Dear Rebecca,
I am in the process of compiling a mass of primary documents and notes provided by my father, Arnold D. Lewis, and cousin, Dr. Ed Smith of Tennessee. Among the many documents are a series of biographical notes written 1986-87 by my grandmother, Tommie Lenora Campbell (d/o Columbus Campbell and Mary Susannah "Minnie" Lee).
Grandma Tommie wrote:
Re: (Gen 2) Samuel Lee of North Carolina
My maternal great-grandfather Samuel Lee and his wife Sarah Shay were among the first white settlers of Wayne County, Mississippi. They came there from North Carolina. I'm not sure of the date, but it had to be around 1800. They stopped to settle on the Chickasawhay River (the river that runs through Enterprise) while the brother [Everett?] who came with him went on further west to build up a plantation near Natchez. . .Robert E. (Mama's dad) was [child] no. 21. He was born in 1818. His mother died soon after he was born. . .Two of Patsy Overstreet's brothers [1 brother & 1 cousin] had married daughters of Sam Lee, and after John West died, they built a house for her and her kids near them in the Lee Settlement and moved them there. Needless to say Old Sam latched onto her [married in 1835]. . .Sometime later in the 1830s, the older Lee brothers and some of Patsy's [Overstreet West Lee's] kin were stricken with the "going west" fever and headed out in search of new homes. . .By the time they reached and crossed the big river [Mississippi], they were worn out from walking and riding, and Patsy and her kin decided to stop and rest up awhile. Sam and his older sons and their families went on in search of the "Promised Land". . .After several weeks, Sam's party found the rich Texas soil they were looking for and settled down to build cabins. . .Sam thought it wise to go back to where he had left them, [but] he found only empty land. . .he was able to figure out that they had gone back home. . .Patsy hadn't wanted to go to Texas in the first place, and Robert had flatly refused. . .So he too was headed out again, but this time pushing his horse on back east toward Wayne County. . .He had to spend the winter in Wayne County, but he couldn't get Texas out of his mind. . .he saddled up and headed west again, this time riding alone. . .He made it back to Texas to his sons but only to die and be buried there.
Re: (Gen 3) Robert/Robeson E. Lee of Wayne Co MS
Robert E. (Mama's dad) was [child] no. 21. He was born in 1818. His mother died soon after he was born, and his grown sisters raised him. . .I'm sure Sam and the others thought Robert would follow soon after when they loaded up their women and children and household goods. . .but he fooled them. He stayed on, hung on to the old home and never saw them again. . .Before many years passed, the two Lee sisters living on the old plantation moved away, leaving the place and everything on it to Robert. Soon after that [1/1846], he married Catherine West. His father had been married to Catherine's mother, but they were no kin and had not been raised together. They had ten kids; my mother [Minnie Lee] was the youngest. . .After Robert and Catherine were married, they came to be commonly known by the names they adopted for each other--Rob and Katie.
Re: (Gen 2) Dr. John West of Ireland
Mama's maternal grandfather was John West, a doctor from Ireland. He came over sometime during the 1820s. . .he settled in Waynesboro, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama. He later married Patsy Overstreet [West Lee].
Re: (Gen 1) John Overstreet of Georgia
The Overstreets, like the Lees, were among the first white settlers in Wayne County. I don't know what eastern state they came from [Georgia], but they were educated people [who] built and ran the first and probably only public school --then called Academy--in the entire south.
Re: (Gen 2) Patsy Overstreet
[Dr. John West] married Patsy Overstreet. . .Two of Patsy Overstreet's brothers [1 brother & 1 cousin] had married daughters of Sam Lee, and after John West died, they built a house for her and her kids near them in the Lee Settlement and moved them there. Needless to say Old Sam latched onto her. . . .
Re: (Gen 3) Katie West (d/o John West & Patsy Overstreet)
Katie was born in 1830 and died in 1910. . .What I know of her was told by Mama [Mary Susannah "Minnie" Lee] and my oldest sister. . .She spent some time at the academy run by an aunt and uncle but wasn't taught to read or write or do sums. . .[Rob Lee] married Catherine West. His father had been married to Catherine's mother, but they were no kin and had not been raised together. They had ten kids; my mother [Minnie Lee] was the youngest. . .After Robert and Catherine were married, they came to be commonly known by the names they adopted for each other--Rob and Katie.
CE Lewis