Bladen County, NC - The McRee Family ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The McRee Family By Jerome Tew Captain Griffith John McRee was a Continental Officer from 1776 to 1798. After the 1777 winter at Valley Forge and nine months as a POW in SC and after the Battle Guilford CH and the Battle of Eutaw Springs, McRee was promoted in rank to major at age 23. His father was Samuel McRee. Samuel was the son of William Sr. and Dinah McRee; he died in 1751 in Duplin and posted one of the first Duplin Wills. William Sr. patented land in the Goshen area of New Hanover Co. NC in 1741. This area was in Duplin Co. in 1750. William Jr. was a J. P. and was elected Sheriff of Duplin Co. by 1753 and was perhaps the youngest sheriff in North Carolina history. William Jr. was born about 1727 in Ireland. He was a Captain in the militia in 1754 and married Margaret Jones about 1755. William Jr. was an executor for the will of his father; however, most everything was given to Samuel McRee, who likely was the youngest of the children and born about 1730. William Jr. sold land in Duplin in 1755 and 1776. I think Samuel, Robert, and William moved to Bladen Co. about 1755 and likely at the time of their marriage. All children in that family were born before 1741 when head-rights listed 8 children in the family of William Sr. Other sons of William McRee Sr. that drew RW pay vouchers were Robert and James McRee. These are also in his will. William Jr. and William III drew 38 and Samuel and Griffith John McRee drew over 50 RW pay vouchers. Samuel’s son Griffith John McRee was born in Bladen Co. on 1 Feb 1758. William Jr. continued in politics and was elected to the NC General Assembly from 1773 to 1779. They then met in New Bern NC. William’s son was William McRee III; he was High Sheriff of Bladen Co. NC from about 1786 to 1798. This son was likely born about 1756. Samuel McRee was a Magistrate in Bladen. Both Griffith John and William McRee III got schooling in Bladen as they grew up. When Griffith was 18 the war started in North Carolina with the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge and at the plantation of widow Amy Moore. The location then was in New Hanover Co., but now in Pender Co. and ten miles from Duplin and now Sampson Co. NC. That battle was located just four miles from Bladen County. Documentation for placement of these two young men at the Moore’s Creek Bridge is not found, 1000 colonial forces had assembled there to stop 1600 Tories from getting to Wilmington and joining the British Army as it entered NC. The result was that the Tories received one of the worst defeats in warfare history. Only John Grady of Duplin was lost on the Patriot side and nearly 900 of the Tories were captured with 30 killed including leaders. This battle on 26 Feb 1776 brought peace to NC for about four years. Griffith John McRee was now 18 and with some education and connections from his father and uncle, was appointed Captain on 16 April 1776 and assigned to the 6th NC Battalion. In 1777 he was assigned to Elizabethtown to recruit for the 6th NC Battalion along the Cape Fear River. He soon learned that most of the young men had already seen action and did not want to enlist for a year or three in the army. He came up with a plan, since most of these men could not read and write, he would recruit them for six months but post them for 3 years or length of the war. His recruitment goals were met with ease. However, when six months had expired, these men came looking for their release from the army. They were told that there was no such term of duty for six months in the regular army. Some men deserted and some complained to the NC Assembly. Captain Griffith McRee was posted for court martial but no record seen shows that it happened. However, he was moved north with the NC army and was at Valley Forge PA by 8 September 1777. Captain Griffith John McRee is listed in the published Papers of General George Washington. Those listed in Captain McRee’s unit were Jesse Allen, Thomas Bellsire, Nicholas Blanks, James Bradley, James Caruthers, Thomas Caruthers, John Clark, John Cominger, Sgt. George Cummings, William Dennis, John Dixon, John Donaldly, David Flynn, Marmaduke Hedgepeth, James King, John Lollord, Levi Mallery, Joshua Martin, Abraham Meadows, Jonathan Melton, Abraham Mitchell, Robert Nelson, William Norton, John Oyler, Joseph Reynolds, George Tradders, Henry Vize, John Ward, Major Willard, and George Williamson. The above George Cummings was listed as wounded and David Flynn as deserted. Captain McRee and his men were in the Battle of Brandywine 9-11-77 and Germantown PA 10-4-77 and Monmouth NJ in 1778. Other NC units there, 1st NC Battalion, 2nd NC Battalion, 3rd NC Battalion, NC Artillery, 10th NC Regiment, and 11th NC Regiment. On 1 June 1778 Captain McRee was transferred to the 1st North Carolina and assigned to the Southern Command by November of 1779 and was sent to protect Charleston SC. He was at the Battle of Fort Moultrie and five days later on 12 May 1780 the British Army took Charleston and captured the 1st North Carolina Battalion and Captain Griffith John McRee was a POW. Captured with the 1st North Carolina was also the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th North Carolina Battalions. Nearly all the North Carolina regular army were killed or captured. Some died as POWs. On 27 Feb 1781 Captain Griffith McRee was exchanged for a Tory Captain Ryerse. Captain McRee returned home to Bladen and after a short stay, he was headed to Guilford for that battle, then the Battle of Hobkirk’s Mill in SC and then to the Battle of Eutaw Springs in SC. At this battle Captain McRee showed the right stuff and General Greene promoted him to Major. Griffith, now 23, was promoted to Major on 11 Sept. 1781 and assigned to the 4th North Carolina Battalion. During this same period, some Tories stole clothes of one of Major McRee's men and his Lt. ask if the soldier could return home to get more clothes. Major McRee allowed this and the lieutenant gave the soldier a pass and for some reason signed Major McRee’s name instead of getting him to sign the pass. Somewhere along the soldier’s route home, he ran into a unit and he showed the travel pass and one of the officers knew Major McRee and knew that that was not his signature. This caused a stink and Major McRee had the lieutenant arrested for forgery. After Cornwallis surrendered, the British Forces in Wilmington pulled out for Charleston and left only Tories in Wilmington and their tenure was short. Major McRee was sent down to take over the town and insure that the Tories were cleared out. One thing Major McRee found was a 17-year-old lady named Ann Fergus at a town social function. Major McRee was appointed to the state commission to confiscate Tory land in Duplin and Bladen and he purchased several hundred acres of this land for himself. He sold the Duplin 407 acres in 1793. Much of this land was taken from widows and destitute families. By the end of 1784 all issues were settled and Major McRee was awarded 4800 acres of land. On 21 July 1785 Major McRee married Ann Fergus of Wilmington and moved to Brunswick Co. NC. Ann was the daughter of Dr. John Fergus of Wilmington and this was a well-to-do family. One son, James Fergus McRee was born in 1793 and he became an MD and died about 1845. Son Colonel William McRee graduated from West Point in 1805 and fought in the war of 1812, he became US Army Chief Engineer. He designed and built a fort at Pensacola FL that was named Fort McRee. This fort was destroyed during the Civil War. William died in 1833. Son Samuel McRee 1801-1849 also graduated from West Point and served in the Black Hawk War and the war with Mexico, he died in 1849. Major McRee resigned his commission on 28 April 1798 and at the age of 40, became a private citizen. He died 3 Oct 1801 in Smithville NC but lived in Wilmington and grew rice on his plantation, Ann died 8 Aug 1842. Researchers list five adult children in Griffith McRee’s family, likely two or three died young. Two grandsons were born 20 years after his death, one a lawyer and historian and one an MD. In 1844, grandson Griffith John McRee, then 22, wrote state officials about the POW exchange papers of his grandfather and the commission of his ggf Dr. John Fergus by Arthur Dobbs in 1759. There was a Samuel McRee who died in the Revolutionary war, since this was not Samuel the elder; I think it was Samuel Jr. and brother to Griffith John McRee. There was also a Martha McRee who drew two pay vouchers. Could she be the widow of Samuel McRee Jr. or his mother? Family researchers have labeled Griffith John McRee as "a enthusiastic patriot". That agrees with my findings. I think his quick movement to join General Greene after being in a POW in SC for nine months, proves that. He could not have stayed home but two or three days before heading toward Guilford County. He was gung-ho. The average age lived for these men was barely 50. This family name was spelled McCree in 1790. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Jerome Tew ___________________________________________________________________