Eric Musgrove
Contributor
My family has lived in Suwannee County for at least seven generations, eight if you include my children. As such, in my work as a historian and records manager, I will sometimes stumble upon information dealing with kinfolk. Most of the time, the information is for normal things like marriage licenses or the buying/selling of property. Sometimes, however, I stumble across records that tell me much more about the family. It’s not always good information, either. Such was the case in 2013 when I was helping a customer from out of state. She had driven down to Florida from South Carolina for a family reunion and needed some information on her ancestor, who had lived more than 100 years ago. As the resident historian, I was contacted to see if I could help the woman. We introduced ourselves, and then she said that she wanted to know more about her ancestor, Wiley Lee because it was the Lee family reunion that she was attending. My jaw dropped at her comment because I was a Lee descendant (Wiley was my great-great-great-grandfather), and I had a family reunion coming up. I verified her information and the location of the reunion and then re-introduced myself as her cousin! She was able to give me some information on our common ancestor that I had never found the time to research. I then assisted her in looking through the county’s records for information concerning Lee (which is one of my functions at the clerk’s office). Recently, I was contacted by another descendant of Lee, whose family (ironically also from South Carolina) then visited me at the courthouse shortly before Thanksgiving this year. And thus, the reason for publishing this story today… Not everything about one’s family is pleasant; as the saying goes, everybody’s family has skeletons in the closet. A review of existing records would undoubtedly show that every family has at least one less-than-upstanding relative, and it is the same with me. I could (and may in the future) tell you about the ancestor who attempted to kill someone with an ax to the head and then absconded from the county, or the ancestor who indentured his 16-year-old son as a servant on a ship to America in the 1600s (where he then served several years before obtaining his freedom), or even the ancestor who fought for the British during the American Revolution. We all have people like that in our family. Lee was one of those characters who sometimes made questionable decisions. According to family and census records, Wiley (also spelled "Wylie" or "Wiyley") Lee was born in present-day Suwannee County on Oct. 27, 1853. His parents were born in either Florida or Georgia, depending on which federal census record you read; I have been unable to find definite information on his parents as of yet. Currently, next to nothing is known of Lee's younger years. On March 2, 1876, he married Ellen Dye in Suwannee County. Minister B. (Benjamin) D. Harrell (the Clerk of Court's transcription of the license says "D. B. Harrold") performed the ceremony. One son, Henry, was born of this union two years later. On Oct. 9, 1879, Lee married Celia (the license says "Sealy" in one place) E. Jackson in Suwannee County, so Ellen had either died or divorced Lee. My first thought (without any proof one way or another) was that Ellen had died, possibly due to complications from the birth of Henry, or left Lee for another man. The fact that B. D. Harrell also performed Lee's second wedding ceremony supports my theory since divorce for things other than marital unfaithfulness was frowned upon in those days, especially by religious folk. Lee was 26, and Celia was 18 at the time of their marriage. Eleven children were born between 1881 and 1904 to this new union, including my great-great-grandmother Luna and her twin Lena (1887). All the children were born in the Falmouth area where the family resided, and when old enough, they helped their father on the family farm. The existing family records show that, overall, Lee was a good father and citizen, often helping neighbors in the Falmouth area. According to census and land deed records, his neighbors included another of my ancestors, Milledge G. Clayton, and his family. Next week, we complete our look at the complicated life of Wiley Lee, one of the many imperfect citizens who have made Suwannee County their home. Eric Musgrove can be reached at ericm@suwgov.org or (386) 362-0564.