My 5th cousin mentioned in a letter that there was this book about our Lee ancestors that I might want to find. The book was The 400 Year Story of an American Family, Characters, Communities & Contributions, by Paul B. Lee, 2016. OK, she knew what to say to get me to check our Amazon, find and order the book. The Highlights start out:

Study of the Lee Family’s Maternal Branches

“This section is about our ancestors Hugh Lees, Edward Lee, William Backus, Matthew Beckwith, and Francis Bushnell. They founded the close knit Saybrook Colony, along with Edward Griswald, an ancestor of Amy Griswald Lee.”

“We also learn about how William Backus went on to become one of the 39 founders of Norwich (CT) in 1659 when the Mohegan chief Uncas sold to the settlers “nine miles square’ “

So far this track with my research. Then the next section begins:

The Lee – Stevens Branch

“Here we learn that Edward Lee was a single parent before he remarried to Lemuel’s mother, Abigail Stevens. Abigail’s ancestry traces back to 11th Century England and the Norman Conquest. Abigail’s [grand]father, John Stephens, was one of the early settlers of Guilford (CT). Details of his advance in rank from ‘common’ to ‘free’ man are included in this section.”

OK, I knew that my 7 times great grandmother, Abigail Stevens Lee, was from Guilford and that she was married to 7 times great grandfather, Edward Lee. I had no idea about the family dating back to the Norman Conquest of England. Digging deeper into this volume led me to the family name was really Fitz-Stephens in Normandy in the 11th Century. This led me to do more research on Grandmother Abigail’s Fitz-Stephens lineage. This will be next week’s book from my library.