Charles William was born on a farm northeast of Neligh on January 15, 1873. His father was Samuel Lee and had come to Antelope County from Canada. He, his wife, and son, James A. settled in the Elkhorn Valley. Samuel had been blinded when thrown from a horse. Before long, James and Charles were old enough to do the farm work. Margaret May had been born. Soon there was Charles, Frank Dexter and Arthur Kirk. Schooling was confined to four months a year in the winter.
Charles married Leeoha Billings when he was 19 years old. She was the daughter of Joseph and Margaret Billings who had moved to Neligh from Chillicothe, Ohio. A daughter, Vera, was born in 1899, another daughter, Edna in 1902, Ralph in 1911 and Robert in 1915. The family moved westward to Wyoming. Charles decided that farming was too hard and hired out on a railroad. He worked for many different railroads for several years but decided to go to Canada. He worked on the railroad until his retirement in 1943. Vera married Norman Stover. Ralph and Robert went to the Chicago area. Vera died in 1974. Leeotha died in 1949 in Edmonton. Charles married a long time friend, Edna and moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he died two years later.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in Aug 2007