Iredell County NcArchives Obituaries.....McKey, Robert Washington August 27, 1921
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"THE LANDMARK", 29 August, 1921
THE LANDMARK.
VOL. 48     STATESVILLE, N. C., MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1921.
THE NEWS OF SOUTH IREDELL.
Mr. R. W. McKey, One of Mooresville’s Oldest and Most Highly Repsected 
Citizens, Died Saturday Afternoon.
   Mooresville, Aug. 29.----Mr. Robert Washington McKey, one of Mooresville’s 
oldest and most highly respected citizens, died Saturday at his home on Main 
Street. Mr. McKey had been a sufferer from Bright’s disease for a number of 
years but was not confined to his bed until two weeks before his death.
   Mr. McKey would have been 83 years old in November. He was a son of the 
late Abraham and Nancy McKey, and was born and reared within two miles of 
Mooresville. At the age of 14 he came here and hired himself to Mr. John F. 
Moore. The lad who plowed ground in the center of Mooresville lived to see it 
a city, and died one of its most honored and substantial citizens. He was 
married in 1865 to Catherine Isabella Moore, a daughter of Mr. John F. Moore, 
who died 30 years ago. During the war he served four years as a teamster in 
Co. I, Seventh Regiment, Lane’s Brigade. He was a charter member of the old 
First Presbyterian church, of whom there are now but two surviving members, 
Mrs. Stephen Frontis and Mr. Houston Brown.
   Practically all of Mr. McKey’s life was devoted to farming until his late 
years when he settled down to enjoy a peaceful old age. With his youngest 
daughter, Eugenia McKey, he lived quietly at the old Moore homestead which was 
built by his father-in-law, and was the first residence erected in Mooresville.
   In the passing of Mr. McKey, Mooresville loses one of the most interesting 
characters. Quiet and conservative to a degree, he was keenly alert, and took 
an active interest in his business affairs. He had accumulated valuable 
property by thrift and good management, but he held fast to his ideal of 
simple life and indulged in no high flown luxuries. He had a remarkable memory 
for dates and events, and probably knew more of the history of the town and 
its people than any other person.
   Mr. McKey is survived by eight children, all of whom were with him in his 
last illness. These are Mesdames   A.E. Brown, T.B. Smith, Lester Cathey, Miss 
Eugenia McKey and Mr. Edley McKey, of Mooresville; Mr. John McKey and Mrs. 
Emory Wilson, of Charlotte; Mrs. Robert Roney of Burlington. Also surviving 
are 29 grand children and two great-grand-children.
   Funeral services were conducted from the First Presbyterian church at 4 
o’clock Sunday afternoon by the pastor, Rev. H.M. Pressly, assisted by Rev. 
W.W. Boyce, of the A.R.P. church. The services were simple and brief, but 
beautiful, a fitting tribute to a life that was lived and ended in peace with 
God and Mankind.
   Acting as pall-bearers were Messrs. M.W. White, E.W. Brawley, W.W. Melchor, 
C.E. Barger, P.S. Body and C.V. Voils. Honorary pall-bearers were Confederate 
veterans S.A. Hoover, J.B. Atwell, Wm. Deal, Sam Lowrance, W.M. Rainey, and 
John A. Kinnerly. Interment was made in Willow Valley cemetery. There were 
numerous handsome floral offerings, representing the family, the U.D.C. and 
many other friends.
   Among the out-of-town people who attended the funeral were; Mr. and Mrs. 
Tom Lazenby, of Statesville; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Smith, and Mr. and Mrs. George 
M. Smith, Messrs. Fred Wilson and William Cunningham, and Mrs. M.S. Ozment, 
all of Charlotte.
   It will be of special interest to the Landmark and its readers to know that 
Mr. McKey was doubtless the oldest subscriber to this paper in this section. 
For over fifty years he was a regular subscriber. “My subscription ran out 
once for two weeks, but I couldn’t get along without it,” he has often 
remarked.


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