William Logan McKee
W.L. McKee was born in Abbeville, SC and married Sarah Margaret Thomas. They lived a long time near Belton, SC before setting out for Alabama. Along the way, their wagon broke down near Carnesville, Georgia. They settled there, but as they got older, they decided to move back to SC with their unmarried children.
W. L. served in the Civil War as a Private in the Infantry Volunteers, Co. F, Holcomb's Legion, Evans Brigade.
We can speculate as to why he was name "William Logan" McKee. Often such surname as part of given name patterns are "after" the mother's parent and this is a possibility. Abbeville marriages implied from Equity records (Langdon) show William Logan died June 1852 (wife Louisa Raiford Power who died 1852/3). Descendents from this family also went to Alabama (Gleennville).
William Logan McKee was a licensed (but not ordained) Baptist minister. He was a tanner by trade and worked at a shop between the Carnesville Baptist Church and Franklin Co. Courthouse in GA.
They lived a long time near Belton, SC before setting out for Alabama. Along the way, their wagon broke down near Carnesville, GA. They settled there, but as they got older, they decided to move back to SC with their unmarried children. They were a charter member of Broad River Baptist Church, constituted 1872. William remarried after Sarah died. He died two years later.
W.L. served in the Civil War as a Private in the Infantry Volunteers, Co. F. Holcomb's Legion, Evans Brigade.
From C. Patrick Milford w/Sands of Time Feb. 3, 1992
Rev. William Logan McKee
Born July 24, 1837, William Logan McKee, the first minister in our family line [to my knowledge] was the son of William and Nancy Ann McKee [both born 1796] and the grandson Michael and Margaret McKee.
William Logan McKee had at least one brother and one sister; Francis McKee and Isabella McKee.
W. L. McKee married Sarah Margaret Thomas McKee, born February 14, 1934, in Abbeville County, South Carolina and she remained his wife until her death on August 17, 1901.
Logan and Sarah Margaret were the parents of at least nine children: Frank McKee, Newt McKee, John McKee, Ebb McKee, Jane McKee [Bradley] [Leverett] [Bryson]; Elizabeth Ann McKee South [Our "Big Granny"; Great-Grandmother]; Mattie McKee Duvall; Omie McKee [Roberts] [Crawford]; Mary McKee Browning; and Mrs. John Massey.
W. Logan McKee served in the Civil War from Abbeville County, South Carolina, and the family later decided to leave the Belton, SC area and move to Alabama.
When the family arrived in Carnesville, Georgia, this was as far as the family ever traveled, because their wagon broke down. They never got to Alabama, but stayed in Franklin County for several years. While here at least 3 to 5 of their children married locally: Frank McKee, Elizabeth Ann McKee; and Mattie McKee Duvall. Possibly, Mary McKee Browning and Omie McKee Roberts also married here.
Grandpa McKee was a licensed [but not ordained] Baptist minister. He was a "Tanner" by trade and worked at a shop on the branch between the Franklin County Courthouse and Carnesville Baptist Church. He and Sarah Margaret are listed as W. L. & S. M. McKee on the roll of charter members for Broad River Baptist Church, constituted 1872. When Broad River re-built their church, a stained-glass window was placed by this writer to the memory of both charter members.
Not having realized their dream of living in Alabama, when they began to grow older, "Home" again beckoned, and they moved back to the Belton, South Carolina area.
When Sarah Margaret died on August 17, 1901, she was buried at Shady Grove Baptist, about five miles out of Belton.
W. L. McKee remarried after the death of Grandma Sarah, and he died within two years, on December 8, 1902. He was also buried at Shady Grove Baptist, with Sarah Margaret.
I have tried for years to locate the Thomas Ancestors of Sarah Margaret, but to this date, I have been unsuccessful.
Frank McKee and Mattie DuVall are both buried at Allen's United Methodist, Near Carnesville, and Elizabeth Ann McKee South is buried at Clarks Creek Baptist Church, near Martin, Georgia.
I remember well Elizabeth Ann [Big Granny] South, who died on December 11, 1939. She had married John Jackson South [born January 4, 1853] on July 30, 1876. John J. South died December 20, 1903, so she was a widow the last 36 years of her life. She lived with various of her children for periods of time during her last years. I can vividly see her sitting in a large rocking chair on the porch at my Grandparents [her son and daughter-in-law], Marion Francis South and Hattie Oakley South's Home.
Elizabeth Ann [Lizzie] was the mother of: James William [Bud] South; M. F. South; America [Merck] S. Andrews; Martha Ann [Mattie] S. Taylor; Walter South; Alfred South; John Center South; Robert South; Mahlon South; Mae S. Oakley; Margaret [died young]; Ollie Bell S. Spears; Vera S. Ayers; as well as two minor sons, who, along with Margaret, are buried at Allen's Methodist Church, Carnesville, Georgia.
The Sands of Time by C. Patrick Milford Family Records and Memories
William Logan McKee
William Logan McKee was born on July 24, 1837 near Belton, South Carolina. His mother was Jane Bowie McKee and his father was William D. McKee.
He married Sarah Margaret Thomas and they had eleven children. Sons included Newton, Elvis, Frank, Will and John. Daughters were Elizabeth, Leomer, Jane, Mittie, Belle, and Mary.
The family left South Carolina enroute to Alabama but never reached their planned destination. Their wagons broke down near Carnesville, Georgia so they remained in that area. William operated a tanning yard and was also a licensed Baptist Preacher. He and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth were charter members of the Broad River Baptist Church established in 1872. He also served during the Civil War as a member of Co. F, Holcomb's Legion, Evans Brigade.
In the late Eighteen Hundreds, the family returned to South Carolina leaving the children who had already married.
His wife died in 1901 and he remarried to a Mrs. Brewer. He died the following year on December 8, 1902 and is buried beside Sarah Elizabeth in the Shady Grove Baptist Church Cemetery near Belton, South Carolina.
The William Logan McKee Family
William Logan McKee was born on July 24, 1837, son of William David and Nancy Bowie McKee of Abbeville County, South Carolina. Birth listed in the family bible show he had the following brothers and sisters: S. W., M. A., Matilda Ann, John, Isabella, M. L., J. C., Cornelius, and Frances.
Listed in the Census of 1850 with his parents, he was thirteen years old. He apparently married in 1854 at the age of seventeen to Sarah Margaret Thomas, daughter of James and Lucinda Thomas. Their first daughter was born the following year and named for his mother. Their other children were: Emma, Belle, Lizzie, Will, Ebb, Frank, Mattie, John, Newt, and Leoma.
William enlisted in the Civil War on June 12, 1862 at Columbia and served in Company F, Holcombe Legion. On April 1, he was captured and taken prisoner of war and sent to City Point, Virginia. He remained there until the end of the war. He took the Oath of Allegiance and was released on June 6, 1865 at Point Lookout, Maryland.
Soon after returning from the war, William decided to move west. The family left South Carolina in the early seventies and traveled to Franklin County, Georgia, where their wagon broke down so they settled there. Census records show that he farmed in the Crump's Mill Community. They later moved to Carnesville, Georgia where he operated a tanning yard on the Carnesville Creek.
Information from the History of Tugalo Baptist Association show that William and Sarah Margaret were charter members of the Broad River Baptist Church in May 1872. William Logan was a licensed preacher, a school teacher and Justice of the Peace in Franklin County, Georgia.
In 1897, William, Sarah Margaret, Ebb, and Will returned to South Carolina. They settled in Pelzer and worked in a shoe shop. Sarah Margaret died on August 17, 1901.
He remarried soon after to Harriet Elizabeth Edmonds Brewer. She ran a boarding house on Blakely Street in Pelzer. Although she operated a boarding house, she was of the holiness faith and refused to cook on Sundays. Her first husband had died of typhoid fever at the age of 37 years. They had previously lived near Toccoa, Georgia where he worked in a dry goods store and extended too much credit to his customers and lost everything he had. They had moved to Pelzer so he could work in the Cotton Mill. Their children were Orga, a son born in August 1883, Mitchell born in October 1887, Dersa born in May 1890, Enoch born in August 1894, and Lonney born in October 1897, and one daughter, Pearl born in December 1885.
William Logan died on December 8, 1902 at the age of sixty-five. He was buried beside Sarah Margaret at the Shady Grove Baptist Church Cemetery near Belton, SC.
Harriet died on May 10, 1915 and is buried at the Old Silverbrook Cemetery in Anderson, SC.