James P. Lee

James Parrish Lee (June 6, 1870 – September 14, 1941) was an American football player and lawyer. He played college football at Harvard University and was a consensus selection at the halfback position on the 1889 College Football All-America Team.

James P. Lee
Harvard Crimson
PositionHalfback
ClassGraduate
Career history
CollegeHarvard (1889–1890)
Columbia
Personal information
Born:June 6, 1870
New York City, New York
Died:September 14, 1941(1941-09-14) (aged 71)
Southampton, New York
Career highlights and awards
Consensus All-American (1889)

Early years and ancestry

Lee was born in New York City in 1870. His father Charles Carroll Lee, was a Union Army surgeon in the American Civil War and later president of the Medical Society of New York County. He was a cousin of Robert E. Lee and a descendant of Richard Lee I and Charles Carroll of Carrollton.[1]

Athletics

Lee attended Harvard College where he was a member of the Harvard Crimson football team. He was a consensus first-team selection at the halfback position for the 1889 College Football All-America Team.[2] The following year, he led the 1890 Harvard Crimson football team to an undefeated 11–0 record. Lee capped the 1890 season with a long touchdown run to give Harvard its first victory since 1876 in the Harvard–Yale football rivalry.[1] The New York Times described Lee's touchdown run as "a brilliant open play" around the right end of the line.[3]

Lee was also a member of Harvard's track team, competing in the 220-yard dash, the quarter mile and the low hurdles. He set a world record in the low hurdles.[1] He continued to compete in track while he was a student at Columbia Law School and as a member of the New York Athletic Club.[1]

Later years and death

After receiving his LL.B. degree from Columbia, Lee practiced law with the New York firm of Anderson, Pendleton & Anderson. He was also an officer of Hecker Cereal Company, Southwestern Milling Company and Standard Milling Company.[1] He was married to Clara Lothrop Lincoln in 1896, and they had six children.[1][4]

Lee died in 1941 at the age of 71 while playing tennis at the Meadow Club in Southampton, New York. While playing tennis with his son-in-law and "was about to serve and had called the score, 'thirty love,' when he coughed and staggered." He was dead by the time his son-in-law reached him from the other side of the net.[1]

References
  1. "James P. Lee Dies; Lawyer, Athlete; Member of Victorious Harvard Football Team of 1890 – On Camp's 1st All-American; Stricken Playing Tennis; Long Prominent in Summer Colony of Southampton - Of Distinguished Ancestry". The New York Times. September 15, 1941.
  2. "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. p. 4. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  3. "A Great Day for Harvard: The Crimson Triumphs Over the Blue in Football; One of the Most Exciting Games in the History of the College Sport - Harvard Twelve, Yale Six" (PDF). The New York Times. November 23, 1890.
  4. "A Day's Weddings: Lee-Lincoln" (PDF). The New York Times. September 23, 1896.
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