24-JAN-1998 Family Group Sheet Page 10
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Husband: Albert "Russell" McKEE #1736
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Born: ABT. 1819 in: OHIO
Church: in: Shaker (?)
Died: AFT 1872 in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation: Farmer
Father: Anthony Wayne McKEE #278
Mother: Nancy AGNEW #277
Per Michelle J. TAUNTON's research, this third son of Anthony McKEE and Nancy (ANGEW) married Frances Elizabeth GILL. Assuming that "Jas. A.," 3 yrs on 1850 Census/"Jonas" 13 yrs on 1860 Census, was their first child, this couple probably married about 1846.
On the 1860 Census, Russell, age 40 lists in his household the following: "Thomas, 31, F, Indiana". Compiler suspects this is an error in copying from the microfilm, and should be "Frances", Russell's wife.
1850 Census shows only two children in this household - Jas. A. and Jesse (1, IN). 1860 Census, however, shows five children plus "Anthony, 64, M, Frmr., PA," undoubtedly, Russell's father.
The McKEEs may not have been of the Shaker faith. Excerpts from "SHAKERS OF OHIO," p 235 (Whitewater Shaker Community) and sent to compiler by M. TAUNTON, refer to the "DARBY People" first stopping with Anthony McKEE, "...but after ten days got possession of their new
land, and moved into a cabin...." Another excerpt states that the AGNEWs were members of the Shakers' "Center Family" and "South Family. Whether or not the McKEEs were members is not known.
Enumeration of graves in the abandoned McKEE Cemetery, includes comments re "Two other McKee families, living in Rochester twp in 1850, near the Anthony W. McKee household, and who were probably related...David A. McKee....Russel McKee b. ca 1820 OH, m. Frances --- by 1847...and the household in 1860 included Anthony McKee (age 64)."
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Wife: Frances Elizabeth GILL #1737
Married: ABT. 1846 in: Shelby County, IN (?)
Marr. Ceremony? Y/N: Divorced/Annulled/Separated: End Year:
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Born: ABT. 1829 in: INDIANA
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Father:
Mother:
Place of Frances E. GILL McKEE's birth is taken from census records; her year of birth, year and place of marriage are "educated guesses" on the part of this compiler, using census data as evidence. They have not been confirmed by actual documentation. Per the 1850 census, this couple had two children, both born in IN--"Jas A. 3 years old" and "Jesse 1 year old."
By 1860 the census enumeration was as follows:
Jonas (m) 13 b. IN Mary (f) 6 b. IN
Jessee (m) 11 b. IN Albert (m) 4 b. IN
Euphemia ("m" ?) 8 b. IN
"Russell" McKEE's father, Anthony, 64 years old, was also enumerated in this household in 1860.
The photocopy of the printed census found in the Fulton Co. Pub. Lib. in Rochester, shows "Thomas 31 (F)" instead of "Frances E." Compiler does not know if this is an error in copying from the actual census sheet or if it appeared this way on the original sheet.
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M Child 1 James A. (s\o "Russell") McKEE #2658
Born: ABT. 1847 in: INDIANA
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Spouse: Sarah M. DAVIS #2659
Married: 10 OCT 1872 in: Fulton County, IN
Marr. Ceremony? Y/N: Divorced/Annulled/Separated: End Year:
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M Child 2 Jesse (s\o "Russell") McKEE #2656
Born: ABT. 1849 in: Fulton County, IN
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Spouse: Lovina BALDWIN #2657
Married: 19 JUL 1873 in: Fulton County, IN
Marr. Ceremony? Y/N: Divorced/Annulled/Separated: End Year:
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F Child 3 Euphemia (dau\"Russell") McKEE #2655
Born: ABT. 1852 in: Fulton County, IN
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
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F Child 4 Mary (dau\"Russell") McKEE #2654
Born: ABT. 1854 in: Fulton County, IN
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
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M Child 5 Albert (s\o"Russell") McKEE #2653
Born: ABT. 1856 in: Fulton County, IN
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Compiled by:Ann & Ernie Grubb
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Husband: Jesse McKEE #1739
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Born: ABT. 1829 in: OHIO
Church: in:
Died: 17 SEP 1871 in: Fulton County, IN
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Father: Anthony Wayne McKEE #278
Mother: Nancy AGNEW #277
Ms. TAUNTON reports that Jesse married ca 1860, but she does not state where the marriage took place nor does she give any source for this information. Oct., 1995, Wilma FOLTZ provided compiler the photocopy of p 659 from ~UFulton County Marriages~u, which lists the marriage of Jesse McKEE and "Mary A. CARTER." There are two other listings for marriages for Jesse McKEE. The third one was in 1915, so probably was too late for it to be this Jesse McKEE. The second one, however, was 13 years after the first, and could have been this Jesse. That marriage took place in Fulton Co. 19 JUL 1873 between "Jesse McKEE" and "Lovina BALDWIN."
The photocopy of the recording of the McKEE Cemetery sent to compiler by Wilma FOLTZ has the following comments re Jesse McKEE: (p 54) "Jesse McKee, b. ca. 1830 OH, and Brant McKee b. 1832, OH, were of Union twp in 1850. Jesse was probably the 40 yr
invalid (b.OH) living with William McKee in Rochester twp in 1870, & who was probably his brother..."
(From newspaper excerpts found at the Fulton Co. Pub. Lib.; Rochester, IN.); (page 259):
"("Rochester Sentinel" Saturday, June 29, 1861...)
ANNOUNCEMENTS. Editor of the "Sentinel": Announce the name of Jacob WHITTENBERGER of Henry Township, as the Union Candidate for County Clerk, and James KEELY, of Rochester Township, as the Union Candidate for County Commissioner.... --Jesse McKEE."
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Wife: Mary L. A. CARTER #1740
Married: 01 JUL 1860 in: Fulton County, IN
Marr. Ceremony? Y/N: Divorced/Annulled/Separated: End Year:
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Born: in:
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Father:
Mother:
Compiled by:Ann & Ernie Grubb
24-JAN-1998 Family Group Sheet Page 15
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Husband: George Riley McKEE #1746
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Born: ABT. 1834 in: Shelby County, IN
Church: in:
Died: 15 JUL 1885 in: Fulton County, IN
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Father: Anthony Wayne McKEE #278
Mother: Nancy AGNEW #277
George Riley McKEE may have been one of the two males 5-10 years old enumerated in the McKEE household in Shelby Co., IN in 1840; however, there simply are not enough individuals counted in each age group to account for all of the McKEE children listed in Ms TAUNTON's family group sheets! "Riley" is listed as 16 years old in 1850 in Fulton Co.
Compiler received a copy of page 178 of the printed census compilation for 1860 from Fulton Co. Library in Rochester, IN. While George R. does not appear on this page, there are THURSTONs enumerated immediately before James and Mary KEELY, George R.'s sister and brother-in-law. His older brother Albert "Russell" is also enumerated on the same page.
Ms. TAUNTON reports the date, but not the place of George Riley's death. Mrs. Wilma (MOW) FOLTZ has provided this data in sending a
copy from "The Rochester Sentinel Newspaper - 1885." The items concerning George R. McKEE's death are quoted below:
"Riley McKEE is lying at the point of death at the residence of James KEELY. At the time of going to press it was thought impossible for him to live until morning."
(There is no date on the photocopy for the statement above.)
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Wife: Mary A. THURSTON #1747
Married: 20 JUL 1855 in: Fulton County, IN
Marr. Ceremony? Y/N: Divorced/Annulled/Separated: End Year:
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Born: ABT. 1835 in: INDIANA
Church: in:
Died: 1885 in: KANSAS (?)
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Father:
Mother:
George R. McKEE, Mary A. THURSTON's husband, died at the home of his sister Mary (McKEE) KEELY in Rochester, IN, 22 JULY 1885. Per the obituary written about him, Mary, his wife, had remained in KANSAS when George R. returned to Fulton Co., IN after he had lost their life savings. The obituary implied that Mary A. did not come to IN for her husband's funeral.
On the extraction of the 1860 census, there appears a "Josiah THURSTON, age 35, b. PA" and his family just 5 households from the McKEEs. This may be a brother to Mary A. THURSON McKEE.
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F Child 1 Mary A. (dau. G.R.) McKEE #2615
Born: ABT. 1852 in: INDIANA
Church: in:
Died: in:
Cemetery: in:
Other: in:
Military: Occupation:
Ms. TAUNTON did not include any marriage data on this daughter of "Riley" McKEE; however, "Fulton County IN Marriages," p 659 list, among the McKEE marriages, one for "Mary A. McKEE to John H. GLAZE, 27 Dec. 1869." This marriage is on file in the Office of the Fulton Co. Clerk in Rochester, in Marriage Book B-580. There has not been support for this being the marriage of Mary A. (dau. of G. Riley) McKEE. It may also be a second marriage for Mary L. A. (CARTER) McKEE who married Jesse McKEE in Fulton Co. in 1860. An invalid thought to be Jesse McKEE, age 40, was enumerated in his brother's house in 1870.
Compiled by:Ann & Ernie Grubb
24-JAN-1998 Family Group Sheet Page 1
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Husband: Virgil James GILCHRIST #3
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Born: 28 MAR 1900 in: Rochester (Fulton) IN
Church: in: Methodist
Died: 08 APR 1971 in: Jeffersonville (Clark) IN
Cemetery: WALNUT RIDGE in: Clark County, IN
Other: in:
Military: Occupation: Carpenter/Const.Supt/Farm
Father: William Jefferson GILCHRIST #14
Mother: Millie Artiemicia MOW #13
The farm where Virgil GILCHRIST was born belonged to his grandfather, Thomas GILCHRIST. This property on the south bank of the Tippecanoe River was part of the original land purchased by James and Mary (ANDERSON) GILCHRIST and later deeded to Thomas and his brother, James, Jr. (James later willed all of it to Thomas.)
By March, 1900, Thomas had been widowed about five years; his son, William and daughter-in-law, Artiemicia, made their home with him. About 1902 Thomas sold the GILCHRIST property, and purchased other farmland on the north side of the river. Thomas and William built a two-story log home on the new site, and in January, 1903, Byron, Virgil's brother, was born.
From their grandfather and their father, Virgil & Byron learned the skills for farming and carpentry that would later become their means of supporting their families. During the years they lived on this farm, Byron and Virgil helped their father and
grandfather erect a huge barn on the property. This barn with its extensive concrete foundation, was admired by the entire community. A few years later a devastating fire destroyed the barn and killed some of the livestock, including "Gyp", Byron's favorite horse. Although both sons maintained their love of working the soil, Virgil and his brother left the family home early to earn their way in construction business. First, Virgil went to the Chicago area to work on a race-horse farm. He developed a lasting love for trotters and pacers which were raced at county and state fairs at that time.
While Virgil was in IL in 1920, his mother died from a cerebral hemorrhage. William never fully recovered from the loss of his beloved wife, but he remained on the farm to care for his aging father until Thomas died in 1926. By that time, both Virgil and Byron were working in construction and boarding in the home of Jim and Emma
STANLEY in South Bend. (The STANLEYs were the uncle and aunt of the girl Byron was later to marry.) After Thomas' death, William left the home place and joined his sons in South Bend.
The family had attended the South Germany Church until Byron's birth; when Byron was very young, they joined the church called "Whippoorwill", later renamed "Grand View Evangelical". Virgil's father was very active in the church, serving for many years as Sunday School Supt. Virgil and Byron both enjoyed singing; both sang in quartets with their cousins, "The Mow Brothers" from time to time.
Virgil was a handsome young man and not unpopular with the ladies. He loved to dance and told of attending parties and dances with Sarah MARSHALL (who later married a brother of Virgil's wife), or with his cousin, Alice WRIGHT. Once he danced all evening with a "mystery lady" who arrived at a costumed dance in a sleek, black chauffeur-driven car.
The lady refused to remove her mask, and later departed as mysteriously as she had come. Virgil never learned her identity.
Virgil followed his brother to "greener pastures" in the uncivilized Florida Everglades for a short time, but both returned to northern INDIANA and their familiar construction and farming ways of life.
Finally in 1927, Virgil's heart was captured by "Lizzie" O'DELL, who had been his neighbor and had attended the same school and church for several years. They were married in the fall of 1927.
By the time of The Great Depression, the couple had three little girls; their first son, given the traditional family name "James", was the first baby born in Fulton County in the new year, 1933. Times were hard for the young family. Virgil was forced to take any kind of work he could find. He had built a new home for the family in Mishawaka, IN earlier, but rheumatic fever made it impossible for him to
work for a long time. This lack of employment, his illness and the poverty imposed by the Depression caused him to loses the new house.
During the Depression years, Virgil frequently worked away from home. The family lived on rented properties; most had enough land for a garden and one or two cows. Most of the young family's food was raised by their own hands; at times when Virgil was working elsewhere during the week, Lizzie (always called "Betts" by her husband) did the "farming" including milking cows, feeding chickens and whatever was to be done in the garden. She also cared for four very young children and her house. Virgil came home to relieve her of some of the outside work on weekends.
Finally about 1939, his construction work with the DuPont Company took him to Greencastle, IN. Virgil detested the time spent away from his family, so he coaxed his wife to bring the children and live in Putnam County. It
was there during the spring of that year that compiler was born.
That same summer, Virgil was transferred to southern INDIANA. He again preceded his family to the new location, leaving "Betts" to join him some weeks later, after he had found them a house. The family lived briefly in a rental house beneath the R.R. bridge that crossed the Ohio River. Another home was found in New Albany, IN very soon after "Betts" discovered that keeping compiler out of the black soot and coal dust around the railroad property was impossible.
With the outbreak of W.W. II, Virgil's work took him to northeastern OKLAHOMA. Once more "Betts" followed, but this trip involved a long train ride with five young children. The trip was long remembered for its stressful events, e.g. when 2-year-old compiler's foot became stuck in the railroad ties as the family was rushing to change trains. (Temporary loss of a shoe and an abundance of tears
were the extent of the damage.)
By 1943, the family had returned to INDIANA, this time to thesouthern part, near Louisville, KY. This would eventually become the long-term home where the family would remain, but before he was able to purchase a house for his family, they would live in three rented houses. For a brief time, they shared a house on 7th Street in Jeffersonville with the family of a friend and fellow DuPont employee, Ammon KILLEBREW.
Finally about 1945, Virgil and "Betts" were able to buy an older, bungalow-style house just outside Jeffersonville. The house was badly in need of improvements, most of which were accomplished, but slowly, in the 30 years they lived there. Because of the nature of the construction business, there were still times when Virgil worked away from the home. From 1953-55, the GILCHRISTs and their two youngest children lived for nearly two years in Reidland, KY, near Paducah, while
Virgil supervised the rebuilding of the community's consolidated school which had burned the year before.
After the Erhardt and Knopf Construction Company closed their business, Virgil worked for a short time for various smaller contractors. The scarcity of work and his advancing age threatened his sense of security, however, and following the construction of Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic Church/School in Louisville, Virgil and his oldest son, Jim, embarked on their own small contruction company. Slightly more than a year later, Jim was offered the opportunity to work for the Overhead Door Company of Louisville. Realizing the security involved for his son's future, Virgil bought Jim's share of their business, then continued on his own until he could no longer finance the business.
During this period when work was so scarce, Virgil and "Betts" had difficulty meeting their expenses. Regardless of the state of their bank
account, however, one tenth of whatever they had at the end of each week went to the church. ("Betts" was often not in agreement with this practice.) Somehow, just when it seemed there was no way they could meet a monthly payment, the money always seemed to present itself! A few times, this came in the form of "anonymous" gifts...events that Virgil found extremely hard to accept.
Once during this time, Virgil was asked to submit a bid on a building job which would have solved many of their financial problems. Although he needed the work, and would have welcomed the challenge, when he found out that this building would house a retail liquor business, he refused to bid on it. Virgil's religious principles would not allow him to have any involvement in a project that might cause other men trouble in their family or personal lives! (He once explained to compiler why he did not drink alcohol...."I enjoy the taste of it! I really
think I could drink when I wanted to, and it would not be a problem for me. But my drinking might influence another man, who is unable to control it, to drink more. I don't want to influence another man to do something harmful to himself or his family.)
In the mid 1960s, Virgil was hired by the City of Jeffersonville to maintain and to superintend public housing facilities. Virgil was held in high esteem by the residents and the city officials connected with this project. In 1967 Virgil received public recognition from Mayor Richard VISSING for his efficient and caring service to the residents and to the city of Jeffersonville.
Through the influence of his teenaged daughters, Virgil returned to active church life in the late 1940s. In the years that followed, he held several positions in the Park Place Church. He sang bass for years in the church choir and was the song leader for all evening services, selecting and
directing the congregational singing, and arranging for special music for these services (solos, duets, etc.)
After W.W. II, Virgil was asked to teach a Sunday School class of high school students. Several of the young men in this group left to serve in the Armed Forces during the Korean Conflict; some returned to this class, but a few did not come home from the battle fields. This class remained intact for many years. They selected "The Crusaders" as the name of their class. Virgil was known as "Pop" to all of them, and later, to their children. "Pop's Class" was still together many years after Virgil's cancer forced him to give up teaching.
In December, 1970, a long period of recurring stomach trouble resulted in exploratory surgery. The operation revealed a large inoperable abdominal tumor. A colostomy gave some temporary relief, but the disease progressed rapidly. Virgil's one wish during the last months of his life
was that he be able to work with his beloved rose bushes one more time. His wish was granted just a few weeks before he died on Maundy Thursday, 1971. He was buried on Easter Sunday, as the country celebrated the resurrection of Virgil's beloved Savior.
Compiled by:Ann & Ernie Grubb