~~ John Wesley Lee ~~
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~ Obit ~

The funeral of John Lee, the Bluffton man charged with the murder of Samuel Purdy, who died Friday morning in the Bluffton jail from apoplexy, was held this afternoon at 2 o'clock from the home of a brother, William Lee, at Poneto.

A short service was held this morning at the Thomas understating establishment in Bluffton, where the body was taken, and the widow, who is in jail, charged with complicity in the murder, was allowed to attend in company with the officials. She seems heart broken over her husband's death.

It is thought, that should have Lee lived, insanity would have been his defense in the murder trail, and that a jury would have found him of unsound mind and mentally irresponsible for the homicide. Ten years ago, he suffered a fall from a load of hay, falling on his head and shoulders, which it is believed caused injury to his brain, and from which it is thought he never recovered. It is said the state will insist on Mrs. Lee being tried on the charge made against her, for complicity in the murder.

Decatur Daily Democrat, February 15, 1913

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~~ Family ~~

Parents:
Alexander Lee
Susannah Ansel Lee

Spouses:
1st Sarah E. Cochran.
2nd Louisa Twibell.
3rd Cora Stroop Peck

Children:
With Sarah Cochran:
1. Archie Lee Married a Eleanor Middelkamp and they lived in Portland, Indiana. Had six sons.
2. Pearl Lee Married a Mr. Ford.

With Louisa Twibell - No known children.

With Cora Stroop Peck:
1. Wayne Lee was born 1901 in Wells Co, IN
2. Francis M. Lee was born Jan. 3, 1903 in Wells Co, IN

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~~ Records ~~

1860 United States Federal Census
Name: John W Lee
Age: 1
Birth Year: abt 1859
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Indiana
Home in 1860: Nottingham, Wells, Indiana
Post Office: Reiffsburgh
Family Number: 591
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members:
Name Age
Alexander Lee 35
Susan Lee 30
H Angeline Lee 11
Emely C Lee 9
Mary C Lee 7
William A Lee 5
Louisa A Lee 2
John W Lee 1

1870 United States Federal Census
Name: John Lee
Age in 1870: 11
Birth Year: abt 1859
Birthplace: Indiana
Home in 1870: Nottingham, Wells, Indiana
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Reiffsburgh
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members:
Name Age
Alexander Lee 46
Susan Lee 35
Harriet A Lee 21
Caroline Lee 19
William Lee 15
Louisa Lee 12
John Lee 11
Alexander Lee 9
Etta Lee 7
Clara Lee 5
Ollia Lee 1

1880 United States Federal Census
Name: John W. Lee
Age: 21
Birth Year: abt 1859
Birthplace: Indiana
Home in 1880: Nottingham, Wells, Indiana
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's name: Alaxander Lee
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's name: Susannah Lee
Mother's Birthplace: Ohio
Neighbors: View others on page
Occupation: Farm Laborer
Household Members:
Name Age
Alaxander Lee 55
Susannah Lee 50
William A. Lee 24
Louisa A. Lee 22
John W. Lee 21
Alaxander Lee 19
Nancy E. Lee 16
Clara M. Lee 14
Susan O. Lee 10
James F. Lee 6

Wells County, Marriage Index
Name: John Lee
Spouse Name: Sarah E. Cochran
Marriage Date: 17 Apr 1881
Marriage County: Wells

Wells County, Marriage Index
Name: John W . Lee
Spouse Name: Lura B. Twibell
Marriage Date: 13 Dec 1887
Marriage County: Wells

Wells County, Marriage Index
Name: John W . Lee
Spouse Name: Cora Stroop
Marriage Date: 8 Sep 1897
Marriage County: Wells

1900 United States Federal Census
Name: John W Lee
Age: 39
Birth Date: Mar 1861
Birthplace: Indiana
Home in 1900: Chester, Wells, Indiana
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Cora I Lee
Marriage Year: 1898
Years Married: 2
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Occupation: View on Image
Household Members:
Name Age
John W Lee 39
Cora I Lee 25

1910 United States Federal Census
Name: John W Lee
Age in 1910: 52
Birth Year: abt 1858
Birthplace: Indiana
Home in 1910: Nottingham, Wells, Indiana
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Cora A Lee
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: Ohio
Native Tongue: English
Occupation: Farmer
Industry: Gen'l Farm
Employer, Employee or Other: Own Account
Home Owned or Rented: Own
Home Free or Mortgaged: Mortgaged
Farm or House: Farm
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Years Married: 12
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
John W Lee 52
Cora A Lee 35
Wayne Lee 9
Francis M Lee 8
Harry Stroop 28

Indiana Death Index
Name: John W . Lee
Date: 14 Feb 1913
Location: Bluffton
Age: 53 Yr
Gender: Male
Race: White
Source location: City Health Office, Bluffton
Source notes: The source of this record is the book CH-2 on page 42 within the series produced by the Indiana Works Progress Administration

Indiana Death Index
Name: John W. Lee
Date: 14 Feb 1913
Location: Harrison Township
Age: 53 Yr
Gender: Male
Race: White
Source location: County Health Office, Bluffton
Source notes: The source of this record is the book H-18 on page 39 within the series produced by the Indiana Works Progress Administration.

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~~ OBIT ~~

JOHN LEE'S FUNERAL WAS HELD SATURDAY

SERVICES AT MORGUE FOR LEE'S WIDOW AND SONS-LATER AT BROTHER'S HOME


The funeral of John Lee, who passed away Friday morning at the Wells County Jail, was held Saturday, with two services, one in this city at the Thoma morgue, at eleven o'clock A.M. Saturday, and the second service in the afternoon at the home of William A. Lee a brother of the deceased, living near Poneto. Burial was in the Grove Cemetery.
The services held at the Thoma morgue were of a private nature, for Mrs. Lee, the widow, and her two young sons, Wayne and Francis and a few friends who assembled with them. The boys are inmates of the Grant County orphans' home and were brought here at the wish of their mother, through arrangements made by Probation Officer W. A. Lipkey. He arranged for their arrival at 10:45 over the M.B.&E and they were sent back to the orphan's home at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
The arrangement for the private services at the morgue were for the benefit of the widow and her sons, due to the fact, it was explained, that the brothers of her dead husband kid not want her to come to their homes. Rev. J. B. Young, pastor of the M. E. Church, conducted the service at the morgue.
Mrs. Lee had requested early Saturday that a floral emblem for which she paid be placed on her husband's casket, and this was done. She and her sons wept bitterly at the sad parting.
Although she did not intend to attend the services at the W. A. Lee home in the afternoon, Mrs. Lee was permitted to go to the Grove Cemetery to be present at the interment. A cab was furnished by the undertaker and she went to the cemetery with an attendant from the jail and two friends.
After the services at the morgue Mrs. Lee returned to the jail and remained there until time to start to the cemetery. Her two little sons were permitted to go with her until time for her to depart. The boys were not taken to the cemetery.


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~~ Murder Trial ~~

John Lee, who has been in the county jail since January 9th, awaiting trail in the Wells Circuit Court on a charge of murder in the first degree for the slaying of Samuel T. Purdy, passed before a higher tribunal, Friday, when at 3:10 o'clock he succumbed to the death summons and passed into the great beyond.
The death of Lee was due to an attack of apoplexy with which he was stricken Thursday afternoon, and it brought to a sudden termination the question of the disposition of Lee's case, which was thus taken from the jurisdiction of all earthly tribunals.
For several days Lee had been reported as not feeling well, but the seriousness of his condition was not realized until he was found stricken on his deathbed, by a fellow-prisoner. Oro Hess, the Adams County young man who has been a prisoner in the jail for the past two months, was the first to discover Lee after he was stricken. Hess says that after lee ate his dinner he went to his cell and laid down on his cot, and that was the last seen or heard of him until Hess was attracted to his cell by his loud breathing, about 3 o'clock or a little later. Hess called to him and attempted to arouse him, but without avail, and he then summoned Henry Carlisle, a son of Sheriff Freeman Carlisle. Young Carlisle was in the jail office and he hurried with Hess to the cell of Mr. Lee. They found that he had vomited some, and that he had been helpless to control his movements when this evidence of sickness overtook him was evident from the fact that the stuff thrown from his stomach lodged upon his face and clothing. He was breathing heavily and all efforts to arouse him were futile, and Carlisle immediately telephoned Dr. S. A. Goodin, the county, physician. Later Dr. Fred A. Metts was summoned to lead assistance to Dr. Goodin. All efforts to revive Lee continued futile, and he did not regain consciousness at any time before he died.

NOT FIRST REALIZED SERIOUS.
Reports that Lee had become sicker than usual became known on the street late in the afternoon, following the usual press time of the evening papers, but it was not realized then that his condition was immediately dangerous.
The sheriff's family reported that Lee did not eat any breakfast Thursday morning, but he did not make complaint of feeling particularly worse than usual, and his fellow prisoners say that he did not make any complaint during the forenoon out of the ordinary, and at the noon hour he ate an exceptionally large dinner. It was directly after he ate dinner that he went to his cell and laid down.

LEE FELT END COMING.
One incident is related, however, which indicates that Lee felt the approach of death, for on Wednesday night he made the prediction that he " would not be here in 48 hours." Deputy sheriff Fred Adams says that on Wednesday afternoon when he escorted Lee to the circuit court room lee complained that his right side was causing him some trouble, and this would indicate that his fatal seizure was even then working upon his body.

PARALYSIS FOLLOWED ATTACK.
Following the apoplectic attack, which probably was due to the bursting of a blood vessel on the brain. Lee's muscular system became rigid, and his nervous system showed no response when doctors made tests to determine his condition. Pricking with a needlepoint and other action to the muscles indicated they were without sensation.

EARLY REPORT OF SUICIDE.
One early report in the case ventured that Lee might have taken something to commit suicide, but the examination of doctors did not indicate anything of this kind.

HESS REPORTS LEE FELL
Ora Hess, the young man who Lee in his helpless condition, reports that twice during the 24 hours preceding his fatal attack Lee fell as he was entering cells in the jail, once as he was entering the door of a cell off the lower corridor and later as he was entering the door off the upper corridor. He said that the manner of Lee's falls indicated that one of his legs grew suddenly weak.
Lee's left hand had long been drawn in an unnatural condition, indicating that there was nervous or muscular trouble. It was plainly drawn out of shape after he had passed away.

MRS. LEE TAKEN TO HUSBAND.
When the serious condition of Lee was realized his wife, who occupied a room in the woman's ward, in the second story of the building, was informed that he was seriously sick and she was taken to his cell on the lower floor. She remained with him for some time, but he was entirely unconscious and there was no opportunity for conversation and after she had remained at his side for some time Mrs. Lee returned to her own room for the night. She was informed early Friday morning that he had passed away.
When Mrs. Lee entered her husband's cell she took a stool at his side and began weeping and exclaimed " Oh, my poor John. How I did love you." And similar endearing terms. She stroked his hair and lamented that his two little sons, Wayne and Francis, in the Grant County orphans home, could not see him. " The poor boys. If they could only be here and see him," she exclaimed.

DEFENSE WAS INSANITY.
The defense that would have been presented in Lee's Lee case, had he ever come to trail in the Wells Circuit Court, would have been insanity at time he committed his terrible act, and it can be truthfully stated that the opinion expressed by almost every person is that a jury would have found hi of unsound mind and mentally irresponsible for the homicide. Such a verdict, which would have been the most favorable to Lee that his attorneys could have expected, would have meant that he would have been sent to the insane ward or department of the state penal institution at Michigan City. The case was extremely sad in every detail, and while death ever holds dread to the normal human mind, the general expression heard is that the death of Lee, from natural causes, probably has proved the best solution of the sad and lamentable case.

LEE DID NOT FEAR DEATH.
The bearing of lee in the county jail would indicate that he did not hold fear of death and in his conception of things was prepared for the end. That he soon was brought to remorse for his rash act was evident from the fact that within 48 hours after he was lodged in jail he began to pray, and prayer and religious songs occupied much of his time in the first weeks of his confinement. His statement that he did not expect to be here in 48 hours indicated that he had bowed to the inevitable.
Frank McBride, a local nurse, was called to the jail by Sheriff Carlisle, to help take care of Mr. Lee, and he remained with the stricken man ministering to him in every manner possible until the end came.

OLD INJURY OF LEE RECALLED
Brothers of John Lee last Friday recalled that he received a severe injury about ten years ago, when he fell from a load of hay and alighted on his head and shoulders. Many believe that he received an injury at that time from which he never fully recovered, and that the concussion injured the brain.
Physicians say that a man laboring under trouble of the nature, which caused John Lee's apoplectic attack, might be affected in a manner that would cause him to commit a wrongful act, and that brooding over or grieving over a matter might bring on an attack like that, which killed him. It is said he was easily influenced by his wife.

WON'T DISMISS MRS. LEE'S CASE
There appeared a strong belief generally that the death of John W. Lee might result eventually in the dismissal of the charges against his wife, but Prosecuting Attorney Lee F. Sprague said last Friday that this positively would not be done and he declared that the state would insist that the woman would stand trial on the grand jury's indictment. She and Lee were married 17 years ago.

BRIEF LIFE HISTORY
John W. Lee was a son of Alexander and Susanna Ansil Lee, and was born in Wells County, on March 16, 1859 and at his death was aged 53 years, 10 months and 28 days. He had spent practically his entire life in Wells County, and most of his life was spent on a farm. About two years ago he and his wife and two sons Wayne and Francis, moved to Bluffton and had resided here since.
He was married three times. His first wife was Sarah Cochran, and from this marriage two children survive their parents, both of whom are now dead. These children are Archie Lee, a Portland printer, and Mrs. Pearl Ford, of Indianapolis.
John Lee's second wife was Louisa Twibell, a daughter of David Twibell. She passed away about twenty years ago, leaving no children.
The third wife was Mrs. Cora Stroup Peck, who had been married once before. She survives her husband with two sons, Wayne, 12, and Francis, 10. The two little boys were taken to the Grant County Orphan's Home, after their parents were arrested.
John W. Lee was one of a family of eleven children preceded him in death. The surviving brothers and sisters are William A. and Alexander Lee. Mrs. Emily C. Collins, wife of L. B. Collins and Mrs. Louisa Sutton, wife of John J. Sutton all living near Poneto; Mrs. Harriet Lane, of Bluffton and Mrs. Ollie Garrett, wife of George Garrett, of Michigan. One brother James Lee and three sisters, Clara, Etta and Mary are dead.

MRS. LEE CONCEDES POINT.
Mrs. Lee, widow of John W. Lee, had informed her attorney that she desired to have the body of her husband interred in Elm Grove Cemetery; this city, and she said that she would buy a lot there, but when she was informed of the funeral plans made by his brothers she agreed to concede the plans to them, and that she would offer no objections to plans his relatives might make, although as the wife she would have first claim.
The Chronicle was informed Friday that an officer telephoned to a brother of the deceased to ask if the report was true that they did not want Mrs. Lee to attend the funeral services at the residence, and that the reply was that such was the case.
Mrs. Lee also expressed a wish that her sons be brought from Marion to see their father. The son at Portland was notified by telephone by Mr. Thoma.
Sheriff Carlisle said that if it was agreed that Mrs. Lee should attend the funeral services Saturday afternoon he would permit her to leave the jail to do so in the company with some of her relatives. She would then return to jail. If his relative's object she has indicated she will not attend other than the private services here. Mrs. Lee is badly broken up over her husband's sudden death, and has spent much of the time weeping.
John W. Lee was arrested on January 9th, within fifteen minutes after he had shot Samuel T. Purdy three times with a 32 caliber revolver, as Purdy, passed down an alley in the rear of the Lee and Purdy residences, which were immediately adjoining on West Wiley Avenue, this city. That lee had deliberately laid in wait for Purdy appeared strongly evident. Two of the bullets fired at Purdy passed entirely through his body, one through the body near the waistline and the other through the head, entering the cheek and coming out near the base of the brain. Mr. Purdy died within forty-five minutes, without regaining consciousness. One bullet glanced off his belt.
Lee was immediately taken into custody by Deputy Sheriff Fred Adams and City Marshal Charles Pierce and escorted to the county jail, where he has been confined since that time.

WIFE ALSO ARRESTED
Mrs. John Lee was arrested just a week later than her husband, charged with being equally guilty. The state's attorneys have contended they believed her the guiltier of the two, and lee in a statement to the officers declared his wife told him to buy new cartridges for his revolver, and to lie in wait for Mr. Purdy. The grand jury indicted both Mr. and Mrs. Lee for murder.

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