John William McGhee

1863 - 1931  (~ 68 years)

• Name	John William McGhee
  Born	Mar 1863	Russell County, Virginia, USA
  Gender	Male
  Census 1880	1880	New Garden, Russell, Virginia, USA
  Image Transcript Ln Hhold Given Surname Relation Gender Race BirthDate Age Status BirthPlace BirthPlace of Father BirthPlace of Mother Occupation Street 1 10 William Mcghee Self Male White Abt 1812 68 Married Virginia Virginia Virginia Laborer 2 10 Julia A. Mcghee Wife Female White Abt 1842 38 Married Virginia Virginia Virginia Keeping House 3 10 John Mcghee Son Male White Abt 1864 16 Single Virginia Virginia Virginia At Home 4 10 May E. Mcghee Daughter Female White Abt 1867 13 Single Virginia Virginia Virginia At Home 5 10 Martha J. Mcghee Daughter Female White Abt 1868 12 Single Virginia Virginia Virginia At Home 6 10 Eliza A. Mcghee Daughter Female White Abt 1870 10 Single Virginia Virginia Virginia At Home 7 10 George W. Mcghee Son Male White Abt 1874 6 Single Virginia Virginia Virginia 8 10 Charles A. Mcghee Son Male White Abt 1878 2 Single Virginia Virginia Virginia
  Died	1 April 1931	Red Ash, Russell, Virginia, USA   [1]
  Killed in a gun battle at Red Ash. The shooting refers to John's second wife, name unknown. Deputy Sheriff Kills Wild Man Unfortunate Shooting Affair at Raven Wednesday in Which Officer is Forced to Resort to Force-Exonerated of Blame. (By Edward Hand) Raven, Va. April 2 - John McGee, aged about 45 years, a raving maniac, inspired by pangs of jealousy, ran amuck on Coal Creek with a 45 army colts revolver late Wednesday, seriously wounding his estranged wife, shooting his sister-in-law and killing his wife's lover before a 30-30 bullet from a high power rifle, in the hands of Deputy Sheriff Vince McGraw, brought the mad man's life to an end.William Abshire, the dead lover of McGee's wife, leaving a wife and several children, was killed while sitting parked in an automobile with Mrs. McGee and her aged sister, who was the step-mother of Abshire, and Mrs. McGee and her sister, Mrs. James Abshire were wounded.The trouble is said to have started several months ago when Henry Abshire also married, another brother of the dead lover, ran away with Mrs. McGee, living with her for some time, returning to her husband for a short time only, in which time McGee bought and deed a new Ford Sedan to her to have her leave him again with William Abshire, taking the automobile with her, which McGee tried to regain by going and taking the car some ten days previous which resulted in more trouble. Last Friday Deputy Sheriff J.B. Altizer place a levy on the car but left it in the possession of Mrs. McGee. It was in this care that the trio had been riding, and after leaving the state highway at about a distance of thirty yards their path was blocked by one of Mullins Lumber Company's trucks loaded with logs which were being unloaded and while thus parked, McGee descended from the cab of the truck and approached the trio in the car, and without speaking, opened the door and began firing, wounding the two women and killing the man, then remarking to the truck men that after getting one more he was going to kill himself, at which remark Mr. Mullins, the mill owner, asked him not to do such an act but to go on and give himself up to an officer and he would come clear at trial, but the man gone made with jealousy, started walking down the railroad, swinging the pistol from side to side and after walking through the coal camp of Premier Red Ash to a point about a half mile below, he encountered Deputy McGraw, who had been summoned from Raven to arrest the maniac, but concealing his pistol behind him, McGee got the drop on the officer at a distance of about twenty feet, telling him if he came another step closer he would kill him in his tracks. After McGraw saw that the man was mad and intended to resume his killing, he pleaded with the man not to resist arrest nor kill any one else and sparred with the man until his son Walter McGee, could be summoned from the mines to try and get his father to consent to their terms, but upon arriving the son was met with the same threat that the officer received. Then keeping the officer under cover the maniac headed for the woods. McGraw then dispatched a man to his home in Rave, a distance of three miles, to get his high powered rifle. He deputized two men, Fred Underwood and P.O. Palmer, to assist him in trailing the murderer. At point near the top of the mountain and close to the home of Henry Abshire, the other intended victim, the deputies exchanged a volley of shots with McGee, who turned and fled down the mountain and came out on the railroad in the lower end of Red Ash No. 2 camp, and evidently started for the home of his son Walter, but got in the wrong yard and found the door barred, then emptying his gun at the trio of officers who were coming down a slate dump, the man ran around the house and under the back porch to reload again firing at the officers at which time McGraw shot him through the head from a distance of 1,500 feet. During the running fight about 150 spectators had gathered to witness the climax, one stray bullet from the officers gun plowed through the side of a house of John Davis and buried itself in the floor.Mrs. McGee is a patient in the Mattie Williams hospital suffering with a bullet wound in the abdomen, her sister received a glancing shot along her hip, while Abshire was shot through the heart and remained sitting upright with both hands on the steering wheel. The shooting started at the mill of the Mullins Lumber Co's. mill and lasted up the mountains and back to Red Ash. The officer came clear in a court, composed the magistrates and N. Clarence Smith, Commonwealths Attorney, at Richlands last night. Note: WE APOLOGIZE In writing the head for the article from Raven last week regarding the John McGee shooting, we used the words, "Deputy Sheriff Kills Wild Man." The heading written just a few minutes before press time, was ill advised, and we regret that we used the terms there applied. A number of relatives of the unfortunate man are among the best people of Raven and vicinity.
  Age	~ 68 years
  Siblings	6 siblings
  1. Elizabeth "Eliza" McGhee           b. 1865, Russell County, Virginia, USA
  2. Mary McGhee           b. 1867, Virginia, United States
  3. Martha Jane McGhee           b. 1868, Virginia, United States
  4. George McGhee           b. Abt 1874, Virginia, United States
  5. Nancy Jane McGhee           b. 1875, Russell County, Virginia, USA
  6. Charles McGhee           b. 1878, Virginia, United States
  Photos
  Person ID	P164	Burress Genealogy of Virginia

  
  

  Father	William John McGhee           b. 1810, Virginia, United States           d. Bef 1893  (Age < 82 years)
  Mother	Julia Ann Newberry           b. Dec 1841, Franklin County, Virginia, USA           d. Jan 1923, Laurel, Kentucky, United States  (Age ~ 81 years)
  Family ID	F767	Group Sheet

  
  

  Wife	Geneva Anderson           b. 7 Aug 1870, Dickenson County, Virginia           d. 5 Feb 1930, Raven, Tazewell County, Virginia, USA  (Age 59 years)
  Married	20 Jan 1886	Dickenson County, Virginia   [2]
  Children	12 children
  1. Andrew "Andy" McGhee           b. Russell County, Virginia, USA   2. Eliza McGhee   3. Mary McGhee           b. Mar 1887, Russell County, Virginia, USA           d. After 1975, Zephryshill, Florida  (Age ~ 88 years) + 4. Elbert McGhee           b. 11 May 1891, Russell County, Virginia, USA           d. 16 Aug 1977, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA  (Age 86 years) + 5. Walter Jackson McGhee           b. 30 Jun 1894, Swords Creek, Russell, Virginia, USA           d. 05 Dec 1963, Tazewell County, Virginia  (Age 69 years)   6. Frances A McGhee           b. Jul 1896, Virginia, United States   7. Louise McGhee           b. 1897, Virginia, United States   8. Dewey Lee McGhee           b. 3 Aug 1902, Russell County, Virginia, USA           d. 27 Mar 1920, Russell County, Virginia, USA  (Age 17 years) + 9. George Washington McGhee           b. 29 Mar 1905, Russell County, Virginia, USA           d. 1 Feb 1975, Swords Creek, Russell, Virginia, USA  (Age 69 years)   10. Joseph McGhee           b. Abt 1906, Virginia, United States + 11. Clarence "Fuzz" Edward McGhee           b. 2 Sep 1908, Russell County, Virginia, USA           d. 26 Dec 1980, Swords Creek, Russell, Virginia, USA  (Age 72 years)   12. Dixie McGhee           b. Abt 1910, Russell County, Virginia, USA           d. After 1975, Millersville, Anne Arundel, Maryland, USA  (Age ~ 66 years)
  Family ID	F764	Group Sheet

  
  

• Event Map	Click to display
  		Born - Mar 1863 - Russell County, Virginia, USA Census 1880 - 1880 - New Garden, Russell, Virginia, USA Married - 20 Jan 1886 - Dickenson County, Virginia Died - 1 April 1931 - Red Ash, Russell, Virginia, USA  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S-1444881199] Newspaper Notice, Clinch Valley News, In the Clinch Valley Newspaper Tazewell Virginia, March 1931. Story from Audrey McGee Helbert: John caught Geneva with another man in a car and shot them both. The man in the car with Geneva died. Geneva did not die. Vince McGraw was the law man at the time and lived below Powell Palmer. Vince deputized Powell and a posse to go after John. After the shooting, John went to his son Walters to hide. Vince and the posse caught up to John and Vince shot and killed him. Clarence, Powell's son-in-law, did not talk to Powell for about 9 years because of this. [S-1444881244] Marriage Record, marraige records, bk. 1 p. 5 L. 4.