John Doyle Lee Papers mssLee
Gayle Richardson
The Huntington Library
June 2020
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: John Doyle Lee papers
Creator:
Lee, John D. (John
Doyle), 1812-1877
Identifier/Call Number: mssLee
Physical Description:
4.8 Linear Feet
(3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1841-1967
Date (bulk): 1841-1877
Abstract: A collection of diaries, letters,
documents, and manuscripts of John Doyle Lee documenting early life in Utah and the Mountain
Meadows Massacre.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
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[Identification of item]. John Doyle Lee papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Esther Nelson, May 1929; Gift of Rolla B. Watt, June 1939; Gift of Juanita
Brooks, June 1949.
John Doyle Lee (1812-1877) was a Mormon pioneer who was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois. Lee
was the leader of one of the Mormon wagon trains migrating to Salt Lake City in 1848. He
helped colonize Southern Utah, was a probate judge of Iron County, and a member of the
territorial legislature. Lee is best known for his part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
which was an attack by Indians and Mormons dressed as Indians against a wagon train of
settlers passing through Southern Utah in 1857. He was excommunicated from the Mormon church
in 1870 and sent by Brigham Young to a remote spot on the Colorado River, now known as Lee's
Ferry. When he returned home for a visit in 1875, he was taken for trial, found guilty, and
executed in 1877.
A collection of 99 items from 1841 to 1967; the collection consists of diaries, letters,
documents and manuscripts primarily by John Doyle Lee. There is a letter by William W.
Bishop that includes a list of names of persons in and present at the Mountain Meadows
Massacre (mssHM 31237). There are also letters by and to several of John D. Lee's wives.
There are six volumes of diaries by John D. Lee which span the years 1846 to 1876, and one
diary of his wife, Rachel Andora Woolsey Lee, from 1856 to 1860. Many of the items in the
collection are contemporary copies or facsimiles.
Processed by Brooke M. Black in 2011. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the electronic
finding aid derived from an earlier finding aid.
Arranged chronologically.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: HM 26336-26338, HM 31202-31251, FAC
547-548, FAC 550, and FAC 614-621. The collection is made up of several acquisitions.
The John Doyle Lee papers form part of the Mormon File, approximately 1805-1995.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Frontier and pioneer life -- Utah -- History
Mormon Church -- Utah
Mormons -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Mormons -- Utah -- History -- 19th century
Mountain Meadows Massacre, Utah,
1857
Utah -- History -- 19th century
Diaries -- Utah -- 19th century
Documents -- Utah -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Utah -- 19th century
Lee, Rachel Andora Woolsey, 1825-1912
Box 1, Volume 1-6
John D. Lee diaries HM 26337 1846-1876
Box 2
Box 3
Letters, manuscripts, and ephemera 1841-1967
Box contains a family genealogy, an account book, a poem, contemporary copies or
photocopies of John Doyle Lee letters to various addressees; the box also contains
letters by William W. Bishop, Emoline Kennedy Chatten, Nancy Emily Lee Dalton, Emma
Batchellor Lee among other letters and ephemera.