The Mystery of McGee

Margaret Carol Pond Thorpe>Stillman Harris Pond>Martha Caroline Harris Pond>Alexander Harris>McGee Harris

In honor of McGee Harris' birthday I want to share a little about him.

The following is an excerpt from a history of McGee.  All the histories I can find of him are similar:

McGee was a farmer and a blacksmith by trade. In 1845, McGee became a convert to what he called the "Doctrine of Joseph Smith." Enthused with this new, but unpopular religion, he proceeded to sell and give away his property in order to join the Mormons at Nauvoo. Although his parents and other relatives were critical of his actions and ostracized him, he left them most of his earthly possessions, which was considerable. He had 1280 acres of land, which he had intended to divide among his eight children. McGee, his wife, and six children made the westward trek with the Saints. His eldest two daughters remained in Marion, Illinois.

McGee was counseled not to go to Nauvoo because of persecutions, so he went on to Council Bluffs in September. They crossed the Missouri River to Winter Quarters, Nebraska in the summer of 1847.

While in Nauvoo last summer, both Jeni and I had the distinct impression that McGee had lived there. We even felt that he had been a seventy, but upon checking the records at the Seventies Hall, we found that they didn't have him listed as a seventy. And since the family histories that we have all say that "he was counseled not to go to Nauvoo", and the Nauvoo Land and Records Office didn't have a record of him, it seemed that maybe we were wrong. But we still had the nagging suspicion that we had missed something. He had lived in Illinois when he found the gospel and there were several months between the time he sold his property and the time he left for Winter Quarters. Enough time that he could have lived in Nauvoo, maybe. So I kept digging. After searching over and over on the internet I finally found one history that was slightly different. Here it is:

As the family moved west, they must have settled in Nauvoo, as we understand they lived in the home of the Prophet Joseph Smith for a while.

WHAT?!?!? Where did they get that?! I frantically tried to find a way to connect with the author of the blog to ask him where he got that. The author had a great love for geneology. He loved planes. He loved the gospel. I found a picture of him listed as "MTC President". He's a descendent of Alexander Harris, as are we. I was getting more and more excited to talk to him. Unfortunately, I found a link titled "Funeral". He died in 2008. While I'll still try to make contact with the family and see if they know where he got his information, I'm doubtful they'll have what I need. So now we have two accounts and I have yet to verify which is correct. My gut, though, still tells me that he was in Nauvoo. I'll keep you posted on what I find out! And thanks, McGee, for the great mystery.

You can find out more about McGee HERE and HERE.

Happy birthday, Zial!

In honor of Zial's birthday:

Zial Litchfield Riggs

The following is quoted from the nomination for Historical Status of the Zial Riggs home.

Built in 1868 of native sandstone, the Zial Riggs home is a 1 1/2 story hall and parlor folk/vernacular type with a 1 story rear lean-to extension. The house has a three bay symmetrical facade and gable-end fireplace chimneys. In massing and decorative trim the house reflects the Greek Revival style: the pitch of the roof is relatively flat, there is a plain entablature, and cornice returns are found on the gables. The lintels and sills are wooden beams and unadorned. The upstairs windows are approximately half as large as the lower openings and reveal the incomplete nature of the upper story.

The Zial Riggs House

The walls of the Riggs home are coursed ashlar with raised mortar joints. The stonework is of a uniformly high quality, suggesting that the house was originally constructed with the rear extension. There are heavy stone quoins whose light cream limestone coloring contrast sharply with the darker, multi-hued tones on the sandstone walls.

The home was built for Zial in 1868 by an unknown builder. He lived there from 1868 to 1887 when he sold it to John Maughan. The home is located at 94 E 100 S in Wellsville.

You can read more about Zial HERE.