From what I could glean, it has been ages since I last penned a column on the prominent Magee family. But in light of my recent write-ups on the Sylvest-Magee Cabin and Jacob and Mary Ann Magee, I thought a brief recap might be in order. Naturally, most all of my information relating to the Magees derives from one of two treatises: "William Magee and Mary Margaret James and Their Descendants 1770 - 1993" or "Magee Histories: The Progenitors and Descendants of Jacob Magee and Mary Scott" by Franklinton native, author, and historian Bevin J. Creel, son of Phillip and Anna Dell Magee Creel.
It was my cousin the late Dell Magee Clawson - she insisted that I call her Mama Dell - who provided personal background on the Magees. Bringing me a copy of Bevin's book, we sat together on my farm porch while Mama Dell ruminated. She noted that I descend from Jacob Magee and Mary Scott Magee, on my father's side - specifically from Sarah "Sally" Magee, who born in 1800 was the couple's twelfth and last child. Mama Dell explained that these were considered the Coharie Magees, defined by Bevin in his book as Magees originating along the Little Coharie and Great Coharie Creeks in Sampson County, North Carolina.
But Mama Dell knew that my late mother, Margie Nell Brumfield Ellzey, treated her copy of "William Magee and Mary Margaret James and Their Descendants" like the gospel, and with good reason. Our family, on my maternal side, directly descends from William Magee II (1813-1847), the eighth and youngest child of William and Mary Margaret James Magee. He married Harriett Bickham (1816-1876), and they had two children: Sophronia Magee, who was born in 1835, and Flora Lavonia Magee, who was born in 1838. And Sophronia Magee (1835-1897) married Thomas Colter Brumfield (1826-1884); they were my great-great-grandparents. The couple lived until their demise on six hundred acres of land which was gifted to her by her father William Magee II. They are buried in the Brumfield Cemetery, near the old homesite, which is a stone's throw from our farm.
I would be remiss if I didn't elaborate on Harriett Bickham Magee's heritage. My great-great-great-grandmother, she was the daughter of John Bickham (1777-1821) and wife Anastasia "Annie" Dalton Bickham (1784-1844). And as we all know, John Bickham who, thanks to Mary Madonna Fowler, is honored on the Courthouse square was the founder of Franklinton, donating thirty acres of land in 1819 for our parish seat of justice and for public schools. As noted on the Courthouse monument, "The Washington Parish Courthouse and the center of the town of Franklinton, along with public school buildings, continue to be located on the land donated by John Bickham."
Sad to say, I have buried the lead. Having discussed Jacob and Mary Ann Magee in a previous column, I wanted to relay additional information about Jacob's parents, John and Sarah Magee. To say the very least, they were pillars of the community. And John, who was born in 1792, was the eldest of the eight children of William and Mary Margaret James Magee. While born before his parents settled in Washington Parish, it was here that he was raised and lived the rest of his life, in the Clifton community. Notably, together with his brothers Hezekiah Magee and Benjamin Magee, John Magee served in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 under General Andrew Jackson. In the War of 1812, John was a private in Captain Thomas C. Warner's Company, the 13th Louisiana Regiment.
Thereafter, John (1792-1877) married Sarah Magee (1800-1889) in 1817 in Marion County, Mississippi. Interestingly, she was the daughter of Jacob and Mary Scott Magee. And as luck would have it, Sarah was also my paternal ancestor. While renowned historian Daunton Gibbs noted in his article "Jacob and Mary Ann Magee Photographs Donated" published in "The Era-Leader" in October of 1979 that John Magee and Sarah Magee were not closely related, I cannot help but recall the Roosevelts. When Rodney and I toured the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Museum, and Home in Hyde Park, New York, a few years ago, we learned that FDR and Eleanor were fifth cousins, I believe once removed. At their wedding, his brother Theodore Roosevelt remarked, "It's good to keep the name in the family." And so it was, back in the day.
As I noted in a prior column, John and Sarah Magee purchased the James Gwin headright, consisting of 640 acres, in 1822. It was there that they made their home. And the area later turned into Clifton. The couple became quite wealthy and influential in our parish, with immense landholdings. In fact, much of the property which extends from Mile Branch in Franklinton all the way to Clifton belonged to the Magee family. And the family retained much of the land through the years.
John Magee became the guardian for the children of his sister Dorcas Magee Andrews after both she and her husband Edmond died. Then, when Gabriellen Mary Andrews wed Dr. William L. Magee, John used her inheritance to buy the Sarah Slocum headright, consisting of 640 acres to the west of the Bogue Chitto River, for her. It bears noting that Dr. William Magee was not only one of the first trained doctors in our parish but also the son of Sarah's brother Fleet Magee I and wife Rebecca Pigott Magee.
Digressing, I have written in the past about Dr. William L. Magee and his tragic demise. On the night of November 9, 1861, while on a house call to the home of Zachariah Magee in the Lawrence Creek community, where he saw Zachariah's wife, Dr. Magee suffered chest pains and died of a heart attack on the porch. Mrs. Magee, his seriously ill patient, died later that same night in the house. At just twenty-seven years of age, Dr. Magee was buried on the Fleet Magee place in the family cemetery.
The Magee Methodist Church at Clifton was owed to John and Sarah Magee who generously gave the land and helped with construction. After it eventually became part of Centenary Methodist Church in Franklinton, the former site of the Magee Methodist Church became the site of the present Clifton Baptist Church.
John and Sarah Magee had the following children: Jacob Magee, Jane Magee, Elizabeth "Betsy" Magee, Mary Polly Magee, John Magee II, George Magee, Dorcas Magee, Rebecca Magee, Fleet Magee, William Magee III, and Celia Magee. Ancestors of a passel in Washington Parish, and that would be an understatement.
