JOHN D. LEE
(early settler, church official)

Home
Calendar
Organizations
Museums
Reference
Documents
Maps
Photos
Videos
Genealogy
About WCHS
Contact WCHS

Histories
Washington County
Cities and Towns
Artifacts
Buildings
Businesses
CCC
Cemeteries
Churches
Homes
Hospitals
Libraries
Motels
People
Roads and Trails
Schools
Water Resources
Zion National Park
Miscellaneous

BIOGRAPHY

John Doyle Lee was born September 12, 1812 in Kaskaskia, Illinois. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon Church) in 1838. He moved out to Salt Lake City in 1848. Then in 1850, he was called to accompany George A. Smith down to settle in Iron County. He was the Washington County Probate Judge in 1856. In 1857, he was a principal involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He served a term as a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1857-1858. In 1872, the Church sent him down to establish what became know as Lee's Ferry crossing the Colorado River. In 1874, he was arrested and tried for leading the Mountain Meadows Massacre - the trial ended in a hung jury. He was tried again in 1877 and sentenced to death. Lee died (executed by firing squad) March 23, 1877 at Mountain Meadows, Utah.

Wives (he was a polygamist):
      Aggatha Ann Woolsey
      Nancy Bean
      Louisa Free
      Sarah Caroline Williams
      Abigail Shaffer Woolsey
      Rachel Andora Woolsey
      Polly Ann Workman
      Martha Elizabeth Berry
      Delethia Morris
      Nancy Ann Vance
      Emoline Vaughn Woolsey
      Nancy Gibbons
      Mary Vance Young
      Lavina Young
      Mary Leah Groves
      Mary Ann Williams
      Emma Louise Batchelor
      Terressa Morse
      Ann Gordge
He had 67 children.

PHOTOS

Other photos on the web:
1877 photo of John D. Lee at the time of his trial

REFERENCES

Biography of John D. Lee
Biography of John D. Lee
The John D. Lee Family Organization website
Book: "Some Descendants of John Doyle Lee"

Juanita Brooks & Robert Glass Cleland, "A Mormon Chronicle: The Diaries of John D. Lee", (Reissued June 2004, 868 pp Paperback), Huntington Library Press, ISBN 0-87328-178-0.

Juanita Brooks, "John Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat", (November 1992, First Published in 1961, 404 pp Paperback) Utah State University Press, ISBN 0-87421-162-X.