THOMAS LEE 1614-1641

[Ancestral Link: Harold William Miller, son of Edward Emerson Miller, son of Anna Hull (Miller), daughter of William Hull, son of Anna Hyde (Hull), daughter of Uriah Hyde, son of Ezra Hyde, son of William Hyde, son of Jane Lee (Hyde), daughter of Thomas Lee.]


http://net.lib.byu.edu/fslab/famhistories/Cummings.pdf
The Ancestry of Nina Eliza Cummings
[1874] Thomas Lee, 10 born 1614 in Rusper, Sussex, England; died 1645 at sea of small pox on trip over to America. He was the son of Henry Lee and Elizabeth Calveley. He married [1875] Phoebe Brown 1639 in Rusper, Sussex, England. Phoebe Brown was born 1 October 1620 in Rusper, Sussex, England; died 28 December 1664 in Northampton, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of William Browne and Jane Mills. His widow and children came to Saybrook.

Children10 of Thomas Lee and Phoebe Brown:[937]
 i. Jane, born 12 September 1640
ii. Thomas
iii. Sarah, married John Large
10. Hyde Genealogy of the Descendants in the Female Line from William Hyde of Norwich. R.H. Walworth. J. Munsell, Albany, New York 1864.
found on ancestry.com


http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA179&lpg=PA179&dq=%22thomas%20lee%22%20%22mary%20deWolf %22&sig=K3YC--XvSXfjnwLo-PA2J11zETQ&ei=2tcXTey2HY7msQPP_c3QAg&ct=result&id=kmujIJi3_ FkC&ots=asI31T5a3l&output=textGenealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the ..., Volume 1
edited by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams
The Lee family is ancient in England.
"Sir Walter at Lee of ye Mannor of Lee of Lee Hall, there in ye Parish of Wibenbury in ye County Palatine of Chester ye 36 of King Edward ye 3, whose ancestors had been there seated for ages." The name is spelled in many ways. among them Lee, Lea, Leigh, Laigh, Ley, Legh. Different branches of the family bore arms and used different ways of spelling the name. It is thought T:hat Thomas Lee, the immigrant mentioned below, may have been related to the Cheshire family at Lee Manor.

(I) Thomas Lee, immigrant ancestor, sailed for America in 1641 with his wife, and his wife's father, and three young children. He died on the voyage of small pox, and was buried at sea. His wife, Phebe (Brown) Lee, married (second) Greenfield Larabee, and
(third) Cornish. The family settled at Saybrook, Connecticut, afterwards Lyme. Children: 1. Phebe, married, 1659, John Large, of Long Island. 2. Jane, married (first) 1659, Samuel Hyde; (second) John Blanchard. 3. Thomas, mentioned below.

(II) Lieutenant Thomas (2), son of Thomas (1) Lee, came with his parents to America and inherited his father's property. He settled in that part of Saybrook which became the town of Lyme, and was a large landowner. At one time it was said he owned an eighth part of the town. He was appointed in March, 1701, ensign of the train band at Lyme, and was afterwards lieutenant. He was representative in 1676. His will was dated June 9, 1703, and proved February 19, 1704. He married (first) Sarah Kirtland, of Saybrook, who died May 21, 1676. He married (second) July 13, 1676, Mary DeWolf, who died January 5. 1704-05, daughter of Balthazar DeWolf. Children of first wife: 1. John, born September 21, 1670, mentioned below. 2. Mary, September 21, 1671, married, 1693, Thomas Lord. 3. Thomas, December 10, 1672, married Elizabeth Graham. 4. Sarah, January 14, 1674-75, married Daniel Buckingham. Children of second wife: 5. Phebe, August 14, 1677, married Captain Reinold Marvin. 6. Mary, April 23, 1679, married (first) Joseph Beckwith; (second) Sterling. 7. Elizabeth, October 20, 1681, married Samuel Peck. 8. William, April 7, 1684, married. November 1, 1715, Marv Griffin. 0. Stephen, June 27, 1686, died young. 10. Joseph, May 14, 1688, died January 19, 1704-05. II. Benjamin, October 8, 1690, died young. 12. Benjamin, December 22, 1692. 13. Hannah, February 25, 1694-95, married, June 23, 1713, Judge John Griswold; died May n, 1773. 14. Stephen, January 19, 1698-99, married (first) December 24, 1719, Abigail Lord; (second) January 25, 1742-43, Mary Pickett, widow. 15. Lydia, February 18, 1701-02, died unmarried.
found on ancestry.com


Ensign Thomas II LeeEnsign Thomas Lee II was born in 1639 and baptized September 29, 1644 in Rusper, Sussex County, England. He was the son of Thomas Lee I and his wife Phoebe Brown Lee. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lee and their three children Jane, Sarah, and Thomas II left England in 1645 for America together with Phoebe’s father William Brown. The senior Thomas Lee died of small pox during the crossing. The widow Phoebe married two more times. First to Greenleaf Larabee and was the mother of five children: Greenfield, John, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Sarah Larabee. Sarah, the half sister of Thomas II, was the grandmother of the diarist Joshua Hempstead. Phoebe married again to a man named Cornish and had two more children, James Cornish and a stillborn. She died in childbirth at Northampton, Massachusetts in 1664. William Brown, his daughter the widow Phoebe Lee, and her children arrived in Saybrook in 1645. According to Glimpses of Saybrook in Colonial Days, by Harriet Chapman Chesebrough “Their afflicted and distressed condition commended to the sympathies of those at the fort and Thomas II was particularly cared for by Matthew Griswold, and followed him to Lyme, where in later years he became a prominent citizen and received on arriving his majority a grant of land on the East side of the river”. A Saybrook 1650 division land lists Thomas Lee (then about age 11) as a grantee. No documentation of the grant details has been found. A close relationship between the Lee and the Griswold families continued throughout the colonial period. About 1670 Thomas Lee II married Sarah Kirtland, daughter of Nathaniel Kirtland of Lynn, Massachusetts. It is probable that the first stage of the Lee house was built at this time.Thomas and Sarah were the parents of three children, John, who wrote the “Dying Charge”, Thomas III (Mr. Justice Lee), and Sarah. His wife Sarah died May 21, 1676 leaving him with three young children. He soon married a second time on July 13, 1676 to Marah Dewolfe. There were eleven more children, four of whom died in childhood.Over the years, during the distribution of Lyme’s common lands, Lee acquired large tracts of upland and salt meadow throughout town. It has been said that he owned one-eight of the town.Records show that Lee was involved in two disputes over land ownership. A dispute between Thomas Lee II and Matthew Griswold Senior (his mentor) over 20 acres of calf pasture land was settled in favor of Lee at a town meeting on November 27, 1675. A town meeting on July 2, 1684 relates a controversy between Mr. Christophers and Thomas Lee over a parcel of land at Black Point. From the records of the October 1685 session of the Connecticut Assembly it is recorded in answer to the petition of Thomas Lee the court declared that the county clerk should handle his execution against Mr. Christophers. In 1686 at New London County Court Lee lost a jury trial and relinquished his claim.Throughout his life Lee was active in town affairs filling numerous offices. In 1685 he was a deputy from Lyme in the Assembly, recorder of town records, surveyor, collector of the minister rate, meat packer-sealer (officer appointed to examine and test weights and measures), Hayward (an officer appointed to keep cattle from breaking through from a town common into enclosed fields, keeper of towns common herd of cattle), lister (assessor), and Ensign of the train band (local militia).Lee’s will was dated June 1703. He left property “Where I now Live” to his youngest son Benjamin (age 10). His vast holdings throughout Lyme were left to his three sons, William, Joseph, and Stephen. The two oldest sons, John and Thomas III had already been given their share. His wife Mary was given one-third of his movable estate. The daughters were left money. His eldest sons John and Thomas III and his wife were named executors of his will. He died on January 5 1704/5. No gravestone has been found. He was likely buried in one of the old cemeteries in present day Old Lyme.Benjamin to whom the homestead was left must have died before he came of age as no further record of him has been found, nor has any record of Thomas Lee III of gaining possession of the homestead.On May 28, 1705 [LLR 2:236] the executors of the estate, the widow and sons John and Thomas III leased the homestead to son William (age 21 and unmarried) for a period of nine years starting March 1, 1705. At that time Benjamin would have been age 21. Benjamin must have died sometime during the lease period. It would appear the William was left head of the household of his widowed mother and younger siblings. found on ancestry.com

Website for Thomas Lee information
http://www.eastlymehistoricalsociety.org/index.htm
found on ancestry.com