A
VISIT TO THE PLANTATION AND THE CHURCH
The original ADAM McKEE Plantation is on Long Cane Creek and during the 1990s was known as the Dub Mabry property. A decade later when visited by "researching cousins" the owner had recently died but a tenant arrived at an opportune time to unlock the gate so they could visit the graveyard. The farm is on a dirt lane, accessed via a road between SC Routes 31 & 56. It is right on the county line, possibly straddling the line. In The Mackeys and Allied Families, Adam McKee's plantation is identified as being about a mile from Greenville Churchyard. Author Beatrice Mackey Doughtie said Adam Jr "and many others" are buried in a family grave-yard on the plantation [pg.680].
The original cabin or house on the Adam McKee plantation is long gone. A house built there probably around the turn of the 20th century still stands and looks out on a beautiful landscape.
The McKee Family Cemetery sets in a grove of trees within sight of Mr. Mabry's house. Most of the grave markers are fieldstones and there is only one engraved "traditional" tombstone (fallen/broken - see inscription copied in the Adam Jr segment) which is located at the northeast corner of the cemetery.
Next to that stone are two fieldstones inscribed "A.M." & "J.M." which I am virtually certain mark the graves of ADAM McKEE Sr and JEAN/JANE, his wife. There are four or five rows of grave markers among the trees (at least twenty graves) but we were unable to find inscriptions on any of the others. Almost certainly most represent the immediate & extended family of Adam & Jane but, except for ADAM Jr. we can only speculate about who may be buried where.
It should
be noted
that JOHN DIXON had
originally owned land bordering the 1791 land grant
to ADAM McKEE's son MICHAEL
(the 1763 Memorial had showed all adjoining land
was unoccupied). Jobs
Creek (see MICHAEL McKEE's land grant)
is a western fork of Long Cane, so while
they may not
have actually gone beyond
"the line" prior to the pull-back,
our pioneer
McKEEs were
very much
on the
"cutting edge" of those sensitive
Indian/white man
relationships. We
can only speculate as to what they could
tell us about their Indian neighbors.
By family tradition, ADAM's son JOHN
McKEE was
appointed by President
Thomas JEFFERSON to "look after" Indian
affairs in
the Alabama
Territory after
he moved southward to what became the State of Mississippi.
The
ADAM McKEE Family and the Church
While Robert Witherspoon did not mention Archibald McKee among the persons he considered the pillars of the church in Williamsburgh County, we find indications that Archibald's sons Joseph and Adam were active in the formation of new churches. We know also from purchases made at estate auctions that Adam's sons Adam Jr and Michael had instilled in them a deep respect for scriptural resources. As mentioned earlier Joseph McKee was the first person named when the Witherspoons granted ground on which to build a church.
Adam McKee wasn't at the top of the list but he too was among the founders as a new church was built in Old 96. Greenville Presbyterian Church, The Story of a People, 1765-1973 by John LEITH is the history of the congregation where ADAM McKEE was one of 29 signers of the charter application (11 Jan 1787)
Early church records are sketchy but there were indications that this was a "preaching point" as early as 1765 and that some organization existed by 1771.The land on which the church was to be built was donated on 6 June 1787 by Robert Anderson (interestingly enough not a signer of the petition) and is described as "situate in Abbeville County on a branch of Long Cane Creek waters of Savannah River". The church site is just a few miles east of Adam McKee's place
1800
-- A NEW CENTURY
ADAM McKEE would have been in his 60s as the 19th century began. Looking backward he could no doubt recall growing up around Kingstree, his decision to follow pioneer instincts to the SC upcountry as a young adult, marriage to Jean Dixon and the raising of their family. The kids were growing up now. Michael had married and established his own household nearby. Adam Jr had taken over a lot of the farming operation with the assistance of teenagers John and Eleaser. Even youngest son William Seth was growing up quickly. The war years were now a memory. George Washington had become our nation's first president and after serving two terms, John Adams was now leading our nation. Of course in the SC highlands, our nation's capital seemed far, far away and there were more immediate concerns close at hand
The census enumerator came around for only the second time. There were four McKEE households in Abbeville County on the 1800 census -- headed by ADAM, MICHAEL, WILLIAM and MARTHA which showed:
ADAM McKEE,
over age 45, heading a household
with a female (JEAN) also over 45;
a male between 26-45 (ADAM
Jr--born 1755-74 -
note MICHAEL headed another
household on
the same census page);
a female between 26-45 (GRISSEL?);
a male between 16-26
(JOHN--born in 1782);
a female between 16-26 (MARGARET?);
a male 10-16 (ELEAZER?);
a
female 10-16
(the daughter
JEAN?);
a male under 10 (WILLIAM
SETH); and a female under 10 (MARY).