Legend

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Her Tree Story, My Genealogy Blog
Her Tree Story,
My Genealogy Blog

The McKamey Family

Paper written by Raymond Denny of Chattanooga, TN, ca. 1980.

Contributed here by Barbara Pink. Thanks, Barbara!

 The McCamie/McKamey clan is a branch of the Stewart clan and originated near Loch Lomond above Glasgow. The McKameys in America seem to have migrated from Scotland by way of northern Ireland. One of the first was Francis McKamey, the first Presbyterian minister in America. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Lagan in 1681. He was born at Ramelton on Lough Swilly, Donegal and most of his ministry was in Maryland.

 McKamey is a fairly rare name; however there were several famlies of this name in Anderson and Roane Counties from the earliest days…… [The author had crossed out the rest of this paragraph because some of the data was incorrect. Some of the names mentioned were John, Robert, Andrew, William and Isabella but no family connections were made….BCP]

 The only other McKameys in early Tennessee were Samuel McKamey, who received a North Carolina Revolutionary war land grant in the 1780’s and settled in Greene Country, and James McKamey, who settled in Blount County after serving in the Revolution. Both had descendants in their counties.

 William McKamey was born between 1760 and 1770. I have not yet been able to determine his place of birth. His parents were Robert McKamey and Sarah Cunningham.

 William McKamey settled on Poplar Creek above Marlow in the 1790’s. In 1802, he was assessed for 200 acres and two slaves. I have not checked his initial deed, which would be filed in Knox County, nor taken more than a first glance at the many subsequent deeds filed in Anderson County. Over the years, however, William McKamey acquired a large amount of land.

 William McKamey was commissioned Ensign in the Knox County Militia on September 29, 1800. After Anderson County was created from parts of Knox and Grainger Counties in 1801, he took a great part in the affairs of the county. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace, appointed on March 29, 1802 and was a Justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions from 1802 to 1836. This court was the forerunner of the County Court but provided all legal needs. It administered the county, dispensed civil and criminal justice and handled probate and related matters. From 1816 to 1836, William McKamey was Trustee of Anderson County. The Trustee functioned as county treasurer. Before 1836, the Trustee was chosen from the county court; afterwards, by county election.

 In early days when fences were rare, stray cattle were a problem. It was the Ranger’s duty to collect strays and confine them in a compound in Clinton until claimed. William McKamey’s mark, registered in 1802, was “a crop off each ear and two slits in left thus VV”

 There are many records of slave transactions in court records but I have not collected them all yet. The first is of June 16, 1802, when William McKamey purchased “a negro girl about four” from William Patterson.

 About 1798, William McKamey married Elizabeth Armstrong, born in 1780 in South Carolina, who lived on the Holston River a few miles east of Knoxville. Elizabeth’s father was Robert Armstrong, an officer in the Revolutionary War. The Armstrong family history is outlined in another paper. William and Elizabeth McKamey had five children: Robert, Barton, William (jr), John A. and Margaret C.

 The McKameys lived a mile north of Marlow on a knoll. The house is located on the north side of Bush Road between Poplar Creek and the Southern railroad track (built 1800’s). It is a large two-storey wooden structure with a wide porch in front. I would estimate that the house was built in the 1830’s or 1840’s. It may be on the site of the original house or a reworked and extended version of the original house. [Author’s note: House probably built in 1860’s.]

 William McKamey died in the spring of 1840, in his seventies. He left no will and, according to law, an inventory of his personal property was made and an estate sale held on April 16, 1840. Robert and Barton McKamey were executors. A detailed inventory and account of the sale are preserved in court records. These are interesting documents. All the personal property was purchased by members of the family and the estate was divided among members of the family but no document specifies how this was done. The youngest son, John A., received the homeplace.

  William McKamey’s estate was large. Sale of personal property realized $2732.34 ¼. The value of promissary notes for loans was $7448.57 ½. In addition, he left 21 slaves and a large amount of land.

  On February 1, 1841, the estate sold William McKamey (jr) two slaves: Thomas, a boy of 15 and Mariah, a girl of 17. On the same date, the estate sold Barton McKamey three slaves: Lewis, a “boy of 36,” Owens, a “boy of 25,” and Louisa, a girl of 17.

  Elizabeth McKamey lived with her son, John A., at the homeplace until her death sometime in the 1850’s.

   1) Robert McKamey was born in 1799. He married Jemima Parks, born c. 1805, in about 1826. Jemima was the daughter of Joseph Parks (b. 1770-80) and Katherine (“Katie”) Kelly. Joseph was probably the son of William Parks, a Revolutionary War veteran who had settled in Anderson County. The Parks lived around Marlow. Robert McKamey acquired land near his father and established a home. His closest neighbor was John Courtney who lived on Pine Ridge. (Later two of Robert’s children married John Courtney’s children.) Robert McKamey owned five slaves in 1830 and nine in 1840.

  Robert McKamey was sheriff of Anderson County from 1836 to 1842 and lived in Clinton next to the county jail. At the same period, he was Trustee and Treasurer of Union Academy. This was Clinton’s first school founded in 1806 and supported by both public and private funds.

  Robert and Jemima McKamey had nine children from 1827 to 1845: William b.c. 1827; James L. b.c. 1828; Mary Ann (“Polly”) b. December 17, 1829; Margaret Ann (“Peggy”) b.c. 1832; Sarah J. b.c. 1834; Katherine b.c. 1836; Malinda b.c. 1838; Martha C. b.c. 1842 and Robert b.c. 1845. [There were actually eleven children; Elizabeth b. 1825 m. Wilson Robbins; John b.c. 1839 d. 1845….BCP]

  William McKamey married Elizabeth Ann Courtney (b. 1833 d. August 16, 1881) on June 20, 1850. They had at least three children: Robert, who married Mary Holder; Sarah (b. February 17, 1855 d. November 16, 1879) who married Bradford D. Long; Martha A. (b. December 3, 1861 in Arkansas, d. January 21, 1887 in Anderson County) who married William B. Weaver. Weaver ran a store in Clinton. William and Elizabeth McKamey moved to Arkansas. He died there and Elizabeth and the children returned to Anderson County in a two-wheeled oxcart. Elizabeth, Sarah and Martha are buried in the Childs Cemetery at Marlow.

  Mary Ann married William Burke Robbins on January 29, 1852 and is my greatgrandmother. Margaret married Clark Courtney on July 12, 1858. Sarah J. married William Disney on December 5, 1853. Malinda married J. S. Brown on December 13, 1857.

  Robert and Jemima Mckamey are not found in the 1860 Anderson County census reports and seem to disappear from county records in the late 1850’s. I suspect that they moved to Arkansas about 1858 with their son, William, his family and perhaps some of the unmarried children. A check of 1860 Arkansas census records should no doubt locate them.

   2) William C. McKamey was born on November 2, 1810. He married Mary (“Polly”) Parks, b. June 12, 1808, who was probably the younger sister of Jemima Parks, the wife of Robert. They ,moved to McMinn County in the late 1830’s – about the time of the Cherokee Removal – and settled about ten miles south of Athens in the Eastanallee Valley. They had four children: [actually they had four children; daughter Elizabeth b. 20 August 1834 who married J. W. Dodson … BCP] William P. b. October 15, 1837 d. June 20, 1913; Jasper N. b.c. 1841; John M. b.c. 1846 and Mary C. b.c. 1850. William’s sister, Margaret, lived with him and several Armstrong cousins lived in the county. William died on June 8, 1860 and his wife on October 20, 1876. They are buried in the McKamey cemetary on their former farm with their son, William P., and several family slaves.

   3) Barton McKamey was born in 1813 and his wife, Matilda Robbins, was born in 1818. Matilda was probably the daughter of Samuel W. Robbins, elder brother of William Robbins (William’s son, William Burke Robbins married Mary Ann McKamey, Robert’s oldest daughter). Barton was a farmer and lived at Marlow. He owned three slaves in 1840. Barton and Matilda McKamey had at least six children: William b.c. 1837; Sanuel b.c. 1839; Eliabeth b.c. 1841; Sarah J. b.c. 1844; Jane b.c. 1846 and “Puss” b.c. 1848. Barton was Trustee of Anderson County from 1844 to 1850 and was a Trustee of Union Academy. He died instestate about 1854 or ’55. Robert McKamey was executor of his estate and a lawsuit, tried in Chancery Court at Knoxville, resulted from family disagreement over his handling of the matter.

   3) John Armstrong McKamey was born on March 30, 1817. He married Margaret E. Bradley, b. December 31, 1823, on February 21, 1855. John’s mother lived with them at the family homeplace until her death in the 1850’s. John and Margaret McKamey had six children: Nancy A. (Black) b. November 29, 1856, d. June 13, 1880; Sarah E. b.c. 1859; William L. b.c. 1861; James A. b.c. 1863; Cynthia A. (E.L. Garner) b.c. 1864; Samuel B. b.c. 1868. John McKamey died on June 25, 1880 and his wife on October 21, 1899. They are buried in the McKamey Cemetary, a 30 by 30 foot plot surrounded by a stout masonry wall located on Bush Road above Marlow near the railroad overpass, with their daughter, Nancy, and a child of Cynthia’s.

   4) Margaret Cunningham McKamey, called “Peggy,” was born in 1820. She never married and lived for many years with her brother, William, in McMinn County. She died in 1863.

 A slave cenetary is located in a field east of Marlow Circle Road near the railroad overpass. After Emancipation, census reports show that most of the former slaves took the McKamey name and continued to live on McKamey lands as sharecroppers and retainers.

 The last owner of the old William McKamey farm was Samuel, a bachelor and youngest son of John A. McKamey, who sold the place to Bush Cannery for the cultivation of vegetables in 1928. Note: The Barton McKamey family was not in TN in 1860. Matilda was evidently the daughter of Samuel W. Robbins who moved to Texas between 1840 and 1850. I suspect that Matilda and family moved to Texas after Barton’s death c. 1854. Evidently there is a DAR lineage on this family.

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM BURKE ROBBINS and MARY ANN McKAMEY

 1. Jemima Jane b. Dec 17, 1852 mar. Jan 7, 1872 to George T. Hendren b. Mar 12, 1850 d Feb 2, 1938

 2. Elizabeth b. Dec 7, 1853 mar. Sep 15, 1873 to Milton Daniel Shinliver b. Jan 21, 1853 d Jun 27, 1931

 3. Malinda Kate b. Jun 7, 1856 d Feb 8, 1936 mar. Jan 9, 1878 to Charles Martin Denny b. Aug 26, 1856 d. Feb 20, 1934

 4. Willliam Robert b. Mar 27, 1858 d. Aug 4, 1910 mar. Nov 12, 1882 to Louisa M. _________ b. Nov 30, 1870 d. Jan 14, 1950

 *5. Mary Ann b. Nov 18, 1860 d. Feb 8, 1926 mar. 2-15-82 to George W. Denney b. Nov 8, 1859 d. Jun 1, 1910.

 6. Margaret Belle b. Apr 16, 1864 d Jun 14, 1933 mar. May 30, 1886 to Miller Patterson b. ______ d. Jul 16, 1890

 7. Martha b. Feb 1, 1867 d. Oct 18, 1936 mar. Jul 26, 1885 to Henry Denny b. Nov 24, 1867 d. Jul 10, 1927

 8. John R. b. Mar 4, 1870 d. Jul 28, 1900 unmarried was lawyer

 9. James b.c. 1873 was soldier and died in old soldiers home at Johnson City

 W. B. Robbins and his wife were born and died in Anderson Co. Robbins was 1st Lt., Co. I, 9th TN Cavalry, U.S.A from May 5, 1863 to July 14, 1865. He was sheriff of Anderson Co. 1870-72.