McGrew/McGraw Family of West Virginia

I am researching the origin and descendants of Martin and Margaret (?) McGraw. Martin first appears in the 1796 Greenbrier County, (West) Virginia Personal Property Tax List with (George) Anthony McGraw. The children of Martin and Margaret have been ascertained as Mary Anne (Wm. Wood), Martin Jr (1. N. Wood, 2. S. Johnson) and Thomas (C. Withrow). Other probable children were John (S. Anderson), George Anthony (E. Bryant-Gill), William (L. Withrow), Elizabeth (S. Nelson), Samuel (E. Wood) and Henry (Mary ?).
Martin Jr, Thomas and Samuel are also recorded under the surname McGREW. I am descended from both Martin McGraw Jr and his brother, Thomas McGrew. Records of this family can be located in Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas/Fayette, Kanawha/Putnam and Mason Counties, West Virginia from 1796 to the present while direct descendants are residents of Greenbrier, Putnam and Kanawha Counties.

Also of particular interest is John McGRUE, an indentured servant of James McEntire, who brought an action in Greenbrier County Court seeking release from his indenture in 1792. I believe there is a connection between John McGrue and the McGrew/McGraw family.

There are only two clues to the origin of this family: 1) Legend holds that the family was of Cherokee extraction and evidence obtained lends creedence to this family "secret;" and 2) Martin Jr's birthplace is listed as Pennsylvania (ca. 1787) although the census in which this is given is infamous for its errors.

Any information or "leads" to the origin of this family are sincerely appreciated and will be gratefully acknowledged. For more information on this family and my Martin, Phalen, Vanbibber and Hill genealogies, as well as my Mayflower lineage, please visit my personal web site, West Virginia Heritage, at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/2009. Thank you!

Related Links

• West Virginia Heritage