Grandma Margery Brittentine Lee and son Huey Lee

Photograph of my GG-Grandmother, Margery Brittentine Lee and son Huey Lee in a deguerretype photo/postcard. On the back is written: Mrs. R.C. Lee and Master Hughie Lee(She was the wife of Richard Clyde Lee)Taken circa 1915-1917 since Uncle Huey was born in 1912. The frame surrounding the picture was digitally added as was the names on the photo. Click to enlarge

Margery(Margie) Brittentine Lee was born in about 1880. She was the daughter of Monroe and Sophia Gay Brittentine. She was one of about 12 children including Robert, Sidney, Esther, Eva, Ella, Lizzie and Jones, Phoebe, Promise, Punny and Ernest. She resided in the Plain Dealing/Rocky Mount,Louisiana area near Shreveport.

She married Richard Clyde Lee on January 27, 1894, the son of Betty Banks Brown Lee Smith and her 1st husband. Richard and Margery according to oral history met at their family church, Galilee Baptist Church. She reportedly sang in the choir. The ceremony was performed by an uncle, Reverand Allen Brown. It was a double wedding since Richard's sister Mary Eliza married Marcus Burton the same day. It was a Saturday wedding on more than likely a crisp winter day since the average high is about 56 degrees in that area during January.



Copy of their marriage liscense (Click to enlarge)

Margie picked a good husband. Not only was he extremely handsome but Richard was a hard-working man and a go-getter. He is listed on the census as doing farm work but also taught school at Galilee Baptist Church according to my late cousin Lizzie Neal Bagley of Detroit, Michigan who was one of his pupils. She also related that he was very educated and he and his wife Margery were regarded as 2 of the most upstanding colored citizens of the area.

By all accounts, Grandma Margie was a fine dresser. She and her husband were well to do and she dressed accordingly. According to family sources, she was a wonderful seamstress having sewn many of her own outfits.

She was also a wonderful homemaker. She and her husband lived in a grand home in Rocky Mount. They owned over 80 acres of land which still remains in the family.

Papa Dickie(Richard Lee) is said to have owned one of the nicest horse-drawn buggies in the area. He acquired hundreds of acres of properties in bossier parish some of which he purchased according to records from the DeMoss Family.

They were a strong God loving family who had deep Christian and family values that they passed on to their families.

Richard and Margery raised two sons, Robert Edward Lee (1897), my grandfather and Huey Lee (1912). Tragically, Margery miscarried approximately 6 other children including twins all of which were girls. According to her son, Huey Lee, all are buried in Galilee Cemetery in Plain Dealing surrounding the body of Mrs. Margery Brittentine Lee.

Their grief was kindled by the birth of their 1st grand-daughter, Johnnie Pearl Lee in 1918, the daughter of their son Robert and his wife, Annie Bell Johnson Lee. By all accounts, they loved her very much and spent a lot of time fawning over her. According to my Aunt Lizzie Neal Bagley, Johnnie Pearl’s cousin on her mother’s side, she spent most of her time and holidays with her “Papa Dickie” and “Grandma Margie.”

Richard died in 1926, cause of death unknown at the age of 54. Among the loved ones he left behind were Margery, his wife of 32 years, 14 year old Huey, 29 year old Robert and his mother Bettie.

According to my Grandpa Johnie, Grandma Margie developed breast cancer in the early 1930's. As a result, both of her breast were surgically removed. Unfortunatley, the cancer spread and Margery Brittentine Lee died on November 14, 1937. She is buried next to her beloved husband, Richard Clyde Lee in Galilee cemetery.

She was a fine woman who passed down some meaningful family values and I will always love her for it.

Rest in peace Grandma, until we meet someday!

Fabulous Discovery in Texas-Another long lost relative reunited with his Ancestral Tree!

Today, I had another amazing discovery. I finally found the death certificate for my Great, Great, Great Uncle Major Smith in Texas, a place that I would have never thought to look.


Click to view image

The reason I would have never thought to look in Texas is because his family was from the Plain Dealing, Louisiana area and because he is buried in the family cemetery with them. I have pictures of his grave. However, I was never able to find a death certificate or any other records of him for that matter. Much of the information that I have on him came via oral history from family members including his sister and my GGG-Aunt, Sally who lived to be about 106. She kept his memory alive. I actually have an original large oval framed photograph of him pictured with his brother, my gg-grandfather, Richard Clyde "Dickie" Lee. It is a beautiful photograph of two very handsome men which graces the wall of my dining room.

Even though I had a great deal of proof of his existence, I just never had any genealogy records on him before now. It was as if he left no paper trail of his life at all until now in Texas.

Again, I am so elated. The death certificate confirms some information that I already knew including the fact that he died young, at age 30. It lists his parents as Anthony Smith and Betty Banks which I also knew. However, it dispelled a lot of the rumors that previously existed regarding the circumstances of his death. The information that I always heard was that he was killed in a tragic car accident. However, according to his death certificate, he died of pulmonary tuberculosis while working in El Paso, Texas doing rail road work on January 21, 1923. It says he had only been in the area for 4 months. Apparently, he went there to earn money since although the Great Depression did not hit until 1928, times were still hard especially for african americans in the South so they often went where they could find work. He was listed as single which is also in contrast to some of the stories that he was married. It is still unknown if he had any children. His death still seems tragic to me and must have to his family with him dying at the age of 30.

I'm sure Uncle Major is smiling today because of the knowledge that his final story is finally known made possible by the release of vital records, today's technology and the Awesome Power and Will of God Almighty! I'm smiling too!


Major Smith January 1, 1893 to January 21, 1923


(Major Smith's grave in Galilee Baptist Chruch Family cemetery in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. Most likely placed much later after burial since Birth and Death information is incorrect on stone as if it was estimated by memory)

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see!