John H. McGee
There is special consistency in the vocation followed by this venerable and honored citizen of Ironton, for as a pension attorney he has achieved a worthy work in behalf of his old comrades of the Civil war. his having been the distinction of serving through virtually the entire course of the great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was perpetuated and his loyalty in the times of peace having been of the same intense order, begotten, as it is, of high ideals and impregnable integrity of character. Mr. McGee has been a resident of Lawrence County for more than half a century, is the oldest notary public in the county and here he has a circle of friends whose number is limited only by that of his acquaintances. Well it is that this publication should pay a special tribute to this honored pioneer citizen of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio.
Mr. McGee was born in Russell County. Virginia, on the 23d of April, 1840, and is a son of Benjamin F. and Nancy (May) McGee. both natives of Virginia and representatives of sterling old families of that historic commonwealth. The father, who was a farmer or planter by vocation, died in 1847, when the subject of this review was a lad of seven years, and well did the devoted mother meet the responsibilities and burdens that devolved upon her in the care of her four children, of whom John H is the only son and the eldest of the number, the names of his sisters, in order of birth, being as follows: Elizabeth, Cynthia, and Mary. The mother was born in Russell County, Virginia, on the 13th of September, 1821, and was summoned to the life eternal in 1892, in Kentucky. She eventually contracted a second marriage, by becoming the wife of Hardin Hurley, who likewise is deceased.
Mr. McGee was afforded the advantages of the schools of his native county, his mother having been a skilled weaver and having defrayed by her work as such the expenses of educating her children. She finally removed with her family to Kentucky, and in the Village of Pikeville, Pike County, that state, John H. McGee continued his studies in the public schools. In July, 1858, when seventeen years of age. he came to Lawrence County, Ohio, and established his residence in Ironton. He found employment in the Hecla Furnace, in the mines and at such other work as was available, until the inception of the Civil war, when he promptly put aside all personal considerations and interests to tender his aid in defense of the Union. On the 9th day of July, 1861. in response to the first call for volunteers for the three months' service, he enlisted in the first independent cavalry company organized in this section of the State, Company A of the First Ohio Cavalry, and with this command he served until the expiration of his term of enlistment. He then re-enlisted, as a member of Battery L, First Ohio Light Artillery, on the 2d of October, 1861, and he received his honorable discharge on the 1st of January, 1864. He received his discharge at Warrenton Junction, Virginia, after having participated in numerous engagements on the soil of his native State, but his patriotic ardor was not in the least diminished, as shown by the fact that he at once re-enlisted, as a veteran, in the same battery, with which he continued in active service until the close of the war, his having been the misfortune to encounter the irony of fate and to lose his right foot in the last battle in which his command was involved. This wound was inflicted by the last shot fired in the battle of Cedar Creck, on the 19th of October, 1864, and the ball which caused the loss of the right foot of Mr. McGee took also the left foot of one of his comrades, a man named Jones, besides wounding five other members of Battery L. The service of Mr. McGee covered a total of three years, eleven months and eight days, and among the more important engagements in which he took part may be noted the following: Port Republic, Chantilly, Second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Winchester, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Fort Stevens, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, in which last mentioned battle he received the wound that destroyed his foot. He was with his battery on marches covering a total distance of 3,500 miles, and his record as a soldier was in every sense a model of valor, fidelity and earnest devotion. He never indulged in spirituous liquors of any kind, never took part in any riotous actions such as were at times in evidence in the ranks of the contending forces, never gambled and never was on the sick list until he required the services of the surgeon in the last battle of his splendid military career. He and his comrade, Jones, lay on the field of battle at Cedar Creek during an entire night and suffered intensely from cold, while their wounds caused them nearly to bleed to death before they were rescued and given necessary care. Mr. McGee was in the hospital from the 21st of October until June, 1865, when he was discharged at Cincinnati.
After the close of the war Mr. McGee returned to Ironton, where he was engaged in the retail grocery business for the ensuing five years. He then removed to Rock Camp, likewise in Lawrence County, and there he conducted a general store from 1870 until 1892. He was one of the leading business men and influential citizens of the town, where he served eighteen years as postmaster and where he held impregnable place in the confidence and esteem of the entire community. In the year last mentioned Mr. McGee returned to Ironton, where he was engaged in the dry goods business for one year, since which time his activities have been principally in his effective service as a pension attorney and his official service as notary public, a position of which he is the oldest incumbent in the county, besides having held the post for a longer period than any other notary in the county, his original appointment having been made in 1874.
It may readily be inferred that Mr. McGee has retained a deep interest in his old comrades in arms and that he is an appreciative and valued member of that noble organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, in which his affiliation is with Dick Lambert Post, No. 165, at Ironton. He is a republican in his political allegiance, served six years as a director of the county infirmary, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Pine Street Methodist Episcopal Church. The Christian faith of Mr. MeGee has been signally exemplified in his daily life, and he is kindly, tolerant and charitable in his judgment of others, so that in the gracious evening of his well spent life he finds himself surrounded with troops of friends and with those comforts and associations that should ever reward earnest and honorable living. In addition to his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic he is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum.
On the 21st of January, 1864, Mr. McGee wedded Miss .Mary A. Holliday, while in Lawrence County on a furlough. The devoted wife and mother was called to the life eternal on the 7th of July, 1912, and her memory is revered by all who came within the circle of her gracious influence. Of the five children the eldest is Miss Sadie, who now resides in the City of Chicago; Martha J. is the wife of Charles G. Bazell, engaged in the lumber business in the State of Tennessee; Mamie died in childhood; Maggie is the wife of Isaac H. Booth, a teacher in the State Normal at Richmond, Kentucky, and Addie is the wife of Frank Bazell, a farmer and carpenter, residing at Rock Camp, Lawrence County, Ohio.
On the 12th of December, 1912, Mr. McGee married Mrs. Sarah A. Kemp, widow of James H. Kemp, and she presides most graciously over their pleasant home. In 1913, fifty years after he had fought on its battle field, Mr. McGee visited Gettysburg.
From "A Standing History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio" by Eugene B. Willard, Daniel W. Williams, George O. Newman and Charles B. Taylor. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, 1916