My name is Debra (Deb) Van Wagoner Sutherland; I am the daughter of Leola I. McKee, who is the daughter of Sterlie O. McKee, son of Shannon Wilson McKee; son of Wilson McKee, son of Robert B. Mckee,  son of Alexander McKee,  son of Charles McKee Sr. , born April 22^nd 1764, in Ireland.  He married Margaret Lockhart, born September 5^th 1767, also in Ireland.  They came to America, as far as I can ascertain, sometime before 1790 and spent time in  Pennsylvania.  I have found land records of Charles in the 1790 census in Lancaster county, PA.  If this is indeed my Charles, he had 2 sons under the age of 16, and 2 daughters also under the age of 16 and then he and his spouse.  I also have a copy of naturalization papers for Charles McKee of Union township, Knox county Ohio, dated 1828, although they don’t tell me much!  I am not sure what date he came into America, or where he came in.  I am assuming that it was in Pennsylvania, but I have learned that many Irishmen came into Canada and then traveled into Pennsylvania as it was cheaper to go to Canada than it was to America.

In Charles’s will from 1748, Knox county Ohio, I have found that he had a son Robert Mckee that was born some time in 1785-1791 – I am guessing in Ireland as they had only been in American just before 1790. I do know from Charles’s will that Robert died some time before 1752 as he was listed as deceased in his father’s chancery reports where I believe Robert’s son was suing the family for money he felt was owed him from the estate.  Also at this time,  Charles’s youngest daughter Eliza was suing for taxes she felt the family needed to pay on her inheritance from the estate. Charles also had a daughter Eleanor, married to a Dunbar, and another son Andrew McKee who died in 1846, leaving a wife and 4 children; his widow was Julie A. Corn McKee. Charles’s second youngest son John had moved with other family to Illinois before 1752, and I have not done research into his family.  Charles’s daughter Catherine McKee Ashcraft also proceeded her father in death; passing away in 1846 as well as another daughter, Elizabeth McKee Enlow who was also deceased at the time of the chancery cases in 1852.

My line comes from Charles’s 2nd son, Alexander. If they followed the Scottish way of naming their heirs, that would make Alexander named after his grandfather and Charles’s father. Interesting eh? So perhaps we are looking for an Alexander McKee born between 1730-1740 in Ireland – that shouldn’t be tough right? My GGGGGGGrandfather,  Alexander McKee, was born November 10^th 1792 Lancaster, Pennsylvania (possibly) ; he married Tabitha Bertal Waddell born March 15^th 1800 also in Pennsylvania, daughter of Robert Waddell Sr. and Sara Carter both born in Pennsylvania.
Alexander and Tabitha had several children, though I have only found to date:
Robert B. Mckee – born April 18^th, 1820, Knox County, Ohio.   According to the History of Knox County, Ohio, Robert was the first white male born in Brown township.
Silas McKee – born 31st  May 1825, also in Brown Township, Knox County, Ohio.  Alexander lived with his son Silas after Tabitha passed away in 1864; he lived until 1874.  I also show Robert B. McKee’s son Alexander living with his uncle Silas as well.  I don’t know the specifics, but I believe that Robert and Alex had quarreled, as there is a Robert McKee who sued the entire McKee family feeling he wasn’t getting his share of the inheritance, and Robert names the years that his parents died in his biographical sketch in a history book on Knox County, but he doesn’t name them.

I am heading to Mt. Vernon Ohio in May of this year, and I am hoping to find a will or probate records for Alexander, that will possibly name some of his children and grandchildren.

Post Script……..I found no will for Alex but I found that he gave land to a son and a daughter with strict instructions that it could not be contested – another clue that Robert and Alex were not necessarily on good terms.  I did find land records of Alex giving land to his son Silas, and a daughter Eveline McKee Biggs who married a James Biggs.

Robert B. McKee first married Clarinda Mix born; 0ct. 13 1821 in Danville, Ohio; she gave him four children but died on April 2^nd, 1852, when their youngest son Alex was 2 years of age.  Their children were:

1. Wilson McKee –  B. Mar. 6^th 1841 in Danville, Ohio  – Married Amanda Clark, B. Dec. 10^th 1844 in Danville, Ohio  – they had 4 children:

Ida M. McKee – B. 1863 Knox Co., Ohio
Stansbury E. McKee – B. 1866 died in infancy in 1868
Shannon W. McKee – B. 1869 Knox Co., Ohio
Lillie Mae McKee – B. 1871, Knox Co., Ohio

Altha L. McKee   – B. 1878, Knox Co., Ohio2. Stansbury McKee –     B. 17 Jan 1845, Danville, Ohio – D. 28 Dec 1928 in Cleveland Ohio, Married Myrtle Bartlett 1882; Children; Fred, Leva, Luverne, George, and Donald.

3. Lorinda McKee –     B. July 1849, Danville, Ohio – Died: unknown – Married William F Davis in 1868; he died in 1925 – I have her applying for a widows pension after his death.

4. Alexander McKee –   B. 9 Dec. 1850, Danville, Ohio – Died: 1 Sept 1932 in Brown township, Knox Co, Ohio – Married Mary E Lahmon had one son George R McKee, Mary died in 1900; he remarried to a Laplentice Dunn in 1901 they had no children that I know of, though the picture I have of him with Grandpa Shannon shows him with two young men with matching hats – I  assume his son and grandson?

Clarinda’s father left her some things in his will and I have a copy of it but have not yet gone through it.

Robert then married Matilda Caster September 1852 in Knox Co., Ohio they had 8 children together as follows:

1.  Mary Ellen McKee B. 1854, Knox Co., Ohio
2.  Squire McKee  B. 1856, Knox Co., Ohio
3.  John B. McKee B. 1858, Knox Co., Ohio
4.  Iris McKee B. 1859 she died at the age of 8
5.  Scott McKee B. 1863, Knox Co., Ohio
6.  Amanda Almeda McKee B. 1865, Knox Co., Ohio
7.  William (Billy) McKee B. 1872, Knox Co., Ohio
8.  Rosanna McKee B. 1877, Knox Co., Ohio

Robert was close with his Uncle George P. Waddell and was the administrator for his will; I have found him living close to George in several  Census listings.  Interestingly I found his son Stansbury living with his brother Silas and his Father Alex in the 1870 census in Union Township Ohio.   I have noticed that Silas seemed to be close to his dad as he lived near him in several of the Census listings,  and also his dad came to live with him after Tabitha’s death in 1864.  I also noticed that his youngest son Alexander was living with his grandma and grandpa McKee during the 1860 census which is interesting – he was 9.  His mother died when he was 16 months old.  Was he was just visiting his grandparents or possibly he didn’t get along with his step-mother?  He did remain close to his sibling’s families though as I have a picture with him and my great grandfather Shannon McKee in Nebraska (or possibly in Oklahoma).

Robert McKee left Knox county Ohio around the same time that Wilson McKee, his oldest son and my grandfather left – around 1882. Robert and his sons Squire and Scott moved to Maryville, Nodaway Co, Missouri. Wilson and his wife Amanda Clark McKee moved their family to land in Nebraska that he was awarded for his service in the Civil War.  I hadn’t realized that Robert and many of his children with his 2^nd wife Matilda had moved to Missouri until I found pictures of their headstones there this last year!  I had  assumed that they remained behind in Ohio.  Alexander, his youngest son with Clarinda, did remain in Ohio.  Again some mysteries to unfold!

I have been in contact over the last year with Squires’ grandson Bob Hanson, his grandmother was one of Squires daughters.  Squire McKee is Wilson’s half brother.

My Mom (Leola) tells stories that her mother (Elsie) told her about Wilson’s wife, Grandma Amanda Clark McKee.  Her family was Pennsylvania Dutch according to grandma; and Grandma Amanda was a pretty prissy woman and proud of her heritage. Her story is that Grandma Emily Daniels (the mother of Shannon’s wife Lula Daniels) was grandma Amanda’s washerwoman.  Grandpa Shannon would go and pick up grandma’s wash for her from the Daniels place, and that is where he met grandma Lula.  Grandma Lula was only 17 when they got married, and I guess grandma Amanda was upset that Shannon had married beneath himself.  Though as I have don’t research over the years I have learned that Grandma Emily Dimmick came from some impressive stock herself, so I am thinking grandma Amanda judged her without really knowing her back ground!

Wilson  McKee died  in 1886 in Filmore, Nebraska; he was only 44 years old.   I know that he was injured in the Civil war and had applied for a disabled veterans pension in 1875; Amanda filed for a widows pension after he died.  He signed up for service in the Civil war in 1861 and was discharged in 1862, a disabled veteran. It took 14 years after he served to start receiving his $4.00 a month pension, it took 8 months of that to pay his attorney’s fee’s of $25.00! He died the month before he would have turned 45 – way young!  Shannon was 16 years old at the time of his father’s death.

Shannon married Lula Daniels 18^th of February 1894; to this union nine children were born:

1. Alma Leona McKee –    B. 1894, Nebraska, USA
2. Sterlie Otis McKee –     B. Jan 1896, Oberlin Kansas, even though they lived in Nebraska that side of the house was across the line in Kansas.
3. Dewey Otto McKee –       B. 1898 Woodward Co, Oklahoma Territory – soon after they had moved with Lula’s parents to Oklahoma!
4. Ora Agnes McKee –        B. 1901 Oklahoma Territory
5. Susie Esta McKee –       B. 1903, Susie died leaving 3 children in 1929 at the age of 26
6. Verda Mildred McKee –  B. 1905 Oklahoma Territory
7. Lonnie Dale McKee –      B. 1908 Oklahoma Territory
8. Emily Amanda (Dollie) McKee – B. 1911 Ellis Co., Oklahoma  Territory
9. Russell McKee   –             B. 1913 Ellis Co., Oklahoma Territory

Shannon left Nebraska to go to the new territory of Oklahoma with Lula’s family, the Daniels,  between 1896 when grandpa Sterlie was born and 1898 when Dewey was born in Oklahoma.  Oklahoma got it’s statehood 16 November 1907.  Grandpa McKee left his entire family behind in Nebraska, so I have just realized that the reason we didn’t hear a lot of McKee stories, is because they  all stayed in Nebraska; we didn’t really know a lot about them, though grandma Kee was very diligent with writing the family there and learning  how they were doing.  I guess she and Aunt Lillie stayed in touch and later with Golda her daughter; I have included some letters from there in this history as well.

Sterlie O. McKee married my grandmother Elsie Richard on Feb 23, 1918.  He was drafted as a soldier in WWI in June 1817, he served from 25 July 1918 until 21 May 1919 so poor grandma was a new bride when he served in the first world war.  Aunt Ardella was born 23 October 1918 while grandpa was in the army; either she was a preemie or she was conceived out of wedlock.  If you note the dates on Shannon and Lula’s wedding and the birth of their first daughter, this may be a tradition!

Sterlie and Elsie left Oklahoma after the dust bowl in Oklahoma. Mom and I just went to see aunt Vel last month and she was saying how everything was covered in dirt even inside the house; you had to sleep with your covers over your head, in order to be able to breath.  She says that the sky was so dark with the dirt that “You couldn’t hardly see’s in front of ya.”  I love her Oakie twang!

I will get back to this when I know more of the Story!

Nov 19,2013

OK, so it took me some time to get back to this!  But I need to get more stuff written down so that I can share it with new McKee family members as well as my own family.

I have just recently gotten in touch with my grandpa Sterlie’s younger brother Dewey’s’ son Dewey Jr. and that has been so much fun.  Dewey has two sons, Tom and Colin McKee and Tom also has two sons, so they are the only men keeping our line of McKee’s alive.  Grandpa had two sons, Gene died as you all know in a sub in the China Sea in WWII, Uncle Richard only had 2 daughters so that line died.  Uncle Dale had no children of his own.  Uncle Russell, the youngest son of Shannon, had Eugene, but he only had daughters as well, so Dewey Jr. and his family have the male line left in our McKee line.  Though what a legacy our Grandpa Alex has!

Dec 2014

So I continue to research our McKee line, but I have been so blessed to find Barry McKee of Canada, whose McKee Line looks promising as possibly our line in Ireland.  I have also met several other McKee’s that have helped me in the journey, Charley McKee grandson of Andrew McKee and Julia Corn, who is the son of grandpa Charles so a brother to grandpa Alex.  We have proven our ancestry with an autosomal DNA test that shows him as my 6^th cousin and mom’s fifth cousin.  Also Robert Hanson whose grandfather was Squire McKee son of Grandpa Robert B. McKee and his second wife Matilda Carter.

As I continue to research, I get a clearer picture of our family and the amazing characters that make us who we are today.  When I first got the copy of Grandpa Charles’s will I found that grandpa Robert was suing the family for $200 that he thought he should have gotten through grandpa’s will.

I have also learned that my grandfather Robert B. McKee was charged with 2^nd degree murder with his brother Silas and his brother in-law Justice Mix, in 1842.  I found that they were all acquitted, but one still has to wonder who it was that died.  I am hoping to discover to that and many other questions as I continue this McKee family history quest.

I have many wills and other materials that I still need to sift through and I have still much proving with records on many of my family relationships.  It seems to be a never ending project.  Just trying to get the facts for this history has proven to me that I still have much to do.   I have cemetery records and marriage records on many of our family that I still need to document in my files. I enjoy so much getting to know them, their stories and their influence in my life that I didn’t even know was there until I learn about them and see some of my own personality traits in them.  DNA – gotta love it!

I will continue to work on this history and will try to keep it up to date as I get it proved by records and histories!  Ever busy in my family’s  business!

      Deb