McLemore? A confusing situation.

[J_Mimbs]

My only (proven; there may be more) Scottish connection is through my Great Great Great Grandmother, who was a Turner. We have traced the line back to the Rev. William Turner, who left Scotland in the mid 17th century with his wife, whose maiden name was "McLemore". I found one source of unknown quality online who claimed that was an Anglicization of MacGilmore, but I was wondering if any of the Rabble could offer some insight? She and Rev. Turner appear to be from Aberdeenshire, not sure if that helps at all.

We believe William was born around the time of the troubles with Clan Campbell in 1646. That might explain why a Turner was so far from Argyll; its our thinking at least.

[ForresterModern]

one potential origin and Scottish link:

"The McLemore clan can be traced back to Argyle, Scotland. It was colonized by the Gales of Ireland. The first Earl of Ireland was Collen and future Earls were known as the sons of Collen Mac Cailein Moore. Some of the students of McLemore history feel this is where the name McLemore came from. The Mac Cailein Moore, meaning son of Collen. However, also in Argyle was a clan called McCollum. And, there was another clan called Moore. Most of us feel that the clans of McCollum And Moore formed the MacCullmore. Spelled MacCullmore after they were put together. (Spelled McCollum & Moore individually). My husband's family (McLemore) has a paper written by Donelson Walker McLemore, born in 1868 in his own handwriting, written for a history class, that says his great-grandfather came to this country from Scotland. He was a direct descendant from the Argyles, and when he came to this country he spelled his name MacCullmore. Just as did the MacCullmore clan spoken of in Walter Scott's works.

In Argyle, Scotland are records of a William Macklemore and his wife Mary Atkins. He was 10 yrs older than she and we feel he died first. From the records in NC we feel like two of their sons, James & Abraham, came to NC before their mother died. In 1695 there is a patent record of a Mary McLemore coming to NC. We feel like the sons sent for their mother after their father died & brought her to this country to live with them in NC."

plucked directly from:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/mclemore/messages/87.html

[ForresterModern]

another potential lead from a similar source:

"McLemore is an American anglization of the Ayrshire name McIlmorrow, which in turn is derived from a western Perthshire / Invernesshire family called McGilmorie, from which one of its members moved south into old Ayrshire before 1525. The McGilmories in turn got into the Highlands by moving up the Great Glen from the western coast, where they had lived for centuries in the Hebrides. There the name was MacGillemuire in old Gaelic, which translates as "son of a follower of (the Virgin) Mary", and it was originally a title of the Kings of Man and the Isles. It became a surname when the mother of a bastard son of King Olaf the Black (d. 1237) named her son Gillemoire to make sure everyone knew who his daddy was, and his descendants became the Clan MacGillemuire. In 1346 the male line ended in an heiress who married Cedham Mac Muirich MacIan of the MacIans of Ardnamurchen, who became chief of the clan, as did their issue thereafter. These Mac Muirich (or son of Morris) chiefs by 1600 had adopted the Anglicized name Morrison, and today that is the name of our clan. Gilmore is a recognized sept of that clan (the Highland family of Invernesshire and western Perthshire), and an effort may be currently underway to have McLemore made one too (but I am not sure where that stands). The old Scottish Lowland version of the name, McIlmorrow, has apparently disappeared in Scotland, possibly being further Anglicized into McMurray or Murray. McLemore is thus a version of the name frozen in time."

plucked from another similar source:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/mclemo...ages/1077.html

[ForresterModern]

Maybe a little more on your Rev William Turner and Mary McLemore:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com...ENE1-0001.html

Hope this helps. PM me if you want some tips on efficiently using the internet for geneology searches. Good luck.

jeff

[J_Mimbs]

Thank you! That's at least something. I'd read something along the lines of the second story you shared, but hadn't seen the first, although it seems the second article tries to debunk the first. I really wish I could see the sources they are pulling information from, or at least have footnotes.

Anyway, thanks. Its really a minor point since I know she married a Turner and can (reasonably) safely identify him with Clan Lamont, but I've been curious about her family. I'd love to visit Scotland to do further research, but that isn't going to be possible for the foreseeable future.

[madmacs]

[QUOTE]
Anyway, thanks. Its really a minor point since I know she married a Turner and can (reasonably) safely identify him with Clan Lamont, but I've been curious about her family.
[\Quote]

Argyll would be traditonal Lamont county, and apparently we (I carry both my parents names so Im a Lamont as well as a MacLean) did spend rather a lot of time marrying the Campbells and fighting them...

[Lyle1]

There is also this: http://news.rootsweb.com/th/read/ABE...-07/1152415125

[Lyle1]

Entry #672 is interesting, here: http://laing.8k.com/a10.htm

[Lyle1]

And this from the DAR magazine: http://books.google.com/books?id=FXc...ed=0CDMQ6AEwAA

[Nick the DSM]

It is quite possible that it's from MacGilmore. We have a member that is names "McElmurray", same possible reason as your's.