Ralph Bailey McGrew

Notes:

Said to have had one son.

Notes:

Wynema McGrew wrote that Lorenzo Dow Jr had bene sentenced to 10 years in prison for a murder. He had worked as a bar tendger during the gold rush in Alaska and killed a man in a fight in Klondike. He served 14 months of his sentence in Alaska, being returned to Texas around 1899 or 1900.

His Texas death certificate indicates he was married and a resident of Lavaca. He died at the San Antonio State hospital, and his occupation was shown as carpenter. His body was returned to Yoakum for burial.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1910 Census
Texas, Runnels County, JP 5, Winters Town
Enumerated 20 Apr 1910
SD 16 ED 211 Sheet 7B
Quanah Street
141-143
McGrew, L. Dow Head m W 44 m2 18 Tx Tx Tx Carpenter
McGrew, Minnie Wf F W 38 m1 18 4/4 Tx Tx Tx
McGrew, Melvin Son M W 16 S Tx Tx Tx
McGrew, Myrtle Dtr F S 14 S Tx Tx Tx
McGrew, Daisy Lee Dtr F W 4 S Tx Tx Tx
McGrew, Baily Son M W 2 S Tx Tx Tx

1920 Census
Texas, Lavaca County, Yoakum
Enumerated 20 Jan 1920
SD 9 ED 131 Sheet 25A
547-579
McGrew, L. D. Head M W 56 M Tx Miss Miss Carpenter Farmer
McGrew, Minnie Wf F W 47 M Tx La Miss
McGrew, Daisy Lee Dtr F W 13 S Tx Tx Tx
McGrew, Bailey Son M W 11 S Tx Tx Tx
McGrew, Alice Bell Dtr F W 9 S Tx Tx Tx

Lorenzo married Minnie Franks about 1892. Minnie was born on 14 Jun 1872 in Lavaca County, Texas; died on 11 Jan 1962 in Yoakum, Lavaca County, Texas; was buried in Pilot Grove Cemetery, Yoakum, Lavaca County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

On her Texas Death certificate her father was shown as ??? Franks and her mother as unknown. Informant was Mrs. Alice Hyde.

Notes:

Named after the famous Methodist Minister who preached in the Mississippi Territory in the early 1800's, Lorenzo Dow.

Many of his descendants still live in the Yoakum area.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1870 Census
Texas, Lavaca County
Lorenzo D. McGrew 42 Male $500 $200 b. MISS
Mary A/N/M McGrew 44 Female TN
Richard T. McGrew 17 TX
John F. McGrew 12 TX
James H. McGrew 9 TX
Dee L. McGrew 6 TX
Joseph M. McGrew 1 TX

1880 Census
Texas, Lavaca County
Lorenzo D. McGrew 52 Farmer MS
Mary McGrew 53 Wife AL
John McGrew 22 TX Stockdriver
Harrison 19 TX
L.D. 16 TX
Joseph 10 TX
Thomas* 25 TX
Francis 23 Wife TX
Virgie 2 TX
Osker 10/12 TX

Lorenzo married Mary Margaret Neeley about 1850 in Sabine County, Texas. Mary (daughter of John Neeley and Mary Crow) was born about 1829 in Tennessee; died on 29 Jan 1892 in Lavaca County, Texas; was buried in Pilot Grove Cemetery, Yoakum, Lavaca County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Alma Kuehn From: JKuehn3418@aol.com emailed

It has been a long time since we visited. I have been diligently looking for Mary Neely who married Lorenzo Dow McGrew, Sr. At last, I have come across the link I needed. Now, you all may be way ahead of me, and if so, please tell me you already have all of this. In any event, here is what I have:

Mary Neely was the daughter of Margaret Murphy and Samuel Neely.

Here is an brief family outline:

1. John Murphy, Sr. (5-10-1746 - 5-8-1934?) married
Jane (Jean Love) (1753 - 1818 or 1823)

their children:

Robert
**Margaret
James M.
Sarah L.
Jane
Andrew
Eli
Rachel
John, Jr.

**Margaret married Samuel Neely ( 1775 - 12-30-1852) (son of Samuel and Sarah Ferguson Neely of SC)

Margaret and Samuel Neely had the following children:

Nancy G.
***John M.
Mary M.
Attie
Eveline
Margaret
Matilda
James A.
Samuel F.

***John M. Neely married (1) Mary Crow of Mississippi (2) Claressa Hunt

John M. Neely and Mary Crow had the following children before her death about 1830 (as Franklin was age 3 in 1835, she would have had to have died ca 1832):

John E. Neely
Wilson A. Neely
****Mary M. Neely
Margaret M. Neely
James F.

Mary M. Neely married L. D. McGrew.

About Mary Crow --- she was from MS, possibly Monroe County, then the family moved to Hardeman County, TN. She died there.

John then moved to Texas, about 1833, and married Claressa (Clarissy Neely), about 1833. They settled in San Augustine County, had more children, and died there.

I haven't had an opportunity to research San Augustine County, but will asap.

This information came from James L. Murphy of TN. He has been looking for the Mary Neely connection to his family but the records indicated she married an "L.D. Magee". The birthdates are a perfect match.

Wynema McGrew had listed her as a daughter of John and Claricy (second wife) NEELEY, born 3 Jul 1826 in TN/AL.

Notes:

Married:
Sometimes also shown as the parent of an Elby McGrew.

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.

John married Mary Crow before 1824. Mary was born before 1806 in Mississippi; died about 1832 in Hardeman County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]