My Genealogy Hound

Thomas M. McGee was born in Van Buren in 1846, in the Collins Hotel, and is a son of Dr. Jonathan D. and Mary A. (Moore) McGee. Dr. McGee was of Scotch-Irish descent, and born in Kentucky in 1800. He was a graduate of the Lexington (Ky.) Medical College, and about 1818 came to Arkansas, locating about twenty miles below Van Buren, but being drowned out by an overflow, in 1833, moved upon the present homestead site. He was married in Arkansas, and visited his old home in Kentucky upon his wedding tour. He was one of the first white settlers in the county, and for a few years farmed in connection with the practice of his profession. He was a man of ability, and was for years the leading physician of the county, his practice extending as far as Fort Gibson. He died in 1862. The mother of our subject was born in Virginia in 1811, and died in 1878. She was the mother of seven children, three of whom are living: Mary (wife of H. A. Meyer), Lillie B. and Thomas M. The latter received his education in the Van Buren schools, and the Kentucky Military Institute, near Frankfort, Ky. After his education was completed he engaged in farming until 1874, and then dealt in fresh meats for two years. In 1881 he embarked in mercantile life, which he has since followed, and is now one of the substantial business men of Van Buren. In politics he is a Democrat, and in 1871 was Deputy United States Marshal. For two years he served as deputy sheriff of Crawford County, under col. William L. Taylor, and he has been a member of the school board for a number of years. He has also been in the city council a number of terms. Mr. McGee owns about 350 acres of bottom land, and 235 acres of hill land, besides a number of town lots, and he is a stockholder in the Crawford County Bank. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army, fist in the Van Buren Guards, afterward becoming attached to Gen. Terry’s regiment, which was stationed in Texas. He was in service during the entire war, and was present at the surrender at San Antonio, Tex. Mr. McGee belongs to the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 6, and is an ancient member of the K. of P. Himself and wife are Episcopalians.