Who Were My Lee Ancestors?

While it was commonly known that my grandmother was a descendant of Madison Hemings, she spoke more often of her connection to General Robert E. Lee.  

Emma Lee Cooper always said that Robert E. Lee was my 5x great-uncle.  She said her father, Robert Edward Lee Cooper, who was born in 1866 in Mechlenburg County Virginia, was adopted by William Cooper (a wagoner) and Betty Moss, and they moved to Ross County Ohio before June 1880.  There is a documented trail of him being with William Cooper beginning July 1870.  But I have not been able to establish the connection to Robert E. Lee yet.  

At some point early in his life the "Robert" was dropped and the "Cooper" was added to his name.  In the 1870 US Federal Census he was listed at "Edward Moss" living with William Cooper and Betty Moss; the William and Betty relationship was not clear.  In the 1880 US Federal Census he was listed as "Edward Cooper".  It is presumed that William Cooper was not his father, but it is unclear if Betty Moss was his biological mother.  In 1870 he had a possible sister named Ann E Moss who was born in 1869 in Virginia; she was no longer with with the family in 1880.  In 1880 he had a new sister Estie M Cooper who was born in 1878 in Ohio.

Edward Lee Cooper married Mary B. Dinkins in 1890 and they had five children, but only two sons survived through 1904.  After Mary passed, he married Ella Mae Young on April 10, 1904 and they had seven children.  

Edward and Ella lived on a farm owned by a Dr. (Rev.) Carpenter, located in Union Township near Sulphur Lick Springs, a small community outside of Chillicothe, Ohio.  While farming, Edward studied the ministry under the supervision of Rev. George Carpenter, and by 1910 became an assistant minister at the First Baptist Church, W. 4th Street in Chillicothe, Ohio.  The family moved to 33 W. 7th St. in 1915.  By the time Ella and Edward moved into Chillicothe, most of the older children had either left to marry or moved away, leaving only the four youngest at home.  Ella passed in 1930. 

Edward later married Adeline Newby; she left him with his daughter Emily to care for in 1950.  Edward Lee Cooper, died on September 16, 1951 in Chillicothe, Ohio.  He was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. 


What I know about William Cooper, Edward's adoptive father, is that he was the son of Edwin Cooper of Mechlenburg County Virginia.  Edwin married Jane and they had a child Mary J.  Then Edwin married Martha.  According to the 1840 US Federal Census, Edwin and his family were"free colored persons" in the East District of Mechlenburg, Virginia; he was employed in agriculture.  According to the 1850 US Federal Census, Edwin Cooper was 35 and a shoemaker; William was 17 and a laborer.  The family was listed as mulatto. According to the 1860 US Federal Census, Edwin Cooper was 44 and a shoe/boot maker; William was 22 and a farm laborer.  Several of Edwin Cooper's descendants migrated to southern Ohio.

Could Robert Edward Lee Cooper have been the great-grandson one of Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III?  Why was he given up for adoption?  Why was he whisked away to southern Ohio?

Robert Edward Lee Cooper

General Robert Edward Lee