This week’s prompt for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks is: So Many Descendants.
Two ancestors in my mom’s family each had 16 children: Uriah/Huriah Henry LEE, Sr. and Renatus THOMAS. But Uriah, my 2nd great-grandfather, has more descendants. I didn’t do a full count, but the estimate put Uriah ahead. I did count grandchildren, though – 88 of them!
Uriah Henry LEE, Sr. (about 1813-after 1880) was born in South Carolina and lived there his entire life. His parents were William Huriah LEE (1782-?) and Mary Elizabeth SLAPPEY LEE (1784-after 1860).
He appears in the 1840, 1850, 1860, and 1880 U.S. Federal Census, always in Richland County, South Carolina. Uriah was a planter or farmer on each census, whichever term the census taker used.
Uriah married three times.
His first wife was Nancy DENT LEE (1815-1848). Between 1835 and 1848, they had seven children together: 6 sons (James N, Uriah Henry, Jr., John Wesley, Edmund Hezekiah, William, and John J.), and a daughter, Sarah. Nancy died at 33, but there is no information as to how she died.
The second wife was a widowed mother named Ellen WAGES BURKETT LEE (1812-after 1860). Ellen’s daughter from her first marriage was Julia E. BURKETT. I didn’t count her in Uriah’s 16 children, although he did raise her as his own when he married Ellen and after Ellen passed. Ellen and Uriah had one child together, a son named Benjamin David. He was born in 1854. Ellen was still alive in 1860 since she appears with Uriah in the 1860 census.
I don’t know for sure when Ellen died, but in 1862 Uriah had his first child with wife #3, Mary Jane CAMPBELL LEE (1841-?). Uriah and Jane, as she was called, had 8 children together between 1862 and 1878: Daniel Reuben, Mary, Jesse Robert, Elizabeth Patience, Rosa, Addlyn, Thomas Robert, and Green Hue.
Uriah died sometime after 1880 but before 1900. Uriah was a common man of the time. But he uncommonly had 16 children. Not many men did that.
Uriah Henry Lee, Sr. is buried at Old Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina. There are no dates on the stone, but the stone says: Great Grandfather of William Lee. This information was found on Uriah’s Find a Grave memorial page. Here’s a link to it: Uriah Lee FindAGrave
In the past, I’ve written blog posts about some descendants of Uriah including my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Patience “Lizzie” LEE MARTIN (1868-1937). Here’s few to check out:
Lizzie Martin: family tree rock star (his daughter)
Green Lee: death by tree (his son)
Tommie Lee: there and back again (his son)
John W. Lee: elite soldier & turpentine farmer (his son)
Virgie Martin: a sweet, sweet person (his granddaughter)
How premature was Daniel Martin? (his grandson)
Acie Dority: sweet man with a bad heart (his great-grandson)
Who in your family tree has the most descendants?
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Thanks, so odd! So my Mom Nadine Eunice Martin Hawkins had Lee’s on her dad’s side Adolphus Burdine Martin who was son to my great Granddad Adolphus Burdine Martin! I do have my own stories on granddaddy Martin’s family! I remember meeting his sister Mary and other Aunts but she remained in my memory! So there are also Lee’s on the Hawkins side which is Little Jesse Hawkins (Hawkshaw) and going through his story the Hawkins and Rodgers were families that landed at Plymouth Rock! Rodgers were really Rogers but since they were Pennsylvania Dutch they added D to Rodgers and I married my husband whose Rodgers side came from Pennsylvania! The Rodgers family showed me info all the way back when they came over and landed at Plymouth Rock! I do remember Hawkins were on the ship with Rodgers, and Millers! Then studying both families I find Lee who were on the Jackson side which was my mother’s mom side of the family! Amazing to know and find out so many who date 4 or 5 generations back for me but 7 generations for my grandchildren! Wow, amazing!
How wonderful that you have that many generations back! I only met Aunt Mary once that I remember. What about Aunt Mary makes her so memorable for you?
I am descended, on both sides of my maternal grandfather, from Hosey P Lee Sr. I believe he was the grandson of William HH Lee through William’s son James “Jim” Lee? Most of my Ancestry DNA matches through this line show anywhere from 4% to 1% (which I also have) of Cameroon,Congo, Western Bantu African ancestry. Is it possible either William or Mary had some African ancestry? The only other line I could find it plausible the African originated from would be Brazell. That family married into the Richland Co Lees quite a bit it seemed.
Yes, it is possible that either William or Mary had some African blood. I also have 1% Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu people myself. There was a lot of marrying back and forth between those families that lived in that part of Richland County before the government took the land for Fort Jackson. Many families were split up and went to other areas of SC or left SC altogether, but many families stayed in the area, too. I’m sorry I can’t give you any new information.
Your posts have given me so much information already. Love reading the back stories of all these past relations and even the nonrelations. Thank you for replying to my comment!
I’m glad you’re enjoying the stories!
I have been told that a Lee and a Locklear married at some time. The descendants of a Benjamin Brazell and a Martha Jane Lee of Richland, SC, seem to carry African and some Native American ancestry, and the surname that triangulates on some of these segments the most is Locklear, followed by Grooms and Quick. In 1810, a Henry Lee is seen living next to a Robert Locklear, and I believe that he and one of his daughters likely fathered Martha Jane Lee. This is only speculation regarding genetics, though. The Brazell family seems to be very mixed with different ethnicities, looking at DNA. Would love to collaborate.
Thanks for offering input on this. I hope Mindy sees your reply. Seeing the surnames of Locklear and Quick makes me think of Chesterfield and Marlboro Counties in SC. Through family research, I can tell you there are a lot of Quicks and Locklears in Marlboro and Chesterfield Counties and also in the neighboring NC counties and Hoke and Robeson Counties in NC. These surnames are common surnames for Lumbee Indians. Lumbee is a recognized tribe in NC, but I don’t know if it’s recognized anywhere else. That’s another can of worms altogether. LOL
Thomas Robert Lee is my great- grandfather. Thank you for the information on Uriah my Great great grandfather.
You’re welcome. I also wrote a blog post about Thomas Robert Lee. Here’s a link for it: https://nancyhvest.com/tommie-lee-there-and-back-again/