Beeks line: William Lee of Maryland, died about 1726

 

William Lee of Prince Georges County, Maryland, is something of a mystery.  We don't know where he came from, or when, nor do we know for sure who his wife, the mother of his children, was.  But we can place him in Prince Georges County through church and land records, and there is record of his estate, so we do have a few ideas about his life.

There are records from Queen Anne Parish Records that show that William's children included Mellona, John, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Martha, so this seems definitive. There may have been other children as well.  In the book "Captain James Hook of Greene County, Pennsylvania," it states that Martha Lee married Abraham Lakin on October 30, 1717, also at Queen Anne church (also known as Barnabas, and Church of England.)  

William seems to have owned or controlled a part of Cold Springs Manor from about 1691 to 1705, but it was only about a tenth of the total acreage there, so he most likely didn't live in the manor house.  The other option, of course, if that he owned the manor house and a bit of the land around it.  William was a witness to several land transactions in the same general area, but we don't know where he may have lived after selling the 165 acres in 1705.  Perhaps he had always lived nearby, and those acres were land that he determined to be excess.  As is most of William's life, it's a mystery.  

William died in 1726 and had his estate inventoried in 1727.  Since his first known child was born in 1689, William may have been born about 1665, but that is just a guess.  He may have been older, and may be the same William Lee of Charles County who was granted 250 acres in Charles County for transporting himself, Thomas Gee (could this be Lee?  I haven't seen the manuscript), Ann Granger, George Green and John Ealwood in 1675.  If this is our William, he would have been at least 18 and perhaps 21 to have been granted the land, so that would make him older than we've thought.   Prince Georges was split from Charles County in 1696 so it's not impossible.  Perhaps our William was the son or other relative of this William, which is also a plausible theory.  

A lot of sites list William's wife as Ann Grainger, but I've found no documentation for that.  The fact that a William transported Ann, though, is intriguing.  More research needs to be done.  

The picture we have of William is that of a planter or farmer who never hit it rich but who also was not dirt poor.  He probably raised some tobacco as well as crops to feed his family and animals, and we know he was part of the Church of England.  Did he take part in any military exercises or battles?  We don't know, just as we don't know many of the details of his life.  But we do know he is part of the Beeks family line, and contributed to our country's history.

The line of descent is:

William Lee-Ann

Martha Lee-Abraham Lakin

Joseph Lakin-Elizabeth Fee

Mary Lakin-John Simpson Aldridge

John Simpson Aldridge-Lucinda Wheeler

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants