Person:William Magee (11)

WILLIAM MAGEE BIOGRAPHY, submitted by Bevin Creel:

William Magee was the son of Lewis Magee and his wife Elizabeth. I have discussed the parentage under the Lewis/Elizabeth Magee family page. Lewis and Elizabeth appear to have been the parents of only two sons, with Jonathan Magee being the other. I am unaware of any daughters, at this time. We may estimate William Magee's birth at roughly 1765, based upon his 2 Oct 1786 petition for 200 acres of land in Richmond County, Georgia (Richmond County, Georgia Land Court Minutes 1784-1787, 124), and also from various territorial and federal census data. He was possibly born in the area of present Richmond County, but this is not entirely certain. Lewis Magee, his father, died while William was in his mid-late teens, and his mother remarried to John Smith. The 1795 tax digest for Richmond County, digitized at Georgia's Virtual Vault http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/, shows that Smith was paying taxes on the land of both William Magee and Jonathan Magee in Richmond County in that year. Again, this is more fully addressed on the Lewis/Elizabeth Magee family page.

After Mississippi became a territory in 1798, both Jonathan Magee and William Magee removed to Adams County, Mississippi into that part that would become Franklin County in 1809. Specifically, they lived on Dry Creek, which empties into the Homochitto River in the area of present-day Bude, Mississippi. Jonathan “McGee” was assessed in the Adams County return of 1802 with no acreage, 1 poll. The early Mississippi tax lists can be viewed in the “Mississippi State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951” database at familysearch.org. The first extant return in which William “McGee” appears in Mississippi Territory is the Adams County return of 1805, in which he was assessed with 240 acres on “Dry Bayou,” 2 horses, 20 cattle. Jonathan was assessed in 1805 with no acreage, 2 horses, 14 cattle. James James and John James were both assessed “nearby.” In 1810, William’s land had fallen into the newly formed Franklin County. He was again shown on Dry Creek with 230 acres (slight variation on the 240 acres above), and his land is described as a Spanish Patent, although I have not found William in the Private Land Claims for Mississippi. Jonathan was assessed with 1 poll, no land. It is worth stating here that I have read Adams County deed books A-F, covering the years roughly 1780-1810, and have found neither William nor Jonathan as a grantor/grantee. The extant Franklin County deeds, to my knowledge, begin about 1840. The 1810 territorial census of Franklin County, Mississippi Territory, shows William “McGhee” with 1M +21, 6M -21, 1F +21, 2 F -21, no slaves. Jonathan McGhee was “2 doors” removed with 1M +21, 3M -21, 1F +21, 3F -21, no slaves. John James was “5 doors” from William with 1M +21, 1F +21 and 6 F -21, 1 slave. The last tax assessment on which William Magee appears is the 1811 Franklin County assessment, in which he was taxed on his 230 acres on Dry Creek, waters of Homochitto River, described as a “donation,” 1 poll. Jonathan Magee had finally acquired land in the area by this time, and he was taxed “next door” to William on 100 acres on Dry Creek. John James was taxed on 120 acres on Homochitto River. Jonathan Magee is taxed in Franklin County for several years after 1811, while his brother William, in the meantime, had removed to Louisiana. Jonathan would join him there several years later.

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 initiated a rush of settlers into what would become St Tammany and Washington Parishes. Many of these settlers were little more than squatters, but they suspected that the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States would eventually lead to the acquisition of neighboring West Florida from Spain, and that their residence upon and cultivation of the land would inevitably lead to American recognition of their rights to the land (often referred to as pre-emption). They were correct. An 1819 act passed by Congress provided the means by which settlers in the Florida Parishes could legally confirm titles to land which they possessed during previous years of political uncertainty.

William Magee “put in” his claim to the Greensburg Land Office, which was responsible for confirming titles in the area in which Washington Parish fell. Greensburg Land Claim Papers, Abstract “B,” Volume 15, #1034 includes testimony by William Magee’s neighbor Henry Day, given 1 March 1820, that William Magee began cultivating his first piece of land in Washington Parish in May 1808. By certificate numbers 40, 598, 693 and 802 dated 1819-1820, granted from the Greensburg Land Office, William Magee was granted tracts of land (640 acres each) in sections 39, 40, 41 and 42 of Twp 1 South Range 10 E (St Helena Meridian). This land includes the traditional home site of William Magee (between present-day Hays Creek Baptist Church and the actual Hays Creek) and the cemetery in which he was buried (present Hays Creek Baptist Church Cemetery). One of these sections was purchased of Thomas Roberts, the other sections being land “as an actual settler on which he [Magee] now resides.” The land purchased of Roberts was ordered to be surveyed for William Magee on 27 March 1825. See Greensburg Claim Papers, T1S R10E, accessible at http://wwwslodms.doa.la.gov. William Magee’s brother Jonathan was also granted land in T1S R10E, Jonathan’s piece of land being in section 58.

Although it is not known when William converted to the Baptist faith, he was an ardent member of that denomination in the years leading up to his death. He was among the earliest members of the Half Moon Bluff Baptist Church, which was the first Baptist church formed within the present boundaries of the state of Louisiana. Although the church was in Louisiana, it was a member of the Mississippi Baptist Association. The associational minutes show that William was a messenger from Half Moon Bluff Church to the associational meeting in 1815 (Casey, "Amite County, Mississippi," vol 2, 115). The location of Half Moon Bluff Church was on Bogue Chitto River, a few miles to the southwest of William Magee's home. The faith of this man is probably reflected in the naming of his children, all of whom (with the exception of William) received Biblical names.

Since his land was surveyed in 1825, the traditional death year for William Magee “1827” is entirely plausible, coupled with the fact that his widow Mary was a head of household in the 1830 federal census for Washington Parish.

Before closing this sketch, I should state that there is little evidence at this time to show that William Magee was closely related to the Jacob Magee/John Magee/Solomon Magee/Phillip Magee quartet in nearby Marion and Pike Counties, Mississippi. We may also insert Willis Magee of Franklin County, Mississippi here.

submitted by: Bevin Creel, January 2012, revised April 2012

1. ↑ 1820 Federal Census, Washington Parish, Louisiana.
2. ↑ 1830 Federal Census, Washington Parish, Louisiana.

   Mary Magee head of household. The 1827 death date was placed on a tombstone erected over the grave of William Magee by his last surviving great-grandchildren in the 1950s. While it is not possible to "prove" the date, it is commensurate with the census data and may be sustained here.

3. ↑ Richmond County, Georgia Land Court Minutes 1784-1787, 124.