My Great Grandfathers farm! My Grandfather still owns it!

My Great Grabdfather's name is Chester H. Lee and this is his farm on Piller Point on Middle Road.

Watertown Daily Times - June 22, 1997
Jefferson County, N. Y.

Chester H. Lee -- Farmer, Traveler

DEXTER -- Chester H. Lee, 83, County Route 59, died at 2:45 p.m., Saturday at this home.

Mr. Lee was a farmer on Pillar Point for many years.

Born Aug. 16, 1913, in Adams, a son of Milton R. and Ethel Douglass (sic) Lee, he moved with his family to Pillar Point when he was 1-1/2 years old. He attended school at Phillips Corners, Pillar Point, and graduated from Dexter High School in 1930. He received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University Agricultural College, Ithaca, in 1934.

He married Doris Rathbun on Aug. 25, 1934, at her parents' Watertown home.

Mr. Lee taught school at Henderson for a year and then rented a farm north of Watertown. In 1941, he purchased a Pillar Point farm, which he operated until retiring in 1975.

In 1974, he built a house on South Shore Road, where he and his wife had since resided.

Mr. Lee received a Jefferson County Green Acres Award in 1952 from the Extension Service and a Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award in 1991 from Jefferson County Farm Bureau. In 1990, he received a Paul Harris Fellow award from Rotary International.

He was an active member of Dexter United Methodist Church, Jefferson County Farm Bureau and Cooperative Extension. For nine years, he was a member of the General Brown School Board of Education. He also was a member of the Northern New York Agricultural Historical Society at Stone Mills, Kountry Kuzzins square dance club, was a 4-H leader, taught Sunday School and was a counselor at summer church camp.

He and his wife served in the Peace Corps in India from 1969 to 1970. Before and after retiring from farming, they traveled to Europe, including Russia and Poland; China, Japan, Columbia and throughout much of the United States.

Surviving besides his wife are three sons, Dr. Peter A. Lee, Allison Park, Pa., James A., Hilton, and Thomas E., Madrid; two daughters, Mrs. John (Alice E.) Sykes, Dexter, and Mrs. Leon (Rosemary A.) Oaks-Lee, Auburn; two brothers, F. Douglas, Rodman, and Louis M., Danville, Ky.; three sisters, Louise A. Robinson, Danville, Mrs. Roy (Dora E.) Gibbs, Fayetteville, N. C., and Mrs. Robert (Jean M.) Schroy, Northport; a half-brother, the Rev. Russell Lee, Sherrill; 16 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews.