Our Family Tree

John and Ephraim MacLean

"John MacLean, born in the 1690's and Alexander MacLean, born in the early 1700's, were the first MacLean's to sail to the new American colonies of this lineage. It can't, at this time, be proven that they were brothers, but I have collected enough circumstantial evidence to personally believe they are brothers, or at least half-brothers or first cousins. Some of the McLeans today say that the first MacLean's came from the Isle of Mull, Scotland, but according to history, most Scottish people migrated to Ulster, Ireland, then on to America. There didn't seem to be a shipping point from out of the highlands of Scotland at that time, so most of the Scottish people spent one generation of time in Ulster, Ireland. Both John and Alexander landed in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.¶ Other family names were located in the same area and same time, such as Ephraim Moore and William Dunlap (1). John and Alexander were indentured to pay for the voyage after their arrival. Later they were found settled at Chestnut Level, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, near the Susquehanna River. The Dunlap's and Moore's settled in the same area. Also present were families of the Davidson's, Alexanders, Osbourne's, Vance's, MacConnell's, Ewing's, and Brevard's. The Brevard's were French-Irish and later were to be neighbors in North Carolina as were most of these families.¶ John MacLean married the daughter (or step-daughter) of Ephraim Moore, Margaret (2) (3). Ephraim Moore's wife, Elizabeth, died in 1740. In 1739, at the age of thirty, Alexander had managed to save for his future, after paying off his indenture. He married Elizabeth Ratchford, who was the daughter of his former benefactor. After remaining in Pennsylvania several years, Alexander and Elizabeth had already started raising their family. They had three daughters, Jane, Margaret, and Agnes.¶ John and Margaret started their family also, with four children. Charles was born in 1728 and Ephraim in 1730. The other two names have been lost in history, perhaps they were sisters or they were lost to disease.¶ By now the news of Lord Granville had reached Pennsylvania. His agents advertised land in large acreage at low prices in the warmer climate of the southern colonies. In this time of the mid-eighteenth century there was a large migration from Pennsylvania to the Carolinas in the south. The spacious land and southern climate were much more appealing to most people than the overcrowded Pennsylvania.¶ About 1740, John MacLean and his family joined the migration south. It is not known when John's wife died, but in 1741 John died and left the four children orphaned. Alexander MacLean's two oldest daughters died of smallpox on the journey south, so I wondered if John and Margaret also contracted this fatal disease and perhaps the two missing siblings caught it later. The records show that John died in Brunswick County, Virginia, in November of 1741. Brunswick County is located just north of the North Carolina and Virginia state line. Court records show that the childrens' uncle, William Dunlap, was appointed guardian of the orphaned children. At the time of John's death, Charles was thirteen and Ephraim was eleven years old. Here is the translation of the court records on dealing with the four orphans of John MacLean.

511 Pennsylvania fr.

"Man Orphans Court held at Lancaster in the county of Lancaster the fourth day of November. Ann Dom Bedford, Edward Smout, Samuel Boyd, and David Jones, Esq., Justice of and for the King.¶ Upon the petition of Ephraim Moore of the said County yeoman to this court setting fourth that sometime since his son-in-law John MacLean went into the Colony of Virginia and there died leaving some effects which he was informed had been in the colony and that the said John MacLean had left four small children in the Government which were provided for at the expense of their relations. Ordered by this Court that William Dunlap of the said County of Lancaster, Uncle to the said children be their Guardian, effects which their Father may have left in its Providence in the Colony of Virginia or elsewhere for their use. Certified by power of court under my hand and the seal of the said County in the above said.

Sa Blunston Clark

:Virginia fr.

"At a Court held for Brunswick County for the first day of April 1742. The within order of the Orphans Court of the County of Lancaster in the province of Pennsylvania was on the mail or of John MacLean, Scot agent, attorney of William Dunlap, Ordered to be recorded.

Test

Sterling Clackeim (4)

"After the court dealings with the four orphans, William Dunlap (5) had become the legal guardian. Note also that these records are recorded in the seal of the king, because the 1740's America was still under the rule of Great Britain.¶ In the 1750's, these boys were well into their manhood.... After their migration to western North Carolina, they first settled in the Yadkin River area, where Daniel Boone had also settled temporarily.¶ In 1760, Ephraim married Elizabeth Davidson in Rowan County, North Carolina. Other sources say the marriage was in 1761. The marriage bond was taken out from Virginia. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Davidson (Sr.) and her mother's name was Jane. John and Jane Davidson had to come to America with five children from Ulster, Ireland. The main reason for so many Irishmen coming to Philadelphia was so they could settle in a non-Catholic environment, in the present area of Chester and Lancaster counties of Pennsylvania... ¶ In the year 1768, he was appointed as commissioner of Tryon County by the Governor and the Assembly for the purpose of building a courthouse and a prison for the use of Tryon County, North Carolina. While living in Tryon County, Ephraim and his family were members of the entre Presbyterian Church north of where Davidson's College now stands. As this history goes on through time, I have found that Ephraim was a man of many trades, such as builder, politician, blacksmith, soldier, surveyor, and Indian fighter.¶ In 1770 Ephraim was commissioned a Captain of a regiment of Tryon County foot soldiers for the purpose of fighting Indians. On September 20, 1775, Ephraim was elected to the Rowan County Committee of Safety, Salisbury District. On December 23, 1776, Ephraim was elected as Justice of the peace for Rowan County, by act of legislature. When Burke County was formed form the western portion of Rowan County in 1777 Ephraim represented that newly formed county in the General Assembly and was a member of the House of Commons, which convened in New Bern on November 15, 1777, and carried over into 1778. In Burke County, Ephraim entered in some 2700 acres of land, east of York, South Carolina. He first entered land east of York, South Carolina and trekked gradually north along the west side of the Catawba River. He entered in Burke County, North Carolina, lands comprised of more that 3,000 acres. In 1779 still in Burke County, and serving as a minuteman, as they were called in the militia, Ephraim was a representative for the state Senate and again through to 1780.¶ In October 1780, Ephraim took his men to Kings Mountain in South Carolina under the command of Colonel Joseph McDowell... ¶ After the fighting, back in Burke county, Ephraim entered some 2,700 acres of land and was active in furnishing subsistence and transportation to the Colonial American troops. Ephraim, while serving as a militia captain, was farming and serving his newly formed country to the maximum.