NEW HEBRON HISTORY New Hebron, Mississippi Riley-Lee House

THE F. L. RILEY - C. E. LEE HOUSE
circa 1904

Photo 1987

Written by Marilyn Lane Sirmon, 2000

When F. L. Riley was a merchant in Hebron at the turn of the century, Charley Lee, a young man of the community, worked at the Riley store. Then when the town of Hebron was relocated some two miles to the west to have access to the new railroad, Mr. Riley moved his mercantile business to New Hebron, where he built a new store. Charley Lee came to work as a clerk in the new store. And soon after the town was founded in 1904, F. L. Riley built a house on the town's main street. It was a house typical of the period, with steep roof and numerous gables, detailed gingerbread trim framing the gables, and a wraparound porch enclosed with banisters and railings.

Even before the Riley family moved into the new house, it was Charley Lee who first slept in the house, little knowing that the house would one day be his. Charley Lee lived with the Riley family while continuing to work at the mercantile store, often recalling that Mrs. Balsora Riley treated him like one of her own children. Charley Lee, along with F. L. and Balsora Riley and several of their children, were instrumental in founding a new Baptist church in the town in 1905.

In 1908, Charley married Hilda Johnston. Before their marriage, he built a house of their own just a block to the south of the Riley house. And when the bride moved into her house, she found that Mrs. Riley had stocked her kitchen with various necessities. Most of the children of Charley and Hilda were born in this house.

F. L. Riley died in 1907. Balsora Riley died in 1921. It was shortly after her death that Charley Lee purchased the Riley house and his family moved into it. The youngest child was born in this house. The house has remained in the family until the present, the home of three generations.

The Lee house never lacked for activity. It was where Hilda's mother was brought to be nursed and cared for during the long illness before her death. It was where nieces and nephews came to stay to attend school. It was where children and their friends gathered to eat Hilda's tea cakes and to climb the "smell goody" tree. Later it was where children came home in the summertime, bringing their children. There was a yearly gathering of cousins. The table was always laden with fried chicken, fresh vegetables, cakes, and pies. In the summertime, the front porch was the sitting place where everybody visited, fanning to keep cool and to swat off the mosquitoes.

Before Charley Lee's death in 1959, his youngest daughter and her family purchased the house. Hilda continued to live with them until her death in 1976. The house has been the home of the Little family until the present. In the year 2000, the house looks much the same as it did almost a century ago. Nearly as old as the town itself, it stands as a landmark.