. His will shows an aristocratic partiality to the English law of entail. His prominence in town affairs makes it probable that he had a controlling influence in naming the new town, and the fact that it was called Lyme suggests that the Cheshire Lyme was his English home. The title, "Mr.," affixed to his name indicates his rank as that of "gentleman." He must have inherited a large property, else he could not have become the owner, as is said to have been the case, of one-eighth of the whole town. He was, next to Matthew Griswold, the largest landholder and the most prominent man in the town. This prominence was more likely a concession to his rank and wealth than a tribute to his personal merits. He must have been a mere infant when he came to this country, for his mother had two husbands after the death of Mr. Lee, by both of whom she had children, so that his education, with the meagre facilities of the new settlement, must have been of the most limited character, yet it is certain that nevertheless he had a high social standing and he and his descendants in all the generations, have intermarried with many of the principal families.
Thomas Lee probably continued to live in Saybrook until he grew up and was married, for his first wife, Sarah Kirtland, was a Saybrook girl. She died May 21, 1676. The following July he married for his second wife, MARY DEWOLF, daughter of Balthasar DeWolf, whom tradition reports to have been a very attractive woman. This must
have been a popular move, as he was elected Representative the same year. In 1701 he became ensign of the "trainband," and afterwards he was promoted to be lieutenant, by which title he has since been known. He died January 5th, and his will was provedFebruary 19, 1704-5. His sister, Phebe, married a Mr. Large of Long Island. His younger sister, Jane, married Samuel Hyde of Norwich, and their daughter, Phebe, became the wife of the second Matthew Griswold. After the death of Thomas Lee, his widow, Mary DeWolf, married the second Matthew Griswold, May 30, 1705, as his second wife. Her daughter Hannah, she took with her to Matthew Griswold's house, who in due time married Matthew's son, Judge John Griswold, and became the mother of Governor Matthew Griswold, and of Phebe Griswold, who married Rev. Jonathan Parsons, and the ancestress of all the Blackhall line of the Griswold family.
Professor and Mrs. Salisbury, commenting in their genealogy on the characteristics of the early Lees and their descendants, sum up as follows: "The Lee type of mind, as we understand it, is not that of the strong sturdy yeoman class--it has finer lines. It has a certain finesse. Like electricity, it is one of those delicate potencies which you can feel but cannot describe. Introduced into other races, it has been 'the little leaven leavening the whole lump.' As far back as we can trace it, it has brought beauty and ambition. In modern times the blood has sometimes brought with it a certain caprice, a restless ambition, a love of rich adornments in jewels and clothing, of elegance in living, which may or may not have been inherited from a remoter Lee ancestry. Looking over them we have a general impression of a spirited, active race, with a good general average of respectability, of character and position, while in some instances its members have risen to the first rank. As far back as the memory of living man can recall, there has been more than usual beauty in the Lee family, and tradition brings the same reports from remoter periods. As far as is known, their general characteristics have been rather narrow faces, high features, fine complexions, and very brilliant black eyes."
Author: Charles S. Hall
Call Number: R929.2 H178
A series of sketches of the lineal ancestors of the children of Samuel Holden Parsons Hall and his Wife Emeline Bulkeley of Binghamton, N. Y.
Bibliographic Information: Hall, Charles S. Hall Ancestry. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. 1896.
Lieut. THOMAS LEE, the first of the name in Lyme, was born in England and came to this country in 1641 when a mere child. His father died of smallpox on the passage and was buried at sea, leaving him with his mother and two sisters, Phebe and Jane, in charge of his grandfather, a Mr. Brown. The mother and children settled in Saybrook, and Mr. Brown went to his home in Providence. It is not positively known who this Mr. Brown was, but the Salisburys, in their genealogy of the Lees, state facts which together make it almost certain that he was the Mr. Chad Brown who settled in Providence and was the founder of the distinguished Rhode Island family which gave its name to Brown University. If this was true, why his daughter and her children did not accompany him to Providence is not clear, unless we suppose, as the Salisburys suggest was the fact, that the original intention of the family was to locate at Saybrook, which at that time attracted many English settlers because of the general expectation that in time it would become a large city, and that they had friends residing there who induced them to remain notwithstanding the death of Mr. Lee. These friends, if they had such, must have been the Griswolds, for the two families seem to have been very intimate from the first, both socially and in business, and to have several times intermarried.
Little is known certainly of the English ancestry of the Lees, but they are supposed to have belonged to a younger branch of the noble family of Lees of Lyme in Cheshire. All the facts of Thomas Lee's life and the inferences from them, tend to show that he descended from a family of wealth and position, which in those days could hardly have been other than one belonging to the English gentry. His will shows an aristocratic partiality to the English law of entail. His prominence in town affairs makes it probable that he had a controlling influence in naming the new town, and the fact that it was called Lyme suggests that the Cheshire Lyme was his English home. The title, "Mr.," affixed to his name indicates his rank as that of "gentleman." He must have inherited a large property, else he could not have become the owner, as is said to have been the case, of one-eighth of the whole town. He was, next to Matthew Griswold, the largest landholder and the most prominent man in the town. This prominence was more likely a concession to his rank and wealth than a tribute to his personal merits. He must have been a mere infant when he came to this country, for his mother had two husbands after the death of Mr. Lee, by both of whom she had children, so that his education, with the meagre facilities of the new settlement, must have been of the most limited character, yet it is certain that nevertheless he had a high social standing and he and his descendants in all the generations, have intermarried with many of the principal families.
Thomas Lee probably continued to live in Saybrook until he grew up and was married, for his first wife, Sarah Kirtland, was a Saybrook girl. She died May 21, 1676. The following July he married for his second wife, MARY DEWOLF, daughter of Balthasar DeWolf, whom tradition reports to have been a very attractive woman. This must
have been a popular move, as he was elected Representative the same year. In 1701 he became ensign of the "trainband," and afterwards he was promoted to be lieutenant, by which title he has since been known. He died January 5th, and his will was provedFebruary 19, 1704-5. His sister, Phebe, married a Mr. Large of Long Island. His younger sister, Jane, married Samuel Hyde of Norwich, and their daughter, Phebe, became the wife of the second Matthew Griswold. After the death of Thomas Lee, his widow, Mary DeWolf, married the second Matthew Griswold, May 30, 1705, as his second wife. Her daughter Hannah, she took with her to Matthew Griswold's house, who in due time married Matthew's son, Judge John Griswold, and became the mother of Governor Matthew Griswold, and of Phebe Griswold, who married Rev. Jonathan Parsons, and the ancestress of all the Blackhall line of the Griswold family.
Professor and Mrs. Salisbury, commenting in their genealogy on the characteristics of the early Lees and their descendants, sum up as follows: "The Lee type of mind, as we understand it, is not that of the strong sturdy yeoman class--it has finer lines. It has a certain finesse. Like electricity, it is one of those delicate potencies which you can feel but cannot describe. Introduced into other races, it has been 'the little leaven leavening the whole lump.' As far back as we can trace it, it has brought beauty and ambition. In modern times the blood has sometimes brought with it a certain caprice, a restless ambition, a love of rich adornments in jewels and clothing, of elegance in living, which may or may not have been inherited from a remoter Lee ancestry. Looking over them we have a general impression of a spirited, active race, with a good general average of respectability, of character and position, while in some instances its members have risen to the first rank. As far back as the memory of living man can recall, there has been more than usual beauty in the Lee family, and tradition brings the same reports from remoter periods. As far as is known, their general characteristics have been rather narrow faces, high features, fine complexions, and very brilliant black eyes."