Background
Francis D. Lee was born in 1826 at Charleston, South Carolina, United States. A direct descendant of the Lee family of Revoluntary fame
Francis D. Lee was born in 1826 at Charleston, South Carolina, United States. A direct descendant of the Lee family of Revoluntary fame
He received an early education at the City College of Charleston where he graduated during his twentieth year,
He joined the office of Edward C. Jones as an architectural student, was later employed as a draftsman, and in 1852 became a member of the firm of Jones & Lee.
Active in practice during the following years the partners designed various buildings in Charleston, noted examples of which were St. Luke's Church, built in 1859; St. James Methodist; a remodeling of the old Unitarian Church! and the Planters & Mechanics Bank. Jones & Lee also designed a Hall at Purdue University, Greenville, S. C.
During the Civil War Mr. Lee was promoted to the rank of Major and served as Military Engineer on General Beauregard's staff. In his work of planning and building the fortifications in Charleston harbor, and improving the system of torpedo defense, Lee won wide recognition in military circles. After the war he was invited by Emperor Napoleon III to visit him in Paris to explain his engineering plans and inventions, and after a stay in the city the Major traveled through Europe visiting all the leading cities.
Upon his return to this country he decided to settle in St. Louis, and in 1867 organized the firm of Lee & Annan. In that association he acquired a large and suscessful practice, commissioned to design many of the city's important public and business structures of that period. Notable examples of these were the Merchants Exchange at Third and Chestnut Streets, built in 1875, the Roe Building, Broadway and Pine; Chamber of Commerce Building; Third National Bank; Gay Building; Bedford Block; Post Graduate Medical Collgee, and the Grand Avenue Presbyterian Church. It is said Mr. Lee's preference was for Gothic architecture, although he designed many buildings in the Classic style.
In 1884, Lee along with several other local architects founded the first incarnation of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.