LEE FAMILY GENEALOGY David Lee Early History-North Carolina

The earliest known ancestor of this family was David Lee, probably born in the mid to late 1600's. He first appeared in the records of Chowan County, NC in 1716 and died in New Hanover County, North Carolina ca. 1743. Where he was born and who his father was are questions still unresolved. One possible answer is that David Lee was himself an immigrant. According to Virginia Patent Book 9, on October 20, 1704, David Leigh was among those persons transported to Virginia for 1000 acres in the upper parts of New Kent Co. in St. Peters Parish, Virginia, acres due to John Monroe and James Terry. If this were the case, at some point David made his way from Virginia to Chowan County, North Carolina, where he owned land in 1716. By 1720 he was in Bath County (Beaufort Precinct). In a 1721 deed of that county, David's wife is identified as Mary, a daughter of Darby Sulliven. David Lee later moved south to New Hanover County, where he patented land in 1735 and eventually became owner of additinal land. He died in New Hanover County ca. 1743. By law, his eldest son Bryan inherited his land.

A second possibility is that David may have been a son of John Lee I. Only one son of John I is known--John II. Could there have been a son named David? One argument against this is that the name John does not appear among the descendants of David. However, John I's son, John II, had a son Richard of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, who named a son Bryan, who named a son Solomon. David also had a son Bryan who named a son Solomon. While the similarity of names is interesting, we think it more likely that David was the immigrant, as suggested in the preceding paragraph.

Bryan Lee, the eldest son of David Lee, was probably born in North Carolina prior to his father's moving to New Hanover County. Bryan Lee first appears in New Hanover records after the death of his father ca. 1743, and is shown to own land patented by David Lee, inherited as oldest son through the law of primogeniture. David Lee is thought to have sons Joshua and James. Also, by law of primogeniture, after Bryan Lee's death ca. 1768, his oldest son James inherited land owned by both Bryan and by David. Solomon Lee, Sr. was apparently the second son of Bryan Lee. Bryan Lee probably also had sons named William, Michael,and Samuel.

James Lee, the son of Bryan, named the following children in his will: James Lee, Jr.; Thomas Lee; Peyton Lee (died in Hancock County, MS); Theresa Ann Lee; Tabitha Lee Rogers (migrated to Hancock County, MS); and Rogers Lee.

Solomon Lee, Sr., son of Bryan, had the following children: Bryan Lee (died in the War of 1812 in New Orleans); James Lee, Jr. (probably stayed in New Hanover County, NC); William Lee, Jr. (probably stayed in New Hanover County, NC); a daughter; Sarah Lee (probably stayed in New Hanover County, NC); Solomon Lee, Jr. (died in Simpson County, MS); Bridget Lee (married James Thomas and died in St. Tammany Parish, LA); Elizabeth Lee (married Joseph Meredith and died in Whitfield County, GA); Mary Lee (married a Smith and probably stayed in NC); a daughter; Samuel Lee (died in Lawrence County, MS); Andrew Lee (died in Barnwell County, SC); and David Lee (died in Barnwell County, SC).