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William Emanuel McElveen was born in Indiantown Williamsburg South Carolina possibly around 1768. William was a soldier in the American Revolution who served in the Little River District Regiment from 1775 - to 1782 [https://www.ourfamtree.org/soldier/search.php?state=&fname=William&...] and after he was discharged, he married his wife, Susannah Harvey on 16 Mar 1807 in Savannah GA. [https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KGM9-MN8]
WORMHOLE ALERT:
IMPORTANT: In Family Search there is a Life Sketch for this person which includes the following 2 paragraphs:
William McElveen and John McElveen, James and McElwain Caswell and Richard Harvey came to Georgia and settled on Black Creek. John McElveen was commissioner of Bryan County 1797. William McElveen, the first of the clan to settle in Bulloch County. He, was the grandson of Richard McIlwain whose mother was the daughter of Gov. of North Carolina.
According to sources, William McElveen and at least one of his sons fought in the Civil War. There's a Gravestone in Find a Grave that apparently dates to the Civil War which means he probably died then. Apparently he is buried in Primitive Baptist Cemetery where often they are bereft of dates of death.
1. Though not sourced, it's still useful. 1. We know there were several McElveen families who were descendants of different children from our grandfathers generation (i.e. Adam and Richard) may have been brothers. One in Williamsburg and one in Sumter County South Carolina. There is another whose last name could be Caswell.
2. William McElveen married Susannah Harvey 1807, the year William McIlveen's Will was probated in Williamsburg.
3. We don't always interpret a "Source" accurately. William could not have fought in the Civil War with his son William Jr. if he fought in the American Revolution before 1800 and married in 1807. William Jr. had a son William Elias (what was his middle name?) and THEY fought in the Civil War. The two graves in FindAGrave are probably William Jr and his son.
4. McElveens from Sumter County several members went to Mississippi which I think clarifies they were not part of the family from Williamsburg, but their own group. How then do they fit? John may not have been a son of William McIlveen as he was not mentioned in the Will, but neither was Moses Sr (who I think went to Mississippi). Then who was THEIR parents? Perhaps a Will from a John McElveen in Sumter County who specified a wife Elizabeth a son William and another son John.
a. Sumter and Williamsburg are neighboring Counties with less than 50 miles between them.[10] There is a great deal of potential for the two families being from one origin and bonded, even if 50 miles apart in the 18th century. which was not far on a well-traveled road. If we compare this to today, Cook County (Chicago where I live) is 945 miles of land, a good 1,000 miles larger than South Carolina Colonies [11]
b. There's a Mcelwean on a Jury List [12]. It's badly alphabetized so go more than half down to see the name. He settled with a land grant in 1745. The Grant mentioned herein would probably not be the same as the Colonial State's Grants offered to "Poor Protestants." For one thing, If these McElveens were a branch of the same McElveens who married into the House of Cunningham, then they were Highlander clansmen loyal to Scotland's House of Bruce (think Braveheart), not Norman Protestant Lowlanders originating in England. I'll explain this more in another profile. The states were offering any excuse at this point, especially in the midst of American Indian objections to settlers and malaria/dysentery threats, to give away land.
c. John McElveen from Sumter County's Will was probated in 1816. According to the Will, the William of this profile married in 1807, John, from Sumter County's son, William has been close to his father and their land so John is rewarding William in the Will.
John's wife is named Elizabeth.
Where in William McIlveen's Will from a decade before, there is no mention of livestock, here in John's estate he left Elizabeth 6 head of cattle and 11 head of sheep. Even if there are slaves, this is not a large estate.
John who went with William Sr. to Georgia was likely John's oldest son who served in the War. He took $105.00 from his father's estate which was subtracted from whatever was left after dividing the proceeds of the estate sale amongst his siblings (who are not named)
It is likely as the estate was sold after his death, Elizabeth would sell the livestock as there would be no place for them to go and she'd get the proceeds from that sale. She'd move somewhere appropriate with the furniture they had together during John's lifetime.
William received a mare and his share of the estate, William from Sumter's siblings had no place to go so it would seem they went to Mississippi. We should compare marriage dates with 1816 as a clue. [13]
5. It is entirely possible that the Wormhole statement shows: After being discharged, "Sumter" John borrowed money from his father and followed "Indiantown" William to Black Creek Georgia and became commissioner of Bryan County in 1797, 20 years before his father's death in Sumter County.
6. Names are important. First thing that's apparent that the McElveens were a close family is that William named some of his children after cousins who went to Mississippi. We see both Moses and John D listed among his children.
Mcelwean is a first name spelled the same as the ancestor from a couple of generations earlier who was on a South Carolina Jury List. This looks like his name comes from a female side, perhaps a grandmother. What this says to me is there is reason to suspect the Margaret McCrae we see as a grandmother should be focused on his mother and the Caswell could be the grandparent, the grandchild's name reflecting maternal grandparents?