Background

Edward McGehee was born on November 8, 1786, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, United States. He was the son of Micajah McGehee and Ann Scott McGehee.

Career

Edward McGehee came to Mississippi on a flatboat and settled in Wilkinson County around 1810, where he was a noted planter.

He was largely responsible for the building of the West Feliciana Railroad, which ran from Woodville to Bayou Sara. The railroad later became part of the Illinois Central system.

Judge McGehee owned Bowling Green Plantation near Woodville. The plantation spread across several thousand acres and included a textile factory.

In 1860, Edward McGehee owned more than 800 slaves, several plantations, and over 23,000 acres. Although he supported the Union in the Civil War, his factory-provided clothing for the Confederate Army during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. As a result, Union troops burned down the Bowling Green plantation house in 1864. In an 1867 letter, Judge McGehee describes the incident, and his son, J. Burruss McGehee, provides an account of the events of that day in a 1903 narrative. He declined an offer to become Zachary Taylor's secretary of the treasury.

Achievements

• Judge Edward McGehee was a wealthy planter and distinguished judge of Woodville, Mississippi. He built the West Feliciana Railroad, founded the Woodville Bank, owned one of the first cotton factories in the state, and contributed large sums of money to churches and colleges. He became the wealthiest man in Mississippi. He also spent a few terms in the Mississippi legislature.
  
  The former Edward McGehee College of Girls in Mississippi was named in his honor.

Religion

Edward was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Membership

McGehee co-founded the Mississippi Colonization Society, whose goal was to send freedmen and free people of color to Liberia in West Africa.

Connections

Edward McGehee married Mary Hines Burruss in 1829. They had several children; among them was John Burruss McGehee, who became one of the largest plantation owners of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, and Augusta Eugenia.

Father:

Micajah McGehee

Mother:

Nancy Anne Scott McGehee

1753-1816

Brother:

James McGehee

1770-1826

Brother:

Thomas Baytop McGehee

1771-1832

Sister:

Elizabeth McGehee Hill

1773-1816

Brother:

Charles McGehee

1775-1794

Brother:

Hugh McGehee

1793-1855

Wife:

Mary Hines Burruss McGehee

1812-1873

Son:

Charles Goodrich McGehee

1823-1903

Son:

Francis William McGehee

1831-1843

Son:

John Burruss McGehee

1836-1913

Daughter:

Harriett Lucinda McGehee

1844-1851

Daughter:

Augusta Eugenia McGehee

1854-1882

References

• Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy
  1977