Thomas McKee
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Thomas McKee (c. 1770 – 20 October 1814) was a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
soldier and political figure.


Biography

McKee was born in the Ohio Country around 1770. He was the son of
Alexander McKee Alexander McKee ( – 15 January 1799) was an American-born military officer and colonial official in the British Indian Department during the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War. He achieved the ...
(c. 1735–1799), an important official in the
British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Canada in 1860, thus setting ...
, and the grandson of Thomas McKee (c.1695–1769), a veteran of
King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...
and the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
as well as a business associate of
George Croghan George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...
. His great-grandfather Alexander McKee (d.1740) immigrated to Pennsylvania from
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,
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, around 1707, and was a veteran of the
Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...
. His mother was a Shawnee woman, Nonhelema, who had become a Shawnee chief by 1750. In 1788, the
Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
and
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granted him a lease for Pelee Island for 999 years. In 1791, he became a member of the 60th Regiment of Foot of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
at
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. Three years later, he was part of the Siege of Fort Recovery. eventually reaching the rank of
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in 1796. In the same year, he became superintendent of Indian affairs for the Northwestern District. In 1797, he also became responsible for the Amherstburg region and he was elected to represent
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in the
2nd Parliament of Upper Canada The 2nd Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 1 June 1797. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in August 1796. The first session was held at Navy Hall in Newark. The Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe believed York w ...
. McKee was reelected in 1800 to represent
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. Around 1806, his duties with the 60th Foot ended, he joined the local militia and served as a
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in the militia during the
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. In 1814, he was accused of grave misconduct, having gotten drunk and allowed his native followers to become drunk and disorderly. During his life, he owned seven or eight
slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. He died near Île des Cascades in
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
in 1814 while travelling to
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.


References


Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
*Nelson, Larry L. ''A Man of Distinction among Them: Alexander McKee and the Ohio Country Frontier, 1754–1799.'' Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Thomas 1770s births 1814 deaths British Indian Department Canadian slave owners Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Royal American Regiment officers Shawnee people