Theophilus John McKee

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Theophilus John McKee (September 29, 1879 — August 4, 1948) was an African-American attorney in the prominent Syphax family. He lived most of his life as a White man, but revealed his identity later in life to obtain an inheritance.

Biography[]

Born Theophilus John Syphax to Douglas Syphax and Abbie McKee Syphax, he was the maternal grandson of the African-American property speculator and Civil War veteran Colonel John McKee. A light-skinned Black man, he decided in 1902, when he was 22 years old, to hide his lineage and live his life as a "White man". He then disassociated himself from his family.

In June 1904, Theophilus John Syphax legally changed his name to T. John McKee and began living within White society. His friends were influential people, lawyers and judges.

In 1905 he applied and was accepted to Columbia University's law school. McKee worked as a commercial attorney on Wall Street for the next 40 years.

He married Anna Lois Dixon, a White woman from upstate New York. They settled in New York City and had two sons - T. John McKee, Jr. in 1910, and Douglas Dixon McKee in 1911. He'd sent his sons to Yale and Trinity College. He successfully hid his Black lineage from his wife and children. His marriage to Anna Lois Dixon ended in divorce. McKee remarried another White woman, Aimee Bennett. He hid his background from her also. They lived on Manhattan's East Side. His sons finished college and went to upstate New York near their mother.

His secret was revealed when he came forward to claim an inheritance. In 1946, McKee's first cousin, Dr. Henry McKee Minton, died. That meant McKee was now the last surviving grandchild of the from Philadelphia.

It was reported in a New York Post article on March 25, 1948, that although he had been accepted as a White man for 45 years, he was indeed the Black grandson of Civil War veteran Col. John McKee.

He died of heart failure on August 4, 1948.

Further reading[]

• Graham, Lawrence Otis (2007). The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty. HarperCollins. pp. 181–182, 384–385. ISBN 9780060985134.
• Graham, Lawrence Otis. "Secrets and Lies: To claim his inheritance, he'd have to reveal his true identity". McKee Scholars.
• "Death of Claimant Ends Estate Fight" (PDF). New York Times. 1948-08-19.
• Burley, Dan (November 1951). "The Strange Will of Colonel McKee". Negro Digest. 10 (1).