History of the Lee Family Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas explored.

Lee Family Cemetery is one of San Antonio’s lesser known cemeteries. This news article will discuss what Lee Family Cemetery was and functioned as. Lee Family Cemetery functioned as a family cemetery. This cemetery was also known as Lee Cemetery.

Lee Family Cemetery is located on what was the former Lee Ranch in a small town and settlement called Helotes, Texas, located northwest of San Antonio, Texas, during the mid-19th century.

The Lee Family Cemetery dates back to the mid-19th century during the 1850s. Bexar County Land Records state the Lee Family Cemetery has been in existence since the year 1854. This property used exclusively for human burial. (Ref: Bexar County Land Records, Document Number 20200016745)

Shelly Lee applied for a Texas Land Grant of 160 acres that encompassed a piece of Hill Country property on the northeastern boundary of the Helotes Settlement in the year of 1862. A large cemetery was re-established some time after 1863. (Ref: Helotes: Gateway to the Texas Hill Country - Fall 2019)

The largest tombstones marks the graves of patriarch Shelly Lee (1828-1884) and Jesusa “Susie” Maria de la Garza Lee (1839-1887). The most poignant structure inside of Lee Family Cemetery is a midsized obelisk with a carving of a hand with the index finger pointing to the sky. Burial spots for 3 of their 15 children indicated who died in infancy, two in 1881 and one in 1883. Their eldest child, Shelly Augustine “Gus” Lee and his wife, Frances “Fannie” Mae Jackson Lee (1860-1940), are also buried in this cemetery. (Ref: https://issuu.com/louisdoucette/docs/helotes_fall_2019_final_single_page)

Robert C Lee is the current owner of Lee Family Cemetery. Lee Family Cemetery has been tax exempt since January 1, 1989. (Ref: Bexar County Land Records, Document Number 20200016745)

Lee Family Cemetery has about 20 graves, tombstones, and burials. The Lee Family Cemetery can be reached via agate which is kept locked for security reasons. Permission is needed to visit or access  Lee Family Cemetery. (Ref: https://issuu.com/louisdoucette/docs/helotes_fall_2019_final_single_page)

However according to an affidavit from the Bexar County Land Records, there are possibly more graves, tombstones, and burials that are undocumented and not known about. (Ref: Bexar County Land Records, Document Number 20200073397)

Lee Family Cemetery is located at 9715 Park Drive, Helotes, Texas, US 78023.