Lees of Virginia Lost Lineages a Series by Jacqueli Finley

In 1988, a study by William Thorndale was published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, he stated that his research proved that Col Richard Lee was the son of a John Leyes, a clothier, and his wife Jane Hancock and that Richard had been born not at of Coton Hall in Shropshire England, but in Worcester England. In this publishing, Thorndale presented what appeared to be legitimate sources and arguments which carefully and systematically dispelled the accepted ancestral lineage of Col Richard Lee from the prominent English Lee's from Shropshire.  Since that publishing, it appears that most of the research today has adopted this parentage of Richard Lee from this John Lyes and Jane Hancock assertion, even though this 1988 publishing had overridden the legal and historic documented facts that stated otherwise.  I have discovered that there is no evidence of historical documentation that can back up Thorndale's claim.   This probably does not surprise many of you who research the Lee family that deal with more than often heated arguments, hidden records that were available no longer visible, mis-information, lines that seem to go nowhere and let us not forget the documented lines that constantly get thrown out of the Lee family because of purportedly wrong DNA matches from DNA projects that promote DNA from individuals whose lines cannot be properly verified, which by the way is an inappropriate misuse of DNA material and possible illegal (or will be in the near future when laws about DNA are updated) regardless of what is being said.   My research concludes, as I will demonstrate, that the whole John Leys (AKA Lee, Lies, etc.) and Jane Hancock as Col Richard Lee's parents is incorrect and possibly made up from a personal GEDCOM or research as there are no legitimate parish sources or records, other than Thorndale's publishing in 1988.    

Richard Lee was born 1677 Surrey County, Virginia to William Lee and Alice Felton. He married Mary Young in 1695 in King and Queen County, Richmond, Virginia. Richard Henry Lee died on 10 Dec 1726 in West Farnham, Parish, King and Queen County, Richmond, Colony of Virginia. He was the grandson of Colonel Richard Lee and Anne Constable, and the father of John Lee, Esquire.   Many previous Lee researchers failed to note that William Lee the son of Col Richard Lee was of age to inherit when his father passed away in 1664 as Will and Last Testament does not stipulate William was not of age as his younger siblings were mentioned as when probated 1664/65. Most previous researchers and genealogy references have William's birth circa 1650 per Edmund J Lee's research in Lee of Virginia setting that stage William's birth would have been more of circa 1640, as men were to be age 21 to inherit without a legal guardian, yet he would have been legally able to wed at a younger age, as was customary at that time as it appears that he did just that. A practice of when giving a 'circa' date in genealogy research as EJ Lee had done usually gave a 10-year span in general understanding not to be taken literally. The math tells us William Lee would have been born around 1640 to be more accurate to his father's probate instructions which would also coincide with marriage record date for William Lee (Lea was a phonic spelling as was often the case in records of that time as with this record) to widow Alice Felton and land transactions that they had both witnessed as well.   By following the land that the court reversed back to William Lee's sons John and Richard, as William took money and not land, taking into consideration the numerous land, and county redivisions and renaming that occurred over a 100 year period of time to that same land, confirmation of William Lee's sons can be traced.   One could literally be standing in one place in the vicinity of Richmond County, Virginia in 1677, and be standing in the vicinity of Nansemond County, North Carolina today, without taking a step.  It is because of the fluidity of these land boundaries and the countless renaming that has stumped researchers for decades making assumptions the person of the research interest had moved about, which was not the case at all.   I will be presenting the evidence to prove up that Richard Lee born 1677 was the son of William Lee and grandson of Colonel Richard Lee from which hundreds of Lees of Virginia descendants lines derive even though they have been denied the acknowledgment of their rightful ancestry.

For hundreds of years, the Lees of Virginia descendants of Col. Richard Lee's son, William Lee, have been denied their heritage - denied their birthright by historians and scholars that refuse to allow the truth to be known. I am referring to the descendants of William Lee and his wife Alice Felton as the "Lost Descendants of William Lee".   Because of past speculation that was considered as truths, and opinions that were published as facts by outdated references that have no proven documentation, as law that governs over who descends from Richard Lee and Anne Constable on 'majority rule' genealogy sites, and false Lee Y-DNA Project claims.   The denial of the William Lee line goes on even in these times because of false Lee Y-DNA Project claims, as the internet opens new frontiers of knowledge, as Federal Census records and documentation that was previously blocked from our view are now accessible - as birth, marriage and death publications are now available-making it possible to prove the existence of this lineage and that it does live on-through the thousands of GEDCOM files available on genealogy sites worldwide-- and even though the facts are there, the denial of these proud descendants goes on ...   And the denial of descendants goes beyond William Lee, it goes on to all lines, except for those associated with Ditchley, Cobb's, or Stratford, of primarily white European descent, which seem to be the only lines recognized at this time because of tainted Y-DNA projects, prejudiced genealogy sites, and non-sourced references!

Recently I have been able to prove with Autosomal DNA the Lee descendants of General Robert E Lee and his slave Nancy Ruffin, adding their lineage proudly to our Lee's of Virginia descendancy from Col Richard Lee and Anne Constable.   After my battles for William Lee descendant lineages to be recognized and then coming across so many other Lee's of Virginia ancestors and descendant lineages that have suffered the same fate as William and Alice Lee's descendants, especially lines with mixed racial family members, I came across another line of denied Lee's of Virginia descendants that they too were told their family history of descending from the Lee's of Virginia but when they tried to find out the truth or seek acknowledgement were told they were not who they knew in their hearts they were.  More lies and more deceit were apparent as I had come across a website in which many professed of being descendants from General Robert E Lee and that they were told this all their lives.  It sounded so familiar to me I had to reach out. So, in 2017 I did reach out, and wrote a post on the website I found about Robert E. Lee. It took almost 5 years to hear back from a couple of the descendants and to be able to help. I was finally able to prove 3 descendants from 2 of the 3 children of Robert E. Lee and his slave Nancy Ruffin, Peter, and Mack Lee. I say 2 of 3 children as documentation shows the possibility of a 3rd shared child of the General and Nancy but I am still waiting for a possible descendant to come forward.    For these three Lees of Virginia Stratford descendants of Peter and Mack Lee, there is now DNA confirmation of their being Lee descendants of General Robert E Lee and Nancy Ruffin through DNA matching with multiple Lee descendants of European descent that have donated their DNA on GEDMatch.   I am forever grateful to my Lee cousins who came to me asking for my assistance and trusted me to help resolve this rumor and prove the truth.

This is a Tribute to my 7th great grandfather and grandmother Richard and Anne Lee, with Love, Jacqueli Finley   "According to the ancient Chinese proverb, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." My fellow Americans, let us take that first step. Let us, if we can, step back from the shadows of war and seek out the way of peace. And if that journey is a thousand miles, or even more, let history record that we, in this land, at this time, took the first step" ~ John F. Kennedy   The Journey Begins: Presenting 'Richard and Anne' which is a historical biography of the lives of Col Richard Lee and his wife Anne Constable, who progenerated the famous Lees of Virginia. This published genealogy and historic accounting will encapsulate the timelines of when and how they met, the circumstances of their back stories, the background of their ancestry. Their journey to the New World, Jamestown Virginia in Colonial America. Their personal growth, the establishment of their life together in the Virginia Colony with their children, their acquisitions of wealth, and the creation of their Lees of Virginia family Legacy.   This book represents the collected research of Jacqueli Finley over a span of 40 years which has been scrutinized through documented evidence, DNA confirmations, and a culmination of compiled research,and publications. This work also includes contributions of past predecessors of the best Lee genealogist and historians that had gleamed through evidence as what was fact or disregarded as myth, which has enabled Jacqueli to have acquired one of the most accurate and largest genealogical databases of the Lees of Virginia family, descendants, and ancestors.   This publication is a necessity for the preservation of the accuracy of the descendant lineages and ancestry of the Lees of Virginia offspring as many of the Lee family descendants have suffered because of the dissection of lines, the misinformation regarding the Lee Y-DNA projects that greatly affected true Lees of Virginia descendant recognition by wrongly assigning a Y-DNA Haplogroup to the Lees of Virginia male lines from Col Richard Lee, and the purposeful misrepresentation of facts and truths regarding the entire Lees of Virginia history and genealogy.   This book presents the fact-finding efforts into the research that presents the truth discovered in the attempt to set things right and to preserve the life stories of our Lee Ancestors for our generations to come.   "Ne Incautus Futuri"

In Honor and Memory of Fitz Lee 1866-1889 "On June 30, 1898, Cuban freedom fighters and some American volunteers aboard the U.S.S. Florida attempted an amphibious landing at Tayabacoa, Cuba. The landing party immediately engaged with Spanish soldiers from a nearby blockhouse. The Cubans and Americans retreated, leaving behind a group of wounded comrades. A call for volunteers to rescue the wounded soldiers on the U.S.S. Florida began to make the rounds. After several unsuccessful rescue attempts Private Lee, Corporal George H. Wanton, Private Dennis Bell, Sergeant William H. Thompkins, and Lieutenant George P. Ahern stepped forward and offered to rescue their wounded comrades. The five soldiers went ashore and surprised the Spanish holding their comrades. The rescuers were able to free all the wounded soldiers, and everyone returned safely to the U.S.S. Florida. Lee, Wanton, Bell, and Thompkins were awarded the Medal of Honor in the summer of 1899 for their actions at Tayabacoa. Lee received his Medal of Honor while he was in the hospital at Fort Bliss, Texas. His health declined quickly after the rescue mission, with severely limited vision, swollen limbs, and abdominal pain that left him bedridden for three months. Lee was medically discharged from the Army on July 5, 1899, a few days after receiving the Medal of Honor. Lee moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, after discharge to live with fellow retired Buffalo Soldiers. His comrades took care of him while he awaited his disability benefits from the War Department. In constant pain and totally blind, Fitz Lee died at the home of a friend in Kansas on September 14, 1899. He was buried with full military honors at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Section G, Site 3183." Medals are awarded for acts of valor, and we can all agree with what we know of Fitz lee is that he possessed valor as he was awarded the highest recognition of his uncommon valor: the 'Medal of Honor". That is all we know about Fitz Lee, Buffalo Soldier.   The time has come that we learn more. In this book we will be looking at what information has been found regarding Fitz Lee's genealogy paper trail and what has been pieced together in hopes that somehow, we can find the answer to his mysterious life, tell his life story, give Fitz the peace and recognition as the person he was. To give Fitz the closure he deserves. Perhaps with public help through this book someone may recognize something that just may well be the missing piece of the puzzle that will tell Fitz Lee's full life story. That is our hope. This book Proudly Supports the Wounded Warrior Project in honor of Fitz Lee 1866-1889 as I am fundraising for Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) so that I can make a difference in the lives of America's injured veterans and their families. Every day, 58 injured veterans and their families sign up to receive critical services and support offered by WWP. Thanks to the generosity of people like you, warriors and their families will never pay a penny for these life-changing programs. Will you join me in supporting WWP's mission to honor and empower wounded warriors by making a gift to my fundraising efforts? Together, we can show warriors that they aren't alone. Thank you, Jacqueli Finley https://communityfundraising.woundedwarriorproject.org/campaign/In-Memory-of-Fitz-Lee-1866-1889-Buffalo-Soldier-and-Medal-of