Henry McKinney

Early American records are often maddeningly hard to come by. So it's difficult to say conclusively where Henry McKinney was born, fell in love, got married, and so on. Especially so because a second man named Henry McKinney clearly lived (and died) in Rutherford, North Carolina. But in East Tennessee, records come together to reveal this Henry, his son's service in the War of 1812, and the family's pioneering role in the formation of Cole county, Missouri.

Early life in Tennessee

While Lewis and Clark were exploring the American West, what was to become Campbell County,
Tennessee was being created in 1806 from Anderson and Claiborne counties. Campbell County abuts Kentucky in northeastern Tennessee, nestled between the Cumberland Mountains and the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The earliest settlers arrived about 1740, finding the timbered mountains home to elk, deer, and bison. Despite the rich timber resources, the earliest settlers were mainly farmers. The McKinney family was one of them.

At least, that's what McKinney family historians say about them. But records seem to suggest Henry and his wife married in North Carolina, where he was likely born. (It's must likely that other Henry McKinney.) The McKinney clan was definitely in Anderson and later Campbell county, but aside from military records, there are surprisingly few documents from this period. Notably, there are no mentions of the name McKinney in the deed books. Where did they live?

Regardless, it's clear that Henry McKinney and his wife raised their family in Tennessee, including three boys, James William (born 1790), Henry Jr (1801), and John (1808). But these pioneers has further land to explore.

The war of 1812, and on to Missouri

Henry's son James fought under Captain John Inglish in the 2nd Regiment of East Tennessee Militia, under the command of Colonel Samuel Bunch. Among the men that joined were 1st Lieutenant James English, Corporal William Fulkerson (Fulkinson), Martin Gouge, and Henry's son, Private James McKinney. The Creek Indian War (1813-1814) was a war within the War of 1812.

Perhaps on cold nights during the war, Captain John English and his comrades from Campbell County sat about the fire talking about what they would do after the war. Perhaps one of their dreams was to pack up and move 600 miles to the western frontier of the United States, to a spot near the mouth of Lewis and Clark's Little Moniteau Creek -- because that's precisely what they did.

Goodspeed's History of Cole County, Missouri states: "The earliest settlement made within Cole County
as now constituted was that by the Tennessee colony in 1815-16, at the mouth of the Moniteau. The war waged with England to maintain the rights of the young Republic was won by the soldiers of Tennessee and Kentucky. Lewis and Clarke [sic] had made known throughout the country the beauty of the Missouri region, and the United States had completed treaties with the original red owners, built forts for their protection from other warriors, and opened the highway for immigration.

Among the members of the Moniteau party were John Inglish [Captain English] and his four sons
{including 1st Lieutenant James], Henry McKenney and three sons [including James William], James
Miller and five sons, James Fulkerson and three sons [including Corporal William], David Young and three sons, William Gooch and four sons, Martin Gooch [Gouge] and two sons, John Harmon and one
son, and Joshua Chambers and two sons."

Henry McKinney died in early 1836 in Cole county.
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Sources:
McKinney family history, Ancestry family tree