Life History

Notes

• Some sources have this person's name as Joel Mackey and some as Joel Martin. But this appears to be a different Martin Keith.  Genealogies report the birth date of Joel Mackey Keith as 11 Feb 1899.  The Martin Keith who married Mary Jane Roper was born in 1792.  Census records of this family report the father as Martin.  I have not been able to find a second name for Martin Keith.  Joel Mackey Keith appears to be a different person.  See notes for Joel Mackey Keith.
  
  However, one marriage record reports the name of Mary Roper's husband as Joel M Keith.
  
  U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
  Joel M. Keith
  Gender: Male
  Birth Year: 1799
  Spouse Name: Mary Roper
  
  This seems to support the idea that Martin and Joel M are the same person.  Then what do we do with the records and references to Joel Mackey Keith?  Could it be that the same person received one middle name at birth (probably Mackey) and then began to use a different middle name Martin?
  
  Some genealogies report that Joel Martin Keith had a son named Joel Mackey.  Virginia birth records record a later Joel Mackey, born 8 May 1847.  This may be Joel Martin's son, whose birth date is reported in some sources as 9 May 1842.  It is likely that this later Joel Keith, born 1799, had the middle name of Mackey, because his mother's maiden name was Mackey.
  
  It appears to me that some genealogies have confused two lines of Keiths and two generations of Keiths and Mackeys.  Different generations of each with similar names married members of the other family.  Joel and John are favorite names in each generation of Keiths, with similar middle names.  Mackey is a middle name for several Keiths.
  
  The Keath genealogy reports helpful information about the Keith lineage, which seems to clarify the origin and generations of the Keith-Mackey connection.  This genealogy reports the father of this Martin Keith as John, married to a Jane Mackey.  I have not been able to find information on the family background of Jane Mackey.  Later generations of the Keith-Terry descendants made claims for enrollment in the Cherokee rolls based on an ancestor named John Keith.  That John Keith was said to be a Cherokee Indian by blood.  Perhaps Mary Lafoon/Laffoon, mother of this John Keith, was part Cherokee.
  
  ==============
  John Keith
  Born 2 Feb 1771 in Virginia
  Died 2 Feb 1853 in Pickens County, South Carolina
  Parents:  Cornelius Keith (1743-1820)  Mary Laffoon (1749-1846)
  Spouse Jane Mackey (1773-1845)
  Child Martin Keith (1800-1868)
  
  Timeline:
  1771 2 Feb  Birth Virginia
  source citations:
  OneWorldTree, Family Data Collection - Individual Records, 1850 United States Federal Census, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
  
  1850 Age: 79 Residence Eastern Division, Pickens, South Carolina
  1 source citation, 1850 United States Federal Census
  
  1853 2 Feb  Age: 82 Death, Pickens County, South Carolina
  --  Keith/Keath of Scotland Family Tree,  http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/2723953/person/-1822559500
  ==============
  
  There is a record of a Joel M Keith in Forsyth County, Georgia, whose wife is named Mary, but this is not the father of the children we are accounting for in this genealogy.  This Joel M Keith is likely the Joel referred to in some genealogies as Joel Mackey or Joel Martin Keith.  But the person of this name is not the father of Samuel, John B Oliver and others we are reporting.  This latter family were living close to the Terry clan and some married Terrys.  These two Keith lines are likely kin a couple of generations back in Virginia.
  
  Joel Mackey Keith is found in Forsyth County in 1850 while the Martin Keith we are reporting is in Murray County, Georgia.
  1850 Federal Census, Forsyth County, Georgia, 22 August, District 31, page 332-3 (166-7), Hse/Fam #308
  Joel M Keith 51 Male Carpenter $200 Real Estate  born South Carolina [b abt 1799]
  Mary Keith 45 Female born South Carolina [b abt 1805]
  
  The Keiths related to the specific Terry family and the Harkins of this genealogy are in Murray County:
  
  1850 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia, 15 November, page 267, Hse/Fam #1650
  Martin Keith 58 Male Farmer $5000 Real Estate  born Virginia [b abt 1792]
  Jane Keith 54 Female born South Carolina [b abt 1796]
  John B Keith 21 Male Farmer  born Georgia [b abt 1829]
  Oliver D Keith 17 Male Farmer  born Georgia [b abt 1833]
  Martha Keith 16 Female born Georgia [b abt 1834]
  Martin L Keith 14 Male Farmer  born Georgia [b abt 1836]
  
  1860 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia, 30 July, District 1013, PO Hoplers Mills, page 101, Hse #714, Fam #678
  Martin Keith 68 Male Farmer $4200 Real Estate $3745 Personal  born Virginia [b abt 1792]
  Jane Keith 63 Female born South Carolina [b abt 1797]
  Martha F Keith 3 Female born South Carolina [b abt 1857]
  
  I do not know who the 3-year-old Martha is.  She was born in South Carolina, so may be a grand-niece of Martin.  Martin died some time after this census.  In 1870, Jane appears in the household of their son Martin L.  She is not found after that census.  I have not found exact death information.

Sources

• 1. 1850 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 15 November, page 267, Hse/Fam #1650
• 2. 1860 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 30 July, Militia District 1013, PO Hoplers Mills, page 101, Hse #714, Fam #678
• 3. Ancestry Trees
  • Richard Bates, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=rbbates1302004&id=I00088
• 4. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• 5. Family Data Collection - Individual Records
• 6. Ancestry Trees
  • Richard Bates, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=rbbates1302004&id=I00060
• 7. 1850 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 19 November, page 552, Hse/Fam #1795
• 8. 1860 Federal Census, Whitfield County, Georgia
  • 3 August, District 10, PO Rural Vale, page 178 (scan 691), Hse #1266, Fam #1262
• 9. Ancestry Trees
  • http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=*v58t2459&id=I5552
• 10. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 11. 1850 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 13 November, page 31 (scan p 262), Hse/Fam #1584
• 12. 1860 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 26 July, Militia District 984, PO Hopler's Mills, page 91, Hse #644, Fam #615
• 13. Ancestry Trees
  • http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm-cgi?op=GET&db=*v133t0575&id=I1176&ftm=1
• 14. Family Data Collection - Births
• 15. Ancestry Trees
  • Richard Bates, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=rbbates1302004&id=I00086
• 16. 1860 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 26 July, Militia District 1013, PO Hopler's Mills, page 92, Hse #647, Fam #619
• 17. 1880 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 1 June, Doolittle (Militia District 972), PO Spring Place, District 154, page 12, Hse #108, Fam #117
• 18. 1870 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 23 July, Militia District 1013, PO Spring Place, page 7, Hse/Fam #50
• 19. Alabama, Census of Confederate Soldiers, 1907, 1921
• 20. 1880 Federal Census, Catooga County, Georgia
  • 11 June, Catooga District 1109, Enumeration District 13, page 14, Hse #129, Fam #135
• 21. 1870 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia
  • 25 July, Militia District 1013, PO Spring Place, page 9 (scan p 548), Hse/Fam #61
• 22. 1900 Federal Census, Whitfield County, Georgia
  • 24 June, Dalton District outside Dalton Town, District 105, Page 18, House #326, Family #347