The elusive James McGuire

Who was James McGuire?

Good question.

There's very little information available about him. Here's what we can prove:

There are two males born 1825 - 1830 who show up in Davidson McGuire's household in both the 1830 and 1840 US Censuses for AL. We've already established that Charles McGuire, born about 1828, was one. So James is the other. See Fact 7 below.

First fact: James was born between 1825 and 1830.

Fact 2: James was born in Alabama, as Davidson and Margaret McGuire never left AL. To be clear, both Davidson and Margaret were born in GA (1850 Census), but once in AL, there is no record of their ever having left.

Fact 3: James was not in the Davidson and Margaret's household in either the 1850 US or State Census for AL. So he had already left home.

Fact 4: He was still in the area in 1851 because in September of that year Moses and Alphonso Johnson are summoned to court as defendants for assault and battery on James and John Maguire (McGuire) in Shelby County. The summons is on file at the Shelby County Historical Society in Columbiana, AL.

Fact 5: This James McGuire is not the same as James H. McGuire, son of Ebenezer McGuire. Yes, James H. was born in AL, but in the 1850 US Census for MS, he is 11, in Chickasaw with his family. And he stays in MS until at least 1870.

Fact 6: James is not named in the 1867 partial settlement of Davidson McGuire's will on file in the Jefferson County Courthouse in Birmingham. I don't see this as a problem. Children often took their portions of the estate early, before the parent's death. Neither Charles or John L. McGuire were listed in the partial settlement, and there is plenty of evidence that they are the sons of Davidson and Margaret Kelley. There is plenty of evidence that James was a son of DM and MK.

Fact 7: James is named several times in 1884 court papers related to the division of Davidson's assets. These are also on file at the Jefferson County Court House in Birmingham.

That's the documentary evidence.

Questions that remain:

Where was James in the 1850 Census?

Where did he go after the 1851 fight with Moses and Alonzo Johnson?

Did he marry? Have children?

When did he die?

More research is needed. What fun!

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