ando+hers seemedknowledgableand sympathetic to our cause" MelvinT~ Smith, Director~ utah StateHi,storical Society was in attendance,
the
ancestor wasof theLn the
repreSentlng the church instituteS,seminaries, historica.land Deseret Publishing Companymet
lat.er eight membersand nine persons
heart-warming -ethe church,Several
of the Lee
and. +he :suqqes+Lonwas made ameeting be arranged between,representatives of t.he Lee family andthose responsible for writing and
the lesson manuals fororganizations in
Warmest personal regards,Verne R" Lee
the family newsletterhope and prayer that this firsJc edition
fromhis life ..
ti.ve to the concerns she presented,
As a feature of the next several publications, will include life sketch each of the immediatechildren of John A~ and Mary Ee Lee§ Wewill begin with the eldest and proceed to the youngest; therefore,in this you a short biographical sketch of Grandmaand Grandpa Lee I s eldest son, JohnClaude
Other contributions from time to time will be submitted by the family genealogist, theof who have news articles about your; immediateappear in the newsletter, and submit, it for pub.l.i ca+Lon
serve as a. rallying standard for all familiesJoh..1J.Doyle Lee, and a forum for dispensing truth
October 1980 /Loomis CaliforniaNewsletter
AMASA $ MARY E. LE.Eo801
At the family reunion this past surmner, the idea of a family newsletter was discussedc It was concludedthat such a publication be beneficial to the purposes of the family organiza'cion and that we shouldattempt such a pr-oj ect , subsequently goals were formulated and target dates se t.,Wehope this venture into publishing, as a family, will interesting and informative to everyone.
It is the intent that the format and content of the articles contained in this first number will forma pattern for improvements future editions" The objectives of the Lee Family Newsle·tter are follows:
1a serve as (a) a means of uniting the descendents of John Amasa,and Mary Elvira Bigelow Lee more closely and (b) a fornews and information of interest to the various families about,the families.,
2 e a method of disseminating genealogical informa·tion to thedescendentse
During the time Claude was at.tending the academy he had a great desireto learn to play the piano and started practicing on one owned by theschoo.l, He learned to read music andtaught himself how to playo Playingthe piano gave him much enjoymentt.hroughouthis Life, He also learnedhow to play the violin, mandolin,harmonica and flute to some extent,but not nearly as well as the piano"He composed several musical numbersbut never got them published.
At an early age Claude developed aan inquiring mind. He was fasci;atedas he looked up into the heavens ·tothe grand and glorious creation ofthe universe and wondered how we humanbeings here on this earth fit into thescheme of things in relation to theuniverse and the great Creator. Thisfascination motivated him to studygeology and astronomy, seeking tolearn what he could about the earthand the universe$ He became deeplyinterested in these subjects, andloved to discuss them with anyonewho seemed to share this interest@He was also a student of the scrip~tures e
Claude was now fourteen years oldand, along wit..'1his brothers, wouldbe much help to his father in developing a new ranch, and in buildinga larger home to accomodate a gro\V~ing family.. In the spring of 1898,John sold his p.ropert.yin Layton andSafford and moved to the newly pur-chased ranch Lebanon" BecauseClaude was the eldest, more was expected from him, but everyone of thechildren were required to accept responsibilities to the full extent offhe.l.r abilities and to work Lonq hours.
John and Ella knew that getting aneducation was also Lmpor+an+ for theirchildren, and when the Mormon churchestablished an academy in Thatcher.Claude mid ele older children atte~dedthe church sponsored school for several years"
miles south of Safford, in theLebanon ·area, whe:t:'ethe temperaturewas reported to be several degreescooler and the water more pure..andhealthier to drink. He thought thischange would be beneficial to Ella'sfailing health and a good place toraise his growing family.
E.STJohn Amasa. an? WlaryElvira Bige
low Lee were mar:t:'~edin Springerville,Ar.Lzona on New Years Day, 1883.
At this time people in NorthernArizona were excited about a new unset.tledarea fat:'thert.othe south,known as +he Gila Valley, where theclimate was rr~ld,the soil fertileand plenty of water for i.rrigation..
John and r'1ary(Ella as she wasknown) were caught up in the excitement aDd shortly after their marriage headed for the Gila Valley alongwith several members of .John ' s f arrd.LyG
This proved to be a very arduous journey, causing them to suffer :nany
along the way.. After seve-.weeks on .the roa~t,.they reached
t..heValley at a place called Smithville, later called Pima e hlithontdelay, .rohn secured some property,across the river from Smithville endengaged in bu.i.Ld'i.nq houses"
Just one year a day after theirmar.r.iaqe , their child was born •.They named h'irn .John Claude? and todistinguish him his father, hewas known as
Claude was born on a very cold Cilld'Ninterynight in a farm house located
the Gila River·from Smithville~of his birth was close to
O'clock midnight, so close infact that it a controversy be-tween his father and mother, one beJieving he was born just before midnd.qht;and the other just after", Thedate finally settled on was January2, 1884@
After living in +he Simthvil1e areafor a period of time, John and Ella,with their young son moved a few milesup the river to another settlementcalled L':1yton,which is now part ofSafford"
Claude spent his early years aroundthe Layton-Safford area, going toschool and assisting his fathe.rasmuch as he could, building houses andworking on his dad's farm .. This wasqui te Ct task for'such a young boy,but proved very beneficial later inassisting h.irn to develop importantskilJs,
His father made the first bricksand constructed many of the firsthomes and commercial buildings inthe Safford areae
Jorr~and Ella lived in Laytonfor over a decade a~d now had alarge family" They seemed to beprospering, but they were concernedabout Ella's health.. John wasnegotiating for a ranch about six
HNJ
(turn to page 6)
FROM NAUVOO TO WINTER QUARTERS 0 0 "Theunpublished journal of .John De Leecovering the period during the 1846exodus from Nauvoo when the firstwagons moved across the MississippiRiver 1 until the main body of theMormons reached the borders ofNebraskaeeeWinter Quarterso
During this time John D..Leeserved as a meuber of the Councilof Fifty, and as Brigham Young'sprivate clerk; he also states heacted as clerk to lithewhole church""The journal gives an interesting insight into the day to day activ::i_ties,travel, fcrLunes and misfortunes ofthe Latter-Day Saints as they madetheir way across the state of Iowafrom Nauvoo in the winter of 1846~47.
Dear Cousins, I would like to welcome you as a young apl..11t to theJohn Amasa Lee Family organizatipn,which will consist. of Lee··cousins petween the ages of" 14-.~8,.marJ:'iedorsingle.. Our newly elected president,Verne Lee, has asked me to representthis age group in our family.. Mymain responsibility in this positionwill be to involve all of you infuture John A" Lee reunions andother family eventse Verne and Ihave planned many exciting activitiesfor our next reunion to be held atLee's Ferry in Arizona .. This willbe in September, 1981.. Such funthings as raftihg down t..heColorado,c~~ping and backpacking in the area,are in the planning stage,. To makethese activities a success we willneed all of your support and attendance at the reunione Before ourquarterly is publishedeach time, in contact withone of the many young adults we haverequesting .themto write a brief
to printed in thethis will enable all of
better acquainted wi t..1! eachVerne has asked to write
something about myself so you "''illget to know me bett.ereLso, My goalthis year is to make the 1981 Leereunion the best ever yet, includ-ing not only the grandchildren ofJohn As Lee, but also the qTeat andgreat great grandchildren" Pleaseplan your vacations early so nothing will conflict with the reunion ..I look fqrward to meeting you a11next year at Lee Is Ferry and havinga lot of fun1
LEE IS BACKBONE" What was known. asLeeis Backbone i::;the relatively flatbut steeply inclined surface of
conglomerate on the ,so1..lththe river" (Opposite Lee'sOver this rock"surface,
Mormon emigrants tool\:th~ir wagonssouth from the ferry crossingo Itwas used continually from 1873 to1878, when the lower ferry site andduqway were constructed for use dur..inQ periods of low river flow".SU.ll in use dur'ing'times of highriver flow, the Backbone was partially bypassed by a slightly betterroad over high terra:t.nin ,,:1888. In1898, when the long dugway wasopened, Lee's Backbone was completelyabandoned,
Lee's Backbone is covered bynumerous rock gullies and bouldersthat brutally pounded wooden wq.gonsand straining animals. Some traveJ.
it waS the worst pieceever crossed by wagons e
_'I:()dayhikers may follow the oldwagon road over Lee's Backbone. Inplaces, grooved wagon ruts can beseen in solid r-ock, At :i,tshighestpoint, where the road ran ;li.terallyon the edge of the cLi.f'f , evidence.of much road work can still.be seen..At .the extreme southwest end, theroad switchbacked down some fourhundred feet over a steep talusslope to the fairly level·terrainof t.hemarble p.Lat.fcrrn,
Backbone.From S. C. Richardson, In Desert Arizona,p.81
A woodcut from Powell's report depicts an 1872 lunch stop in Marblemiles belowLee's Ferry.
Lot.s of interesting, fun activitiesare planned for everyonee JohnAmasa Lee spent his early ch.iLd-.hood here, and there is much interesting family history that transpired inthis remote areao How about a visitto JV1oencopi,or Rachel is Pools; backpack up the Pari.aRiver ~ or.raft theColoradoe Something for everyone 1
More in the next edit.ion of theNewsletterG
..: _L..L 1....School started? Plan arourd
EP L A N--N 0 W--T O--B E--T H
The reunion next year will be atLee's Ferry in Arizona~ It is plan~ned for a weekend in Septembers
I was offered aline at SapAirport the d~y we ~rived~ We madeour new home in San M~teq, a shOrtdistance south of San Fr~ncisco,
Shortly thereafterI experienced some;;:ncesof opinion on sever~lPertinent to 01)r liVes,sorry to s~y I felt ~t ~e~ce:ss'a,rythat we be qivorced ..
and I am i1,"l
I herewithmade wh;;:nsicko
to have an equalleft according tomember here WHAT CLAUP DID ~ HEHELPEP HIS FATHER IN WORK TOTHOUSANDS OF DOLLARS INONE OF CLAUD'S PEBTS, BUTDEBTS.. REMEMBER HIS FAITHFULL WORK
Children"
Editor' Note:
In his "lastaddresses all hisfically names hisClaudee Grandpa loved allren and had a special place in his
for each* The words includedin his will reflect this.
one ofto the \.:l!::i'n~":t.l.,uq-L'_;,o..!.
Attn~Temple,The deadline
their ownan adult
Or sister in family_completing family gro~p
showing your parents ~s child~then your grand pare~ts as
children; this will complete theseven family group forms required@Make sure the'recQrds are acol,).J;:'q.te,then submit the completed pedig~eechart, and g~oup records through just
Your
Churoh society for inclusioni,n the society I s "ancestral
The program can.be cClmul+~"~~'U
anq submitting onepedigree chart ano seven familygrOup sheets. Working with y01,l!fa01,11tbrotiiers and sisters, ano your parents,if living, enter four generations on
listing one of thesiste.J;:'sin yo1,l!f
family as number onee These b.J;:'othersand sisters as the first generation
appei3-ras children On the first
genealo~i$t,to m<;lke
I have, lived in, Dallasfavorite. We have severallive in Dallas, so I
a lot of fun while thereeand working in Dallas
to Wichita, Kansas.I can honestly say that Wichita wasmy least.,favorite citYe After working in Kansas several months andwitn~ssing (and surviving) a fewtornadoes! and several hail s+orms ,
transferred to Seattle, Washwhere I invested in a sturdy
no offense to our Seattlecous.i.ns , it is up there.. $
bl,.ltbeautiful. I as a$urgical assistant t~mporarily untilmy airline position came along~While attending my ward in Seattle Ihad the opportunity of being thePriest Quor1,lffiAdvisorQ00boy! What ane:x;p~riencethat was, one I'll neverforget~
After living in Seattle awhile Ib~came engaged to a girl Iwith at Rickse Thatber, 1978 we were lUdLLLC:U
land Temple. Itfelt that the Sanwould offer morement for me, so ined for sunny Cal,
w~r~ sp~nt in ~rl~Y'rl~l~r,~r)_
1,1ntilour family r~looat~oCa., which is 25 milesm~ntoe l attended ~mAn~rlr"
in Rocklin, and highville, Whilesohool workedand dentist offices mys~lffor college; at the plan~ned to become a dentiste Aftergraduating in January, 1976, lleo at stl,.loied(ha..ha..,h~) Aft~r Ricks,I left Idaho Californiamoved to Texas where was
therapy assis..While .],11
goals c;:hangedfrom dentistry to the travel indUstry ..Throughout the year I applied withseveral airlin~s and in DecernJ:;ler1977was accep+ed with Braniff Interna ••
tional Airlines, in , T~xas~So I was off to big 01,1tpf Cl,11
ted most of thenot only for the needs on thefarm, but for the other ranches inthe area as well~ Claude learnedsurveying at an early age, a skillLhat was to prove valuable many timesover; there were always jobs thatrequired the ·.abilitiesof a gpods~veyor, establishing boundary lines,building dams, and all types of construction"
Claude enjoyed cooking, especially while camping outs He ca~ld makedelicious bis~Jits, either bakingthem in a dutch oven over the campfir€!or in a regular oven at home.He quite often assisted in thekitchen,.
Claude liked to play basplayed as catcher most ofHe was recognized as anplayer in this position"ed many skills, andloved blacksmithing.
fra~ee Despite his loss of weighthowever , he proved on more than oneoccasion tha.the had the ability todefend himself if necessary.. Claude! sdad said that Claude was the fastestman he had ever seen when it carnetousing his fistsQ The bullies learnedearly to leave him alone"
Pis ability to play the pifuLoandnux with other people helped make hismission a succeas , He always tried toplay the music from the hymn books ofthe people he was teaching thinkingt.h.is made them feel more comfortableand receptive to his messagee Whileworking in the rural areas, the missionaries had to rely on the peopleliving in the area for accomodationsas there were no hotels available.Claude said he never failed to find aplace to stay overnight during hisentire missions It seems most of thepeople were more hospitable than thewoman described above. He.served inTennessee, Georgia, and Florida...
A short time before his mission wasto end, his companion, Elder Moss wasdrowned while swimming in a river ..Claude was released early in orderto accompany his companion! s bodyhorne..This was very tragic asElder I'-10sswas married with a wifeal1.dyoung family anxiously awaitinghis return.
While serving in the mission fieldClaude contracted malaria.. Thisaffected his health for the rest ofhis life0 His weight dropped from175 pounds to 155; at this level hewas underweight for r~s height andbuild~ He was 5 feet 10 inches tallwith broad shoulders and a large
of that area in that +Lme, Whilepassing by one of the farm houses, avery unkempt woman appeared at ~hedoor§ her face was covered wiG~flour, she wore a badly soiled bonnet and apron and chewing a broomsb:aw with snuff drooling from thecorners of her mouth she yelled atthe passing missionaries, "Y'allMormons don't need t' come roundhyar t ya aint gonna git none of mydorters" 0 Both the Elders foundsome satisfaction and amusement inElder Lee's reply (but only withinhis companion's hearing) "Lady, ifthey're all as homely as you, youdon't have anything to worry about.."
After clearing the land a.l1.dfarming the homestead for several years,Claude was called to serve a missionfor the Mormon Church in the southern states. He accepted the call,and sold his farm for enough moneyto keep himself for two years in themission field"
He left Safford on the trainOctober 3, 1910 along with severalother new missionaries" They arrivedin Salt Lake City four:days later,and reported to President Joseph F..Smith, whose office was located in theLion House.. Claude left Salt Lake fivedays later, and reported to PresidentCharles A. Callis at mission headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennesseeon October 182 1910" Later PresidentCallis became a member of the Quorumof Twelve ..
Claude had ma.~ygratifying experiences as a missionary; he also hadsome that were not so pleasante Heliked to tell of one incident thathappened :while he and ht.scompanionwere proselyting "without purse orscrip" in the backwoods of Tennessee,and seems to be typical of the people
Claude was a very mild, goodnatured and unassuming type of man,with no apparent desire to impressothers in any way., imen he wastwenty-one years old, he-homestead-
some land in Lebanon" Anotherman living in the area questionedht.sage, and t.ookthe matter tocourt, wit.hthe intent of gettingt.heLand for h.lmseLf, During +heensuing court session, just when itappeared Claude might lose the land,
mother, Ella, marched into thecourt room carrying the large familyBible and showed the judge whereshe had recorded Claude's birth
1884, more than twenty-one yearsbefore~ The judge i~~ediately dismissed the case advising the man togo home and mind his own business,as he had no claim on the property.
Even after a hard days labor inthe fields, it was not uncommon forClaude to spend four or five hoursreading before going to bed" Helearned much about both science andreligion, and knew. them to bebroad subjects, and often controversial, but he believed they wereclosely related~ He said true religion and true science must alwaysbe in harmony, for trtlthis consistent; therefore it is impossible forone t.ru+hto conflict with another"
Verne R0 Lee 8047 Twin Rocks Rd..,Loomis, Ca.. 95650 Tel.. (916)79'1-0119The articles cannot; be returned, So
The Quarterly ispublished four t.i.mes a year~ A..rticlesof interest t.he Lee family aresolicited. Please write or type the
Verne R" Lee
Vice Presidents ~ Leroy LeeElvira Rodman
inother" tried to accompany +heru,He died April '1, 19460 The speakersat his funera.l were Jesse A" Udall,Cliff Allred, and his Bishop WillCrW11®Claude was buried beside Delmain the Le'banon Cemetery" ,_,
President:
Family Organization Officers:
In the past. few months, a Iltonllof familY.:i.nformation has been, entered in Leroy Lee's computers inSalt Lake , Eventually an index wi.Ll.be compilecl of everything that isst.ored in them, and made availableto f emi.Ly membezs , '"~mElybeby earlynext year.. Anyone then should beab.le to a selection of tbe manyin'teresting family information articlesfrom the index, place an order, andfor a nomihal fee receive the orderby retw:n mail" Information isentered in the computer as i..t isreceived; such items as John AmasaLee'slast \dll and testament (did ycuknow about that), and John. D~Lee! stwo partriarchal blessings areof the type document.s thateasily retrievedD
Roy, Wanda, and Irene have puthours and hours of time in on thisproject ..
More in next Newsletter ..
Twin Rocks Rd"95650®
weremarried,HarchDelmq.hCidbeenpreviously.married toa mawby the namevof Jack Anderson,and 'had, one >son :Qy' hi.m, ,The son'sname was Earl D01J,g;LasAnders.Qn..Earl was later sealed to Claude andDelma along with their daughterThelma Louise Lee on September 6, '1917in the Manti Temple.. Claude and Delma had one other child, JlflarionClaudeLee.
John Claude (cont'd.) John D. Lee (cont'de)
The f emiLy orgarization will publish the journal vJithin t.he next few
It \,rill bl;: printed on goodvdth'asoftbe linU. ted to the .
number of those who desi.re copiesand respond to this anouncemenf e
The price will be somewhere betweenthree and five dollars'per copy,depending on how many we priht,.' vJe
