A Joint Project of the Sam Rayburn House Historic Site and the Fannin County Historical Commission

Celebrating America 250 with Spotlights of Fannin County Citizens Who Participated In or Witnessed Historical Events

Fannin County, Texas -- Susannah Moody was born in Illinois in 1826.  Her family moved to Arkansas and then to the Republic of Texas in 1836, living at Warren in far northwest Fannin County, near Red River.  Susannah’s father was killed by Indians at Warren.

Susannah married Daniel Jackson at the age of 14.  Daniel Jackson died while on tour with the Texas Rangers. 

In 1841 Susannah married Colonel Roswell Lee.  Roswell Lee was a soldier, a surveyor and a civil engineer.  He was a graduate of West Point and was  “the most highly educated and cosmopolitan citizen of the Red River region.”  He served as Fannin County Clerk from 1841. He lost the position in the election of 1854.  He was known to be under the “thralldom of strong drink” to the extent that he was expelled from the Constantine Lodge (the Masons) in 1851.

Susannah and Roswell Lee lived in Bonham.  Although he was County Clerk, he was gone much of the time doing surveying work.  He showed Susannah the procedure for the county’s record keeping, and she kept the records when he was gone.

Years later Susannah’s son-in-law wrote:  “Mrs. Lee was a remarkable woman. . . For many years Col. Lee was nominally County Clerk,  but gave the office no attention.  Mrs. Lee attended to the business with authority to sign his name. This included all deeds; she knew more of the county land abstracts and the conditions of lands than the lawyers of the town.  . . All the deeds for many years were in her handwriting.”

Susannah and Roswell had three daughters.  One daughter, Martha John D. (“Johnnie”) Lee,  died in 1859 when her clothes caught fire.

In 1860 Susannah filed for divorce because of her husband’s drinking and reckless behavior while drunk.  At that time divorce “was a scandalous thing, unthinkable, not even to be considered.”  The case was “continued” for years and during the Civil War times. 

After participating in the Civil War Roswell Lee came home and returned to drinking.  Susannah again filed for divorce.  At that time divorce continued to be a rare thing.  On February 15, 1869, the divorce was granted by the Court after the testimony of many Fannin County citizens.

Roswell Lee continued his work as a surveyor.  Susannah had retained the house,  and used it as a boarding house and for providing meals to non-residents.  She also provided housing for young ladies attending Carlton College.  In the 1870 census 14 people were recorded as living at Susanna’s house, including F. D. Piner and Charles D. Grace. 

In 1868 Susannah was one of 27 people to form the First Christian Church in Bonham.

After the Civil War, Addison and Randolph Clark enrolled as students at Carlton College, which was located first in Kentucky Town (in eastern Grayson County near the Fannin County border) and in 1867 they moved to Bonham.

Susannah’s daughter Ella married Randolph Clark in 1870 and they went to live in Fort Worth.  They had been married in Bonham by Charles Carlton.  Randolph and his brother Addison later established Ad/Ran College at Thorp, Texas (40 miles southwest of Fort Worth in Hood County) which later moved to Fort Worth and became Texas Christian University (TCU).  (That’s another story!)

Later in 1870 Susannah moved to Fort Worth to join Randolph and Ella.

In December 1872 Susannah was on a trip back to Bonham when she “had an attack of hernia.” She stopped for help and died after receiving misguided medical care.  She was 46 years old.  She was buried in Inglish Cemetery beside her daughter, who had died in 1859.

In 2019 I was contacted by Ruth Holloway Fish, a descendant, who was concerned about the broken stones at the graves of Susannah and her daughter.  We found someone to place the broken stones in concrete.

Roswell Lee died on December 20, 1873 in a bar in Fort Worth.  An obituary in the Fort Worth Democrat noted that while he had been a “useful, respected, and loved citizen” who stood “high in the esteem and regard of the noblest in the land.”  He had accomplished much in life in spite of his many bouts of drinking.
 
The story of Roswell Lee, Susannah Lee and their children is told in a wonderful book, Iron Guns, Bronze Arrows & Brass Scales, the Life of Col. Roswell W. Lee, by Ruth Holloway Fish.  The story of these pioneer individuals is much more fascinating than this short article can detail.  We are so pleased that the author, Mrs. Fish, who is a descendant, allowed the Fannin County Museum of History to place the book on the Portal to Texas History, where it can be read at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1435528/  Information, photos of individuals and quotes are from that book.