Person:Margaret McCutcheon (3)

Information on Margaret McCutcheon

From "McCutcheon Newsletter", by the McCutcheon Trace Association: http://www.mccutchentrace.com/pdf/McCutchen%20Trace%20Volume%2030%20Number%201%20Spring%202006.pdf

Margaret McCutcheon, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Fulton) McCutcheon of Augusta County, Virginia, was born April 6, 1766. She was not the first daughter that Samuel and Elizabeth named Margaret. The first Margaret was born Nov. 16, 1762, but must have died before 1766 in order for the name to be used again. Samuel and Elizabeth were very concerned about keeping the family names alive

through their children. The same was done for the name James. The first-born son was named James, but he also must have died because the youngest son was then given the name. Margaret married Joseph Smith on March 11, 1800. Joseph was the son of John Smith of Pennsylvania and may have been the brother to Fanny Smith, who married Robert Bell. Sometime after their marriage, Margaret and Joseph moved to Blount County, Tennessee and had four daughters. Elizabeth (Betsy) b. 20 Aug 1805. Married Thomas Keeble 14 Oct 1823 in Blount Co. They had five children:

Mary Ann (Polly) b. 18 Feb 1811. Married James C. Murphy 13 Feb 1831 in Blount Co. She died 27 Jan 1894 in Sevier County, Tenn. They had eight children. Sarah Smith – unknown Nancy Smith – unknown Joseph Smith served as a private in the War of 1812. He was in

Capt. Samuel Thompson’s Co., Col. Edwin E. Booth’s Reg. in the East Tennessee Militia. He was on the company pay roll Nov. 13, 1814 to May 18, 1815. He began service Nov. 13, 1814, and his service expired May 19, 1815. His term of service was six months, 6 days and pay per month was $8.00. Total pay was $49.60. Joseph was discharged in Knoxville, TN. One day extra pay for travel fifteen miles home. There is no further information on his papers. Joseph came back from the war sick and soon died on Sept. 18, 1815. In the Blount County records is the account of the sale of the personal property belonging to the Estate of Joseph Smith, Decd, this 16 Oct 1815. Among the items sold were 18 bushels of corn, 20 feet of plank, 26 ½ lbs of pork, 50 bundles of fodder, 2 hogs, one blind bridle, and the hire of a horse for 166 days (at one shilling a day). His rifle was sold to Thomas McHenry for $22.50. Margaret got a table and books worth $3.00, two flax wheels and one quill wheel, household and kitchen furniture, two beds, bedsteads, one loom and fixings, meal bags, one big white saw, one cow and calf bell and bell collar, one bay horse, and one pickling tub. There is a listing of Margaret’s expenses - One day preparing for sale, one day drawing his discharge, boarding and keeping four children from the 17th of June 1815 until the 4th of August 1816 at 1 dollar a piece per month, the boarding and keeping of three children on the 4th day of August 1816 to the --- of June 1817 at one dollar a month, clothing for my daughters Elizabeth and Sarah to the amount of $2.50. the amount of my daughter Nancy to books and paper and clothing and my daughter Polly clothing and pay for schooling. The flax wheels and loom were very important to Margaret, especially after the death of Joseph. Jane Murphy Nave, a descendant of Margaret and Joseph through daughter Mary, wrote that Margaret spun flax on a little wheel to help support her daughters. Margaret was a spinner and a weaver and grew the plants from which she produced the dye for her materials. Jane still has one of the little wheels she used for spinning flax, which may have come with Margaret from Augusta County. Margaret could also weave enough material for a dress (probably 1880’s) in a day when a dress meant several yards.

Daughter, Elizabeth, married Thomas Keeble on 14 Oct 1823 in Blount Co. One William Keeble (1755-1834) of Fauquier County, VA came to Blount C., TN in 1800. William’s wife, Mary, was also a Keeble (1785-1855). Their oldest son was Thomas Keeble, b. 31 Jul 1800,

d. 25 Aug 1873. These dates are recorded in Thomas’ Bible. Thomas Keeble was born July the 31st 1800 Elizabeth his wife was born August 20, 1805 James H. Keeble was born Dec. the 4th 1824 William MC (McCutcheon) Keeble was born March the ?1st 1827 Joseph H. Keeble was born January the 4th 1829 Thomas J. Keeble was born Feb. the 16th 1831 Mary Keeble was born March the 4th 1835.

Unfortunately, there is no death date for Elizabeth Smith Keeble. However, Thomas remarried and had a second family. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that we had knowledge of where Margaret and Joseph had gone. They had married in 1800 and then disappeared from the Augusta County Records and McCutcheon family records. Another question is why did they go to Blount County, TN when everyone else in her family headed for Davidson Co., TN?