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www.JohnDLee.net

The Home of the John D. Lee
Family Organization

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Family Representatives Webmaster - Scott
President -
Newell K Richardson
Genealogy -
Rene Durfee

Mary Leah Groves Lee organization.

Contact: Lenny Brinkerhoff


The Lee Quarterly has proven too difficult to print and distribute by mail. But there are lots of news and events that we are missing. Please sign up to get the Lee Quarterly On-line.

Links to Articles

The Life of John D Lee
in his own words.

John D Lee tells his own story through his diaries and books. In addition we are adding all the details we can find about his life.

Short History of John D. Lee

Genealogy
This has links to each of Lee's wives and their families.

Genealogy Research
This Blog by Renee Durfee is the most up to date research on John D Lee.

PAF - Gedcom
Download the most up-to-date file

  Lee DNA Results
Pictures of
John D Lee and family

These are copies of the best pictures I could find. If anyone has more (or better) pictures please contact me. snorton@nortonfamily.net
New Harmony
In 1851, John D. Lee and several others were called by Brigham Young to make a new settlement in Southern Utah. Archeological Excavations
at Fort Harmony
Lee's Stone Mansion in Washington, UT
Although the original stone mansion in Washington is gone this home is a duplicate and was built at the same time.
click for a larger picture
Lee's Nauvoo
Pictures of John D. Lee's home in Nauvoo
click to see larger picture
map of Lee's Nauvoo
The Last Words of John D. Lee
Spoken at his execution for the
Mountain Meadows Massacre -March 23, 1877


 


Commemoration Of The Carleton Reburial
At The Site Of The Mountain Meadows Massacre

Lee Family Reunion
Friday and Saturday July 31- Aug 1, 2009
St. George, Utah


LDS Meeting House just east of the Temple
Friday & Saturday July 31-August 1, 2009
8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday (luncheon at noon)
8:00 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday

Full Program is planned
Motel discounts to be available

Newell K. Richardson, President
Judge Wallace A. Lee, 1st Vice-President
Renee Smith Durfee, 2nd Vice-President

Please come to the events and remembrances that are the "best of John D. Lee" in the coming Family Reunion

Where: St. George, Utah, LDS Meeting House adjacent east of the St. George Temple
When: July 31 and August 1, Friday and Sat.(until noon)

Welcome and registration~~~8 to 9 a.m. Friday
9 a.m. until 12 noon~~morning session in the Chapel
12 noon~~lunch catered and served in the Culteral Hall
1 p.m. until 4 p.m.~~afternoon session in the Chapel

Saturday Aug. 1, 9 a.m.~~third and last session in the Chapel

The Reunion Theme chosen for 2009 is, "Remembering and Reconciliation". "The Best of John D. Lee" presented here and now is perhaps less of the tragic events on a certain day in a Mountain Meadow, and more about what we, his children, know of him from many other events and circumstances. We recommend the words of Henry B. Eyring and earlier, of Gordon B. Hinckley. The opportunity for Reconciliation between members of our Lee Family, with members of the broader community including those whose lives were tragically lost. . . become our day. Our day to do and say what we believe the man, John Lee, now on the other side, would have of us, is the very reason we propose to meet. To gather together in reunion can be very satisfying in this endeavor.

We ask each of you, member-leaders of each wife-branch of the larger family to:
~~~Plan now and be with us and others July 31-Aug. 1 in St. George
~~~contact every member of the JDL family you represent or otherwise know. Invite them!
~~~Respond now to this e-mail with your names, your plan to come (must have for food),
correction and additions to family member lists, and current suggestions for this and future such reunions. A warm welcome precedes you!

Newell K. Richardson, President nk-im@byu.net 208.529.0436
Wallace A. Lee, Judge and 1st V.P.
Renee Smith Durfee, 2nd V.P. Fam. Hist. Proponent and activist.

Motel List (partial) We have listed those most resonable. Prices vary even on-line. Ask for Lee Family discount.
(Northeast, first St. George exit coming from north:)
Super 8 260 E. St. George Blvd. $42 and up
Best Western Coral Hills 125 E. St. Geo. Blvd $62 1-435-652-1234
Best Western Travel Inn 316 E. St. Geo. Blvd $70 1-435-673-3541

(Southwest, first St. George exit coming from Southwest)
Budget Inn 1221 S. Main $45 1-800-929-0790 (national #)
Howard Johnson 1040 S. Main $60 1-435-628-8000
Ambassador Inn 1140 S. Sunland Blvd $60 1-435-673-7900
(So. on Bluff one block S. of Freeway

You MAY obtain the best rate on-line, eight or more days in advance.



Commemoration Of The Carleton Reburial
At The Site Of The Mountain Meadows Massacre

Reported By Leslie Moon

It was April 26th when I received a call from Terry Fancher in Boston, MA. He asked if I would help put together a program at Mt. Meadows May 30, 2009.

Terry had gone to both the Presbyterian and the Methodist churches for help. They were not available to help him. Leroy Lee had told him to give me a call. That I would be able to get a program ready for him.

He needed three hymns that would have been sung back in 1857. Also two people to give the prayers, and to order a large fresh flower wreath for the monument.

Four days later I called Terry at home with the program. I had several songs for him to choose from. Members of the Southwest Symphony Strings had volunteered to play at the commemoration. Flowers had been ordered. Prayers would be given by Tom Lamb and Sharon Chambers, who is a descendant from the Dunlap family of the massacre. Terry was thrilled that it was all coming together.

The LDS church had invited all three organizations of Mt. Meadow families to a VIP tour of the new Oquirrh Mountain temple on May 29,2009. The families that came were thrilled by its beauty and majesty.

At one P.M. we all were invited to dinner in the Ambassador room at the Joseph Smith building. Elder Dallin H. Oaks was there to meet everyone. It was at this dinner that Marlin K. Jensen revealed to the three Fancher organization, what the LDS church had done to secure the property surrounding the monument.

The church had bought 600 acres that had been planned for home sites nearby. They had also bought several other smaller sections in order to secure and to honor the area of the monument. Papers had been sent to Washington D.C. asking for this land to be placed on the National Registry. The LDS church would retain ownership of the land in order to properly maintain the monument.

Next we were invited to tour the new Church History Building. Two Friendship quilts were being made to honor those who died at Mt. Meadows, and for the seventeen surviving children. One quilt will be given to Harrison, AR. The other quilt will be sent to a museum in Cedar City, Ut. The Fancher families were invited to review all documents that the LDS church have pertaining to Mt. Meadows until nine PM that night.

About eight persons from the Mt, Meadow Foundation drove to the monument that evening to camp in Civil War type tents for the night.

The next day in our meeting, Phil Bolinger, the President of the Mt. Meadow Foundation, stood and gave these remarks. Everyone says that these meadows are haunted. But I can stand here today and say that "our ancestors are at peace."

May 30, 2009 became an outstanding day of friendship and of honoring those who died there 152 years ago. There was no hostility. We commemorated the reburial of the bones by Major Carleton in May 1859. It was a beautiful ceremony conducted by Terry Fancher, President of the Mt. Meadows Association. Patty Norris President of the Mt. Meadows Descendents thanked the LDS church for all that it had done for securing the Monument.

The program ended with a 21 gun salute by seven men dressed in Union Civil War uniforms. Two small children of the descendants placed the large flower wreath on the monument in remembrance of their ancestors. The LDS church had a light lunch and refreshments prepared for all 177 people who attended the ceremony.

At 6 P.M. a dinner was held at the Holiday Inn in St. George. Three speakers were invited, Will Bagley, Richard Turley Jr., and Marlin K. Jensen. Terry Fancher thanked the LDS church for all that they had done to help put this two day program together for the Fancher families.