The Lee family cemetery was established on land settled by Col. William Lee, a War of 1812 veteran who came to Butler County, Alabama, from Jones County, Georgia, in 1817-1818.

William Lee purchased land near Fort Dale in Butler County in October 1817, according to land records of Milledgeville, Georgia. His patent was in Section 35 of Township 11 North, Range 14 East, in what was then the Alabama Territory.

His son, Robert S. Lee, was quoted in an 1897 article as saying: "I was born on the 18th of March, 1822, four miles north of Greenville, and lived there till I was twenty years of age."

An 1874 reminiscence of early Butler County settlers by John C. Wade (who came to Butler County as a boy with his parents in 1819) described Col. William Lee being buried "near his residence, three and a half miles east of Fort Dale."

A 1909 news article about Robert S. Lee said that he was "the oldest citizen of Butler county, who was born in the county, his birth place being situated about four and one half miles from Greenville, and is now known as the old Payne place."

The 1909 article quoted R. S. Lee's stories of pioneer days. He said that his information "was given him by his mother, who now sleeps the Sleep of Peace, beside his father in the family burying ground at the Payne place."

Claiborne Payne and Samuel Payne purchased almost the entire north half of Section 35, T11, R14, in 1834 and 1837 -- which must have included the land in Section 35 originally patented by William Lee in October 1817.

This tract of land lies on the west side of Persimmon Creek, in the area of "Allen Chapel" shown on a 1955 Butler County map. The "New Searcy Road" runs north/south through Section 35.

Col. William Lee and his wife (whose name is suggested to be "Penelope" by available records) are buried in their family cemetery on the "old Payne place" in Section 35, and probably other family members are buried there, as well: children who died young or at birth, the slave who was counted in Penelope Lee's 1830 household, and others.