My Genealogy Hound

HENRY M. LEE. The banking house of Lee Bros. & Co. is numbered among the most prominent financial institutions of southwestern Michigan, and as its business affairs are conducted upon a substantial and conservative basis it has gained the confidence of the public to a degree not usually enjoyed. The management of the bank is in the hands of the subject of this notice, and associated with him in business are his father, Chauncey T. Lee, and his brother, Fred E., Kate Beckwith Lee and Sarah H. Lee.

A resident of this State throughout his entire life, Mr. Lee was born in Edwardsburgh, Mich., on the 28th of October, 1856, being the son of Chauncey T. and Sarah H. (Lockwood) Lee, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this volume. At the age of two years he was brought by his parents to Dowagiac and has since made his home in this city. In the public schools of this place he laid the foundation of his education, which was afterward supplemented by a course of study in Buchtel College, at Akron, Ohio. Later he entered Smithson College, at Logansport, Ind., from which institution he was graduated with the Class of ‘76. His literary studies completed, Mr. Lee returned to Dowagiac and embarked in the grocery business, to which he later added the drug trade. For ten years he conducted an extensive and profitable business in these lines, becoming well and favorably known among the people. In 1887 he formed a partnership with C. T. Lee, F. E. Lee and Sarah H. Lee in the banking business, the firm being known as the Lee Bros. & Co. Bank. They began business in the block opposite their present location, and after remaining in that place about six years removed, in March, 1893, to their present house.

The marriage of Mr. Lee occurred in 1876, and united him with Miss Cora, daughter of William Bridges, an extensive farmer and prominent stock-raiser of Putnam County, Ind. Mrs. Lee was born in that county and received an excellent education at Smithson College, being a lady of culture and intelligence. She is the mother of one child, Helen. While Mr. Lee devotes his attention principally to his banking business, he also maintains a warm interest in all measures to promote the welfare of his fellow-citizens, and, politically, advocates the principles of the Republican party. In his social connections he is identified with the Masonic fraternity.

The banking house of Lee Bros. & Co. is worthy of more than passing mention. Their room is located in the corner of the Beckwith Memorial Building, Dowagiac. The furniture and wood-work are of mahogany, the floor of mosaic, the finishings and wainscotting of Tennessee marble and the metallic work of Japan coppered. The entire effect is most pleasing to the eye, presenting a combination of quiet elegance and superb appointments not to be seen elsewhere in Dowagiac. The “Hall” safe is of the very latest approved pattern, while there is also a large brick vault. The capital stock of the bank is $40,000, and the estimated worth $300,000.