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The Fripp family of South Carolina

Notes

Colonel Stephen Lee

Notes from Marshall B. Shore:

Colonel STEPHEN LEE, father of Charles C. Lee, was a student of the College of Charleston in 1826; he received his bachelor's degree in 1828; attended West Point, but resigned after two years. He studied law and practiced law with his father but he gave this up as he did not like being a lawyer. In 1835 he was a member of the faculty of the College of Charleston, Professor of Mathematics.
He moved from Charleston, S.C. and first made his home Patton's farm on the Swannanoa River. He later relocated to Chunn's Cove near Ashville and started a private school that became renouned throught the south for its excellence.
It was said he had to start his own school as he had so many children (15) to educate. Stephen Dill Lee, a cousin of Charles C. Lee attended and graduated from this academy. He left for West Point a year before Charles C. Lee went to become a cadet at this academy. Stephen graduated 17th in his class and Charles graduated 4th in his class.
Colonel Stephen Lee fought for the Confederacy as a Colonel of the 16th North Carolina regiment, composed of volunteers from the mountains of Western North Carolina. Nine of his sons fought for the Confederacy. Four of these died in the service. Because of age, Colonel Stephen Lee was retired and went back to Ashville, where he formed the Ashville Guard unit composed of young boys and old men. So well did he train them that in April 6, 1865, this company of less than 300 men repulsed a brigade of 1,100 Yankee soldiers who had marched up from east Tennessee to loot and burn Asheville. He saved the city from destruction which many other cities experienced at the end of the War of the Rebelion.
Colonel Stephen Lee is buried with his first wife and a daughter in the Riverside Cemetery at Asheville. On the reverse side of the medium sized memorial grave stone are the names of his four sons who died in the 1861-1865 war. Thomas, Stephen, Joseph, and Col Chas. C. Lee. These boys are not interred at this site. Col C. C. Lee is in the cemetary in Charlotte, N. C. Inscriptions read: "In memory of Colonel Stephen Lee, born in Charleston, S. C., June 7, 1801; died in Asheville, N.C., Aug 2nd 1878."
"In Memory of Col Chas C., Thomas, Stephen, and Joseph, sons of Stephen and Caroline LEE who died in the Southern Cause."
A letter dated 10 May 1989 from David Olson, Manager, Riverside Cemetery, Asheville, N.C. "...It appears that Stephen, Mrs. Caroline and Caroline (Lee) were moved from Grace Episcopal Church yard in Asheville. Many others were also moved during this time as a new larger church was being built and they needed the room which was the church cemetery. I have no record of Stephen, Joseph, Thomas or Charles being buried here...there is no record for burial of the four brothers."

Note from Virginia Lee Simmons (Mrs. John I. Lee) to Marshall B. Shore:

THE STEPHEN LEE FAMILY
Near the tunnel on Tunnel Road in Ashville, there is a North Carolina Historical marker which reads: "Lee's School 1846-1879, a school for boys conducted by Stephen Lee, Graduate of West Point, Confederate Colonel."
He was my great-grandfather. Stephen Lee was born in Charleston and attended the College of Charleston and then West Point. Upon graduation, he returned to Charleston, studied law, and went into practaice with his father. I have often heard my father tell this story about his grandfather: "Stephen Lee was asked to defend a man accused of murder. He took the case and was able to get the man acquitted. Afterward the man told him he greatly appreciated his defense because he was guilty. At that point, Stephen Lee decided the the law was not for him. He took up teaching, at which he excelled, and moved from Charleston to Ashville, where he opened a school for boys in the Chunns Cove section." My aunt used to say that he opened a school because he had 15 children and it was the only way he could educate them.
The school was famous all over the South for its discipline and curriculum. Many young men
from South Carolina attended this school as well as those close by. Two students from Ashville were Theodoroe S. Morrison and Foster Sondley, who deeded his library collection ot Pack Memorial Library.
When the Civil War broke out, Stephen Lee fought for the Confederate Army as Colonel of the 16th North Carolina Regiment, composed of volunteers from the mountains of Western North Carolina. Nine of his sons also fought for the Confederate Army, something of a record for that tragic war which often pitted one family member against the other. Four sons died, one was a prisoner, and one lost an arm.
Once out of the service, Stephen Lee formed and trained the Silver Greys, an Asheville guard unit composed of young boys and old men. So well did he train them that on April 6, 1865, this company of less than 300 men repulsed a brigade of 1,100 Yankee soldiers who had marched up from East Tennessee to loot and burn Asheville, thus saving the city from destruction suffered by others in the South.
The roster of the Silver Greys is in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. It shows that Lee's youngest son, James Hardy Lee, my grandfather, then 14 years old, fought with him in this engagement. James Hardy Lee's son, L. Lyons Lee, eventually became a mayor of Asheville.
Colonel had freed his slaves before the war but they still worked for him. He owned land from the top of Beaucatcher Mountain and is believed to have been named because it was a popular meeting place for the Colonel's students and their lady friends.
Colonel Lee died in 1879 at age of 78 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery. Afterwards the school closed because apparently there was no one with the ability or desire to keep it going. ----Virginia Lee Simmons (Mrs. John I. Lee)

Stephen resigned commission Feb.22 1862 due to old age and chronic diarehha