i.
Samuel McBee(1) was born about 1759
in Halifax County, Virginia. He died after Dec 1830 in Horry District, South
Carolina. According to the South Carolina Roster of Revolutionary War Soldier,
page
592, Samuel McBee served in the militia under Colonel McDonald and General
Marion. A.A.4875.C. Samuel apparently settled in Horry County, South
Carolina as he shows up in the 1810, 1820, and 1830 S. C. Census. He shows up
in the 1800 Waccamaw County, South Carolina Census. Samuel is always listed
as Samuel Magby. I, Danny A. McBee, rule out Samuel as the father of Thomas
B. McBee, as Thomas was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina along the Pacolet.
Apparently Samuel was an invalid and never married. [Danny A. McBee, February 10, 2000].
64 ii.
Matthew McBee.
iii.
Mathias McBee(1) was born about 1763
in Halifax County, Virginia. Mathias served in the Revolution according to the
S.C. Roster of Revolutionary
Soldiers, page 592. It states the following: He served in the militia under
Colonel Roebuck before and after the fall of Charleston. A.A.4875A; X1120;
X3605. There is a possibility that Mathias could be the father/or grandfather
(more likely) of Thomas B. McBee. However, Mathias moved from Spartanburg to
middle Tennessee because he doesn't show up in any Census of 1790/1800/10/20.
Mathias went with Rebecca (his sister) and John Clarke to Franklin County,
Georgia for a time. He later went on to join Matthew in Sumner County,
Tennessee. (Danny A. McBee).
Matthais McBee shows up as a Sergeant in the Georgia Militia from 1793-1796. [Danny A. McBee, December 8, 1999].
iv.
Silas Leroy Echols McBee(1) was born
on 24 Nov 1765 in Halifax County, Virginia. He died on 6 Jan 1845 in Pontotoc
County, Mississippi. He was buried in Williams Cemetery, Pontotoc Co., Ms..
In the summer of 1780, when about fifteen years old, while his father was
absent serving his country in Sumter's army, Silas McBee was sent by his
mother to Ferguson's camp to reclaim a fine horse which some Tories had taken
from the McBee plantation; he not only failed to get his horse but was placed
under guard; he managed to escape from the British camp and after hiding out
for a week to prevent being recaptured, he set out to join Sumter, but not
finding him, he joined Shelby's corps and assisted in taking Captain Moore and
97 royalist; he was with Clarke at Musgrove's Mill; he was also with Sumter
for a short time, then joined Colonel James Williams, under whom he fought at
the battle of King's Mountain. After the revolution, Silas McBee moved to
Sumner County, Tennessee, where he went scouting with Colonel James Winchester
in a few skirmishes; when Zeigler's Station was attacked June 26th, 1792, by
a large party of Indians, Zeigler was killed and Mrs. Zeigler and some of her
children were taken prisoners; Colonel James Winchester raised a party of
men, Silas McBee being on of them, and followed in pursuit, which Mrs. Zeigler
afterwards thought saved her life. (She and her children were soon after
exchanged). Silas McBee moved to Logan County, Kentucky about 1794.
Afterwards to Christian County, Kentucky, then to Henderson County, Kentucky.
Thinking that settlement in Alabama (the line then not having been run).
Silas McBee was elected to represent Monroe County in the Alabama Legislature,
defeating Colonel William Cocke even or eight votes. In Kentucky Silas acted
for many years as Justice, and also for a while in Mississippi. Silas McBee
and his son-in-law, Thomas Sampson, were on the committee to lay out Columbus,
Mississippi, Silas McBee giving the name of the town. Silas McBee married
(probably in Kentucky) Catherine Cates, who died _____________, and is buried
on McBee's Creek near Columbus. Silas McBee died at the home of his
son-in-law, Thomas H. Williams, in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, January 6,
1845. When Lyman C. Draper wrote his "King's Mountain and Its Heros", Silas
was one of the two or three participants of that battle living, and Draper
made a special trip to Mississippi to get his version of the battle, and Silas
is quoted throughout the book. The greater part of the above sketch of the
life of Silas McBee was gotten from the Draper manuscript, at the Wisconsin
Historical Society, in Madison, Wisconsin. (This article was taken in its
entirety from the book "Out of the Wilderness" by Janice Mercer). Danny A.
McBee, 4131 Grissom Street, Gastonia, North Carolina.
The following article came from South Carolina Roster of Revolutionary
War Soldiers, page 592: Silas McBee, born in Virginia, died 6 January 1845,
married Catherine Cates 1st and Leodicia Nail 2nd. While residing in
Spartanburg District, he enlisted under Captain John Thompson and Colonel
Thomas Brandon and was in the battle at Kings Mountain. He re-enlisted during
November 1781 and served until March or April 1782 under Captain Field Pardue
and Colonel Andrew Pickens. In addition, he served under Captains John Mapp,
Vardry McBee (his father), and Colonel Roebuck. A.A.4876; X1116.
The following article came from the book "The King's Mountain Men":
MCBEE. Silas was born November 24, 1765, and therefore was not quite fifteen
when fighting at King's Mountain under Colonel Williams. He lived at
Thicketty Ford, South Carolina, and was there at the time of the capture of
Captain Moore and his men. He was a member of the first legislature of
Alabama, but in 1842 was living in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, where he died
three years later. Draper had several interviews with him. (Draper wrote the
story of King's Mountain Battle) (Danny A. McBee).
The children of Silas McBee are widely known. Silas could not be the father
of Thomas B. McBee because Silas settled into Logan County, Kentucky and
Thomas B. McBee is not listed as one of his children. (Danny A. McBee).
Possible that Silas McBee was married a second time to Leodicia Nail. [Danny
McBee].
Silas's daughter Carolina Matilda McBee is listed as being married to Bartlett
Sims. [Danny A. McBee].
Subj: Thomas B. McBee
Date: 02/06/2000 11:57:11 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: cannon@livingston.net (cannon h. pritchard)
Reply-to: cannon@livingston.net
To: McBee49@aol.com (Danny A. McBee)
Danny: I have no files or information on your ancestor. I have not
attempted to research on Matthew or Mathias McBee, but always felt that
they had a life after leaving Sumner County, Tennessee. I did not find
anything in the Mississippi or Kentucky files that I have researched
that mentioned either one in regard to staying in touch with Vardry or
Hannah McBee. They were the older children and the sons who went their
own way. I feel Hannah was probably concerned in getting her daughters
married in S.C. and in Ky. before she moved to Mississippi with the
Silas McBee Family. There is one record that Vardry Echols McBee did
journey to Mississippi in 1823 from North Carolina to see his Mother.
My guess is that Mathias McBee remained in Tennessee and all the McBee
decendants in that State were from him. If I had any documents on
Thomas B. McBee I would give them to you. Most of my McBee work has been
on the Silas McBee Family. If anyone contacts me on him I will let you
know and will recommend they contact you. Thank you for all your work on
the McBee Family and sharing it on the Internet. Hopefully, I will put
mine in the computer someday. However, it takes a lot of time and most
of my free time I spend on researching. Regards, Cannon H. Pritchard
[Danny A. McBee, February 7, 2000].
More information about Silas came to me, Danny A. McBee today, March 21, 2000,
in an e-mail from my cousin Ruth McBee Norton. I list the whole e-mail as follows:
Subj: Re:Material from Mississippi
Date: 03/21/2000 5:55:55 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: wnorton@ix.netcom.com (William Norton)
To: McBee49@aol.com
Danny, cleaning out my papers and came across some material I gathered in
Columbus MS while on one of Bill's work sites. Saw a sign for McBee Church or
something which caught my eye and so we followed the thread and it led us to
the local library. Here is what I found and hope it is something you don't
already have:
Excerpt from Story of Pontotoc, by E.T. Winston, Chapter IX, p. 127
4th para: Silas McBee, a North Carolinian, was one of the three commissioners
who laid out the city of Columbus, Lowndes county, Miss. This pioneer, who
"builded a city" also had the distinction of being the father-in-law of two
noted Mississippians, towit: Hon. Tilghman M. Tucker, of Lowndes county, who
became governor of Mississippi, and Hon. Thomas H. Williams, a Pontotoc
county,
a United States Senator, who also became known as the "father of the State
University."
It was under Governor Tucker's administration that the university bill was
passed, and after the location was made at Oxford, Mr. Williams was made
one of
the building committee. The construction appropriation was turned over to him
and the university was built under his personal supervision.
Mr. McBee, in his old age, moved to Pontotoc county, where he died and is
buried in the same lot with the "father of the University" and other
members of
the Williams family in the family burying ground to the right of the Pontotoc
and Houston road, about 10 miles south of Pontotoc. Across the road to the
north is the Old Williams homestead, one of the few ante-bellum homes still
standing in its original outlines, though it is sadly in disrepair - a
relic of
the splendor of plantation life in the old south.
PAGE 635, Williams-Thompson House, 2d para
Senator Williams' father-in law, Silas McBee, who spent his latter years at
this home, was one of the more interesting and colorful figures in the early
history of the Southern states. Silas McBee, the son of Vardry and Hannah
Echols, played an important part in the settlement of several pioneer
communities. As a lad of 15, during the American Revolution, he took part in
the Battle of Kings Mountain, later he moved to Kentucky where he figured
prominently in the chase and capture of the Harpes gang, the notorious outlaws
of the Wilderness Trail, then in the pioneer tradition, McBee and his family
moved to Marion County, Alabama, where he became a member of the first
legislature for that state. From Alabama, he moved to Monroe County,
Mississippi, in 1815, to a part which later became Lowndes County, and settled
beside a creek which still bears his name. McBee is credited with suggesting
the name Columbus for the village. Pontotoc County records prove that McBee
established residence in the southern part of this county by 1841 when he was
visited by the historian Lyman Draper and provided documentary eye witness
accounts of the Battle of Kings Mountain, It was on these visits from Draper
that the account was given of the capture of the Harpes gang by a posse headed
by McBee
Presumably Silas McBee influenced his daughter, Eustacia Ann's husband, Thomas
Hickman Williams, to settle in Pontotoc County.
ARTICLE by Birney Imes, editor of the Commercial Dispatch, 516 Main ST.,
Columbus Mississippi 39701
"On the trail of Silas McBee"
He writes an article about a photo he was trying to write a story about and in
the picture was the subject and her dog. Dog's name was Silas McBee - an
ancestor of her late husband. IT goes on to tell his story about Silas coming
to Pontotoc, being elected the first rep for Marion County Al in that state's
legislature, giving Columbus its name, he left the town at an early date and
settled on the bank of the creek, which now bears his name. Silas, it says,
died in Pontotoc in 1845 at the ripe old age of 80. A local historian says
she
has discovered in old court records an alientation of affection lawsuit
against
McBee that may explain his final move to Pontotoc, but the author says that is
another story....... We need to get in touch with this fellow and see about
this article.
Copied also parts of "Satan's Ferryman", A True Tale of the Old Frontier, by
W.D. Snively, Jr. and Louanna Furbee. This recounts the tale of catching the
Harpes Gang
My gut feeling is this is a connection and I am intrigued about the alienation
of affection. Have you really explored the Spartanburg Courthouse????????
Still wondering what it was June found when she went there and wouldn't
tell me
about. Something about some McBee girls that were publicly whipped for
bastardy bonds or something. She didn't want to tell me and said I didn't
need
to know. Another squirrel up a tree. Have you ever seen anything like
this.
Have fun with this.
See ya
Ruth
v.
Mary McBee(1) was born about 1767 in
Thicketty Creek, Spartanburg District, South Carolina. She died on 10 Apr 1825
in Lincolnton, North Carolina. She was buried in Old White Church Cemetery,
Lincolnton NC. The following land deed sent to me, Danny A. McBee, by Charles
Hite (Duncan
descendant) of Gastonia: H-1: 18 March 1801, William Hammett to John Duncan,
$100, 100a except 5 acres reserved for Mary McBee where she now lives, part of
a grant to Hammett, on Pter? Creek, a branch of Pasotale River. Wit. Wm.
Reid and Rachel (x) McAbee. (Danny A. McBee).
vi.
Elizabeth McBee(1) was born about 1771
in Halifax County, Virginia. She died after 1802 in Caldwell County, Kentucky.
vii.
Lucy Ann McBee(1) was born between
1775 and 1780. She died after 1810 in Logan County, Kentucky. According to
Jean McBee in an e-mail to me, Danny A. McBee, dated December 4, 1997, Lucy McBee
had a bastard McBee child as did her sister Rhoda (who had two bastard McBee
children). [Danny A. McBee].
viii.
Rebecca McBee(1) was born about
1774. Jean McBee, Matmom@aol.com., states that Rebecca McBee was married to
John Clarke. [Danny A. McBee].
ix.
Rhoda McBee(1) was born between 1775
and 1780 in Thicketty Creek, Spartanburg District, South Carolina. She died
after 1820 in Marion County, South Carolina. According to information I, Danny
A. McBee, received from Jean McBee, Matmom@aol.com, Jean suggest that Rhoda McBee
was married to Jordon Gibson but had two bastard McBee children. [Danny A. McBee].
x.
Vardry Echols McBee(1) was born on
19 Jun 1775 in Thicketty Creek, Spartanburg District, South Carolina. He died
on 23 Jan 1864 in Greenville, South Carolina. He was buried in McBee Square,
Christ Church Cemetery. He was a Farmer, Businessman. Vardry McBee is shown
in the 1820 Lincoln County, North Carolina Census as
having three male children 10 years old and under, one male child 10 to 16
years of age, three male children 16 to 26 years of age, himself at 45 years
of age, one female at 10 years old and under, one female at 10 to 16 years of
age, and wife, Jane Alexander, 26 to 45 years of age. They are listed as
having 12 slaves. Microfilm page number 382.
The following article was in the Guest Column of the Gaston Observor,
Wednesday, August 12, 1992, page 3. I have not copied the article in its
entirety. The article was written by John R. Friday, North Carolina
Superior Court emergency judge, who lives in Lincoln County.
Vardry McBee was born June 19, 1775, to Scottish Quaker parents in the
Spartanburg district of South Carolina. His father, also named Vardry, served
with the Patriot army during the Revolutionary War, even though he was a
Quaker. At age 12, the younger McBee was taken from school and worked for
six years in an South Carolina limestone mine. At age 19, in 1794, he
journeyed to Lincolnton, where he learned the saddle trade from his brother-
in-law, Joseph Morris. About 1800 he traveled to Charleston, then with his
parents to Kentucky, and later to Tennessee where he ran a saddler's shop. He
soon returned to Lincolnton, where he established a saddlery in partnership
with James Campbell. In 1804, young Vardry married Jane Alexander of
Rutherford County. Within two years he sold his interest in the shop and
bought a house and lot in Lincolnton (where First Methodist Church stands
today) as well as a nearby farm. He proved highly successful as a farmer.
In 1812, McBee became clerk of court in Lincoln County, a position he held
until 1833. He also operated a saddlery and farmed during this time. He
prospered with the combination of enterprises, and was counted as one of the
leading citizens of Lincolnton. Perhaps the most significant event in his
life was in 1815, when he bought several thousand acres from Col. Lemuel J.
Allston in and around the area that is now Greenville, South Carolina. McBee
first constructed a flour mill on the Reedy River below Greenville in 1817.
This enterprise prospered so that in 1829 he built a second mill. Then, along
with men he recruited from Lincoln County, he built a third flour mill below
Greenville, a paper mill, a cotton mill and a woolen mill. Thus McBee, while
living in Lincolnton, was heavily engaged in "the manufacture of flour, news-
print, wrapping paper, cotton and woolen yarn and cloth" at his South Carolina
plants. He also farmed. In 1833, McBee was a delegate to the Internal
Improvement Convention at Raleigh. During 1836, the 61 year old McBee moved
from Lincolnton to Greenville in order to supervise his business interest more
closely. He was soon elected president of the Agriculture Society and won
awards for his well-managed farms. McBee also became heavily involved with
the railroad business, not surprising since his manufactured products had to
be delivered. He became president of the Louisville and Cincinnati Railroad,
and his generosity in purchasing stock saved the failing Greenville and
Columbia railway. He also owned stock in the Seaboard and Roanoke railroads.
His prosperous enterprises made him a man of wealth and influence. At 77,
McBee was in good health and capable of riding almost 50 miles daily. Lincoln
County historian William Sherrill reports that "he adhered to a high standard
of morality and was always strictly temperate. McBee and his wife were the
parents of nine children. Vardry McBee died at age 89 on January 23, 1864.
He and his wife are buried at Christ Episcopal Church in Greenville. He
combined a pleasing personality and high moral standards with a shrewd
business sense to amass fortunes, of which he gave generous portions to
religious and educational organizations in North and South Carolina. He needs
to be remembered as a benefactor of the people as well as one of the founders
of Greenville, South Carolina.
Q-417: 29 May 1830, Vardry McBee to Perry E. Duncan, $150, both
Greenville District, South Carolina, lot near village of Greenville Court
House near the Buncomb Road on the avenue leading to the female academy, la
25 poles; witness, Samuel Thompson, William T. Rawland; reg. 15 Dec 1830, Jane
McBee relinquished dower, C. White. Y-157: 1847, Vardry McBee to Robert B.
Duncan, 24 acres between Augusta and Anderson Roads.
Vardry Echols McBee was barely 16 years old when he entered the service
of the Confederacy and served during the last year of the war.
The following is the obituary of Vardry McBee in The Edgefield Advertiser
on February 3, 1864: Death of Vardry McBee, Esquire. This well-known citizen
of Greenville and the oldest inhabitant of the place, expired on Saturday
morning past at his residence in this town. By a life of temperance and
carefullness, he had prolonged his years until he had attained his 89th year.
By habits of industry and economy, he had amassed a large property which he
used much to the advantage of the community by which he was surrounded. He
was a leberal man - not by indifferently scattering his charities on any cause
that appealed to his benevolence, but by a prudent and just discrimination
contributing liberally of his means to those public objects he deemed
important and beneficial to the country and giving to private purposes in
those cases only where he had reason for believing his charities would not be
squandered. Being the possessor, through his own energy and business acumen,
of a large landed estate, he was thus enabled to make valuable donations of
sites to various public purposes; and they now stand as monuments to the
memory of a public-spirited citizen. Yesterday morning his remains were
interred in the Episcopal Church yard. They were followed to the grave by a
respectable concourse of citizens, thus united in paying their last sad
tribute of respect to his memory. (I, Danny A. McBee, copied this obituary
in its entirety from the book, McBee Genealogy, by Roy McBee Smith).
Vardry McBee is called the "Father of Greenville" by many books,
articles, and celebrations. In the year 1815, one of the most important deeds
in Greenville history was made, the conveyance by Lemuel J. Alston to Vardry
McBee of Lincolnton, North Carolina, conveying to him 11,028 acres. Thus the
predominant ownership of the Greenville area passed into the hands of a man
who for more than half a century was to play a leading and generous role in
developing Greenville industrially, commercially and importantly encouraging
its schools and churches. By 1824, much progress had been made in the County
and in the village. The new academies had been built just north of the
village on land donated by McBee and these first schools of Greenville were
built by public subscription. Greenville Male and Female Academies -
Greenville - 1821 - Built on land donated by Vardry McBee and by public
subscription of citizens. Two brick buildings cost about $5,000.00. Among
the instructors were: Dr. W. B. Johnson, Robert McKay, Rev. Hodges, Mr.
Leary, Mr. Hallenquist, and Miss Charlotte Paine. Graduates of these schools
included: Ben F. Perry, later Governor of the state; George Townes and the
Croft brothers, who were to become famous citizens of nineteenth-century South
Carolina. The Male Academy ceased operation about 1852 after Furman
University was established with its preparatory department. The Female
Academy continued until 1854, at which time the trustees deeded the land to
the South Carolina Baptists to establish a Female College on the site which
became Greenville Female College, now merged with Furman University. (The
above last paragraph came from the book entitled Names in South Carolina,
edited by Claude Henry Neuffer, Volume XVII: 42.
Vardry McBee resigned the Presidency of the Louisville, Cincinatti and
Charlotte Railroad March 26, 1840. (Taken from the Annals of Lincoln County
by Sherrill).
The children of Vardry McBee are well known and Thomas B. McBee is not listed
among them. This rules out any possibility that Thomas B. McBee could be the
son of Vardry McBee. (Danny A. McBee).
xi.
Gannum Charles McBee(1) was born about
1775. I, Danny A. McBee, have never had Gannum McBee as a son of Vardry and
Hannah Echols McBee. I found this information on America Online in the McBee
Family Genealogy Forum, posted by Bill Holder on October 30, 1997. I list this
information so it will not be lost even though I do not concur with the fact
that Gannum was a son of Vardry and Hannah Echols McBee. [Danny A. McBee, September
12, 1998].
xii.
Lemuel Echols McBee Sr.(1) was born
about 1780. He died. I, Danny A. McBee, have not had Lemuel Echols McBee listed
as a son of Vardry and Hannah Echols McBee. I found this information on America
Online from a message posted October 30, 1997 by Bill Holder. I list this information
so it will not be lost even though I do not thoroughly agree with it. I believe
Bill got this information from the Strawberry Plains McBees from Tennessee Cousins.
[Danny A. McBee, September 12, 1998].
Return to Table of Contents