1. John Meek was born about 1745. He died about 1825. He married Jane McCutcheon 15 Jun 1770. She was born about 1752. She died about 1838.
John purchased 566 acres on Little River in Calf Pasture 18 March 1777 (Deed Bk 27, p39). This area became Rockbridge County that same year. He sold that land to John Dickenson on 21 Sep 1790. In 1790 John is listed for delinquent tax “having moved to Kentucky or the French Broad (Chalkley Vol. II, p. 39). Also listed were James McCutchen and Robert McCutchen, Jr. It is believed that John and Jane moved to Knoxville, TN.
Notes:
Hi Chris:
Second, I reported on how, through Joseph Meek, I was related to John and Jane. In our family we have a book, Family History of Col. John Sawyers and Simon Harris and their Descendants compiled by Dr. Madison Monroe Harris and published in 1913 by The Knoxville Lithographing Company, Knoxville, Tennessee. The Colonel (1745-1831) married Rebecca Crawford (1753-1841), Jan 30, 1776, in Augusta County, Virginia. Rebecca Sawyers (1793-1870), who was their 8th child, married Joseph Meek, March 24, 1814.
The book notes that Joseph Meek was the youngest of seven children born to John Meek and Jane McCutchen, married June 15, 1770. (Note the spelling for Jane, because in other places it is McCutcheon) Then in History of Tennessee, Knox County published in 1887 by Goodspeed Publishing it was noted that John and Jane McCutcheon (different spelling) were from Augusta County, VA. Now I know Goodspeed is looked upon with disdain by researchers and you should take his comments with a grain of salt, but I think he has to be considered.
Having established VA as the source of John and Jane, I started looking into their background. One source, of course, is the LDS web site, and there I found John Meek and Jane McCutchin in County of Washington, VA, Washington County is a lot closer to Knoxville, TN than Augusta . I looked at the H.B. Meek collection and while there was a mention of John Meek and Thomas Meek nothing in Washington County seem to fit.
So I spent most of my time looking at John Meek, b abt 1707, his son, Thomas Meek, b abt 1729, and his son, John, who I think went to TN in 1790. You are probably familiar with Zella Armstrong’s Notable Southern Families in which she traces this branch of the family. So I have noted in my research that the information is from sources I can’t personally verify and have left it at that. There is a lot in the Knoxville Archives about the family and I’m comfortable about Joseph’s lineage down to my family.
There is one mystery about John I can’t resolve. Thomas Meek was married to Agnes and in some references it mentions that John Meek had a daughter he named Agnes. I have a copy of the family record page from the McMillan family bible, thought to have been prepared by Jane Meek that lists the fourth child as Agnes Meek, born March 5, 1779. In John Meek’s will, where the children are listed in order as they are on the bible page, the fourth bequest is “the property that I give to my daughter Nancy Woods at her marriage is all that I intend to give her.”
In the East Tennessee Historical Society are the “Vance Papers.” In Jane Meek’s Family Record: For the children of John Meek is listed, as the fourth child, Agness (sic) Meek, born March 5, 1779, died December 25, 1781 (probably in VA). The staff at the Knox county archives and the public library system have looked high and low for a Nancy Woods to no avail, nor have they found an Agnes Meek. The archives administrator told me that the court records were copied by hand by clerks who have been known to copy what they saw, though it is hard to imagine where Nancy came from.
So Chris, this is probably more than you wanted to know. I will consider the DNA program. If you have any questions about the above, let me know.
Best Regards,
Jere
Bible and or will
Source for surname of John’s wife, Jane
Information provided by Jere S. Meek.
Some research by E. Jane Sherman