James Albert (Clipper) McKenzie

James married Catherine (Kate) Alexander in 1882. Catherine was born on 12 Jan 1867 in Bradford (?), Gibson County, Tennessee; died on 8 May 1934. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Ina Louise McKenzie was born on 5 Jan 1886 in Tennessee; died in Oct 1981 in Humboldt, Gibson County, Tennessee.

Notes:

In the 1850 census, J.M. McKenzie, age 30, born Tennessee, is listed in Carroll County, TN, District 4, #580, along with his wife and children. His mother, Martha, age 75, born Virginia also is listed in that same census record.

A new historical marker resides in the downtown McKenzie park (McKenzie, Tennessee). A Saturday afternoon
ceremony was abbreviated by heavy storms as Mayor Patty Edwards and Martha McKenzie
Carpenter, the great granddaughter of founder James Monroe McKenzie attempted to dedicate
the marker.

Mrs. Carpenter said she pursued the idea of erecting the marker at the urging of Dr.
Howard Smith and wife, Marion.

Last week, crews from the McKenzie Public Works Department and Carroll County Electric
cleared an area for the marker. It is situated just north of the gazebo and west of the
veteran's walk.

Because the inclement weather/forced the ceremony to be cut short, Mrs. Carpenter was not
able to give her prepared speech, but did pass along the contents of that text to The
Banner.

"We are here to dedicate this marker to James Monroe McKenzie for his contribution to the
development of this little town. Some newcomers may have wondered where the town got its
name. James Monroe McKenzie was born February 14,1818 and probably was named for President
James Monroe who came to office about that time. He came to West Tennessee with his
father. Captain John, along with some settlers - Sneads, Gilberts, Pates, Ridleys, Bowdens,
and others. Little communities sprang up where these families staked their claims.

The railroad began coming through in the 1850s taking land for the right-of-way as they
needed it. The Memphis and Ohio line, later the L&N, was the first line with passenger
and freight service from Memphis to Bowling Green, beginning in 1861. The N&W had begun
laying track from Nashville to the west but the Civil War interrupted the construction.

After the war, work continued and eventually the two lines crossed at McKenzie. In March
1861, James Monroe had donated 10 acres of land on the north side of the N&W tracks to
construct a depot. Subsequently a passenger depot was built right at the crossing and a
freight office a little to the west. They called this McKenzie Station. When the town was
incorporated in 1869, the name 'stuck' When scheduled train travel was established, the
railroads had to publish timetables so they had to name the stops. In 1870, a 112' x 20'
freight platform was built on each side of the freight office with rail sidings on each
side. Later a concrete platform was laid between the main line and the freight siding."

The script continued by reading, "James Monroe worked for good schools, churches and
government. He married Martha Louisa Coleman and they had eight children. The two oldest
boys, James Albert and John David practiced medicine in Bradford for many years and came
back here to retire. They build identical houses on Stonewall, one of which was razed two
years ago. Malcolm became an attorney, practicing in McKenzie and Huntingdon before going
to Oklahoma, where he practiced law and was an agent for the Pawnee Indians. Today the
name Malcolm McKenzie is still known in the legal profession in Oklahoma City and Tulsa
through some of Malcolm's children. Clinton Atkin was the youngest son and he too went
west. He was there when the land was opened up for homesteaders so all his life he was
involved in real estate and oil. He is the one who gave McKenzie its first swimming pool
on Stonewall.

My grandfather, George W. (Ed. Note: Washington) was station agent for the railroads in McKenzie and in Dickson
for 55 years, James Monroe also had three daughter, Callie, Sally, and Gussie who marked
local businessmen and lived near the rest of their family.

James Monroe died in 1873 before Mt. Olivet (cemetery) was established. He could have been
buried in the Gilbert Cemetery or on McKenzie land, but it is assumed he was moved to
Mount Olivet where his wife and all the children and spouses are buried.

McKenzie has always been a good place to live. Folks were interested in having good
schools, good churches and keeping an eye on their children. The town has responded to
national emergencies, sending their boys to the service, supporting the Red Cross and War
Bond campaigns. There have always been those planting flowers to make the town pretty,
book clubs to keep up to date on what was going on, and church circle meetings. Many
former McKenzians and their children have excelled in the field of education, military,
athletics and religion. I am sure the young people coming up now will accomplish even more
with the opportunities open to them today. And when they become famous, I hope they will
always mention they got their station in this little town, even if it's through a great
grandfather or grandmother. I hope those who choose to leave McKenzie will always have a
longing to return someday. I honestly believe the happiest people in the world are those
who were born and raised here and never left. I still get home sick sometimes and when I'm
on the way up here, along about Jarrell Switch, the air seems to smell better, the trees
greener, and I drive a little faster."

submitted by Jere R Cox

Inscription on the marker reads. James Monroe McKenzie, entrepreneur and philanthropist, was born in February 12, 1818. In 1860 he donated land for the depot and freight office where the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad crossed the Memphis and Ohio Railroad, resulting in the town being named McKenzie. He gave land for Bethal College in 1872 and for the Masonic Lodge. McKenzie died on October 9, 1873.

Erected by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 4A 46.)

Location. 36° 7.916' N, 88° 31.07' W. Marker is in McKenzie, Tennessee, in Carroll County. Marker is at the intersection of Cedar Street (Tennessee Route 124) and Broadway Street, on the left when traveling west on Cedar Street. Click for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2331 Cedar Street, Mc Kenzie TN 38201 of America.

Introduction to McKenzie, Tennessee

McKenzie, Tennessee, in Carroll county, is 39 miles NE of Jackson, Tennessee and 96 miles W of Nashville, Tennessee. As of the year 2000 census, 5,295 people lived in McKenzie.

McKenzie History

McKenzie was originally inhabited by the Chickasaw Indian Tribe. The first settlers came to the area in the early 1800’s. The community was organized in 1867 after the completion of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad tracks. The city was named after James Monroe McKenzie, a local settler who gave property to the Railroad Company. McKenzie was officially incorporated in 1869.

Originally inhabited by the Chickasaw Indian Tribe, the first settlers started moving into this area during the early 1800s.

In the original settling of what is now McKenzie, there were two families here that were "rivals". Each named the part of this towns area that they lived in a different name. One part of McKenzie was named Marrieta and the other part Dundas. It was still like this during the Civil War even though the community had much more to worry about at that time than the "rivalry' between the Sneads and the Gilberts. At that time there was a rather big family of McKenzie's that lived here. (From Joe Stout’s notes on “War Leaflets”, a delightful and emotional chronicle by Annie Cole Hawkins. In it you can read about many more geographical and societal norms of the region).

The city of McKenzie was organized in 1867 when the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad completed its track and intersected with the Memphis and Ohio Railroad. Its name was derived from the family that previously owned the land where the railroads crossed. James Monroe McKenzie gave the property to the railroad company with the stipulation that his son George McKenzie be given the position of station agent for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad. First known as McKenzie Station, it was soon shortened to McKenzie. The town began to develop rapidly after the tracks were completed and was officially incorporated by the state of Tennessee on January 22, 1869.

The railroad drew many residents from the neighboring communities, among them Caladonia and McLemoresville. By 1870, the population of McKenzie had grown to over 500 residents. In the 1880's the size of the town doubled and business thrived. On October 15, 1887, the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland, visited the bustling town and stayed overnight at the McKenzie Hotel. By the turn of the century, a city park was created, public schools were built and roads paved with gravel. The town continued to expand at a steady rate until the Great Depression struck in October of 1929. Banks and businesses closed their doors and the community's labor base evaporated overnight. It would be not until 1936 that conditions began to show economic growth and improvement.

Just prior to the World War 2, the federal government began construction on a munitions plant and arsenal east of Milan. During the war, the plant would hire thousands of laborers and increase the population of McKenzie more than any time in its history. Between 1940 and 1950, the population of the city increased by over 1,300 people and was second to only Oak Ridge in population growth statewide. Following the war the city has kept a steady rate of growth and continues to be a productive and prosperous community (Adapted from RootsWeb.com).

James married Martha Louisa Coleman on 3 Mar 1842. Martha (daughter of David Coleman and Sarah Love) was born on 29 Feb 1820 in North Carolina; died on 15 Oct 1880 in McKenzie, Carroll County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The McKenzie Banner
June 13, 1979

Captain John McKenzie -later Colonel

John McKenzie was a Revolutionary War soldier born in Albemarle County, Virginia
September 17, 1757. He was residing in Halifax County, Virginia in 1776 when he volunteered
for army service. In his six-page declaration made in Carroll County Court (Tennessee) in
1831-32 in applying for a pension, he gave many details of his service in the southern
campaigns of the war in Virginia and the Carolinas. This declaration is in the National
Archives in Washington and a copy is in the library of the Carroll County Historical Society
in McKenzie Tennessee. His declaration mentions many actions and battles in which he took
part in the Carolinas and also states that he was acquainted with some of the well-known off
icers of the American army, including General Nathaniel Greene to whom he serviced as Aide
in the battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina, in March 1781. John McKenzie stated
that he was given a commission as Captain by General Sumter in 1778 or 1779 and was known in
the army as "The Big Virginia Captain." The pension records show that in 1777 or 1778 he
was Captain in Colonel Thomas Sumter's South Carolina Regiment and was also Contractor for
Salisbury District under General Davidson. He was Captain of Light Dragoons in Colonel
William Hill's South Carolina Regiment and Captain in Colonel Maledy's North Carolina
Regiment and was in the battles of Rocky Mount, Hanging Rock, Camden (South Carolina),
Rugley's Mills, Ironworks, Torrence's Tavern, Guilford courthouse, New Market, Boattie's
Ford, and Orangeburg, and was discharged in 1782. In his declaration John McKenzie stated
that from 1791 to 1795 he was engaged in building forts for the defense of the country
against the raids of the Creek Indians and in 1792 was in command of the fort at Rock
Landing, Georgia. He was surely a hardy and courageous man and by his own description a
"big" man. There is a record that when some blacks were captured by Indians, John went to
the Indian's camp, confronted the chief, and demanded that the men be handed over to him,
but they had already been transported away.

After the war John McKenzie settled in the State of Georgia near the present town of
Sparta, where he became a member of the General Assembly, a member of the Commission on
Peace and Judge of County Court. He was commissioned a colonel in the militia and was there
after known as Colonel McKenzie. From a declaration made by his wife, Martha (Patsy) Bonner
McKenzie, we learn that she and John married in Washington County, Georgia December 20, 1792
She was 17 and he was 35. The census records show that she too was born in Virginia
(January 8, 1775, thus she was only one year old when John joined the army.) In 1816 or
1817 they moved from Maury County, Tennessee and in about 1828 they moved to Carroll County, Tennessee. In his declaration John McKenzie stated that while he was in the army he met Benjamin
Gilbert who was also a soldier. After the war Benjamin Gilbert married John's sister Emily
McKenzie in Virginia and the Gilberts settled in the same area in Georgia as the McKenzie's.
Later both families resettled in Carroll County, Tennessee, the Gilberts arriving first, in
the early 1820's.

Fifty years after the war, in 1832, John McKenzie then 75 years old, applied for a pension
and Benjamin Gilbert testified for him in Carroll County Court. The pension of Forty
Dollars a month was approved and appears to have been paid for the remaining 10 years of
John McKenzie's life until his death in 1842. Martha survived him and she applied for and
was granted a widow's pension. The pension records show that in 1843 three sons were
living: Jeremiah H. (born 1793); Alexander A (born 1799); and James M. who stated he was
"the youngest son."

A newspaper obituary in 1842 stated that John McKenzie's Masonic funeral was to be "preached
at Caledonia", but no mention was made of the place of burial. Later a marker was placed in
Mt. Olivet Cemetery in McKenzie, Tennessee. The town of McKenzie, formerly called Dundas,
is named for a member of John's family.
A reading of John McKenzie's long declaration will attest to his courage, uprightness, and
devotion to the cause he so strongly believed in. See also The American Revolution In The
South written by the American General Henry Lee, which describes many of the actions and
landmarks and tells of the same officers referred to by John McKenzie in his declaration.
See particularly the account of the battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina, in
chapter 27 and of Rocky Mount, hanging Rock, Camden, Rudgeley's Mills, and of Thomas Sumter
in Chapter l7.

As another interesting sidelight, the Encyclopedia Britannica states that at Hanging Rock in
August 1780 the boy Andrew Jackson, then 13 years old, participated in the battle. It is
interesting to speculate whether Captain McKenzie was acquainted with the 13-year-old future
president. Certainly no one present would have believed that in a second war with England
35 years later the lad, as a General, would be the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and go
on to the Presidency. A year after Hanging Rock the boy Jackson was captured and mistreated
by the British at nearby Waxaha, near his birth place in Virginia of John McKenzie. See
also the declarations and correspondence in the pension files, Washington D.C. of Benjamin
and Emily Gilbert, Robert Gilbert, Martha Bonner McKenzie, Jeremiah, Alexander, and James
McKenzie, and Samuel Winn; also the military records of South Carolina. This brief summary
only gives a few of the facts about this heroic Revolutionary War veteran who lived out his
last years in Carroll County.

The following is a transcription of Capt. John McKenzie's Declaration, which he submitted to the federal government in the 1830's to obtain a pension for his service during the Revolutionary War. He references in an interrogatory response that he was born 17 Sep 1757 and that he had an older brother, William, who also served in that war. Michael A. McKenzie, October 6, 2012

State of TennesseeDeclaration of John McKenzie
Carroll County

In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th 1832, on this appeared in open court, Col. John McKenzie, a Resident of the County of Carroll, State of Tennessee, who being first duly sworn according to law doth make the following declaration.

This declarant states that in the year 1776, in the County of Halifax, State of Virginia, declarant and between fifteen & twenty other young men, the exact number not now recollected, agreed to volunteer and join the United States troops then employed in the service of the United States. Declarant states that by this company, he was elected their Captain and took up the line of march and went to Portsmouth at which place there was then stationed a number of regiments. This declarant and his young company was attached to the 5th Regiment then commanded by a (ed. note: word hard to read) and attached to the Company of Captain Talbot. This declarant does not now fully recollect the whole of the officers in command or there at that time but recollects that the 6th Regiment was commanded by Col Buckmen and the whole Brigade commanded by General Lewis (ed. note: name a bit unclear). As my Company was not large enough in number to be kept as a separate Company they were principly attached to the Company of Capt Talbot and the General appointed this Declarant (ed. note: word hard to read) commissary to the Company at some time hereinafter. The Army to which declarant was attached was ordered to march from Portsmouth and did so. They marched to Springfield from thence to the (ed. note: word hard to read) from thence to Point Comfort & from thence to Williamsburgh - at this later place declarant became sick after serving a period of twelve months from this point declarant returned home in the year 1777. As well as the declarant now recollects he went into the State of South Carolina and after being there some short time living and superintending the iron works of Hill and Hayne he was in that year again elected Captain of a volunteer Company in which capacity he served two years more. Their Company was commanded by Col. Thomas Sumpter whom this declarant voted for for that office. Colo. Sumpter gave this declarant a commission wrote and signed by Said Col. At this period General Lincoln commanded the Southern Services but during the service of this declarant in the command aforesaid Col Sumpter was elected or promoted to the command and title of General Sumpter and with him and under his command declarant (ed. note: word hard to read) Company of five or six Regiments marched to Rocky Mount where the British and Tories had a strong (ed. note: word hard to read) or fortified fort. This place was attacked by the then command of General Sumpter but without effect as the American troops were repulsed - in this attack Col Neal and many brave men lost their lives. After this repulse the Army crossed the Catawba for the purpose of recruiting. After three or four days rest the line of march was taken up for the purpose of forming at (ed. note: word hard to read) with General Gates and joining his Army. This was in the summer of seventeen hundred and eighty but before we reached him he and his troops were defeated at Camden by the British forces under the command of Lord Cornwallis. In two or three days we were met by the British under the command of Col Tarleton. An engagement took place which resulted in the defeat of the American troops. The American troops then recrossed the Catawba retreating & recruited some forces and returned to the south in marching whereto they had many engagements and skirmishes one at the Hanging Rock one at Ridgeley’s Mills. At the later place the American troops were successful and took many prisoners & in all which tour and service this declarant acted in the capacity of Captain. At these (ed. note: word hard to read) declarant fell in company and got acquainted with Col Wm Washington and other officers of the Continental Army. After this engagement declarant with his Company was ordered by General Sumpter to go and guard the iron works of Hill and Hayne at which place there was a large quantity of cannon shot and other articles necessary and intended for the American Army. While at this station declarant was attacked by a Regiment of the British and Tories commanded by Col Gordon and Capt Hook & who after all the resistance that could be made defeated declarant & his Company and destroyed the works. Declarant marched immediately and joined General Davidson in Mecklenburgh County in the State of North Carolina. Declarant acted under the command of General Davidson as Contractor for Salisbury District and with an express agreement that declarant was to act as Captain in any engagement which the forces under General Davidson might have with the enemy. In a short time after this appointment the forces under General Davidson’s command met the British forces under Lord Cornwallis at Beattysford on the Catawba River at which place an engagement took place which resulted in the defeat of the American Army and the loss of our Genl – who fell in the engagement. In this engagement declarant acted as Captain of a company. After the fall of General Davidson the command devolved upon General Pickins who retreated with the Army to Widow Torences. Seven miles from the battle ground they were pursued by Col Tarleton and overtaken when another engagement took place where we were again compelled to retreat and give way to superior discipline and force. Here we lost about one hundred of our men in killed wounded & prisoners. We then marched and joined the Army under General Nathaniel Green at Dan River. This was some time in the beginning of the year 1781. Declarant continued under the command of general Green from that time until the Battle of Guilford. At this battle the declarant acted as one of the aids of General Green in consequence of some indisposition of one [of] the General’s aids who was unable to act for him on that day. This battle was fought in the month of March 1781 as well as declarant now recollects. From this battle ground the Army under the command of General Green retreated for some miles and again drew up in order to give battle to the British who it was expected were in pursuit of us – but we soon had information that the British Army were in their retreat from the Battle ground. The Army of General Green not then being in a (ed. note: word hard to read) to pursue the British as we were then exhausted and out of military stores. Declarant at that time was known in the American Army by the name of the Big Virginia Captain. General Green then and as soon as it was ascertained that the British were retreating sent for declarant and gave him the command of five volunteer Militia Companys who volunteered their service with instruction to this declarant to keep the British forces under the command of Lord (ed. note: word hard to read) at Camden in check or to anoy their march until the whole American Army could be got in good order to over take them. The next few lines are unreadable. . . . at the state line his men refused to go any further and his pursuit ceased. At the time that this declarant parted from General Green, General Green and his forces with the exception of those sent with declarant were on their line of march after Lord Cornwallis & his troops. This declarant ascertained that the Militia under his command refused to cross their state line. He relinquished the command and immediately went to serve his old friend and acquaintance General Sumpter who at that time was confined in Charlotte by a wound which he had received in the shoulder some short time before General Sumpter gave declarant on his arrival a Captain’s commission in the State Troops of Light Dragoons of South Carolina. Declarant immediately lit out and in about ten days enlisted one hundred men for ten months and immediately joined the main Army under the command of General Sumpter. Then on the Bangar declarant attached his Company to the Regiment then commanded by Col Wm Hill. The Regiment to which this declarant was attached marched in company with the regiments commanded by Col Lea and Washington against the outposts at New Market and had an engagement at Camden and at Orangeburg and other places and took large quantities of stores and munitions of war which was deposited at Camden under the care of Capt Godfrey Adams. In some short time after this declarant was asked by General Sumpter to take command of the stores at Camden at which place declarant continued until the stores were (ed. note: word hard to read) off when declarant returned to camp. Again at this time on account of the number of men killed and many whose term of service had expired what was then called a consolidation took place amongst the officers of the Army. I had then in the Army in which I was in service a brother older than myself holding also the command of Captain then known in the Army by the name of Capt Wm McKenzie. Declarant saw that both himself and brother should not have commands as there were many valiant and brave men equally entitled. Impelled by this motive. Declarant allowed his older brother the command. But declarant at this time being (ed. note: word hard to read) to promote his country’s cause and having been long in the habit of commanding companies and detachments of men declarant then he could in that situation render most benefit he could in company with Captain Robert Tate and some other officers set out from the Army of General Sumpter and again joined the Army of General Green at Jacksonburg and joined a regiment commanded by Col (ed. note: word hard to read) in which declarant continued until the Army of General Green was disbanded or discharged in the year 1782 as well as this declarant now recollects. This declarant states that from the beginning of the year 1776 until the disbanding of the Army of the South to which he was attached in year1782 the whole of this period with the exception of one year and one half was by this declarant spent in the plains and tinted fields with his brothers in arms defending his country’s wrongs. Declarant states that for the space of five years he spent in the service of his country he never was lower ion command than a Captain and when he acted in higher it was only for temporary or urgent purposes. This declarant states that during the whole of his service he acted for his country as a volunteer in her service.

Interrogatories Put by the Court to the Declarant

1st – Where were you born and in what year

Answer: I was born in the State of Virginia in Albemarle (hard to read) County in the year 1757 on the 17th day of September.

2nd – Have you any record of your age and if so where is it

Answer: I have had a book in which my age was written for the purpose of proving the same but it was burnt by accident many years ago.

3rd – Where were you living when called into the Army or service. Where have you lived since the Revolutionary War and where do you live now.

Answer: In 1776 when the cause of my country required my service I lived in Halifax County in the State of Virginia from which place I volunteered. After the Army was discharged I settled in the State of Georgia and continued to live there until 1816 or 1817 at which time I removed to Maury County, Tennessee where I continued to live with my family until 1828 when I moved into the County of Carroll and State of Tennessee where I now live.

4th – How were you called into service. Were you drafted. Did you volunteer or were you a substitute and if a substitute for whom.

Answer: I volunteered and at no period during the war did I wait either for a call or draft but attended and rendered my services then as now believing that my life could not be spent in a better course.

5th – State the names of the Regular officers who were with the troops when you served such Continental and militia regiments as you can recollect and the general circumstances of your servie.

Answer: I was acquainted with Generals Marion – Pickins, Col DeMalmady. I was well acquainted with General Green commander of the regular forces and was also well acquainted with General Sumpter. I was also well acquainted with Col Wm Washington commander of the (ed. note: word hard to read) and with all the foregoing officers I have at different times served during the Southern Campaign and as to the general circumstances of my service that is answered by my declaration. Except services rendered from 1790 to 1795 for upwards of three years of this time, I was employed in building forts defending the country against the incursions & (ed. note: word hard to read) of the Creek Indians at the United States Fort Rock Landing. (ed. note: word hard to read) a fort built by myself and the men then under my command. The Rock Landing Fort was then 1791 commanded by Col Gaither (?) in the year 1792. I was by Col Gaither put in command of the Rock Landing Fort against the Creek Indians in this service and building forts & and other service I (ed. note: word hard to read) from the year 1791 until 1795 making the (remainder is at bottom of page and unreadable).

6th – Did you ever receive a discharge from the service and if so what has become of it.

Answer: We had agreed to meet at New Market within State of South Carolina and at the time appointed I was the oldest officer belonging to the Regiment of Col Hill to which I was then attached (ed. note: not readable)

7th – Did you ever receive a commission and if so what has become of it.

Answer: I received two commissions one from General Sumpter for the command of Captain of a volunteer company in the year 1778 or 1779. This commission I lost. The other I received in the year 1781 and is herewith transmitted marked D. This is all the documentary evidence of service which I now have of my service in the Revolutionary War. But I herewith produce the depositions of four honourable and respectable men each of whom are personally known to this Court To wit the deposition of Col Edward Green taken before Samuel Ingram Esquire the chairman of this court on the 16th day of September 1831.

The deposition of Jasper Greer taken before W. W. Foreman Esquire of Carroll County on the 16th day of September 1832.

The deposition of James Fergus taken in open court September 13, 1832.

The deposition of Capt Benjamin Gilbert taken before Edward Given (?) one of the acting justices of the peace for this county bearing the date 12th of January 1832. The foregoing named gentlemen declarant and (ed. note: word hard to read) at different places during his tour in the Southern Army of the Revolution and as their standing and character is known to this Court and the (ed. note: word hard to read) generally it is hoped the Court will certify their opinion of the declarant hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any state or territory.

Sworn to and subscribed in open court .

John McKenzie

We Robert Baker clergyman residing in the County of Carroll and State of Tennessee and Edward W. Gee and Edward Given living in the County and State aforesaid do hereby certify that we are well acquainted with John McKenzie who has subscribed and sworn to the foregoing declaration that we believe him to be of the age of seventy five years that he is generally respected and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been an officer of the Revolution and that we concur in that opinion.

Sworn to in open court the day and year here written.

Robert Baker

Edward W. Gee

Edward Given

Transcribed on March 19, 2011
Michael A. McKenzie
Marietta, Georgia
macmck@bellsouth.net
Posted on the McKenzies of Early Maryland web site
www.mckenziesofearlymaryland.com

Subject: Benjamin Gilbert affidavit
War, Rev, Pension, JOHN MCKENZIE W1049
12th of January 1832
State Tennessee
County of Carroll
Personally came Capt. BENJAMIN GILBERT of Weakley County and State aforesaid & being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God deposeth and saith that he, this deponent, was at a general muster in Campbell County in the State of Virginia some time in the old Revolutionary War and then and there saw Col. JOHN MCKENZIE, whom I had no acquaintance with nor had ever seen him before. I understood he was a recruiting officer from the South and on the recruiting service and appeared very [illegible] on that subject and was dressed in a military uniform and wore a sword, I recollect, and bore the title of Capt. There he met with some gentlemen of his acquaintance that was from Portsmouth, or some place in that quarter where our Army lay, and they appeared to meet with great satisfaction and had formerly been in the Army together and report said that MCKENZIE been in the service of his
country most all the Revolutionary War. I heard my brother Capt. MICHAEL GILBERT say after the Battle at Guilford that he saw Capt. MCKENZIE in that Battle And that he had got badly [illegible] there in the battle and lost his Negro boy and portmanteau and all his clothes & horse worth thousand dollars, he said. Then I recollect when the war was over this deponent removed to the state of Georgia and resided in the same County where Col. MCKENZIE lived, who was a member to the General Assembly and acted in the Commission of the peace and as Col. of a regiment of militia, and then a judge of a County Court, and a man of worth and of good property, and of late, it is said, by his being security he has got nearly broke but, the great length of time and not ever expecting to be called on in a case where I am in no wise interested has obliterated from my recollection a number of circumstances that might be more pertinent to the case. And this Deponent further saith not.
Sworn to before me the day and date above.
BENJAMIN GILBERT EDMUND W. GEE, JP

John married Martha (Patsey) Bonner on 20 Dec 1792 in Washington County, Georgia. Martha was born on 8 Jan 1775 in Virginia; died on 18 Oct 1851 in Carroll County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Patsy Bonner created a sampler reflecting her marriage to Capt. John McKenzie. A photo/copy of it is appended to this site. It is currently in the National Archives as a result of having been sent to the War Department in the early 1840's in order for Batsy Bonner McKenzie to prove that she was the widow of Capt. John McKenzie so that she could secure a federal Revolutionary War pension.

Patsey Bonner's Sampler, 1792

Martha Bonner, nicknamed Patsey, submitted her sampler later in life as a
widow in 1846 to prove her marriage to her husband. She made the sampler in
1792 when she was about seventeen years old, shortly before she married John
McKenzie. The identity of her parents is not known. She apparently lived in
Washington County, Georgia at the time she made the sampler. (19) She likely
was related to George Bonner and Sherwood Bonner, who held 250-acre land
warrants each in the county. (20) Washington County was rural and not
particularly prosperous. It is possible that Patsey learned needlework
further east in a coastal area. (21) According to the 1850 population census
schedule, she was born in Virginia, and perhaps she learned there the skills
to make her sampler "worked with a needle in letters and figures." (22)

Several things about Patsey's sampler are striking, beginning with its place
of origin. Compared to New England and elsewhere in the North, relatively
few samplers have survived from the South. Scholars have developed some
theories surrounding this gap, focusing on the South's agrarian economy and
its effect on education. Most of the samplers in the North were made in
urban or well - settled areas that could support educating children in
groups. The Southern population that could afford to educate its children
generally sought private tutors instead, and these often were men, rather
than women who could teach needlework along with academic subjects. Another
potential factor is Southern weather. The very humid climate in many parts
of the South is thought to be incompatible with the long - term survival of
many samplers that may have been made but whose existence is not known. (23)

More intriguing about Patsey's sampler is its design. Her work appears very
unstructured for a girl in her upper teens, displaying an apparent
preference for the letter "w." It is unlikely that this sampler was made
under the watchful eye of a demanding teacher, but not all the stitching is
of a simple nature. The repeated use of letters in contrasting stitches is
unusual, as is the uneven spacing of the text. The mysterious combination of
letters and numbers in the middle, the wavy bands below them, the name of
her brother, and the relatively monochromatic color scheme in the silk
thread are other surprising touches. Shortly after she married, Patsey added
the information at the bottom about her marriage and started to stitch her
brother James Bonner's birth date, but she never quite completed her work.

Not surprisingly, John McKenzie had some slaves before his marriage. In 1791
or 1792, "he had two negros to run away from him when he lived in . . .
Georgia and went to the Creek Indians and were lost to him entirely." For
his loss, Congress compensated John with one thousand dollars. (24) After
Martha married John, they moved from Georgia and lived in Murray County and
Carroll County, Tennessee. They had children of their own and were well
known in their vicinity. When John died in 1842, the former captain had been
a pensioner for nine years. His death notice noted his Revolutionary War
service and lamented his passing as one of "those who achieved our glorious
Independence." (25) The Pension Office awarded his widow increasingly generous
pensions in 1846, 1849, and 1851, the last in the amount of six hundred
dollars annually. In her later years, Martha lived with her son James M.
McKenzie and his family. (26) The town of McKenzie, Tennessee, in Carroll
County is named for the family.

Compliments of Bobbie Holt McKenzie 2011.

The following are the footnotes and the references to the article written above. Michael A. McKenzie, Roswell, Georgia located these references during a search in 2011.

(19) Deposition of Martha McKenzie, Oct. 3, 1843; pension file of John McKenzie, North Carolina/South Carolina/Virginia, W1049; M804, roll 1690.

(20) Mary Bondurant Warren and Jack Moreland Jones, comps., Washington County, Georgia Land Warrants, 1784 - 1787 (1992), p. 12.

(21) Ella Mitchell, History of Washington County (1924; reprint, 2000), pp. 11 - 12.

(22) Deposition of Martha McKenzie, Oct. 26, 1846; pension file of John McKenzie, M804, roll 1690.

(23) Ring, Girlhood Embroidery, pp. 532 - 538. Kimberly Smith Ivey's In the Neatest Manner is an expansive exhibit catalog focusing on Virginia samplers. Ivey's work demonstrates that there were, at least in Virginia, many young girls making samplers as part of their education (see pp. 49 - 52).

(24) J.A.N. Murray to J. L. Edwards, n.d., pension file of John McKenzie, M804, roll 1690.

(25) A copy of John McKenzie's November 11, 1842, death notice appears in his pension file.

(26) Martha is enumerated with her son and his family in the 1850 federal population census.

David + Sarah Love. Sarah died in UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From the notes of Philip J. Dietz, Jr.

Aaron moved to Hampshire Co., Va. (now W. Va.).

Children of Aaron McKenzie are:
  i.   William McKenzie.
ii.   David McKenzie, born 1778 in Anne Arundel Co., Md..
iii.   Sarah McKenzie, born 1765 in Hampshire Co., Va.; died April 15, 1845; married Moses McKenzie,Jr. December 1784 in Hampshire Co., Va

Aaron + Jemimah Something. Jemimah was born about 1725; died after 4 Jul 1815 in Jones County, Georgia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Jemimah is the spelling used in the Will of Aaron McKenzie.

Jemimah is listed in the Jones County, Georgia Tax Digest in 1811 and her age is given as being 86 years old. Her name also appears in a Sheriff's Deed on 4 Jul 1815 where the Sheriff has seized her property because of the failure to pay taxes. Jones County Records Deed Book K, Page 156. The assumption is that Jemimah was still alive since the deed did not reflect that the proerty was being seized from her estate.