Sussex-Prince George County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Lee, Erastus Littleton 1853 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 17, 2008, 2:45 pm Author: Leonard Wilson (1916) ERASTUS LITTLETON LEE IN the year 1298, William Wallace, the great Scottish patriot, reared the standard of freedom from the tyranny of Edward I, King of England. Among the stout-hearted patriots who followed the great hero was Lee of Lockhart, or Lockhart of Lee, as he is sometimes called. This is the first mention of Lee in Scottish history. The name is still more ancient in England, for the Lees of Cheshire were of the gentry in the time of Henry III. Later this family held the earldom of Lichfield and became extinct in the male line with the death of General Charles Lee, of the Continental Army, who died in 1782, just before the close of the Revolution. The last of this family was Prances Lee, daughter of Nathaniel Lee, of Darnhall, Cheshire, who married John Townshend, a gentleman of Derbyshire. English Cyclopaedias of Biography give more or less extended biographies of fifty Lees who won place in their generations, and American Cyclopaedias supplement this with another fifty, who have distinguished themselves in the new country. In Great Britain the Lees are credited with fifty-four separate Coats of Arms; under other spellings, the Leas show five, the Leghs, eleven, and the Leighs, sixty-six, making the astounding number of one hundred and thirty-six Coats of Arms granted these families in seven hundred years. The family name looms great in British and American history, and best of all, nowhere does it appear in a discreditable way, but always with a record of usefulness and patriotism. Of the fifty who have figured in our annals as men of character and usefulness that demanded recognition, five names stand out conspicuously. These are Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee, Revolutionary patriots and Statesmen, who were brothers; their cousin, General Henry Lee, known in the history of that period as Light-horse Harry Lee; Rev. Jesse Lee, known as the Apostle of Methodism in New England; and General Robert E. Lee (son of General Henry Lee), the greatest military genius ever produced by the English-speaking peoples, and one of the purest characters, and most lofty minded patriots in all history. Of the four Revolutionary characters, Jesse Lee was the youngest, born in Prince George County, Virginia, on March 12, 1758, son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Mills) Lee. He was only seventeen years of age at the outbreak of the Revolution. The first Lees in Prince George were Peter and Samuel, who patented land in 1717; but another Peter Lee had settled in Henrico in 1656, and it is more than likely that the Prince George men were his sons or grandsons. Nathaniel Lee was evidently son of Peter or Samuel. Jesse Lee was of strongly religious turn; he had become a Methodist, and at seventeen was preaching at the Methodist meetings held at his father's house. In 1777 he moved to North Carolina, became a farmer, and was made class leader on the Roanoke Circuit. He delivered his first regular sermon November 17, 1779. Drafted into the militia early in 17S0, he refused to bear arms, as being against his religious convictions, from which it will be seen that he was as stout in his religious belief as the other Lees were in their political opinions. Respecting his opinions, the officers put him in charge of a baggage wagon, but he was soon appointed chaplain of the troops, receiving an honorable discharge on October 29, 1780. For the next two years he was engaged as a circuit preacher, attended Virginia Conference in 1782, and was admitted on trial as a member of that conference on May 6, 1783. Sent to the Salisbury Circuit in 1784, he accompanied Bishop Asbury on a tour which extended from Norfolk, Virginia, to the extreme southwest of North Carolina, and resulted in great gain to the church. He was on the Kent (Maryland) Circuit in 1786, the Baltimore Circuit in 1787, and the Flanders Circuit (New Jersey and New York) in 1788. In 1789 he was sent to the Stamford Circuit (Connecticut). Methodism had no foothold in that country, but he established classes in Norwalk, New Haven, and other places, and in 1790 visited Boston. No church there would open its doors to him, so he preached under an "elm tree" on the Common. For the next six years he preached throughout New England with such zeal and success as to win the title of the "Apostle of Methodism." He was ordained Deacon and Elder at the New York Conference of 1790. August 8, 1794, he laid the cornerstone of the first Methodist Church in Boston. In 1796, appointed an assistant to Bishop Asbury, he visited the Southern States as his substitute, and superintended conferences both North and South. In 1800, on the election of a new bishop, he tied with Richard Whatcoat, but on the next ballot Whatcoat was elected by a majority of two votes. He was Presiding Elder at Norfolk in 1801-03; at Williamsburg (Virginia), 1804-07; at Cumberland (Maryland), 1807-16. In 1808 he was chiefly instrumental in inaugurating the delegated general conference, now the supreme authority in the Methodist Church. He was Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives in the tenth and twelfth Congresses, 1807-09 and 1811-13; and of the United States Senate in the thirteenth and fourteenth Congresses, 1813-16. He published a History of Methodism in America in 1809, which was the first work on the subject. He died at Hillsboro, Maryland, September 12, 1816. Such is a brief outline of the life work of this supremely great man. To grasp its significance fully, we must understand the times in which he lived and the conditions under which he worked. At the close of the Revolutionary War, religion was at a low ebb in the United States. The Congregational Church dominating New England, was unenterprising and non-missionary. The Church of England, the mother church of the Southern Colonies, had lost its foothold by neglect. The Presbyterians holding to an educated ministry were reaching but a small fraction of the people. There remained only the despised Methodists and Baptists, few in numbers, poor in purse, without influence, with no social standing, but rich in zeal, full of the power of the Holy Ghost, and with a heroic determination to carry the Gospel to all the people. A large majority of the people in the older settled sections were poorly supplied with churches and preachers, while vast frontiers were filling up with resolute and adventurous men and women who were in danger of forgetting God and their religious obligations. The country was of vast extent, traversed by many and large rivers, almost without roads, entirely without bridges, with long distances between settlements, and with poverty and narrow resources the rule everywhere in the newer sections. Travel was of necessity by horseback, and the traveler coming to an unfordable stream, usually had to swim it. The work done by the pioneer Methodist and Baptist preachers, under these untoward conditions, has never been surpassed, if it has been equaled, since the days of the Apostles. The Methodist preacher got a salary of sixty-four dollars per year. Usually, he preached daily wherever he could gather a few people together. Naturally he could not marry on his income, so that usually when he married he retired from the itineracy, and became a local preacher. Many of their circuits covered an area as large as ten or twenty modern counties. Their labors were heroic and herculean, and it is therefore not surprising that many of them succumbed and died before reaching the prime of middle life. Among these men. Jesse Lee was a leader. They saved the day for the cause of religion in the South and West, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for their splendid self-sacrifice which has had such far-reaching results. Another noted minister of later date, descended from Jesse Lee, was Dr. L. M. Lee. He was an effective preacher of the deepest truths and of religious doctrine. His devotion, courage, candor and unassuming ways quickly won and held the affection of his people. A present-day representative descendant from the great pioneer preacher, Jesse Lee, is Erastus Littleton Lee, a successful business man of Stony Creek, Sussex County, Virginia. Mr. Lee was born in Prince George County, Virginia, August 19, 1853, son of Littleton Leath and Frances Peebles (Moore) Lee. Educated in the local common schools of his section he entered business life, and, as a merchant and buyer of cotton and peanuts, which are largely grown in his section, has had a successful career. A Democrat in his political views, he has been content to discharge his civic duties as a private citizen. Mr. Lee has the same strong religious convictions that characterized his noted ancestor, but does not adhere to the Methodist Church. Like many other thoughtful men of our day, he does not stress the denominational line, and though a church Elder, it is a non-denominational organization that he favors. "Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," seem to be the governing principles of E. L. Lee's life and as embodying his religious thought, which is to him the most important of all things, there is here presented his views in his own words: To us the Scriptures clearly teach- "That the Church is the 'Temple of the Living God,' peculiarly His workmanship; that its construction has been in progress throughout the Gospel Age ever since Christ became the world's Redeemer and the Chief Corner Stone of His Temple, through •which, when finished, God's blessing shall come to all people, and they shall find access to Him. "That meantime the chiseling, shaping and polishing of consecrated believers in Christ's Atonement for sin, progresses; and when the last of these 'living stones Elect and precious' shall have been made, the great Master Workman will bring all together in the First Resurrection; and the Temple shall be filled with His glory, and shall be the meeting place between God and men throughout the Millennium. "That the basis of hope for the Church and the world lies in the fact that 'Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man,' 'a Ransom for all,' and will be 'the True Light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world' in due time. "That the hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, 'see Him as He is,' be 'partaker of the Divine Nature,' and share His glory as His joint heir. "That the present mission of the Church is the perfecting of the saints for the future work of service; to develop in herself every grace; to be God's witness to the world; and to prepare to be kings and priests in the next age. "That the hope of the world lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ's Millennial Kingdom-the Restitution of all that was lost in Adam, to all the willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and His glorified Church-when all the wilfully wicked will be destroyed." Mr. Lee has been twice married. His first wife was Lucy Ann Harrison, born July 14, 1855, in Sussex County, daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Virginia Harrison. After her death he married Ellen Lee Freeman, born at Coman's Well, March 24, 1862, daughter of John B. and Clara F. Freeman. He has eight children, Mabel Livingstone, who is a graduate of the Woman's College, Richmond, Virginia; Francis Harrison; Winifred Freeman; Nellie Frances; Clara Elizabeth; Hester Margaret; Erastus Taylor; and Virginia Peebles Lee. Additional Comments: Extracted from: MAKERS OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE VOLUME II By LEONARD WILSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS Illustrated with many full page engravings B. F. JOHNSON, INC. CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A. 1916 Copyright, 1916 by B. F. Johnson, Inc. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/photos/bios/lee30gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/bios/lee30gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/vafiles/ File size: 12.6 Kb