Miscellanous: A McGee Story
Submitted by: Belford E. Carver

**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
********************************************** 

A McGee Story
as told by
Lillian (Lillie) McGee Carver
edited by Belford E. Carver
August 2001 

During the month of February 1996, my father, HERBERT LEON CARVER, called 
me from Shreveport, very excited by discovering a letter composed by his 
mother in 1947. He read it to me over the telephone, and subsequently 
mailed me a copy.  

The story went something like this: 

Great-grandfather JOHN McGEE came from Ireland. He came to Indiana and 
married, then moved to Natchitoches. Three children were born there, 
JOE, JOHN and a girl. He died some time before the girl was two.  

When the girl was about two years old, great-grandmother saw she was 
going to die, so she got a neighbor, who was helping her, to write a 
summary of their lives. She gave Uncle Joe and Grandpa John McGee to a 
French woman. They called her "Black Mammy." 

She then asked the neighbor to take the little girl to a certain house 
in a certain county in Indiana where her mother had lived when she left 
Indiana to come to Louisiana. So when she died, he put a pillow on the 
saddle of his horse, and they headed to Indiana. Upon arrival, they 
discovered that the parents had moved and no one knew where they were 
located. So, the man said, "I have brought this child to the house she 
told me to, and I am leaving her here." 

He then gave the folks the sketch of the McGee family as dictated by the 
mother. These folks adopted her. She later married a man named GRIFFETH. 
(My brother, Matt, said it was GRIFFIN; but I remember it as Griffeth.)  

The girl had several children. I remember two of the boys, George and 
Charles. The girl's adopted name was BRYANT. 

When George was grown, his mother told him about her two brothers, Joe 
and John McGee in Natchitoches. George sailed down the Mississippi River 
to New Orleans to look for them. 

At a certain store, he found out that John bought supplies there and 
shipped them away. So, he came up to Natchitoches looking for him. There 
he learned he had just left out with wagons taking his supplies, perhaps 
to Texas. George bought a horse, saddle and bridle, and set out on John's 
trail; and overtook him.  

Uncle BRYANT McGEE and Aunt JANE (McGEE) McALPIN went to Indiana to visit 
their newly found kin. Later, Aunt Jane's daughter, ALICE McALPIN, spent 
a winter with them. George remained in Louisiana and married here. Charles 
came down, but returned to Indiana. 

George bought a farm or rented one. He hired a Mr. THOMPSON to farm with 
him. Thompson fell for George's wife, and began to make advances toward 
her. She told her husband about this.  

One day at noon, George came in from the field. Thompson was combing his 
hair at the mirror. George's wife told him that Thompson had made advances 
toward her again, trying to get his hands on her. 

George picked up a large butcher knife, walked over to Thompson, and cut 
him half in two. He then saddled up his horse and rode off. The authorities 
didn't try to find George, and he was never heard from again. Perhaps he 
returned to Indiana. 

Matt said what was wrong with Uncle Joe was, that while hauling hay for 
"Black Mammy", he fell off the wagon and the wheel ran over his head. 
Grandpa ran away from Black Mammy when he was 12 years old. He slipped 
back when he was 14 and stole Uncle Joe, who was 16. They went back to 
Texas where Grandpa had been those two years. (Grandpa sold dried peaches 
to earn money to get to Natchitoches to get his brother, Uncle Joe.) 

When Grandpa died (in 1863), he was living in Louisiana, but going to 
Texas to buy Spanish horses and bring them to Louisiana to sell. He also 
dealt in the slave trade too. He would buy sick ones, cure them, and then 
sell them. He also had a farm cultivated by slaves. He was good to them. 

                                                *** 

Lillie's father was JOHN McGEE (1850-1928) and her mother was LOUISA 
KATHERINE McALPIN (1849-1925). They are both buried at the Old Anacoco 
Cemetery at Hawthrone, Leesville, LA. Her parents were MARK McALPIN and 
EMILY SMART. 

Her grandfather was JOHN McGEE (1812-1863) and her grandmother was SARAH 
(SALLIE) WINFREE (1814-1885). They are buried at the Old Anacoco Cemetery 
at Hawthrone, Leesville, LA. Her parents were PHILIP WINFREE and SARAH 
HAYES.

I don't have any dates of birth/death, or place of burial on John McGee 
No. 1, Lillie's great-grandfather. 

Since John (#2) was born in 1812, JOE McGEE was probably born in 1810, 
since they were two years apart. The girl, then, was probably born in 
1814. 

Also based on this story, John (#2) was the one receiving the land grant 
in what is today Newton County, TX. There was a grant of over 4,000 acres 
to a John McGee in 1834, on Cow Creek, Newton Co. John #2 would have been 
22 years old at that time. John (#1) was not living in 1834. 

The Texas Land Office furnished me a page from the First Census of Texas, 
1829-1836 which listed John McGee age 27; Susan age 29; John age 4, and 
Mary age 2. John #2 would have been between the ages of 17 and 24 for the 
census period. His wife, according to my data, was two years younger, not 
older then he. John #3 wasn't born until 1850 according to my records. 
They did have a child named Mary (who married MURRY BURR), but I don't 
have any dates on her. Obviously, I have a problem here.  

Oral history of the family said that John #1, from Ireland, was the farmer, 
slave trader, gun runner, and perhaps "outlaw" in this no-man's land of 
the Natchitoches territory around 1800.

From my grandmother's story, and the documents from the Texas Land Office, 
it seems more like it was his son, John #2.  

In Armstrong's SABINE PARISH LOUISIANA, LAND OF GREEN GOLD (1958), pp. 
117-118, there is a list of Sabine slave owners in 1861 who owned more 
than six slaves. On that list is John McGee. The second John would have 
been 49 in 1861. The third John would have been only 11. 

In Robert M. Coates book, THE OUTLAW YEARS, The History of the Land 
Pirates of the Natchez Trace (1930), during the period of 1796-1810, 
there is a McGee who was the agent for the Chickasaw Agency (p. 83). 
Perhaps this was John #1. 

Also, on pp. 131-132, there is a story about ROBERT McALPIN who was 
murdered on July 31 (no year given). He and his son were traveling 
from Georgia when robbers appeared. The son was able to escape. The 
money hidden on Robert's body was not found by the robbers. The son's 
name was not given in the story. I wonder if he made his way into the 
Natchitoches/Vernon Parish area after this experience. 
 

Lillie McGee (1874-1953) married JOHN GREEN CARVER (1880-1966) on 
November 28, 1901 in Vernon Parish. They later resided in Shreveport, 
LA. They were both ordained ministers of the Church of God (Anderson, 
IN). They are buried at Welcome Cemetery, Simpson, Vernon Parish, LA. 
Their children were Cecil Clyde (1903-1985), Viola Maud (1904-1976), 
Everett Iles (1906-1989) and Herbert Leon (1910- ). The parents of John 
Green were Calvin Green (1850-1931) and Mary Elizabeth Westmoreland 
(1856-1887). 

In July 1999, I had Linda Zapp of Greenwood, Indiana, research the 
marriage records in Indiana for John McGee’s marriage to ? Bryant as 
well as Mary (?) Bryant to Charles/George Griffeth or Griffin. 
Unfortunately, she did not find any marriage records on any of these. 

I would be delighted to hear from any readers who may have additional 
family information to share with me. My address is 1512 Pecan Street, 
Hammond, LA 70401-1737; telephone, 985-345-0369. 
My E-mail address is: bcarver@i-55.com 

–BEC–