A descendant of the Lee family of Virginia, daughter of Louisville banker William Paca Lee and his wife, née Lily Hill, Linda Belle Lee was, in her youth, a noted beauty. She was introduced by friends to Edward Russell Thomas, a son of Union general Samuel Thomas, and owner of the New York Morning Telegraph (and who later became the first American to kill someone in a car accident), and married him on June 29, 1901 at Newport, Rhode Island, when she was 17. They lived a life of luxury, with houses in Palm Beach, Manhattan, and Newport. It was said that her favorite "department store" was Van Cleef & Arpels. They divorced on October 26, 1912, reportedly due to his abuse.