Archibald Duncan McKellar (1832 - 1914)

Born 19 Oct 1832 in Dallas, Alabama, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret Ellise (Blevins) McKellar — married 4 Oct 1865 in Selma, Dallas, Alabama, United States

Descendants

Died 7 Jan 1914 at age 81 in Rusk, Cherokee, Texas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bocca Sue McKellar [send private message]

Biography

ARCHIBALD DUNCAN MCKELLAR was born 19 Oct 1832. He was the second child born to his parents, ARCHIBALD EDWIN MCKELLAR and NANCY CRAIG, but the oldest boy to be born to them. There are 3 purchases of land made from the Cahaba land office on 2 April 1835 in the name of DUNCAN MCKELLAR. Although Archibald was his first name, my 2nd great grandfather went by the name DUNCAN. These purchases were for 79.8 acres, 80.06 acres, and 40.02 acres. On 14 Oct 1835 an additional 40.03 acres was bought at Cahaba. All these purchases were in the name of DUNCAN MCKELLAR. ARCHIBALD DUNCAN MCKELLAR was the only living McKellar in the area with the name Duncan. Were these purchases made by his father in his name? DUNCAN was only 3 years old. These purchases could have been made by his grandmother, CHRISTIAN GRAHAM MCKELLAR in the name of her deceased husband DUNCAN MCKELLAR. I do not know what the rules for buying land would have been. It may not have been possible for Christian to buy land in her name but could in husband’s name. I am still not sure who owned these purchases. In the 1850 census DUNCAN is listed as living at home with his parents and his 3 brothers in Pences, Dallas County, Alabama. The last name is spelled McKellough, a phonetic spelling of the way a Southerner would say McKellar. He is listed as 19 and having attended school that year. He was 18 based on birthdate. He was definitely attending school beyond the normal age when men quit going to school. In the 1860 census he is living in Choctaw County, Alabama by himself. He is listed as planter with $1,600 in real property and $6,400 in personal estate. DUNCAN name is listed McEllar, once again a phonetic spelling of the family name. DUNCAN’S brother John C. is also listed as living in Choctaw County, Alabama and his name is also spelled McEllar. DUNCAN is listed as owning 7 slaves ages 65 to3. The non-population census shows him living in Township 9. He owned 80 acres of improved land and 120 unimproved. The cash value of land was $1,600 and he only had $20 of farm implements. He had 1 horse, 2 mules, 2 milch cows, 2 other cattle and 30 swine valued at $535. He raised 500 bushels of Indian corn and 31 bales of ginned cotton at 440 pounds each. I do not know what happened to this land. It is not mentioned again in the records. DUNCAN did join the Civil War unit from Choctaw as did John. Both appear with the MCKELLAR spelling for last name. There is confusion in places listing John as Captain. All muster rolls show that Duncan was the Captain for Capt. James White’s Cavalry and/or Co. K. 15th Confederate Calvary. The regiment was disbanded and paroled out of Demopolis, Alabama. Below is direct quote. Duncan was in the military hospital in Mobile for one muster role showing he had TB. He also was acquisition officer at one time and in his file are requisition orders signed by Duncan. Below is another description of the unit Duncan served in.

On 4 October 1865, DUNCAN married in Selma, Dallas County, Alabama to MARGARET ELLISE BLEVINS. In 1866 Alabama State census, DUNCAN is living next to his father for they are listed next to each other on the census sheet. DUNCAN is listed as a 30 to 40 years old male with a 20 to 30 year old female (wife) living with him. In 1867 DUNCAN shows up on the qualified voter list. In the 1870 census for Woodlawn, Dallas County, Alabama, DUNCAN is listed as farmer age 38, ELLISE age 23, Edward age 3, and John age 1. The McKellar family shows up as the only white people on that page of the census. Duncan is listed as having $8,800 real property and $1,200 personal property. He did have the right to vote according to the census. Edward should be listed as Edwin after grandfather. The non-population census shows that Duncan owned 200 acres improved land, 95 acres woodland, and 25 acres of other unimproved land. The value of the farm was $2,400 and the farm equipment value was $20. Duncan paid wages of $350. He had 1 horse, 4 mules, 4 milch cows, 2 working oxen, and 4 other cattle with a value of $900. He also raised 600 bushels of Indian corn. 27 September 1870, a patent 107,796 was registered to DUNCAN MCKELLAR of Selma, Dallas County, Alabama, planter and distributor. DUNCAN created and patented a walking planter. It was a “device for planting cotton, corn, etc. at any given distances apart, and depositing manure on the hills in quantities that may be desired and subsequently covering and rolling the seed by one operation.” This description was taken from the actual patent document submitted by Duncan. This is the only patent owner of my many direct ancestors. In 1880, the McKellar family was living in Pences, Dallas County, Alabama. Listed were DUNCAN age 48 Farmer; ELLISE age 36 Housekeeper; John age 11; Duncan age 10; William age 8; Archibald age 6; Margaret age 4; Nancy 3; and, Neal 1. Notice that Edward (Edwin) who was listed in 1870 is missing. He died in 1872 at age 5. The only additional information besides the birth place of everyone’s parents was the listing that John, Duncan and William attended school. The 1880 non-population census shows much growth in DUNCAN’s wealth from the 1870 census. Now he owns, 170 acres of tilled including fallowed and grass in rotation; 80 acres of permanent meadows, permanent pastures, orchards, or vineyards; 150 acres woodlands and forests; and 200 acres of unimproved old fields not growing wood. This makes for a total 600 acres compared to 320 acres in 1870. The value of DUNCAN’s land, fences and buildings was $2500; machinery was $570; and, livestock was $830. The production of the farm for what was sold, consumed, or what was on hand was $2200. As of June 1, 1880, he had 4 horses of all ages, 1 mule, 2 oxen, and 10 milch cows. In 1879, 7 calves were dropped, 4 cows were slaughtered and 5 cows disappeared (died, strayed, lost, or stolen). 250 pounds of butter was churned. There were 8 sheep that were sold living and produced 32 pounds of fleece from these 8 sheep. The farm had 26 swine, 60 barnyard poultry and 19 other that produced 340 eggs in 1879. DUNCAN grew 600 bushels of Indian corn on 60 acres, 1500 bushels of oats on 140 acres, 16 bales of cotton on 50 acres, and 400 bushels sweet potatoes on 2 acres. Sometime between the July 1891 at the death of two of the McKellar children and March 1893 when I found his pay record for being a guard at Texas State Penitentiary where he worked 28 days and made$23.33, DUNCAN moved his family from Dallas County, Alabama to Cherokee County, Texas. The family story was that DUNCAN’s wife MARGARET ELLISE BLEVINS’ baby brother Anderson Bean Blevins had come across a great investment opportunity in Cherokee County related to opening a steel mill there. He talked Duncan into selling the4 plantations (another word for farms) he owned in the Dallas County area to move to New Birmingham, Rusk County, Texas. MARGARET rode to Texas on a train with $40,000 in her bloomers. DUNCAN and MARGARET thought that would be the best place to carry the money in case of a robbery -- no one would think to check there. Shortly before the 1893 Panic took place, Texas passed a law limiting the investment in Texas businesses by foreign companies. This caused the steel business to collapse. Anderson Bean Blevins was supposed to have gotten his money out but did not warn his sister to get their money out and they lost much of what they had brought to Texas. This was looked on a betrayal of trust by the McKellar family and they never had anything else to do with the Blevins family. The story was that some of their form slaves came to Texas with them and chose as a last name McKellar. I did not find these slaves living close to the family in Alabama or in Texas. In the late 60’s as my parents returned from visiting me in Waco, they went by Rusk and saw Great Aunt Mary, the youngest of DUNCAN’s children. My brother, Jim, was with them. She wanted to run her hands through Jim’s red hair and teared up as she did so saying it was just like her brother, Archie’s . She told of Archie and Nancy her siblings both dying from typhoid fever when she was 5. The sick were isolated and she was not supposed to go into their room. She said she would stand just inside the door where she could run her fingers through Archie’s red hair that was just like my brother’s. Archie was 17and was her favorite because he would take her for rides on his back. The 1900 census shows the McKellar family living in Precinct 1, Cherokee County, Texas. The family is listed as follows: DUNCAN 67 Farmer who had been married 35 years did not work 0 months and owned free property; ELLISE 55 had been married 35 years; Margaret Ellise23 Artist did not work 6 months; Neal Graham 20 Guard did not work 0 months; Paralee Zena 17; Joseph Groves 15 attended school 6 months; and, Mary Edwin 14 attended school 0 months. All could read, write and speak English. In August and September, DUNCAN worked for the Texas Penitentiary System at Rusk for 30 days each month. In August he made $24.20 for the 30 days but in September he made $25.00 for 30 days. In the 1910 census, DUNCAN and MARGARET ELLISE are living by themselves in a separate house. Next door to them is JOSEPH GROVES with BOCCA, Morris and Margaret. Next door to JOSEPH were John and his family, Fannie, Archibald, Virginia and John. They are all living in Justice Precinct 1 of Rusk County. DUNCAN is listed as being 78 working as a General Farmer for himself on land that is owned free and clear. ELLISE is listed as 65 with no occupation. Both could read and write. At the age of 81, ARCHIBALD DUNCAN MCKELLAR died 7 January 1914 in Cherokee County, Texas. He is buried at the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas. His name CAPT. DUNCAN MCKELLAR is across the top of the gravestone with C.S.A. (Confederate States of America) under name on the left and the Masonic symbol in the right corner of the top. The front of tombstone gives his birth date with Dallas Co, Ala. under it. His death date is then listed with Rust, Texas. Rust is not my typo but appears on the tombstone instead of Rusk. The back of the tombstone list his children. One child was left off – George Blevins who lived from 1881-1882. It has been my understanding that the tombstone was paid for by Archibald Duncan McKellar. It was probably easy to forget a child who had been born and died with only 1 year of life over 30 years prior. From Ann McKellar, John Blevins McKellar’s granddaughter, I learned that CAPT. DUNCAN always took care of his hands because those were the sign of a true gentleman. In the picture of him in the rocking chair his hands are prominent and a pair of gloves lay across his knee. ARCHIBALD DUNCAN MCKELLAR and MARGARET ELLISE BLEVINS had 12 children as follows: 1. Edwin Archibald born 23 May 1867 in Dallas County, Alabama and died at age 5 on 17 September 1872 in Dallas County. 2. John Blevins aka JB born 14 April 1869 in Dallas County and died at age76 on 30 March 1946 In Cherokee County, Texas. He married Frances aka Fannie Petty in 1899 in Rusk. They had 5 children. 3. Archibald Duncan Jr. born 4 August 1870 in Dallas County and died at age 78 on 28 Dec 1948 in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. He was a railroad man and never married. 4. William Blevins aka WB born 31 Jan 1873 in Dallas County and died at age 91 in the Lake Charles area of Louisiana. He married Ella Mae McMinn in 1897 in Cherokee County, Texas. They had 2 children by her. He married a second time but no children were born to that union. 5. Archibald Graham born 2 February 1874 in Dallas County and died at age 17 from Typhoid fever on 17 July 1891 in Dallas County. 6. Nancy Craig born 21 Jun 1877 in Perry County, Alabama and died at age 14 from Typhoid fever on 24 July 1891 in Perry County. Grave Index gives birth and death Perry County. 7. Margaret Ellise aka Madge (also was known as Marguerette on death cd) born 9 September 1878 in Dallas County and died at age 85 on 26 November 1963 in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. She married John M. aka Jack Garrard in 1903 in Cherokee County. They had 8 children. 8. Neal Graham born 6 June 1879 in Dallas County. Was killed at age 22 on 31 Mar 1902 in Scurry, Kaufman County, Texas. The family story I heard was that he was shot on a train in Scurry. I have not been able to verify. 9. George Blevins born 16 September 1881 in Dallas County and died at age 1 in 1882 in Dallas County. 10. Paralee Zena born 11 December 1882 in Dallas County and died at age 85 in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. She married James Shook Irving in 1900 in Cherokee County. They had 1 daughter. Zena divorced James before 1906 and married William Everet Stegall in 1906 in Angelina County, Texas and divorced him by 1930 census. 11. JOSEPH GROVES is my ancestor and his information will be in next section. 12. Mary Edwin born 30 November 1886 in Dallas County. She died at age 87 on 21 Nov 1974 in Cherokee County, Texas. She married Lee Whitman in 1908 in Cherokee County. They had only one daughter who died unmarried.