Notes for Samuel McMahan

Some of this information taken from Mary McClelland Eastham DAR application accepted by National DAR on October 18, 1924, National No 202795.

20 October, 1802, WFT Marriage Index, KY/TN, Sec IV, CH 46 Madison County, KY (1724 - 1843)

Samuel McMahan to Sally Clark.

Ancestry.com "Kentucky Marriages to 1850" database contains entry:

Clark, Sally married McMahan, Samuel on 28 Oct 1802 in Madison County, Kentucky.

Samuel McMahan Ambushed

Samuel McMahan, who lived in what is now Lamine township in Cooper County was killed on Dec. 14, 1814, near Boonville. McMahan had been down to the settlement at Boonville. As he was returning home, he came upon a band of Indians who were lying in ambush for some settlers who were cutting down a bee tree not far away. McMahan was on horseback and unsuspectedly rode into the midst of the Indians. The savages fired upon him, wounding him and killing his horse. He jumped when his horse fell, and though severely wounded, succeeded in reaching a ravine leading to the river. The savages soon overtook and killed him, sticking three spears into his back. They afterward cut off his head, and scattered his entails over the ground. The Indians then scattered, and, pursuing different routes, made their way out of the country.

The settlers, not knowing the numbers of the Indians, since roving bands of Savages, large and small, had so frequently passed through this section, sent for reinforcements from the opposite side of the river, and on the following day sent out a party of men to secure McMahan's body, and get all information possible of the Indians. James Cole, the son of Hannah Cole, and the brother of Samuel Cole, secured the body and carried it before him on his horse. David McGee brought the head wrapped in a sheepskin. The body of McMahan was buried under the Linn tree, which formerly stood in the center ring at the old fairground. The child of David Buness who was burned to death, was also buried under this tree.

Extracted from "History of Cooper County, Missouri" by Johnson.

Old Fair Grounds Burial Plot

Location: Some where on the grounds of the old St. Joseph's Hospital at Boonville, Mo.

McMahan: Samual, D. 14 Dec. 1814; killed by Indians "Buried under the old linn tree on the 'State Fair Grounds'".

Harris: Luke, hanged for the murder of his owner; buried under the same tree.

Burness: "Infant son of David Burness buried under the big linn tree in the center of the race tracks of the old State Fair Grounds."

Extracted from "History of Cooper County, Missouri" by Johnson.