Alexander McKee (abt. 1735 - 1799)

Born about 1735 in Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 15 Jan 1799 at about age 64 in Thames River, Upper Canada

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Biography

Alexander McKee is Notable.

Alexander McKee's birth date is unknown, but he was probably born about 1735 in western Pennsylvania, son of Thomas McKee, an Irish immigrant fur trader, Indian Agent, and interpreter for General Forbes at Fort Pitt.

In January 1748 a Moravian bishop visited the family and wrote "His [Thomas McKee's] wife, who was brought up among the Indians, speaks but little English." ^[1]

Thomas McKee said in a 1743 affidavit that when detained by the Shawnee that winter he had been helped by "a white woman who had been taken prisoner by the Indians in their Carolina wars," but did not say that she was his wife. ^[2]

It's not known if this woman was Alexander's mother.

Alexander's father Thomas died in 1769 and Alexander filed petitions in Lancaster County to become executor of his father's estate on behalf of Mary McKee (wife) and his five younger siblings. ^[3] His brother James later claimed the estate on the basis that Thomas and his wife were not married when Alexander was born and he therefore could not inherit.^{[citation needed]}

Alexander appears in records at the time of the French and Indian War, serving first as an ensign, then as a lieutenant in a battalion commanded by James Burd. ^[4] After the war he joined with George Croghan as an Indian trader and intermediary and settled near Pittsburgh. He served as Commissary at Fort Pitt until about 1768 when he married a woman who lived at the Lower Shawneetown. Some think that she may have been a white woman named Charlotte Brown, taken captive as a child by the Shawnee. She remained with the Shawnee while Alexander divided his time between his family, his home in Pittsburgh and his travels among the Indians. They were the parents of a son, Thomas (born about 1769). ^[5]

In 1771 Croghan retired and Alexander was appointed an Indian agent in his place. In December, 1772 Missionary David Jones travelled into the Shawnee territory and met Alexander at the home of a chief called "Hardman" in English. The next month he visited Alexander at his home near Chillicothe. Unfortunately, he did not mention his wife or child(ren). Jones wrote, "went to see captain McKee ... who lives in a small town called Wockachaalli.... Here the captain's Indian relatives live and some others.... Captain McKee was very courteous..." ^[6]

Alexander remained a member of the British establishment throughout the American Revolution. At the end of the war he was promoted to Colonel in the Indian Department (not a military rank), and then as tension between the U.S. and the British in Canada increased he was named Lieutenant Colonel of the militia in 1792.In 1786 McKee's trading post in Ohio was destroyed by Kentucky militia, bent on forcing the Shawnee out of the area. Alexander then obtained property on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, where he made his home. He continued to support the Ohio Indian tribes in their fight against the Americans, culminating in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 where the Indians were defeated by General Wayne. Appointed Deputy Superintendent General for Indian Affairs in upper and lower Canada, he spent much of the next few years implementing the provisions of the Treaty of Greenville. ^[7]

In January of 1799 McKee wrote to a friend complaining of "fever and pain in my breast." He died at his home on January 15, 1799 and was buried near the home of his son, Thomas. ^[8]

Research Notes

Disputed Relations

The only known wife or mate of trader Alexander McKee was of unknown identity and they had one known child:

Around 1768 or 1769, McKee married a woman in Lower Shawneetown. Her identity is unknown; she may have been a Shawnee woman, or possibly a white captive named Charlotte Brown who had been raised among the Shawnees. They had a son, Thomas McKee.^[9]

That she was specifically called "Sewatha 'Sarah' Opessa" and gave Alexander at least some of the following children was information introduced to the world by Don Greene in his largely fictional Shawnee Heritage series.

• Cakundawanna Savanna Straight tail
• Mary Seaworth
• Peter Chartier
• Jacquette Chartier
• Tehcompolas Margaret (McKee) Collins

That he was also mated with a specific Indian named Edna Yellow Britches Rising Sun and gave Alexander at least some of the following children was information introduced to the world by Don Greene in his largely fictional Shawnee Heritage series.

• James McKee
• Catherine McKee Waters

Sources

1. ↑ Cammerhoff, J.F. Bishop J. C. F. Cammerhoff's narrative of a journey to Shamokin, Penna. in the winter of 1748. Philadelphia, 1905. p. 10. Digitized at archive.org bishop
2. ↑ transcript in Hanna, Charles, The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path, Volume 1." G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1911. pp. 210-211. Digitized at Google.
3. ↑ Pennsylvania Orphans' Court records, Lancaster, PA. Miscellaneous books, 1768-1782. p. 163. Digitized at FamilySearch estate
4. ↑ Pennsylvania Archives, 5th series, Vol. 1, p. 182. Digitized at Fold 3 1758
5. ↑ Nelson, Larry L. A Man of Distinction Among Them, Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 1999. citing "McKee Family Genealogical File, Fort Malden (Canada) National Historical Park.
6. ↑ Jones, David. A journal of two visits made to some nations of Indians on the west side of the River Ohio, in the years 1772 and 1773. Burlington, N.J. 1774. p. 38-41. Digitized at archive.org Jones
7. ↑ Nelson, Larry L. A Man of Distinction Among Them
8. ↑ Horsman, Reginald. Dictionary of Canadian Biography bio
9. ↑ "Wikipedia: 'Alexander McKee (Wikipedia)

See also:

• John Wasson and Some McClellands on Tax List: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=bc8c0b0e-ca58-4f27-99b6-2ddd871df51a&tid=555902&pid=-448508791

• The Frontiersman and Indian Hunter: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=b0cdd70f-897b-43fb-8eb4-368066c07908&tid=555902&pid=-448508791

• Battle of Blue Licks: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=4f1ffe9d-4558-4729-8dbd-643734b72dcc&tid=555902&pid=-448508791

• Notes on Tecumsapah: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=470f8c3b-07e1-4d69-a6a3-983df91804cd&tid=555902&pid=-448508791

• ALEX LAND GRANT: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=20566c6d-d83a-494d-b02a-af833643d03b&tid=555902&pid=-448508791

• The Dark & Bloody River: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=497aac49-0328-4aef-960b-b160bc9689bf&tid=555902&pid=-448508791

• VALENTINE SPAHR - THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=68fc4821-2d6e-4d8e-86e6-ee5766671e8a&tid=555902&pid=-448508791
• Wikipedia

• "Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4: 'McKEE, ALEXANDER', by Reginald Horsman; University of Toronto/Université Laval; 1979."

• "Shawnee Heritage I'; by Don Greene; 2008, pp. 193-195." > "Wikitree - Shawnee Heritage Fraud"

• (wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_McKee)