The Drifter

The generation who came along on the coattails of the Civil War, born into or after the ashes had fallen and mass changes had come about, into a society where people were learning to do things differently, have always been a very interesting generation to me. Many of them lived far into the 20th century and during the time span of their existence experienced mass changes. Imagine being born in 1866, the year after the War was over, into a community where things were pretty much devastated and a great number of the male population had been killed, maimed or had abandoned the area. Into a time of horse and buggy and very little educational opportunities, of water from wells and fields plowed by mules and oxen or sheer manpower. Then imagine watching the parade of changes in society from 1866 until your death in 1953, the invention of inside plumbing, telephones, car, planes and electrical appliances. What a ride! Robert Arthur Lee did just that.

Why did this one man catch my atttention as I was constructing a descention chart of his grandfather, my 4th Great Grandfather, Calvin Lee? Others lived more usual lives, many shorter, yes, but not just that. Robert Arthur called out to be found and acknowledged. Some stories of these times come to you like the tray being handed over the counter by a lunch lady in an elementary school cafeteria. But not Robert's, no not Roberts. He, like some others, demanded crawling over a forest floor with a spy glass, sifting through dust and debri with a basting brush, much like an archealogist, to find out small details of his life. The moves kept dodging detection, the surprises kept coming, the children kept piling up. Who was that mentioned as sibling in one son's obituary, then another, then what happened to that one, now, who is that?

Some lives were just more...interesting. That's how I found Robert.

Robert Arthur Lee was born on February 7, 1866, in the aftermath of the Civil War. His father, Robert Benjamin Lee, had served as a Private in Company K, 42nd North Carolina Infantry of the Confederate Army. It is what it is. Men who lived in the Southern States were expected to served in the Confederate Army. They were often imprisoned, beaten or killed, if they didn't. This act or status did not imply they were eager to serve or were fighting in defense of a putrid institution. Robert Benjamin did not seem particularly happy about it.He enlisted on May 15, 1862, originally, with Capt. James E. Howell, in Salisbury, at age 23. He was diagnosised with debilititis in 1863, at the Wilmington Hospital, his hometown was noted as Norwood.  He was sick quite often, in quarters. R. B. was discharged in March of the next year, reason unknown. He deserted on April 25, 1863. They sent him back.  He deserted on July 9, 1864. Again, he returned, either on his own or by force, it isn't stated. Finally, in 1865 he was free to return home and immediately, the life of Robert Arthur Lee was put into action.

Robert Arthur Lee's mother was Martha Jane Watkins. She was he daughter of Arnold G. Watkins and wife, Marina Wilkerson. Both families were very active in the Norwood and Rocky River area. He was the third child and second son in a family of 7 children, an average-sized brood for the place and time.

Norwood had originated as "Center", as it was sort of a Crossroads between Cottonville, a thriving community of cotton plantations, as the name implies, that grew a world reknowned quality strand of the product; and Allenton, a Revolutionary War area town, a port along the PeeDee River just above the forks with the Rocky River, and an old trade town, as product was brought to load on boats down the river, South Carolina bound. Camp Meetings were held there, and in time, brothers John and William Norwood would have the foresight and fortitude to build a store, or trading post, in the spot that would in time, give the town a name as families removed from the 'unhealthy' areas closer to the water, after breakouts of Thyphoid Fever and other plagues.

In 1870, the family is shown in Center, Robert B, 30, Martha 31 and their three children, Willis 8, Elizabeth 6 and Robert A., 4.

Robert grew up, as many did, a farm boy, and in 1880, is shown as a teenager, helping work his father's farm.

Not long after that, at the young age of 18, an ambitious and lusty teenaged Robert would marry a local girl, Mary Lou Hathcock.

Mary Lou gave her mother's name as Ann Hathcock, but listed no father. The wedding was officiated by Baptist Minister, Rev. E. P. Harrington, in Albemarle. Witnesses were G. F. Hathcock, brother of the bride, and Janey E. Harrington. So who was Mary Lou?

Mary Lou also first shows up in the 1870 census, and like Robert, she was a child born in the aftermath of the Civil War. Here, she is shown with her mother, Martha Ann Hill Hathcock and older brother, George W Franklin "Frank" Hathcock.

There was a third child, an older sister, Martha Jane, who at 10, is shown living with neighbor J. P. Tolbert for unknown reasons. You can see Ann Hill Hathcock and her other two children next door. 

Ten years later, George has started his own family and Martha Ann Hill Hathcock and her two daughters, Martha Jane and Mary Lou, are living in Albemarle. Thankfully for us, Mary Lou's siblings, George and Martha grew up, and lived long enough lives to give us some records, and clues, as to who their father was.

Frank, as he was called, married Mary Ann Rummage in 1878, had a sizeable family and lived in Albemarle working various odd jobs, digging wells, as a carpenter, wood sawyer and general laborer.

Not without his own drama, which is another story, Frank died in Darlington, South Carolina, while visiting a son there.

His death certificate named his father as George Oscar Hathcock. 

George Franklin 'Frank' Hathcock

George Oscar Hathcock was already in my family tree. Born about 1834, he was the son of Benjamin Franklin Hathcock and Nancy Burris Hathcock, my Fifth Great Grandparents and a brother to Obedience "Beedy" Hathock who married Gideon Greene Burris, my fourth Great Grandparents. George Hathcock and Martha Ann Hill married on July 1, 1855. Unfortunately, in 1855, the marriage licenses in Stanly County had not begun to include the names of parents yet. 

George and Martha are found in the 1860 census, with their first child, George Franklin, aged 3, but he was not the only child in the household. There was Eliza Hill, 6 and Susan Hill, 5. Was Martha Ann Hill a widow who had two daughters already? Things began to get more complicated.

In the same 1860 census, Eliza and Susan Hill appear in another household. They are also in the Household of Betsy Hill, a 60 year old woman, who has Dollie 17, Eliza and Susan. They are living next to a Harriett Hill, 21, with two small children, Walter F., aged 3 and Mary E., 4 months old. Who were these Hills? I am a descendant of Julius Hill of the Rocky River, and these Hills I had no information on. Interestingly enough, they lived near Henry Marshall. Was Betsy Hill Martha's mother or mother-in-law? Where did they come from and where did they go? This was a mystery that set me on a journey, but that's a tale for another time. 

George Oscar Hathcock and Martha Ann Hill Hathcock would have their second child, Martha Jane Hathcock on April 1, 1861. She claimed to have been born in South Carolina. Martha Jane would grow up to marry John F. Coley, but not before having 3 daughters who were - Hathcocks.

Martha Jr. and her family actually lived for several decades in Chesterfield County, South Carolina and she died in 1935 in Lilesville in Anson County. After 1861, everyone knows of the event that occurred that left no life in North Carolina untouched - The Civil War. George Oscar Hathcock was among the men who were swept up in the War, and he, like many others, did not survive it. 

George Oscar Hathcock died of chronic diarhea on September 3, 1863. Interestingly enough, he was a muscian. 

Back in Stanly County, Martha Ann Hill Hathcock gave birth to another daughter, Mary Lula Hathcock, who would marry Robert Arthur Lee. Whether or not Mary Lou or Lula was the daughter of George Hathcock is hard to say. In some records, she appears to have been born as late as 1866, which would mean she was not. Other records suggest she may have been born in 1863, which would mean it was possible. 

The marriage of Robert Arthur Lee and Mary Lula Hathcock was a brief one. 

The 1900 census shows the couple boarding with an Efird family and Robert working as a house carpenter. He had applied the year before, 1899, for a marriage license for his sister in-law, Martha, to John F. Coley. Mary Lou was the mother of two children with two living, and indeed, the couple had two daughters, Ella and Hattie, but where were they?

Ella had married the year before, 1899, to John C Carter, and delivered a baby boy, Ray, the same year. The young couple were living with Hettie Carter, and John was called her son, but he was actually her grandson. 

On her marriage certificate to John Carter, who gave his mother as L. S. Carter, (Leah Susan) and his father as 'Unknown' , Ella Lee listed her mother as Lou Lee and her father as 'Unknown' as well. What about Robert A. Lee? She used his last name, although it appears she was born before Robert and Mary Lou's 1884 wedding. John F. Carter was probably the son of Frank Blalock, due to court papers, as Mary Lula Hathcock May have been the daughter of J.P. Tolbert. 

Ella Lee's birth date from later documents is given as June 5, 1883. This would put her at 16 when she married John Carter, not 20. They were all living in Palestine, in Stanly County, NC, at this time, a village, or community in a less populated area of hills located between Albemarle and Badin.

The marriage of Ella to John Carter didn't last long either. They did have two sons, Ray Lee and then Claude Purdue Carter in 1902. Ella remarried on February 7, 1906 to Thomas O. Deaton, this time in Cabarrus County.  It's unknown if she was widowed or divorced. I believe she was divorced, as her name was given as Ella Lee and not Ella Carter. This time she listed her father as Robert Lee and her mother as Mary Lee, but with her mother as living and her father as deceased. Robert Arthur Lee was not dead, not by a long shot, so why the listing that he was?

The groom's residence was given as Mecklenburg County and the bride's as Concord. The wedding was at her residence. The Deatons would have three children, bringing Ella's total to five. In 1910, they were living in Concord, and indicated that they had been married four years, his first marriage, her second and she was the mother of 3 children, all living. They would move to Leaksville, Rockingham County, then to Lexington in Davidson County, where Ella lived until her death in 1967. 

On her death certificate, her father was given as Robert Lee and her mother as Mary Lee. 

Second daughter, Hattie M. Lee, was born squarely into the marriage in 1887. 

In 1900, Hattie, only 13, was living with a Turner couple, Jake and Sallie, and working as a servant. One wonders why she wasn't living at home.

The move proved a measure of fate as the next door neighbors, the Kearnes, included a young man named Charlie. It must have been love, as they would marry for life, have four children, and move to Davidson County, living and working in Erlanger, a textile mill neighborhood in Lexington, and later in Thomasville.

Around 1902 was when Robert Arthur Lee got a wild hair and became a rollling stone. He even remarried to another woman. But what about Mary Lou? Had she died?

In fact, she had not! In 1910, she was living with her oldest daughter, Ellla Lee Deaton and her family in Concord. She listed herself as a widow and a 'Houseworker', but also a wage earner, so she was a paid housekeeper. But as she was fully alive, so was Robert A. Lee, so she was not a widow. I have not found a record of divorce for the two, that doesn't mean that it didn't exist, however, I get the feeling that he disappeared and that Mary Lou and the girls assumed him dead, as the daughters listed their father as deceased on their marriage certificates.

On February 20, 1919, at the age of 53, Mary Lou remarried in Concord, Cabarrus County, to Charles Stoppel Overcash. This gave her a birth year of 1866. She gave her name as Mary Lula Lee and her residence as Concord. Her parents were listed as George Hathcock, deceased and Martha Hathcock, living, of Norwood, NC.  Charles was 59, and also a resident of Concord. His parents, both deceased, were Christopher and Jemimia Overcash. They were married by J. W. Strider, Pastor of "Kerr Street Church", and this would be a great clue to Mary Lou's past, in a future post. Witnesses were C. M. Maxwell and Mac Overcash. 

Charlie, as he was called, and Mary Lou, are found living happily together in 1920, in Leaksville, Rockingham County, where her daughter, Ella, happened to be living. 

 They had a good ten years together, and then Charlie passes away in 1929 at the age of 69. In 1930, Mary Lou is found living in back in Cabarrus County, in Kannapolis, with Charlie's daughter, Bertha Overcash Frieze, and her family.  In 1940, she is found in Lexington, Davidson County, NC, back to living with her daughter, Ella and her family. 

Mary Lula Hathcock Lee Overcash passed away on April 8, 1941, at the age of  78. She was buried in Ebenezer Memorial Cemetery in Lexington. Her death certificate and her tombstone give her birthdate as March 11, 1865, two full years after George Hathcock had died in the Civil War. Her parents name were given as George Hathcock and Martha Ann Hill and her birthplace as Stanly County, N.C. The informant was her daughter, Ella. Did Mary Lou and her daughters ever find out that Robert Lee was not dead, at least when they suspected he was?

Davie County

On May 26, 1902, Robert A. Lee was in Davie County, on the far side of Rowan, from Stanly County, 60 miles from Norwood. He married Mrs. Annie Lee Lineberry Jordan, of Rowan County, who had been married to Henry Thomas Jordan, a much married man from Stanly County, who married his first wife, Annie Dennis, in Davie County. He would marry twice after his split from Annie Lee Lineberry (also seen as Linebarrier). She had been three years older than her oldest stepdaughter.

Had Annie Lee actually divorced, or had she also just ran off from an unhappy marriage?

Now we track Robert Lee's moves through the births of his children.

1903 Mecklenburg County, NC 

First child, Bessie Maude Lee is born on March 16, 1903.

Also in 1903, the newspapers reported a case of State vs. R.A. Lee in Stanly County. Did he show up? I don't know, or what the charges were. 

The Charlotte News

He had entered a 'Guessing contest' in Mecklenburg in 1901.

1906 Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina.

Son Marion Edward Lee was born March 20, 1906, in Wadesboro, Anson County, NC.

1907 Stanly County, North Carolina.

They were back in Stanly County on May 9, 1907, for the birth of their third child and second son, David Lorenza Lee. 

1910 Abbott's Creek, Forsyth County, North Carolina

The family is enumeratied in Abbott's Creek on April 20, 1910, with their three young children. Annie is expecting her fourth. Robert is working as a Carpenter.

August of 1910, Stanly County, North Carolina.

By August 4th of the same year, the family is back in Stanly County for the birth of daughter, Laura.

1911 Norwood, Stanly County, NC, The family is still in Stanly County on May 14, 1911, for the birth of sixth child, son Lenzie Jerome Lee. 

1914 Richmond County, North Carolina

The couple was in Richmond County in the summer of 1914, for the birth, and later death, of their son Robert Benson Lee, who was born on June 28, 1914.

In a tragic turn, little Robert died just short of a month later of a septic condition due to malnutrition. One wonders what conditions led to that sad state. He died on July 25, 1914 and was buried on July 26, in Hoffman, Richmond County, NC. 

1917 Montgomery County, North Carolina.

The family was in Montgomery County, NC for the birth of their 8th child, June Clifton Lee, on June 25, 1917.

1920 Roxboro, Person County, North Carolina

In the 1920 census, Robert is boarding and working as a Sweeper in the Cotton Mill. This was one of the lowest paid postitions and usually delegated to a woman or girl. He was listed as married, but his family was not with him.

1922 Richmond County, North Carolina 

Youngest and last child, Margaret Louise Lee was born August 22, 1922 in Richmond County, NC. Robert was 56 and Annie Lee was 40. Their oldest daughter together, Bessie was 19. I don't know if this set of children ever met their older sisters.

The Fiasco 

Some scrupplous men, finding the uneducated and vunerable maintenance man, Robert Lee, and intrigued by his name came up with a plot based on Southern people's reverence for their military leader, Robert E Lee, and posed Robert A. Lee, or some Robert A. Lee, as a descendant of Robert E. Lee.

Was this the same Robert? I can't be sure, but his status as a janitor at the time and his personality sure fit the bill.

Which ever Robert it was he went to prison for his role in the scam.

1930 Wadesboro, Anson County,  North Carolina 

In the 1930 census, Robert Arthur Lee is found in prison in Wadesboro, on the Stanback Ferry Road,at 65 years old on the Chain Gang. It seems a bit humerous that it was recorded as Occupation; Chain,  Industry: Gang.

But where was his family?

Annie Lee was living in Roanoke Rapids, Halifax County, North Carolina with her oldest daughter, Bessie and her husband, Walter C. Whitley and their 4 children. With her were her youngest two, June C. Lee, 12, and Margaret Louise, 7. Oldest grandson, Ralph, was only a year younger  than Margaret.

Roanoke Rapids, Halifax County, North Carolina

The rest of the children were making their own way in life, some at very early ages.

1930, Tangipahoa, Louisiana

Oldest brothers, Marion and David had stuck together, and moved to Tangipahoa, Louisiana, a swampish area north of New Orleans.

Marion had married Annie Doris Story and had two daughters, Doris, named for her mother, and Marion Hilda, named for her father. David was boarding with them and the two brothers were working as Carpenters, a trade the two boys had proabably learned from their father. On their WWII draft cards, Marion is described as five foot 9 1/2 inches tall, 165 lbs and Ruddy, with brown hair and brown eyes.

David is described as 5 foot 10 1/2 inches tall, 170 lbs with a fair complexion, Blue eyes and Blonde hair.

By this time, he had married to Wilda Martens. I wonder which parent the opposite brothers had taken after? Marion's birthplace of Wadesboro, Anson County, had bee misspelled as 'Wadesborrow, Anderson County, NC'. There is no Anderson County, by the way. David's birthplace of Stanly County, had been spelled, 'Standley'.

Second daughter, Laura Lee, was now 20, not yet married, and was living in Roanoke Rapids where her mother and older sister were, but boarding with another family, and working in a Cotton Mill. At this time in North Carolina history, Cotton Mills provided employment for a large number of the population.

Lenzie Jerome Lee Stands out from his siblings in more ways than one. He took off for the bright lights and big cities at a very young age. He seems to have enveloped his father's wonderlust and knack for trouble. He would eventually join the Air Force. In 1930, 19 year old Lenzie was boarding at the Lafayette Hotel in San Francisco, and working as a Soda Dispenser at a 'Sweet Shop'. Modern times had arrived.

Lenzie's WWII Draft card described him as 6 feet tall, 170 lbs., Light complected with Blonde hair and Grey eyes. He gave his sister, Bessie, of Roanoke Rapids, NC, aka "Mrs. Walter C. Whitley" , as his next of kin. He was living at this time at the Yellowstone Hotel in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.

1938 Stanly County, North Carolina 

Robert A. Lee seems to have been released from prison and shown up in Stanly County, visiting various friends and silbings. It's quite likely that his past troubles were kept secret from his old associates. People were very private in those days.

He visited Red cross and... 

Aquadale.

1940 Roanoke Rapids, Halifax County, North Carolina

Meanwhile, Annie Lee was still in HalifaxCounty with her daughters. Her marital status is divorced. She is staying in the home of oldest daughter, Bessie Whitley, still.

Laura is now married to Cecil Mabrey. The surname was incorrectly transcribed as " Marbley" and Annie Lee was incorrectly given that surname as well, when the actual document just shows "Annie Lee".

1940 Leasburg, Caswell County, North Carolina

A divorced Robert Lee,  incorrectly transcribed as "Lea", is boarding in Caswell County. He is 74 years old.

The censu reveals that in 1935, he had returned to Person County, where he had lived previously.

1940, The Rest of the Children.

Marion and his family are still in Tangipahoa, LA. He and  Doris, not Daria, anre raising their two daughters. Marion has advanced to a Foreman's position, and owns his own home.

David was now married to Wilda, and now in is own home, still in the same place as his older brother, Tangipahoa, and still working as a carpenter. They had no children.

Lenzie, like his father, was still drifting, but on a much wider scale. In 1940, he was living with a large group of men only, in the Union Pacific Hotel in Green River, Sweetwater, Wyoming. His occupation was a laborer. For that, he had made $1000 a year. He had been in Green River for 3 years and indicated that in 1935, he had resided in San Fracisco. The government was tracking the new mobile populatin due to trains and automobiles.

The two youngest were now adults. On June Clifton Lee's WWII Draft Card, he seemed to be a combination of Marion and Lenzie. He was 6 feet tall and 170 lbs like Lenzie. He was ruddy, like Marion with brown hair like Marion and gray eyes like Lenzie.

He was living in Washington DC in 1940, according to the card, and gave his sister Bessie as his contact. He was 23 and working for A and W Hot Shops.

Margaret, the youngest daughter, had married to the much older James Allen, and like her mother's first marriage, she was stepmother, at 18, to members of her own generation.They were living in Northampton County. She had been in Halifax in 1935.

The Ends of the Lee Family.

Surprisngly, although she was nearly two decades younger, Annie Lee Lineberry Lee passed away before Robert. She died in Roanoke Rapids on May 2, 1949. Her obituary seemed to suggest that the divorced couple had rebonded and made amends. 

She was buried in the Cedarwood Cemetery. Her obituary was posted both in Greensboro and the Raleigh Observer, as shown above. She had been living with one of her daughters. Walter and Bessie, at this time, were in Mexico City, Mexico. His name was misspelled as Whitby. It was Whitley. Marion and David stuck together like glue and we're both in Hammond, Louisiana. Lenzy was in San Diego, back in California and June C 'James' Lee was in Rockingham, Richmond County.

Halifax County, NC 1950

Robert, at 87, was living with oldest daughter, Bessie, at her home on Harrison Spring Road in Halifax in 1950. Bessie was obviously the family caretaker, named by all her younger brothers as their next of kin. Mexico City appears to have been just a vaction destination, as they had returned to their long time home.

Robert Arthur Lee, the Carolina Drifter, would pass away three years later, just before Christmas, on December 16, 1953. He was quietly laid beside his longest married wife, Annie Lee, in the Cedarwood Cemetery. There was no obituary. 

Youngest son, June Clifton Lee, was the next to go, the next year, in 1954. He was only 36 years old. June had seemed to have a hard life. He had served in WWII in the air force. 

His location in Richmond County, in 1949, according to his mother's obituary, seems to be because he was in prison for unknown reasons, as he was there in the 1950 census. He had been married twice and had 3 children. I don't know why he died so young, but I feel like it was tragic. His widow and children were living in Roanoke Rapids, as were his older two sisters, Bessie and Louise. Marion and David were still in Hammond, LA and Lenzie had now moved to Los Vegas, Nevada, where he would remain. Margaret Lee Allen was still in Gaston.

June's troubles seemed to start after he got out of the service and was the result of drugs and alcohol.  In 1948, he was in an accident in Valdese. He gave his residence as Texas, where he had a brother at the time.

There were drugs in the car and June was charged with being under the influence of narcotics and larceny of the car. He suffered injuries in the accident, cuts, a concussion and chest injuries. Perhaps there were internal injuries that would prove fatal in the long run.

June was held in Atlanta for awhile, but returned to Durham, NC for tiral in October of 1949.

June became an honor grade inmate and was allowed a two day parole in December of 1949 to attend his mother's funeral. He didn't reutrn on time,  and had a month added to his sentence. By 1951, June had been released from prison, but was rearrested a number of times. He was arrested in Charlotte in September of 1951 for carrying a concealed weapon. Still in Charlotte, he was arrested for drunkeness in Janurary of 1952. He was arrested again for drunkeness in August of 1953. It had become a pattern, serve a short sentence, get out, get in trouble, rinse and repeat. Then in June of 1954, he was dead at 36.

1960's

The 60's took the three oldest daughters of Robert Arthur Lee.

• Hattie Lee Kearns died on May 27 1965 in Greensboro, Guilford County, NC. She had four children: Clarence, Daisy, Pearl and Theodore.
• Ella Louise Lee Carter Deaton was next and passed away on February 22, 1967 in Lexington, Guilford County, NC. She had five children in total, two sons, Ray and Claude by her 1st husband and Carl, Etta and Helen by her second.

1970's

The wild and wooly 70's took the two older sons.

• Marion Edward Lee died on September 20, 1974 in Hammond, Tangipahoa, Louisiana. He and his wife, Anna Doris Story Lee were the parents of two daughters, Doris Louise and Marion Hilda Lee.
• David Lorenza Lee died on August 2, 1977. He and his wife, Wilda Martens Lee had no children.

He had gotten in serious trouble in San Francisco and served time in San Quentin in the 30's.

He also spent time in Alcatraz. His record stated his crime as Grand Theft, and his occupation as a Blacksmith.

Lenzie also had some interesting tatoos, a star, Steer's head with the word 'Arizona', a Cowgirl, one that said 'Hard Luck', and the name "Kathleen" with "True Love" and a Rooster. I wonder who Kathleen was.

After his troubled years, Lenzie took his blacksmith talents to the more rural areas, living in Wyoming and Utah. By the late 40's he was back in California, San Francisco in 1945 and North Hollywood in 1948. If discovered, both Lenzie and Doris could have been stars. They had the looks. By 1957, Lenzie had settled in Vegas, and there he remained until his death. He had no children of his own. He was the last Lee. The last Drifter.