Family:Jonathan Magee and Rebecca James (1)

The reconstruction of Jonathan Magee’s children is a difficult task. Some twenty years after his marriage, the 1812 tax list for St Tammany Parish, Louisiana shows that he had seven children at that time (Williams, “Founding Families and Individuals of Washington Parish, Louisiana,” 4). These seven children have been traditionally given as follows: Evan James Magee, Holden Magee, Ruth Magee (mrd Lewis Howell), Rebecca Magee (mrd Thomas Hutson), Elizabeth Magee (mrd Simeon Short), Joseph Magee and Jemima Magee (mrd William H. Purvis). We have direct evidence for the parentage for only one of these children, Elizabeth. Jonathan Magee is identified as her father in her marriage record to Simeon Short. For the rest of the children, I will discuss them each in turn and give the evidence known to me for their parentage.

1. Evan J[ames] Magee. This man appears to have been the oldest child of Jonathan Magee. He married in St Tammany Parish, Louisiana to Naomi Short in 1815, per his marriage bond. The rationale for him being a son of Jonathan is as follows: (1) He was of age to be Jonathan’s son; (2) Shortly after his marriage, Evan was owner of a tract of land on Silver Creek in Washington Parish, as he was shown as an adjacent land owner to William P. Rose on that creek in a deed William P. Rose to James & Thomas Tate dated 2 Nov 1816 (St Tammany Parish, LA Deed Bk A-1, 195). Silver Creek is a fairly small creek that begins in southeastern Pike County, Mississippi and runs southeastwardly across the Louisiana state line through northwestern Washington Parish before emptying into the Bogue Chitto River. The placement of Evan Magee on Silver Creek is fairly significant, since Jonathan Magee also owned a tract on Silver Creek about the same time as Evan, as demonstrated in a deed 16 Sept 1817 by which Woody Jones sold to William D. Smith a tract on Silver Creek, which sd tract had been sold by William Oglesby to Drury Massey, “from Drury Massey to Jonathan Magee,” and from Jonathan to the sd Jones. Simeon Short was witness to the deed; (3) While we can only prove his middle initial “J” from various tax assessments in Simpson County, Mississippi, Evan Magee’s full name is believed to have been “Evan James Magee,” his namesake being Evan James, the ostensible close relation to his mother Rebecca. Evan James was enumerated in the 1850 Census of Washington Parish, Louisiana, p 477, aged 73, but it is important to note that the often-repeated claim that he was a brother to Rebecca James is not at present proven; (4) the most powerful evidence for the relationship of Evan to Jonathan is their common removal from Washington Parish, Louisiana to Simpson County, Mississippi, which lies about 80 miles to the north of Washington Parish.

2. Holden Magee. The first record of this man is in the 1822 and 1824 tax assessments of Pike County, Mississippi, in which he was assessed 1 poll at 75 cents. These returns are partially alphabetized, but a perusal of the lists will show a pattern with respect to the general geographical area in which a man on a given page was living. A review of the 1824 return shows that Holden Magee was living in the general area of Silver Creek. This is important, in that it places Holden near the same creek on which Evan James Magee and Jonathan Magee held land across the state line in Washington Parish, Louisiana. The other three points in favor of this man being the son of Jonathan are: (1) he was of age to have been the son of Jonathan; (2) his removal northward into Simpson County, Mississippi, where he was first found in the 1829 tax assessment along with Evan Magee (Jonathan first appears in the 1832 assessment); (3) he named sons “Jonathan” and “Evan,” as shown in the 1850 Census, Newton County, Texas, p 129, #157.

3. Ruth Magee. This woman’s tombstone at Old Gum Springs Cemetery, Simpson County, MS, is viewable at http://home.earthlink.net/~richardneely/gumsprings/Dsc01078.jpg. The stone appears to be an older stone. If it was not placed at her death, perhaps it was placed after her husband Lewis Howell died in 1883. The stone gives her maiden name as “Magee,” born 1805, died 1862. Lewis Howell may or may not be the head of household of that name enumerated on the 1820 census of Washington Parish, Louisiana “next door” to Simeon Short, his ostensible brother-in-law.

4. Rebecca Magee. The evidence that this woman was a daughter of Jonathan Magee is largely traditionary. We have the naming pattern Rebecca/Rebecca, but little else is known to me at this time. She appears to have married Thomas Hutson, who was a head of household in the 1830, 1840 and 1850 census enumerations of Simpson County, Mississippi.

5. Elizabeth Magee. She is shown as the daughter of Jonathan “McGhee” in the 27 Dec 1815 record of her marriage to Simeon Short in St Tammany Parish, Louisiana (Williams, “Founding Families and Individuals of Washington Parish,” 160, with ref to Mrg. Bk 1, p 20).

6. Joseph Magee. The evidence that this man was the son of Jonathan Magee is largely traditionary. He may be the second poll assessed under Jonathan Magee’s name in the 1832-5 tax assessments of Simpson County. Mississippi, but this is speculative.

7. Jemima Magee. The 1919 death certificate of this woman’s daughter Angelina Polk in Montague, Texas, shows her maiden name as Magee. She married William H. Purvis, who appears on several tax assessments in Simpson County, Mississippi in the late 1830s and 1840s....the placement of this couple in Simpson County suggests a relation to Jonathan Magee, but this is not conclusive, due to the fact that there was another prominent Magee family in the county at the same time (i.e. members of the Phillip Magee/Mary Butler family). Purvis and his wife removed to Polk County, Texas, where they died.

[submitted by: Bevin Creel, July 2012]

1. ↑ Grace Davidson, "Records of Richmond County, Georgia," 174.

   Bond 19 Nov 1793 for Jonathan McGee, Planter, to marry Rebecca James, orphan, both of Richmond County; John Berryhill, security; Chas. Crawford, witness.