1954 - Special Collections

YEAR BOOK AMERICAN CLA N
GREGOR SOCIETY
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Gen. XIX
1. John MacGr egor, m. Ann e, dau. of MacGregor of Roro. He
s. and is ancestor of the MacGr egor chiefs line. More later.
2. James Ma~Gr egor , Maj or in th e Clan Gregor, under Montr
ose in the Cause of Kin g Charles I, after their defeat
he sett led in the Virginia Colony, signed the Oa th of F idelity,
Apr. 11, 1652. H e is the ancestor of all those in the U.S.A.
who have MackGh ee-McGehee blood, as descended from his
MacGregor line.
3. Duncan MacGr egor died unmarried, in the U.S.A.
Note by M.M. : Our Deputy Chief tain from Arkansas, M rs. Etta
Stephens Stokes, a descendant of Maj or Jam es MacGr egor, and an
expert on the MackGeH ee lineage, kindl y furni shed data on th is
as well as other parts of this articl e.
Chief Patrick and his 2nd son, James MacGregor , Maj or in the
Clan Gregor, were under Montrose when they fought in th e battle
of Dunbar 1650, at which time most of the ar my was killed or
wounded. Those who took part against Cromwell were hanged,
drawn, and Quartered, or had their head chopped off. It has been
determined that Patrick and his son were among those who escaped
and after wandering in disguise for a long time, Ja mes made his
escape in a sailing vessel from England to Nor thumberland County,
Virginia. In 1650-1652, the Royalists looked to North Amer ica as a
place of refuge, for fear of what might happen to them elsewhere.
Cr omwell exerci sed the severest vengeance again st the fri ends of
Charles I, in Scotland . Had Jam es MacGregor been found and
recogni zed by them, he would have been drawn and Quartered like
Graham, Fraser and Wa llace. James MacGregor's Oath of F idelity
is on file in the Virginia State Library , Richm ond, Va . H e later
took the name of T homas MackGehee, and as indicat ed above is
the projenitor of long lines of descent from MacGregor-M acGehee,
which took root in this country the same year that the MacGregor­
Magruder line did in 1652.
John MacGregor, eldest son, s. his father, Patrick (Abberach),
became Lord MacGregor, and followed in th e footstep s of his
fath er, as a steady Loyalist. In the year 1689 he joined the Roya l
Party with the Clan Gregor , and continued in arms until the H igh ­
land Clans disper sed. Soon afterwards, an Act was mad e by King
W illiam, entitled an "Act for erecting a Ju sticary in the Highlands",
at th e end of which a short clau se was thrown in-rescinding
King Charles Ir s Act restoring MacGregors to their name". T he
Clan Gregor was pr ovoked by this Act. John MacGregor, alias
McPatrrick Vic Condachie Abreach, was in Glen Lochay 1670.
J ohn MacGregor m. Anne, dau. of MacGr egor of Roro, and had :
1. John MacGr egor, eldest son and heir who s. ( MacGregor
chiefs line) .
2. Donald MacGregor, one of the other children , was a Capt.