The Lexington advertiser., 1906-11-15
OBITUARY OF HENRY B. MCGEE.

zens. The more than sixty years of
usefulness, industry and virtue which
he spent in your county, entitled him
to an unusual degree of veneration
upon the part of the citizenship of
Holmes.
Mr.. McGee was born in Crawford
county, Georgia, December, 18th,
lSl7,9just ten days after the admis-
sion of Mississippi into the Union.
Spending his childhood in Georgia,
he came later with his father and
family to Alabama; then to Noxubee
county; to 'Attala county, and in the
early 40s to Holmes, where the
greater part of his useful life was
spent.
Mr.. MeGee was first married to Mrs.
Sarah Red. The two children of this
marriage died quite young. He was
next married to Miss Emma Crawford,
the mother of that worthy citizen
and devoted son, Levi C. McGee, of
your county. His third marriage was
to Miss Sarah Angeline Cowsert. An
infant dying very soon after birth
and Mrs. Sallie McCarty, now of Jack
son, were the children of this mar
riage.
From long and intimate personal
acquaintance the writer knew Mrs.
McGee to be most lovable and
worthy woman, from whose death Mr..
McGee never recovered. He was a
man of marked and strong individual.
ity. He was to large degree a self
made man. He had confidence in his
own Judgment ard relied upon him.
self. Left almost entirely to make
his way by his own resources, he
fought his unaided way to comfort and
independence. His industry told him
to labor, and by judicious economy he
retained and used the fruit of his la
Dor. Gifted with good Judgment and
practical sense, he made few business
mistakes. His active mind was ever
at work on the problems of life, and
by sheer force of character he be-
came self educated and in the best
sense of the word, we'll educated.
His mind was too active to suffer him
to halt midway, but he always formed
an opinion and arrived at a definite
conclusion. He was a man of pro-
nounced views and positive of opin-
ion. His interest in life was intense,
whether in a sense of religious or poll
tical direction. He was interested in
his friends and neighbors; in the
larger affairs of the State and Church,
he was a reading and thinking man of
great independence of views. Along
with the practical sense which en-
abled him to succeed in matters of
mere finance, he was possessed of an
ideal temperament which led him to
take an interest in all that made for
the good of the world. Hence
his ardent interest in the NOR
al and fraternal institution known as
Masonry, and much of his time and
interest was devoted to its success.
So in politics his ardent nature broke
away from the school of public policy
whose cold blooded tenets would leave
every man to get what he could out
of the social struggle, and this nature
led him to favor lines of public policy
in which the State should help the
weak against the strong and secure
to even the humblest worker his
due share of the good things of life
With him the State was meant to b.
power for doing good to the whole
community.
In the realm of religion he went
beyond the narrow bounds of mere
personal salvation and ever evince(
the keenest interest in the Church a,
an agency for doing good to all men
Hence he gave of his time and mean
and personal service to the cause o
Gods Church. He loved her swee
communion, solemn VOWS; her hymn
, of love and praise. He loved he
ministry and gave to them of hi
time, his means, his hospitality, hi
sympathy and personal help.
He loved his fellow men and his SC
cial nature found expression in a gen
uine and undated and ascending hos
pitality. His interest npublic affair
will cause him to be missed as a citi
zen. As a loving and sympatheti
friend his going will be a persona