John Menefee (abt. 1747 - 1824)

Born about 10 Dec 1747 in Colony of North Carolina [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Frances (Rhodes) Menefee — married 23 Nov 1774 in Orange, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died 24 Feb 1824 at about age 76 in Decatur, Cotaco County now Morgan County, Alabama, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Carolyn Murray [send private message]

Special Note:

A visit 10 March 2018 to the cemetery where Judge John Menefee is buried along with seven other of his kin was very heartbreaking. It is on abandoned acreage of a plant, in the worst neighborhood that is drug infested. The cemetery, once we found it, would not be too hard to make a good path to it, but it is very overgrown and only about 4 of the stones are still upright, even if leaning. The nice grave marker that DAR placed there in the 1960s, if it is still there, has fallen over and is covered with debris. The nice fence has been taken off and is no longer surrounding the cemetery, but the posts do remain. Are there any persons willing to help restore this tiny cemetery? Judge John Menefee was the first Judge (then called Supreme Court Justice) of the newly formed state of Alabama in the newly formed county of Cotaco, now Morgan County, Alabama.

Biography of Judge John Menefee

Birth

10 Dec 1747

North Carolina^[1]

Parents

William Menefee and Mildred Gaines

Siblings

1. William Menefee
2. Mildred Menefee
3. Nancy Ann Menefee
4. George Menefee
5. Jemima Menefee

Spouse

Frances Rhodes b. 1761 VA - d. 1836 TX; d/o Christian Rhodes and Elizabeth Overacre.

Marriage

23 Nov 1774

Children

1. John Menefee Jr b. 1774 TN - d. 1824 LA^[2], m. Amelia Lewis
2. Elizabeth Menefee 1777-1845
3. Thomas Menefee 1779–1858, m. Lucy Sutherland
4. Jemima Menefee 1782–1859, m. Stephen Heard
5. Mary Menefee b. 1784 - d 1857, m. Jesse White
6. Frances "Fannie" Menefee 1789–1874, m. George Sutherland
7. William Laban Menefee 1791–1875
8. Martha "Patsy" Menefee b. 1787 - d. 1846
9. Sarah "Sallie" Menefee b. 1785 - d. UNK
10. William Christian Menefee b. 1796 - d. 1875, m. Agnes Ann Sutherland
11. Sarah Menefee b. 1798 - d. 1881, m. N Norment

Burial

Menefee Family Cemetery

Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama, formerly Cotaco County

Life Story of Judge John Menefee

Judge John Menefee Gravemarker

John Menefee is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: 247841
Rank: Patriotic Service

Judge John Menefee performed Patriotic Service in Virginia in the American Revolution.

John Menefee is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A077405.

^[3]

John Menefee was born in 1747. John Menefee was a Revolutionary War patriot and the first Judge of Morgan County (then Cotaco County) in Alabama.^[4]

Judge John Menefee is buried at the Menefee Family Cemetery, then in Cotaco County, now located in Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama. The tombstone was erected by the DAR after the cemetery was found again in the 1960's. The original tombstone was a box-tomb that has fallen in and all that is left is the slab which had covered the tomb. It reads: "Sacred to the memory of John Menefee, who departed this life Feb 24, 1824, A. D. aged 76 years."

This small family cemetery is in southwest Decatur near the railroad tracks, behind a closed business.

The only tombstone with a name is that of John Menefee, who was a Revolutionary War soldier and the first Judge of Morgan County (then Cotaco County). It was erected by the DAR after the cemetery was found in the 1960's by Spencer Waters.

The other six tombstones only have initials. In a letter to Spencer Waters in 1966, a great-great granddaughter of John Menefee, Mrs Charles E. Hudson of San Benito, Texas, identified those buried there from information she obtained from Family Bible records. The persons buried there are: James Dever, John Heard Deer, Eliza Wallace Heard, Stephen Rhodes Heard, Lucy Sutherland Menefee, Thomas Menefee and John Menefee Sutherland.

To visit the cemetery follow these directions: Go west on Moulton Street to 12th Avenue NW, turn right, go to 5th Street NW, turn left, go several blocks to a closed business on the right, across street from Alpha Seventh Day Adventist Church. Cemetery is to the rear of the business, beneath a large tree near the railroad tracks. The area is posted and you will need to obtain permission before going to the cemetery.

Burial:

Menefee Cemetery^[5]

Name: John Menefee

Event Type: Burial

Event Date: 1824

Event Place: Decatur, Morgan, Alabama, United States of America

Birth Date: 10 Dec 1747

Death Date: 24 Feb 1824

Sources

1. ↑ Gravemarker transcription
2. ↑ Roster of Revolutionary soldiers and patriots in Alabama,Louise Milam Julich; Daughters of the American Revolution. Alabama Society, Publisher, page 413
3. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 1 Oct 2021), "Record of MENEFEE, JOHN", Ancestor # A077405.
4. ↑ Roster of Revolutionary soldiers and patriots in Alabama,Louise Milam Julich; Daughters of the American Revolution. Alabama Society, Publisher: Montgomery, Ala., Parchment Press, ©1979
5. ↑ Citing this Record: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVK9-1YS6 : 13 December 2015), John Menefee, 1824; Burial, Decatur, Morgan, Alabama, United States of America, Menefee Cemetery; citing record ID 31944586, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com

• U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Township Plats of Selected States; Series #: T1234; Roll: 2
• C. B. Bryant. "Henry County. From Its Formation in 1776 to the End of the Eighteenth Century, Et Seq." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 9, no. 1 (1901): 11-18. Accessed March 6, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4242399.