My Genealogy Hound

CAPT. J. M. LEE, postmaster at the town of Oxford and a prominent citizen of Furnas county, is a native of Bartholomew county, Ind., and was born September 21, 1828. He is a descendant of pioneer stock on both sides of his house, his paternal and maternal grandparents being among the first settlers of Ohio. His father’s parents, who were Virginians by birth, emigrated to Ohio at the beginning of this century and settled in what is now Warren county, near the present city of Cincinnati, when that place was a mere boat landing. There his father, David R. Lee, grew up, married and moved into Indiana, settling in Bartholomew county. He moved to Iowa in 1846, settling in Louisa county, where he followed the pursuits of agriculture for ten years, moving afterwards to Warren county, that state, where he lived till his death, which occurred in the spring of 1872, in his seventy-fifth year. Capt. Lee’s mother, whose maiden name was Polly Payne, was a descendant of old Pennsylvania stock, she being born in the Keystone State. Her parents emigrated to Ohio over a half-century ago, settling near Cincinnati, where she was reared. She died in Warren county, Iowa, in 1887, at the age of eighty-one.

The subject of this sketch, who is one of a family of fourteen children born to his parents, was reared in his native county in Indiana to the age of eighteen. He accompanied his father’s family to Louisa county, Iowa, in 1846, and there, four years later, on December 31, 1850, he married Miss Sarah J. Wilson, of that county, and entered on the active business of life as a farmer. He enlisted in the Union army, August 13, 1862, in Company D, Thirty-fourth Iowa infantry. His regiment was assigned to duty in the Western department, and saw its principal service in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. He was in the Vicksburg campaign, at the engagement at Arkansas Post and on the Red River expedition under Banks. He served a little less than three years, the term of his enlistment, and was mustered out in December, 1864. He entered the service as a private, was soon appointed second lieutenant, promoted to first lieutenant, and soon afterwards to the captaincy of his company, these several promotions occurring within six months after his enlistment. When the war was over, Capt. Lee returned to his home in Warren county, Iowa, and resumed farming. In 1871, he was elected to the legislature from Warren county and represented that county one term, discharging his duty with fidelity to his constituents and credit to himself. One fact connected with his legislative career is particularly worthy of mention. His vote and another one which he controlled in the caucus secured the nomination of W. B. Allison for senator and started him on a career in which he has since achieved a national reputation. In May, 1876, Capt. Lee moved to Nebraska and settled in Furnas county, taking a homestead two miles north of the present town of Oxford. He engaged actively in farming and stock-raising, and, barring the accidents and misfortunes necessarily incident to life in a new country he was fairly successful. Having learned the carpenter’s trade when a young man and having followed it some time in Iowa, he engaged also after coming to Nebraska in contracting and building. In 1882, he was elected to the legislature from Furnas county, was re-elected in 1854, and again in 1888. He made a faithful public official, serving up to July, 1889, at which time he resigned his seat in order to take charge of the post office at Oxford, to which he had previously received an appointment. Capt. Lee is a deservedly popular man, a public-spirited citizen and a genial, affable gentleman. He has a pleasant home and an interesting family, being the father of eleven children, all of whom are grown and most of whom are settled off in life and doing for themselves. These are Edward W., Stewart W., Charles F., Emory E., Walter S., John R., Dock, James W., Cora E., Dora and Fannie. Capt. Lee and all his sons are republicans in politics, and he and his seven eldest ones voted for Harrison and Morton at the last election. Capt. Lee’s first presidential vote was cast for Taylor in 1848. He affiliated with the republican party on its organization and has voted the straight republican ticket since. He is a zealous member of the Grand Army of the Republic and takes much interest in all matters relating to old soldiers.