Individual Details

Sarah Meek

(Abt 1787 - 1864)



Sarah was a daughter of Adam Meek:
http://jc-schools.net/rss-history/meeks.htm
The first settler in Strawberry Plains [Jefferson Co, TN] was Adam Meek born in 1746. He left Derry, Ireland at the age of 19 and came to Charleston, South Carolina. He fought in the American Revolution and married Martha Wallace in Charlotte, North Carolina. Meek, coming from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, made surveys in Caswell County in the State of Franklin as early as 1785. He built a cabin made of round poles covered with grass and bark. His family settled at the mouth of Beaver Creek on the Holston River in 1788 and built a log house. When problems with the Indians arose he and his family hid in nearby caves for protection. He died on July 8, 1828 and is buried along with several members of his family in the Strawberry Plains graveyard.
The first white child born in Strawberry Plains was Adam Meek’s daughter Sarah. She married Lemuel McBee. Adam Meek also had two sons, Daniel Meek and A.H. Meek who became leaders in the Strawberry Plains Presbyterian Church.

History of Tennessee; Goodspeed, 1887
"Adam Meek, Sr., ... is said to have been the first settler to build a house in what is now Jefferson County. He came to Jefferson Co. after the close of the Revolution, from over the mountains in Mecklenburg County [NC], and one account declares he was a native of Ireland." (Tennessee Cousins, p. 107.)
He married Martha Wallace on 23 Mar 1781 in Charlotte, NC (Marriage abstracts). She was born in 1766. She died on 21 Nov 1831 (Tombstone/bible). She was buried in Old Strawberry Plains cemetery. Adam Kennedy Meek Sr. and Martha Wallace had the following children:



1850 Census. Grainger Co TN, Dist 8, Hh 5
Daniel McBee [indexed as McLee] age 25, farmer. James A. age 21.
Sarah, age 63.
Marlowe McBee, age 24, Stu at Med [???? hard to read]
James Jones, age 20, laborer
In 1850, Sarah is shown as owner of 11 slaves, Grainger Co Slave Schedule.

1860 Census. Grainger Co TN, Dist 8, Hh 870
Sarah McBee, age 72, Widow, b. TN.
Daniel M. McBee, age 36, farmer, b. TN. R. Emaline, age 29.
Margaret A. 8, Samuel S. 4, Lemuel 2, James C. 9 months
James A. McBee, age 32, b. TN Rachael 26.
Sarah E. age 3. John R. 12 [probably meant to be a number of months, but only the 12 is there]

Events

BirthAbt 1787Tennessee
Marriage22 Jan 1806Jefferson County, Tennessee - Lemuel McBee
Death1864Grainger County, Tennessee

Families

SpouseLemuel McBee (1783 - 1843)
ChildMartha M. "Patsy" McBee (1807 - )
ChildMary Ann McBee (1808 - 1854)
ChildWilliam Claiborn McBee (1808 - 1874)
ChildAdam H. McBee (1812 - )
ChildIsaac M. McBee (1814 - )
ChildGanum Cox McBee (1816 - 1863)
ChildLemuel J. McBee (1818 - )
ChildMilo McBee (1824 - )
ChildDaniel M. McBee (1825 - )
ChildCallaway McBee (1828 - )
ChildJames A. McBee (1829 - )
FatherAdam Meek (1746 - 1828)
MotherMartha Wallace (1766 - 1831)

Endnotes