Lee, Samuel

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: W. A. Spray, “LEE, SAMUEL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/lee_samuel_5E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Office holder, judge, businessman, and politician; b. 28 March 1756 in Concord, Mass., son of Dr Joseph and Lucy Lee; m. Sarah –; d. 3 March 1805 in Shediac, N.B.
    • Samuel Lee was born to one of the most influential families in the Concord area. After graduating from Harvard College in 1776, he established himself as a successful merchant at Penobscot (Castine, Maine). A supporter of the loyalist cause, in 1784 he went to Restigouche in northern New Brunswick. There he was to acquire large grants of land, some in rather questionable ways.
    • While on a trip to England in 1785 Lee leased a block of land on the Restigouche River which formed part of a grant previously ceded by the Nova Scotia government to John Shoolbred. When, to provide land for the loyalists, the New Brunswick government moved to escheat many of the grants issued earlier by the Nova Scotian authorities, Lee petitioned for some of Shoolbred’s property on the grounds that it had not been improved. Shoolbred considered this action “unprincipled & perfidious, the Trait of a base Heart.”
    • By 1789 Lee had acquired 1,800 acres, including part of Shoolbred’s grant and a further 200 acres to which others laid claim. Since he was a staunch supporter of the loyalist government, all disputes over land were settled in his favour.
  • Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4637
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