Family History McBee

Vardry McBee (1775-1864) was the son of Captain McBee, a Virginian who settled
in what is now upper South Carolina prior to 1770. Captain McBee was constable
of Tryon County in 1770 and later fought on the Whig side in the Revolution.
He owned valuable lands in the Spartanburg district, including Limestone
Springs, but lost them shortly after the Revolution, apparently as the result
of poor management.

When his father lost the land, circa 1777, young Vardry McBee left school and
went to work in the manufacture of lime. In 1793, he went to Lincolnton, NC,
apprenticed to his brother-in-law Joseph Morris, to learn the saddler's trade.
In 1800, he moved to Charleston, SC, only to return to Lincolnton, then
relocate with his family to Kentucky a short time later. He opened a saddle
shop in middle Tennessee in 1801, but the following year he returned to
Lincolnton to open a store in partnership with John Campbell of Charleston, SC
He sold his interests in this store in 1805.

In 1812, McBee became clerk of court of Lincoln County, NC, a post he held
until 1833. In 1815, he bought several thousand acres of land in and around
the town of Greenville, SC In 1817, he built a flour mill there, and, in 1829,
he built a second mill. He later added a woolen mill, a cotton mill, and a
paper factory. He was an important delegate to the 1833 North Carolina
Convention on Internal Improvements. He moved from Lincolnton to Greenville in
1836 in order to be closer to his many business interests there.

McBee became interested in railroads and served as president of the
Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston project. He subscribed to $50,000 worth
of stock of the Greenville and Columbia railroad, saving the company from
extinction and becoming the largest individual subscriber of railroad stock in
the United States up to that time. He was also interested in agricultural
affairs and was active in the promotion of better agricultural practices.
Until his death in 1864, he was a wealthy and influential man in upper South
Carolina.

Vardry McBee married JANE ALEXANDER, daughter of Colonel ELIAS ALEXANDER of
Rutherford County, NC, in 1805. The McBees had nine children: Joseph
Gallishaw, Malinda Penelope, Silas L., Luther Martin, Hannah E., Martha
("Patsy") Adeline, Vardry Alexander, William Pinkney, and Alexander.

Their son Vardry Alexander McBee (1818-1904) was educated at Pleasant Retreat
Academy in Lincolnton and graduated from the University of North Carolina in
1841. He studied law and passed the bar examination, but was never active in
the practice of law. He thrice served as clerk of court of Lincoln County and
represented the county in the General Assembly in 1861 when he was elected
without opposition to fill the unexpired term of his friend John F. Hoke, who
had resigned to enter the Confederate Army.



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                             Family History McBee

Vardry Alexander McBee was a successful planter. He owned a large plantation
several miles from Lincolnton. In addition, he was active in the construction
of plank roads and railroads. He was treasurer of the Wilmington, Charlotte,
and Rutherford Railroad Company and had a prominent part in the organization
of the Chester and Lenoir Railroad. McBee was active in business, civic, and
church affairs of Lincolnton and western North Carolina until his death in
1904.

Vardry Alexander McBee married Mary E. Sumner, whose father was then in charge
of the male and female academies of Lincolnton. The McBees had nine children:
Jane, Sarah, Mary ("Mamie"), Anne, Martha, Sumner, Silas, Vardry, and Thomas.

Their son Vardry McBee (1860?-1938) was educated at the University of the
South at Sewannee, Tenn., and attended a theological seminary in New York. He
became an Episcopal priest, but apparently retired from the ministry around
1896, possibly because of ill health. McBee was a gifted musician and was at
one time the organist at Trinity Church in New York City. He married Anne
Joyce Gwyn, the daughter of James and Mary Lenoir Gwyn of "Green Hill," Ronda,
Wilkes County, NC Anne Gwyn was an artist and apparently made portraits and
tapestries for various people around the state.

Additional information about the McBee family and about some of the people
whose letters are present in this collection may be found in William E.
Sherrill's Annals of Lincoln County, North Carolina (1937) and in Thomas F.
Hickerson's Happy Valley (1940).




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                                 Family History McBee




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Transcribed from original documents by Brent R. Brian & Martha M. Brian.

This document and others can be found on our website:

BMGEN

We claim COPYLEFT on the documents that we publish that are our original work.

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source.

Brent R. Brian
Martha M. Brian
BrianMitchellGenealogy@gmail.com




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