Percy Lee
Position Held"
Railroad Cook and Chef
Railroad Line and Trains
Illinois Central
Trains
All that came through Fulton- Seminole, Panama Limited, City of New Orleans
Routes:
Train from Fulton all the way to Los Angeles, California
Years Worked
1943- 1969
Lived while working on the railroad
Fulton, KY
Mr. Lee's Kentucky Oral History Commission Interview is currently being transcribed. The video will be available for viewing in the Fulton KY Library shortly.
Railroad Cook and Chef
Railroad Line and Trains
Illinois Central
Trains
All that came through Fulton- Seminole, Panama Limited, City of New Orleans
Routes:
Train from Fulton all the way to Los Angeles, California
Years Worked
1943- 1969
Lived while working on the railroad
Fulton, KY
Mr. Lee's Kentucky Oral History Commission Interview is currently being transcribed. The video will be available for viewing in the Fulton KY Library shortly.
Percy Lee, Sr.Born: November 19, 1922
Died: April 12, 2015
Brother Percy Lee, at the age of 92 years, 4 months and 21 days, took flight to his heavenly home on the wings of an angel, at 11:10 A.M. on Sunday, April 12, 2015, from Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church in Lexington, KY.
There to meet him with open arms were his wife, Lillian Ray Kelso Lee; his parents, Lucille Patton Lee and Will Amery Lee; sister, Bertha Lee; two sons, Melvin Lee and William "Bill" A. Lee; and two sons-in-law, Army Sergeant First Class James H. Gordon and Dr. Samuel M. Weeks.
Brother Lee was born in Fulton, KY. He attended Milton Elementary School in Fulton, KY and River View High School in Hickman, KY. At an early age, feeling the need for a personal Savior in his life, he began his Christian journey by professing a hope in Christ by joining the family home church, Antioch Missionary Baptist. During his walk with the Lord he worked diligently in all areas of the church, including the Deacon Board, Prayer Service Leader, making prayer visits to the sick and shut in, and served as Men and Women Day Chairperson. His love for his church and for others kept him strong and continuously working for the Lord. He always had a word of Praise, Worship and Thanksgiving. He never met a stranger. Two of his favorite sayings were: "The Lord is Good All the Time" and "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."
On June 26, 1946, Percy and Lillian took their vow of Love, "Till Death Do Us Part." To this union six children were born. Brother Lee worked for the railroad for 38 years. He started with the Illinois Central Railroad and retired from Amtrak as Head Chef. A big sports fan, he cheered for the Fulton City Bulldogs, Murray State Racers, UK Wildcats, and LeBron James.
Brother Lee's civic activities included volunteering at Haws Memorial Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, coaching Little League Baseball, Fulton City High School Booster Club Member, Fulton City Park Board Member, Fulton-Fulton County Senior Citizens Inc. Board Member, a Kentucky Colonel, and a life time NAACP Member.
He leaves to cherish, honor and continue his legacy three sons: Perry (Brenda) Lee (Miami, FL), Percy (Helen) Lee (Fulton, KY), Kent (Kathy) Lee (Fulton, KY); three daughters: Enid (N.L.) Allen (San Diego, CA), Joyce Lee Weeks (Lexington, KY), Rosalind (Alvin) Sanders (Atlanta, GA); eight Grandchildren, ten Great-Grandchildren, Brother-in-Law Jimmie Joe (Mary) Kelso, Sister-in-Law Evelyn Kelso, Niece Jada Kelso, Nephew Jerrell Kelso, and a host of cousins, friends and church family.
Services will be held at noon on Thursday, April 16, 2015, at Greater Antioch Missionary Baptist Church with Rev. Jessie Johnson officiating. Interment will follow in Pleasant View Memorial Gardens.
Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the church.
http://www.rawlsfuneralhomes.com/home/index.cfm?action=public:obituaries.view&o_id=3032322&fh_id=11501
Rawls Funeral Home – South Fulton 731-479-2181731-479-2181
Print Obituary View/Sign Guest Book
Died: April 12, 2015
Brother Percy Lee, at the age of 92 years, 4 months and 21 days, took flight to his heavenly home on the wings of an angel, at 11:10 A.M. on Sunday, April 12, 2015, from Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church in Lexington, KY.
There to meet him with open arms were his wife, Lillian Ray Kelso Lee; his parents, Lucille Patton Lee and Will Amery Lee; sister, Bertha Lee; two sons, Melvin Lee and William "Bill" A. Lee; and two sons-in-law, Army Sergeant First Class James H. Gordon and Dr. Samuel M. Weeks.
Brother Lee was born in Fulton, KY. He attended Milton Elementary School in Fulton, KY and River View High School in Hickman, KY. At an early age, feeling the need for a personal Savior in his life, he began his Christian journey by professing a hope in Christ by joining the family home church, Antioch Missionary Baptist. During his walk with the Lord he worked diligently in all areas of the church, including the Deacon Board, Prayer Service Leader, making prayer visits to the sick and shut in, and served as Men and Women Day Chairperson. His love for his church and for others kept him strong and continuously working for the Lord. He always had a word of Praise, Worship and Thanksgiving. He never met a stranger. Two of his favorite sayings were: "The Lord is Good All the Time" and "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."
On June 26, 1946, Percy and Lillian took their vow of Love, "Till Death Do Us Part." To this union six children were born. Brother Lee worked for the railroad for 38 years. He started with the Illinois Central Railroad and retired from Amtrak as Head Chef. A big sports fan, he cheered for the Fulton City Bulldogs, Murray State Racers, UK Wildcats, and LeBron James.
Brother Lee's civic activities included volunteering at Haws Memorial Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, coaching Little League Baseball, Fulton City High School Booster Club Member, Fulton City Park Board Member, Fulton-Fulton County Senior Citizens Inc. Board Member, a Kentucky Colonel, and a life time NAACP Member.
He leaves to cherish, honor and continue his legacy three sons: Perry (Brenda) Lee (Miami, FL), Percy (Helen) Lee (Fulton, KY), Kent (Kathy) Lee (Fulton, KY); three daughters: Enid (N.L.) Allen (San Diego, CA), Joyce Lee Weeks (Lexington, KY), Rosalind (Alvin) Sanders (Atlanta, GA); eight Grandchildren, ten Great-Grandchildren, Brother-in-Law Jimmie Joe (Mary) Kelso, Sister-in-Law Evelyn Kelso, Niece Jada Kelso, Nephew Jerrell Kelso, and a host of cousins, friends and church family.
Services will be held at noon on Thursday, April 16, 2015, at Greater Antioch Missionary Baptist Church with Rev. Jessie Johnson officiating. Interment will follow in Pleasant View Memorial Gardens.
Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the church.
http://www.rawlsfuneralhomes.com/home/index.cfm?action=public:obituaries.view&o_id=3032322&fh_id=11501
Rawls Funeral Home – South Fulton 731-479-2181731-479-2181
Print Obituary View/Sign Guest Book
In 1943, Mr. Percy Lee hired on to the Illinois Central Rail Road during it’s heyday of prosperity. Fulton, at that time was like the promise land and people came from all around for jobs on the road. As an IC headquarters, second only to Chicago, Fulton was...
Scroll to below photos for full story.
Scroll to below photos for full story.
An Interview with Mr. Percy Lee
by Robert Vanderford, Jan 2009
Written by Linda Bradford
In 1943, Mr. Percy Lee hired on to the Illinois Central Rail Road during it’s heyday of prosperity. Fulton, at that time was like the promise land and people came from all around for jobs on the road. As an IC headquarters, second only to Chicago, Fulton was a major train hub for the railroads that criss- crossed the town.
Ten to twelve trains a day passed through Fulton, including the Seminole, the City of New Orleans, the City of Miami, the Chickasaw and the Panama Limited which was a premier all Pullman train; and the Louisiana which Mr. Lee recalls as a train that was not clean. It was one that would come in with ribs, chicken bones and trash all over the floor. The trains were numbered with even trains going down and odd trains going up. So you would have train #3 that would go from Memphis to Chicago and #4 for the return trip. Some Had descriptive nick names i.e. the whiskey- run from Fulton to Memphis during the time when some counties were dry.
The routes were long and many required two crews. A route from Chicago to Memphis would have one full crew (conductors, porters, engineers etc) from Chicago to Cairo and another full crew from Cairo to Memphis.
On these long runs, dining car crews of waiters and cooks would also switch off. Mr. Lee was a cook. Dining cars were generally staffed with 4 cooks. Number 1,2,3,4. No. 1 was the Chef, the headman. No. 2 the fry man, No. 3 Vegetable man and No 4 pots and pans. Standard staffing for waiters included a steward or Headwaiter, and six or seven waiters. Overall relationships were good between waiters and cooks, though sometimes competitive, with each group feeling they were more important to the process than the other. Even so, some waiters would share tips with cooks.
Mr. Lee recalls that an average day would start with set up at 5am and lasted until about 8 or 9pm. In the early days before dormitories the dining car staff would tear down the tables and pull back the rug to get the cots that were stored in the “possum belly” ( the floor of the dining car). Following the night’s sleep on the cots, the next morning the cots would be returned to the possum belly and the staff would set up the car for breakfast. There were no showers for the men at that time and the men just had to do the best they could to maintain the required crisp IC standard of “handsomeness and hygiene.” Later dormitory cars with sleeping accommodations and showers were added.
That smooth handsomeness that the railroad men were required to maintain, was, however, sometimes known to get them in trouble. And when asked about the stories that some rail road men were real 'players' and had a pretty woman in every town along the route- and sometimes even entire families that had never met one another, both Mr. Lee and Mr. Vanderford deferred. Exchanged glances and didn’t say a word Mr. Lee’s was originally paid 37cent per hour and payday was every two week. When asked why he hired on with the railroad
he said he just liked the work and liked the people and it was quite a step up from his job riding a bike for $4.50per weeks and the railroad offered good pay and benefits. Though he liked the work, the work was so hard that many couldn’t take it and some would even get off the train mid-route. Right where they were! They would just leave right on the spot saying that the work was too hard.
Not only was the actual work hard, but the overt racism of the Jim Crow Laws that required Blacks to move to the colored car once the train crossed from ---- to ---- over the Ohio river , added an additional burden and Mr. Lee recalls being told the “joke:”
“Jim Crow laws means that if you sat in the from ya’ll would get killed first. “
Mr. Lee hired on as a cook and progressed to Head Chef. He could make any dish anyone could ever want, but his favorite foods to prepare were rolls and cobblers.
The Chicago office always made up the train menu and supplies and food were loaded on the train from a big wooden wagon. “When you needed something you told the conductor and he’d send a wire if food was low. “
On the IC real silver, fine china, snow-white linen, and crystal comprised the standard service, that however all changed with Amtrak. Everything, to the dismay of many, changed with Amtrak and the decline of service is legendary (one research source goes as far as to refer to the Am track service as a hot dog cart on wheels compared to IC service which they described as “service that surrounded us with impeccable comfort and tantalized our palates with elegant dining fare as they whisked into a world of romance and mystique”)
The families of other train workers always received extra-special care on Mr. Lee's train but when asked how their bills were taken care of ~ he simply said, secretively, "No, I can't tell you about that!"
Mr. Lee says there’s no comparison between Amtrak and IC and he hasn’t been back on a train in 39 years. He much preferred working for IC vs. Am track. Am track left no room for individual abilities and decision making which affected morale and reduced camaraderie among the workers. Am track would tell you exactly what to do and the required runs are much further now.
Romantic and glamorous as it was, working on the train was very dangerous. During Mr. Lee’s career, a man walked off the back of the train and was killed, a woman here in Fulton lost her leg taking a short-cut ‘under’ a train, sixteen cars crossed over two porters and cut them to shreds, a man was thrown off the train and got his head cut off.
And in 1979, sixteen cars derailed and three people were killed. The dining car burnt up and a porter coming across from another car was sliced to death. Mr. Lee was gravely injured in that derailment. His lungs collapsed, his liver was torn up, and his right arm and left leg were severely damaged. His injuries required more than 200 stitches and though it cannot be discerned today, he had to learn to walk and talk all over again.
Thank God, national treasure that he is, that among other blessings, he survived to serve the area in so many ways most especially as local historian. At the beginning of the interview, Mr. Vanderford presented the registry with the 250 names of local IC workers that he had collected. Mr. Lee went through each name, and with his relentless memory, recalled details for the list, but for a hand-full, on every single one. Amazing! For a railroad buff, or anyone that remembers the ecstasy of riding the early trains, an afternoon with Mr. Lee is definitely, like his delicious cooking, an experience to be savored!
Mr. Lee's San Bernadino Train Days
Mr. Percy Lee Takes Fulton's Railroad History to California 4-18-11
Railroad Days Celebrated in San Bernardino
Special to Highland Community News
Published: Monday, April 18, 2011 12:01 PM CDT
Alllll aboooard! Last Saturday and Sunday, the city of San Bernardino celebrated Railroad Days at the historic Santa Fe Depot on West 3rd Street, in San Bernardino. At the heart of this year's third annual event was the arrival of Steam Engine #3751. The beloved steam engine, which has been restored to its original condition, was met with much fanfare and celebration. With well-wishers cheering and waving at the depot, and on a bridge adjacent to the station, the Redlands Fourth of July Band provided the pomp and energetic music to welcome the locomotive, as it slowly came to a stop. After making a trip from Los Angeles, city officials, excited guests, and a troupe of "wild west" re-enactors disembarked the train, as it arrived on Saturday.
To commence the festivities, a brief speech was made by Mayor Patrick Morris of San Bernardino. Morris then introduced Percy Lee, the original chief chef, who prepared meals on the Illinois Central for 38 years. At 88 years of age, Lee commented, "I remember Pearl Bailey and the many baseball players that used to ride the train. I am very glad to be part of this event." Lee, who resides in Fulton, Kentucky, was accompanied by his son Bill, a resident of San Bernardino.
In staying with the time period, a mock arrest and western gun battle took place on the tracks in front of Engine 3751. The re-enactment of the arrest of "Old Left Leg Paxton" was performed by the Guns of the Round Table and members of the mayor's staff. After the performance, Rebecca Daugherty, an actor who portrayed Odessa Red, said, "We like interacting with the public and educating them on how life was back in time. When we perform, it is usually kids that have never seen costumes like these. They are amazed that people actually wore these types of clothes. Performing today after the steam engine arrived fit perfectly with what we do as a group."
Remembering how the train used to look from a time gone by, Highland residents Rebecca and Mark Barron were all smiles as Ole #3751 rolled in to the platform. Rebecca said, "It was always amazing to see it in the park when we were teenagers. We used to play on it all the time. We had a lot of fun back then. I'm glad that they (the city) decided to keep it instead of destroying it, which happens to a lot of things these days." Mark commented, "There was no fence around it, when we were young. It was like a museum piece. I'm glad that it's not parked there any more, and that I got to see it in running condition. We have real great memories about this train."
Ben Paine, a resident of Highland, said, "My dad was huge into model trains. It's a great day, today! I am here for the experience to see the train. I remember steam engines so well. I remember seeing this locomotive in the yard. It was an exhibit in very poor condition before they restored it. Now, it's a fantastic sight! Now that the era of the steam engine is effectively gone, it's (seeing #3751) something we are never going to see again."
The two day train celebration had an assortment of activities, performances, and displays for the young or the young at heart. There were several actual train engines that train lovers could climb aboard and sit in the engineer's seat. For those with an appreciation for nostalgia, in front of the depot was array of antique fire engines from throughout California. http://www.highlandnews.net/articles/2011/04/18/news/doc4dac6df4d6f3d462627275.txt
Railroad Days Celebrated in San Bernardino
Special to Highland Community News
Published: Monday, April 18, 2011 12:01 PM CDT
Alllll aboooard! Last Saturday and Sunday, the city of San Bernardino celebrated Railroad Days at the historic Santa Fe Depot on West 3rd Street, in San Bernardino. At the heart of this year's third annual event was the arrival of Steam Engine #3751. The beloved steam engine, which has been restored to its original condition, was met with much fanfare and celebration. With well-wishers cheering and waving at the depot, and on a bridge adjacent to the station, the Redlands Fourth of July Band provided the pomp and energetic music to welcome the locomotive, as it slowly came to a stop. After making a trip from Los Angeles, city officials, excited guests, and a troupe of "wild west" re-enactors disembarked the train, as it arrived on Saturday.
To commence the festivities, a brief speech was made by Mayor Patrick Morris of San Bernardino. Morris then introduced Percy Lee, the original chief chef, who prepared meals on the Illinois Central for 38 years. At 88 years of age, Lee commented, "I remember Pearl Bailey and the many baseball players that used to ride the train. I am very glad to be part of this event." Lee, who resides in Fulton, Kentucky, was accompanied by his son Bill, a resident of San Bernardino.
In staying with the time period, a mock arrest and western gun battle took place on the tracks in front of Engine 3751. The re-enactment of the arrest of "Old Left Leg Paxton" was performed by the Guns of the Round Table and members of the mayor's staff. After the performance, Rebecca Daugherty, an actor who portrayed Odessa Red, said, "We like interacting with the public and educating them on how life was back in time. When we perform, it is usually kids that have never seen costumes like these. They are amazed that people actually wore these types of clothes. Performing today after the steam engine arrived fit perfectly with what we do as a group."
Remembering how the train used to look from a time gone by, Highland residents Rebecca and Mark Barron were all smiles as Ole #3751 rolled in to the platform. Rebecca said, "It was always amazing to see it in the park when we were teenagers. We used to play on it all the time. We had a lot of fun back then. I'm glad that they (the city) decided to keep it instead of destroying it, which happens to a lot of things these days." Mark commented, "There was no fence around it, when we were young. It was like a museum piece. I'm glad that it's not parked there any more, and that I got to see it in running condition. We have real great memories about this train."
Ben Paine, a resident of Highland, said, "My dad was huge into model trains. It's a great day, today! I am here for the experience to see the train. I remember steam engines so well. I remember seeing this locomotive in the yard. It was an exhibit in very poor condition before they restored it. Now, it's a fantastic sight! Now that the era of the steam engine is effectively gone, it's (seeing #3751) something we are never going to see again."
The two day train celebration had an assortment of activities, performances, and displays for the young or the young at heart. There were several actual train engines that train lovers could climb aboard and sit in the engineer's seat. For those with an appreciation for nostalgia, in front of the depot was array of antique fire engines from throughout California. http://www.highlandnews.net/articles/2011/04/18/news/doc4dac6df4d6f3d462627275.txt