Charles Lee, Bed Manufacturer
The origin of bedsteads found in Louisiana and elsewhere throughout the South stamped “C. LEE” has long been cause for speculation. The most persistent popular belief has been that Lee was a free man of color who apprenticed under Prudent Mallard. It is now known that Charles Lee was in fact working in Manchester, Massachusetts circa 1856 to 1868, employing approximately eighteen men and shipping to New Orleans retailers such as William and James McCracken and Calvin Chandler Sampson.
For additional information, see Stephen G. Harrison, The Nineteenth Century Furniture Trade in New Orleans, The Magazine Antiques, May 1997, page 755.