Samuel
B. Lessley, the author of
"Lessley Family Records" is a great,
great, great, great grandson of Samuel and Sarah Hutchinson Lessley. His
personal knowledge about the Lessley family was family tradition.
Several stories written about Samuel and
Sarah Hutchinson Lessley and their
descendants have been misleading. In the late 1960s, Samuel B. began an in-depth
search to find the recorded story of his ancestors, Samuel and Sarah Hutchinson
Lessley. With the assistance of professional researchers he collected all
available Lessley records from state archives, private sources, county
courthouses and cemeteries of Mecklenburg, Union and Old Lincoln counties of
North Carolina; Lancaster and York Counties of South Carolina; Cape Giradeau,
Ballinger, St. Clair and Cedar Counties.
All the collected information was consolidated into a book, "Lessley
Family Records", published by Samuel B. as
a tribute to the Lessley Clan, present and future.
Descendents of the Lessley Clan feel pride in the way our ancestors so bravely
overcame their obstacles and difficulties and we extremely grateful for what
they gave us in character and honor.
Our first American ancestors spelled the family name as Lessley, but in the
third and fourth generations following Samuel Lessley, most of the family
branches began changing the spelling to Lesslie and Leslie. The descendants of
George Lessley, son of Samuel and Sarah, have never strayed from the old
spelling, but we are all knowledgeable of the fact that all family spelling
variations belong to the same clan.