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MCKEE, GEORGE W. - Farming as a business is something that pays in these days of scientific agriculture. The days when the farmer worked early and late for merely enough to eat and a roof over his head are past, for the agriculturalist of the present time is too well informed to allow opportunities to escape him. He takes advantage of governmental experiments, makes experiments of his own, and deducts inferences from the operations of others. He is not content to go on raising, year after year, the same crops, but tries new ones until he is satisfied that his land is bringing forth the best results. His buildings are of the best, and his stock of high grade, this farmer of today. No one is a better representative of this modern farmer than George McKee of Section 14, Cotton Hill Township, where he was born May 7, 1881, a son of the old pioneer, the late James L. McKee, and his wife, Mrs. Levina (Snodgrass) McKee, whose lives are taken up separately in this work.
Attending the New City public school, Mr. McKee acquired a practical education, but his real training came from the farm. With the exception of some traveling for recreation, Mr. McKee has spent his life in Sangamon County engaged in farming ,and the results he has accomplished show that he chose his occupation wisely. A strong Democrat, he has served since 1909 as Town Clerk. Liberal in his religious views, he contributes to the support of the Christian Church of Rochester, to which his wife belongs.
Mr. McKee was married in Springfield, Ill., by Judge Murray, on November 27, 1904, to Lillie May Burt, who was born in Rochester, Sangamon County, March 24, 1888, a daughter of Alfred H. and Margaret Burt. Mr. Burt was born in Branch County, Mich., December 9, 1847, and his wife in Fairfax County, Va., in 1854. Both are now living retired in Rochester. Besides one child who died in infancy, three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McKee, who survive, namely: Ruth V., born October 24, 1906, Ethel May, born April 20, 1909, and George Lemuel, born February 8, 1911.