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Biography/History:
Thomas Marshall Lea was born in Amite County, Mississippi, on November 3, 1864. He was the son of Hampton M. Lea (1810-1886) and Maria G. Lea (1810-1883). Lea planted cotton with his father near Peoria, Amite County. He married Theodora (Dora) W. Hitchcock (b. 1849) on January 28, 1874. In her youth, Theodora Hitchcock moved with her parents from Whitehall, New York, to Liberty, Amite County. She attended school in New York for four years prior to her marriage. The Leas had ten children, including George R. (b. ca. 1875), Frank M. (Buddy) (b. 1878), Virgil A., Sr., Bessie (b. 1883), Lillian (b. 1885), Hampton M. (b. 1887), Alva (Alvy) L., Carey M., and Clark Rice. Thomas Lea continued to plant cotton and other crops until he died on July 5, 1897. Theodora Lea operated the family farm after the death of her husband, owning it mortgage-free by 1900. The Leas apparently conducted some business in Magnolia, Pike County, Mississippi, and they received at least part of their mail there by 1918. Theodora Lea was living on the family farm with Alva, Carey, and Clark Lea in 1920. Theodora H. Lea died in 1929.
Virgil A. Lea, Sr., was born on September 28, 1880. He was a captain in Company Twenty-three, Sixth Battalion, United States Army Medical Corps, during World War I. Captain Lea was stationed in Chickamaugua Park, Georgia, for some time during the war. Captain Lea became a medical doctor shortly after the end of the war. He was a general practitioner in Amite County by 1920, and he was married to Annie Reynolds Lea of Amite County. The Leas had at least four children, including James H., Selma, and Virgil A., Jr. Dr. Lea died in an automobile accident on August 6, 1944.
Carey (or Cary) M. Lea was born on June 21, 1890. He was undergoing army training at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the early part of 1918. Lea was stationed at a military hospital in Liverpool, England, in August of 1918, and he worked there for several weeks. He was transferred to France in December of 1918. Lea worked on his mother’s farm after returning to Mississippi in 1919. Carey Lea died on June 14, 1966.
Clark Rice Lea, twin brother of Carey M. Lea, was born on June 21, 1890. He worked on the family farm and became engaged to a woman named Gussie, but the engagement was later broken. Lea served in Company B, Seventy-ninth Division, American Expeditionary Forces, during World War I. He was stationed in Camp Meade, Maryland, in July of 1918, and he was stationed in France by August of 1918. Lea was treated in a French hospital for an unspecified illness or wound in October of 1918, but he was fully recovered by November of that year. He was transferred to Souilly, France, in December of 1918, and he was stationed there until the end of war. Lea returned to the United States in May of 1919. He was employed as a mail carrier in Amite County by 1920. Clark Lea died on June 14, 1968.
Alva L. Lea was born on August 13, 1892, and she died on October 17, 1976.
Scope and Content:
This collection consists of letters written to Theodora Lea, Alva Lea, and other correspondents; postcards principally addressed to Theodora Lea; and miscellaneous papers.
Many of the letters in the collection were written to Theodora Lea, and they were primarily from Carey Lea and Clark Lea. Dr. Virgil A. Lea, Sr., and a few other correspondents also wrote Theodora Lea a smaller number of letters. The three Lea brothers wrote from a variety of places in the United States, England, and France during World War I. Early correspondence was sent to the home of Theodora Lea in Peoria, Amite County, and later correspondence was sent to her in Magnolia, Pike County. The letters concern economic and social affairs in Mississippi or abroad, travel, and the war.
The three Lea brothers wrote a number of their early letters from various United States Army camps during the mobilization for World War I. Carey and Clark Lea wrote primarily of their travels, describing in detail several of the cities they visited. They often asked about conditions at home in Mississippi and discussed some of the social situations to which they were exposed, such as their experiences at the YMCA. Carey Lea wrote several letters from Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was stationed in August and September of 1918. Clark Lea wrote some of his early letters from Camp Meade, Maryland, where he was stationed in July of 1918. When they reached Europe, they described their military experiences in general terms but discussed military life, rations, and workloads in slightly more detail. Carey Lea wrote from a military hospital in Liverpool, England, where he was employed around August of 1918, and Clark Lea wrote from various unspecified locations in France.
Some of the more unusual letters include an undated one in which Clark Lea described the destruction of an enemy submarine during Lea’s trip to England. He wrote about an accidental explosion at a rifle school in France that killed seven soldiers and wounded thirty others in February of 1919. Lea wrote his mother on March 28, 1919, explaining that he had recently received sixty-five letters that had been delayed in the mail.
There are two letters that were written to Theodora Lea from other correspondents. There is an 1890 letter from J. M. Rice, who lived in Joplin, Missouri, expressing sorrow at the loss of George R. Lea; and an 1897 letter from Theodora Lea’s niece that conveys sympathy for the death of Thomas M. Lea.
Carey Lea mainly corresponded with Alva Lea, and Clark Lea wrote her at least two letters. Carey and Clark Lea generally covered the same subjects in their letters to Alva Lea that they covered in letters to their mother.
The collection also includes letters written between 1890 and 1926 to several other recipients. There is an April 3, 1919, letter from Clark Lea to Carey Lea discussing home life in Magnolia. Clark Lea wrote to Lillian McLeod in Magnolia on May 7, 1919, and he wrote to his brother, Frank Lea, on April 3, 1919, about post-war Europe. There is one unidentified letter to Clark Lea, and there are several undated letter fragments from Clark Lea, Carey Lea, and perhaps others to unspecified recipients.
The majority of the postcards were addressed to Theodora Lea in Peoria or Magnolia in Amite County. Carey or Clark Lea sent all of the postcards between 1918 to 1919, often while they were at United States Army camps or on their way to Europe. A few postcards are from France. All of the postcards describe social matters in Mississippi or abroad and travel. Several postcards addressed to Alva Lea in Magnolia cover similar topics. There are a few postcards from Carey Lea to Dan H. McLeod, a friend living in Magnolia, and Carey Lea wrote his brother, Frank Lea, in Biloxi in June of 1919 about his forthcoming return to Mississippi.
Series Identification:
Theodora Lea (Incoming), 1890-1919; n.d.
Box 1, folders 1-5
Miscellaneous, 1899-1926; n.d.
Box 1, folder 7
Box 1, folder 8
Box 1, folder 9