Minnie Louise McGrew

Notes:

Wynema McGrew noted that as of the 1900 census, she and her sister were residents of the Protestant Orphanage and Asylum, and listed as Orphans.

Wynema also wrote that Minnie married first Clyde Rayford and second Colin Ramage.

Notes:

Ferdinand B. McGrew was a resident of Mobile, Alabama, living on Spring Hill Road between Broad and Pine in 1875, as per the 1875 City Directory

William married Sarah "Sallie" Ballard. Sarah was born about 1854 in Mississippi; died about 1889 in Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama; was buried in Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Per the book THE SOUTHERN McGREWS GREW and Alley Moody of Natchez, Mississippi, James and his wife, Betsy Lott were married in 1835 in Marion County, MS. They moved to Sabine Co, TX in the mid 1840's with his family, but moved back to Perry Co, MS by 1850. On the 1860 census, Jame's widowed mother, Elizabeth (Blackburn) McGrew, was living with them. He was a Civil War veteran. After the War, they moved to Covington Co, MS and then to Mobile, AL. He was in the produce business. They had 8 children. Betsy died on 22 Nov 1880, and was buried in the Wainwright Lot of the Montgomery cemetery in Mobile. He returned to Covington, MS, to lived with his son Leonard, and died prior to 1891. He is buried in the Old Williamsburg cemetery west of Collins, Covington Co, MS.

His middle name has been shown as both Alexander and as Harrison by different sources. On census records, he was listed simply as James.

James A. McGrew was a resident of Mobile, Alabama, living on Spring Hill Road between Broad and Pine in 1875, as per the 1875 City Directory

(Research):

Census Listings:

1850 Census
Mississippi, Perry County
Enumerated 30 Sept 1850
143-143
James McGrew 40 M Farmer 350 La
Elizabeth McGrew 30 F Miss
Alexander McGrew 14 m Miss
Mary McGrew 12 F Miss
Robert McGrew 10 m Miss
Leonard McGrew 8 M Miss
James McGrew 5 M Miss
Olander McGrew 4 M Texas
Ferdinand McGrew 1 M Texas

1860 Census
Mississippi, Perry County, Southern District
Enumerated 16 Aug 1860
88-81
James McGrew 49 M Farmer 300 1060 La
Elizabeth McGrew 40 F Mi
Robert McGrew 18 M Mi
Lenard McGrew 17 M Mis
James McGrew 14 M Mis
Alander McGrew 12 m Tex
Ferdinand McGrew 12 m Mis
John McGrew 6 M Mis
Elizabeth McGrew 66 F $--- $450 La

1870 Census
Alabama, Mobile County, Mobile, Eighth Ward
Enumerated 29 July 1870
Page 30
204/205
Lewis and Elizabeth Pierce and family
Howel and Mary Turner
---/206
McGree, James 60 M W farmer 600 600 La
McGree, Isabella 49 F W Keeps House Miss
McGree, Andrew 24 m W Carpenter Tx
McGree, John 13 M W At School Miss

James married Elizabeth "Betsy" Lott before 1836 in Marion County, Mississippi. Elizabeth (daughter of Robert Lott and Sarah Tyner) was born about 1820 in Mississippi; died on 22 Nov 1880 in Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama; was buried in Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to both THE SOUTHERN McGREWS GREW and the notes of Robert Lee McGrew of Pearland, TX, Alexander was probably born around 1778 in South Carolina. Wynema McGrew instead shows he was born in Louisiana/Mississippi Territory, sometime prior to 1783.

He obtained a passport in St. Stephens on September 24, 1797 to go to Georgia. His father had obtained a passport to go to Georgia earlier that same year. A land record indicates that Alexander inhabited and cultivated land near the Tombigbee River around 1797. In the early 1800's he put up a $700 bond as postmaster of Woodstown, AL. In 1801 he bought some land and in 1802, he and his mother sold land in Mississippi. He signed a memorial to Congress in 1803, and in 1806 he sold, along with other heirs of James McGrew, additional land. Alexander married Elizabeth Blackburn on October 16, 1808. Since she was under 18 years old, her father had to first grant his permission. Alexander was a veteren of the War of 1812. (Nixon's Company, Mississippi Militia), serving for the entire three years of the war. On 3 February 1817, he, a brother, and brother-in-law John Johns were charged with assault and battery. Alexander was the only one who paid a fine. In October 1818, he, John Johns, and brothers (this time William, James, and John) once again were fined for assault and battery. On July 11, 1819 he registered his brand "MC."

In 1843, he was involved in a lawsuit over the ownership of a slave named Elvy he was alleged to have stolen.

Alexander and Elizabeth (Blackburn) McGrew moved to Sabine County in the mid-1840's. They may have moved to join Elizabeth's father, Gabriel Blackburn, who had received a large land grant in Sabine County in 1836. The 1845 tax roll of Sabine County listed A. McGrew as owning 5 slaves. His eldest son, James, paid tax on a horse and a wagon at the same time. Alexander operated a gristmill on the banks of the Palo Guacho Bayou. The Texas Mortality schedule for 1850 showed "Alexander McGrew, age 58, sick 10 days, died 1849 in Sabine County." Alexander's widow, Elizabeth, can be found on the 1850 Sabine County census, along with her children John, Lorenzo, Margaret, and Adaline. She later moved back to Mississippi (Perry County) with her eldest son, James McGrew.

Blanche also indicated that the McGrew family was closely connected to the Methodist Ministers of that time. Son Lorenzo Dow McGrew was apparently named after the "eccentric Methodist Lorenzo Dow. In fact he covered virtually all of the territory of the United States in his peripatetic life, from New England to the Louisiana territory, but his journeys through the Old Southwest left an especially indeliable impression..On September 3, 1804, he married an equally peculiar woman, Peggy, and then the very next morning left her for an eight month trip through the Mississippi Territory." From the book, "A Way through the Wilderness: The Natchez Trace and the Civilization of the Southern Frontier" by William C. Davis (Harper Collins, 1995). According to Robert McGrew of Pearland, the McGrew's were in fact neighbors of preacher Lorenzo Dow in St. Stephens (Alabama) in the Mississippi Territory.

There is a military marker for Alexander McGrew in the Old Milam Cemetery in Sabine County. It is inscribed with a cross and "Alexander McGrew, Pvt Capt Motts Co, 15 Miss Militia, War of 1812. [Died] 2 Oct 1849. "

The Sabine County Reporter
October 22, 2014
Pages 1 and 2

"Milam Cemetery receives marker"

The Texas Historic Cemetery Dedication Ceremony for Milam Cemetery took place on Saturday, October 11, following the annual Nethery reunion...local historian Weldon McDaniel....gave a presentation outlining some of the significant historical events that took place in Milam and the importance of preserving the history of Milam Cemetery. He said as many as 85 percent of all early settlers coming into Texas put their boots in red dirt. Although San Augustine and Nacogdoches counties have a friendly battle over which is older, Milam is just as old as either of them....

Dorothy Nethery Spain had the honor of reading the script engraved on the marker:

"Milam, the first County Seat of Sabine County, has a history of travelers and visitors stretching back centuries. Native Americans and Spanish exploreres, soldiers and missionaries passed through and often camped on Las Boregas Creek. Texian settlers encountering the natural abundance echoed the words of Stephen F. Austin, who recorded in his diary entry of July 16, 1821: "We then suddenly came to an open rolling country thinly timbered soil about the color of Spanish browne, and in some places redder. This Red Land is very productive and is covered with the most luxuriant growth of grass I ever beheld in any country." The settlment first called Red Mound (Red Mount) was the seat of Government for the Sabine District since 1822, and was surveyed as a town site in 1828.

Milam Cemetery is on a high hill overlooking the historic community. The exact dated of the first burial will never be known Spanish Explorers were passing through present-day Milam as early as 1539 and camped on Las Boregas Creek a few hundred yards west of the cemetery. Local hisorians believed Anglo burials occurred here probably as early as 1775, since travelers used the campsite down the hill on the Las Boregas. The land on which the cemetery is located was granted to JOHN SMITH on Feb. 26, 1835. The first marked burial is dated 1864, although more than 100 unmarked graves are suspected. The numerous military Veterans dating back to the Creek War are interred here, as well as prominent early citizens from the CAUSEY, WEATHERRED. McGREW, and NETHERY families. Milam Cemetery may be the oldest organized cemetery in Sabine County, and cherished chronicle of generations of visitors and residents."

Alexander married Elizabeth Blackburn on 14 Oct 1808 in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Elizabeth (daughter of Gabriel Blackburn and Frances Tyner) was born between 1794 and 1796 in Feliciana Parish, Louisiana; died after 1860 in Perry County, Mississippi. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

(Medical):The child of a direct female descendant of Elizabeth Blackburn (Nina Fuller, the daughter of Viola Fullen and granddaughter of Jane Allen) had their mtDNA analyzed, and it was predicted as H, with only one difference from the Cambridge Reference Sequence, 16519C, which is a fast moving marker. Mitochondrial haplogroup H is a predominantly European haplogroup that participated in a population expansion beginning approximately 20,000 years ago. Today, about 30% of all mitochondrial lineages in Europe are classified as haplogroup H. It is rather uniformly distributed throughout Europe suggesting a major role in the peopling of Europe, and descendant lineages of the original haplogroup H appear in the Near East as a result of migration. Future work will better resolve the distribution and historical characteristics of this haplogroup.

On her Clan Helena website, Amelia Reimer writes that, "Whether just by chance or by the guiding hand of natural selection we do not know, but Helena's clan has grown to become the most widespread and successful of the Seven Daughters of Eve. Her children have reached every shore, settled every forest and crossed every mountain range. Helena's descendants can be found from the Alps in the South to the Scottish Highlands and the Norwegian fjords in the North, and as far east as the Urals and the Russian steppes. Helena was born about 20,000 years ago on the strip of land that joins France and Spain, near what is now Perpignan. She belonged to a family of hunters, who harvested the rich oyster beds in the lagoons of the Carmargue to supplement their diet of meat. Helena's clan arrived in Europe from the Middle East, pushing their way along the Mediterranean, constrained to the narrow strip of land that was still habitable. Not long after she was born, the glaciers that covered the Pyrenees, which Helena could see on a clear day only thirty miles from her camp, began to draw back as, little by little, the summers grew warmer. Some of her clan moved south of the mountains, up the valley of the Ebro to the West to reach the lands of the Basque, where they remain to this day. The most adventurous of her children took advantage of the climatic improvements and journeyed ever northwards to join the great movement of hunters across the plains of France. We know that they reached England around 12,000 years ago because DNA recovered from a young male skeleton found in Gough's Cave in Somerset shows that he too belonged to the clan of Helena. [Same cave as Cheddar Man, but 3,000 years older.] "

Notes:

Married:
Wilkinson County Courthouse--Woodville, Mississippi Circuit Clerks Office Marriage Book A ---- page 293

Know all men by these presents that we, ALEXANDER MCGRAW and Ezekial Petty, both of the county of Wilkinson, Mississippi Territory, are held and firmly bound unto the Governor of the Mississippi Territory and his successors in office, in the sum of $200 which payment well and truly be made, we bind ourselves and each our executors, administrators, and severally firmly by these presences sealed with our seals and dated the 12 of October 1808.

The condition of the above obligation is such that whearas the above bound Alexander McGraw hath this day prayed and obtained the license to be joined in marriage to ELIZABETH BLACKBURN of the County aforesaid, Now if there is no lawful cause to obstruct this marriage for which the license was granted, then the above obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. Signed, Alexander McGrew and Ezekial Petty (his mark)


Marriage Book A --- page 305 This is to certify that I, G.B. am willing to the marriage of my daughter to Mr. Alexander McGraw. Given under my hand this 13th day of October 1808. Signed, Gabriel Blackburn

Marriage Book A --- page 135 (315?) On the 16th day of October 1808, I joined in Matrimony Mr. Alexander McGraw and Miss Elizabeth Blackburn. Signed, Josias Gray, J.P.

Per a Family Group Sheet prepared by Mary Frances SMITH Fisher of Jackson, Mississippi, Alexander McGrew and his wife Elizabeth Blackburn were the parents of nine known children, and three additional children, a daughter born ca. 1810-1815 per the 1820 and 1830 Marion County, Mississippi census, a daughter born ca. 1820-1825, per the 1830 and 1840 census, and a son born ca. 1830-1835, per the 1840 census. Bettye Bragg Wagstaff of Sabine County, Texas indicated that some researchers indicate 10 children were born.

Mary Fisher used the following information in her research: 1816 MISS Marion County census 7th page 1820 MISS Marion County census page 85 1 male under 10, 1 male 10-16, 1 male 26-45 3 females under 10, 1 female 16-26 1830 MISS Marion County census page 117 5 sons, 4 daughters plus he and Elizabeth 1840 MISS Marion County census page 117 1850 TEX Sabine County census- Elizabeth McGrew. He was listed on the Mortality Schedule. 1860 MISS Perry County census page 12, Family # 88/81 Elizabeth McGrew

Her family group sheet lists the following children:
**James Alexander McGrew b. ca 1810 m. to Elizabeth Lott
Harriet McGrew b. ca 1813 m. to John C. Partin
**William McGrew b. ca 1815 m. to Dorinda Lott
**Eliza Ann McGrew b. ca 1816 m. to Elisha M. Collins
**John Gabriel McGrew b. ca 1821 d. ca 1857 in Sabine County
**Ferdinand L. McGrew b. ca 1825 died 24 Aug 1846 in the Mexican War
**Lorenzo Dow McGrew b. circa 1828 m. to Mary Margaret Neeley
**Margaret McGrew b. circa 1835
**Adaline McGrew b. circa 1838

**Matches the LDS Family Group Sheet from Ancestral File Ver 4.15. The LDS sheet did not include Harriet McGrew, and additionally showed the following three children, apparently in error:
Thomas McGrew b. ca 1824
Samantha McGrewb. ca 1826
-male McGrew b. prior to 1830, m. 1838 to Serena ? and died 1842

Thomas and Samantha are actually the children of Alexander's brother, James Tate McGrew. They are listed in his will.

Notes:

Per Mary Fisher, Robert Lott, husband of Sarah Tyner, was murdered the 21st March 1843, as reported in the Columbus Georgia Enquirer, 5th April 1843. The McArthurs that were members of the Copeland gang were related to him throught the Lotts. In the book on James Copeland he states the murder happened in March 1844, but this was recorded while he was waiting to be hung in 1857. They had also planned to kill another man.

The affidavit of Richard Eugene Blackburn also refers to the murder. He stated that "Dorinda "Rendy" Lott's father was Robert Lott whose homeplace was situated on the local road a few hundred feet North of where the new Highway 98 bridge crosses Black Creek. This bridge is about halfway between Columbia and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The old Robert Lott homeplace is only a few miles from where I reside and I have been to this old place many times. As I previously stated, Robert Lott was murdered by the Copeland Gang, robbed and his body thrown int the "Bob Lott" hole on Black Creek, a short distance from his home. His neighbors recovered his body and he was buried on a hill close by the road, just a few hundred feet North of his old home, which site can still be identified by the remains of the old dug well. . .The William McGrews and James Edmondsons lived near each other on Bouie river and were members of the Providence Baptist Church. I have been told that Robert Lott was a wealthy man for his day and that after his death, and during the settlement of his estate the brothers-in-law had an arguement over the division and that feelings ran high between them and finally the deacons of the church had to intercede and they suceeded in restoring the friendship between the two brother in laws and their families. I have been told there are several references to this on old records of the church."

Wayne Page (pagewayne1@aol.com) emailed, on June 21, 2008, that Robert Lott was the son of John A. Lott and Sarah "Sallie" Lightfoot.

Robert married Sarah Tyner. Sarah was born about 1775; died after 1843 in Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In Richard Eugene Blackburn's affidavit, he states that Sarah Tyner was the sister of Frances Tyner who was the wife of Gabriel Blackburn, and that she died in Columbia ans was buried in the graveyard on the farm. Mary Frances Smith Fisher believes her father to be Benjamin Tyner.