John L. McAtee

John Lind McAtee (1841-1904) was born to William Brady and Anna A. (née Boyd) McAtee near Smithsburg, Maryland, on June 25, 1841. John's grandfather was Thomas McAtee who had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, along with his three brothers. Their ancestors had emigrated to Maryland from Ireland in 1640. His grandmother, Jane Brady McAtee, was a cousin of William Henry Harrison, who became President of the United States of America. The McAtees settled near Port Colony and, along with three other families, built the first Roman Catholic Church there.

Early life and education McAtee reportedly prepared for a college education by attending Academia (a Presbyterian school in Juniata, Pennsylvania) and the Episcopal Diocesan College of St. James (near the present Hagerstown, Maryland). He enrolled in Princeton University in the fall of 1858, joining the class of 1862. However, his eyesight began to fail at the start of the sophomore year, unable to read a line. Although he was under the care of various oculists and opticians for the next 16 years, evidently they were unable to diagnose the cause of his problem nor find a cure.

Death Judge McAtee died on June 13, 1904, after a 4-day illness from paralysis caused by a brain hemorrhage. It was thought that the hemorrhage may have been due to a 2-month illness of neuritis, which the judge had suffered earlier in the year.