(1820 - 1902)
Printed with permission of the French Legation
Lydia Lee was born in Cincinnati in 1820. She, her sister Julia, and two brothers had moved to Austin in 1840. The Lee siblings were very talented artistically, with the sisters well known for their singing and musical prowess and their brothers known for their sketch and painting skills. Lydia is said to have provided inspiration for one of Mirabeau B. Lamar's poems and is referenced in Dubois correspondence, who recalled hearing her singing from his rental house in west Austin, to which they were neighbors.
On September 7, 1842, Lydia married Dr. Joseph William Robertson. The couple would have ten children together, most of whom were born and raised in the French Legation house. As a neighbor of Dubois in 1841, Lydia would have witnessed the drama of the Pig War firsthand, which she recounted to her children in the historic house built by the infamous Frenchman.
After the death of her husband in 1871, Lydia was left widowed still with several young children to raise. She supported herself over the next three decades by selling her husband's land holdings in east Austin to African American Freedmen, Mexican Americans, and waves of immigrants including Irish, Italian, and Lebanese.
Lydia Lee Robertson passed away in April 1902 and was buried next to her husband in Oakwood Cemetery, one mile north of the French Legation house.
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