LEE, Vernon, the of the English writer, Violet Paget (q.v.).
LEE, William, English clergyman and in ventor: b. probably at Calverton, Nottingham shire; d. Paris, about 1610. He was educated at Cambridge University and while either cu rate or incumbent at Calverton he, in 1589, invented the stocking-frame. Failing to secure royal patents in England, owing to the aversion to supplant hand-labor by machinery, he re moved to France upon the invitation of Henry IV, who promised the patronage withheld by Queen Elizabeth. He established his frames at Rouen and was highly successful in his un dertaking until the assassination of Henry IV, and subsequent unsettled conditions caused the withdrawal of royal patronage. He died, dis appointed and unremunerated, and his work men returned to England where the foundation of the manufacture of hosiery by machinery was then laid.
LEE, William, American diplomatic repre b. Stratford, Va. 1737; d. near Wil liamsburg, Va., 27 June 1795. He was a brother of Arthur Lee (q.v.), Francis Lightfoot Lee (q.v.) and Richard Henry Lee (q.v.). Prior to the Revolution he was active as a merchant in London; and there he was for a time agent Of Virginia colony. In 1777 he became asso ciated with Thomas Morris (q.v.) as superin tendent of the commercial affairs of the United States at Nantes, France, and in 1778 was ap pointed commissioner to Prussia and Austria, but accomplished nothing. A treaty drawn up by him with Neuf ville, a merchant of Amster dam, in the year 1778, and approved by the burgomaster of that city, became the avowed cause of the war declared by Great Britain against Holland. Consult Wharton, 'Revo lutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States' (1889).
LEE, William Little, American lawyer: b. Sandy Hill, N. Y., 25 Feb. 1821; d. Honolulu, 28 ,June 1857. He was educated at Norwich University, Vermont, and at the Harvard Law School, and engaged in the practice of law at Troy, N. Y. Threatened with tuberculosis, he in 1846 decided to remove to Oregon, making the journey by sea; but repairs on the vessel detained him at Honolulu and he undertook some important legal commissions from the Hawaiian government. He afterward accepted the appointment of chief justice and chancellor and remained in those offices until his death.
He framed a new constitution with civil and criminal codes; was president of the commis sion governing the distribution of lands to the common people, a proceeding due to his good offices; and in 1855 he negotiated a reciprocity treaty with the United States. His death was due to a recurrence of his old trouble follow ing overwork in the Hawaiian small-pox epi demic of 1853.
LEE, Mass., town, in Berkshire County, on the Housatonic River and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, about 33 miles northwest of Holyoke and 10 miles south of Pittsfield. The town includes the villages of South and East Lee. Lee is situated in an agricultural region; but the country is traversed by the southern spurs of the Green Mountains, known as the °Berkshire Hills') in this region. The delightful climate and beautiful scenery make Lee and vicinity favorite summer resorts. The town was settled in 1760 and incorporated in 1777. A fine white marble found in the town is much used for building purposes. The principal manufactures are paper and dairy products. The government of the town is administered by a town meeting or by officials elected at the annual town meeting. Pop. about 4,106. Consult Hyde and Hyde, 'Centennial History of Lee.' LEE, nautical term designating the side of a ship sheltered from the wind. The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon hleo and it is likewise found in other languages, the Icelandic hle, the Dutch /ij, the Danish le. A 'flee is one unprotected from the wind, as the wind blows straight upon it. To "'get under the lee" is to take a position placing some object between one and the wind. is when a ship drifts away from her course before the wind. °Leeward° means the direction away from the wind. °Lee anchor* is the one not held taut by the swinging of the ship in the wind. A °lee-board* is one of two long, flat pieces of wood placed on the sides of a shallow boat and kept close-hauled except when the one on the lee side is let down to prevent the boat from drifting too rapidly to °leeward.* See CENTRE-BOARD.