Gen. William McAlevy and Margaret [Unk]

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Husband Gen. William McAlevy ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 1728 - County Down, Ireland 1
     Christened: 
           Died: Aug 1822 - McAlevy's Fort, Huntingdon Co, PA 1 2
         Buried: 

       Marriage: 

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   Other Spouse: Margaret Harris (      -      ) 1 2

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   Other Spouse: Mary Hays (      -      ) 1 4

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Wife Margaret [Unk] ¹

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   Other Spouse: [Unk] Allen (      -      ) 1

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Children

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1 M Allen McAlevy ¹

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2 F Mary McAlevy ¹

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           Born: 
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         Spouse: [Unk] Crum (      -      ) 1

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General Notes: Husband - Gen. William McAlevy

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His parents were of Scottish descent. About the middle of the 1700s he emigrated to America and settled in the neighborhood of Carlisle, in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. Some time prior to 1770 he came to Huntingdon County, and with the aid of an assistant put up a cabin and made a small clearing in the upper part of Stone Valley where the village of McAlevy's Fort was later located, upon which he planted some of the common vegetables. Having done this, he felled a large tree on the bank of the creek near his home, from the trunk of which he fashioned a large canoe, which he floated down Standing Stone Creek into the Juniata and so on down that stream into the Susquehanna, landing at a point nearest to his old home. After making the necessary arrangements he embarked with his wife and children and what goods he had, and after days of arduous toil he reached his forest home. Most of the way the boat was propelled by means of poles, but where he could do so he hitched a horse to the boat, leading him along the banks of the streams.

The early generations of this family resided in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, and were actively associated with the affairs of their day, the name being perpetuated there in McAlevy Fort, which commemorates the site of the old fort held by Gen. William McAlevy to afford the settlers protection from the Indians. It was one of a line of border forts and was erected by General McAlevy, who was sent there by Washington, with whom he had served as colonel at the Brandywine. The right of the army at Valley Forge was reorganized from three divisions, each having a colonel, and given but two such officers, Colonel McAlevy being made a brigadier general and put in charge of the construction of this fort and in guarding the border against Indians.

He was a colonel in the Colonial forces in the War of the American Revolution and later was a general in the Pennsylvania State Militia. He was a native of Ireland, who came to America in 1743, settling in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, at a place called McAlevy Fort, named after him.

He was born in Ireland, and was about three months old when his parents came to Pennsylvania, but a stroke of lightning killed them both shortly after their arrival, and he was left an orphan. He was reared by a maternal uncle who taught him his own trade\emdash weaving. Not being enamored of his uncle's trade nor of his treatment, William ran away and enlisted in the Forbes expedition to Fort Duquesne, and was one of a detachment sent to collect and bury the remains of those who fell on Braddock's Field, being then nineteen years of age. It is related that at one time he concealed himself from the Indians in a log for nine days, where a goose had laid nine eggs, apparently for his use, as he ate one egg each day; the Indians held a war dance around the log, but he was unmolested. He also served in the Revolutionary War, and was known as General McAlevy. He finally settled in Stone Valley, fourteen miles from Petersburg, where he owned a grist mill, a farm and distillery. The place was known as McAlevy's Fort, and later as the Old Fort. He was a large portly man, of rugged constitution, and one of the well-to-do men of his time. His judgment in matters generally was reverenced as the deliverance of an oracle, as the following goes to show, which has been handed down and vouched for by those whose memories would extend back to or near his day. When an important election was being held, and men would meet at the polls and one would inquire of another for whom he was going to vote, the reply often made would be, "Indeed, I can't say; I haven't seen the General yet."

He was interred on the high hill on his farm, which he had set aside for a cemetery.

1 J. Simpson Africa, The History of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1883), Pg 293.

2 John W. Jordan, LL.D., A History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1913), Pg 853.

3 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 664, 1083.

4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., A History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1913), Pg 854.