Here's what I show in my files: First Generation 1. John MCGEE was born on 3 Feb 1789 in Mecklenburg County, NC. The 1850 Catawba Co. NC census lists John McGee's birth place as Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina . The Wendell Miller History gives place of birth as "Tennessee" as does the 1880 Catawba Co., NC census of his son, Daniel. Mecklenburg is the most likely spot thouge some records quote the Ciscero Cline "Cline Genealogy" claiming that John came from Guilford Co., about 1835. This can not be proven. He appeared in the census in 1850 in Catawba County, North Carolina. and is listed as: 32/32 John McGee, (61), Farmer, real prop., $250, b. Mecklenburg, with Fanny (57), b. Catawba; Malinda (17); Noah (11). He appeared in the census in 1860 in Catawba Co. (Newton Twp.), North Carolina. and was living with his daughter, Mary Herman, wife of Henry Herman and their family. He is listed as age 71 at the time. He appeared in the census in 1870 in Catawba Co. (Newton Twp.), North Carolina. and was still living in the household of Henry Herman in 1870, the last census in which he would appear. He died on 5 Mar 1878 in Catawba County, North Carolina. He was buried in Old St. Paul's Lutheran Church Cemetery, Newton, NC. Surname spelled "Megee" on gravestone. Other references have provided the variation of "Magee," with "McGee" being the generally accepted spelling. The stone is in remarkable shape and is close to the Conover-Startown highway, at Old St. Paul's. John is mentioned in the will of Christopher Decker (signed 8 Apr 1807) as the "grandson whom I have raised". His son, Michael, was married to Christina Deal. What the exact relationship is can not be determined from existing records. He married Peggy [2] Deal daughter of Jacob and Margaret [3] Deal and lived on land which is now known as North Newton. He was a blacksmith and gunsmith by trade and was said to be able to make a rifle from scratch. John Megee, together with Mathias Setzer and Jacob Deel, sold to Catawba county, for the token sum of $1.00, portions of their lands for the construction of a court house and jail. (Catawba Co. Deedbook 1:53-55) He had three sons and six daughters: Jacob, Daniel, Noah, Polly, Margaret, Mary, Rhoda, Linnie, and Rosanna. He was not very prosperous and due to poor management, had laid up nothing for his old age. He became a widower and shortly afterward he made his home with his son-in-law, Henry Herman, who had married his daughter, Mary. He had a blacksmith shop and worked on guns until he became too feeble to work. John spent his last years in the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Peter Herman. He could hardly walk, but would go about in the neighborhood, walking in short steps He finally became bedfast and died at the age of 91 years, l month and 2 days. John MCGEE and Elizabeth "Peggy" DEAL were married about 1811. James T. Miller ("Descendants of Wendel Miller", 1930) says he was married to "Fannie" Deal. This may be attributed to a flawed account given by Mrs. Glenn Oliver of Howard, Kansas. The same source, above, says Fannie was the daughter of Jennie Deal. This claim has no basis in fact. Elizabeth "Peggy" DEAL (daughter of Jacob [Diehl] I DEAL and Margaret ROSMAN) was born about 1783. She was born about 1791. She died before 1860. Some accounts give her name as Fannie (Mrs. Glenn [Rebecca] Oliver of Howard, Kansas). Her lineage account is frought with problems, however. "The DEAL-STAFFORD Genealogy" (Rom C. Deal, 1939) claims Peggy, who married John McGee, was the dau. of immigrant, Wilhelm Diehl, husband of Susanna Icard. Due to time frames, this is very difficult to substantiate. Wilhelm (William) Diehl was more likely the son of Wilhelm Diehl, the immigrant who married an unknown wife (said by some to be Sarah Cosbie). This William is claimed by Clara Shook (Mrs. Jack Shook of Taylorsville, NC) to have had only one child, a daughter, Christina, who married Michael Decker. Michael's father, Christopher Decker, in his will dated 8 Apr 1807, mentions John McGee, as "my grandson whom I have raised". A deed (Lincoln Co., April 1812 session) from George Diehl (husb. of Mary Bowman) to John McGee refers to the land as "belonging to the heirs of his (George's) Father, Jacob Deal, Dec'd". It is likely that John McGee and his wife, who no doubt was a Deal, daughter of Jacob, were living on the homeplace, which is the obvious reason the heirs sold property to him and could also explain why the transactions were spread over a period of years (Lincoln Co Book 29, p. 691, 28 Oct 1820; Book 33, p. 182, 6 Feb 1828; Book 36, p. 620, 12 Jan 1836). John MCGEE and Elizabeth "Peggy" DEAL had the following children: +2 i. Polly MCGEE (born on 10 Jan 1812). +3 ii. Margaret "Peggy" MCGEE (born on 27 Nov 1815). +4 iii. Daniel D. MCGEE (born about Nov 1825). +5 iv. Mary "Polly" MCGEE (born on 27 Nov 1813). +6 v. Jacob MCGEE (born on 1 Apr 1818). +7 vi. Rhoda A. MCGEE (born about 1816). +8 vii. Rosanah MCGEE (born about 1827). +9 viii. Malinda "Linnie" MCGEE (born about 1833). +10 ix. Noah Henry MCGEE (born on 12 Jul 1838). ----- Original Message ----- From: "Agnes" <agnesec@cableone.net> To: <CATAWBA-WEST-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, October 03, 2003 3:07 PM Subject: [CATAWBA-WEST] Re: McGee Deal > Does anyone have any information about the family of Christopher Decker who > wrote this in his will dated April 1807: > "John McGee the grandson whom I have raised" > or anything about this relationship between Christopher Decker and John > McGee. > There was a Christiana Deal who married Michael Decker in 1798 - is there > any connection between Michael and Christopher or between Christiana the > Fanny aka Peggy Deal who married John McGee. This Fanny/Peggy was the > daughter of Jacob Deal and his wife Margaret, but they do not appear to have > had a daughter Christiana. > There were only a jillion Deal families by various spellings in the area at > the time, sorting them out will give a person a headache. > > Thank you, > Agnes Cloninger > > > ==== CATAWBA-WEST Mailing List ==== > ==== CATAWBA-WEST Mailing List ==== > Sharing info on the region West of the Catawba River, NC > For further info, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/ > Our thanks to RootsWeb for hosting this list and web page > >