MEMOIR OF W J MC GEE 19 



William John McGee— or simply W J McGee, as in later years he 

 preferred to be known — was born on a farm at Farley, Dubuque County, 

 Iowa, April 17, 1853, and died at Washington, D. C, September 5, 1912. 

 He was the fourth of a family of eight children born to James and 

 Martha Ann (Anderson) McGee, and is survived by three brothers and a 

 sister, the others having died in infancy or youth. His parents were of 

 sturdy Scotch-Irish stock, his great-great-grandfather on the paternal 

 side having been Alexander McGee of County Down, Ireland, who came 

 early to this country, and on the maternal side the line leads back to 

 Samuel Anderson, who was born at sea, about 1740, of Irish emigrant 

 parents. The latter resided near Yorktown, Virginia, and both partici- 

 pated in the Eevolution on the American side, which perhaps accounts 

 in a way for McGee's intense Americanism. In infancy and early youth, 

 although always of large size for the years, McGee was in frail health 

 and somewhat uncertain in disposition, and even in later life, notwith- 

 standing his rugged physical appearance, he was far from being as strong 

 as seemed apparent. 



McGee's early education followed the usual course in sparsely settled 

 county districts. He attended irregularly the county district school until 

 he was about 14 years of age, but as the school was confessedly of low 

 grade, it is not probable that he advanced much beyond the merest rudi- 

 ments. From this time on his education was almost entirely the result 

 of intense individual effort. In this, as is so often the case, he was urged 

 and stimulated by the mother, an excellently well informed woman, who 

 was particularly anxious that her family should be well educated. The 

 last one apparently to give him formal instruction (1867-1868) was an 

 older brother, who speaks of him as an exceedingly apt pupil, acquiring 

 knowledge easily and retaining it in what was later developed into a 

 really marvelous memory. His home studies were continued over the 

 years 1867-1874, during which time he studied Latin, German (in which 

 he became especially proficient), and the higher mathematics, including 

 astronomy and surveying. He also read law and to some extent engaged 

 in justice-court practice, but this never was considered as of much im- 

 portance in his plan of life and was soon laid aside. He was, however, 

 an excellent surveyor, having been instructed in this Hold by a maternal 

 uncle, and his work was much in demand in the neighborhood. 



When about twenty years old McGee learned blacksmithing and for 

 several years engaged in the manufacture and sale of agricultural imple- 

 ments. In conjunction witli an older brother and a cousin, he invented 

 and patented (June 9, 1874) an improved adjustable cultivator, but the 



