John McKee (1771 – August 12, 1832) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

active in the Southeastern United States. He served as agent to the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

s and Choctaws, and was the first

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

's 2nd District from 1823 to 1829. He was also commissioned by President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

in 1811 to help wrest

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and

West Florida West Florida ( es, Florida Occidental) was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. As its name suggests, it was formed out of the western part of former S ...

from Spanish control.

Early life

McKee was born in Rockbridge County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

(then part of

Augusta County Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its count ...

), and attended Liberty Hall Academy in Lexington. By 1792 McKee was in the

Southwest Territory The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States a ...

(which later became the State of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

). He was appointed that year by territorial Governor

William Blount William Blount (March 26, 1749March 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, statesman, farmer and land speculator who signed the United States Constitution. He was a member of the North Carolina delegation at the Constitutional Convention o ...

to survey the boundary with the

nation established by the 1791

Treaty of Holston The Treaty of Holston (or Treaty of the Holston) was a treaty between the United States government and the Cherokee signed on July 2, 1791, and proclaimed on February 7, 1792. It was negotiated and signed by William Blount, governor of the South ...

. McKee was sent on a peacekeeping mission to the Cherokees in 1793, and was temporarily appointed territorial agent for the Cherokees in 1794. In 1795, McKee became a lawyer, a lieutenant colonel in the militia, and

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

for Blount County, Southwest Territory. In 1797 McKee was sent by the United States government to meet with representatives of Panton, Leslie and Company in Pensacola, Florida, to discuss debts owed by the Choctaws to that company. McKee was appointed United States agent to the Choctaw nation in 1799, and served in that capacity until 1802.McKee may have been dismissed as agent to the Choctaws because of possible involvement in the Blount Conspiracy. J. C. A. Stagg notes that McKee is not named in accounts of the conspiracy, but that McKee was deeply involved in Blount's affairs(Stagg 2007:274). After his dismissal as agent to the Choctaws, John McKee served at times as representative to the Choctaws for John Forbes and Company (the successor to Panton, Leslie and Company). The Choctaws had large debts to Forbes, and McKee and Forbes believed that the only way the Choctaws could pay their debts was by selling their land to the United States. McKee continued to do business with Forbes even when he was employed by the United States government.

Florida mission

In 1810 the westernmost districts of Spanish West Florida

revolted In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

and were soon annexed by the United States. Juan Vicente Folch y Jaun, governor of West Florida, feared that filibusterers would try to seize the rest of the province. In an attempt to prevent military intervention by the United States, in early December 1810 Folch offered to peaceably turn over Florida to the United States if he had not received reinforcements or instructions to not do so by the end of the year. John McKee was in

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

, and was given a copy of Folch's offer to carry overland to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Shortly after John McKee reached Washington in January 1811, President

decided to send George Mathews to negotiate the surrender of West Florida with Governor Folch, and to investigate means to detach

East Florida East Florida ( es, Florida Oriental) was a colony of Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of Spanish Florida from 1783 to 1821. Great Britain gained control of the long-established Spanish colony of ''La Florida'' in 1763 as part of ...

from Spain so that it could be annexed by the United States. Late in January 1811, McKee was appointed to accompany Mathews on his mission to the Floridas. McKee and Mathews traveled to St. Marys, Georgia, just across the St. Marys River from East Florida, where Mathews determined that conditions for a revolt in East Florida were not ripe. McKee and Mathews then headed to Mobile to meet with Governor Folch. Folch had in the meantime rescinded his offer to surrender West Florida to the United States, having received money and orders from

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. After further unsuccessful negotiations with Governor Folch, McKee went to

Fort Stoddert Fort Stoddert, also known as Fort Stoddard, was a stockade fort in the U.S. Mississippi Territory, in what is today Alabama. It was located on a bluff of the Mobile River, near modern Mount Vernon, close to the confluence of the Tombigbee and Al ...

(on the Mobile River) to watch events in West Florida, while Mathews returned to St. Marys to do the same for East Florida. Mathews sent McKee instructions about inciting rebellion in Mobile and Pensacola, in West Florida, but McKee's efforts were of a "halfhearted nature.". McKee's commission to help acquire the Floridas for the United States was cancelled in early 1812.

Later life

In 1813 John McKee was sent by

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

to ensure that the Choctaws sided with the United States against the Creeks. He recruited Choctaws to fight against the Red Sticks in the Creek War (1813–1814), and personally led a contingent in one attack. McKee was re-appointed agent to the Choctaw nation in 1814, and recruited Choctaws and

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classif ...

s to fight with Andrew Jackson against the British. McKee was one of the agents who negotiated the Treaty of Fort St. Stephens with the Choctaw nation in 1816. McKee continued as agent to the Choctaw nation until 1821. He served as the registrar of the

United States Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population o ...

, from 1821 to 1823. John McKee was the first

's 2nd District from 1823 to 1829. In 1824, McKee was sent to

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

, Florida, to settle the location of the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

granted to the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. After leaving the House of Representatives in 1829, McKee was one of the men who negotiated the

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...

with the Choctaw nation in 1830. John McKee built a house in Boligee,

in 1816, which remained his permanent home. McKee may have married a Chickasaw woman, with whom he had a son and daughter. He died at his home in Boligee in 1832.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, John United States Indian agents 1771 births 1832 deaths People from Rockbridge County, Virginia Pre-statehood history of Florida Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama 19th-century American politicians People from Boligee, Alabama