Provisional Table of Contents
The other troubling aspect is that his married children, Amy, John, Pamelia, and Edward, in separate correspondence to their 2nd cousin (by their mother's mother and Eaton connections) George Chandler in 1890 all omit any details other than Samuel's birth, marriage and death dates.
No record exists of him having crossed the Atlantic, and McKeevers are sparse in the US at the time of his birth. In later life, he was a master tradesman, an augermaker, and had several men apprenticed to him, including his oldest son, John Andrew Duncan McKeever. It would stand to reason that Samuel would have had to been apprenticed early on in life. Whether a record of such exists is another story. Some states carried such records in Deed Books, but I have not made an in-depth search of the Chester, New Castle and Cecil tri-county area of yet.
Lore has it that John A. D. McKeever was named after a forebear of Samuel's, either his father or grandfather, that his name was Andrew Duncan McKeever, and that his arrival in the US was 1774-75.
Several possibilities are out there. The first is a Duncan MacIver/McKeever, who crossed in 1774 at the age of 28, with a John, a son, the age of 9, arriving from Argyll, Scotland. If this possibility were so, one generation may still be missing and is unproven. This combination would fit with the name story, if spread to have been named after several forebears.
In 1810, there is a John McKeever in Edgemont Township, Delaware County, who appears with small children in the following spread: 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0
Two girls and a boy under 10, two boys 10-16, one male 26-45, one female 26-45 and one male 45+.The mother would still have been of child-bearing age in 1814. Essentially a middle aged couple with five children, and an older adult male in the househould, a father or father-in-law. If this were Samuel's family, he'd have had to have been the baby. Perhaps this could be the same John who crossed in 1774. Perhaps it could be the son of the 1774 John. Still, all speculation and no proof.
Fresh on 1-14-2007:
From Chester County Poor School Children Index for 1810 - 1842:
http://dsf.chesco.org/archives/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=627476
| Year | Last Name | First Name | Middle | Prefix/Suffix | Township | Children | Spouse | Race | Comments | Book | Page | Tax Only | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1837 | McKeefer | Upper Oxford | Margaret (10), Alexander (8), Archibald (6), Sarah (5) | Yes | |||||||||
| 1833 | McKeever | Lower Oxford | Eliza (10), Margaret (8), Alexander (6), Archibald (5) | 1833 | 69 | No | |||||||
| 1834 | McKeever | Lower Oxford | Elizabeth (11), Margaret (9), Alexander (7), Archibald (6) | 1834 - 1836 | No |
Samuel would be 9 years older than the Elizabeth in these listings. First evidence of the McKeever name in Oxford area prior to 1840. The one thing it does show is each of these children being siblings. The spread of those children does not match that of William and Sarah (Harlan) McKeever, Alexander (son of Isaac) and Lydia (Cause) McKeever or John (b. 1799-1800 in Del) and Susan (?) McKeever. These children would appear to rule out John of Edgemont as Samuel's father if they are indeed Samuel's siblings. Chester tax records may shed some light on who the head of household was, if there was a McKeever there.
A further insight to this is additional poor house information released by the Chesco Archives - an Alexander McKeever shows up on July 29, 1824 as being aged 65 from West Marlborough township. It would seem likely that this would be the same as the 1793, 1797 and 1800 dates. An Alexander age 66 shows released on August 2, 1824, "left with permission", and there is an 1826 entry for an Alexander aged 68. These three listings would appear to be the same person, and if the 65 and 66 are correct, this would peg birth between July 30 and August 2, 1758.
An Alexander does show up enumerated in New Garden township in 1820, spread 1 0 1 2 0 0 1* 1 0 1 0 0 1 (then 11 blanks and a 1) - the * could be a 2, it is unclear.
The West Marlborough Alexander may be the best lead yet.
I don't have any further info on these families other than the above. A few other names appear in the area about that time, but none of them linked to Samuel:
There is an Alexander McKeever in Chester Borough, Delaware Co, 1850, aged 60, who appears to be the same Alexander that appears in Kennett MM Quaker records from 1814-1822. Though he would be old enough, the Kennett records only list four daughters, the oldest of which was born Jul 1813, and the 2nd born Feb 1815, both of which suggest no direct link.
The only other McKeevers on record in transit prior to 1814 are Michael and William McKeever, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1802. A Michael appears in West Chester in 1805, 1806 and 1807 tax records under Fur and Indian Traders Licenses. This may be the same Michael that shows up as a Peddlar in the 1807 septennial census for Goshen Township. There is also a Michael McKeever that swore allegiance on August 21, 1778 before a Justice of the Peace of Chester County. I have no other record of their existence, and as such, I have found no link to Samuel.
Another unconnected name is an Angus McKeever, a private with Samuel Moore's company of the 3rd Pennsylvania in the Revolutionary War.
Chesco Archives has published a PDF of the orphan's Court Minors index that includes 6 McKeevers in 1831, each with the same document references: Ruth A., Mary, Caleb, Margaret, Isaac, and John. No ages are provided; that order is simply how they appear on the index. It doesn't match up with the spread from the Poor School Children entries from 1833, 1834 and 1837.
The Garrett connection?
Recent rereview of the Chester County Archives online PDFs for the Septennial Census yielded two Garretts who were augermakers by trade. A Thomas Garrett, presumably older, shows up in 1821 in New London township, occupation Auger Maker & Farmer. A Thomas Garrett also shows up in the 1820 and 1830 censuses in New London:
The 1820 enumeration is hard to read - M33, R96, P236 - where Thomas is the top line. An attempted transcription might read:
- - - - 4 - - - ? ? 1 1 ? 1
1830: PA: Chester: New London: Series: M19 Roll: 148 Page: 278 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 male under 5, one male 15-20, one male 20-30, one male 50-60; 2 female under 5, one female 20-30, one female 60-70)
The other Garrett is an Evan Garrett, who shows up in the Septennial in New London townnship as an Augermaker in 1821, and in London Britain township as the same in 1828. 1835 also has London Britain township, this time as a farmer, as well as 1856 in the same location. 1840 census sees an Evan Garrett in London Britain Township, as does 1850:
PA: Chester: London Britain: Evan Garrett Series: M704 Roll: 454 Page: 355 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 male under 5, one male 5-10, one male 15-20, one male 20-30, one male 40-50; 1 female under 5, one female 10-15, one female 15-20, one female 30-40, one female 70-80
The 1850 enumeration has a 57 year old Evan Garrett, at the same time Samuel was 35. While it identifies occupation as Farmer, it appears to contain children named Rebecca A. (F-26), Clinton (M-19), Adelaide (F-13), and Anton (M-10), and has four others in the household: Euphemima Humphrey (F-32), B#####? J. Biles (M-20), Job Brown (M-28) and Hannah Ferguson (F-12). Job is a laborer born Delaware, while Hannah Ferguson is black. All others show as white.
Consulting the Probate index, there is a Thomas Garrett in New London 1831, file #8619, and a pair of Evan Garretts, one in 1878 in Strickersville, London Britain township, file #18867, and the other an Evan H. Garrett in London Britain Township in 1892, file #23662. This serves to show that there were multiple men by that name, and among the other Garretts in the probate file index include a Franklin T. Garrett in Lower Oxford township in 1902, file #28083, a Clinton H. (possible son of the 1850 census Evan) in 1888 in London Britain township as file #22214.
Deed records show a transaction between a Thomas Garrett and Evan Garrett in 1827:
Garrett Thomas New London London Britain James Alexander, assn 1824 Y-3 40 Buyer (Grantee) Deed Garrett Thomas Rebecca New London London Britain Evan Garrett 1827 Z-3 509 Seller (Grantor) Deed
The way this reads it would appear that Thomas Garrett's wife was named Rebecca. A Rebecca shows up in London Britain township probate in 1848 as file #11391.
There is nothing proof positive that these Garretts are related - but tracking Samuel through his occupation may well be the route to go. That there is a Franklin Garrrett to potentially be named after may well be a postive development. This Franklin appears to be connected to an Abner Garrett, first of Uwchlan, later of London Grove and Upper Oxford townships, where he appears in the probate file index in 1892 as file #23539. At best, then, Abner and Evan could be siblings or cousins - as they are too close in age to be father-son.
Consulting images from London Tract baptist church yard (same cemetery as Dr. David Eaton, maternal grandfather of Elizabeth), Evan above matches to a Sarah who died 1841, who himself appears to match the 1878 from the estate files. A daughter of theirs, identified as the eldest, Rebecca Ann Garrett, is buried in 1875 at the age of 38 and a number of days. Also here is a Thomas Garrett, died in 2-26-1831 aged 38 years, 3 months and 18 days, with a wife Rebecca, died 11-18-1848. The estimated birth year of Thomas Garrett would then be 1792, while Evan by census would be about 1798. They are definitely not a father-son combination. Also buried here are an Anson Garrett, 1840-1899, and a Louisa C. Garrett, 1840-1923. Anson fits in birth year to be the 10 year old Anton on the 1850 enumeration with Evan. Tombstone images for Thomas, Rebecca, Sarah, and Rebecca Ann all appear on find-a-grave.
Delaware Bible Records, Volume 5, Virdin/Hall, has a bible entry on pages 20-21 for Humphrey that has a Sarah G. Humphrey married to an Evan Garrett on March 12, 1822, and matches the death date on the stone of 1 May 1841. It contains her birthdate as well, as June 20, 1802. The record does not enumerate any more about Evan Garrett, however, there is an entry in Delaware Bible Records, Volume 4, Virdin, on pages 65-67 that covers Evan's son Clinton Humphrey Garrett (identifies him as son of Evan and Sarah Garrett, born June 23, 1831).
Online suggestion is that there may be two Thomas Garretts, one 1763-1831, and the other born 1792. It is possible that both Thomas died 1831, but it is perhaps more likely that the age has been misread, as it is not clear in the fine-a-grave photograph.
The Delaware Historical Society has 8 pages worth of transcriptions made ~ 1907 or so of the cemetery - should be interesting to see what was there then that is not visible now.
| ©1994-2012, Robert G. McKeever, II | robmckii@aol.com |
| Last modified: 20 March 2012 - draft setout of backstory as own page |