Clan / genealogy question

[Don Patrick]

I vaguely remember as a child, attending a Scottish festival and being told Dickson was a sept of MacDonald but nothing I could find now indicates that that is the case. The MacDonald website lists a huge number of septs but no Dickson. Anyone have any ideas? Do the clans associations keep membership records or genealogy info?

Jim,

There are some records to indicate some of the Septs that belong to a given clan. The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs admit that those lists are not necessarily complete - they do say that if a Sept is normally associated with a Clan that association should be honored.

You're in luck, with some detective work, you should be able to track you ancestry back to Scotland. US Census records are very helpful from 1850 through 1930 - with the exception of the missing records of 1890. The hard part, you need to come up with the State, County and District they were living in at the time of the census. The beauty of Ancestry.com and Geneality.com, you can do State wide or even US wide searches on last names, first names and birth year without knowing which county they lived in. It is really a good tool. Both of those organizations also have passenger listings as well. You should know that it was not uncommon to have people's names misspelled on census records - hence these searches will include variations of the names. Quite a few people in those days could not write - too often the census taker was left with listening to the sound of a name in order to write it down in the records.

As far as records of members belonging to a clan - the Clan Chiefs say if your name matches, you may consider yourself a member of that clan.

[MACKAY]

My Grandfather (Douglas Mackay) was involved in the O.S.C. back in the 1950's. He was a member of the Clan MacGregor Chapter, Frankford (Philadelphia neighborhood) PA. From what I understand from my Dad, this was a social organization that also provided some group benifits such as Life Insurance and local business discounts. Kind of like a Scottish Lions Club.

I have a few items that he left to me that include the O.S.C. By-Laws Booklet, a Certificate of Membership, an O.S.C. Past President medal w/ ribbon, a MacGregor Tartan Sash, and a few pictures.

He was also a member of the Perth Lodge of the Scottish Rite Freemasons. I have his original membership certificate from the early 1920's.

[macwilkin]

My Grandfather (Douglas Mackay) was involved in the O.S.C. back in the 1950's. He was a member of the Clan MacGregor Chapter, Frankford (Philadelphia neighborhood) PA. From what I understand from my Dad, this was a social organization that also provided some group benifits such as Life Insurance and local business discounts. Kind of like a Scottish Lions Club.

I have a few items that he left to me that include the O.S.C. By-Laws Booklet, a Certificate of Membership, an O.S.C. Past President medal w/ ribbon, a MacGregor Tartan Sash, and a few pictures.

He was also a member of the Perth Lodge of the Scottish Rite Freemasons. I have his original membership certificate from the early 1920's.

Boy, would I love to see piccies of the BOSC items! :mrgreen:

T.

[MACKAY]

Boy, would I love to see piccies of the BOSC items! :mrgreen:

T.

No Problem - I will take photos tonight. Don't know why I have not done so before.