Lee Mitchell Crist was born on February 13, 1853, in Plainfield, Illinois, to Peter and Nancy Crist. His father was a farmer who owned $3,500 of real estate and $300 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Plainfield until the 1860s, when they moved to Durant, Iowa. He married Clara A. Ames on December 20, 1877. They had at least two children: Ira and Jennie. They lived in Farmington, Iowa, and he worked as a farmer. His wife died on November 19, 1884, and he married Parthenia Doane on August 30, 1892. Their daughter Vera was born around 1893.
They lived in Summerset, Iowa, until the early 1900s, when they moved to Greenfield, Iowa. According to one writer, he “manifested a personal interest in all public affairs for the benefit of mankind,” and he was a “booster for any project that contained a community spirit and the uplifting of public opinion.” He died of paralysis in Greenfield on November 22, 1922.