The Mckee Family History of Noble County, Ohio

By Beth Kolowski

David McKee is known as the progenitor of the McKee family of Noble County, Ohio; however, with our current lifestyles and social terms, Martha, David's wife, may well be included in this status. David died rather suddenly in 1815, leaving Martha to raise and oversee their family as they continued to live in the wilderness. David and Martha were together for twenty-eight years. They had seven sons and two daughters, who went on to prosper in the local community. Several McKee descendants continue to live in Noble County today. They too follow the same family values that David and Martha instilled in their sons and daughters. They were a pioneer settler family, who were of the front line of defense against the native Indians as trouble took place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483639130

Beth Kolowski

As Beth completed high school, she worked at two hospitals and for a group of physicians for over ten years. She also acquired her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and social work from the University of Akron, during that time. She then worked for a private agency as a social worker and team member, performing Medicaid nursing home reviews throughout northeastern Ohio for three years. As she began her family she returned to college at Kent State University, obtaining her Master’s degree in Education with a specialty area of rehabilitation counseling. While there she worked as a rehabilitation counselor for one year. In relocating to Columbus, Ohio, she worked for the State of Ohio for twenty four years, as a vocational rehabilitation counselor with disabled individuals. Now in retirement, Beth pursues her joy of traveling. With social organizations, she attends concerts, lectures, the theater, dine outs, and movies. She loves to read, listen to music, take walks, or hike. She occasionally dabbles in genealogy, having acquired this interest from her parents as they explored their heritages.

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Copyright © 2013 by Beth Pickenpaugh Kolowski.

Library of Congress Control Number:         2013908527

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4836-3912-3

                Softcover      978-1-4836-3911-6

                Ebook         978-1-4836-3913-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 07/24/2013

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Contents

Preface

Section I

Introduction To An American Family

The Ohio Valley 1650-1785

The Pennsylvania Colony 1681-1796

Indentured

Information Of Ireland, England, And Scotland

The Northwest Territory

Mckee Family Histories

Composition Of Noble County

David And Martha Dunlap Mckee, Pioneer Farmers And Family Of Noble County, Ohio

Mc Kee

Washington County And The Donation Tract

The Mckee Homestead

Marietta September 28Th 1810

Mckee Family Reunions

Section II

Genealogy Of David Mckee And Martha Dunlap Mckee

Martha (Dunlap) Mckee

John Mckee And Family Information

Obituary Of Rachel Mckee

Robert Mckee And Family Information

James Mckee And Family Information

Obituary Listings

Family Group Record-2

Anna Annie Mckee Caldwell And Family Information

Alexander Mckee And Family Information

Margaret Peggy Mckee And Her Family Information

Ezra Mckee And Family Information

Here And There— This And That

Chris Mckee

Dr. William Mckee And Family Information

Section III

The History Of The Clan Mckee

Surname Of Mckee And Naming Patterns

Naming Patterns

County Down, Northern Ireland

Miscellaneous Information Of Other Mckee Families

George Smythe’s Letter To His Father In America

Letter From John Mckee

Document Of Appointments Of Alexander Mckee

Section IV

Mckee Photo Album

Section V

Reference Resources

This book is dedicated to my mother, Virginia, and my aunt Mary and her daughter, Vicki. It was their inspiration

that made searching for past generations

of the family enjoyable.

PREFACE

In compiling the data and material left by my mother, Virginia McKee Pickenpaugh, as she passed away, curiosity kept me wondering how the idea of a family history book originated. As I filtered through the boxes of information, my questions were answered with notes and sheets of family names written by a cousin, Charles Lester or C. Lester McKee. He writes that he became interested in his family heritage as he went to Olive Cemetery, where he saw David and Martha McKee’s grave markers. In looking at the gravestones, he could see the generations of his family. He felt his complete direct line of descent traced from them to his own father and mother’s grave markers. He writes that the weather had taken its toll since then, and the markers of two earlier generations are no longer there. His grandfather, David Peter McKee, was buried in the McKee brick vault, a short way from his family burial lot. He then began his work in organizing the McKee family tree.

He writes that Charles Isaiah McKee or CI, an insurance agent, his father’s brother and a well-known resident of the community, provided him with most of his needed information. Hazel McKee Woodford, CI’s daughter, also gave him information in the early 1960s. C. Lester based his plan of organization for the book that was used in the botanical keys with their many, many plant families and subgroups. In the 1980s, he wrote to each of his children, asking of their interest in continuing the family tree. His daughter, Twila McKee Evans, searched and added to the interest of his family tree by providing information from the Noble County History Book she found in the Marietta Library. Of this book, she discovered many references to the family. She spoke of a retired librarian who approached her on several occasions with the idea of creating a family history. He informed her that if his mother were alive, she could provide her with lots of information.

Meanwhile, Marian McKee Sanchez was also gathering information. She too had access to CI’s (her grandfather and my great-grandfather) information. As time passed, she sought assistance from other family members who held an interest in genealogy. Virginia and her sister, Mary McKee Van Fleet, enthusiastically volunteered to help her. As they planned, Virginia became more of the researcher of needed information, and Mary assumed the detailing and organizational tasks of things. Virginia joined the Summit County Historical Society, and as a typical McKee, she was soon president of the group. Mary joined the Ohio Genealogical Society branch in San Diego, California, where she presented her McKee writings to the group. Virginia journeyed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to search their library and Church of Latter-Day Saints’ record base. She flew to Salt Lake City, Utah, to meet with a genealogist.

I traveled with her, my cousin, Vicki, and my niece, Terry Anne, to Ireland in 1997 for two weeks. There she met with a genealogist who provided a copy of a land deed and other information. Mary was in contact with a McKee family in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who gave her the name of Annette McKee. Annette, a genealogist, was related to the McKee family through marriage. They corresponded several times. Virginia joined the Ohio Genealogical Society, and with the assistance of Lois Blake, the McKee family was listed with the first families of Ohio in 1980 as member number 569. This is under the names of David McKee, John McKee, and Rachel DeLong McKee. Lois Blake was a longtime, well-known Noble County historian and researcher who assisted many families with their genealogy searches.

Genealogy is not always an easy subject to research, such as the various computer Internet websites lends one to believe. My father, Dallas Pickenpaugh, who helped research his family history book, assisted Virginia during the frustrating time of record searching following an illness. Years ago, he had contacted a family researcher in Marietta and received a letter verifying that David McKee had other land holdings in addition to what is generally known. David and Martha McKee held between three hundred and five hundred acres of land during the times they lived in Ohio.

Bob Williams, a Dr. William McKee descendant, contacted me of his interest in the family history. He had researched his line. We often engaged in friendly discussions of his findings as they compared to Aunt Mary’s research. Bob was an enthusiast of genealogy. He joined the McKay/McKee Clan Society and participated in their events. He wore his Scottish kilt with honor. He told me of making his last trip to Scotland at the age of eighty-nine, stopping first in Dublin, Ireland, to order a copy of the limited version of Raymond McKee’s book entitled The Book of McKee. He found that the publisher had separated from his business partners, but he was able to obtain a copy through other resources. He treasured the eyeglasses, wallet, and tintype photo he had of Dr. McKee. He shared family letters, and I met his sister, Thelma. He passed away, leaving quite a legacy.

Of the collected records found in boxes, there were several shortened versions of McKee histories. One was by my great-aunt, Hazel McKee Woodford, who wrote a descriptive history for a school assignment in 1906. Fern Racey Pickenpaugh provided a genealogical report she has as part of her search, which covered the McKay/McKee clan histories. Rhea McKee McNabb researched the Alexander McKee line of her family and provided several old photographs and a newspaper article. As Rhea passed away, her daughter, Eileen McNabb Haines, took over her search. Virginia was in contact with Joan DeBella, a McKee relative from Iowa and part-time genealogist. Joan contributed information of her James McKee line along with a history of David McKee, the progenitor of the Noble County McKee family.

Mary worked diligently, gathering factual information from McKee family questionnaires, kindly filled out by members of the family. Mary included a list of her resources in the information she contributed. They are: Papers of Virginia McKee Pickenpaugh, Mary McKee Van Fleet, Rhea McKee McNabb, Hazel McKee Woodford, Mildred Lawrence Pickenpaugh, Lavona McKee Merrit; pictures and snapshots, Bible records, including records by Lois Blake for DAR records; cemeteries, birth, death, marriage, deeds, wills, and census records of Noble County, Morgan County, Guernsey County, and Washington County; History of Noble County, Ohio, 1904 by Frank M. Martin; History of Morgan County, Ohio, 1886, and Howe’s Historical Collections of Ohio; Marriages in Morgan County, Ohio, Vols. A, B, C, and D by the Morgan County Genealogical Society; obituaries, reunions and other clippings from Caldwell, Ohio newspapers. Talking and sharing with many, many McKees especially my brother, Eldon Newt McKee, and with the gathering of the McKee clan at its reunions.

Family history books are generally of interest to a select audience. They usually contain family letters, old photographs, documents, old newspaper articles, and bits and pieces of notes, which accumulate through the generations. The format of this book is similar to that concept. Its presentation is of the nontraditional style. For an example of this, various McKee histories are included in the book so as not to diminish or discredit any previous writer’s work. As I sorted, updated, and compiled relevant information, the joint efforts of individual family members’ involvement was evident. The first, second, and third generations of family members are the primary focus of this book.

For outline guidance, I put together three methods utilized as the basis of the book of known facts and details. The first concept involves oral family history tradition. This is given as the transmission of information from one person to another, from one generation to the next, and it is something generally never written down. Information can vary because of the time period, because of confusion, embellishment, or misinterpretations of the story facts. The oral history stories individuals tell of their past or about the past of others may often exist nowhere else. Family members may often choose not to tell a story they perceive as secrets kept within the family, only to wait till years later to tell because they feel it is of necessity. Oral family history traditions generally offer some form of authenticity. Oral family tradition is not considered historical proof, but in how reliable it is. Genealogists generally disregard the oral family history form as hearsay because it is generally not based on documented fact.

The second method used involves the discretion of a family member or a family researcher, who searches and defines their findings such as in a review of the literature. This knowledge is available through historical societies, public libraries, federal census or tax records, newspaper articles, archives, churches, and other public records.

The third method used is to engage the services of a professional genealogist. This may involve a fee. The genealogist may have access to records the general public may not. Their outcome is usually provided in the form of a typed report with copies of actual documents. They may or may not be able to answer questions asked of them. All three methods were used in the compilation of the McKee information.

From a personal note, I have enjoyed working on the history book. It was challenging and rewarding as the knowledge of the family evolved. Most of the contributors to this work have passed away, and to them, we owe our acknowledgments for their persistence, their time, and their diligence in bringing this task to finality. The project has been slow but progressive in coming to print.

In my thirty years of employment with the public sector, I have gained a sense of determining an individual’s general character. You will find the individual Noble County McKee to be community-minded, industrious and having a sense of integrity.

Of the book, it is hopeful that mistakes are of a minimum and that future McKee researchers will come forward to assist in bringing the current generations’ information up to date. Enjoy as you read of this prominent Noble County family.

SECTION I

First%20Family.jpg

INTRODUCTION TO AN AMERICAN FAMILY

David and Martha McKee will always be recognized for the fearless lives they led as pioneer settlers in the new Northwest Territory. In 1795, they migrated from Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, to the Ohio Land Company and Associates’ Marietta settlement located at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers.

Prior to moving west, David and Martha held land in the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna River. In 1681, this area came under rule of William Penn with the British government, and it was known as Penn’s Woods or Pennsylvania, one of the original thirteen colonies. The Five Indian Nation Confederacy, the Susquehannock Indians and the Lenape Indians occupied this part of the Pennsylvania lands, and they constantly warred with the pioneer settlers. The hostilities between the two factors were primarily due to the encroachment problems on native Indian lands by pioneer settlers. As more and more settlers immigrated to America, the native Indians were pushed further and further away from the lands they knew. With peaceful negotiations from the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix of the West Branch Valley, the native Indians eventually came to some semblance of peace with the settlers. It is of the later 1700s that David and Martha McKee, John Dunlap Jr. and his family, Martha’s father, and others in her family and William McKee, David’s brother, lived in the area. A few Indians also remained in the area as the settlers lived their daily lives peacefully but with a cautionary manner. The remembrance of bloodshed resulting from two tragic events known as the Big Runaway in 1778 and the Little Runaway of 1779 remained fresh in their minds.

Prior to the massacres, the Loyalists and members of the individual Indian tribes joined together to plan attacks against the settlers during the American Revolutionary War. During the attacks, Indians burned cabins, killed settlers, and carried off adults and children. They looted their farms and burned their fields in efforts to rid the area of the pioneers. Most of the settlers were able to run away or move quickly to other areas. Some returned at later times to reclaim the lands they formerly lived on. The Big Runaway of 1778 was the most tragic. The surprise came when the Indians and Loyalists returned in 1779 to repeat the same wrongdoings. In retaliation during 1779, as the Indians left their settlements to raid the settlers, the local militias were called. The militias invaded the Indians’ towns and settlements, burning them. As the Indians returned to find the destruction, they were devastated. The Five Nation Confederacy took the lead in writing treaties for relocation efforts forcing the Indians to move further west deeper into the Pennsylvania territory. Other Indian tribes moved west to places like the Ohio Valley, Kentucky, Virginia, and Missouri.

In the Northwest Territory, David and Martha with their family settled three different times, the first in Salem Township, the second in Fearing Township, and the third, in the Allotment Acres of Duck Creek. All locations were of Washington County, the first county of the new Northwest Territory.

David McKee is known as the progenitor of the McKee family of Noble County; however, with our current lifestyles and social terms, Martha, David’s wife, may well be included in this status. David died rather suddenly in 1815, leaving Martha to raise their family as they continued to live in the wilderness. As they were together for twenty-eight years, they had seven sons and two daughters who went on to prosper in the local community. Several McKee descendants continue to live in the Noble County, Ohio region today. They too follow the same family values that David and Martha instilled in their sons and daughters. David and Martha were pioneer settlers, who were of the front line of defense against the Indians when trouble took place.

When David purchased land in what would become Noble County, it was in what was called the Donation Tract. This land was made up of several different ranges surveyed in 1785 and 1792 by the newly established federal government. This land was to be inhabited by men who volunteered to fight for protection purposes against any atrocities jeopardizing the area. The Donation Tract was of acreage surrounding the northeastern sides of the Marietta Settlement. When David agreed to purchase this type of land, he became known as a yeoman. This meant he became part of the volunteer militia, and he needed to be armed at all times for this role, even as he performed his agricultural tasks. The militia was responsible for protection services at the entrance of the Marietta Settlement. This also included any influx of trouble from native Indians, other countrymen causing riots or takeovers, or of disturbances from the wild.

David and Martha cleared their land and built their cabin in Salem Township of the Washington County area in 1796. They moved to Fearing Township in 1798 and to the Allotment Acres of Duck Creek in 1809. There they cleared the land and built their homestead. Their closest neighbors were the Robert Caldwell and John Noble families. The three families remained the original pioneer settlers of this area for many years as it gradually evolved into Caldwell, Ohio.

The first section of this book is presented in various narrative forms so as to aid the reader with knowledge of the times, the settings, the places, and the adventures this American family faced. The second part of the book presents the family lineage of individual family members. The third section presents information of the family name, the history of the clan, and old photographs of McKee family members.

THE OHIO VALLEY 1650-1785

The Beautiful Ohio is a French and native Indian term often used to describe the Ohio River’s smooth gentle current as it flows among the many hills and valleys. The river’s headwaters begin at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in the Allegheny Mountain region. As the river begins, its waters twist and shift the river’s movement into a northwest direction for about fifty miles where it will slowly begin its’ descend southwest. Its shallow waters meander in large S fashions for approximately one hundred more miles as it moves its way westward. At several points along the way, densely wooded trees hover over the slow moving current, hiding many tributaries aligning its banks. One of the tributaries will later on be known as Duck Creek. Here, the river continues for two to three more miles where it intersects with the Muskingum River. Then it begins to flow faster all the while, maintaining its half mile width. It then joins with the Scioto River and journeys on pass the Great Miami River. As it continues flowing, its width stretches to a mile, still continuing westward. As the river reaches the Mississippi River, it’s completed the 981-mile course that it takes. At this junction, the two rivers join and flow south. They pass the Mississippi delta region, flowing out into the Gulf of Mexico. The northern banks of the Ohio River will eventually be known as the southern boundary of the new Northwest Territory.

Heading north along the east banks of the Mississippi River, its headwaters will become the western boundary of the new territory. The opposite side or west banks of the river will later be claimed by the Spanish as their lands. Heading east from the Mississippi River to the Wabash River, the Illinois River and others, this imaginary line continues to the Great Lakes region, where the Maumee River joins Lake Erie. Continuing eastward, the Cuyahoga River flows north, also joining Lake Erie. This line becomes the northern boundary of the new territory. As the imaginary line junctions with the Alleghany and Appalachian Mountains, it turns south to the Ohio River and becomes the eastern boundary of the new Northwest Territory. Within this area are many other important waterways such as the Auglaize River, the Tuscarawas River, and the Licking River. The land inside this set of imaginary boundaries will be mapped and called the Northwest Territory, the Northwest Territory North of the Ohio River, the Ohio Territory, or the Ohio Valley.

The Ohio Valley land is rich and fertile with low lying areas to high rolling hills expanding westward to mountains and to plains. Small game animals such as foxes, squirrel, ground hogs, prairie dogs, and rabbits scamper in the meadows and plains. Beavers make dams, forming ponds, creeks, and streams. Birds sing without interruptions, and eagles soar. Buffalo, elk, and deer form paths as they travel beside the waterways and hills. The forest is heavily treed with oak, maple, chestnut, beech, sycamore, ash trees, and many other kinds. Wild flowers bloom in the meadows as spring awakens them. Of the woods, larger birds such as turkeys, pheasant, and grouse move swiftly about. The wild beasts of the forest such as panthers, cougars, wolverines, bears, wolves, and bobcats roam freely. Ducks and other waterfowl float on the waterways. Snakes like copperheads and rattlesnakes live between the rock ledges and ravines. The trees bend to touch the other side of the creeks and streams.

The native Indians also live among nature’s wonders. In southeast Ohio, the native Indians include the Delaware, the Shawnee, the Wyandotte, the Seneca, and the Mingo. To the north, the Huron Indians live beside the Great Lakes region, and the Miami Indians live in the southwestern area. The Indians to the north are largely agrarian. The Shawnee of the Chillicothe Plains are hunter-gather in type. The native Indians are cognizant of how important nature is to them. They leave natures’ acres seemingly untouched. They hold a great respect for the land and what it provides for them. They construct canoes and use them to paddle the waterways. They use the paths left by the larger animals as trails to follow up and down the waters’ edges. Nature’s provided them with two forms of natural transportation to move quickly from one destination to another.

In 1669, a French explorer named Robert de la Salle brought the first European party to explore the regions of the new world. They returned to Europe and told of the Beautiful Ohio Valley and the abundance of small and larger game animals. The British and French nations sent merchants and fur traders to the Ohio Country. The native Indians were friendly with the Europeans because they gave them gifts and introduced them to alcohol. The French traveled along the rivers, placing stone or metal markers at the river confluences in claim of the land. The British built forts beside the Great Lakes region. The Indians were beginning to wonder of the fur traders and the effects it had on the Ohio Valley. Native Indians often warred among themselves, but for the most part, the Ohio Country remained peaceful for many, many, many years.

The confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers areas held antiquities of a lost civilization. There were large hill-like mounds of dirt, scattered broken pottery, wooden walls, and huge dugout containers left in evidence of this. What happened to their demise is unknown. Some of the native Indian tribes of the times claim to be descendants of the lost civilization. However, anthropologists of that era are unclear of this as they studied the different civilization remnants. But putting all indifferences aside, the area held a great civilization once and would welcome the next one to come.

THE PENNSYLVANIA COLONY 1681-1796

The land west of the New Jersey Colony line to the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains stretching to the Ohio River made up most of the uninhabited land in what is now known as Pennsylvania. This land also extended north to the New York Colony line and south to the Colony of Virginia border.