McGee, Levi Vance

Unknown Grave Marker representative of Levi McGee's burial plot

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Significance:

Company G, 82nd Ohio Infantry

Place of Birth:

Ohio

Date of Birth:

1838

Place of Death:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Date of Death:

June 2nd, 1864

Place of Burial:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Cemetery Name:

Stones River National Cemetery

Levi Vance McGee was born in 1838 in Ohio to parents Michael and Mary McGee. Michael was an Irish immigrant; however, Levi was born in America. According to the United States Census taken in 1850, Levi and his family lived in Taylor Creek, Hardin County, Ohio. He was one of 6 children and being 12 years old in 1850, Levi was the oldest of the 6. His sibling’s names in age order were Sarah, Joseph, Catherine, James, and Rebecca. The census also reported that Levi was enrolled in school in Hardin County, Ohio. 

The 1860 United States Census confirmed that Levi was 22 at the time the record was taken. He had moved from Taylor Creek to Liberty, Logan County, Ohio where he worked as a farmer. The census also reported that Levi lived with a family by the name of the Burkhart's. 5 months after the census was taken, Levi married William and Elizabeth Burkhart’s second eldest daughter, Francis, who was 17 years old at the time. Ohio marriage records indicate that their wedding date was November 29th, 1860, and they held their ceremony back in Hardin County, Ohio. Levi and Francis were married for almost a year before he enlisted, and they remained without child during that time. 

On November 27th, 1861, just two days before his one-year wedding anniversary, Levi McGee enlisted with the Union army. He mustered in with Company G of the 82nd Ohio Infantry as a private and was 23 years old at the start of his military service. 

In 1864, the 82nd Ohio participated in the Atlanta Campaign from May to September. During this time, Private McGee fell ill and was sent to the Murfreesboro U.S. General Hospital. There, he suffered from chronic diarrhea, and that would ultimately be his downfall. On June 2nd, 1864, Levi McGee would succumb to his illness. According to the Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, McGee was first interred in the Murfreesboro U.S. General Hospital’s cemetery. After Stones River National Cemetery’s creation, McGee was reinterred there. 

Levi McGee is laid to rest in the Stones River National Cemetery in an unknown grave.  

Tags: stones river national battlefield, stones river national cemetery, american civil war