John McKee, U.S. Congress

Indian Agent & Congressman;

JOHN MCKEE b. 1767 Kerr's Creek Rockbridge county, Virginia. He died at his home, Hill of Howth, near Boligee, Green County, Ala., August 12, 1832; interment in Bethsalem Cemetery, Boligee, Ala.

Little is known about McKee's early life other than that he attended Liberty Hall Academy (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia, where he studied Greek and Latin before striking out for the southern frontier

By 1792 McKee was in the Southwest Territory (which later became the State of Tennessee). He was appointed that year by territorial Governor William Blount to survey the boundary with the Cherokee nation established by the 1791 Treaty of Holston. McKee was sent on a peacekeeping mission to the Cherokees in 1793, and was temporarily appointed territorial agent for the Cherokees in 1794.

McKee obtained a license to practice law in the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Blount County in the Southwest Territory in January 1795 and was commissioned by Blount as a lieutenant colonel in the militia and appointed as the clerk of Blount County in August 1975

In 1797 McKee was sent by the United States government to meet with representatives of Panton, Leslie and Company in Pensacola, Florida, to discuss debts owed by the Choctaws to that company. McKee was appointed United States agent to the Choctaw nation in 1799, and served in that capacity until 1802.

Shortly after John McKee reached Washington in January 1811, President James Madison decided to send George Mathews to negotiate the surrender of West Florida with Governor Folch, and to investigate means to detach East Florida from Spain so that it could be annexed by the United States. Late in January 1811, McKee was appointed to accompany Mathews on his mission to the Floridas

In 1813 John McKee was sent by Andrew Jackson to ensure that the Choctaws sided with the United States against the Creeks. He recruited Choctaws to fight against the Red Sticks in the Creek War (1813-1814), and personally led a contingent in one attack. McKee was re-appointed agent to the Choctaw nation in 1814, and recruited Choctaws and Chickasaws to fight with Andrew Jackson against the British. McKee was one of the agents who negotiated the Treaty of Fort St. Stephens with the Choctaw nation in 1816.

Hill of Howth plantation built, by John McKee built a house in Boligee, Greene county Alabama in 1816, which remained his permanent home. An early open-hall or dogtrot-style log plantation house later altered by the addition of a long front gallery, wood siding, and refined interior mantelpieces

McKee continued as agent to the Choctaw nation until 1821.

After his dismissal as agent to the Choctaws, John McKee served at times as representative to the Choctaws for John Forbes and Company (the successor to Panton, Leslie and Company). The Choctaws had large debts to Forbes, and McKee and Forbes believed that the only way the Choctaws could pay their debts was by selling their land to the United States. McKee continued to do business with Forbes even when he was employed by the United States government

An officer in the land office at Tuscaloosa March 9, 1821, and was one of the first settlers of Tuscaloosa County; member of the commission to settle the boundary line between the States of Kentucky and Tennessee

Was the first Representative of Alabama's 2nd District to the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Congresses from 1823 to 1829, and was not a candidate for re-nomination in 1828 to the Twenty-first Congress

Was one of the commissioners in 1829 who negotiated the treaty of Dancing Rabbit, by which a large tract of land west of the Tombigbee River was acquired from the Choctaw Indians

William Proctor Gould of "Hill of Howth," Boligee, Greene County, Ala., was secretary to and heir of Colonel John McKee, pioneer citizen and federal agent to the Chickasaw Indians. Gould was appointed postmaster and register of the Land Office at Tuscaloosa in 1822, and, in 1828, he became a member of a commission to settle the affairs of the Alabama State Bank. The personal and farm diary of William Gould contains almost daily entries during the years from 1828 to 1840 and from 1852 to 1856. The most consistent and precise information in the diary pertains to the weather. Also, Gould's daily activities, especially relating to his farm, visitors, family news, and occasional opinions regarding politics and religion, are described in the diary.

Biographies of McKee conflict as to whether he ever married. Some state that he did not, but others state that he married a Chickasaw woman and had a son named Alexander and a daughter named Alzira.

When his will was probated in August 1832, the only bequests were to William P. Gould, reportedly a kinsman, and Alexander H. McKee, presumably his son

William Proctor Gould of "Hill of Howth," Boligee, Greene County, Ala., was secretary to and heir of Colonel John McKee, pioneer citizen and federal agent to the Chickasaw Indians.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McKee

1. 1192WILLIAM PROCTOR GOULD DIARY Summary

NOTE: A more complete finding aid for this collection is available at the Southern Historica l Collection.Contact staff at: (919)962-1345 (telephone); (919)962-4452 (FAX); mss@email.unc .edu.

Gould, William Proctor, 1793-1867. Diary, 1828-1856. 1 microfilm reel. Microfilm. Originals returned to private owner in 1947

SEE ALSO: See also John McKee Papers (#1194) in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

ONLINE CATALOG TERMS: Alabama--Climate. Alabama--Social life and customs--19th century.

  Farm life--Alabama.   Gould, William Proctor, 1793-1867.   McKee, John, 1771-1832.

COPYRIGHT: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or

           their descendants, as stipulated by United States

           copyright law.

FROM 1850 GREEN COUNTY, AL, CENSUS: Lines 19-20 12247/1247 Gould William P. 57 M Farmer 22,000 Mass; Gould Eliza W. 52 F Geo Gould Sarah W. 25 F AL Gould Eliza P. 23 F AL McKee John 19 M Student AL

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=McKee&GSfn=Jo...

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 29 2017, 11:17:35 UTC