The Clan McCullar (McCullough) History

research by
Christina Joy Tanksley
The first of the name was Cullagh, son of Allil, who was killed in a skirmish with the Picts in 864. As far back as the 11th century, this ancient family held the lands of Cardoness, Myretoun, Ardwall, and Kirkcudbrightshire. The McCullough name first appears in records in 1296 when Thomas Maculagh del counte de Wyggetone, as the sheriff of Wigtownshire, Scotland, rendered homage to king Edward I. He appears in records again in 1305 with his brother Michel, as a juror on inquest at Berwick, Scotland. Other early McCulloughs include Sir Patrick McCoulagh and Gilbert McCoulaghe in Galloway, Scotland in 1354. Records show that Sir Patrick McCoulagh was awarded “100 marks in recompense of his suffering and loss of lands in Scotland for his allegiance to the King of England in 1360.” Patrick Mackullouch was listed as being the vicar of Arbroath, Scotland.

The surname McCullough appears to be patronymical in origin and is an old Galwegian name (Galwegian means inhabitant of Galloway, Scotland). Research indicates that the original name means “son of the boar’ and was derived from the Gaelic word culagh. To the Celts, the boar was a symbol of fearlessness in battle and was used as a synonym of McCullough. The Scots used the prefix “Mac” to denote “son of” and Mac was sometimes abbreviated Mc or M’. There were two distinct groups of Scottish surnames the Highland and Lowland. The Highland Scots designated a man by his father’s name, and they generally were associated with a clan. The clan system was largely responsible for preserving the old ways of the Highlanders. A man would join a clan for protection and, to show allegiance to the clan chief, he would adopt a clan surname; usually Mac followed by the chief’s name.

County Antrim, Northern Ireland - Many McCulloughs left Scotland in the seventeenth century for this beautiful land. Today there are more McCulloughs living in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the British Isles.

Much obscurity enshrouds the true origins of the ancient McCullough name. McCulloughs are said to be descended from Somerled through his second son Reginald Somerled was a leading figure in the western Highlands and islands of Scotland in 1130 A.D. when he defeated the Norse and became King of the Isles. His oldest son, Dougall, is the father of Clan MacDougall. From Reginald, his second son, not only did the McCulloughs come but also the mighty Clan Ranald (MacDonald). The MacDonalds descended from Donald, the oldest son of Reginald and the McCulloughs sprang from the seed of Ulgrie, King of the Strathclyde Britons. Records show that in 1507, when the Earl of Derby, King of Man, raided the town of Kirkcudbright, Cutler McCulloch, chief of the clan, sailed to the Isle of Man, which he ravaged and plundered. In 1514, a charter was granted to M’Culloch of Myretoun to the lands of Merton, constituting them into a barony until the year 1566. In 1587, William McCullouch of Cardoness and his wife, Mary, granted to their nephew, William McCullouch, the lands of Ardwall. In 1634, this family was raised to the rank of baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I. The last baronet was Sir Godfrey McCullouch of Ardwall. He was beheaded at Edinburgh on March 26, 1697 for shooting William Gourdon. The clan members left the area in large numbers and migrated to Ireland and North America. The primary area of settlement in Ireland was Ulster, principally in the counties of Antrim, Down, and Tyrone. Although there are still many McCulloughs (with various spellings) in Scotland, the greatest concentration of McCulloughs in the British Isles are in Northern Ireland, There are approximately 5,000 McCulloughs with various name spellings in Northern Ireland today.

---

The McCullough Coat of Arms.

Our Family Motto is: “VI ET ANIMO”.

"Vi Et Animo" is Latin for "By strength or courage".
Individual Surnames originated for the purpose of more specific identification.

The four primary sources for second names were:

1. occupation,
2. location,
3. father’s name, or
4. personal characteristics.

The surname McCullough appears to be patronymical in origin, and is believed to be associated with the Scott’s, meaning, “son of Cullach (boar)".

---

The McCulloch clan originated in the northeast corner of Scotland in the Ross-shire district. The McCullochs of Scotland descended from two groups: the McCullochs of Myretoun descended the McCullouchs of Drummoral and Mull and the McCullochs of Piltoun descended the McCullochs of Cadboil. These descendants have lived in the house of Ardwall since 1587. Walter McCulloch of Ardwall is the 6th in direct line and is today residing in Ardwall.

He appointment of Sheriff of Kirkcudbrightshire for many years. The McCulloughs were closely allied with the MacDonalds and the MacDougalls through land holdings and marriages throughout the period of the clans. McCulloughs are believed to have held the accompanied Alexander MacDonald, the tenth Earl of Ross, to Ross-shire in the fifteenth century and were granted the lands surrounding the town of Tain. The name McCullough is recognized as being a "sept" of the clans MacDonald, MacDougall, Ross, and Munro.

---

Early U.S. History.
McCullough’s migration to the United States: When the McCulloughs began migrating into North America in the middle 1700’s, most people could not read or write. Records in Coffee and surrounding counties indicate that the original McCullough’s name was spelled McCulloch, McCullock, McCullo, McCuller, McCullar and McCullough. Since most people could not read, the spelling of the name was left up to the person entering the information into record. Even in the time of John Daniel McCullough, there was a period of time when the family spelled the name McCollough. Modem spelling variations of the McCullough name include: M’Cullough, M’Culloch, MacCulloch, McCulloch, M’Cullogh, McColloch, McCulley, McCullie, McCullo, McCulloh, McCullah, McCully, MacCullough, McCollough, and McCullagh. It is quite possible that a large number of our direct relatives are using one of the McCullough spelling variations given.

In the 1860 census of Tennessee, McCulloughs were using many of the above spelling variations. The following is a list of the spellings used and the counties where they were listed:.

McCollough Hancock Wilson Blount Bradley Cumberland Hawkins Jefferson	McCullock Jefferson Hancock Greene	McCulloch Rutherford Washington Greene Marshall Blount.
McCullah Rutherford Sevier Hawkins McCullie Bledsoe	McCully Hawkins Shelby Overton Fayette Campbell Tipton Sullivan McMinn Rhea Blount.	McCullar Coffee McNairy Tipton Hardin Shelby Montgomery McMinn
McCullough Henry Marshall Grundy Blount Putnam Davidson Hawkins Roane Dyer Coffee.	McCulley Bradley White Wayne Lincoln	McCullogh Knox Bedford Knox Cannon Fayette Madison Washington Greene Hancock Shelby.

Most ancestors of McCulloughs currently living in the United States immigrated from either Ireland or Scotland. My branch of the McCullough/McCullar family has lived in North America since the early 1770’s. To understand why they left their homes, an understanding of the political and religious situation of that day is needed. As mentioned in the history section of this book, the McCullough name originated in the Galloway area of Scotland.

In the earl 1500’s, the entire area of Great Britain was Catholic. In the mid 1500’s, the Anglican Church (The Church of England) came into existence, breaking away from the Catholic Church and causing much blood shed and strife. The Throne of England was also split between Catholic and Protestant. Some Protestant wanted to break further from the Catholic Church than did the Anglican Church. Among these was John Knox whose Calvinistic views helped paved the way for other Protestant group formations including the Presbyterian Church. During this time, most McCulloughs were Presbyterian, however many belonged to the Anglican Church. In the late 1600’s and early 1700' England was Protestant, Ireland was Catholic, and Scotland was the battle ground. Most of the eastern Highland Clans remained Catholic; the western Clans were Protestant, and the lower Scottish districts, including Galloway were mixed. Many Catholic clans wanted to return a Catholic; Charles Edward Stuart and Bonnie Prince Charlie, to the Throne. The Protestant clans supported the English in refusing to allow a Catholic to rule. By all rights, Prince Charles was next in line to the throne. This brought about the first rebellion in 1712 and the most serious revolt in 1745. The British loyal clans, however, put down both rebellions many of the Highlanders could not forget. The clan system all but disappeared during this period, and many Scots left Scotland for America and Canada. There were several McCulloughs listed as Jacobites and were exiled from Scotland to North America. A Jacobite was a supporter of Bonney Prince Charlie.

Our Ancestors had already left Scotland during this time. After the death of Sir Godfrey McCulloch in 1697, the first of our line, as did many other McCulloch’s, left the Galloway area of Scotland. Most went to Ireland, and others went to North America. There were no major sea ports on the Atlantic side of Scotland and those wishing to go to America or Canada would sail from either a British or an Irish harbor. If they had lived in Ireland, they most likely would have sailed from a port there. This is only speculation and cannot be proven. Only a fraction of the immigrants from the British Isles had entered North America by 1771. It would be nearly 5 years before the American Revolution would began.

---

John and Alexander McCullar Family of County Antrim, Ireland.
Members of the Magee and McCullar families emigrated from County Antrim in what is now Northern Ireland in about 1770 on the ship Hopewell out of Belfast, Ireland to Savannah, Georgia Colony. The Magee's came from Island Magee, but it is not known where the McCullar's were from or if they knew each other in Ireland. The Magee family included Patrick (age about 17 or 18), his sister Esther (an infant), and probably their parents or someone to take care of Esther. The McCullar family included the father, John, Alexander (age about 14), his sister Rosanna (age about 12) and probably other members of the family. John and Felix Magee, two brothers of Patrick Magee, came to Georgia on the ship Brittania in about 1772.

At a later time Patrick Magee would marry Rosanna McCullar and Alexander McCullar would marry Esther Magee, and the two families would be neighbors for over forty years. The Magee and McCullar ancestors wandered over a large part of this country. The Magee and McCullar families moved many times and over great distances.

A tract of land had been set aside for Irish emigrants to the Georgia Colony at a place called Queensboro Township on or near the River Great Ogechee (now called Ogeechee River) in St. George Parish. On February 6, 1770 the inhabitants of this land petitioned the Colony to lay out a road from Queensboro to the road already laid out from Savannah to Jonathan Bryan's cowpen on the River Great Ogechee. Apparently there was no road all the way from Savannah to Queensboro.

After the two families arrived in Savannah, their first move was to Queensboro northwest of Savannah, a distance of about 100 miles. This trip could have taken from about one week to several weeks depending on the "road" conditions.

In January 1771 Patrick Magee petitioned for a grant of 100 acres of land and one town lot in the Queensboro Township. He did not complete the petition in a timely manner, so he had to resubmit the petition in April 1772. He was granted 100 acres of land and his brother, John McGee (Magee) was granted 250 acres of land in 1774.

Shortly after arriving in Queensboro the McCullar family moved to Augusta, Georgia Colony, a distance of about 40 miles. While in Augusta the American Revolutionary War started and Alexander McCullar enlisted in the colonial army for six months and served in Florida. After Alexander got out of the army the McCullar's returned to Queensboro and Alexander enlisted in the army for another three months.

In 1777, St. George Parish became Burke County. Patrick Magee and Rosanna McCullar were married in about 1778 in Burke County. They would have eleven children. Up to four of their children were born in Burke County, the remainder were born in the Powelton area in Greene County, Georgia (this area would become Taliferro County in 1825).

In about 1788, the Magee and McCullar families moved from Burke County to Greene County, a distance of about 40 miles. Starting with this move the Magee and McCullar families would continue to move as new lands were opened for settlement.

Alexander McCullar and Esther Magee were married in about 1789 in Greene County. They would have eight children, all born in Greene County. This marriage was the first known intermarriage in the Magee and McCullar families, but many more would follow and there would be such a mess that nobody would ever be able to untangle it.

The two families stayed in Greene County until about 1806. They drew land in Clarke County, Georgia in the Georgia Land Lottery and moved to Clarke County, a distance of only about 40 miles.

Patrick Magee with his brothers and Alexander McCullar Sr. with his brothers were involved in many land purchases, sales, and the Georgia Land Lottery while they lived in Clarke County and acquired a lot of land..

Patrick and Rosanna's third child Felix McGee (Magee) and Elizabeth Walls were married on January 15, 1807 in Clarke County. They would have three children, two born in Georgia and one born in the Missouri Territory.

The Magee and McCullar families stayed in Clarke County until about 1812. By this time the United States had completed the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark had explored much of the area and made many glowing reports about what they found in the new territory. The Missouri Territory had been opened for settlement.

In about 1812 the two families pulled up stakes in Clarke County and moved to Franklin County, TN (a distance of about 175 miles). Either before the move to Franklin County or soon afterward Patrick Magee had decided that he wanted to go to the newly created Missouri Territory. Apparently Alexander McCullar did not agree with him and decided to stay in Franklin County. After over 40 years of being neighbors, the two families decided to split up in about 1814.

Patrick Magee probably started planning his trip to the Missouri Territory before or soon after arriving in Franklin County, TN. To get to the Missouri Territory from Franklin County the Patrick Magee party had to go north across Tennessee into Kentucky because the Cherokee Indians used the part of Tennessee west of Franklin County for their hunting grounds, and it was not considered safe to enter. Kentucky was considered to be relatively safe. The party would have traveled west and a little north across Kentucky to an area about 30 miles south of St. Louis in the Missouri Territory (a distance of over 350 miles). This area is near the present day Hillsboro, Jefferson County, Missouri. Since there were many hills, rivers and streams to cross, this trip would have taken at least four to six weeks. Information about the Missouri Territory is hard to find because most Courthouses, Churches, and Masonic Lodges were destroyed during the Civil War by the Union Army.

Felix McGee (Magee), third child of Patrick and Rosanna Magee wrote his will on 2 Feb 1817 and died soon afterward near present day Hillsboro, Missouri. The will was probated 24 Jun 1817. Court records show that the will was probated in St. Louis County, Missouri Territory. His will gave disposition of his property including slaves. One item in the settlement of Felix's estate was a bill to pay for lumber to build a coffin dated February 11, 1816 signed by William Crow who was the administrator of Patrick Magee’s estate. William Crow was also the husband of Sarah (Sally) Magee, eighth child of Patrick and Rosanna. Because of this item it is assumed that Patrick died on or about February 11, 1816 in the Missouri Territory. Patrick's will has not been found. Patrick and Felix are both probably buried near Hillsboro, MO.

Toward the mid-1820's most of the Magee and McCullar families that lived in Missouri moved to McNairy County, Tennessee and some stayed in Missouri. The people that left could have traveled down the Mississippi River to Memphis, TN, and then overland to McNairy County, an overland distance of about 90 miles. If they traveled overland all the way, the distance would have been about 240 miles.

Several Magee and McCullar families and some new families bought land in McNairy County in 1824 through 1827, with much of the land adjoining. The families buying land were:

• Rosanna (McCullar) Magee,
• John Rowsey, husband of Martha (Patsy) Magee, 10th child of Patrick and Rosanna
• John McCullar, 1st child of Alexander Sr. and Esther Magee and husband of Katherine (Katy) Magee, 7th child of Patrick and Rosanna MaGee,
• James Magee, 11th child of Patrick and Rosanna Magee,
• Samuel Magee, 5th child of Patrick and Rosanna Alexander McCullar Sr.,

In the years immediately preceding the Civil War the Magee and McCullar families in Mississippi were all doing well, with large families, good farms and houses, with slaves to work their farms, and living happily. The war came and changed things, most of the men were in the Confederate Army for the duration of the War.

Some did not return and those that did come home found everything desolate. Three of the grand-sons of Felix McGee, 3rd child of Patrick and Rosanna, were in the Union Army. Samuel McGee served all through the war. James McGee was killed at the Battle of Vicksburg and William McGee served with the Union Army for a while but finally deserted and joined the Confederate Army. Soon after the Civil War, most of the Magee's and McCullar's left Mississippi and moved to Texas. Many went overland by wagon train, and some probably went by ship from a Louisiana or Mississippi port to the port of Galveston or Indianola, Texas. These families settled in many parts of Texas and became farmers, ranchers or business people. Some didn't like Texas and returned to Mississippi.

The McCullar party that stayed in Franklin County, TN left in about 1818 for Alabama and Mississippi. The Francis Magee family had two additions in Franklin County. The Francis Magee family first settled near Greensboro, Hale County, AC, a distance of about 200 miles from Franklin County. They later moved to Marshall County, MS, a distance of about 175 miles.

We do not know where the Alexander McCullar Sr., family settled in Mississippi. All we know is that he lived at Pearl River, Mississippi for nine years. The Pearl River flows from about 60 miles northeast of present Jackson, Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico at the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. There are two towns named Pearl in the Jackson area, and there is a Pearl River County in southern Mississippi. The distance from mid-Franklin County to Jackson, MS is about 270 miles and to mid-Pearl River County is about 330 miles. In about 1827 the Alexander McCullar Sr. family moved to the area around present day Selmer in McNairy County, TN. The distance from Jackson, MS to Selmer, TN is about 200 miles.

The McCullar Party and the Magee Party must have been in contact with each other to end up in the same place near the mid-point between the two groups that were about 450 to 500 miles apart.

Alexander McCullar Sr. started buying land in McNairy County in 1827. By 1848, when he died, he owned all the land where the present town of Selmer is located, a town with a present population of about 4000. In '1846 and 1847 Alexander McCullar Sr. started giving his slaves to his wife, children, and grand-children. It is not known where Alexander is buried, but his wife, Esther Magee, is buried in the cemetery at Bethel Springs, a few miles north of Selmer.

Shortly after arriving in Queensboro the McCullar family moved to Augusta, Georgia Colony, a distance of about 40 miles. While in Augusta the American Revolutionary War started and Alexander McCullar enlisted in the colonial army for six months and served in Florida. After Alexander got out of the army the McCullar's returned to Queensboro and Alexander enlisted in the army for another three months. After Alexander got out of the army the McCullar's returned to Queensboro and Alexander enlisted in the army for another three months. Patrick Magee was also a Revolutionary War Veteran but died in 1816, therefore, he was not eligible for a pension. Alexander McCullar applied for his Revolutionary War Pension on 23 September 1833. Much of the family background is derived from this application. He was awarded the Pension and his widow received it until her death. She stated on the last census before she died that she was receiving it. He is listed in the DAR.

Alexander McCullar and Esther Magee were married in about 1789 in Greene County. They would have eight children, all born in Greene County. This marriage was the first known intermarriage in the Magee and McCullar families, but many more would follow and there would be such a mess that nobody would ever be able to untangle it.

The eight children of Alexander Sr. and Esther (Magee) McCullar were:

1. John B: 1790
2. David B:1792
3. Alexander B:1795
4. Margaret (Peggy) B:1797
5. Isaac B:1799
6. Mary (Polly) B:1801
7. William B:1803
8. Jennie (Jane) B:1805

---