McKee Family of Pennsylvania: Loyalists & Patriots: McKee Family of Pennsylvania and Their Native American Kin, #1

By Raymond C. Wilson

Colonel Alexander McKee was a colonial British Indian agent who preferred to remain loyal to the government which had long employed him when the colonies decided to sever connections with the motherland. Since the rebellion proved successful, Alexander found himself out of step with the new order of patriotism which prevailed so strongly after the war and so his devotion to his government was condemned as a vice rather than as a virtue. This book explores the division within the McKee family that occurred when Alexander chose to remain loyal to the British crown while the majority of his kin supported the patriot cause.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raymond C. Wilson
• Release date: Jun 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005809256

Raymond C. Wilson

Raymond C. Wilson is a military historian, filmmaker, and amateur genealogist. During his military career as an enlisted soldier, warrant officer, and commissioned officer in the U.S. Army for twenty-one years, Wilson served in a number of interesting assignments both stateside and overseas. He had the honor of serving as Administrative Assistant to Brigadier General George S. Patton (son of famed WWII general) at the Armor School; Administrative Assistant to General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley at the Pentagon; and Military Assistant to the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon. In 1984, Wilson was nominated by the U.S. Army Adjutant General Branch to serve as a White House Fellow in Washington, D.C. While on active duty, Wilson authored numerous Army regulations as well as articles for professional journals including 1775 (Adjutant General Corps Regimental Association magazine), Program Manager (Journal of the Defense Systems Management College), and Army Trainer magazine. He also wrote, directed, and produced three training films for Army-wide distribution. He is an associate member of the Military Writers Society of America. Following his retirement from the U.S. Army in 1992, Wilson made a career change to the education field. He served as Vice President of Admissions and Development at Florida Air Academy; Vice President of Admissions and Community Relations at Oak Ridge Military Academy; Adjunct Professor of Corresponding Studies at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and Senior Academic Advisor at Eastern Florida State College. While working at Florida Air Academy, Wilson wrote articles for several popular publications including the Vincent Curtis Educational Register and the South Florida Parenting Magazine. At Oak Ridge Military Academy, Wilson co-wrote and co-directed two teen reality shows that appeared on national television (Nickelodeon & ABC Family Channel). As an Adjunct Professor at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Wilson taught effective communications and military history for eighteen years. At Eastern Florida State College, Wilson wrote, directed, and produced a documentary entitled "Wounded Warriors - Their Struggle for Independence" for the Chi Nu chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. Since retiring from Eastern Florida State College, Wilson has devoted countless hours working on book manuscripts.

Book preview

MCKEE FAMILY OF PENNSYLVANIA

LOYALISTS & PATRIOTS

Written by

RAYMOND C. WILSON

Author of:

The Hessians Are Coming

The Men Who Saved West Point

The Men Who Saved the Liberty Bell

Tecumseh’s Revenge: The Curse of Tippecanoe

If These Walls Could Talk: Huling Hotel and Pack Horse Inn

Out of Necessity: George Washington’s Surrender of Fort Necessity to the French

MCKEE FAMILY OF PENNSYLVANIA

LOYALISTS & PATRIOTS

Published by Raymond C. Wilson at Smashwords

Copyright 2022 Raymond C. Wilson

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Cover Artwork by Howard Payne

Table of Contents

Introduction

Scots-Irish Roots

Captain Thomas McKee

The Loyalists

The Patriots

Afterword

Bibliography

About Raymond C. Wilson

Introduction

In a way, the American Revolution was also a civil war. By 1774, American colonists were divided into two camps: patriots and loyalists. Hotheaded patriots like the Sons of Liberty wanted to rid themselves of British rule at all costs. While the loyalists, either through stubborn loyalty to the crown or simple pragmatism, opposed all-out revolution. It is estimated that up to one-fifth of American colonists were loyalists and they didn’t all belong to elite British families tied to the crown or to the military. Tens of thousands of merchants, farmers, Native Americans and enslaved people all had their reasons for preferring the known problems of British rule over an unpredictable independence. Like many families living in the American colonies, my ancestors (the McKee family of Pennsylvania) found themselves torn between remaining loyal to the British crown or siding with the Patriot cause.

The Loyalists

One-fifth of American colonists were loyal to the British crown

Loyalists, also known as Tories or Royalists, were American colonists who supported the British monarchy during the American Revolutionary War. During this war, British strategy relied heavily upon the misguided belief that the Loyalist community could be mobilized into Loyalist regiments. Expectations for support were never fully met. In all, about 50,000 Loyalists served as soldiers or militia in the British forces, 19,000 Loyalists were enrolled on a regular army status, and 15,000 Loyalist soldiers and militia came from the Loyalist stronghold of New York.

There was not unanimous support among members of the thirteen colonies for the Patriot Siege of Boston (19 April 1775 – 17 March 1776). Widespread corruption among local authorities, many who later became Revolutionary leaders, alienated colonists from the Patriot cause. Colonists in New York, New Jersey, and parts of North and South Carolina were ambivalent about the revolution. Historians estimate that between 15 and 20 percent of European-American colonists supported the Crown; some historians estimate that as much as one third of the population was sympathetic to the British, if not vocally.

Americans either remained Loyalists or joined the Patriot cause based on which side they thought would best promote their interests. Prominent merchants in port cities and men with business or family ties to elites in Great Britain tended to favor the Loyalist cause. Nonetheless, people from all socioeconomic backgrounds could be found on both sides.

One of the most prominent individuals to side with the Loyalists was William Franklin, the illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. Father and son had a close relationship prior to the Revolutionary War. They worked together on Poor Richard’s Almanack and the older Franklin used his influence to have William appointed governor of the colonial Province of New Jersey, where he earned a reputation as a reformer. Like other loyalists, William Franklin hated what the Crown was doing and thought it was wrong, but he didn’t disagree enough to warrant a revolution. As calls for war grew louder, Benjamin Franklin urged his son to resign and take a leadership post with the patriots, but William refused. On 13 January 1775, Governor Franklin made a plea to the New Jersey Legislature: You have now pointed out to you, gentlemen, two roads, he said, one evidently leading to peace, happiness, and a restoration of the public tranquility -- the other inevitably conducting you to anarchy, misery, and all the horrors of a civil war.

Governor Franklin was confined to house arrest for being a Loyalist

When New Jersey chose Revolution, Governor Franklin was confined to house arrest for his loyalist views, then shipped to a prison in Connecticut, where he was caught communicating and plotting with other loyalists. Franklin was thrown into solitary confinement and wasn’t even let out to see his dying wife. Released as part of a prisoner exchange in 1778, William Franklin became a loyalist leader in British-controlled New York and even organized guerilla attacks on patriot forces. He fled to London at the war’s end and never reconciled with his father.

Colonel Alexander McKee

Another prominent colonist to side with the Loyalist cause was Colonel Alexander McKee. Colonel McKee was a colonial British Indian agent who preferred to remain loyal to the government which had long employed him when the colonies decided to sever connections with the motherland. Since the rebellion proved successful, he and his descendants found themselves out of step with the new order of patriotism which prevailed so strongly after the war and so his devotion to his government was condemned as a vice rather than as a virtue. This book explores the division within the McKee family that occurred when Alexander chose to remain loyal to the British crown while the majority of his kin supported the patriot cause.

Loyalism was particularly strong in the Province of Quebec. Although some Canadians took up arms in support of the Patriots, the majority remained loyal to the King. Slaves also contributed to the Loyalist cause, swayed by the promise of freedom following the war. A total of 12,000 African Americans served with the British from 1775 to 1783. The Patriots mirrored this tactic by offering freedom to slaves serving in the Continental Army. Following the war, both sides often reneged on these promises of freedom.