Source: "History of Jefferson County, Illinois" by William Henry Perrin in 1883"
Submitted By: Sandy (Whalen) Bauer

The Casey family was and is the most numerous, perhaps, as well as the most prominent, of all the pioneer families of Jefferson County. Abner Casey,* the progenitor of the family in America, was born in the County Tyrone, Ireland, and there, upon arriving at the years of maturity, married a Welsh lady, who, like himself, possessed great physical and mental powers. They emigrated to America somewhere about the middle of the eighteenth century and settled in Virginia, close neighbors to Edmund Randolph. Their children were all born while they lived on the Roanoke, and were Levi, Randolph and a daughter—Randolph being named for their illustrious neighbor. The family moved to South Carolina about the year 1760, located near Spartansburg, where they lived until after the close of the Revolutionary war.

They were stanch patriots and bore an active and honorable part in the war for liberty and independence. Levi was a Colonel of South Carolina troops during the Revolution; Moses was a Captain in the same service and Randolph was a Sergeant under Francis Marion—the " Swamp Fox of the Santee." He was present on the memorable occasion when Gen. Marion feasted the British officer on sweet potatoes, roasted in his camp fire. He was in many of the battles fought in the Carolinas and in Georgia during the war. His wife was Mary Jane Pennington, and their children were Levi, Randolph, Isaac, Abraham, Charity, Hiram, Samuel and Zadok. These were all born in South Carolina except Zadok, who was born in Georgia, whither the family had removed about the year 1795, and where they remained until about 1800, when they removed into Tennessee, locating in Smith County. Here the father, Randolph Casey, died.

Of Randolph Casey's children, all eventually came to Illinois to reside except Hiram. He was a minister of the Gospel and made a visit here once, and while in the county preached to the pioneers with marked effect Samuel Casey was the last of the children to remove West, and came in 1832, locating in the edge of Grand Prairie, where he died in 1850, his wife dying only a few years ago.

Zadok, the youngest, came in 1817. Of him we shall have more to say hereafter. Levi, the eldest son, came to Illinois in an early day, but never lived in Jefferson County. He settled in what is now Johnson County, where he died. Randolph, the second son, located on the Centralia road, about four miles from Mount Vernon. He afterward moved into Clinton County, and finally to Iowa and died there.

Isaac Casey, the third Mon of Randolph Casey, came to Jefferson County, as noticed in a preceding chapter, in the spring of 1817. He was born in 1765, and in 1788 was married to Elizabeth Mackey. Soon after his marriage, he emigrated to Kentucky and settled in Barren County, from whence he came to Illinois in 1803, locating on the Ohio River a short distance above Cave-in-Rock. His wife died in 1834 and in the fall of 1836, he married Jemima Oard. She died in 1846, and he then made his home with his children until his death. He was a man of the strictest integrity, a true type of the old-time Christian. He helped the helpless, aided the weak, fed the hungry, was a friend of peace and always ready to work to promote the interests of the church. Honest in business, courteous and kind, he was a friend to all mankind as were all men who knew him a friend to him. His children were Rebecca, William, Polly, Abraham T., Thomas M., Brunetta Catherine and Miranda. Rebecca married Isaac Hicks; Polly married Clark Casey: Brunetta married Carter Wilkey; Catherine married Henry Tyler and Miranda married George Bullock.

William Casey, the eldest son of Isaac Casey, came to Jefferson County in 1817. About 1?36 or 1837, he moved to the north part of the State, but in a year or two, came back to this county and resided here until his death in 1854. His wife was Amy Barker; their children were Blackford, Maletna, William "Buck," Abraham, Drury B., Thomas, Melissa and Zadok. Mr. Casey was a compound of noble and generous qualities, and passions dark and bitter when aroused. He was enterprising and industrious, and for a long time one of the richest men in the county. A story is told of him, that when he moved back from the north part of the State, where he had lived a short time, he had over a bushel of specie, and there are those who believe that he had large sums buried at the time of his death that will never be found, unless by accident. With all his faults, and who of us but has faults ? he ever maintained the dignified bearing of a gentleman of the old school.

Abraham T. Casey, the next oldest brother of William, was a minister of the Gospel. He married Vylinda Maxey in 1819, and located on the Salem road, where he died in 1834. He was a faithful minister of the Cross, and preached through all the surrounding country. His children were Harriet, who married Dr. W. S. Van Cleve, of Centralia; Catherine, who married M. Morrow; Belveretta, who married J. R. Walker; Lafayette, an itinerant minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church: Sarah, who married John Sproule; Elizabeth, who married Marion Galbraith; and Martha, who married Dr. Shirley, of Xenia.

Thomas M. Casey, the third son of Isaac Casey, was born in 1801, while his father lived in Barren County. Ky., and hence was but sixteen when the family moved to this county. He married Harriet Maxey in October, 1819. Though but eighteens years of age, he was possessed with a spirit of independence, and early in the following January went out and selected a place on his own land to build a residence. He found a site, raked away the snow, put up a rail pen. put his roof on, using rails for " weight poles," moved in and set up housekeeping on his own account. This was near where the two story dwelling stands in which his last years were spent. He was a very religious man and devoted Christian. He was licensed to exhort in 1831, and to preach in 1843; he was ordained a Deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church by Bishop Morris, and an Elder by Bishop Janes. He arranged all of his business and said, "I am now ready whenever God sees fit to call me." His last words were, " Peace, all is peace." He had eleven children—Clinton M., Jane, William M., Cynthia, Caroline, Mary W., Barger, Rebecca, Nanny R., Abraham and Rhoda.

Abraham P. Casey, a son of Randolph, younger brother of Isaac Casey, settled in the county in 1818. In a few years, he moved out into Grand Prairie, where he built the first house in that part of the county. He did not remain there long, however, but came back to the neighborhood of his first settlement. He was a kind of migratory character, and moved around considerably, remaining but a short time in a place. True to the proverb that "a rolling stone gathers no moss," he did not accumulate as much property as some of the other pioneers of the county, though he was so fond of hard money as to obtain the sobriquet of " Old Silver." He despised a paper currency, and if he lived today he would be perhaps a tireless opponent of the Greenback party. He finally moved to Missouri and died there about 1841 or 1842; his wife died about 1866. Their children were John C, Green P., Franklin S., Martin S., Isaac and two daughters, Clarissa, who married Uriah Hamblin, and Elizabeth A., who married Burrell McConnell. John C. married Polly Casey, and finally moved to Missouri, but came back to Jefferson County, where, in 1862, he died. Green P. married Margaret Watkins, a daughter of Lewis Watkins, and died in 1858. at his home on the Carlyle road. Franklin S. married Rhoda Taylor. He was a man of industry and of business enterprise, and his wife was an excellent and faithful helpmeet. He was First Lieutenant in Capt. Bowman's company in the Black Hawk war; faithfully served his country during that short but vigorous campaign. He was for many terms one of the Judges of the county court, and in 1847 was a member of the Constitutional Convention. He died in 1871. Martin S. lived on the Richview road, near Grand Prairie, and died there.

Charity Casey was the only daughter of Randolph and Mary Jane Casey. She was born in South Carolina, and married William Depriest in Tennessee, whither her faciily had moved. They came to Illinois in 1819. She was a very large woman, weighing some 316 pounds when she came to this county. Illinois seemed to agree with her health, and she weighed before she died nearly 350 pounds. Her sons were Green and Isaac, who lived for awhile in the county, but afterward went to Missouri, and finally died there. Lucinda, a daughter of William and Charity Depriest, married Elijah Joliflf, who was an early settler in the county.

Zadok Casey.—It is eminently appropriate in the political history of the county to notice at length some of those active spirits who participated in the early politics, and bore a prominent part in the scenes and the times of which we are writing. Indeed, the political history would be incomplete without sketches of those men who contributed so largely in molding the political life and affairs of the county. Foremost of the list, as well as first in chronological order, is the Hon. Zadok Casey, who for a long period of his life devoted his time and his talents to the service, in one capacity or another, of his country and his fellow-men.

Zadok Casey was born in the State of Georgia March 17, 1796, and was the youngest child of Randolph and Mary Jane (Pennington) Casey. He was married, when scarcely twenty years of age, to Rachel King, a daughter of Samuel King. From the pioneer sketches of Mr. Johnson, and from other sources at our command, we gather some of the facts of Mr. Casey's early life, and his removal to this county. Soon after his marriage, he began to preach, and kept it up through life, even when most thoroughly engaged in politics. He was very poor, and after his father's death the care of his mother devolved on him, as well as that of his own family. When he came to Jefferson County in 1817, be brought her with him, and the worldly goods of them all comprised but a very small number of necessary articles for housekeeping. In a few days after his arrival here, he had selected a location, and beside a large log erected a camp to shelter them until he could build a house. He soon put up a cabin of small logs because there were not men enough in reach to raise a house of large logs. The floor was rough puncheons, the door of clapboards, beds of board scaffolds, a shovel, a skillet ; this was their early home in Illinois. But he was young, strong, and a good worker, and soon there was a sign of improvement and thrift about his place. He was a man of strong character and a powerful native intellect. When he came here he was entirely uneducated ; indeed, it is said that he learned his A B C's partly with the aid of his wife after he was married. But his natural thirst for knowledge led him to improve every moment, and he eventually became an excellent scholar. As we have said, he was a minister of the Gospel, and continued to preach at intervals during his whole life. But it is principally of his political career we shall speak in this connection.

Mr. Casey's active public life commenced almost with his settlement in the county. He took a prominent part in securing the formation of the county, and was one of the Commissioners composing the first County Court. In 1820, he made his first race for the Legislature against Dr. McLean, of White County, and was defeated, but at the next election (1822) he was elected over his former competitor, and was again elected in 1824. In 1826, he was elected to the State Senate for four years, and, in 1830, to the office of Lieutenant Governor, John Reynolds, as already stated, being elected Governor. So great and so universal was his popularity that in his race for the Legislature in 1821, he received every vote cast in the county but one. Before his term as Lieutenant Governor had expired, he was elected to Congress over Mr. Allen, of Clark County. He was re-elected in 1834 over W. H. Davidson, and, in 1836, over Nat Harmerson; was elected again in 1838, and elected in 1840 over Stinson H. Anderson. But at this session he voted for a national bank, for a bankrupt law and against the independent treasury. This, to a great extent, injured his popularity in the district, and, in 1842, he was defeated by John A. McClernand. This left Gov. Casey for a time to the obscurity of private life, and for several years he was engaged in local and domestic enterprises. He was elected in 1847, together with Judge Walter B. Scates and F. S. Casey, to the Constitutional Convention, and to him and Judge Scales, more than to any other influence, is Jefferson County and the city of Mount Vernon indebted for the location here of the Supreme Court House. He was elected to the Legislature in 1852, and was a member of the State Senate at the time of his death. September 4, 1862. He was employed by the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad to secure the right of way through Illinois but when the company failed lie lost heavily by not being paid for his services. Gov. Casey was a Democrat in politics, though not as strongly partisan as many of his associates in public life. There are those who knew him well, that even intimate that his politics were "shaky," and tint he was disposed to be just a little hypocritical. His great popularity, however, with the mass of the people, refutes all such charges. He was an excellent financier. Though he commenced life poor and penniless, he accumulated considerable property, and in after life, whatever he took in hand seemed sure to prosper. His children were Mahala, Mary Jane, Samuel K., Hiram R., Alice, Newton R., a physician of Mound City, ILL.; Thomas S., of Mount Vernon, one of the Judges of this judicial circuit ; and John R., a practicing physician at Joliet, ILL.

We have now given in detail the record dates of the birth, removal to Illinois, and the different important official positions filled by Gov. Casey during life, and it only remains now to fill up the strong outlines of this sketch by a just delineation of those physical, moral and mental characteristics of the man that stand out like the bold promontories that divide the troubled waters and embrace those harbors of safet}' for the ships upon life's sea. We have sketched his life from his birth in 1796, in the bumble pioneer home of his parents in Georgia, his early marriage and removal to Illinois in the spring of 1817, where, beholding the territory in all its natural beauties of woodland grove, green prairie sward, decked and covered with rich foliage and lovely flowers, that, becoming enamored with so much natural wealth and beauty of country, he determined to make it his permanent home. With his wife and child, he came to what is now Jefferson County, and built his rude log cabin upon the spot made historic by his acts, and which will be known to remote history as the old Casey homestead. He was barely twenty-one years of age when he landed in the territory with his little family. They came here, the wife riding the only horse he was able to possess, and carrying the child and their all of earthly goods, particularly the " skillet," being strapped to the saddle, and in front of this caravan walked the young husband and father, leading the way with his rifle upon his shoulder. When, upon the first night of his arrival, he had built his camp fire by the side of a large log, and his wife had set about preparing the first frugal meal, he wandered off a short distance, looking about him, and finally stopped and leaned in wrapt contemplation against a large oak tree, and there, with the silent stars looking down upon him as witnesses, he knelt in prayer and earnest supplication to the great God of the universe, and asked that his enterprise might meet the favor of heaven, that his family might be given happiness, health and security, and that he might be only a Christian, sincere man, and an upright, honorable and good citizen. That honest petition to heaven was granted as soon as it was asked, as his great and pure life has so abundantly testified to all the world. Here was the humble beginning of a pioneer life, that was only given for the short space of forty five years to his family, to his neighbors, to the county, the State and the nation, and yet its impress is everywhere, and its good effects will be known and deeply respected by the millions who may come after him, and are now and will continue to reap what he has sown. He came to Illinois a poor and wholly illiterate young man, a wife and child and pony being his chief and nearly the whole of his ossessions, and looking much like an awkward, overgrown boy, to whom the alphabet was an unexplored mystery. He only knew how to work, and soon a floorless cabin had gathered beneath its clapboard roof his household goods, and his first years were only marked by hard work and humble Christian piety. There was nothing self-asserting in his nature, and he lived and worked and struggled the true hero, and in front of his fire of an evening, he would lie upon his back, while his wife was singing the song of the spinning-wheel, and aiding him in the mastery of the alphabet, that he might more acceptably advance the cause of Christianity. Before he came to Illinois, he had been regularly licensed by his church—the Methodist Episcopal—to preach the Word of God, and this holy work he continued until the day of his death. He had soon grown into physical and mental strength and symmetry. He was nearly six feet and two inches in height, of perfect proportions, lithe, active and graceful in his movements, and courtly- of manners, his presence in any crowd would arrest the attention and command deference and respect at all times and in all places. Soon he was drawn into political life and into public office, and here he was even a greater man, and wielded a wider influence upon the stump than he had in the pulpit, although in his most active political life, when a leading politician and office holder in the State, he never relaxed his ministerial duties, but mentally expanded, and grew with all his multifarious work, until, in the very threshold of his life, he lived and moved a great, commanding and central figure. With his own strong hand, he was first a great farmer and an eminent financier, calling about him numerous dependents, to whom he was as a kind father and indulgent friend, giving good advice, employment, subsistence, and in the fullness of a heart that was big enough to take in all the world, he attached all to him in bands of steel, and at the same time his busy brain thought out schemes of industry, that built up his county and his State beyond any other man of his day or age.

When it is remembered that in the times when Gov. Casey lived his most active young life, when his destiny was shaping itself, the surroundings were such as we know little or nothing of now except by traditions. The pioneer people were rough, rude, simple, sincere, honest, warm-hearted and hospitable, and the men of mark were mostly brilliant, erratic, often irreverent and dissipated. Their lives were fevered and delirious, and upon the rostrum or in the forum, where they would gleam and flash like blazing meteors, they would easily descend to the revel or orgie, and their flashing lights would be quenched in gloom and darkness. In the society of the young State were the two extremes, the rude simplicity and the gifted, brilliant children of erratic genius, and amid these surroundings Gov. Casey trod alone his pathway of life, the sincere preacher, the pure and spotless politician and statesman, the great, the grand man of his time.

It was the inherent force of a great mind alone that enabled him to enter upon a long and exciting political campaign, and from the stump to discuss with wonderful power the absorbing and often exasperating questions of the day, and when Sunday came he could gather about him even those who had waged hot political controversy with him all the week, and all thoughts and all stirred up passions were laid aside in a moment, and as the minister of God he would lead the entire flock to the fold of the Great Shepherd—to that fountain of life for all mankind and for the ages. In religion, he was not a fanatic; as a teacher of the truths of Holy Writ, there was not a trace of dogmatism, and hence in his intercourse with men or in the pulpit, he was as natural, pure and commanding, as the simple and sublime truths that his life and preaching exemplified.

As a politician, he was equally pre-eminent, whether in the hustings, the Legislature, the State Senate, or the Congress of the United States ; he was respected whether as the humblest new member of these bodies, or as the presiding officer, the master spirit of the important committee, or the orator and speaker upon the floor. Here as elsewhere, he was the born leader among men, and his well-poised mind was never at fault—never brought in question the justness of his leadership. His fellow-members in Congress soon learned that he made no mistakes, and it was an almost every-day occurrence in the State Legislature while he was a member, and the Speaker was called on to unravel by his rulings some difficult parliamentary question, to announce to the House that the chair " desired to take the opinion of the member from Jefferson County," and the business or discussion would suspend until Gov. Casey could be consulted, and the tangled questions be made plain and settled to the complete satisfaction of all.

A grand old man, whose pure and exalted life is one of the most important chapters in the history of the Northwest for the study and contemplation of the youths of our country. His death, in the meridian of his intellectual manhood, was a National grief and calamity, for which a grateful posterity can only now have the consoling compensation that may come from the pen of the biographer, whom, we trust, may gather the hint from this brief sketch, and make an immortal book, entitled the " Life and Times of Gov. Casey."

SOURCE: Walls History of Jefferson County 1909
SUBMITTED BY: Misty Flannigan

The Casey family was the most numerous at the start, both in the south, and in the first settlement of Jefferson county. We have already given the life and services of Zadok Casey. His father was Randolph, a warrior under Gen. Francis Marion. Of his children-Zadok, Samuel, Levi, Isaac, all came to Jefferson county, and have been noticed.

We are just in receipt of a letter from Oakland, California, from Mrs. Mellie Casey Rockwell, in which she says: "My father, William B. (Buck) Casey, was born in Jefferson county, Illinois, in June, 1821, the second male child born in the county-son of William and Amy (Barker) Casey. Uncle Blackford Casey, my father's oldest brother, was born in June, 1815, and was the very first male child born in what is now Jefferson county. My mother is still living at the age of eighty-three; my father died in 1884. Uncle Blackford Casey passed away in December, 1892. His oldest son, Greetham Casey, who was born in Jefferson county, seventy years ago, now lives in Covine, Los Angeles county, California. My mother taught school in Mount Vernon in 1850." This reminds us' that there are fewer Casey in 01d Jefferson today than there were in those early days. They have moved on with civilization and become less prolific, perhaps. 

The same may be said of the Maxeys, and Johnsons, also, for they ate fewer now than then. William Casey, Jr., came here in 1836; he was the father of B1ackford, Maletna, Buck, Abraham, Drury B., Thomas, Melissa and Zadok, Jr. He used to live northwest two miles on what is now the Centralia road. Abraham T., William's brother, married Valinda Maxey, located on Salem road and preached "around." His children were Harriet, who married Dr.W.S. Van Cleve; Catherine, who married Mont Morrow; Belveretta, who married J. R. Walker; Elizabeth, who married John Sproul; Martha, who married Dr. Shirley, and Lafayette, an itinerant preacher.

Thomas M. Casey, afterwards known as "Uncle Tommy," married Harriet Maxey. They had eleven children and we remember: Clinton M., Jane, William, Cynthia, Mary, Barger, Rebecca, Nanny, Abraham and Rhoda. Abraham P. died in Missouri, leaving his children; John C., Green P., Franklin S., Martin S., Isaac, Clarissa and Elizabeth, in this county. John C. married Polly Casey, Green P. married Margaret Watkins, Franklin S. married Rhoda Taylor. He lived on the Richview road, near Grand Prairie, and died there. Thomas J. and Robert were his sons. Mrs. Lew Beale was his daughter.

Lewis F. Casey, in giving an account of his father's family, Green P. Casey, says: "My grandfather was Abraham P. My grandfather on my mother's side was Lewis Watkins. My parents were married in Mount Vernon in 1820, went to farming out in the woods, with nothing but bears, deer and coons to molest them. My brothers, Abraham and Hiram, died in childhood; my sisters married as follows: Harriet married George Seward; May A. married John T. Smith; Nancy A. married Henry Phillips; Sarah A. married John Willis; Mahala P. married Dr. John Murphy; Margaret married Capt. D. M. Short, of Texas, and Rhoda Ellen married Alfred Galbreath. Also two sisters, Arabella and Isabella, both of whom died young. Green P. died in 1857, and his wife in 1866, mourned by all who knew them."

Lewis F., the surviving son of this family, was made surveyor of Jefferson county at the age of twenty; was Commissioner to take the census of the county in 1845; was lieutenant of Company H Second Regiment, in Mexico; represented his native county (Jefferson) in the Legislature in 1847. He moved to Texas in 1852, was chosen Prosecuting Attorney; elected to the State Senate in 1861; was surrounded by secession sentiment and served the cause until it failed; then returned to Illinois; began to practice law at Centralia, and died there a few years ago. His wife was Mary J., daughter of Governor Z Casey. Samuel  K. Casey eldest son of Governor Casey, bought the old homestead (now the Chance place) and lived and died there after serving in both houses of the Legislature, serving as warden of the penitentiary and being largely instrumental in securing Mount Vernon her first railroad. He is survived by Samuel Casey, a prominent real estate dealer of Mount Vernon. Thomas S. Casey, son of Zadok, also served in both houses of the Legislature, as Circuit Judge, and for a while as colonel in the war, and for many years he was prominent in the law and at one time was on the Appellate Court bench. Newton Casey, another son of Zadok, also served in the Legislature, and other public positions. Mahala, his daughter, married a Mr. Dwight and Judge Samuel L. Dwight, of Centralia, is their surviving child. He married Capt. R. D. Noleman's daughter.

The other Casey descendants in Jefferson county have proven themselves good useful citizens in the private walks of life, and none of them have ever wrought disgrace on the Casey name, and Jefferson county may consider herself fortunate in having the Casey for her first inhabitants. Suffice it to say that the Casey family have left their impress on Jefferson county, although the greater number of them have passed over the divide, where they await the grand Casey reunion on the other side. 

Mt. Vernon Daily Register
Submitted by: Sharlet Bigham LaBarbera Sept 22, 1997

Robert Franklin CASEY
CASEY Family History

The following brief bits of history of the family of the late Robert F. CASEY and his wife are quite interesting 

Robert F. CASEY was the son of Isaac Stewart and Tabitha White CASEY, and has one sister, Mrs. T. S. NOLEMAN, of Grand Prairie. Isaac S. CASEY was born in Tennessee in 1811, to Abraham and Nancy Baker CASEY, coming here with his parents in 1818; was a volunteer in the Black Hawk War and was a cororal under Franklin S. CASEY, first lieutenant stationed at KELLEGG'S Grove, and was one of the party decoyed from the fort early one morning when so many were killed. Later he assisted in the capture of the noted chief, Black Hawk. Abraham CASEY and wife were natives of South Carolina, moving to Tennesse, then to Illinois.

He built the first house in Grand Prairie, was an older brother of Gov. CASEY and was nicknamed "Old Silver." His wife, Nancy, was a woman of strong character, a busy active woman, practicing as mid-wife until 80 years old, riding horseback all over the country. At one time she was attacked by wolves and had a narrow escape with her life. She was known far and wide as "Granny" CASEY. Tabitha White CASEY was the daughter of Robert and Sarah HOLT WHITE, and was born July 10, 1813, at Chambers Fort, a few miles north of Lebanon. She died April 1898. They also came from South Carolina and located in Madison county in the year of 1810. Mr. WHITE was a Methodist preacher, licensed by Bishop MCKENDREE, in the village of St. Louis. He was a great friend and co-worker of Peter CARTWRIGHT, preaching often to the friendly Indians.

Mrs. CASEY is the daughter of the late Hiram and Mary A. MILBURN and was born in Princeton, Ind., Nov. 9, 1839. She is an older sister of Mrs. Rose MCWILLIAMS, of Chicago; Mrs. Everman FINLEY, Mrs. Elias MYERS, of Field township; T. N. MILBURN, Webb City, MO.; and W. A. MILBURN of this city. One brother, Robert, was a sergeant in the Civil War and was mustered out of service June 10, 1865, living only a short time after. His commission as lieutenant received by the family after his death. MILBURN Post, at Dix, was named for him. His grandfather, Robert MILBURN, was one of the company that erected the steam flouring mill, at Princeton, the first built in southern Indiana. He was an old soldier, having served with General HARRISON at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Many of the early MILBURNS were in the Revolutionary War, some serving as officers through the entire war, and one, Katherine STEWART, drilled the girls and women to use rifles to defend their homes. She was hated by the Indians, who burned her home, but she outwitted them and escaped and for her act of courage and daring was name "Witty Kitty of the Fort." Mary MCCOY MILBURN'S father came from Ireland, locating in Maryland. February 23, 1911.