The first McGee's to reach this area of Texas and Bowie County in particular was Joel Robert McGee, 1805-1869, and his family.  Joel Robert was born in North Carolina.  His father was Major Thomas McGee, 1760-1822, and his mother was Amey Williams, 1771-1843.  Joel Robert married Margaret "Peggy" Moore, 1813-1864, whose father was John Moore and whose mother was Jennie Reid.  (Jane Johnson Moore, Peggy's sister, married a John Neal, the Neal's of this area are descendants of that marriage.)

Joel Robert and Peggy McGee had six children.  The first was born in North Carolina and was named Augustus (Augusta?) McGee, 1834-1872.  Augustus married Sarah "Sallie" Adeline Poer.  They had two children, Cora McGee, 1870-?, and Lizzie McGee.  Cora married a George Preston and moved to Arkansas.  Their two daughters Ethel and Corine were living in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1921.  It is believed that Corine went to Hollywood and had a very successful career under the name of Corine Griffith.

Joel Robert McGee moved his family to Rome, Floyd County, Georgia in about 1834 where they lived until the early 1850's when they moved to texas.  Their last child Mary Margaret McGee, 1856-1938, is shown to have been born in 1856 in Douglassville, Cass County, Texas.  They moved to New Boston in 1859.  Their second child Blair McGee, 1836-1917, married Lizzie Welborn, 1845-1926.  They had no children.  The third child, Vicey Jane McGee, 1843-1887, married Edward "Ed" Pendleton Elliott, 1841-1915.  Edward Pendleton enlisted in the Confederate Army and was discharged due to wounds received in the Battle of Baton Rouge.  Standing at his side when he was wounded was Albert H Welborn and  S D Poer.  They had three children Della, 1870-1900, Joel, 1876-1914, and Mary, 1880-1922.

The fourth child of Joel Robert and Peggy McGee was John Thomas "Tom" McGee, 1846-1918.  John Thomas was born in Rome, Floyd County, Georgia and moved with his parents to Cass County and then to Bowie County.  He enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1863 and was discharged at the end of the war.  He married Sarah Elizabeth McCright, 1851-1932.  (She was born in Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas)  Their first born, Dr Joel Robert McGee, 1870-1962, became one of this area's outstanding citizens.  He graduated from Sate Normal College in Huntsville, Texas and entered the teaching profession.  He was appointed by the State School Superintendent to serve on the board to examine teachers.  He then entered the University of Tennessee and completed a four year course in medicine in only three years graduating with honors.  Later he attended the Chicago Medical College for post graduate work to specialize in eye, ears, nose and throat work.  In the early days of his practice he used a gray pony and an open top buggy for transportation.  In 1905 he bought a buggy with a top and a team of horses.  On long calls he used the beam but for shorter distances he used one horse.  He kept warm with a kerosene lantern on the floor of the buggy and used a lap robe.  He once stopped to spend the night at my Grandfather McGee's after spending all day and into the night on a difficult case.  All that my Grandmother could offer him at that late hour was plenty of milk and cornbread.  He told her that was the best meal he had ever eaten.  On of Dr McGee's ways of soothing the apprehensions of small children was to take out his gold pocket watch and let them listen to the ticking.  My childhood memory of that watch was that it was about the size of a saucer.  Of course it wasn't.  Dr McGee was Mayor of New Boston for fourteen years and was chairman of the Board of Stewards of the Tapp Memorial Methodist Church continuously for thirty-five years.  He built New Boston's first and so far only hospital in 1945 and operated it along with his son Dr E B McGee.  In 1949 Dr McGee was named the outstanding general practitioner by the Texas State Medical Association.  My memory of him from that era is that he was one of the most distinguished looking gentlemen that I have ever seen.

The brothers and sisters of r McGee are:  William Augusta McGee, 1872-1957, Almarium "Alma" McGee, 1880-1970, Claudia Pleasant McGee, 1888-1954, and Lauana L McGee, 1891-1971.

The fifth child of Joel Robert and Peggy McGee was Roxannah McGee, 1848-1918, married Albert Haller Welborn, 1844-1918.    Their children were James W Welborn, 1873-1894, Steve A Welborn, 1875-1887, Hugh Blair Welborn, 1878-1878, Oscar W Welborn, 1880-1971, Edgar W Welborn, 1883-1967, Lois E Welborn, 1886-1972, Joel R "Chub" Welborn, 1889-1971, and Pethana Welborn.

The sixth child was Mary Margaret McGee, 1856-1938, married Pleas Duke Looney, 1857-1899.  Their children were Sallie Dillard Looney, 1878-1938, William Oscar Looney, 1880-1967, Elvie Lena Looney, 1883-?, Lillie Louise Looney, 1885-1885, Joel David Looney, 1886-1973, Jesse Pleas Looney, 1889-1968, Blair McGee Looney, 1891-1952, Thomas Augusta Looney, 1893-1983, Mary Margaret "Maggie Looney, 1899-?.