Preface to Genealogy Information Genealogy Information and Files

CLAN MACPHERSON GENEALOGY FILES

Addendum: The Clan Macpherson Web Site Genealogy Data Base Update

By Roger C. Dennis

This past Spring I completed the task of inputting the genealogy data contained in Donald McPherson's two books into my computer. I submitted this information to Lachlan Macpherson for inclusion on the web site. About a month later I received the Spring 2004 edition of the Urlar and became quite interested in Lowell Thomas's article regarding the McPherson's from Pennsylvania and his finding regarding some of the genealogy data regarding the "links L/M/R" contained in Donald's volume 2. I contacted Lowell and he sent me the zipped GED files that he has put together.

I reviewed these files and compared them to the files that I had been working on and had already submitted to Lachlan for the web site. At first I thought I might want to try and integrate this work into what has already been done. Then I considered the idea of trying to create new linkage codes (like those used by Don) into Lowell's data files. On final analysis, I had decided that the best thing to do is to leave Lowell's work intact and undisturbed, sending these data bases to Lachlan for inclusion in the genealogy section of the web site.

Here is some information regarding the files that Lowell sent me:

File Group File Size # of Names # of Text Records States/Provinces

Robert McPherson 1689 1.428mb 1216 6945 PA, AL, TN, MA, ME, MD, NH, MN, IA TX, AZ. IL, MO, OR, CA, VA, NE,

William McPherson 1698 3.234mb 4436 21596 PA, NY, OH, IA, CT, IL, MI

Wm.McPherson 1698-Shaw 718kb 352 3083 PA, NY, OH, MI, IA, IN, CA, IL, ONT

John McPherson 1695 634kb 336 2968 PA, OH, IN

Fred McPherson 1745 612kb 283 3242 PA, OH, NY, MO, CA, IA, NE

In the Robert McPherson 1689 file one will find a lot of what was contained in Don McPherson's (book 2) of the "L" group. In the William McPherson 1698 file, one will find a lot more information that compares to Don's "R" group. Lowell Thomas did comment to me that he had a lot more work to do on his data base for the group that went to Canada from Pennsylvania around the time of the American Revolution as he also noted in his article in the Spring 2004 Urlar. This group (Wm. McPherson 1698-Shaw) is a found in Don's "M" group.

I recommend that people using these various files to track their ancestors keep in mind that Lowell's files seem to me to be a better "untangling" of some of the various versions.

In arriving at this decision to include Lowell Thomas' work, I talked with George McPherson (our Treasure) at the Campbell Highland games last June. He has worked with Don's information (he borrowed our volume 2 a number of years ago) and he has worked closely with Lowell. He is very convinced that Lowell's work is worth looking further into, especially when looking at the links L/M/R. In addition, Lowell is just starting to work on the M group that went to Canada around the time of our American Revolution.

In conclusion, I only want to add that Don McPherson himself has said numerous times and in his books that he only compiled and produced the information that was provided to him by Clan members. He made no attempt to authenticate the information back in the 1980's--he did not even have a computer to work with on his project.

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Background Information:

In 1983 Donald F. McPherson, life member of the Clan Macpherson, U.S. Branch, compiled genealogy information in his area of New York. He published his first book, entitled: MCPHERSONS OF GENESEE COUNTRY, by Donald F. McPherson, "Scot - Oaks," Hilton, New York, U.S.A., October 1983. In the Acknowledgements on page three he wrote the following:

"This book will never be complete. Genealogy being history, the last word can never be written. The "lost cousins" will provide interesting search projects, as in a puzzle that awaits completion. As the younger generation comes along, I hope this collection from so many sources will prove interesting and provoke additional information on the many missing people. "I have tried to offer statistical information as correctly as possible and also family stories which should make for more human and interesting reading. "As additional facts surface, an addendum may well be in order for the future. My hope is that the McPhersons of Genesee Country will continue to be a close and honorable family in our expanding future."
Signed: Donald Francis McPherson

In the Preface section (page 5) Donald wrote:

"It was natural that sometime an interest in the family name and ancestry would present questions to be answered. The logical place to start this story is to go as far back as possible with direct connections. The genealogy will be reviewed first with all the available information to consolidate the facts for future generations to carry on. The story unfolds leading to the "McPhersons of Genesee Country". "This entire book evolves around "Black Alex" who settled in LeRoy, New York in 1802. All the facts go forward and back from his time."

"All McPhersons, MacPhersons, Macphersons, or any phonetic spelling, i.e., McFerson or McFearson, could be the same person and are coded by letters with the number of letters indication (sic) (indicating) the generation. The letter A would be the first child, B, the second child, etc.

"i.e. ABBE- Donald H. -4th generation, 5th child
ABB- Alexander J. -Father-3rd generation, 2nd child
AB- John -Grandfather, 2nd generation, 2nd child
A- Alexander -Great grandfather, 1st generation
"When the surname if replaced by marriage, any available information regarding the new name is recorded by using additional numbers.
"i.e. AID34-Eleanor Ward -5th generation, 4th child
AID3- Harold Ward -Father-4th generation, 3rd child
AID- Jane McPherson Ward-Grandmother, 3rd generation, 4th child
AI- Alexander J. McPherson-Great grandfather, 2nd generation, 9th child
A- Alexander McPherson -Great great grandfather, 1st generation""
In the mid-1980's, Donald and his wife Lois made an extensive trip around the United States visiting with other member of the clan and looking for more genealogy information for his second volume. In 1988 Donald published a second volume, entitled: MCPHERSONS OF GENESEE COUNTRY, Volume - 2, by Donald F. McPherson, "Scotch-Oaks" 98 West Beach Drive, Hilton, New York, 14468 - U.S.A., 1988. In the Acknowledgments section (page 3), Don wrote:

"Most of the first "McPhersons of Genesee Country" information has not been duplicated in the Volume 2. However where there were corrections, these have been updated. Also many pictures have been repeated to provide a better picture because of the half-tone process. All of the original notes and reference materials have not been repeated. The majority of this volume is the presentation of the families "B" thru "X". Most all of this information has developed since the publication of the first volume. Some of these families are interrelated while the remainder will require additional research to establish the ties if any exist. All of the people with letters or letters and numbers before their names are blood related.

"It is hoped that this volume will pull us all closer together as a large family."

At this juncture, let me introduce myself. I am Roger Currie Dennis, life member of the Clan Macpherson, U.S. Branch. I became acquainted with these two volumes back in 1992. The volumes belong to my wife, Ruth Rouse, who, like me was also a member of the Clan Macpherson--in fact, that is how we originally met in 1987. In 1992 I took the genealogy information provided in these books and entered the data into our computer, using genealogy software then available. I did not, however, even begin to enter all of that data, only the direct ancestors.

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Clan Macpherson, U.S. Branch in 2003, held in Roswell, Georgia, I had a conversation with Donald (Don) McPherson-he is now well into his 80's. Don told me he had four copies of volume 2 with him and wondered what he should do with them. I suggested that he enter them into the raffle to be held the next day. I asked him if anyone, to his best knowledge, had ever input the entire contents of the genealogy information into a computer. He told me that he did not think anyone had done so to date.

The next morning at the AGM during the conclusion of the formal meeting, I stood and informed those assembled about Don's four volumes being placed into the raffle. I also stated that it was my intent to enter all of the genealogy information contained in both volumes into my computer, using the genealogy software called Family Tree Maker. I did not say "when" this would be concluded as I had no idea how much effort would be involved.

In December 2003 I began the process of entering the information from these two volumes. It is now April 2004 and I have completed the project! There are 13 files in GED format that have been ZIPped with WIN ZIP. These files, in total, contain 7.32 megabytes of data, over 5200 names, and comprise 33,275 text records. The largest file includes the original, integrated clan links from the first volume as well as additional links found in volume 2. These file linkages include the alpha groups A-B-C-D-E-G-H-Q. Two files contain the integrated I-K and the N-O groups.

The remaining 10 files are separate alpha groups that have not been integrated, namely alpha groups of F, J, L, M, P, R, S, T, U, and V. The first volume had a few entries for the B, C, D, E, F, and G groups, but the vast majority of their information was found in volume two. None of the other groups were mentioned in the first volume.

The following information regards the various groups and their respective files. I will try to give a brief summary of where most of these people originally settled or moved to within the first few generations in North America. As you can imagine, they are now scattered far and wide. I will also give you some information regarding the file size (unzipped), the number of names in the file and the number of text records contained therein.

GROUP (S)	FILE SIZE	# OF NAMES	TEXT RECORDS	STATES/PROVENCES MENTIONED
ABCDEGHQ	1.266mb	2418	7698	NY, MI, IL, CA, ME,ONT, NB
IK	452kb	52	1714	ONT, NY, NJ, UT
NO	538kb	355	2288	NY, ONT
F	612kb	553	2817	NB, ME, MI, MN, ND, OR
J	456kb	69	1719	MA, MI, CA, WA
L	510kb	243	2165	PA, NY, OH, IL
M	554kb	420	2419	ONT
P	521kb	272	2262	NY, IN, CO, MI,
R	493kb	195	1990	PA, NY
S	477kb	141	1890	NY, PA,
T	542kb	141	1890	OH, IA
U	452kb	54	1739	PA
V	447kb	39	1686	KS, PA, WA

Note: Although indicated in the Acknowledgments for Volume 2, no data was provided for W or X groups.

In the above summary of the files, I have indicated the number of text records that have been input. A text record includes: name, date of birth, place of birth, date of death, place of death, date of burial, place of burial, date of marriage, and place of marriage. When this information was available, I entered it into the file.

Regarding the linkage codes used for each name that was to be linked, I placed the code linkage in the place of birth data field as well as the actual place of birth, if provided. In addition I included the linkage code following the persons name when that person was the head of the link(s) to a particular link group. For instance, "Alexander "Ban" McPherson, link to D" is how this head of the group has the linkage code both in his name field as well as in the place of birth field.

When one goes to a name in their list of names using their own genealogy software, they can highlight that person and go to the family page. One can then move downward through the children for descendants following the linkage codes or they can move upward for ascendants by going to that person's parents.

Please note that some of these people married more than once and had many children. If one is moving up the ascendants, the parents need to be check for other spouses if a linkage seems to be incomplete or confusing.

Also, some of these families had many children. As long as the children had the McPherson surname, the alpha codes posed no problem. However, if the wife was the linkage and married to a non-McPherson, the linkage codes are numeric. This causes some problems when the have more than nine children. For instance, if the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, etc., child is encountered, I had to use two digits for that generation's code. This happened only a few times in this whole process.

Another problem was encountered regarding dates of birth, marriage, and death. My Family Tree Maker software (version 10) would "ding" me when the dates did not make sense. For instance, the parent was too young for a child to be born, or the mother was over 50 years of age, or the father had died several years before the child was born. These challenges forced me to review all possible dates for typo errors (i.e., 1890 versus 1980 or 1889 versus 1898). I corrected my errors but some of these were typo errors when these volumes were originally typed on a typewriter by the author and his wife. In several instances I turned to other sources of information to clear up date problems, including U.S. Census data and LDS records (Mormons).

In Don's two books, he used a family tree chart at the beginning of each group. For the largest group (ABCDEGHQ) he shows a family tree going back into the 1100's starting with "Gillespick chlerich." The fourth generation is "Ewan ban McMhuirich" know as the "Parson" and is the start of the MacPherson clan name, meaning "son of the parson" as the name was applied to his three sons-Kenneth, John, and Gillies. I have attempted to show linkages upward from the original group head person so that one can follow this to "Gillespick chlerich."

To facilitate the users of this genealogy information, I have included an Outline Descendant Tree that is in a PDF format that has been ZIPped. Those wishing to download this file will need Adobe Acrobat (version 4) software. In addition to just names and dates, I have included place of birth and place of death. This will enable the user to follow the linkage codes included in the place of birth data field. Be aware however, the PDF file for the ABCDEGHQ group is 188 pages. Of course, the other groups are not nearly that many pages.

In closing, I would like to ask for your help. If you find errors in the family tree data, please let me know. We want the information to be as correct and up to date as possible. We will input the corrections. Please be sure to include the linkage code of the person or their spouse as well as the corrected information. You can send me your comments and corrections to rcdennis@pobox.com.