W i l l i a m S
e t h M c K E E
WILLIAM SETH McKEE, the ninth and youngest known child of ADAM McKEE and
Jean/Jane nee DIXON, came to Missouri by 1817 (and possibly as early as 1811). He was my Great-Great-Grandfather and his family will be
covered in more detail within the McKEEs
of Jefferson County, MO narrative.
He generally went by his middle name but early references are found under
"William S." as well. WILLIAM
SETH McKEE married MARY FREEMAN McKAY during 1811.
Some sources say the marriage was in South Carolina although a typed
listing of marriages in Cape Girardeau, MO (not corroborated by the original
marriage book) states that the marriage was there.
In any event SETH and MARY's first child, ADAM FREEMAN McKEE (who died at
age 16) was born the next year, the first of ten children.
The family registry pages from a family bible were literally pulled from
the flames and tell us with certainty the names and birthdates of seven children
(plus death dates for those who died young). While most, if not all of these events occurred in Missouri,
they are also included here. I have
not been able to examine the Bible (which reportedly was in the possession of
Robert McKee of Victoria, MO when copied by Fern Childers Hunt) but extracted
the information from an LDS "Entry Form" prepared by her.
Square bracketed [] birth/death dates from other sources are included,
when known:
Name
Born
Died
Adam Freeman McKee
2 Jan 1812
9 Nov 1828
William Washington McKee 5
Sep 1813 19
Jul 1830
Seth Green McKee
7 Aug 1816
[before Jan 1888]
John McKee
14 Jan 1819 [before
Mar 1870]
Isobel Jean McKee
24 Feb 1822 2
Apr 1838
Samuel McKee
7 Jun 1825
[1877]
[Michael Dixon McKee]
about 1827 (not copied?)
Hugh Eliezer McKee
Jan 1829
[6 Jun 1855]
[Mary Ann McKee]
[31 Mar 1831] [8
Feb 1899]
[Doctor Franklin McKee]
[16 Mar 1834] [8
Aug 1913]
Tragedy enveloped the William Seth McKee household a couple weeks before Thanksgiving of 1828. Adam Freeman McKee, the oldest son of Seth & Mary McKee died on November 9. He was just sixteen years old. We do not know what caused his death -- whether it was due to an accident or illness -- but with deep sadness his death was recorded in the family bible. Less than two years later, on July 19, 1830, they also lost their second oldest son, William Washington McKee. William, or he might have gone by "Wash" also died at the age of sixteen. Three times that death at age sixteen thunderbolt struck the household for on April 2, 1838 their fifth child, but oldest daughter, Isobel Jean McKee also died at that same age. From bible entries it appears that all the other children survived to adulthood. Had it not been for the bible entries we would not have known details about these children or perhaps not even of their existence. Some of the researching cousins had wondered why William Seth seemed to depart from the McKee's "naming after" tradition. Now we know. He didn't! Unfortunately these were children who died before adulthood. Each death struck in a different part of the year and there were no clusters of deaths suggesting a contageous or seasonal disease in common. Might there have been Cystic Fibrosis genes or some such condition? Probably not, since medical care at that time would not likely have permitted survival even to that age. No tombstones have been found to designate where these youngsters are buried but all deaths occurred while they resided at their farm on Joachim Creek. Probably they were either buried on the home place or on the cemetery on the hill with stones or markers which did not last.. Another son, Hugh Eliezer McKee, died during his twenties leaving a widow and two young children but the other children lived to their fifties or older..
The Deeds Index for Jefferson County covering 1819-1869 has several entries relating to William S. McKee. The earliest transaction, referred to by the "cornfield" article was recorded in St. Louis rather than in Jefferson County so was not indexed here. I did not examine the individual records which should show just what land was involved and perhaps additional information. So far as I know the land would all have been associated with the Joachim Creek farm for we know that the Haversticks were neighbors. In 1829, Book C, Page 88 shows that William S. McKee apparantly acting as trustee transferred property to William Shannon. In 1830 he sold land to Rudolph Haverstick (C-127) and in 1837 to Henry Haverstick (D-202). In 1844 he transferred land to Michael McKay (G-023). In 1849 (I-366) there was a transfer to John Hendrickson. Book K, page 342 reflects land transfers to his sons Samuel, Hugh E and Michael Dixon McKee plus one that I copied as "John Jones" (should it be John McKee?). Hugh's estate record tells us that the date of this transaction was March 22 and that "William S. McKee and wife" were the grantors. The land Hugh received was 80 acres in Range 5, Township 40. The last indexed entry relating to William S. McKee was recorded in 1852 (L-240) and was to his son Doc Franklin McKee, Although Doc had married at age 15 his folks apparantly waited until he was 18 to transfer the land. Consideration was not reflected by the index but presumably the transfers to children were for "love & affection" Perhaps the reason for no mention of William Seth in the probate index is that he made lifetime gifts of his resources leaving no estate to resolve. He died before the 1860 census and from the lack of mention of his death in the bible we can assume he died between 1856-59. No tombstone is known to remain marking the place of William Seth or Mary's s burial but there are a lot of unmarked graves in Victoria Cemetery.and it would almost certainly either be there or somewhere on the home place.