According to Louis N. Agee, author of The Agee Register, we probably descend from the immigrant Mathieu Age, a French Huguenot who escaped the Catholics in France in the 1600s. He and other Protestants associated with King William and Queen Mary of England, and were awarded land on the James River in Virginia at an old deserted Indian village called the Manakintown, about 15 miles west of present Richmond on the south side of the James River. There is a memorial to the founders of the town, including Mathieu, at the Episcopalian Church there.
Several years ago, I corresponded with Louis Agee, who lived on some of the original Agee land in Virginia, a wonderful, kind gentleman, who tried to connect us to Mathieu’s family. I learned of him from my cousin, Dr. Al Burden, who also researches this line. Louis died before we could accomplish our task, and his wife published the book posthumously, leaving our family out of the book. (Lewis had told me that he would put us in the Appendix if we hadn’t made the connection by publication time.) I’m sure she was unaware of this promise and was just trying to finish the project. Anyway, Mathieu had two sons who each had 12 children. The 24 grandchildren each have a chapter in the book, following the plan used by Dr. Purl Agee in his book about the Agee family. Our guy, he theorized, was Daniel Agee, No. 15, who moved from Virginia to Sullivan and perhaps, Smith County, TN. He married Jane Shoemaker and had nine children.
Nancy1 Agee was born about 1825 in Tennessee and died sometime between 1870 and 1880 in Lawrence County, Alabama. A secondary source at the Lawrence County Archives says 1875, but I doubt that there is proof. Nancy has been the brick wall for Agee researchers for decades.
Nancy Agee, 25, born in Tennessee, first shows up in 1850 in Lawrence County, AL, with three children, living with a 70-year-old woman named Mary Robertson, who I think was the widow of Isaac Robertson. In 1860, Nancy has her own household, with 6 children, the eldest, my great grandfather, William Absalom Agee. The last time Nancy appears in a record is in 1870, with the 3 youngest children still in the household. Never is there an adult male in the household. I concluded decades ago that Nancy was never married and that the children likely had different fathers. Supporting this theory is the fact that she bought land herself in December of 1859, which she could not have done as a married woman.
I wondered for years who this Mary Robertson was in 1850: an employer, an aunt, a grandmother? She’s too old to be her mother. I thought maybe Nancy became pregnant in Tennessee, where the census says she was born, and was shipped off to a relative in Alabama. Or, maybe she just worked for this widowed lady. One of her son Jasper’s descendants, a lady named Emma Sanderson, if I recall correctly, came to the same conclusion, according to her Terry relatives, which I met on a trip to Lawrence County. They said she immediately stopped doing research and wouldn’t even allow anyone to talk about the possibility of their descending from a bastard child of Nancy. Times have certainly changed though, and the fact is readily accepted, except for some nimnod who added a husband for her to my tree on the Family Search website. Nobody has proved that she had a husband!
According to our Terry relatives in Lawrence County, their aunt thought maybe the father was a Bracken (The plat map there shows three Bracken men who lived near her). When my youngest brother Patrick Agee swabbed his cheek for Family Tree DNA, the results showed that our best match was to a Byrd (There was also a Byrd who lived near her). I have written this man multiple times and even had Family Tree DNA rep call him when I was at a convention in Salt Lake City, but he never responded. Also, my brother Pat’s yDNA test, when compared to that of a male descendant of Jasper Agee, did not match at all, which supports the different-fathers theory!
The Terrys said that neighbors referred to her as “Old Sadie” and laughed at and ridiculed her as she rode to town on her mule. Whatever—she raised a mayor, a doctor/preacher, and other upstanding members of Alabama communities—not bad for a single mother of six!
There is one other connection that is important. Nancy’s sister was a woman named Mary Reeves, married to John Reeves. They lived nearby in Lawrence County, and are mentioned in numerous documents connecting the families. I can find no marriage record, which might give a maiden name for Mary. Probably Agee, but I can’t prove it.
“Old Sadie” remains a mystery! But in early 2001, a rather distinguished group of Agee ancestors met and dedicated a gravestone in the field she had bought in the Hatton Community in 1859. The small cemetery had been marked by four small stones. Noone knows who else is buried there. I would guess that her daughter Sarah is also there, and perhaps some children who died young. When Nancy’s son Jasper Agee sold the land, he set aside the land for the cemetery forever.
She was probably the mother of these children, all born in Lawrence County:
+ 2 i. WILLIAM ABSALOM Agee, born 1842; died 1923.
+ 3 ii. SARAH AGEE, born 1845.
+ 4 iii. MARY MELINDA AGEE, born 1849; died 1937.
+ 5 iv. JOHN WESLEY AGEE, born 1852; died 1891.
+ 6 v. JASPER MATHIAS AGEE, born 1854; died 1913.
+ 7 vi JOSEPH JAMES AGEE, born 1860; died 1908
+ 8 vii. NANCY FRANCES CLEMENTINE REBECCA AGEE, born 1866; died 1940.
The mother of the last two children could be Nancy's daughter Sarah.
I hope none of this information hurts anyone's feelings. I did my best to tell Nancy's story based on original sources and family tradition.
Sharon Agee Morrow
Several years ago, I corresponded with Louis Agee, who lived on some of the original Agee land in Virginia, a wonderful, kind gentleman, who tried to connect us to Mathieu’s family. I learned of him from my cousin, Dr. Al Burden, who also researches this line. Louis died before we could accomplish our task, and his wife published the book posthumously, leaving our family out of the book. (Lewis had told me that he would put us in the Appendix if we hadn’t made the connection by publication time.) I’m sure she was unaware of this promise and was just trying to finish the project. Anyway, Mathieu had two sons who each had 12 children. The 24 grandchildren each have a chapter in the book, following the plan used by Dr. Purl Agee in his book about the Agee family. Our guy, he theorized, was Daniel Agee, No. 15, who moved from Virginia to Sullivan and perhaps, Smith County, TN. He married Jane Shoemaker and had nine children.
Nancy1 Agee was born about 1825 in Tennessee and died sometime between 1870 and 1880 in Lawrence County, Alabama. A secondary source at the Lawrence County Archives says 1875, but I doubt that there is proof. Nancy has been the brick wall for Agee researchers for decades.
Nancy Agee, 25, born in Tennessee, first shows up in 1850 in Lawrence County, AL, with three children, living with a 70-year-old woman named Mary Robertson, who I think was the widow of Isaac Robertson. In 1860, Nancy has her own household, with 6 children, the eldest, my great grandfather, William Absalom Agee. The last time Nancy appears in a record is in 1870, with the 3 youngest children still in the household. Never is there an adult male in the household. I concluded decades ago that Nancy was never married and that the children likely had different fathers. Supporting this theory is the fact that she bought land herself in December of 1859, which she could not have done as a married woman.
I wondered for years who this Mary Robertson was in 1850: an employer, an aunt, a grandmother? She’s too old to be her mother. I thought maybe Nancy became pregnant in Tennessee, where the census says she was born, and was shipped off to a relative in Alabama. Or, maybe she just worked for this widowed lady. One of her son Jasper’s descendants, a lady named Emma Sanderson, if I recall correctly, came to the same conclusion, according to her Terry relatives, which I met on a trip to Lawrence County. They said she immediately stopped doing research and wouldn’t even allow anyone to talk about the possibility of their descending from a bastard child of Nancy. Times have certainly changed though, and the fact is readily accepted, except for some nimnod who added a husband for her to my tree on the Family Search website. Nobody has proved that she had a husband!
According to our Terry relatives in Lawrence County, their aunt thought maybe the father was a Bracken (The plat map there shows three Bracken men who lived near her). When my youngest brother Patrick Agee swabbed his cheek for Family Tree DNA, the results showed that our best match was to a Byrd (There was also a Byrd who lived near her). I have written this man multiple times and even had Family Tree DNA rep call him when I was at a convention in Salt Lake City, but he never responded. Also, my brother Pat’s yDNA test, when compared to that of a male descendant of Jasper Agee, did not match at all, which supports the different-fathers theory!
The Terrys said that neighbors referred to her as “Old Sadie” and laughed at and ridiculed her as she rode to town on her mule. Whatever—she raised a mayor, a doctor/preacher, and other upstanding members of Alabama communities—not bad for a single mother of six!
There is one other connection that is important. Nancy’s sister was a woman named Mary Reeves, married to John Reeves. They lived nearby in Lawrence County, and are mentioned in numerous documents connecting the families. I can find no marriage record, which might give a maiden name for Mary. Probably Agee, but I can’t prove it.
“Old Sadie” remains a mystery! But in early 2001, a rather distinguished group of Agee ancestors met and dedicated a gravestone in the field she had bought in the Hatton Community in 1859. The small cemetery had been marked by four small stones. Noone knows who else is buried there. I would guess that her daughter Sarah is also there, and perhaps some children who died young. When Nancy’s son Jasper Agee sold the land, he set aside the land for the cemetery forever.
She was probably the mother of these children, all born in Lawrence County:
+ 2 i. WILLIAM ABSALOM Agee, born 1842; died 1923.
+ 3 ii. SARAH AGEE, born 1845.
+ 4 iii. MARY MELINDA AGEE, born 1849; died 1937.
+ 5 iv. JOHN WESLEY AGEE, born 1852; died 1891.
+ 6 v. JASPER MATHIAS AGEE, born 1854; died 1913.
+ 7 vi JOSEPH JAMES AGEE, born 1860; died 1908
+ 8 vii. NANCY FRANCES CLEMENTINE REBECCA AGEE, born 1866; died 1940.
The mother of the last two children could be Nancy's daughter Sarah.
I hope none of this information hurts anyone's feelings. I did my best to tell Nancy's story based on original sources and family tradition.
Sharon Agee Morrow
According to Louis N. Agee, author of The Agee Register, we probably descend from the immigrant Mathieu Age, a French Huguenot who escaped the Catholics in France in the 1600s. He and other Protestants associated with King William and Queen Mary of England, and were awarded land on the James River in Virginia at an old deserted Indian village called the Manakintown, about 15 miles west of present Richmond on the south side of the James River. There is a memorial to the founders of the town, including Mathieu, at the Episcopalian Church there.
Several years ago, I corresponded with Louis Agee, who lived on some of the original Agee land in Virginia, a wonderful, kind gentleman, who tried to connect us to Mathieu’s family. I learned of him from my cousin, Dr. Al Burden, who also researches this line. Louis died before we could accomplish our task, and his wife published the book posthumously, leaving our family out of the book. (Lewis had told me that he would put us in the Appendix if we hadn’t made the connection by publication time.) I’m sure she was unaware of this promise and was just trying to finish the project. Anyway, Mathieu had two sons who each had 12 children. The 24 grandchildren each have a chapter in the book, following the plan used by Dr. Purl Agee in his book about the Agee family. Our guy, he theorized, was Daniel Agee, No. 15, who moved from Virginia to Sullivan and perhaps, Smith County, TN. He married Jane Shoemaker and had nine children.
Nancy1 Agee was born about 1825 in Tennessee and died sometime between 1870 and 1880 in Lawrence County, Alabama. A secondary source at the Lawrence County Archives says 1875, but I doubt that there is proof. Nancy has been the brick wall for Agee researchers for decades.
Nancy Agee, 25, born in Tennessee, first shows up in 1850 in Lawrence County, AL, with three children, living with a 70-year-old woman named Mary Robertson, who I think was the widow of Isaac Robertson. In 1860, Nancy has her own household, with 6 children, the eldest, my great grandfather, William Absalom Agee. The last time Nancy appears in a record is in 1870, with the 3 youngest children still in the household. Never is there an adult male in the household. I concluded decades ago that Nancy was never married and that the children likely had different fathers. Supporting this theory is the fact that she bought land herself in December of 1859, which she could not have done as a married woman.
I wondered for years who this Mary Robertson was in 1850: an employer, an aunt, a grandmother? She’s too old to be her mother. I thought maybe Nancy became pregnant in Tennessee, where the census says she was born, and was shipped off to a relative in Alabama. Or, maybe she just worked for this widowed lady. One of her son Jasper’s descendants, a lady named Emma Sanderson, if I recall correctly, came to the same conclusion, according to her Terry relatives, which I met on a trip to Lawrence County. They said she immediately stopped doing research and wouldn’t even allow anyone to talk about the possibility of their descending from a bastard child of Nancy. Times have certainly changed though, and the fact is readily accepted, except for some nimnod who added a husband for her to my tree on the Family Search website. Nobody has proved that she had a husband!
According to our Terry relatives in Lawrence County, their aunt thought maybe the father was a Bracken (The plat map there shows three Bracken men who lived near her). When my youngest brother Patrick Agee swabbed his cheek for Family Tree DNA, the results showed that our best match was to a Byrd (There was also a Byrd who lived near her). I have written this man multiple times and even had Family Tree DNA rep call him when I was at a convention in Salt Lake City, but he never responded. Also, my brother Pat’s yDNA test, when compared to that of a male descendant of Jasper Agee, did not match at all, which supports the different-fathers theory!
The Terrys said that neighbors referred to her as “Old Sadie” and laughed at and ridiculed her as she rode to town on her mule. Whatever—she raised a mayor, a doctor/preacher, and other upstanding members of Alabama communities—not bad for a single mother of six!
There is one other connection that is important. Nancy’s sister was a woman named Mary Reeves, married to John Reeves. They lived nearby in Lawrence County, and are mentioned in numerous documents connecting the families. I can find no marriage record, which might give a maiden name for Mary. Probably Agee, but I can’t prove it.
“Old Sadie” remains a mystery! But in early 2001, a rather distinguished group of Agee ancestors met and dedicated a gravestone in the field she had bought in the Hatton Community in 1859. The small cemetery had been marked by four small stones. Noone knows who else is buried there. I would guess that her daughter Sarah is also there, and perhaps some children who died young. When Nancy’s son Jasper Agee sold the land, he set aside the land for the cemetery forever.
She was probably the mother of these children, all born in Lawrence County:
+ 2 i. WILLIAM ABSALOM Agee, born 1842; died 1923.
+ 3 ii. SARAH AGEE, born 1845.
+ 4 iii. MARY MELINDA AGEE, born 1849; died 1937.
+ 5 iv. JOHN WESLEY AGEE, born 1852; died 1891.
+ 6 v. JASPER MATHIAS AGEE, born 1854; died 1913.
+ 7 vi JOSEPH JAMES AGEE, born 1860; died 1908
+ 8 vii. NANCY FRANCES CLEMENTINE REBECCA AGEE, born 1866; died 1940.
The mother of the last two children could be Nancy's daughter Sarah.
I hope none of this information hurts anyone's feelings. I did my best to tell Nancy's story based on original sources and family tradition.
Sharon Agee Morrow
Several years ago, I corresponded with Louis Agee, who lived on some of the original Agee land in Virginia, a wonderful, kind gentleman, who tried to connect us to Mathieu’s family. I learned of him from my cousin, Dr. Al Burden, who also researches this line. Louis died before we could accomplish our task, and his wife published the book posthumously, leaving our family out of the book. (Lewis had told me that he would put us in the Appendix if we hadn’t made the connection by publication time.) I’m sure she was unaware of this promise and was just trying to finish the project. Anyway, Mathieu had two sons who each had 12 children. The 24 grandchildren each have a chapter in the book, following the plan used by Dr. Purl Agee in his book about the Agee family. Our guy, he theorized, was Daniel Agee, No. 15, who moved from Virginia to Sullivan and perhaps, Smith County, TN. He married Jane Shoemaker and had nine children.
Nancy1 Agee was born about 1825 in Tennessee and died sometime between 1870 and 1880 in Lawrence County, Alabama. A secondary source at the Lawrence County Archives says 1875, but I doubt that there is proof. Nancy has been the brick wall for Agee researchers for decades.
Nancy Agee, 25, born in Tennessee, first shows up in 1850 in Lawrence County, AL, with three children, living with a 70-year-old woman named Mary Robertson, who I think was the widow of Isaac Robertson. In 1860, Nancy has her own household, with 6 children, the eldest, my great grandfather, William Absalom Agee. The last time Nancy appears in a record is in 1870, with the 3 youngest children still in the household. Never is there an adult male in the household. I concluded decades ago that Nancy was never married and that the children likely had different fathers. Supporting this theory is the fact that she bought land herself in December of 1859, which she could not have done as a married woman.
I wondered for years who this Mary Robertson was in 1850: an employer, an aunt, a grandmother? She’s too old to be her mother. I thought maybe Nancy became pregnant in Tennessee, where the census says she was born, and was shipped off to a relative in Alabama. Or, maybe she just worked for this widowed lady. One of her son Jasper’s descendants, a lady named Emma Sanderson, if I recall correctly, came to the same conclusion, according to her Terry relatives, which I met on a trip to Lawrence County. They said she immediately stopped doing research and wouldn’t even allow anyone to talk about the possibility of their descending from a bastard child of Nancy. Times have certainly changed though, and the fact is readily accepted, except for some nimnod who added a husband for her to my tree on the Family Search website. Nobody has proved that she had a husband!
According to our Terry relatives in Lawrence County, their aunt thought maybe the father was a Bracken (The plat map there shows three Bracken men who lived near her). When my youngest brother Patrick Agee swabbed his cheek for Family Tree DNA, the results showed that our best match was to a Byrd (There was also a Byrd who lived near her). I have written this man multiple times and even had Family Tree DNA rep call him when I was at a convention in Salt Lake City, but he never responded. Also, my brother Pat’s yDNA test, when compared to that of a male descendant of Jasper Agee, did not match at all, which supports the different-fathers theory!
The Terrys said that neighbors referred to her as “Old Sadie” and laughed at and ridiculed her as she rode to town on her mule. Whatever—she raised a mayor, a doctor/preacher, and other upstanding members of Alabama communities—not bad for a single mother of six!
There is one other connection that is important. Nancy’s sister was a woman named Mary Reeves, married to John Reeves. They lived nearby in Lawrence County, and are mentioned in numerous documents connecting the families. I can find no marriage record, which might give a maiden name for Mary. Probably Agee, but I can’t prove it.
“Old Sadie” remains a mystery! But in early 2001, a rather distinguished group of Agee ancestors met and dedicated a gravestone in the field she had bought in the Hatton Community in 1859. The small cemetery had been marked by four small stones. Noone knows who else is buried there. I would guess that her daughter Sarah is also there, and perhaps some children who died young. When Nancy’s son Jasper Agee sold the land, he set aside the land for the cemetery forever.
She was probably the mother of these children, all born in Lawrence County:
+ 2 i. WILLIAM ABSALOM Agee, born 1842; died 1923.
+ 3 ii. SARAH AGEE, born 1845.
+ 4 iii. MARY MELINDA AGEE, born 1849; died 1937.
+ 5 iv. JOHN WESLEY AGEE, born 1852; died 1891.
+ 6 v. JASPER MATHIAS AGEE, born 1854; died 1913.
+ 7 vi JOSEPH JAMES AGEE, born 1860; died 1908
+ 8 vii. NANCY FRANCES CLEMENTINE REBECCA AGEE, born 1866; died 1940.
The mother of the last two children could be Nancy's daughter Sarah.
I hope none of this information hurts anyone's feelings. I did my best to tell Nancy's story based on original sources and family tradition.
Sharon Agee Morrow
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