History of Kentucky, five volumes, edited by Judge Charles Kerr,
American Historical Society, New York & Chicago, 1922, Vol. IV, p. 168
Woodford County.  

Dr. JOHN ROBERT McKEE, who died at his home at McKee Cross Roads
February 15, 1921, was a graduate of medicine, but through many years
was best known as one of the prominent citizens and extensive land
owners of Woodford County. He was born on the McKee farm five miles from
Versailles, April 3, 1842.  He was the father of McKee Brothers a record
whose enterprise as Kentucky stockmen is found on other pages of this
publication.
     Doctor McKee was a son of James and Christine (Chrisman) McKee. 
The land contained in the McKee farm was obtained by Doctor McKee's
grandfather, James McKee about 1790.  He acquired at that time a
section.  His death occurred before the birth of Robert McKee.  His
widow survived him to the advanced age of ninety-nine.  She was a
pioneer Kentucky woman greatly esteemed for her abilities as a practical
physician.  James McKee, father of Doctor McKee, was born on the old
homestead and died in 1871, at the age of seventy.  His wife, Christine
Chrisman, was the daughter of a pioneer hat manufacturer who lived on
what is now known as the Alexander farm, and built the handsome stone
house still standing there, in which Christine was born in 1801.  She
died in 1898 at the age of ninety-seven.  Her father had a very
extensive business as a hatter, employing many hands.  James McKee, Jr.,
during his lifetime acquired a very extensive property in land.  His
older half-brother, Squire John McKee, lived in the same locality until
his death.  James McKee, Jr. owned three or four other farms,
aggregating altogether 1,800 acres.
     The home of the late Doctor McKee was built by James McKee in 1861,
though it stood unoccupied until after the war, when he finished it.  It
is a large brick house, the brick having been made on the farm.  James
and Christine McKee had only two children to reach mature years, the
daughter, Catherine, becoming the wife of John Withrow, and they died in
Woodford County.
     Dr. John Robert McKee before the outbreak of the Civil war was sent
abroad to complete his education in Europe.  He studied medicine and
other subjects at Wurtzburg, Bavaria, in Berlin, at Prague and graduated
at Wurtzburg, Bavaria.  After the war he returned home and, owing to his
father's failing health took active charge of the farm.  He finally
abandoned the profession of medicine altogether and for the rest of his
life devoted himself, with the aid of his sons to the management of his
farm in Woodford County, now for many years past the home of one of the
most noted Duroc-Jersey breeding plants in the South.  Doctor McKee also
made his farm and stables famous for the training of many noted race
horses.  For six years he kept his racing stable in Canada.  He was one
of the leading growers of hemp and barley in his section of the state. 
He inherited property to the extend of about 800 acres, all of which is
now used by his sons, McKee Brothers.
     Doctor McKee was a gentleman of the old school, widely known
throughout Central Kentucky and highly esteemed by a large circle of
friends and acquaintances.  At the age of twenty-nine he married Agnes
Morancy, daughter of a planter and physician of Millikens Bend,
Louisiana.  As a child Agnes came to live in the home of her
grandfather, Col. Zach White, on the Kentucky River at Lock No. 5, a few
miles above Frankfort.  A great deal of interesting Kentucky history is
associated with the name of Agnes Morancy McKee, much of which is told
in some recent issues of the Kentucky State Historical Magazine.  A
soldier of the American Revolution was Col. William Steele, who came to
Kentucky as early as 1783.  He married Sarah Bullock, sister of Judge
Edmund Bullock, of Lexington.  Their home was near Lock No. 5 on the
Kentucky River, and Colonel Steele was deeply interested in many of the
pioneer undertakings of the new state.  He attended one of the first
constitutional conventions at Danville, and also the second convention
at Frankfort in 1799.  He was a member of the Legislature in 1792, when
he and Robert Alexander secured a charter for the Kentucky River
Improvement Company, as a result of which the Kentucky River was locked
and dammed to provide transportation to the coal fields.  Lock and Dam
No. 5 were on the land of Col. William Steele.  Agnes Steele, a daughter
of Col. William, became the wife of Col. Zach White and they in turn
were the grandparents of Agnes Morancy McKee.  Col. Zach White was a
member of the Legislature in 1840, and his son, Zach, Jr., served with
Morgan's army during the war between the states and died while sheriff
of Woodford County.
     The five children of Dr. John Robert McKee and wife were: James and
Frank, who comprise the firm of McKee Brothers; Dr. E.M. McKee, a
physician at Lexington; Elizabeth, wife of T. Vernon Foreman, Gilbert,
of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.  The late Doctor McKee was never interested
in politics.  His parents were Presbyterians, but he became affiliated
with the Catholic Church with his wife at Versailles, Kentucky.

Chrisman Foreman McKee Morancy White Withrow Steele
=
Bavaria_Germany Canada LA Lexington-Fayette-KY

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/woodford/mckee.jr.txt