John Lee

Source Citation:
Year: 1914; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 29; Page Number: 50

New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 16; Assembly District: 19; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 33

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919

Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., 74th Infantry National Guard Enlistment Cards, 1889-1917

New York State Archives; Albany, New York; Abstracts of National Guard Service in World War I, 1917-1919; Series: 13721; Box: 5; Volume: 14

Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 

     John Lee was born in Drumcarey, (Drumcarraig) County Cavan in Ireland on the 1st of March, 1898.  County Cavan lies in the north of the country not far from the border with Northern Ireland.

John left Ireland from the port of Queenstown in 1914 sailing aboard the S.S. Celtic.  He was bound for New York where his sister, Anna Lee Kennedy, would meet him and help him get established there.

In 1915, John was working and living at St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan in the position of "office boy".  The following year he filed papers with the intention of becoming an American Citizen.

With the advent of WWI,  John registered for the draft in June of 1917 and one month later was mobilized for active duty service with the 74th New York Infantry located in Buffalo, New York.  In October of the same year, he was transferred to Company H, 108th Infantry and would see active duty in France from September, 1918 to August, 1919.  Military records describe him as tall and slender with red hair and blue eyes.

At 43 years old, John again registered for a world war draft.  It was 1942 and he was working at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in the Bronx.  At that time he was described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall, with blue eyes, blond hair, and a light complexion.

John Lee died on the 16th of May 1980 and was buried on Hart Island on the 16th of June 1980.