My mother has stated that her father, Roy Edgar McBee, was
born in Ashville, Tennessee, but I find no town by that
name on the map. Roy's younger sister, Dorothy, told me in
2005 that the town Roy was born in is called Tazewell, Tennessee.
My mother has also stated that her father had lived in Grainger
County, Tennessee, for a time. Grainger County is the next county
down to the South of Claiborne County.
McBees in the 1830 Grainger
County Census.
Research Notes:
William McBee b. 1730
1778, 30 January Pittsylvania Co, VA
William MacBee Sr, Jr and Israel MacBee.
On 30 January 1778, William MacBee Sr. sold 130 acres land to William MacBee Jr for 10 pounds current money. Land was situated on Branches of Mtn Creek.
Wm. MacBee signed with his special mark. The deed was signed, sealed and delivered in presence of: James Cox, Dalton Lane and Israel MacBee.
[Note: the special mark used by William MacBee _Senior_ identifies him as the William who married Abigail, not the husband of Susannah.
William (husband of Susannah) has a mark that looks like a B that has fallen
on its face. The other William (husband of Abigail) has a stylized M as his
mark. They are both very distinctive]. - Issue #2 McBee News
Notes from a conversation with gramma Lillian McBee in 2002:
McBee family on the move
Before 1922, Granville Lee McBee moved his family from Tennessee
to Jarvis, Kentucky, to a farm house.
I am often told that this is the farm house
that the first two of my mother's sisters were born in (the two
eldest of the family). However, this is incorrect per Dorothy (McBee) Helfer:
"Margie and Jackie were not born in Lee McBee's farm house. Roy and Lillian lived in Bailey's Switch, Kentucky before they moved to Detroit in 1943. That's where Margie and Jackie were born.
The farm house at Jarvis was purchased in 1927. Before that Lee McBee lived at Bimble, KY, Cannon, KY, and Bailey's Switch, KY."
If you ask, some of the family will tell you the address of the old farm house
is in Barbourville, and others will say it's in Jarvis.
Jarvis is not a town on the map - it was a general store and a
post office, according to Dorothy (McBee) Helfer.
To get the mail, the family had to trek seven miles to the Jarvis
post office.
Grandpa helps build a dam
Roy E. McBee was in a 3C camp and helped the government build the
Norris Dam before he married Lillian Hughes.
Construction began on Norris Dam in 1933 on the Clinch river, a
tributary that flows into the Tennessee river in northeastern
Tennessee. Norris was one of the first dams to be built under the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system, and is a concrete gravity
dam measuring 265 tall and stretches 1,860 feet across. It has a
generating capacity of 131,400 kilowatts of electricity. The dam
was named after Senator Norris, who had campaigned for TVA's creation.
Photo taken by Lewis W. Hine, Nov. 9, 1933 for the TVA.
The Norris Dam as it stands today.
The South's ugly past
Lillian (Hughes) McBee told me in 2002 that Granville Lee McBee used to open his cellar door to hide black neighbors who were running from the Ku Klux Klan. However, Dorothy (McBee) Helfer told me in 2005 that this was not true in her lifetime. Note that Dorothy was born six years after her brother Roy, and eleven years after her oldest sister Louella. So this story may be true in years prior to 1922.
Known Health Conditions
Roy Edgar McBee (my grandfather) had an extra piece of flesh
on the bottom of his tongue, which gave him a speech impediment.
He could not roll his R's or say his N's properly.
Several of Roy Edgar McBee's female children and grandchildren
have conditions known as Dysmenorrhea and/or
Endometriosis.
My mother told me that her sister was born with a sixth toe.
Two of my mother's siblings have emphysema. Most of the family smokes a pack a day or more of cigarettes, including my mother.
Family Deaths
Granville Lee McBee died in 1947; my mother remembers his death
as being caused by Appendicitis. My mom said that her grandpa
didn't make it to the hospital in time. My mom was 3 years old
when her Grandpa Granville passed away.
Dollie Adabelle (Burk) McBee died in 1952; my mother remembers her
having kidney stones. My mother, also named Dollie, was in
the house when her grandmother Dollie died. My mother was
about eight years old at the time.
As traumatic as it was for a child of eight, the memory is
incorrect. Dollie Adabelle (Burk) McBee died of cancer of the stomach.
She was at her daughter Dorothy (McBee) Helfer's house in Chicago, Illinois,
at the time. Dollie Adabelle was taken to Jarvis, KY for the funeral and burial, according to Dorothy.
http://www.ohwy.com/tn/y/y47057.htm