The following is a typed copy (typos & all, but surname caps are mine) of the few photocopied pages I received of the old booklet about Helena's history. I have not yet located anyone who has an original copy of the booklet. There is no date on the booklet, so I cannot tell when it was written (there is a reference on page 54 to something in 1943, so it was written after that time). I've put the page number at the top of each section below; notice that I only have pages 4, 5, 27-29, 54-59, 66-67, cover and back pages. John LEE Esquire -> Capt. Thomas LEE -> Needham LEE -> Needham LEE Jr. -> Helen LEE ========= [Cover] "An Early History of Helena, Alabama" [Picture of Helen LEE on cover - head only] by Kenneth PENHALE [Page 4] INTRODUCTION In 1872 Helena, Alabama was named in honor of Helen LEE, the beautiful daughter of Needham LEE Jr., by Pete BOYLE, her future husband. This book is intended to show a portion of Helena�s early history. I would like to say that this is not a complete history but only serves to reflect a small portion of early life in the town. The old adage "a picture is worth a thousands words" applies here as I have included some of, what I believe, is to be the best pictures of Helena�s early history. Ken PENHALE ======= [Page 5] EARLY DAYS The town of Helena began as a cross-roads stage stop where the Ashville-Selma-Elyton-Tuscaloosa roads intersected. The community was established as Cove on Sept. 19th, 1849 and later as Hillsboro on Feb. 1, 1856. Later, according to the National Archives and Records Service in Washington D.C., in the 1850�s and 60�s the town became more centered around the area where it now is, and it�s name changed to Helena on Feb. 12, 1872. Records indicate that two old grist mills were, at one time, located along Buck Creek and several farming families lived in the area, more prominent of which were the LEEs. The farming community seemed to be centered around the grist mills and later, with the discovery of coal in the area and the coming of the railroads, the community became centered around the rolling mill which was built around 1862. After being destroyed by Wilson�s Raiders in 1865, the rolling mill was reopened in 1873. After the Civil War, during the 1860�s and 70�s the town saw much growth. ======= [Page 27] ROYS About 1820 Isaac A. ROY and his family moved to Jefferson County, Alabama. At this time he had three children. His last two children were born in Alabama. Isaac A. ROY died in 1824 and his will is dated June 6, 1824. His heirs included Sarah, Malding, Geroam Bonaparte, Martha and Elution. The will was probated on June 16, 1824. As all of the children were minors, James HALL was appointed guardian of them in 1826. Between 1830 and 1840, Malden ROY, born 1816 in South Carolina, married Mary LEE daughter of Needham LEE Sr. And Susan BAILEY. Mary LEE was born May 10, 1816 in Hawkins County, Lee�s Valley, Tennessee. Malden�s sister, Martha (born 1820 in Alabama) was married at age 13 in 1833 to Edward LEE, brother of Mary LEE. Sometime during this ten year period, Margaret ROY, with Malden, Martha and Gerome moved to the Helena, Shelby County area. In 1830 we find Margaret ROY and her children living with Richmond KiLLOUGH who had married Sarah ROY on November 5, 1829, in Jefferson County. ======= [Page 28] Lafayette Needham ROY was born November 10, 1838 in Pickens County, Alabama. He died December 28, 1923 and is buried in the Helena Cemetery. Lafayette wore a beard and had a peg leg. He was a farmer and enlisted in CSA, 30th Alabama Infantry on the 10th day of March 1862. He served three years and was discharged by reason of scrofula of the left leg. Lafayette was the son of Malden ROY and Polly Mary LEE. He married Caroline Melindy DAVIDSON, who was born April 8, 1842 in Yorkville, South Carolina. She died September 21, 1925. They were married February 1, 1866. Lafayette was the father of Margaret Lucinda, Charles Malden, Sallie J., Robert N., Hester and Moses Euguene. William Wharton ROY was born August 9, 1836 in Shelby County and he died April 10, 1915 in Helena. He is buried in the Roy Cemetery in Helena. William was the son of Malden ROY and Mary LEE. He was the husband of Eliza Ann READER, who was born January 19, 1842 in Bibb County and who died April 23, 1908. They were married January 27, 1860 by D. S. MCLAUGHLIN. His second marriage was to Emma Ellison WEBB in 1908. She was born September 16, 1877 and died November 16, 1952. To his first wife, William fathered Fannie, ========== [Page 29] Marion, Foster, Loriza, Jasper, Margaret, Rosa, Sarah, and Katie. To his second wife he fathered Mary and Vincent. [picture of Margaret ROY] Margaret ROY, wife of Isaac ROY. Born ca 1793. Died ca 1896 at the age of 103. It was said by her family that she only took one dose of medicine in her life and that was when she was tricked into taking it. ========== [Page 54] and 4 trains of rolls." Products were "merchant bar and band iron, and light trails." Annual capacity was listed as "7,200 gross tons." The company later failed and the works became idle. Ranking high in importance to the War, The Helena Central Iron Works was second only to Selma in the amount of iron produced in the state�s rolling mills. Later in the 1870�s, after Reconstruction, a successor to the plant was built and operation continued. The Southern Building Standards, page 4 of August-September 1943 indicates that "In 1908 Mr. CONNORS and Mr. WEYMAN branched out into the then young Alabama industrial field and at Helena, Alabama, they established the Connors-Weyman Steel Co. . . . the plant at Helena was continued until1920 when it merged with the Birmingham plant." ========= [Page 55] LEES One of the pioneer families in Shelby County was that of Judge Needham LEE Sr., son of Thomas and Mary LEE. A lieutenant in the Tennessee militia, he came to Alabama with his family shortly after the War of 1812. Disembarking at Gunter�s Landing in 1816, they made their way to the lush Cahawba Valley, to "New Hope, where he died and was buried on the family ground along with Tom BAILEY and Zilpha." He became the first justice of the county court and held that position until his death in the early 1820�s. Judge LEE and his wife, the former Susan BAILEY, whose family came to Alabama with the LEEs, had eighteen children: Thomas, William, Winifred, Zilpha, Ingram, John, Sallie, Elizabeth, Needham Jr., Henry, Edward, Perry, twins Gaines and Hancock, Mary, Martin, Susan and James. With the exception of Hancock, a twin to ========= [Page 56] Gaines who died in infancy, all lived long and useful lives and had large families, giving Judge LEE 195 grandchildren, more than 50 of whom fought in the Confederate Army. "This remarkable family met Tuesday, the 26th of October at Helena, Shelby County. The meeting was a happy occasion. Congratulatory addresses were delivered by Rev. Mr. BALLOU and Dr. W. B. CROSS. Few families have enjoyed so much of life as the LEE family of the eleven sons, there are six living whose average age is 65. The other five lived to a great age. Of the six daughters, three are living, their average age being 65 years." Needham LEE, Jr. was only four when he made the trip to Alabama. The ninth child and fifth son of Needham, Sr., and Mary LEE, he was taught by his mother and his older sisters and brothers, and "by constant attention to what is passing in the world, became a well-informed man." On May 13, 1829, he eloped with Miss Nancy WHORTON, daughter of Stephen and Sarah WHORTON, who came from South Carolina to Alabama in the 1820�s, and granddaughter of Colonel Samuel WHORTON of Revolutionary War fame. Mrs. LEE was a loyal member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and a most ========= [Page 57] earnest worker. Her husband, whose ancestry was Episcopalian, joined her church in 1829. "She was a lady and always wore a lace cap" wrote her eldest granddaughter. "I remember how she exhorted all whom she knew to lead a Christian life," said her son in his autobiography. In 1839, Mr. LEE was elected Justice of the Peace for Helena, Beat #6, serving continuously for 50 years. Urged many times to become a candidate for the Legislature, for sheriff and for probate judge, he always declined, preferring the quieter life on the farm. He lost three square miles of land by going security on a friend�s debt, plus his 20 slaves freed after the war. He pluckily began again and bought back 300 acres of his old land. He was a Democrat, a Mason, and "one of the substantial citizens of Shelby County � a veritable pillar of society and a highly esteemed member of the community." After Nancy WHORTON LEE�s death on December 24, 1869, Justice LEE married Martha STRIPLING BROADNAX, a widow and a daughter of Aaron and Susan STRIPLING. He died at 88 on September 15, 1896. ======= [Page 58] The children of Nancy and Needham LEE were: Edward Fields (1831-1912) CSA; married Sue STRIPLING; Stephen WHARTON "Tump" (1833-1866) CSA; married Sarah NABERS and later Mary Ann STRIPLING. Other children were: Susan Jane (born 1836) and married Dr. Jasper GOODWIN who practiced medicine in Helena during the 1860�s; William MARTIN (born 1839) killed at the Battle of Richmond and buried in National Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia; James LACY (born 1841) CSA; married Lou ST.JOHN; Parthena Ann (born 1844) married Thomas B. MILLER; Helen, who married Barthelemow BOYLE and who the town was named after; Harriette Pauline (born 1848, died young); Martha Malissa "Mattie" (born 1850) married L. P. LEONARD and Josephine (born 1852, died young). Remains of the old Needham LEE house, destroyed by tornadoes, are still visible. Four of the sons of Needham LEE, Jr., served in the War Between The States, Captain "Billy" LEE paying the ultimate sacrifice in the Battle of Richmond. The eldest son, Edward Fields LEE, returned to his bride in Hillsboro (Helena). The former Sue STR PLING, whose family were friends of the LEEs, was the daughter of the Arthur STRIPLING of Georgia and Alabama, ========= [Page 59] and the niece of Martha STRIPLING BRODNAX, the second wife of Justice Needham LEE. Eight children were born to them, the eldest and only son, Westbrook, dying in infancy. Mr. LEE taught school for a while, then moved to Birmingham where he dealt in real estate. After rearing the seven little sisters, and following his wife�s death and the terrible Panic of 1893, he retired to his old Victorian "gingerbread" house in Helena, where he enjoyed rocking on the "wrap-around" porch, drinking mineral water from the springs behind his house and studying his Bible. In addition to Needham Jr. there were two other LEE brothers that resided in Helena. Henry R. married to Nancy DRAKE, was a carpenter and a gifted musician. He had large land holdings in the Helena area. He served with the Shelby County Militia during the civil War. He is the ancestor of a lot of Helena�s present citizens. Another brother, Edward, married Martha ROY, sister of Malden ROY. Edward owned a large farm west of Helena on the Cahaba River. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and there are records showing that he performed marriage ceremonies for some of the town�s residents. He and his wife are buried in the Helena Cemetery. ======== [Page 66] "When Wilson�s Raiders came through they landed at Hillsboro, Alabama where the troops divided�" "My grandfather�s home (Robert L. DUNNAM) was the first to be raided. While the soldiers were in the house stealing food, ripping open feather beds and pillows and breaking up furniture, General WILSON stood guard outside the gate on his horse.. "Inside the gate was a lilac bush full of beautiful blooms. The horse thought perhaps those blooms would taste as lucious as they looked so every time he would reach for a bloom, General WILSON would give him a hefty jerk away from the bush. So, the lilac bush was spared but in the house there were some very hungry children. When the soldiers were not looking my grandmother would pinch off a few bites of bread that she had hidden in the wood box by the fireplace and give them." ======== [Page 67] [picture] Judge Needham LEE and wife, Nancy WHORTON LEE ca. 1860 Mr. C. T. DAVIDSON [picture] ========= [Back page] .... ad for J. L. RUFFINS & Sons, a dry goods business.... Marlene LAWLEY, LEE, BURNETT, HARRIS