Edward Lee

Article -- Edward Lee -- His Ancestors and Descendents - 1822-1898;

Edward Lee was the son of Henry and Lucy Furlow Lee -- one of a family of ten children of whom only one sister survived at the time he gave these statistics.

Henry lee moved his family to Cherokee Nation in which is now Alabama in 1836. Lucy, Edward's mother, died in Alabama in 1838 and

In 1843, Edward Lee married Sabra Anne Rankin in Alabama. Their seven children were born in Alabama. All reached Chester, Crawford County, ARkansas with their parents November 26, 1858, but Jesse Edward and he died in Alabama.

Henry Lee, Edward Lee's father, joined his son's family in 1859 and remained with them until he died in 1862 during the Civil War. Several notes in the family record state that Edward Lee was a cousin of General R.E. Lee.

The Lee family made their journey in a covered wagon reaching Chester, Crawford County, ARkansas. Their first son was 15 years old.

Edward Lee later moved to Frisco - Laster Schaber and built two log houses across the creek from the main part of town. He cleared and farmed land there. After the railroad came, he built a house in the town and lived there until he died. (Edward Lee and Sabra moved to Chester November 26, 1858 -- noted from Frieda Loriene Friddle Kellie)

Edward owned and operated a grocery store for some years. His partner in the store was a Mr. Marion Sailor who was a Southern sympathizer and the two had many argument. Edward Lee once owned a very large hunting dog named Cap and enjoyed hunting with this dog for many years. Charley Davis and his brother lived at the time of this article with their Neice, Mrs. Ora Smith, a daughter of the late John L. Smith and wife, remembered the Lee family as they lived near them as boys. Charley Davis was about 14 when Lee died in 1898.

Some considered Edward Lee eccentric, but neighbors who remembered him said he had a sense of fairness and justice. The war years must have been very sad for him and his family. He lived his life in pioneer settlements where life was difficult at the best. Certainly he did much to settle the Chester area, so that it is now possible for us to have a safer and easier life. He owned 240 acres of land and cleared and farmed much of it for crops. After the railroad came, the town grew and much timber and fruit was shipped from there in car loads for many years. The changing times have caused all the inhabitants to move away. It is now a ghost town.

Edward Lee a firm believer in the Union of all the States, Lee fought to preserve it. If it had been left to the people of Northwest Arkansas our state would have left the Union. This was decided by people in sympathy with the plantation owners, but northwest Arkansas people lost much and endured much during the War. Arkansas was the first state to return to the Union.

In 1863, Edward Lee enlisted in Co. D, First Arkansas Infantry under Col Searle. He fought in Arkansas and Missouri. Some of his encounters were at Saline River and Prairie de Land. He lost the sight of an eye in service. In his later years, he received a pension of $24.00 a month for his service in the Union Army. During the war he had the sad experience of having his oldest son conscripted into the Confederate Army. This son, Martin never returned from the war and was believed to have died in the service. The other children grew up in Crawford County, married and reared large families.

Edward Lee was a firm republican. He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He was a man of resolute will, strong convictions, independent ambitions and industrious.

Mr. Charley Davis tells an incident of his childhood about a mule owned by Edward Lee. The mule would jump over the rail fences into Mr. Davis corn field. One day, Edward Lee saw his mule ere. He went to his home, got his gun, loaded it with buck shot and stung the mule with a blast from the gun. The mule jumped out of the corn patch and never returned.

It is amazing to note the number of young men of this family who have had military service. In this generation, two families from which five boys served in the armed forces. One was Thomas F. Simco's boys and a sixth volunteered but failed to pass his physical. Another family was Nelson B. Harrison and Myrtle Osburn.