Individual Details

James is not listed in many databases, as a son of Samuel, but he obivously was. A record of the birth of Hamilton McBee is in the family Bible and later his death is recorded as James H. McBee.

The Bible says that James H. McBee, son of Samuel McBee, and Ann his mother departed this life on the 7th of September 1853, in Arkansas. He was thirty years old the 15th of August before he died. He left his father, nine brothers and two sisters to mourn the loss of a brother and a great doctor.

His brother, William McBee who married Ann Williams, had entered the births of their first five children in a dictionary. His brother Calvin's children are entered in the family Bible. However, apparently the dictionary later was in the hands of this young man, for he scribbled his name and other data on at least two pages in the year 1836, when he was about age 13.

On one page of the dictionary, he wrote:
James H. McBee was born on the 15th day of August 1823.
This is the 9th day of Dec in the year of the world 1836 on Friday
James H. McBee is my name and Single is my life
and unhappy will that Lady be, that chance to be my wife.

On another page, it appears that he stated to write his brother's birth, "Calvin McBee was born October the 6, 1836." Calvin was born 6 Oct, but in the year 1820 - 1836 was the year James was writing in the book.

He did like to write - a Journal is in the hands of a descendant of Calvin - dates in the Journal are in July of 1843, when he was about age 20.

There is also a letter, written from Charleston, Franklin Co AR, January of 1952 from James to his brother Calvin. J.Hamilton McBee was boarding with the family of a Baptist preacher. He expressed great dismay over the fact another brother, Pleasant had been in trouble with the law. He also told Calvin that a number of their friends from Tennessee had gone to live in Madison Co, AR. James told him about the good land along the White River, except that it often flooded. He said there had been considerable sickness when he first arrived, but everyone was healthy and he was "not doing much".

A letter from the Probate Clerk in Ozark in Franklin Co, dated Oct 14, 1854, seems to suggest that James had owed his father money at the time of his death, but his Executor, John Haynes, was of the opinion the bill had been paid. There must have been a lawsuit. The Clerk of the Court mentions that Dr. McBee's clothes had been sold for a trifling amount. He obviously left no heirs.
Note: it is my suspicion that James had perhaps never paid his share of the $100 when he and his brothers, Calvin and John, sold land back to their father in 1845.

Birth	15 Aug 1823	Tennessee
Death	7 Sep 1853	Arkansas

Father	Samuel McBee (1772 - 1858)
Mother	Anna Hamilton (1781 - 1845)
Sibling	William McBee (1798 - )
Sibling	Isaac McBee (1800 - 1870)
Sibling	Caswell McBee (1802 - )
Sibling	Alexander McBee (1804 - )
Sibling	Elizabeth McBee (1807 - 1860)
Sibling	Pleasant McBee (1809 - 1880)
Sibling	Samuel McBee (1811 - )
Sibling	Labourne McBee (1813 - 1896)
Sibling	Mary Ann McBee (1815 - )
Sibling	John McBee (1818 - )
Sibling	Calvin M. McBee (1820 - 1870)