John Waddell or Waddill, the immigrant, was born in Donegal County, near Londonderry, Ireland, on or before 1736.$1$ $$ His parents were Scottish people who had settled in Northern Ireland and were what is known in this country as Scotch-Irish.

Our Waddells were an old family in Scotland, believed to have had their own armorial bearings and are said to have been identified with or related to the Clan McLean,$2$ $$ Highlanders, who had holdings on the Island of Mull and in the adjacent mountainous district of western Scotland.

It is traditional that the Waddells were involved in the religious wars of the time$1,\; 6$ $$ and that they joined with the McLeans$3$ $$ in supporting "Bonnie Prince Charlie" in his fight for the English throne. In the beginning, the Stuart forces swept everything before them but it developed that their style of fighting was not adapted to the lowlands and they were soundly whipped at the Battle of Culloden in 1745$2$ $$. This was one of the bloodiest battles of all time, considering the numbers involved, and for the first time the power of the Highlanders was broken. A number of Waddells perished.$1,\; 2$ $$

John Waddell died on July 4, 1827 at which time he was said to have been 91 years of age.$3$ $$ John is said to have fought in the battle of Culloden and fled to America for refuge afterwards with some of the McLeans,$3$ $$ because the English, after this battle, tried to exterminate the Highlanders. It does not seem that John would have borne arms at the age of nine years but, since some whole families fought together, it is not impossible. Other authorities$8$ $$ claim that John ws 167 years old at the time of his death, a statement we find hard to accept. One of John's grandsons$9$ $$ did, however, believe this to be correct. In that case, it is probable that he did take part in the battle.

There are several stories of John's flight to America but all are in agreement that he came at an early age. One plausible story was that he had an uncle coming to America and that he was much impresssed by this fact. One evening he was sent out to drive the cows home and, seeing a ship in the harbor, he managed to stowaway.$4$ $$ When the ship had been at sea about three days he was discovered and dragged forth in a half-starved condition and presumedly made to work for his passage. Other stories$2$ $$ indicate that he had brothers in America whose whereabouts he did not know and that he spent severa years looking for them.

We believe that John came to America about 1750 and landed at Philadelphia$8$ $$, which was then a major port of entry. He then located somewhere in the country adjacent to Germantown, where there were many other Scottish people. It is traditional that John married a Margaret McCoy$3$ $$, who died shortly after the birth of a son, and that the son died at the age of eight$13$ $$. It is a matter of record, however, that a John Waddell and Mary Mc Croney$21$ $$ were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia on Dec. 31, 1761, and that the will of Jean McCronie, probated in 1769 at Philadelphia, named John Waddell as a legatee$22$ $$. One authority believes that this was our John and that Jean McCronie was his former mother-in-law.

After 1763 John Waddell married Rachel Quee, who lived in the country between Germantown and Horsham, in Horsham Township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Now tradition, which has been reported to us from many sources, almost invariably states the situation as follows: "John Waddell married Rachel Quee of near Germantown, Pennsylvania. Her father was Alexander Quee and her mother was Hester Rittenhouse, a close relative of the celebrated David Rittenhouse."$1,\; 2,\; 3,\; 8$ $$

To our knowledge, this statement has never been documented, although there are arguments both for and against the truth of it, which will be discussed in a sketch of the Quee family which follows. It might be appropriate to say at this time, however, that the immigrant head of the Rittenhouse family in America was Wilhelm Rittenhouse$24$ $$, a German nobleman who was the first paper maker in America and had a plant on the Schulkyl River. It is said that, because this family contained strains of practically all the royal blood of Europe, one of the forebears was knighted and the House of Knights (Rittenhaus) created.$24$ $$

Another fact that is appropriately mentioned here is that the name was definitely McQuee (possible variants: McKee, McGee, etc.) and that in America the Mc was dropped, the name being Quee.$25$ $$

John and Rachel continued to live in Pennsylvania until about 1769 or 1770. It was here that John Jr., Seth Quee and Hester were born. We find no hint of the place of residence, so assume that they may have stayed at the big stone house with Rachel's parents,$26$ $$ although this is sheer conjecture. They left Pennsylvania and were located in Baltimore County, Maryland on May 11, 1771, when Charles R. was born.$27$ $$ From there the family moved to York District in South Carolina and settled on what is believed to have been Bullock Creek, where Samuel David Waddell was born in 1773. From there they went back to Burke County, North Carolina for a short time and then in 1775 went on to settle in what is now Washington County, Tennessee, which was at that time believed to be in Virginia but was actually in North Carolia.$11$ $$

John and Rachel settled on the Nolichucky River a short distance from the present Greene County line.$8$ $$ This was known as one of the Watuga settlements and was located in the Jacob Brown purchase$12$ $$, although tradition has it that John acquired 140 acres directly from the Indians at a cost of one flint-lock rifle and a calico dress. This was in what was known as the "Little Bend of the Nolichucky", the farm being on the south side of the river and filling about one half of the horse-shoe bend.$22$ $$ The old house has long since disappeared but it is said to have been located just west of the present farm house adjacent to the river crossing known as Broyle's Ford.$29$ $$ There is a small graveyard on a small knoll 100 yards west of the house which contains six graves marked with field stone. One only bears an inscription, indicating that it is the grave of Elbert T., son of Jonathan and Hannah (Greenway) Waddell.$29$ $$

(Under Construction...obviously not complete :-)

$1$ $$Notes on the Waddell family from conversations with William S. Owens, great-grandson, Tennessee, IL about 1905.
$2$ $$Autobiographical sketch of the life of John Pamplin Waddell, grandson, who died September 1855 of yellow fever at Marksville, LA, written about 1850.
$3$ $$Letter from Laura Waddell Overton, great-grand-daughter of Alexandria, Louisiana, to Miss may Waddill of Winsor, MO., quoting a historical sketch by Louisa Shields, great-granddaughter. Letter dated July 5, 1910. The sketch probably written about 1900.
$4$ $$Notes from conversations with Andrew Waddell, Frankfort, IN. about 1934. He was a great-grandson.
$5$ $$Correspondence with Laura Waddill Overton of Baton Rouge, LA, in 1934. She died 1937 at age of 92.
$6$ $$See "Monuments and Monumental Inscriptions in Scotland" by Rev. Charles Rogers. A description of the grave of John Waddell and three other Covenantors who were captured at Bothwell Bridge in June 1769 and later executed. The bodies were suspended on poles for exhibition and warning to other deviates from the official Church. They were later buried and the monument erected. See, also, "Annals of Augusta County, Virginia" by Joseph Addison Waddell.
$7$ $$"Tennessee, the Volunteer State" in re Samuel Davidson Waddell states that his father, John Waddell, was born in Donegal County, Ireland.
$8$ $$Historical Sketch prepared by Judge John Sever Waddill of Jefferson City, MO, Jan. 13, 1873
$9$ $$Notes by Fain Aderson of Tennessee. $10$ $$The Tennessee Historical magazine Vol. V, 1919, contains at least a part of the journal of General John Sevier. References are made to the Waddells on pages 174-5, 179, 184-6, 190, and a footnote.
$11$ $$Vol. 10 "Colonial Records of North Carolina" - a petition to the Provincial Council of North Carolina relative to the annexation of Washington District. Not dated but marked "Received August 22, 1776" bears 122 signatures among which are those of John Waddell and Dave Crockett.
$12$ $$"Annals of East Tennessee to End of 18th Century" - ?a?ay. On page 34 is a reference to the Jacob Brown settlement on the Nolichucky. These lands including that owned by John Waddell in the "Little Bend of the Chucky" was purchased directly from the Indians. It is traditional that John's farm cost him a flint lock rifle and a calico dress.
$13$ $$"Notable Southern Families" - Zella Armstrong, Tennessee. Contains much information on certain Waddell branches and the Shields family which confirms data I have generally obtained from original sources.
$14$ $$"Kings Mountain Men" - Katherine White, Knoxville, Tenn. P. 231 establishes the services of John Waddell (also Martin Waddell) as a Revolutionary Soldier in that he fought with John Sevier against the British at Kings Mountain.
$15$ $$Extracts from Public Records: (a) through (o) to be entered here. $16$ $$Letter from Secretary, General Post Office, Edinburgh, Scotland to Miss Florence Waddill dated 15 June 1910 stating, "The Directories of Scotland hae been consulted but the name Waddill does not appear in them. The name Waddell is not uncommon."