Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Mary MIller McAfee Biography

The Mary Miller biography that I noted last year is chuck full of good information on the McAfee family. I have double checked the transcription by Dave and Kathy Jones and find it to be a complete and accurate transcription. I have included it here for the information of anyone interested in the southern Illinois McAfees.


McAfee

The following document has been re-typed by
David Arthur Jones Jr. 8-28-’38  and Kathleen Larsen Jones 5-28-‘40
in June 2012, as it appears, and without corrections.
A very special thanks to
Jeannie Griffith
for finding this document.

 
MCAFEE MEMORIES

By
Mary Miller McAfee Ramsey
80 years old 1905
 

(Note: The following account was written by Mary Miller McAfee Ramsey, wife
of Robert Love Ramsey, as stated in 1905. She was the Great-Grandmother of
my wife, Jean Louise Ramsey Funk. A copy of this document was sent to me
by one of Mary M. Ramsey’s Grandsons, Mr. Roy Carson, son of Lizzie M.
Ramsey Carson. It will be noted that several dates have been added since it
was originally written. I may add explanatory notes along the way..JCF.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

My Grand father, George McAfee, was born in Scotland and my Grandmother’s name was Katy Morehead. I cannot remember the date of removal from Scotland to Ireland but it was before my father, James McAfee, was born, 1777, and he died at the age of 84 years, or in 1861, in Illinois. Grandfather, George McAfee, moved from Scotland to Derry, County Derry, Ireland, where there was a settlement of the Scotch Covenanters. My father, James, had several of his father’s Scotch books in his library. There were two that I remember well; “Sermons by Jeremiah Burgess of Edinburg” and “An Ark for all God’s Noahs in the Gloomy Stormy Day”. They were never sold, and I may have taken them with me to my daughter, Lizzie’s, house where they were no doubt destroyed when their home burned. They were printed and published in the Sixteenth Century, and aside from being a valuable family relic would now be a curiosity in any library. Even the binding would be a curiosity in any Publishing House these days.

My father emigrated to America when he was 19 years old, about in the year 1796, but returned to Ireland when the War of 1812 broke out.  There he married Margaret Todd and they were compelled to remain there for seven years until the embargo was lifted.  During this time my three older brothers, George, James and John McAfee were born.  In 1817 he removed with his wife and three children to America again and settled in “Scotland”, 16 miles from Philadelphia, and here the next son, Robert McAfee, was born in 1818. 

My father, James McAfee was married about the year 1812 to Margaret Todd and they had children as follows:

 George, born about 1814, who married Margaret Aiken.
 James, born about 1815, who married Esther Montgomery.
 John, born about 1817, who married Ann J. McClay     
 Robert, born about 1818, married Isabel Steele, died 19 Feb. 1909, 91 years.
 Daniel, born about 1816, married Lizzie Dennis.
 Nancy K., born? , married Josiah P. Hibbard.
 Mary M., born 1825, married Robert L. Ramsey 1844, died 5 Nov. 1906.
 Arthur, born 1825, twin brother of Mary.  Killed in accident 1832.
 Samuel, born 1829, killed age 5 in same accident in 1832.
 David, born ? died when an infant.

About the year 1832 my father went to Utica, Ohio, and bought a tract of land about one  mile from the then village, all heavily timbered, paying therefore $2.50 per acre for it, and moved his family from Philadelphia the following year to this tract of 180 acres.  Two of my older brothers, George and James, remained in the city of Philadelphia.  The rest of the family moved back to the city the following year due to an accident which happened on that wooded tract near Utica, Ohio.

The older sons of the family had no experience in clearing the timber land and had chopped through the Sap-wood only as they thought to deaden a tree, not knowing it was hollow.  I and my twin brother Arthur and Samuel, 5, were playing near the root of the tree when a gale arose and the tree cracked.  Brother John, at some distance from the tree, seeing the danger called to us to run to him.  I did go, but Arthur and Samuel ran the other way in the direction the tree was falling and were caught in the top branches and were instantly killed.  That sad scene will be impressed upon my memory as long as I live.

Father could never go into that field again to work and was completely broken down by the accident to his children, but Mother wanted to stay on the farm for the sake of her boys.  She was a strong minded woman and equal to any emergency, even when father would lose heart and give up.  Never the less, not being constitutionally strong, this accident certainly shortened her days.  She later died of Dropsy of the Heart at the age of 63 years.

So, in 1833, the family moved back to Philadelphia to the same street and next door to where we had formerly lived, and went to the Church, The Cherry Street Church, Dr. Wylie, Pastor.  About that time, 1833, occurred the division of the Covenanter Church over the matter of voting.  Father remained with the “Old School” faction, but Brother James and his wife went with the “New School”, but later united again with the Old Covenanter Church at Elkhorn, Illinois.            

We had sold the 180 acres at Utica, Ohio, in less than a year for $5.00 per acre to the Patton Brothers of Philadelphia.  James Stevenson of St. Louis told me about 20 years ago that it could be bought then for less than $75.00 per acre.  I forgot to say that we younger children, Daniel, Nancy and myself, went back to the same school on Locust Street when we moved back to the City.  In the fall of 1837 we moved west again to southern Illinois, and in all that I have related we can see the overruling Providence of God in the circumstances which led us from one location to another.

Father thought he would never go west again, but George’s wife died in the City three months after they were married and he, not knowing what to do, wrote to Rev. McKinney, a young licentiate for the ministry with whom he was acquainted, and whom he knew had gone west somewhere near Sparta, Illinois.  Rev. McKinney replied and encouraged him to come and he went, and through his influence and Mother favoring it, we moved again as I have told you in 1837 to Elkhorn Prairie in Illinois.

The Church there was organized about that time and Brother George was elected Elder but declined as he was then only 24 years old.  Although Father held no office in the Congregation, he was an honored member until his death, which occurred in the year 1869.

But I digress to say something about my Mother’s family.  Her name was Margaret Todd, and her Uncle, Anthony Todd, was a soldier in the Battle of Waterloo.  In that memorable Battle he was shot through the leg and his companion by his side was instantly killed.  He tied up his wound with his handkerchief and, making a crutch of his gun, tried to get back to camp but thought he would bleed to death before reaching there.  Soon he met one of the Regimental Doctors who examined his wound and only said, “A fine wound Sir.  Go on to camp.”  But he felt very weak and thought he must die when a woman came up and he said to her, “If you will bandage my leg and take care of me, I have property and will repay you well, and not only that, if you will nurse me until I get well, I will marry you and take you home with me.”  She took care of him, and not doubt saved his life, and he married her and took her to his home but she was ostracized by his family and was never invited out with them because she was not of as good “Blood” as they were.

My mother’s own brother, an only son, James Todd, enlisted when he was only 16 years old in the War with Mexico.  The last letter we had from him was dated at the City of Mexico and in it he regretted ever entering the War.  It was a beautiful letter throughout and in it he said,  “They have to obey the sound of Drum who never obeyed either Father of Mother.”  They say that this soldier, James Todd, was a fine scholar and I think that Norman must inherit his Military Spirit from away back on both sides of the house.  Although I am opposed to War, I am proud of the record that Norman has made both in the Army and since he has come home.  May God Bless him and direct his future course in Life.  (**NOTE:  The reference to “Norman” is to her Grandson, Brig. Gen. Norman F. Ramsey, U.S. Army, Ret., first son of her 2nd son, James Arthur Ramsey, and an Uncle of my wife, Jean…JCF)

But to return to my story:  When father moved back to the City of Philadelphia in 1833, I went back to the same school, The Locust Street School, and had the same teacher, Miss Eastburn.  The school was taught on the Lancasterian, or “Monitorial” Plan.  Over 100 girls in the lower room and a like number of boys taught by Mr. Clevenger up-stairs.  I must describe my Teacher, for to my mind then she was perfection.  She was about 40 years old, tall and dignified in appearance, but kind and considerate of her pupils, and had their love and respect in return.  When I think back over it now, after seventy years, I feel I must have been her favorite.  I was then only nine years old but was a pretty good reader and studied Elementary Geography, Arithmetic and English Grammar.  It was there that I laid the foundation of my education, (such as it is).  The Monitor’s names were called from the Teacher’s desk to hear the recitations of the lower classes.  The classes always stood in semi-circles around the sides of the room.  I, with some others, was named to hear the spelling lesson of the younger children.  The Monitor hearing the recitation took down a “Badge” suspended by a Ribbon from a nail and put it on with all the dignity of a “School Marm” to hear the recitation and on closing the recitation would hang it again on the nail.  Miss Eastburn would often call on me to “Raise the Tune” when the school sang, something I have never done since.  She read a Chapter in the morning, sang a Hymn and offered a Prayer.  I recollect a verse of one Hymn, “Alas, and did my Savior Bleed, and did my Sovereign Die,” etc.  I was a young Precenter truly!!

Right after we returned to Philadelphia a neighbor girl asked me to go to Church with her to her Church Fair.  Mother consented and the first one there that I recognized was my former teacher, Miss Eastburn!  She left a group of ladies with whom she was talking and came over to me and kissed me and asked me where I had been and said that she had missed me.  In a little while she returned and brought a beautiful large pin-cushion and gave it to me.  She asked me to come to school again, which I did for two years more, and that ended my school days in the City of Philadelphia.  When Father moved us to Southern Illinois in 1837 I was never in a schoolhouse for several years.  One summer Rev. J. J. McClurkin taught a three months school in a log cabin on John Hood’s farm, near the Brick House, which I attended.  Then a three month term was taught by Father McClurkin in the Brick Church just after it was completed.  There was nothing but log cabins then and Rev. McKinney preached in John McClurkin’s Cabin until they made the brick and built a Church.

The first work that my brothers, George, James and John, did after coming to Illinois from Philadelphia was to make and burn the brick for the Church just a little east from where the Church stood.  I was then only nine or ten years old and was left to watch the “yard” where the bricks were drying while the men went to dinner to the place where John Donnelley then lived.  I was more interested in playing and did not watch closely and a drove of hogs came up out of the woods nearby into the “yard”.  In trying to chase them out, the hogs ran over the soft clay bricks marking many of them with their tracks.  Years afterward, when the old Church was torn down, many bricks were found with those tracks on them.  Some of those bricks may yet be found around Oakdale and vicinity.  Brothers George and James had cabins on their farms, but went to Sparta or Eden to make brick to build houses on their farms.

Mr. Adam Wylie was teaching a Subscription School in Sparta, or Eden rather, and brother James wanted me to come to Sparta and go to the School there.  He offered to pay my tuition and I could help with the work in boarding the Brick-hands.  I was too glad to accept the offer and, being then 17 years old, applied myself as never before. 

Margaret Hood Mitchell then came and boarded with me at James”, and Benwick Sloane also attended a school in Sparta taught by Dr. Huber and his wife about the same time.  I must have made rapid progress, for one day while Margaret Hood and I were waiting for our “Goose-quill” pens to be sharpened, Mr. Wylie came to me and said,  “Are you going home when School closes?”  I said I was and he said,  “If you would stay another term you could then teach School up in Elkhorn Prairie for I understand that they have few teachers there.”   Margaret Hood heard him, and it amused her so that I, Mary, could teach School!  Never-the-less, I did teach a six-month term of school after I was married and living on “The Hill” and just before you, James, were born.  Your father took sick with liver trouble and for a year was not able to work on the farm, and the Doctor said he would never be a strong man again.  We had to keep a hired man on the farm that year.  Then Robert J., your brother just older, died when he was six months old.  Emily Giddings, a girl just 14 years old, was living with us then, and one day while you were balancing yourself on the edge of a large kettle full of water and ashes to break the water, you tipped in head first and would have surely drowned but she pulled you out and cleaned you up.

When I went to Nashville to get my Certificate from Zenas Verner & John Leper, Examiners, they told me if I would keep a schedule of attendance, a portion of the School Fund would be paid to me according to the number of pupils enrolled.  I had twenty students subscribed before I began and taught six months and received $120.00 in Gold, as that was the common currency then during the Mexican War.  Some months after I finished this school, you were born and soon thereafter we took two New York boys to raise.  Willie Lavall was a good trusty boy and stayed until he was 21 years old, but James Anderson ran off to the Army when he was sixteen and served as a drummer-boy.

Some of these years were our darkest on the new farm, but after the clouds came the sunshine and we were favored by Providence with good crops, and such things as failures on the Prairies of Illinois were not then known.

I have forgotten to say how we got the land in Elkhorn Prairie.  After the “Money Panic” of 1847 the times were very hard and Mechanics could not get money for their work but had to take orders on the Stores for shelf-good or take horses or cattle from the farms.  About that time my brother, James, got your father to move up to Elkhorn Prairie to help him build a Hemp Mill on this farm.  The Hemp Mill would have been a success had the farmers gone into raising Hemp, but they did not want to risk it.  So, when the building was finished, it was converted into a barn, now one of the barns on the “Hibbard Place”.  We still used the house and lot and shops in Eden, but did not care to go back there, so we bought 80 acres from Samuel Nimrock where the old house now stands about one mile south of Oakdale, Illinois, paying $90.00 cash for it.  There were no improvements on it except a ten acre lot fenced.  Then we sold our house and lots in Eden to a Mr. John Kirkwood who was leaving his farm, taking from him horses, cattle, sheep and farm implements in trade and no money at all.

Your father bought a log house twenty feet square from John Hood and, tearing it down, moved it to his farm and enclosed it as a part of the house which stands on the place now.  Your father also entered another 40 acre tract on the Prairie, and also took up 80 acres of timber-land at 12 ½ cents an acre, called in that day “Bit-Land”, lying some two miles south-east of his farm.  This whole farm was sold to John Wylie and family, who came from Ohio, for the sum of $5,500.00 about the year 1865 or after the close of the Civil War.  But in the meantime there had been a great amount of hard work and economy while the farm was being improved.    But it was unfortunate for us for we sold good land and bought the Hood Farm which was old land partly worn out.  But it was a more desirable place to live, and a pleasant home for the family while they were growing up.  Here at one time the crops failed three years in succession, but it was my home and I was happy in it with my family around me, all working together for the good of each other.  My whole anxiety was for my family; that they might grow up to be good men and women and fitted to occupy any position to which in the Providence of God they might be called.

But the clouds of adversity began to lower again, and your father was stricken with paralysis at the early age of 57 years.  Would to God a veil could be drawn over those years of anxiety and care!  Anxiety for him, and care for my children, but the Lord carried me through it all, and I am still living and have the satisfaction of knowing that all of my five living children are in homes where “The Voice of Joy and Praise Ascends to Jacob’s Mighty God!”

As a supplement, I believe that I did not tell you that Grandfather George McAfee had one sister, Mary, who died young, and a half-brother, John McAfee, who married in Easton, Pa., and came to Philadelphia and lived on the same street with out family until his death.  He left two sons, James and John, and his wife, who went back to Easton where she too died.  When we moved to Utica, Ohio, we lost all track of these two boys and they were all the living relatives Grandfather George McAfee ever had.

And now you have the story of my life.  It will be somewhat disjointed for it has been written during an hour or so every day in snatches and as I could stand it.  And may the God of Our Fathers be Your God and the God of Your Children to the Latest Generation, is the Prayer of your Mother;

Mary Miller McAfee Ramsey
 

The names of my Children are: 

Margaret Anna Ramsey; Died when six months old.
Margaret Todd Ramsey (Dugan), Sterling, N.Y.
Nancy Jane Ramsey (Allen), Sterling, Kansas
Robert J. Ramsey; Died when six months old.
James Arthur Ramsey, Topeka, Kansas
Lizzie M. Ramsey (Carson), Oakdale, Ill.
Rev. Robert George Ramsey, D.D., Xenia, Ohio  (Now in Erie, Pa.)  
 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

New Information Found

Jeanne Griffith and Lee Corbin have uncovered a document written by Mary Miller McAfee who married Robert Love Ramsey (or Ramsay). She is the daughter of James McAfee. This document identifies the parents of James McAfee as George McAfee and Katy Morehead. The document also contains information about the birth location for Mary McAfee's brothers, George, James, and John McAfee. I plan to post the entire document in the near future.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Rita McAfee Conley of Colorado sent me an email that says:

Subject: John McAfee in Colorado
Dear John,
I found this record about the witness of your McAfee land sale.
Death
Name:
LOVELADY, MOSES A
County:
Denver
Year:
1904 Month: DEC Day: 19
Origin:
City of Denver

Thanks Rita for the additional information on our McAfees.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Searching Land Records

11 July 2010 Results from the NARA Request
I got the files from the homestead application by John McAfee for the SW ¼ of Section 12 (160 acres) in T4N R66W, just south of Evans, Colorado, near the area called the “Big Bend.” There are no answers to the where in Ireland question, but there are some useful pieces of information. 1) John McAfee always considered himself a citizen of the United States because he came here as a minor and his father told him that he (his father) was naturalized. Since he couldn’t produce any proof of his father’s naturalization, he had to get a Final Certification of Naturalization – Minor. This is why we could never find a Declaration of Intent. 2) At the time of the final entries for the homestead, he filed an affidavit saying that the occupants of the homestead were himself, his wife, and five children. This was 1883. [I think the five children were Samuel Joseph, Alice Mary, Katherine Wilson, and John James, plus one more. The one more could be Lida McAfee Higgins who was just married a year earlier or it could be Edwin John McKinley, Maggie McAfee McKinley’s surviving son who would be John McAfee’s grandson.] 3) John McAfee filed an affidavit saying that he had settled on the SW ¼ of Section 12 on the 21st day of May in 1877. 4) Two people filed affidavits entitle Homestead Proof – Testimony of Witness. One was Moses Lovelady and the other was James McAfee. 5) In the Homestead Proof – Testimony of Witness by John McAfee, he states that “My father came to this country when I was about 2 years old.” [This is inconsistent with the statement by Samuel Joseph McAfee that his father came to this country when he was 8 years old as recorded in the biographical sketch published by Chapman Publishing Company.] 6) On the 27th of March 1883 he filed a statement that he was 66 years old. [This age is inconsistent with all of the entries on the federal and state censuses. I would have expected 67 or 68.]
18 July 2010 Internet Site
I found an internet site where the 1865 Illinois State Census for Elkton Precinct has been transcribed. The site is http://genealogytrails.com/ill/washington/1865cen_e.html. The census only lists heads of household and the number of people living in that household by ten year age brackets. There are entries for John McAfee, James McAfee, Robert McAfee, and George Stephenson. There are two people listed under John McAfee that don’t make sense, one male and one female, aged 20 to 30. Also the ages for James McAfee do not make sense for either James McAfee, Senior or James McAfee, Junior, they are too young, however he is probably still a relative. The entries for Robert McAfee and George Stephenson seem to make sense, but I haven’t looked at these carefully.
15 August 2011 NARA Request
I ordered the Land Entry File from NARA for the first 40 acres purchased by James McAfee in Washington County, Illinois. This was a cash sale.
27 August 2011 NARA Response
James McAfee bought 40 acres for $50.00 at the SE quarter of the SW quarter of Section 8, Township 3S, Range 4W, recorded at the land office in Kaskaskia, on February 6, 1839. The file contains four documents: 1) an application to buy the land, 2) a receipt for the $50, 3) a document that looks like it might be a title, and 4) an affidavit that the land will be used for the “purposes of cultivation” by James McAfee. There is nothing to indicate which James McAfee (senior or junior) this is. I have always assumed it is James McAfee, Sr., but that is just an assumption.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Searching for a Book

There is a book that was written in 1988 that is a collection of history and biographies for the area just south of Evans, Colorado, including the Big Bend where the John McAfee and Majorie Stevenson McAfee ranch was located. I tried to get a copy on Inter-Library Loan through the Mesa Public Library. They were unable to locate a copy where the holder was willing to loan it out. I believe that there is a copy in the Family History Library at Salt Lake City, Utah. If anyone near there would like to review the book to see if there is any genealogical information pertinent to our McAfee family, I would greatly appreciate it. Otherwise, I will look it up the next time I am in Salt Lake. The book is titled, "Around and About La Salle: Beebe Draw - Big Bend, Peckham, Colorado" and was written by Carol Frances Connell. (www.worldcat.org says that there are also copies in Colorado Springs, Boulder, and Greeley, Colorado.)

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

July Updates

28 June 2010 Evans City Offices and Evans Cemetery Talked with Kim Betz at the Evans City offices. There are no records of burials in Block 1 Lot 1 Graves 1 thru 8 or Block 1 Lot 2 Graves 4 thru 8. There is a record that James McAfee bought the eight Lot 1 graves in 1892, but with a question mark by the date. There is a record that John McAfee bought the eight Lot 2 graves in 1888, but again with a question mark by the date. There is a record of the burials of Samuel J. McAfee and Sarah M. McAfee and S. Blair McAfee in Lot 2 graves 1, 2, and 3 and there are headstones standing there today. There is a question mark in the records for grave 6. There is also a question mark on grave 1 in Lot 1. The book Tombstone Inscriptions of Weld County Colorado Volume 1 says that part of the cemetery records were burned in 1937 and the above information was reconstructed from other town records. There was also some reported vandalism and some headstones were destroyed. I feel like the graves were purchased much earlier that 1888 and 1892 because they are choice lots at the front of the cemetery by the entrance and would have sold in the 1870s. I think James McAfee is buried in Lot 1 grave 1 and probably Sarah McCloy McAfee is buried there also. I believe that John McAfee and Marjorie McAfee are buried in Lot 2 and possibly some of their children, especially Elizabeth.

11 July 2010 Results from the NARA Request I got the files from the homestead application by John McAfee for the SW ¼ of Section 12 (160 acres) in T4N R66W, just south of Evans, Colorado, near the area called the “Big Bend.” There are no answers to the where in Ireland question, but there are some useful pieces of information. 1) John McAfee always considered himself a citizen of the United States because he came here as a minor and his father told him that he (his father) was naturalized. Since he couldn’t produce any proof of his father’s naturalization, he had to get a Final Certification of Naturalization – Minor. This is why we could never find a Declaration of Intent. 2) At the time of the final entries for the homestead, he filed an affidavit saying that the occupants of the homestead were himself, his wife, and five children. This was 1883. [I think the five children were Samuel Joseph, Alice Mary, Katherine Wilson, and John James, plus one more. The one more could be Lida McAfee Higgins who was just married a year earlier or it could be Edwin John McKinley, Maggie McAfee McKinley’s surviving son who would be John McAfee’s grandson.] 3) John McAfee filed an affidavit saying that he had settled on the SW ¼ of Section 12 on the 21st day of May in 1877. 4) Two people filed affidavits entitle Homestead Proof – Testimony of Witness. One was Moses Lovelady and the other was James McAfee. 5) In the Homestead Proof – Testimony of Witness by John McAfee, he states that “My father came to this country when I was about 2 years old.” [This is inconsistent with the statement by Samuel Joseph McAfee that his father came to this country when he was 8 years old as recorded in the biographical sketch published by Chapman Publishing Company in 1898.] 6) On the 27th of March 1883 he filed a statement that he was 66 years old. [This age is inconsistent with all of the entries on the federal and state censuses. I would have expected 67 or 68.]

Friday, July 16, 2010

Recent Background

2 Sep 2007 Telephone call to Doug Jones Doug has gathered what information he was able to find in Evans and Greeley, Colorado. He thinks he got everything. He believes we should search the other children of John McAfee and Marjory Stevenson in hopes of finding family records passed down to living relatives, especially from the older children. He talked to Roger McAfee and was told by Roger that his dad (Douglas Leonard McAfee) told him that John James McAfee was actually born in Mannasa, Conejos, Colorado rather than Evans, Weld, Colorado.
 
27 Sep 2007 Colorado State Archives, Denver, Colorado Case 245, Estate of John Mcafee. Petition to Sell Real Estate 2/7/1890. Decree of Discharge 9/24/1897, Alice Higgins, formerly McAfee. Note to Judge from Alice McAfee dated May 6, 1889, saying she was going to Syracuse, Kansas, for two months to care for her sister who is in poor health. (Another note says Lida Higgins lives in Syracuse, Kansas.) Notice of Final Settlement in the Evans Courier. Settlement date to be 14 April 1890. Farm to be sold on 5 April 1890 (north half of southwest quarter of section 12) to Ferdinand H. Cook for $2150. Guardian paperwork for John James McAfee and Ed McKinley was executed by E. M. Martin. Case 287, Regarding Guardianship for John James McAfee. Alice McAfee appointed. Request for guardianship 20 Mar 1890. Guardian Bond 5 April 1890, with Alice McAfee, principal, and James McAfee, surety. Petition for Discharge because John McAfee estate was insolvent, 18 September 1897, before Judge E. V. Higgins.
 
1 October 2007 Evans Historical Museum, Evans, Colorado Schoolhouse built in 1874 at 3720 South Golden Street. McAfee home (later Kohler) was at 3502 South Empire Street. Old map shows landowner for the N ½ of SW ¼ of section 12 as H. J. Blake. Some records are now kept in the missile silo.

1 October 2007 City of Greeley Museum, Greeley, Colorado Biography of Sam McAfee contains information on John McAfee. I made a photocopy. It is filed under McAfee Holdings. Also found information on Ila McAfee, daughter of George McAfee, born 21 October 1897. She married Elmer Page Turner on 17 Oct 1926. She grew up in Gunnison, Colorado, I think. I have not found a tie between her or her father and our McAfees. Looked in Greeley Tribune for Marjory McAfee death Nov 1884. NIL. Looked in Colorado Sun for Margaret McKinley. Found death listed as Mrs. James McKinley on 15 Apr 1880. Found birth of her son listed as 31 Mar 1880. Looked in Greeley Tribune for obituary for John McAfee. NIL.
 
2 October 2007 Centennial Park Branch Library, Greeley, Colorado Looking at the Weld County Genealogical Society Quarterlies. Vol. 9, #4, May 1983, page 25: 1912 telephone directory Greeley and Evans; two entries: (1) McAfee, S. J., residence, 918 9th (Street), and (2) McAfee and Bovard, ranch, East of Kersey. Vol. 3, #1, Feb 1977, page 6: Weld County Marriage Records 1871-1881; Higgins, W. C. of Osborn, MO, Amanda J. McAfee of Evans, 3 May 1880 (Todd). Vol. 3, #2, Aug 1977, page 10: Weld County Marriage Records 1871-1881; Amanda J. McAfee – W. C. Higgins, 3 May 1880. Vol. 18, #1, Aug 1991, page 21: School Census Records District #6 – 1886 (Source: Microfilm located in the office of the Weld County Clerk and Recorder, Greeley, CO.) Annie M__fe (W/N) age 18, Lizzie M___fe (W/N) age 14, Eliza McAfee age 17, Nannie McAfee age 11. Vol. 18, #2, Nov 1991, page 101: District #6 Corrections: Annie M___fe corrected to Annie McFie (also McAfee) and Lizzie M___fe corrected to Lizzie McFie (also McAfee). Vol. 8, #3, Feb 1982, page 9: Greeley Directory, 1871: McAfee, J., farmer. (My note – is this James or John.) Vol. 10, #2, Nov 1983, page 20: 1885 Weld County CO State Census, Schedule 2, Production of Agriculture in County of Weld, Enumeration District 2: McAfee, John owns 80 ac, 6 ac permanent meadow, orchards, pasture or vineyard, 8 ac unimproved. Vol. 33, #4, May 2007, page 176: Extraction from Wed, Oct 8, 1890, Greeley Tribune: Evans: Katie McAfee, sister of S. J. Mc____ died in Salt Lake City Oct 4 ____. Vol. 26, #3, Feb 2000, page 113, 114: January 29, 1884 Lida McAfee present and member of the Greeley High School Literary Society. Vol. 7, #1, Aug 1980, page 13: Sallie McAfee sells land 18 Feb 1873 to John Payton, Book 6, page 274. Vol. 11, #1, Aug 1984, page 19: Bounty paid to Ed Higgins for 7 coyotes on July 1, 1892. PO Address listed as Windsor. Vol. 12, #3, Feb 1986, page 26: James McKinley sat on a jury. Helper at Centennial Park Branch Library, Linda, has researched in Illinois. Suggested cyberdriveillinois.com and/or ilsos.gov/Genealogy. Weld County Colorado Marriages 1864 – 1930, published by the WCGS. GenRef 929.3788, Weld County shows Amanda J. McAfee WC Higgins May 3 1880 and SS McAfee & Sallie M. Bovard Oct 21 1884. Weld County Colorado Tombstone Inscriptions, Vol. I, published by the Genealogical Society of Weld County, Colorado, 1982: page 140, Evans: McAfee, James – 1892? Lot 1 Block 1 and McAfee, John – Oct 1888 Lot 2 Block 1. Linda called City of Evans town clerk, Janice, 1100 37th St, Evans, CO 80620-2036, 970-475-1100. She said no one is buried in Lot 1. It is still owned by the original purchaser. Only three burials in Lot 2, Sam, Sallie, and Blair McAfee.

15 Dec 2009 Letter Wrote Washington County Circuit Clerk, 101 E. St. Louis Street, Nashville, IL 62263 asking for naturalization records or probate records for James McAfee or any of his family members. They responded that, “we have no records of any naturalization or probate records.” They also said that, “Per Washington County Clerk’s Office death certificate records start in 1877.”

15 Jan 2010 Phonecall Called the Randolph County Circuit Clerk’s office, Chester, IL, 618-826-3116. They can search for $4.00 per year (I think). They suggested contacting the Randolph County Genealogical Society at 618-826-3807.

31 Jan 2010 New FamilySearch Looking in the New FamilySearch (NFS), there is a marriage for James McAfee with a wife’s name of Margaret Todd. The birth year listed, 1784, is the same that I have from the 1860 Census in Washington County Illinois. The descendants in NFS go through Mary McAfee, married to Robert Ramsey. I found one contributor entry with an email address. I sent him a request. The email address is jbcowley@rmci.net. There are two clues that support this name. One is a daughter of Mary McAfee Ramsey named Margaret Todd Ramsey. The other is the surname of the minister, A. C. Todd. Sister Cowley responded that she has only limited information. She gave me information on Lillie McAfee and Nan McAfee in southern Illinois. I registered at the Irish Family History Foundation, http://ifhf.brsgenealogy.com/index.php. I registered with my email address and my usual password. I did not find anything for James McAfee or for Margaret Todd.

15 Feb 2010 Reading the Ireland Research Outline I should look at 941.5 K27rj Ryan, James G , 1950-. (Added Author) Irish church records : their history, availability and use in family and local history research. Mesa RFHC has a copy. Also 941.5 D4m Matheson, Sir Robert E. (Robert Edwin), 1845-1926. (Main Author) Special report on surnames in Ireland : together with varieties and synonymes of surnames and Christian names in Ireland. Also 941.5 D4mc MacLysaght, Edward , 1887-1986. (Main Author) The surnames of Ireland. Also 941.5 E7m Mitchell, Brian (Main Author) A new genealogical atlas of Ireland. This includes parish boundaries for each county. Also 941.5 D27gj Grenham, John (Main Author) Tracing your Irish ancestors : the complete guide.

24 Feb 2010 At Mesa Regional Family History Centere 941.5 K27rj: This book has a good section talking about the records that exist for the Presbyterians in Northern Ireland. I need to reread it a few times. I looked at several surname books. It looks like the McAfees are known as M’Afee, McAfee, MacAfee, MacAffee, McHaffey, and Mahaffey. They are largely in County Antrim with some in County Donegal. I looked in the Ireland Census of 1659 (a book) and found no McAfees. I started to look at the book Heads and Hearths from 1669 (941.61 R4hh) and did not find any McAfees. I need to finish looking at this book. Perhaps this says that the McAfees came to Ireland between 1659 and 1780. I printed out the Householder List of McAfees in County Antrim from Ancestry.com. There are 28 families. One of them is George McAfee who could be James McAfee Sr.’s father if you believe the un-sourced information in New FamilySearch. The place name is listed as Turnarobert. Google says Turnarobert is in Armoy, Cary, Antrim, Ireland. http://www.logainm.ie/Do.aspx?parentID=61250&typeID=BF&placeID=61764

25 Feb 2010 At home Sent an email to Jerry McAfee, mcafee_clan@hotmail.com, since he is listed in Pedigree Resource File as having submitted information on John McAfee, born 12 June 1814, in West Park, Dunluce Parish, County Antrim, Ireland. He replied and said that the Ohio McAfees and the Illinois McAfees are different branches of the family. I worked with Erwin Berry, eeberry1@msn.com, to undo some of the confusion he had created in New Family Search by connecting the Ohio and Illinois McAfees.

3 Mar 2010 At Mesa Regional Family History Center Started working through the “Patron Class Handout for Ireland Immigration.” This included www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname, www.seanruad.com, et.al. The MRFHC had film 994098, so I searched Item 4, “A Roll of Graduates of the University of Glascow from 31st December 1727 to 31st December 1897,” looking for Reverend Todd, either A.C. Todd or someone who could be his father. NIL.
 
17 Mar 2010 At Denver Stake Family History Center,  Found two useful books: A Guide to IRISH Parish Registers, by Brian Mitchell, Genealogical Publishing Co Inc, Baltimore, 1988; and Irish and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research, by Margaret Dickson Falley, B.S., privately published. The first has a good description of what Presbyterian churches were in northern Ireland with starting dates for each one. The second is a very extensive textbook on searching Irish and Scotch-Irish records.
 
4 Jun 2010 NARA Land Records I ordered the homestead record file for John McAfee in Weld County Colorado. They say it takes 60 to 90 days to get me the information.
 
10 Jun 2010 Mesa Family History Center,  Rita McAfee Conley, Nannie Jane McAfee’s granddaughter, said she found an article that listed James McAfee Jr. as James W. McAfee. I asked her to let me know where she had found it. She also found a death notice for James McAfee in the Denver Post, 23 Feb 1893, saying he had died in Denver the previous Sunday and that his body was being sent to Greeley for burial. I now believe that John McAfee, Marjorie McAfee, and several of their children must be buried in or near Evans. The children might include Nancy Jane, Margaret T., S. A., and Elizabeth. I found out that there was an 1865 State Census for Illinois. The Mesa FHC has the microfilm for Washington County. I searched the film, but could not find our family. The microfilm was so light that is was almost totally unreadable. When in SLC, I will see if their copy is as bad. The film number is 972768. There are 105 pages for Washington County. Pages 1,2, & 2A are summary pages. Pages 3 thru 58 do not list a precinct within Washington County. Pages 59, 64-66, and 69 show a precinct of Lively Grove. Page 60 is something like Venity. Pages 61-63, 70, 80, 86, 88-93, and 99-101 show Nashville. Page 67-68 and 97-98 show Elkton. Pages 71-79, 81-83, and 87 show Bridgeport. Page 84 and 85 show Covington (possibly Casington). Pages 94-96 show Pilot Knob. Pages 102-105 do not list a precinct.