I was researching the Cant Family and the Scottish community around Dayville, which led me to Murdock Murchison, which led me to research the “Scotch Train” (trying to find the wagon train that all these Scots traveled with) which led me to McKenzie’s (also in our family), the township of Elmira, Illinois, and then on to MacRae’s.
Maurice of Clunes MacRath (the earlier form of MacRae) B: c 1280 Ulster, Ireland, had four sons, two of which have lineages that led to an amazing number of connections of family and Oregon history.
How MacRae’s and Olivers’s are related – John Turnbull married Margaret Oliver. John’s brother William had a son James who married Ann Matheson, whose mother was Isabelle MacRae.
Kenneth MacRae – Kenneth’s father Alexander was half-brother to Jane MacRae who was the grandmother of Donald McLennan.
How MacRae’s, MacLennan’s and Officers are related – Donald MacLennan’s mother was Ann MacRae and his wife’s mother was Missouri Officer.
The Murchison connection – Murdock Murchison married Marion Matheson, whose mother was Isabella MacRae.
Murdock’s brother Duncan had a daughter Isabella who married James Woodell. Dora Snyder’s sister Alice (Missouri Officer’s daughter) married Otis Mascal and Otis’s brother married Lillian Cant. Lillian’s brother James Cant married Freda Erikson, which leads us to Stirritts, Shields and Keeneys.
That’s 15 different surnames, all prominent families of eastern Oregon, all family. And only the tip of the iceberg of connected families that settled the “Oregon Territory” -McKenzie, Aldrich, Weatherford, Manwaring, Deardorf, Cooley, Fisk, and so many more.
The undertone of Scottish heritage and culture in Oregon cannot be understated… Still haven’t found that “Scotch Train” of 1863, but I’m getting close.
Photo – Donald MacRae 1850-1897
Buried in Antelope, Wasco Co., Oregon
