William Lee, or Bill as he was called, was the third child of Washington and Amanda Lee. His birth place is in question, was it Missouri, the Oregon Trail, or Oregon Territory? In The Brazen Overlanders of 1845 the Oregon Territory and the Oregon Trail are listed as his possible locations of birth. His birth year of 1846 supports this data since the family probably left Missouri in the spring of 1845 and arrived in Oregon by August. However, often Bill Lee listed his birth place as Missouri.
He lived the first years of his life on the family farm in the Northwest. But his parents soon looked south toward California and moved their young family to Yolo County near Sacramento in time to be counted in the 1860 U. S. Census. After his youngest sisters, Ella and Ada, were born the family packed up and moved southward again. We next find them in the great San Joaquin Valley in Tulare County, California. They are listed in the 1870 census in Farmersville, near Visalia. Bill and his brothers John and Joe worked on their family’s farm, described as “farm laborers” in the census.
Although Bill’s parents Washington and Amanda Lee have not been located in the 1880 census, there is evidence that Bill had returned to Yolo County, California. In the 1880 census we find him living as a single man in Colusa with the John Spurgeon family, listed as a farm hand. There does appear to be a connection between the Spurgeon family and the Lee family in Colusa, so there is a possibility that Bill was living with cousins. He appears in the Great Register of Voters for 1890 in Santa Ynez along with both his brothers.
We next find Bill living in one of the West’s last frontier towns, Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California. His older brother, John, remained in Santa Ynez while his younger brother, Joe and family, had been driven out by the drought and moved south. In the 1900 census Joe and Molly Lee and children are dry farming in Calabasas. Living near them are the Grant, Stokes and Mendenhall families, all of whom would marry into the Lee family. Bill Lee is living alone, head-of-household, next door to the Mendenhalls.
The 1920 census shows Bill living in the household of his nephew, Fred Lee (George Frederick Lee). Fred was the son of Joe and Molly Lee and was married with children. They resided in Los Angeles and the census mistakenly identifies Bill as Fred’s father. In a 2009 phone interview with Fred Lee’s daughter, Verna Lee Cox, she recalled “Uncle Bill” living with them when she was very young.
Ray Mendenhall remembers him as being "old" at 50. He was stooped over from lifting. According to Ray, the three brothers were tumblers in Circus. Bill was the "bottom man" - a brute of a man. He could do the work of two men. Ray said he was a very "fine old man”. He was living with Joe and Pearl Lee in 1910 and lived with Fred and Hazel Lee for a while (in 1920), then he lived in an old red barn on Clinton St. at Hoover in Los Angeles.
He lived the first years of his life on the family farm in the Northwest. But his parents soon looked south toward California and moved their young family to Yolo County near Sacramento in time to be counted in the 1860 U. S. Census. After his youngest sisters, Ella and Ada, were born the family packed up and moved southward again. We next find them in the great San Joaquin Valley in Tulare County, California. They are listed in the 1870 census in Farmersville, near Visalia. Bill and his brothers John and Joe worked on their family’s farm, described as “farm laborers” in the census.
Although Bill’s parents Washington and Amanda Lee have not been located in the 1880 census, there is evidence that Bill had returned to Yolo County, California. In the 1880 census we find him living as a single man in Colusa with the John Spurgeon family, listed as a farm hand. There does appear to be a connection between the Spurgeon family and the Lee family in Colusa, so there is a possibility that Bill was living with cousins. He appears in the Great Register of Voters for 1890 in Santa Ynez along with both his brothers.
We next find Bill living in one of the West’s last frontier towns, Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California. His older brother, John, remained in Santa Ynez while his younger brother, Joe and family, had been driven out by the drought and moved south. In the 1900 census Joe and Molly Lee and children are dry farming in Calabasas. Living near them are the Grant, Stokes and Mendenhall families, all of whom would marry into the Lee family. Bill Lee is living alone, head-of-household, next door to the Mendenhalls.
The 1920 census shows Bill living in the household of his nephew, Fred Lee (George Frederick Lee). Fred was the son of Joe and Molly Lee and was married with children. They resided in Los Angeles and the census mistakenly identifies Bill as Fred’s father. In a 2009 phone interview with Fred Lee’s daughter, Verna Lee Cox, she recalled “Uncle Bill” living with them when she was very young.
Ray Mendenhall remembers him as being "old" at 50. He was stooped over from lifting. According to Ray, the three brothers were tumblers in Circus. Bill was the "bottom man" - a brute of a man. He could do the work of two men. Ray said he was a very "fine old man”. He was living with Joe and Pearl Lee in 1910 and lived with Fred and Hazel Lee for a while (in 1920), then he lived in an old red barn on Clinton St. at Hoover in Los Angeles.
William Lee, or Bill as he was called, was the third child of Washington and Amanda Lee. His birth place is in question, was it Missouri, the Oregon Trail, or Oregon Territory? In The Brazen Overlanders of 1845 the Oregon Territory and the Oregon Trail are listed as his possible locations of birth. His birth year of 1846 supports this data since the family probably left Missouri in the spring of 1845 and arrived in Oregon by August. However, often Bill Lee listed his birth place as Missouri.
He lived the first years of his life on the family farm in the Northwest. But his parents soon looked south toward California and moved their young family to Yolo County near Sacramento in time to be counted in the 1860 U. S. Census. After his youngest sisters, Ella and Ada, were born the family packed up and moved southward again. We next find them in the great San Joaquin Valley in Tulare County, California. They are listed in the 1870 census in Farmersville, near Visalia. Bill and his brothers John and Joe worked on their family’s farm, described as “farm laborers” in the census.
Although Bill’s parents Washington and Amanda Lee have not been located in the 1880 census, there is evidence that Bill had returned to Yolo County, California. In the 1880 census we find him living as a single man in Colusa with the John Spurgeon family, listed as a farm hand. There does appear to be a connection between the Spurgeon family and the Lee family in Colusa, so there is a possibility that Bill was living with cousins. He appears in the Great Register of Voters for 1890 in Santa Ynez along with both his brothers.
We next find Bill living in one of the West’s last frontier towns, Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California. His older brother, John, remained in Santa Ynez while his younger brother, Joe and family, had been driven out by the drought and moved south. In the 1900 census Joe and Molly Lee and children are dry farming in Calabasas. Living near them are the Grant, Stokes and Mendenhall families, all of whom would marry into the Lee family. Bill Lee is living alone, head-of-household, next door to the Mendenhalls.
The 1920 census shows Bill living in the household of his nephew, Fred Lee (George Frederick Lee). Fred was the son of Joe and Molly Lee and was married with children. They resided in Los Angeles and the census mistakenly identifies Bill as Fred’s father. In a 2009 phone interview with Fred Lee’s daughter, Verna Lee Cox, she recalled “Uncle Bill” living with them when she was very young.
Ray Mendenhall remembers him as being "old" at 50. He was stooped over from lifting. According to Ray, the three brothers were tumblers in Circus. Bill was the "bottom man" - a brute of a man. He could do the work of two men. Ray said he was a very "fine old man”. He was living with Joe and Pearl Lee in 1910 and lived with Fred and Hazel Lee for a while (in 1920), then he lived in an old red barn on Clinton St. at Hoover in Los Angeles.
He lived the first years of his life on the family farm in the Northwest. But his parents soon looked south toward California and moved their young family to Yolo County near Sacramento in time to be counted in the 1860 U. S. Census. After his youngest sisters, Ella and Ada, were born the family packed up and moved southward again. We next find them in the great San Joaquin Valley in Tulare County, California. They are listed in the 1870 census in Farmersville, near Visalia. Bill and his brothers John and Joe worked on their family’s farm, described as “farm laborers” in the census.
Although Bill’s parents Washington and Amanda Lee have not been located in the 1880 census, there is evidence that Bill had returned to Yolo County, California. In the 1880 census we find him living as a single man in Colusa with the John Spurgeon family, listed as a farm hand. There does appear to be a connection between the Spurgeon family and the Lee family in Colusa, so there is a possibility that Bill was living with cousins. He appears in the Great Register of Voters for 1890 in Santa Ynez along with both his brothers.
We next find Bill living in one of the West’s last frontier towns, Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California. His older brother, John, remained in Santa Ynez while his younger brother, Joe and family, had been driven out by the drought and moved south. In the 1900 census Joe and Molly Lee and children are dry farming in Calabasas. Living near them are the Grant, Stokes and Mendenhall families, all of whom would marry into the Lee family. Bill Lee is living alone, head-of-household, next door to the Mendenhalls.
The 1920 census shows Bill living in the household of his nephew, Fred Lee (George Frederick Lee). Fred was the son of Joe and Molly Lee and was married with children. They resided in Los Angeles and the census mistakenly identifies Bill as Fred’s father. In a 2009 phone interview with Fred Lee’s daughter, Verna Lee Cox, she recalled “Uncle Bill” living with them when she was very young.
Ray Mendenhall remembers him as being "old" at 50. He was stooped over from lifting. According to Ray, the three brothers were tumblers in Circus. Bill was the "bottom man" - a brute of a man. He could do the work of two men. Ray said he was a very "fine old man”. He was living with Joe and Pearl Lee in 1910 and lived with Fred and Hazel Lee for a while (in 1920), then he lived in an old red barn on Clinton St. at Hoover in Los Angeles.
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