The Pioneer Legacy of James H. & Eleanor Fry McGee

By Diane Euston

  He was known to take a risk; he had proven that when he uprooted his wife and seven children from Shelby County, Ky. and moved them over 500 miles away to the vast unclaimed lands of the state of Missouri. His wife’s brother had already chosen Clay County around Liberty to settle and wrote of the expansive acreage. Naturally, he and his wife decided to follow him to get in on the action.

  One year is all it took. It was 1828. He had heard of a small settlement to the south of the French in two-year-old Jackson County. Before opting for another new beginning, he traveled by horseback to the bluffs and looked south to this new unsettled, remote land.

  There was no Kansas City. There wasn’t even a Westport. There were just a few dozen French Catholic families organized to trade with the Native Americans. He looked upon the bluffs, noting that soon so many others would follow him from Kentucky and other distant places to claim this virgin land. 

  James returned home, eager to share his prediction with his wife. Within the year, they would load up one final time in a wagon, cart their belongings across the river to the bluffs at the future Kansas City, unload, and bet on their future.

  His name was James Hyatt McGee, and he carved a path for his whole family and thousands of pioneers looking for fertile land to the west.

At the Helm of Early White Settlement in Jackson County

  Missouri, as the history books tell us, became a slave state in 1820, opening millions of acres of vast, fertile land for all who were willing to clear it, build a cabin upon it, and cultivate what was then the wild frontier. And one man, James Hyatt McGee, was willing to roll the dice on an area where very few white settlers had called home.

  The McGee family of Kansas City proudly holds a legacy that has shone brightly in this area for just shy of 200 years. And as I’ve learned firsthand from my incredible friends, whom I refer to as “the McGee Boys,” Kansas City wouldn’t be KC without their descendants.

  James Hite (Hyatt) McGee was born in 1786 in Virginia to parents Patrick McGee- a Revolutionary War patriot- and Rachel Froman. As a young child, he moved with his family to Nelson County, Ky. near Bardstown where his father was “a mason, hunter, land-locator, salt-maker, ferry and tavern operator.”

  James married Eleanor Fry (b.1793) in 1812.  Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the Kentucky Militia and fought in the War of 1812 for two years. The couple relocated about 45 miles from Bardstown to Shelby County, Ky. 

  When Missouri was granted its statehood, what would become Kansas City was no more than a steep bluff overlooking the convergence of the Missouri and Kaw Rivers. No white man dared to settle down at its steep incline, nor did anyone anticipate that this land would be host to what John C. McCoy coined “the embryo city.”

  But James H. McGee could sense something.

  The French Canadians followed Francois Chouteau and his wife, Berenice to the area as they established a trading post around 1821. Soon after, families followed the Chouteaus to this new land. The Native Americans called it “Chouteau’s Town.” The small settlement began to gain momentum, but it certainly wasn’t set up to blossom into a metropolis.

  By 1828, James H. McGee bought up 320 acres of land from the French squatters and eventually acquired just shy of 1000 acres in the heart of what would be the city. In 1829, he took a trip back to Kentucky and returned with two enslaved people- a woman and a man. These were some of the first documented enslaved in Jackson County.

  He initially built a log cabin along a fine stream of water named Turkey Creek (later referred to as McGee’s Creek and even later referred to as OK Creek) near 20th and Central on his expansive land holdings. The property included much of present-day downtown Kansas City, extending roughly from 9th St. to the north to 23rd St. to the south, Troost Ave. to the east and west to Summit St. 

  He knew that $1.25 to $1.50 per acre was a steal. McGee had purchased the land from the Roy (Roi) brothers who had built a mill near OK Creek. McGee, always the entrepreneur, quickly put the sawmill to work in building some of the area’s first structures.

   Kansas City had not been founded and Westport was not a town. He was alone with his wife and children amidst the wilderness and miles from anyone.

  OK Creek originated near Vine Street, and legend claims it was used by runaway slaves. Because these fugitives on a flight to freedom could hide within the bluffs and escape in the night, the creek was a perfect plan. 

  Today, OK Creek is buried in sewers near Union Station.

  Jame’s oldest son, Allen Burr Harrison (A.B.H.) McGee, was born in 1815 in Kentucky. He, along with his brothers, Fry (b. 1816), Mobillion (b. 1817), and Elijah Milton “Milt” (b. 1820), all not even teenagers yet, were raised in the area when the nearest neighbor was miles away. James H. McGee, a well-known builder, was even called upon by the French-Canadian settlement to construct the first Catholic church in 1835.

  This was known as Chouteau’s Church and later became St. Regis. It is now the site of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

A Loose Hand in Kansas City’s Founding

  James H. McGee even meddled in the original “Old Town” land. When Gabriel Prudhomme (cir. 1790) died in a barroom brawl with locals in 1831, his land was in limbo. His 257 acres would later become the original Town of Kansas. The land, a vast wilderness, extended south from the Missouri River bluffs to current-day Independence Ave., east from Broadway to Holmes Rd. The guardian of the estate was none other than James Hyatt McGee- and his actions directly affected the future of the Town of Kansas. 

  For five long years the land remained in limbo until finally the courts ordered it to be sold. Because this land hugged a ferry across the river in use, the Prudhomme estate should have fetched a pretty penny at auction.

 On July 7, 1838, the public sale was set. James H. McGee declared himself auctioneer, supposedly to save the estate money. He started the bid at $1,800. Accounts claim that before anyone could bid, McGee declared the property sold to his friend Abraham Fonda for the opening amount. 

  Anger spread like wildfire on the bluffs of the Missouri River and one group of men marched to the courthouse in Independence to file a complaint about the sale. They protested that McGee’s interest in the land made him “unfit for a crier” of the sale.  It was speculated that he was set to profit from it. Plus, $1,800 for prime real estate was a steal.

  McGee, Fonda and Fonda’s agent claimed through depositions that McGee “cried the sale for four to six hours” before claiming the land sold. People who were anxious to purchase the land claimed McGee only waited less than two minutes before he declared the land sold after the opening bid was met by Fonda.

 The uproar over the sale of the Prudhomme estate led the courts to declare the sale null and void. This was a pivotal moment that directly impacted the future of the area; without the stop of this sale, it’s unlikely that Kansas City would have blossomed out of the bluffs.

  In November 1838, the Town Company formed with 14 investors (one being James’ son, Fry) who purchased the land for $4,220 and opted to name this future town “The Town of Kansas.” 

Meddling in Business Ventures

  Like most of the early pioneers of the area, the McGees lived originally in a log cabin on the land. But this was short-lived.  

  The first brick house in all of Kansas City is also credited to the McGee family. In 1834, James bricks fired on his own property- likely with the help of enslaved labor –  to construct his small residence north of Southwest Boulevard between Wyandotte and Baltimore Avenue. It was a small house for such a large family (with only two rooms, 16×20 on each side of a large hall), but prominence wasn’t in the size of the home- the magic was what resided inside. 

  He didn’t slow down the older he got. James dabbled in multiple businesses, including a flour mill, sawmill and even a distillery fueled partially by a natural spring on his expansive acreage. 

  It’s unknown what finally took his life at the age of 54 in 1840, but when he passed away, his legacy was solidified. His children that survived him- 10 children ranging from 36 to just three years old – would prove to be willing to carry on the family’s enduring spirit.

  In the “The McGees of Kansas City”, author R. Richard Wohl explained, “[James] McGee, in his way, set a pattern for succession that was to continue unchanged, except in detail, thereafter in the history of the family.”

At the Heart of the Home: Eleanor Fry McGee

  The true heart of this family would come from James Hyatt McGee’s strong, passionate and renowned spouse, Eleanor Fry McGee. She, as with many women of the era, was the glue that held the family together when her husband moved them into unchartered territory.

  It’s hard to piece together the life of a woman during these times. Women were lost in the shadows of their husbands. Rarely can one find a detailed history on a woman from this era. 

  One of the only exclusions to this that I have found is that of Eleanor “Mother” McGee. 

  Born in 1793 in Virginia to parents Isaac Fry and Catherine Funk, Eleanor Amelia Fry was the third oldest of 12 children. When about seven years old, the family moved to Shelby County, Ky. 

   Eleanor, known as “Nellie” to family and friends, married James H. McGee in 1812 when she was 19 years old. While living in Kentucky, the couple welcomed seven children: Amelia (b.1813), Allen Burr Harrison (b. 1815), Fry (b. 1816), Mobillion (b. 1817), Elijah “Milt” (b. 1818), Katherine (b. 1821) and Eleanor, Jr. (b. 1825). She lost two additional children as infants while living in Kentucky.

  Eleanor’s younger brother, Solomon (1797-1878), opted to move to Clay County, Mo. as early as 1821. He was a hard worker and a man willing to chase a dream; he built the first jail in Liberty and later constructed the first jail in Clinton County in Plattsburg. 

  Family stories indicate that Solomon Fry wrote home to his relatives raving about the land and opportunities in Missouri. His words changed the course of history; in 1827, James H. McGee and his wife, Eleanor decided to try life out near Solomon in Clay County. Along for the journey were Eleanor’s parents, Isaac and Catherine.

  To imagine a 34-year-old woman with seven children nodding her head in approval at the very idea of migrating over 500 miles into a land with little more than hope is hard enough. 

  She was embraced by the early settlers of the area; while her husband was considered to be reserved and somewhat quiet in personal affairs, Eleanor was renowned for her pleasant personality and grace. Records clearly indicate that she was always consulted on business ventures, even when her husband was alive.

  She was known for her ability to nurse the sick when no doctors were present in this virgin land. The Kansas City Star wrote years after her death, “In the garden around the log cabin she raised her herbs and simples, and many a child of those days owed its life to [Eleanor’s] care.” 

  Even when her husband upgraded their log cabin to a brick home, they still made due with two rooms inside. It was far from finished when tragedy struck. There beside her husband, while nursing her own children and others, Eleanor rightfully earned her nickname in the community of “Mother McGee.” 

Life After Tragedy

  The fact that Mother McGee became a widow only 12 years after settling in what would become Kansas City – with her youngest child only being three years old- is harrowing.

  This was just what women were expected to do. And she did it with gusto.

  When her husband, James died in 1840, he held just shy of 1000 acres of land. Usually with a large estate such as this, the executor ordered the land all be sold. 

  But Eleanor was a woman before her time. She knew that sparsely settled land miles away from the small town of Westport wouldn’t fetch the prices she’d want. As executrix along with her son, Mother McGee was careful to stall the final settlement of land for 10 years. This allowed her to keep her large landholdings as the Town of Kansas slowly emerged to the north and Westport grew to the south. She only sold off pieces of land for tax purposes.

  She lived in that two-room house that was still unfinished when her husband passed away. Part of the probate ordered that the kitchen addition to the back of the home be finished- likely a request from Mother McGee herself when the probate made its way to the courts.

  When cholera hit the Town of Kansas in 1849, Eleanor McGee and Berenice Chouteau both brought the sick into their homes and cared for them until they were well. It was this tender touch and willingness to advocate for more than just her own family that made her priceless to this early pioneer community.

  Mother McGee continued to give advice, manage her estate and emotionally support her children until her death on November 22, 1880 at the age of 89. 

  John Calvin McCoy, founder of Westport and Kansas City, spoke at her funeral. He eloquently proclaimed:

  “I knew and honored her true, generous philanthropic spirit 50 years ago, in the unpretentious log house of the early pioneer, once standing in the limits of this great city; and through all the years that have come and gone since then, through all the changes, strife, struggles, joys and sorrows, and the lights and shadows that have swept over us, the same generous, calm, dignified loving nature of our dear departed mother, through every trial, and every test, like pure gold shone out with undiminished luster.”

  At the time, she was the oldest living pioneer resident of Kansas City and her land now was officially part of the growing city. She had given birth to 14 children and only five survived her. Regardless, her legacy continued with her 50 grandchildren, 86 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Moving the McGee Family Cemetery

  Eleanor Fry McGee was buried next to her husband in the McGee graveyard, her legacy being one of the purest visions of female pioneer spirit the area ever had seen.

  That graveyard, simplistic and at one time isolated on the McGee family’s extensive landholdings, holds several interesting stories.

  When the McGees chose Jackson County as their home, there were no community cemeteries. Farms held the remains of those that passed on, and by the early 1830s, the McGee’s burial ground was in full use. Sitting in the heart of what is today known as the Freight House and Crossroads Arts District, the burial ground was on 20th Street between Broadway and Wyandotte.

  As Kansas City grew from a frontier settlement to a thriving metropolis, the family placed a large six-foot iron fence around it to mark its boundaries. Flowers, vines and beautiful shrubs delicately landscaped the grounds. Some graves were marked with simple stones. Others were only were remembered with rudimentary wooden crosses. Some, likely the enslaved, weren’t marked at all and only held space in loved ones’ memories.

  But James Hyatt McGee’s final burial spot was a marble masterpiece. Built above ground in white marble, the stone carved intricately with his name in 1840 stood the test of time.

  As family members and the enslaved met their final fate, the McGees had a safe place for them as the city slowly but surely encroached on their land.

  When Mother McGee died in 1880, she, too, was buried next to her husband. But her time there was limited.

  City ordinances just a few years later prevented any further family burials at this sacred ground, and the writing was on the wall. 

  Eleanor and James’ oldest son, A.B.H. McGee, had promised his mother before her death in 1880 that he would be sure to move the family to safer ground before he passed away.

  A.B.H. moved his first wife and his deceased children to Union Cemetery. He chose to move his mother, father, and other relatives to a new family burial plot at Elmwood Cemetery.

  By 1882, an undertaker was hired to remove all the bodies, estimated to be about 40, to final resting places. Elmwood reports that 39 bodies from this burial ground ended up in the McGee burial plot in their cemetery.

  Fourteen bodies were removed in one day, with some of them left with little or no identity. One was simply marked “Aunt Jennie” and another “Lyons.” A child’s coffin with no name was gingerly taken away by the undertakers.

  By 1898, the McGee graveyard was overtaken by warehouses and freight depots. Slowly, the fencing became bent and the flowers, vines and bushes overgrown. The few bodies that remained were being overtaken by more than just the city shadowing over it.

  Interestingly, one stone seemed to stick out from the rest in that aged, venerable cemetery. Even after bodies were exhumed, a few remained behind. Before this ground was completely erased, a stone that simply read “Old Carlo” jutted from the ground, hidden deeply in grass and weeds.

  One can only guess that Old Carlo was an enslaved man of the McGee family.

The Enduring Legacy

  The story simply doesn’t end with James Hyatt McGee and his wife, Eleanor “Mother” McGee. It was just the beginning of generations of accomplishments that certainly are more than a street named after this pioneer family.

   The tenacity this couple showed in the few records that do exist and the stories passed down through generations is likely the tip of the iceberg. What they saw when they first arrived with seven children remains only in our imaginations, but the legacy they built can be seen in the lives of their children and generations thereafter.

  In the next issue of the Telegraph, Diane will explore the lives of three of their children and the contributions they gave to the growth of Kansas City.