John Lee was born in South Carolina, as evidenced by  federal census records (1850, 1860, 1870, 1880). The 1880 census lists his father as from Virginia, and his mother from South Carolina. His birth date generally is given as 25 January 1794. It is probable that the family moved to southeastern area of  Georgia, sometime before 1810. Huxford reports they moved to Bulloch County, family oral history reports they moved to Darien, which was in Camden  County. John had  2 known sisters, Sarah, born about 1792, and Susannah, born about 1799.  Each of them lived with John and his family for a time.

Sarah married Samuel Moody on 14 June  1810, in Telfair County, Georgia. She gave birth to a son, Benjamin Franklin Moody, on 15 April 1811. Samuel Moody died in 1815 , and Sarah and her son moved in with her brother and his family in Camden County, near St. Mary's. Sarah and her son moved to Hamilton County, with her brother and his family about 1830.  When her son married, and moved to Columbia County, Sarah moved with him. (The Moody Family  reports that Sarah died in 1853, and was buried in Swift Creek Methodist Cemetery. Her grave is no longer marked.) Benjamin Franklin Moody is well documented as a Florida Pioneer, and in the Florida Genealogical Society Journal, October, 1987. These documents say the family came from Virginia.
(visit  Cracker Barrel to see Benjamin Franklin Moody and his third wife, Lydia Carlton Hendry Moody)

Susannah Lee married a man named Ware. His first name is not known nor where they lived, but by 1880, her husband had died and she came to live with her brother. She is listed with John, and his third wife, Sarah, on the 1880 census.

During these early years in south Georgia, John Lee was a typical, hotheaded young man. He served in         in the War of 1812.(microfilm currently missing at the Orlando Public Library). William Griffis says that John became involved in a bit of land grabbing by the US government known as the Republic of Florida. John was a Patriot,  "an officer of the Republic of Florida which seceded from Spain and set up an independent government which lasted from 1812 to 1814 with General McIntosh as President of the Republic and the capital located near St. Mary's, Georgia." The Republic of Florida was an incursion by local Georgia and Florida residents against the Spanish held Territory of  Florida....which did what the Secretary of State Monroe hoped, and helped to bring Florida territory into the US.  St. Mary's River is the dividing line between Florida and Georgia.

John first married Elizabeth Jones about 1815. They had five known children:
Nancy, 1816, Wiley Henry 11 July 1817,  Levi Luther 21 December 1822, James 1823 and  Elizabeth, 1825. All five of these children lived, married and 4 of them produced 49 children. James apparently died without known issue.

John is first recorded in the 1820 Census of Camden Co., Georgia. His household is enumerated as;
 

After this time, John Lee served as a Justice of the Peace, for the 32nd District, from 1825-26. (Huxford, vol .6)

Somewhere around this time,before 5 July  1826, John's wife, Elizabeth died. It is not known exactly when she died or where she is buried. (Her date of death is a bit of a big deal to researchers of this family, as it calls to question who was the mother of the children  born between 1823-26 - James, Elizabeth  and Mary. Wm. Griffis says they are the children of Averilla. Huxford says James and Mary are the children of Elizabeth Jones, and doesn't have Elizabeth at all. Family Bible anyone ? )

John next married Averilla Johns, daughter of Levi Johns of Camden Co., about 1826. In a deed dated 5 July  1826, John purchased part of Lot 47, St. Mary's, from Gustavus A. Cox.  John sold this parcel in 1828. Averilla is documented in the Camden Co. Deed Book L, as waiving her dower rights to Lot 46 in St. Mary's on June 24, 1828. If Averilla had dower rights to this lot, then her inheritance was probably used to purchase this lot, and she would have been his wife at this time. (If anyone knows the law was different at this time, please email me.)

Averilla's father, Levi died sometime in 1823-24. In 1824, court records show that  Levi & Jacob Johns, minors over 14, chose John Lee as their guardian. John Lee was also appointed guardian for Archibald and Jeremiah Johns,  minors under 14. This relationship with his brothers-in-law shows up twice more in court records. On 3 June 1828,   John Lee made Application for division of estate (cattle) of Levi Johns for benefit of the orphans. And on 3 January 1830,  there was an accounting that the cattle of Levi Johns had been divided among the sons, each receiving 28 head.

John next shows up in court records as the co-executor of the estate of Cornelius Rains, probated 1 September 1828. He and his family are recorded in the 1830 census, as being residents of St. Mary's, Georgia.
His household includes:
 

Male		Female
under 5	Edward	under 5	Mary, 2 unknowns
5 - 10 yr.	James & Levi	5 - 10 yr	Elizabeth
10-15 yrs	Wiley	10 -15 yrs	Nancy
15 - 20 yrs	Benjamin Moody	20 - 30 yrs.	Averilla
30 s- 40 yrs	John	30 - 40 yrs	Sarah Moody

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revised 9/15/2001
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8/20/2001