John
Milton Lee, born in Danville, Indiana, September
7, 1890, was graduated from the Danville High School in
1910 and entered the University of Indiana and there completed
three years of pre-medical work. He later became a student
at Temple University (1915) but was compelled to leave school
because of a death in the family.
He enlisted in the 349th Field Artillery
in March of 1918 and served overseas as a First Class Sergeant
and Gunner. His battery enjoys the unique distinction of
having been the first battery of Negro Artillerymen ever
to open fire upon an enemy. John Milton Lee fired the first
shot. He helped organize, and for several years was president
of, the Fairview Gold Club, the first Negro Golf Club in
Pennsylvania.
In 1931 he married Mary Walker Robinson. Vocationally,
he was engaged in several enterprises. For eight years,
he conducted a successful catering business in Philadelphia;
he organized and served as Vice-president and Secretary
of the Mutual Emergency Union, a mutual aid company in Philadelphia.
He was also a member of the board of Managers of the Columbia
Community Branch of the YMCA.
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