Duncan MacLellan and wife Flora | leemaclellanfamily

Duncan MacLellan (Sr.) and Flora McLaughlin

How many greats can you count?

So we started our search through the past with Donald McLellan, (1725-1766). His son Archibald had five children, one of whom was Duncan MacLellan (Sr.) Duncan was born in 1795 on a farm called Gatcharran in Craignish Parish. Craignish Parish was the birthplace of other McLellans. Duncan was my great-great-great grandfather.

Although he was born in Craignish, he moved south around 1814 to North Knapsdale Parish. (North Knapsdale is 7 miles from Lochgilphead, a town still on the map of Scotland.) There he met his future wife Flora McLaughlin.

Duncan and Flora had 13 children over a period of 24 years: Archibald (1814-1892), Catherine (1816-1857), Mary (1820-1895), Anne (1824-1911), Issac (Sr.), (1826-1872), Nathaniel (1828-1915), John (1826-1873), Abner (1830-1840), Rebecca (1883-1889), Flora (1835-1879), and Dougal (1838-1881).

Typical of that time period, two of their children died in infancy: Donald in 1818, and John in 1831. And Abner died when he was only 10. That's 13 children in the span of 24 years! Perhaps that's why Flora has a dour look in the picture.

We're interested in Issac Sr., my great-great grandfather, and his wife Catherine, who had nine children, one of whom was my great-grandfather, Angus Dominion MacLellan.

There are two interesting facts about Duncan Sr: He joined the rebellion of 1837-8 against the British under William Lyon McKenzie, and he and his wife were the first of our line of MacLellans to emigrate to Canada. Duncan and his wife Flora are the furthest back we can go with pictures. The picture taken above was from Orangeville, a town near Ontario Canada, so this must have been taken after they emigrated to Canada in 1819.

Duncan's wife Flora McLaughlin was born near the Castle Sween in North Knapdale, seen in the picture on the right.