The history of Bartee and Lee Families

The Bartee and Lee Families
of
Dallas County, Missouri

The two oldest known and documented individuals of these two family lineages are Joel Lee, born 1756 in Virginia, and John S. Bartee, born in Virginia in 1803. These are the forefathers of the Lee and Bartee families of Dallas County, Missouri. This information is broken down into the different lineages of Joel Lee and John S. Bartee.

The family lineage of John S. Bartee.

John S. Bartee was born in Virginia about 1803. He moved to Montgomery County, Missouri prior to 1850. He is found in the 1850 and 1860 Federal Census of Montgomery County. Information the two censuses provide are shown below:

1850 Census - Montgomery Co., Mo.

John S. Bartee, age 56 (This census indicates his birth as about 1794.)
Mary Bartee, age 24 (This census indicates her birth as about 1826.)
Thomas Bartee, age 5 months

At the time the 1850 census was enumerated John Bartee and his family were living in the household of Edetha Moor. The Moor family was related to the Bartee family. The Moor family, as well as these other families were related by individual marriages; Hunter, Hall, Hubbard, Reynolds, Reed, Farris, McDaniel, Woodruff, Dunn, Highbarger, Stuart, and others. In 1850, John was living within the listed household of Edetha Moor, and was possibly working with, or for, the Moor family.

It is also unknown for sure, but some information indicates that John S. Bartee was married first to a Caroline Stuart. The "Mary", that is listed in the 1850 census, is thought to have been John's second wife. Given the age differences of this couple it is very possible. However, no record of John's first marriage has been found to date. Nor has any record indicating who John's father and mother were. There are many Bartee families who were well established in Virginia around the time John was born. Knowing which family John is the son of is still a mystery. At this time, the research of the family continues and more information might be known later about John's parents.

Mary, John's wife, is believed to have been Mary Ann Hunter. In the 1860 census (below) she is listed as "Ann". The young Thomas, age 5 months, found in the 1850 census, is Thomas Perry Bartee. Thomas is listed as age 10 in the 1860 census (see below). More about Thomas Perry Bartee and his descendants are told later in this article.

1860 Census - Montgomery Co., Mo.

This 1860 census tells the household of John S. Bartee as follows:

John S. Bartee, age 57 (Indicating John was born in 1803.)
Ann Bartee, age 34 (This agrees with the 1850 census, she was born in 1826.)
Thomas Bartee, age 10 (Born in 1850.)
Sarah Ann Bartee, age 8 (Born in 1852.)
Elizabeth Bartee, age 5 (Born in 1855)
Martha Bartee, age 2 (Born in 1858.)
Robt Moore, age 50 (Believed to be a member of the "Moor" family that John's family lived with in 1850.)

Notice that the Moor family also came from Virginia, as did John Bartee. It is unknown whether or not the Bartee family and Moor family moved together to Missouri from Virginia. It is quite possible that they did, and more research may enlighten us on this subject.

John Bartee was a tall man. He was six foot, seven inches tall. It has been said that John's grave is the longest grave in Montgomery County. John was left-handed. He was a blacksmith and a wagon maker. He was also a left-handed fiddle player. John was of French and Irish decent.

John died sometime after the 1860 census was taken. His wife, Mary (Ann) Bartee is found in the 1870 census, and still living in Montgomery County. In her household are her three daughters and Edmond Woodruff. Thomas, her son is not listed in the household. Edmond Woodruff is age 17. Martha Bartee (born 1858), Mary's daughter, later married Edmond Woodruff.

Mary Ann Bartee, John S. Bartee's wife and mother of Thomas Perry Bartee, that is listed in the 1850 and 1860 census, is also found in censuses after John's death. She is listed in the 1870 census of Montgomery County, Mo. as the head of household; in the 1880 census she's listed as living with her daughter, Martha, in Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.; in the 1900 census she and her daughter, Martha, were living together in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas. When Mary Ann Bartee died is not known, but in the 1900 census she was listed as age 72, and as being a widow. After the 1900 census, we not only lose track of Mary Ann, but also record of her daughter, Martha. Most likely they are both buried in Dallas County, Texas.

About Martha Bartee (Last child born to John S. and Mary Ann Bartee)

Martha Bartee was the last child born to Mary Ann (Hunter) and John S. Bartee. She was born about 1858-1861, in Montgomery County, Missouri. She first married Edmond F. Woodroof on December 24, 1874 in Mexico, Audrain Co., Mo. If she and Edmond divorced, or if Edmond died, I do not know at this time. But, in October of 1876, Martha married Samuel Appleton Dunn in Montgomery County, Missouri. See this webpage for more about Martha; Here

About Thomas Perry Bartee. (First child born to John S. and Mary Ann Bartee)

Thomas is reported to have gone to Texas for a short period of time. His sister, Martha, listed as the widow of Edmond Woodruff (spelled wrong in the census), later lived in the Dallas County, Texas area. It is reported that Texas is also where Thomas married Emaline Hubbard. The 1900 census confirms E. F. Woodruff (widow) and her son, Homer, were living in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas in 1900. Also, at the time the 1900 census was taken, Mary Bartee (Mary Ann Hunter Bartee), mother of Thomas Perry, and Martha Bartee, and the widow of John S. Bartee, was living in the household of her daughter, Martha. Both, Mrs. E. F. "Woodroof", age 40, and her mother Mary Ann Bartee, age 72, were listed as widows in that census. Both had lost their spouses prior to that census being taken.

Many family members think Emaline Hubbard, first wife of Thomas Perry Bartee, was born in Texas. However, all censuses found, on all the children of Emaline Hubbard and Thomas Perry Bartee, lists Emaline as having been born in Missouri. If Emaline Hubbard was born in Texas none of her children or her husband reported such information to any of the census takers. Thomas may have been in Texas for a short time, and he could have met and married Emaline Hubbard there; but I doubt that she was born there. It is more likely that she was born in Missouri. More than 10 documents in my possession indicate her birth as being in Missouri.

By 1876, Thomas and Emaline with their children, born before that year, were living in Township 46, Range 6, Montgomery County, Missouri. This is confirmed by the Missouri State Census report.

Per census records and other documents the following are the children of Thomas Perry and Emaline (Hubbard) Bartee; Ida F. Bartee, born 1868; Lula C. Bartee, born 1870; Henry M. Bartee, born 1872; Benjamin W. Bartee, born 1875; Emma Josephine Bartee, born 1878.

Emaline, report ably, died giving birth to the couple's last child around the year 1880. It is also said that the child, named Johnny, died at birth, or a short time after.

The children of Thomas Perry Bartee and Emaline Hubbard.

Read more about Ida F. Bartee Here

Read more about Lula Caroline Bartee Here

Read more about Benjamin Wesley Bartee Here

Read more about Emma Josephine Bartee Here

More about Thomas Perry Bartee and Ruth Ann Highbarger

In 1881 Thomas Perry Bartee remarried; he married Ruth Ann Highbarger.

Special Note:
Ruth Ann Highbarger , the second wife of Thomas Perry Bartee, was the older sister of Adda Joseph Highbarger. Adda Joseph Highbarger married Thomas Perry Bartee's daughter (by his first wife), Lula Caroline Bartee. Both, Ruth Ann and Adda Joseph Highbarger, were children of John A. Highbarger and Nancy Sallee.

Ruth Ann Highbarger was the daughter of John A. Highbarger and Nancy Sallee (Possible other spelling, "Salee"). Ruth was born Feb. 15, 1861 in Missouri. John A. Highbarger and Nancy Sallee were married in Lewis County, Mo. on Aug. 1, 1857. After Nancy died, John married Mary C. Glenn on Oct. 28, 1866 in Chariton Township, Howard County, Mo..

John A. Highbarger was born in 1837 in Clinton County, Indiana. His father, Henry Highbarger was born in Hempfield, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania on Dec. 7, 1804. John's mother, Nancy (Williams) Highbarger, report ably was born in Washington County, Indiana on Oct. 26, 1818. Henry and Nancy were living in Mount Pleasant, Scotland Co, Missouri when Nancy died. She died on Feb. 9, 1865. Henry moved his family to Chariton Township, Howard Co, Missouri by the year 1870. He lived near Fayette, Missouri. (More about the siblings of John A., and the ancestry of the Highbarger family later.)

Mary C. Glenn was born in Davis County, Mo.. Her mother and father were both born in Virginia.

In July of 1880 John A. and Mary (Glenn) Highbarger were living in Arrow Rock Township, Missouri. In the 1880 census John's household is listed as; John (himself), age 43; Mary, age 33; Ruth, age 18; Joseph, age 14; James, age 12; Luthur, age 9; Allice (Alice ?), age 1. Also, living with John and Mary was Thomas Glenn, age 22, a brother to Mary Glenn. John's children listed in the 1880 household, Ruth, and Joseph, were children of Nancy Salee; all other children listed were children of Mary C. (Glenn) Highbarger.

On September 18, 1881 Ruth Ann Highbarger married Thomas Perry Bartee in Howard Co., Mo.. Before 1884 Thomas and Ruth moved to Dallas County, Mo..

Thomas Perry received a Land Grant of 160 acres in Dallas County, Missouri on February 5, 1891. In order for Thomas to have received the land he was granted, it was required that he live on the land for at least five years, made improvements, built a house and dug a well. The requirements were some of the pre-conditions required for settlers to be granted the land. On May 20, 1882 an Act of Congress established and opened up settlement and land to be granted to settlers. It became law on Jan. 1, 1883. The Act allowed anyone to file for a quarter section (160 acres) of free land. This is why I think Thomas made the move to Dallas County, from Montgomery County, after the year 1883.

Thomas and Ruth might have went to Texas for a short visit after they were married; but, by 1884 or sooner, they came back to Missouri to settle in Dallas County, Mo.. Posibily due to the free land option that became available in January of 1883. The 1900 census for Thomas's household indicates all Thomas and Ruth's children were born in Missouri; the first being born in December of 1882 in Montgomery County, the next being born in 1884 in Dallas County, Mo..

Ruth Ann's parents also moved to Dallas County, Mo.. Her stepmother, Mary C. (Glenn) Highbarger, received 160 acres of free land in 1897. This would indicate that the John A. Highbarger family was living in Dallas County, Missouri as early as 1892. The Land Grant document indicates that Mary C. Highbarger is the widow of John A. Highbarger at the time she was granted the land. The document is dated May 17, 1897. Was John A. Highbarger living in Dallas County prior to 1892? If so, I have not been able to document it.

Thomas and Ruth Ann (Highbarger) Bartee had the following children (all born in Missouri); Frankie Sylvester Bartee, born Dec. 13, 1882; Dona Frances Bartee, born Oct. 18, 1884; Mary Ann Bartee, born Nov. 27, 1886; Jesse Lorenzo Bartee, born Feb. 25, 1889; Sarah Catherine Bartee, born Feb. 24, 1891; David Rice Bartee, born Feb, 27, 1896; Sappie Susanna Bartee, born Mar. 9, 1898; Asa Cyrenus, born Mar. 21, 1900; Alpha Omega Bartee, born April 29, 1902.

A rare 1902 photo of Thomas and Ruth's family is available

Thomas died on Feb. 25, 1903 in Dallas County, Mo.. His death was ten months after his last child was born. Thomas is buried at Lone Rock Cemetery, south of Plad, Mo..

Thomas and Ruth Ann Bartee

Lone Rock Church

The original 160 acres Thomas owned is located on the north side of Eagle Run Road, between Mo. T highway and White Tail Trail road, northwest of Plad, Mo..

Read about Thomas Perry Bartee, 1873 to 1880, in Montgomery County, Missouri Here

Children of Thomas Perry Bartee and Ruth Ann Highbarger

Frankie Sylvester Bartee, born Dec. 13, 1882 in Montgomery Co., Mo., was the first child born to Thomas and Ruth Bartee. He married Mary Adelia Waller on Jan. 10, 1906. His WWI Draft Card dated September 12, 1918 lists his address as Route 4, Buffalo, Mo.. He was of medium height, had brown hair and blue eyes. He was farming (a farmer) in 1918.

Mary Adelia (aka. spelling "Ardella") Waller, Frankie S. Bartee's wife, was born in, or near, Buffalo, Mo., on August 9, 1886. She was the daughter of William N. (aka. William B.) and Cordelia (aka. Delia) Waller. Mrs. Laura Coffelt, Cordelia's mother, was with Cordelia at the time Mary Adelia Waller was born. She was born in Norman Township, Dallas Co., Mo..

William N. Waller was a farmer. He was born in Missouri on Oct. 9, 1864. His mother and father were both born in Tennessee. He married Cordelia Coffelt on Mar. 25, 1883 in Buffalo, Mo..