James Mc Gage b. 1804 Tennessee
I am trying to knock down a brick wall. One of my ancestors was James Mc Gage. He was born about 1804 in Tennessee according to most censuses. he appears to have moved around a bit - being found in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. He apparently died in Wayne County, Tennessee (this is a best guess because I find no death record or burial). It appears as if James Mc Gage married Rachel Burleson in Burke County, North Carolina on or about 25 Nov 1827 (according to the marriage bond), and they had two children: Nancy born about 1829 and Aaron born about 1833 (also names of James Gages speculated parents), then for some reason James McGage ends up back in Alabama where he is enumerated in the 1840 Benton County census (later renamed CleborneCounty), meanwhile, Rachel married Wilson McKinney sometime before 1838 (their son Ruebin McKinney was born in about 1839). Wilson and Rachel live in Yancey County, North Carolina (formed from Burke) and have several children of their own. Some researchers have Rachel's children Aaron and Nancy as Wilson Mckinney's children, but Mckinney left some property to Aaron GAGE, and Aaron goes by the last name Gage in later censuses as well as his children and their death records. I think this as well as the ages of Aaron and Nancy prove that they were Wilson Mckinney's step children and in fact the likely children of James Mc. Gage. I am not sure if James' last name is McGage or Gage: On the marriage bond record in Burke County, North Carolina he is James McGage, on 1840 census of Benton County, Alabama p.56 he is James Mcgage; on the 1850 census of Union County, Georgia, 85th district, page 205 he is James Gague with a younger wife named Elizabeth (I am sure this is James because the names of his wife and children and their ages match on 1850,60,70 and 80 censuses), on the 1860 census of Lawrence County, Alabama, Moulton, page 912 he is listed as J. Mcgage,on the 1870 census of Wayne County, Tennessee, district 11, Page 522A he is listed as Gage, James M. and on the 1880 census of Wayne County, Tennessee District 13, page 100D he is listed as McGage, M. The marriage records found for his daughters list their maiden names as "Gage". I am descended through his daughter Sarah E.s marriage to Pierson Bates. Their son Jim Bates' parents are listed in his obituary as Pierson and Sara GAGE Bates. My best guess as to James' heritage is, that he is most likely the son of Aaron Gage and Nancy Carter. Aaron Gage was born in the 1750's in New Jersey and moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina then Kentucky and then Tennessee where he died in about 1844. This is all documented because Aaron Gage was a Revolutionary Veteran and he filed a pension request in 1833 in McNairy County, Tennessee. Aaron moved to Lincoln County, Tennessee to live with a daughter about 1840. Aaron Gage is reported by some researchers to have a son by the name of James McMinn Gage born 2 Sept 1804 in Tennessee. This would match several facts with my James McGage: It would explain why sometimes James is a Gage and sometimes a McGage (Mc being his middle initial), and would also explain why I cannot locate any McGages that tie into his line (in fact I can hardly find any McGages at all), and it matches James Mc Gages' known age. James is usually listed as being born in Tennessee, however, on the 1880 census (the first to ask for parent birth places) his birthplace is listed as NJ and his father's as TN. This would make sense if the enumerator simply reversed the birthplace of son and father because many researchers have Aaron Gage as being born in New Jersey. I hope that some researcher or descendant can provide me with a clue as to whether I am on the right track or completely wrong. I have never found anyone on the internet from the line of James Gage, son of Aaron and Nancy. Any help will be appreciated and if there is a connection then I can flesh this line out significantly. Thanks, Jim