Treasure Chest Thursday: Frank W. Lee's Baby Book

Frank W. Lee's Baby Book
c. 1912

One hundred years ago today I'm sure my grandmother, Elizabeth Rochester Lee, would have spent a big portion of her day taking care of her three-month old son, my dad, Frank Welch Lee.  I'm glad that she also spent some time writing in dad's baby book!  What a sweet keepsake this baby book is!

The cloth cover is faded, dirty, and literally is shreds. The pages are discolored and some have been left blank.  Nevertheless, the book is a treasure.  Scattered with sweet verses about babies and full of charming illustrations by Frances Brundage and May Sandheim, this baby book was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, "Publishers to Their Majesties the King & Queen."

Opening verses & illustrations plus Title Page 

One of my favorite illustrations in Dad's baby book

What I love most about the book, of course, are the details it contains about my dad as an infant.  I love, too, that these details are written in my grandmother's handwriting.

Baby's First Smile: seen by father & nurse at 4 days old
Baby's First Laugh:  heard by mother at about age 1 month
First Gifts included Beauty pins, gold buttons, ball rattle, cap, booties

First Word:  Daddy
at 5 months old

Also, in the baby book is one photo of Dad, age four months.

Written on the back of this photo:
Frank Lee Jr.
at 4 mo.

Thank you for this, Grandmother.

Wordless Wednesday: Frank Welch Lee

My Dad
Frank Welch Lee, son of Frank Lewis Lee & Elizabeth Welch Rochester Lee
c. 1913

Wordless Wednesday: Frank Welch Lee

My Daddy

Frank Welch Lee, 20 months old
1914
Son of Frank Lewis Lee & Elizabeth Rochester Lee

Amanuensis Monday: IT'S A BOY!

Letter from Frank L. Lee to his mother, Georgia Lee,
announcing birth of his son, Frank Welch Lee
December 6, 1912

On a piece of paper from the old Sprague Drug Store, my granddad, Frank Lewis Lee wrote to tell his mother, Georgia Gill Lee, of the birth of his first and only child. At that time,  Georgia Lee was staying with her other son, Linus Virgil Lee, and his wife, Mary, in Harlan, Kentucky.  Transcribed below is that letter to Mrs. G. O. Lee, Harlan, Ky., dated December 6, 1912.

Frank Welch Jr., arrived this A. M. at 10:55 with least possible amount of trouble to every one concerned.  Frank Jr., is holding down job that he perhaps will for some time to come, namely a good healthy squall.

Should any complications arise will notify you at once.

Respectfully,

Frank

Weight  9 1/4 lbs.

Do not need you at once so if Mary needs you please stay.  Know when it suits you we want you to come. 

Elizabeth Rochester Lee with Frank Welch Lee
1913

 

 

Those Places Thursday: Frank & Elizabeth Lee's Middlesboro Home

Frank L. Lee and his dog, Tag,
on the front steps of 204 Arthur Heights
Middlesboro, Kentucky, c. 1940

After my grandparents married and decided to settle down in Middlesboro, Kentucky, they bought a house at 204 Arthur Heights.  This where they would live for the rest of their married lives, until my grandmother died in 1959. The house was situated on a hill that overlooked downtown Middlesboro and provided a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.  It was located only about a half mile from Granddad's drug store, and he would often just walk down the hill to work.

The house is still standing, and I drive by it whenever I'm back in Middlesboro. Several years ago, my husband and I took our two boys to see the house.  It was for sale and empty at the time, so we were able to walk around the yard and peek through the windows. According to my dad and to friends and neighbors in Middlesboro, the house hasn't changed much at all, except for the exterior paint colors.  What a treat to spend some time there, take some photos, and tell my boys about this place where their great grandparents lived and where their grandfather grew up. Below are the photos of the house that I took on this 2004 visit.

Front view of 204 Arthur Heights

Side View of 204 Arthur Heights

This sunroom used to be part of the front porch,  My grandfather had the sunroom built for my grandmother  who suffered from tuberculosis much of her adult life.  The light and sun that came in through the many windows even in bad weather was thought be good for her condition.  She spent much of her time in this room growing African Violets and other plants.

View of downtown Middlesboro from Arthur Heights

Old steps leading from Arthur Heights property down the hill into town

My son playing on the front porch of 204 Arthur Heights.  I'm sure his grandfather and his great grandparents  spent time at this very spot in days gone by

Treasure Chest Thursday: Elizabeth Rochester Lee's Wedding Band

What once must have been a shiny gold band, is dulled and scarred--and still beautiful.  Over 100 years old, this 14 karat gold wedding band was placed on my grandmother's finger by my grandfather on November 15, 1905, at their wedding in Danville, Kentucky.

Wedding band given to Elizabeth Rochester by Frank Lewis Lee
at their wedding in 1905

What a tiny, slender finger Grandmother must have had!  Her ring barely fits my pinkie!  But isn't it neat that my granddad and my parents saved it for me--and that I can actually have on my finger the ring this lovely lady wore for so many years.

 Engraved on the inside of the ring are the words Frank & Elizabeth Nov. 15 1905.

Wordless Wednesday: Snapshots of a Courtship

Frank Lewis Lee and Elizabeth Rochester
c. 1905

Frank Lewis Lee (left), Elizabeth Rochester (2nd from left), and chaperonesc. 1905 

Frank Lewis Lee and Elizabeth Rochester surrounded by chaperones, Elizabeth's cousins
c. 1905

Amanuensis Monday: Wedding Announcement of Frank Lewis Lee and Elizabeth Welch Rochester

Elizabeth Welch Rochester
Wedding Portrait
1905

Frank Lewis Lee
Wedding Portrait
1905

This week's posts will focus on the courtship and marriage of my grandparents, Frank Lewis Lee and Elizabeth "Bettie" Welch Rochester.  For Amanuensis Monday, here's a transcription of the article describing  their November 15, 1905 wedding as it appeared in the Stanford (KY) Interior Journal of that week.

Wedding Announcement
Elizabeth Rochester & Frank L. Lee
Stanford KY Interior Journal
November 1905

ROCHESTER-LEE.--Miss Bettie Rochester, of this place, and Mr. Frank L. Lee, of Middlesboro, were married in the parlor of the Gilcher House, Danville, at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, Rev. Gilbert Glass, of this place, performing the ceremony.  Mr. Welsh Rochester, brother of the bride, and Miss Mary Pennington, a cousin, accompanied them and stood with them during the ceremony.  Mrs. Hugh  Reid and Mr. John Owsley Reid, of this place, were also present.  The bride wore a traveling suit of blue, which was exceedingly becoming.  She is a pretty brunette, of amiable disposition and lovely character and is admired by all who know her.  Mr. Lee is well-known and well-liked here where he lived several years.  He is a fine young man in every way and a christian gentleman.  His friends here include all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.  At 3 o'clock Mr. and Mrs. Lee took the train for Paris, where they will visit her sister, Mrs. G. W. Clark, and thence to La Grange to visit Mr. Lee's mother.  They will then go to Louisville for a few days, after which they will be at home to their friends at Middlesboro, where Mr. Lee has a splendid position.  That they may always be as happy as they are now is the wish of their hosts of friends including the Interior Journal.  Tuesday evening Mrs. Hugh Reid entertained most charmingly in her home the bridal party.

Fridays With Frank: Frank Lewis Lee Begins a Career

Frank Lewis Lee
1903

In 1896 in La Grange, Kentucky, Frank Lewis Lee got his first paying job.  He worked doing odd jobs at McDowell Drug Store on Main Street, just a short walk from the Lee home.  He made $1.50 per week. Granddad soon worked his way up and became a clerk at the drug store, waiting on customers who came in for medicine or who stopped by the soda fountain for a treat.  He became very interested in both the business and the science involved in running the drug store, and thus began his quest to become a pharmacist and have his own drug store.

Frank L. Lee (standing on right)
In Front of McDowell Drug Store
La Grange, KY, c. 1900

Granddad passed the State Board of Pharmacy exam in 1902, and soon he was working at Penny's Drug Store in Stanford, Kentucky, earning $6 a week.  It was during his time here that he met his future wife and my grandmother, Elizabeth "Bettie" Welch Rochester.  Courting, engagement, and marriage in 1905 was the course for my grandparents.  (Much more about their love and marriage in next week's posts!)  Before they married, however, granddad moved to Middlesboro, Kentucky, and worked as a pharmacist in the H. H. Sprague Drug Store.

Newspaper Ad for Lee's Drug Store
Eminence, KY, 1907

After Frank and Elizabeth married, they began searching for the perfect place to call home.  Their first stop was Eminence, Kentucky, where Granddad opened his own drug store.  Despite a store on the main thoroughfare in downtown Eminence and advertisements in the local newspaper, Granddad sold his store here and the young couple set out for the west coast.

Letter of Recommendation for Frank L. Lee
Written by Pharmacist D. McDowell
La Grange, KY, 1908

Letter of Recommendation for Frank L. Lee
Written by Pharmacist G. L. Penny
Stanford, KY, 1908

             






In January of 1908, my grandparents traveled across the country and settled in La Jolla, California.  Armed with letters of recommendation from his former bosses, Granddad secured a job at Setchell Drug Store in La Jolla.

Frank L. Lee in front of Setchel Drug Store
La Jolla, CA, 1908

The stay in La Jolla , however, was short, and the couple returned to Kentucky in September 1908, settling in Middlesboro.  Granddad went back to work at H. H. Sprague Drug Store, bought the business  in 1910, and thus established Lee's Drug Store.  In 1913, he moved the business to Fountain Square in downtown Middlesboro.  He would own and operate Lee's Drug Store here until 1958 when he sold his interest in the business.

Please visit my blog again in the coming days so I can share with you a very unique letter my granddad wrote to his father to tell him he was coming home from California.  It's priceless!  Also, I'll be sharing some photos and details of my grandparent's courtship and wedding.


The source for some of the dates and details in today's post is the obituary of Frank L. Lee as it appeared in the Middlesboro Daily News, June 11, 1962, p. 1.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Frank Lee Family Plot

Frank Lee Family Marker, c. 2004
Middlesboro Cemetery

The Middlesboro Cemetery in Middlesboro, Kentucky, is the final resting place for my grandparents, my parents, and my brother.  Frank Lewis Lee, Elizabeth Rochester Lee, Frank Welch Lee, Betty Lane Lee, and Frank Lewis Lee II are all buried together on a hillside in the Frank Lee Family plot.  Also in this plot is the grave of Mattie Rochester Owsley, sister of my grandmother, Elizabeth Rochester Lee.  The plot is marked by a marble stone, and each individual grave is marked by a small headstone made of the same marble as the larger family marker.

Frank Lewis Lee

Elizabeth Rochester Lee

Frank Welch Lee

Betty Lane Lee

Frank Lewis Lee II

For more information about the Middlesboro Cemetery, see the following links:
Middlesboro Cemetery: A Forgotten Gem in the Heart of the City
Find A Grave: Middlesboro Cemetery