Julie, I too have Lee ancestry (Thomas Jefferson Lee 1809 TN -1886 TN, son of Barnett Lee 1777 VA - 1843 TN), and like just about every other Lee family from the south, mine has the story of being cousins to Robert E. Lee. I believe the only John Lee who was a 1st cousin to R.E. was John Hite Lee (1797-1832), son of Theodoric Lee and grandson of Henry Lee II. My Patterson family of Benton Co has a connection with a Lee family in Benton. Sophia G. Patterson (1853 Benton -1904 Benton) married Effraim J. Lee (1848 TN - 1887 Benton). I don't know anything about Effraim's line. They had at least 3 children, Arthur, Ewell, and Sarah, who married Franklin Tobias Adams. Jim