Person:William Lea (20)

Veteran of the French and lndian War

• We know that William Lea was born in 1737, and that he served under Gen. John Forbes and Col. Henry Bouquet to evict the French troops from Fort Duquense, in the French and Indian (and British) War, 1754 - 1761.

Lived in Virginia

• William Lee (Lea) and Margaret Atherton are married 1760 in Virginia.
• In the period between 1765 - 1770, Lea claimed his land, which was awarded him by King George III. He chose acreage around the 1765 British outpost on the Chartiers Creek, where Old St. Lukes stands today.
• Margaret Atherton is gone by 1774
• In February 1774, Lea married Dorothy Nelson in Philadelphia's Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA

In Maryland 1778

• In a book titled "The Revolutionary Records of Maryland", under Montgomery County, it shows among the men signing the Patriots' oath of fidelity and support, returned on 16th of March, 1778 the names of William Lee Sr., Joseph Lee, Joseph Lee, Jr.,Samuel Lee, Aaron Atherton, Benjamin Atherton, John Atherton, Aaron Atherton Jr., and Daniel Cresop.

Mason and Dixon Line

• After David Rittenhouse and Andrew Elliott completed the Mason and Dixon boundary line in 1782, the District of West Augusta Country, Virginia, was ceded into Pennsylvania. Settlers who held Virginia certificates had to transfer their claim to be in Pennsylvania.
• This caught William Lea and others, forcing them to claim Pennsylvania residence. When King George III of England bestowed land grants to the veterans of the French, British, and Indian War, he favored Major William Lea as a veteran of the attack on Fort Duquesne in 1758. Lea was given some 400 acres beside the Chartiers Creek in the then colony of Virginia. This land was reduced to 335.5 acres in Pennsylvania.
• Letter Patent Pennsylvania issued to Major William Lea for his land, situated initially in the District of West Augusta County of Virginia. A Survey was made by Neville of Ritchie Township, (Joseph Neville, a Virginia statesman ?) on the third day of February, 1787 of 335 acres and a half, on the waters of the Chartiers Creek, Washington County, for William Lee (Lea), and returned on the fifteenth day of May 1787, witnessed by the Able Steve Muhlenberg, Esq. the first day of April, 1788.

Source

http://www.oldsaintlukes.org/William%20Lea%27s%201787%20Pennsylvania%20Land%20Patent.pdf

Old St. Lukes Church, Allegheny County, PA

• In 1790 Lea sequestered "10 rods square" of his land for the erection of a church - St. Luke's.
• From the Pittsburgh Leader, September 24, 1905

The Lea family was one of the pioneers in this end of the country. Major Lea, the first of the American line, crossed the Allegheny hills with Gen. Forbes, commander of the expedition against Ft. Duquesne in 1758.

He was a major in that famous little army that, commanded in part by the illustrious warriors Washington and Boquet, planted the cross of St. George at the headwaters of the Ohio.

At present the two most conspicuous facts known about him are his connection with Forbes' expedition and his liberality in donating a site for St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, Woodville.

This is the oldest church of this denomination west of the Allegheny Mountains, services being held on the spot as early as 1765 when Pittsburg(h) was a mere collection of paltry huts protected by the guns of old Ft. Pitt. Worship was inaugurated only one year after the laying out of the first plan of lots in this little town at the Point, and the building of the Boquet redoubt, still standing, named the "Block House".

Connection to Bardstown, Kentucky

• In June 1999, A Lee folder was discovered in the genealogical section of the Bardstown, Kentucky library. In the folder was a work sheet bearing the following information:

"William Henry Lee was born in Maryland (possibly Baltimore Co.) about 17--, and he joined the Maryland Militia taking the Oath of Fidelity & support in Jan 27, 1778. While in service or before, he met and served with Aaron Atherton Sr. and his three brothers, John, Joshua and Benjamin. William and the Athertons served in the Washington County, MD area in Capt. Daniel Cresap's Co. of Col. Lemuel (Samuel) Barrett's Battalion. He was already married to Marg. Atherton. He served with his son Abraham Lee..."

• June 2013, The following statement above should be written as

Maj. William Lea Sr. was born in Montgomery County, Maryland about 1737. He joined the Maryland Militia taking the Oath of Fidelity & support in Jan 27, 1778. While in service, or before, he met and served with Aaron Atherton Sr. b. 1720 and his three brothers, John, Joshua, and Benjamin. Maj. William Lea Sr. and the Athertons served in the Washington County, Maryland area in Captain Daniel Cresap's Company of Colonel Lemuel 'Samuel' Barrett's Battalion. Maj. William Lea Sr., was already married to Margaret Atherton, the daughter of Aaron Atherton Sr. b. 1720. Maj. William Lea Sr., likely served with his son's, brother's, one being an Abraham Lee.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Maj William Lea, in Find A Grave.

   Last Will & Testament of Maj. William Lea
   On August 19, 1802, Maj. William Lea completed his Will. Lea began his Will by giving his "soul into the hands of Almighty God Who gave it, and his body to the earth, to be buried in a discreet and Christian-like manner."
   He left his wife Dorothy her bed and bedding, two milk cows, two sheep and half of hit kitchen furniture. As long as she lived, Dorothy was given the use of his plantation and all of his stock. Next, Lea divided his plantation of 393 acres equally, to William, Samuel, and Robert, plus one horse each. To his daughter Elizabeth he left 25 pounds plus one milk cow.
   Finally, William Lea bequeathed "ten rods square of ground for the use of the Episcopal Congregation where the Church now stands." He gave only the use of his land, known as "fee tail" - tailing back to his family. Old St. Lukes does not have a deed for the land, only Lea's Will (The Allegheny County Will Book No.1, Vol. 1, page 163, #105).

2.   Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900: [database online] (not considered a reliable primary source). (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004).

   Name: William Lee
   Gender: Male
   Birth Place: VA
   Birth Year: 1738
   Spouse Name: Margaret Atherton
   Spouse
   Birth Place: VA
   Spouse Birth Year: 1742
   Marriage
   Year: 1760
   Marriage State: VA
   Number Pages: 1
   
   Source Citation: Source number: 1307.116; Source type: Family group sheet, FGSE, listed as parents; Number of Pages: 1.