Fee

The Fee family came to Marion County about 1850. Three families, the Fees, Myers and Noes, came together. Andrew Jackson Fee was born in Kentucky in 1796. When he came to Arkansas, he was a widower. The three families stayed together until they reached the place where Buffalo flows into White River. It was at this place that Andrew Jackson Fee became ill and died and was buried there. Then the families separated.

Henderson Fee, born in 1821, son of Andrew Jackson Fee, came up Crooked Creek and homesteaded land west of Yellville. His wife was Elizabeth, or Margaret, Myers. The 1860 census gives Margaret, born in 1826, as the wife's name. Members of the family say his wife's name was Elizabeth. Their children were: David, Benjamin F., William, Mary, George, Sarah, Thomas, Elizabeth, James, Samuel, and Hiram. Henderson Fee was active in politics and a leader in the Democratic Party for years. He was County Clerk when the old frame and log courthouse burned. He was able to re-write the burned records from memory.

His son David, born in 1848, was the father of Ben, who was the father of Bryan Fee who married Audrey Lowery Ingram. Another son of David's, George, was the father of Ben and John. Ben Fee married Lucy Parker. They became the parents of three girls: Mildred, Mary and Clara. John married Edna Morrow, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Morrow. Their children were: Fred and Orville.

Another son of Henderson Fee, Benjamin Franklin Fee, who was born in 1851, served as a Confederate soldier. Although he was only a boy, his service is on record. Like his father, he was interested in politics, and served as a lawyer for eight years as County and Probate judge, District Judge and as Prosecuting Attorney for two years.

Benjamin F. Fee's first wife was Louise Musick. Their son, Joe Fee, married Sadie Talburt. The farm on White River known as the Joe Fee farm is the one homesteaded by Silas E. McBee. The second wife of Benjamin's was Lula Newman. They were the parents of George, who married Lena Mae Jones; and Dorothy, who married Echols Harrison. George and Lena's children are: Eugenia, George Henry and Betty. The Harrisons had a son, Charles Newman, who is often called by a nickname, "Rip". Dorothy married a second time and lives in California.

Elizabeth Fee (1862-1924) married William Madison Wilson (1862-1929). Their children were: Bertha who married Reese Fullerton and their son Vaughn lives in Maryland; Walter who married Maude Gilley and their daughter Beatrice died in her teens; Elsie who became the wife of Arthur Keeter and their children were Auburn, George, and Fay. Auburn's first wife was Eileen Phillips, daughter of Mack and Bertha Phillips. His second wife was Norma Spurlock. George married Audrey Lee Sullivan and they were the parents of Terry. Fay married Rex Evans and their children were Don Ray and Shirley. Bryan Wilson married Esther Rowden.

Hiram Fee, youngest of the Henderson Fee children, married Mary Pierce and they were the parents of one son, Ewell, who married Versal Nanny, daughter of John Nanny. Both Ewell and Versal are deceased.