#52 Ancestors 2022 Week 45 Ghost Story: Abel Huntington Lee, the Man who Died Twice

 My distant cousin, Abel Huntington Lee, was born in Lyme CT in 1812, the grandson of Revolutionary War patriot Captain Elisha Lee and the son of John Murdock Lee and Anne Beckwith. 

In 1841 in Baltimore MD, Abel married Maria Louisa Weems, the daughter of Captain Elijah Weems and Mary Ann Shaw.  Abel and Maria had six daughters: Anna, Florence, Laura, Nina, Emma, and Rosalie, and one son: William Huntington Lee between 1843 and 1856.

Abel worked as a coach builder and painter, living first in Calvert County MD and later moving to Washington DC, where his skills were apparently very well regarded.  He had a shop on K street in the northwest part of the city. 

With the start of the Civil War, Abel was anxious to serve his country.  According to an 1896 account in the Washington Post, Abel was, in appearance, "one of those enigmas of humanity, apparently so delicate in health as to make one wonder how he was able to walk much less than to perform a man’s share of labor, and no one would suppose for an instant that he would be able to perform military or any other service for the government."  However, he applied to the Union commander to work as a spy since he believed his knowledge of southern Maryland and those who might be in sympathy with the rebellion could be used to Union advantage. The Union general thanked him for his offer and said they would get back to him if they needed him.

But Abel was not willing to be brushed off so easily and decided to do some spying on his own.  He was convinced that people in Southern Maryland were aiding in keeping open a mail route to and from the confederacy and that much of the contraband mail came through Washington DC.  He was determined to learn the details of the business and the agents behind it. After about two weeks of investigating, he was able to locate the confederate post office in DC and convey the information to the Union Army, which seized the location and captured a number of contraband letters and papers. 

This investigation gave him credibility and he was assigned to work with the Navy and the Potomac flotilla.  In August of 1861, he headed for Leonardtown in St. Mary's County, quite confident that he would be able to break up the entire clandestine route for confederate communications. Dressed in his working clothes and carrying his painting tools, he excited little suspicion as he travelled through Southern Maryland. However, he was betrayed by an erstwhile family friend and captured by the Confederate forces, who decided that he should be hung on the spot.  

His captors gave him a chance to say a few last words, and here his quick wit was able to save him from death by hanging.  Taking note of his slight build, Abel joked that “Gentlemen, if you hang me, you want to do it properly, break my neck; don’t you? Well, you had better wait till you can get a fifty-six pound weight to tie to my heels.”  That got a laugh from the Confederates and, admiring his pluck,  they decided to postpone the hanging and took him instead to the county jail in Henrico VA.  

Unfortunately, his family received a letter about Christmas in 1861 informing them that Abel had been hanged and so spent the Christmas season mourning the ignominious death of their husband and father. 

A year later in December of 1862, a number of exchanged prisoners were returned to Washington, Lee among them, and his family must have rejoiced at his miraculous return from the dead. 

Their joy was short-lived. After 16 months in Confederate prisons, Lee was so ill that he died about six months after his return in July 1863.  He was buried in Congressional Cemetery. 

Abel's wife Maria had great difficulty in obtaining a pension for her husband's service since he was not officially enlisted in either the Army or the Navy.  However, after some years of effort, Congress passed a special act in 1884 authorizing a pension for Maria of $28.40 a month.  

Maria Weems Lee died in Washington DC in 1903. 

Abel Huntington Lee was a man determined to serve his country and he paid the ultimate price for his devotion. His last words, according to his obituary: "I have endeavored to do my duty to my God and to my country, which is as dear to me as my life."