Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/487

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

}f^7

Benjamin Carter and Ann (Mason) Sebrell Everette, was born in Southampton county, Virginia, February 27, 1857. He was edu- cated in the pubHc and private institutions of the county of his birth. Entering the mercantile business as a retail dealer he was for ten years so engaged in Sussex county, Virginia, and for three or four years fol- lowed the same line in Emporia, Virginia. ^^'hile a resident of Sussex county, Mr. Everette held the office of justice of the peace. Politically a Democrat, he has long been welcomed in the councils of his party throughout the state, and for several years has been a delegate to the Virginia State Democratic Convention. For ten years he was a member of the Democratic Committee of Greenville county, and in 1902 was ap- pointed bv the \^irginia Constitutional Con- vention a member of the Board of Registers for a term of two years, three members be- ing appointed from each district. Mr. Everette was placed in the mayor's chair in Emporia in 1906, since which time he has not been removed, each election confirming the former choice of the citizens of Emporia by a wide majority. Mr. Everette was for two years senior deacon of Emporia Lodge, No. 150, Free and Accepted Masons. His religious denomination is the Methodist Episcopal, and in this church he is a mem- ber of the official board.

Air. Everette married, January 15, 1879. Ann Eliza Williams, daughter of Philip T. and ]\Iary Williams, of Sussex county, Vir- ginia. Children : Ula Sebrell ; Hadee C, married A. B. Garber, druggist, of Law- renceville ; Annie Elizabeth.

Goodwin Lee. The early history of this name in England is treated at length else- where in this work. A large family of Lees in Virginia is descended from Richard Lee, who was a member of the house of bur- gesses of Mrginia from York county, in 1647. Henry Lee, who was undoubtedly his brother, was a member of the same house in 1652. He was an attorney in York county, appearing of record March 5, 1645, ^"ci held various offices of public trust in that county during his life. He was granted two hun- dred and fifty acres of land Ijy the Crown in 1648, and received a further grant of one hundred and twenty-six acres, September 12, 1652. Both Richard and Henry Lee were justices in 1647, and as early as Feb-

ruary 29, 1644, both certified to a document. By his will, probated May 24, 1693, in Y'ork county, Henry Lee bequeathed lands to his sons William and Henry, and to several of his servants. His personal effects included "common prayer books and a silver dram cup." To his wife Alice he bequeathed the residue of his estate during her widowhood. The family has continued on the original homestead down to a very recent period, and has intermarried with the Burwells, Higginsons, Ludwells, Lightfoots, and other families of the immediate vicinity. Among the grants to Henry Lee was an Indian settlement known as "Kis Ryacke," and the original house built thereon by Henry Lee, exceedingly simple and primitive, is still standing. It was built of alternating glazed and red brick, imported from England, the first Lee house built in America. His son William inherited a part of the paternal estate, and was the father of Henry Lee, who had sons Higginson, William and Francis. Francis was the father of William Lee. William Lee's wife was of the dis- tinguished family of Ludwells of Virginia. Mr. Lee had a neighbor and warm friend named Martin Baker, and in honor of this friend, he named one of his sons Baker Per- kins Lee. He had other sons, Francis Light- foot, Lewis Burwell and William.

Baker Perkins Lee was born March 2, 1799, in the original Lee house at "Kis Ryacke," on the land granted to his ances- tors in 1648, and died in 1867 on his estate, known as "Briarfield," in Elizabeth City county, whither he removed in 1849. Briar- field included one thousand acres, and was purchased for twelve thousand dollars. Mr. Lee was a man of handsome appearance and aristocratic bearing, noted for his boun- tiful kindnesses and wise counsels. The Y^ork county records show that "Baker P. Lee, Gentleman," was justice from 1825 to 1833, when he resigned his seat. In 1850 he and his wife. Francis Wills, deeded var- ious lots in the town of York. In 1880 a tract of two hundred and eighty-five acres called "Washington Lodge," inherited by Baker P. Lee, was sold by his heirs-at-law. He sufifered very heavy losses in property and slaves as a result of the civil war, and died literally of a broken heart. He married, ]\Iarch 20, 1828, in Yorktown, Frances \\'ills. born March 12, 1805. in Warwick county. Virginia, daughter of Captain Thomas