Related Web Site: Descendants of William Magill, Generation no. 3, by Mark Magill.

Family Remembrance (1938):1057 "James Magill enlisted in Rockingham County, Virginia, in the month of September, year not given, and served four months as private in Captain Craven’s company, Colonel Benjamin Harrison’s Virginia regiment, was out against the Shawnee Indians, and assisted in building Forts MacIntosh and Laurens. He volunteered, shortly afterwards, and served three weeks in Captain Craven’s company in Colonel Harrison’s regiment, in pursuit of Tories in Hampshire County. He enlisted sometime in June, 1781, served two months in Captain Hanson’s company in Colonel Harrison’s regiment, and was in the Battle of Jamestown.

He was allowed pension on his application executed September 4, 1832, at which time he was seventy-four years of age, and a resident of Green County, Tennessee.

James Magill married March 10, 1789 in Greene County, Tennessee, Mary McMeans. He died August 24, 1839.

The widow, Mary Magill, was living in 1844 in Walker County, Georgia, then aged seventy-six years. The date and place of her birth and names of her parents were not given.

The names of the children of James Magill and his wife, Mary, follow as found in the claim:
Thomas, born December 23, 1790
Robert, born March 24, 1792
James, born February 2, 1795
Nathaniel, born February 28, 1797
Samuel Wallace, born January 17, 1799
Harvey, born September 29, 1801

One Thomas Magill, a resident of Sullivan County, Tennessee, in 1851, states that he was ‘one of the heirs at law of James Magill late of the State of Tennessee’ who was a Revolutionary War pensioner. Degree of relationship was not shown."

Biographical Sketch (1907):1062, p. 28-30. "James Magill was born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1756. He was of Scotch-Irish descent and a son of William Magill. He served in the Revolutionary War as a member of the Twelfth Virginia Regiment of foot, under Colonel James Wood, as shown by the following certificate from the War Department in Washington:

‘War Department, The Military Secretary’s Office, Washington, DC, November 6, 1906. It is shown by the records, that one James Magill (also borne as James McGill), was a member of Captain Jonathan Langdon’s Company, and of Captain Benjamin Casey’s Company, Twelfth Virginia Regiment of foot, commanded by Colonel James Wood, Revolutionary War. His name appears first on the roll, dated September 3, 1777.’

Soon after the Revolutionary War, James Magill emigrated to the ‘New World west of the Alleghanies,’ as the great wilderness of the southwest was then known, and along with other hardy pioneers, he made a home for himself in what is now known as Greene County, East Tennessee. The most stirring chapter of the history of the early days of Tennessee relates to the period from 1784 to 1788, when the settlers west of the mountains set up the free and independent State of Franklin, and ignored the authority of both North Carolina and the United States. The first legislature of this short-lived State met in Greeneville in 1785, and our grandfather was in the thick of the stirring incidents of these strenuous times. He had five brothers and one sister, names not known. His stature was six feet; weight 190 pounds; fair complexion, black hair and dark blue eyes. His first wife was Betsy Evans. Their first child, Margaret Magill, was born February 10, 1784, and was married to Adam Wilson. Their second child, William Magill, was born September 13, 1785. These were the only children of James Magill’s first wife.

Mary McMeans and James Magill were married in 1788. She was born July 20, 1769, of Scotch-Irish parentage. Her father’s name was Thomas McMeans, and her mother’s maiden name was Susannah Rutledge. She had four brothers and three sisters; her education was primary, and she was a Presbyterian. Her stature was five and a half feet; weight, about 140 pounds; very fair complexion, light brown hair, blue eyes, health, rather delicate.

From 1822 to 1834 there was a gradual breaking up of the family in Greene County, Tennessee, two sons going to Indiana, one son to Kentucky, and several others to Monroe County, Tennessee. The final breaking up came about 1839, when James Magill and wife came to Monroe County, Tennessee and made their home there. The records show that James Magill died with a congestive chill, August 24, 1840; place of death, three miles west of Madisonville, Tennessee; age, eighty-five; place of internment, Madisonville, Tennessee. His education was primary; occupation, a farmer; politics, Whig; religion, a Presbyterian elder. After his death, his widow went, with her youngest child Susannah Matilda, to what was then Walker, but now Catoosa County, Georgia, and lived with her bachelor son, Harvey, until the daughter was married to Nathan Anderson, when, I suppose, she went to live with the daughter, for the records show that she died December 4, 1845; place of death, Nathan Anderson’s, near Ringgold, Georgia; age 76; place of internment, Chickamauga Stone Church, Georgia."

Biographical Sketch (1907):1062, p. 22. "The tide of immigration swelled rapidly after the first settlers organized a stable from of government in Tennessee, and the Scotch-Irish from the Valley of Virginia, including the Moores, Wilsons, Rankins, and Magills, formed quite a colony in what is now Greene County, from the years 1775 to 1790. Timber Ridge Church was organized by this colony, and named for the old church in Virginia. A son of one of the charter members, Rev. William B. Rankin, said one of his earliest recollections of the old ‘Timber Ridge’ Church in Greene County was the sight of the Old Revolutionary soldier, James Magill, marching to his family pew, accompanied by his family of eight sons. They were noted singers, and their voices greatly swelled and enriched the service of praise."

Biographical Sketch (1918):966, v. 2, p. 237-238. "James Magill, Virginia Patriot and Tennessee Pioneer. James McGill, son of William and grandson of William, of Rockingham County, Virginia, was born in 1756, in Augusta County, Virginia. He served in the Revolution in the Twelfth Virginia Regiment.

He emigrated with his father's family to North Carolina, now Greene County, Tennessee, about 1783. He married twice, his wives belonging to neighboring families. By his first wife, Elizabeth Evans, he had a daughter, Margaret, and a son, William. James McGill married a second time, Mary McMeans; the issue of this marriage was nine sons and one daughter. In 1839, James Magill moved to Monroe County, Tennessee. A year later, 1840, he died at his home, three miles west of Madisonville. The widow of James Magill, Mary McMeans Magill, after her husband's death, made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Nathan Anderson, in Ringgold, Georgia, where her death took place December 4, 1845."

1774 Military Service:1073 James McGill took part in Dunmore’s War for 28 days with Sergeant Joseph Dictern’s Company from Augusta County, Virginia.

Descendant Information

The descendants of this line are further detailed in Magill Family Record,1062 by Robert M. Magill, published 1907.