general clan advice... Help

[Silent Raven]

okay so i am just starting to get into my Scottish heritage and exploring as much as i can so bear with me. So i know that my family comes from the MacPherson line, so does that mean im a member of the MacPherson Clan?? how exactly does this whole clan vs. family thing work exactly?

[Cygnus]

If your surname is the same as the clan name, it's pretty straight-forward. If not, it gets a bit more complicated and opinions differ.

The term "clan" and "family" are often used interchangeably (though some will say that it's lowland families and highland clans, the idea is the same), and a clan is essentially just a large and very extended family. So large, in fact, that some of its members may spell their last names differently; though they almost all sprang from the same stock.

Clans generally have a number of associated surnames (generally called "septs", though the use of the term is not universal); these can represent alternate spellings of the name or the names of families with different surnames that have historically offered their fealty to the chief of the clan. My advice is to be careful with such lists; if you find your surname on one, do your research - some names are claimed by more than one clan. I have family that was told by a storekeeper that we were members of one clan because his list said we were. His list was provided by his supplier, though, and it turns out my family would have been historically associated with another clan. I only discovered this after a decent amount of money was spent on the wrong clan's paraphernalia.

Clan allegiance was also largely geographical; if you lived in a chief's lands, you were his vassal and would generally show loyalty to his clan. This meant that some families "changed hands" over the course of history, and that many clans have members with trade names (such as Smith) since each clan needed its tradesmen to shoe the horses, make barrels, etc. Where your ancestors lived is a very good indicator of the clan to which they were loyal.

So, after all that, I'd suggest you start with your surname. If you can track your ancestors on that line back to Scotland (and there are loads of websites that can get you started for free, and others that you can probably use through your local library), then that should give you an idea of the clan to which you would belong. If your surname isn't Scottish, start looking at other branches. It sounds like you're related to the MacPhersons in some way, so that would be a perfectly acceptable route to take - just keep in mind that traditionally clan affiliation is based on your last name.

I hope that made some sense! Good luck!

[Silent Raven]

as always Cygnus you are full of helpful information. I will try my best to look into my family tree in more detail. though i am fairly certain my great great grandfather was a MacPherson, but only had daughters, one of which married a Parker, which eventually led to me.
thanks!

[CelticSire]

Another point to remember when doing genealogical research is to not get dissuaded by minor variations in spelling of names. When our ancestors came ashore at Ellis Island, Baltimore, or any other point of entry, many of them did not speak, read or write in English. Consequently, when they pronounced their surname in whatever language or accent they spoke, the person who was wrtiting the entry into the register spelled it how it sounded. The same holds true for many early census records. I have census records with my great-grandfather's last name spelled three different ways, and all in the same small town in Kentucky.

[Burly Brute]

Another point to remember when doing genealogical research is to not get dissuaded by minor variations in spelling of names. When our ancestors came ashore at Ellis Island, Baltimore, or any other point of entry, many of them did not speak, read or write in English. Consequently, when they pronounced their surname in whatever language or accent they spoke, the person who was wrtiting the entry into the register spelled it how it sounded. The same holds true for many early census records. I have census records with my great-grandfather's last name spelled three different ways, and all in the same small town in Kentucky.

Haha tell me about it, my mother's maiden name is SWEAT which is apparently a variation of SWEET, but obviously they bring to mind totally different attributes...

[Cygnus]

Another point to remember when doing genealogical research is to not get dissuaded by minor variations in spelling of names. When our ancestors came ashore at Ellis Island, Baltimore, or any other point of entry, many of them did not speak, read or write in English. Consequently, when they pronounced their surname in whatever language or accent they spoke, the person who was wrtiting the entry into the register spelled it how it sounded. The same holds true for many early census records. I have census records with my great-grandfather's last name spelled three different ways, and all in the same small town in Kentucky.

There are other difficulties as well. Take, for example, my third-great grandmother. Apparently her brother, who was a military officer stationed in Canada at the time, had threatened that if she married my grandfather, he would kill the both of them with his own sword! My ancestors were so concerned that he'd make good on this threat that they traveled under assumed names and didn't begin using their real names again until they had made their way West.

[ctbuchanan]

When our ancestors came ashore at Ellis Island, Baltimore, or any other point of entry, many of them did not speak, read or write in English. Consequently, when they pronounced their surname in whatever language or accent they spoke, the person who was writting the entry into the register spelled it how it sounded.

This was not only true here, but back in Scotland as well. Consistent spellings of surnames is a very modern thing. The parish clerks were almost illiterate themselves and entered names of baptisms, marriages and deaths very phonetically which is the source for many of the "sept" or family names. Variations of the name Buchanan, for example, often don't resemble the word as we know it at all.

[cryerelizabeth]

It's easy to track down your ancestry on these websites. My mom went to Ancestry.com and tracked our line down to the times just before William the Conqueror. It was very interestng. We found that my great-great-grandfather was a Cunningham, and I've been obsessed with my family's Scots-Irish heritage ever since.

[Chas]

It's easy to track down your ancestry on these websites. My mom went to Ancestry.com and tracked our line down to the times just before William the Conqueror. It was very interestng. We found that my great-great-grandfather was a Cunningham, and I've been obsessed with my family's Scots-Irish heritage ever since.

As a general rule of thumb, it is not easy to trace ones ancestry - on line or anywhere else. In the UK, the professionals charge upwards of £25 per hour. If a man did not have a title he would soon be forgotten soon after his death. There are not many 'John the Serf' or 'James the Peasant Farmer' recorded in history. If you can get back 400 years, you are doing very well. 945 years is almost a miracle!

Regards

Chas

[EagleJCS]

Sometimes you have to take a connection to a famous (or infamous person!) with a grain of salt, especially with online family trees (unless the original/primary or secondary records are cited - and not just 'great-uncle Henry said so').

In some instances, a presumption is made about particular people because the name is the same, when after further research it is found that either a) the dates don't match, b) the person in question wasn't in the area at the time the record was written, c) the person in question had different parents that the purported connection, or d) all of the above. (Not intended to be an exhaustive list, but by way of example).

In my family record, for example, we have found three men of the same name in the same county at the same time, but with further research, we have found that none of them are related to each other, but it makes unraveling the records we do have a bit more complicated. (In fact, at this time, there are at least 5 men in this city with my first and last names, and the same middle initial. We're all different ages, and I'm not related to any of them, as far as I know. I do know for a fact, though, that the father of one of them has the same first name and middle initial as my father!) Imagine what kinds of problems this may give to a future family tree researcher!