William Nicholas McLelland, I - Basis for Connecting this Individual to Earlier Generations

I cannot speak to any connections other than those I have documented in my own research. I've spent no time working with Geni specifically to validate the information shared by other members of Geni. I don't know who posted this profile originally. Perhaps that person will see this thread and respond.

The problem with public multicontributor "trees" like Geni, Family Search, and WikiTree is some who contribute do not have (or share) documentation for the information they post online. My practice when viewing online shared input trees is to discount the information unless it is well documented with reliable sources. Like you I have from time to time challenged information online, asking for source information. I can't recall an instance where I've been provided documentation of the sources after making an inquiry.

I share your general experience, Charles. My observation here, though, is that if a profile is flagged for attention by a Geni curator, they will disconnect a child from alleged parents or separate two conflated profiles, so if no one has any evidence to offer here, that's what I will request.

I note that this map of Iredell County landowners distinguishes clearly between William McLelland, William McLelland Jr., and Nicholas McLelland.

https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ncmaps/id/118

The 1773 Sharpe map, which you referenced, is helpful for locating settlers in the second half of the 18th century in Rowan and Iredell Counties. The Mildred Miller map showing the locations of early Iredell settlers is also useful as the Sharpe map only shows members of the 4th Creek Congregation while Miller shows other settlers as well during the same time period.

The Edith M. Clark history room at the Rowan County public library in Salisbury, NC has much genealogical information on early Rowan settlers, including the McClelland family. Much of it is digitized and available online including the research papers of Mamie McCubbins where there is McClelland information including Nicolas and William.

I have photographs of the wills of Nicolas McClelland (died 1777) and William McClelland (died 1778) which I made at the state archives. Nicolas bequeathed to his son William "the plantation I now live on". Son William, and son-in-law William Stevenson were appointed executors. Will dated 23 April 1777.

The Nicolas McClelland will described above indicates he had a son William. The land transactions below involving Nicolas and William as well as William and others also suggest a father/son relationship.

The will of William McClelland dated 12 June 1778 gave wife Mary 1/3 of the estate. To son William the plantation on which he lived.

The will of Mary McClelland (wife of William) dated 23 April 1779 gives son William all of her estate Real and personal forever except for a few bequests. Son John receive £100 and a negro boy. The daughters received clothes, home furnishings and small cash gifts. Son John and John Nisbet were appointed executors.

The land transactions involving McClellands in Rowan County, NC provide clues to relationships.

20 Sept 1763. Michael Robinson & wf Mary of Orange Co. Nc. to John McCleland, 526 A on N Fork Crk adj. George Davis Sr. and George Reed (Rowan book 5, page 420). This John McCleland was more likely a brother of William McClelland and son of Nicholas than the John son of William mentioned in documents from the 1770's.

6 Nov. 1763. George Reed & wf Margaret of Linches Crk, SC. to Wm McLellan newcomer, 600 A on Fourth Crk Granted by Granville 22 Dec 1753 (Rowan book 5, page 421)

On 18 Aug 1766 Joseph Jones sold to Nicholas McCleland 665 acres (Rowan book 6, page 489) for £50. On 5 Mar 1770 Nicolas McCleland sold to William McLeland for £10 270 acres of the 665 acre tract (Book 7, pg 333). 18 Feb 1773 William McClelland cooper to John McLeland for £100 270A on both sides of Fourth Crk adjacent (Book 8, pg 175). Col. Edwards, Nicolas McClelland's mill house, Griffith's field. This 270 acres was the 270 acres sold by Nicholas McClelland to William McClelland in 1770.

When using the 1847 and later printed editions of the William Sharpe 1773 map, be aware the printed editions of the original 1773 hand drawn map have transcription errors. In addition, I am in the process of creating plats of the lands of the early settlers from the original surveys and placing them on modern topographic maps. Some of Sharpe's locations are incorrect based on the original surveys.

There is also a Robert McClelan who obtained land grants in Anson County in March 1755 along Waxhaw Creek. I have not spent any time exploring a possible relationship between this Robert and Nicolas, William or John. Waxhaw Creek is not close to the lands of Nicolas and William.

Thank you for sharing all that, Charles, but just so I'm clear, who, in your analysis, are the father and mother in law of William "Little Gabriel" Stevenson (1725-1809), husband of Mary McLelland (ca. 1730-1811)? I have them as William McLelland and Mary Ross.

I believe I am descended from William and Mary once more, through a daughter named Rebecca (ca. 1745-1844) who married a William McLelland (bef. 1750-ca. 1781) that I take to be her first cousin,. This younger William I have as son of Nicholas, who I understand to be the brother of the William who was married to Mary Ross.

The story of this younger William, I have as follows: William McLelland was at the battle of Cowan's Ford and was captured near Shepherd's Cross Roads and is supposed to have died in prison. That was in February 1781, and Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia in October, 1781, but nothing was heard of William McLelland after his capture. He was the father of "Saddler" John McLelland. From "History of Concord Church, Iredell County, North Carolina (1775-1913)" by S.W. Stevenson, MD of Mooresville. # HIST: Published by by Brady Printing, Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina 1913

I should add that I have the second husband of Rebecca, widow of the younger William captured by the British, as John Armstrong, who must have been a good stepfather as my great x 3 grandfather John Armstrong McLelland was named for him.

In any case, what I don't see anywhere is a basis for assigning the name "William Nicholas McLelland" to the husband of Mary Ross.

I have seen no documentary evidence of anyone by the name of William Nicolas McLelland living in Anson County, Rowan County (formed from Anson), or Iredell County (formed from Rowan) in the second half of the 1700's. I have seen documents with Nicolas McLelland and William McLelland. Note also spelling was an issue in many of the documents of the era. I've seen documents with the last name spelled: McLelland, McClelland, McLellan, and McClellan which are almost certainly the same people.

From the documentary evidence I have seen William McLelland and Mary Ross were the parents of Elizabeth McLelland who married Moses Nesbitt (abt 1740-1778), my ancestor. I have not studied the lineage of other children of William McClelland and Mary Ross so I hesitate to comment on Mary McClelland or William Stevenson. In reviewing documents for my line I have seen McLellands, Stevensons, Hustons, and others surnames who arrived in Rowan County between 1760 and 1765 when my Moses Nesbitt arrived. The will of Moses Nesbitt names among his children the names John, William, Thomas, Ross and Stephenson. John and William are also names common in the McLelland lines. Ross and Stephenson may be last names of allied family members chosen as first names.

The good news is many documents survive with the McLelland lines from Rowan and Iredell counties as well as at the state archives. Many are online. I've spent hours reading the minutes from the Court of Pleas and Common Session as well as the Superior Court for this period which are available on Family Search. The McLelland, Nisbet, Nesbit, and Stevenson names appear frequently. If someone has the time, I believe the story of the McLelland family from their arrival in North Carolina, through the colonial and early statehood period can be assembled with strong documentation. I'm currently going through this exercise for the Nisbet and Nesbitt's who lived in the area. I will say there are many surviving document types and the exhaustive research required to put it all together for the McLellands will take considerable time. I've been seriously working on the Nesbitt lines for five years and I'm still uncovering more documents online and at the NC State Archives. I've been saving some of the McLelland records I see as I dig into the Nesbitt's (some of which I shared in a previous response) but I am not collecting all I see.

The will of Mary McLelland, wife of William, states "I likewise give & bequeath to each of my other Daughters Mary Stevenson Agnes Stevenson Elizabeth Nisbet Sarah McConel & Jean Stevenson five pounds lawful money of this State together with all my wearing Clothes to them and their heirs forever." This is evidence she had a daughter Mary who married as Stevenson, as well as a daughter Elizabeth who married a Nisbet/ Nesbit (Moses Nesbitt). William McClelland's will mentions daughters Rachel, Mary, Agnes, Elizabeth, Jean, Rebecca, and Sarah. William appointed William Stevenson and "son" John McClelland as his executors. Wife Mary appointed John Nisbet and John McClelland as executors. The content of these wills proves daughter Mary married a Stevenson. William McClelland appointing William Stevenson an executor is significant suggesting he had great trust in the man. It should be possible to prove if William Stevenson is the wife of William McClelland's daughter Mary by looking at Rowan County marriage bonds, William Stevenson's will (if it survives), land records, or other public records. Bibles could be another source.

Land records (land grants, deeds, and surveys) from this period can be illuminating and most are available online. Many mention the name of spouses. Chain carriers for surveys are often sons, sons-in-law or neighbors. Deeds have names of witnesses to the transaction, often neighbors. I've even found evidence of relationships in estate inventories recording names to whom property is sold.

This response, and my previous ones, have pretty much exhausted my knowledge of the McClelland lines for which I have any documentation.

Many thanks, Charles. Sounds like there's a good project in here.

I've never come across anything that provides a basis for certainty about an earlier McLelland generation than William m. Mary Ross. That doesn't mean there isn't something out there. What I have seen a lot of is confusion around William and Nicholas. It is thought that they were brothers. I don't think we know the surname of Nicholas' wife/mother of his children, but I have repeatedly seen her first name as Sarah.

I descend from William and Mary Ross twice: once through their daughter Rebecca who was married to her probable first cousin William, son of Nicholas and Sarah, and once through their daughter Mary, wife of William Stevenson.

Several years ago I visited Lancaster County, PA to look at records from the 1700's, up to 1770. I was unsuccessful finding records of Moses Nesbitt but did find some mentioning a William McLelland. There is a map of East Donegal Township, Lancaster County, PA dated 2 March 1934 which shows the early warrants, surveys and patents. There is a 190 acre tract for "Wm McClelland".Surveyed 29 April 1736. This tract was surveyed 29 April 1736. Patent 30 May 1763 on warrant to accept dated Apr 9, 1746. To Frederick Mumma on warrant to accept dated 9 April 1746. A second 43 3/4 acre tract appears in the same township with the name "William McClellon" . Warrant 20 may 1748, survey 22 Jan 1760. Patent 30 May 1763 to Frederick Mumma. In the township there is also a plat for James Stephenson. This map can now be found on the Pennsylvania State Archives website at: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-522WarranteeTwpMaps/r...

The above notations appear on the tracts on the 1934 map. I have not yet been able to find copies the actual deeds recording the sale transactions from William McClelland to Frederick Mumma which appear to have occurred in 1763. However, there is a 14 Aug 1763 deed transfer recorded in Lancaster County from Ulerick Hockman and Frederick Mummah in Donegal township. One assumption one could make from the 1934 map is William McClelland sold his lands to Frederick Mummah in May 1763. A William McClelland "newcomer" purchased 600 acres in Rowan County, NC on Fourth Creek from George Reed and Wife Margaret 6 Nov 1763. A few weeks earlier on 20 Sept 1763 Micheal Robinson and Wife Mary sold 527 Acres on North Fork Creek adjacent George Davis Sr. and George Reed to John McCleland.

The above land transactions are clues (not yet proof) that William McClelland and John McClelland arrived in Rowan County in 1763. They purchased land adjacent to each other in Rowan County, NC in the September to November period. Likely they are related given the same surname, purchase of adjoining properties, and timing. It is possible the William McClelland selling land in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, PA in May 1763 is the same William McClelland buying land in Rowan County, NC on Fourth Creek in November 1763.

I think I have determined the location of the William McClelland warrants in PA. I will search to see if they have been digitized and posted on the internet.

The Lancaster County PA land warrants granted to William McClelland in the 1740's are available on Ancestry.

hi does anyone know of james mcclelland from county down ireland or ballygowan

Is William ormary or Nichols realted to James McClelland

For what it may be worth, Joel Reese of the Statesville branch of the Iredell County Public Library was kind enough to send me the entirety of the McLelland family file in PDF form. Much of it concerns a particular line of descent from the pioneers that is not my own, but there are a number of interesting items in there that, among other things, tend to affirm the William/Nicholas distinction and clarify the relationships to them of the next generation of McLellands. A transcription of Mary (Ross) McLelland's will is included, as are the pertinent pages of a history of Iredell County. This history of the county characterizes Nicholas as a brother of the elder William and describes their married children, William (son of Nicholas) and Rebecca (daughter of the elder William) as--of course--first cousins. I don't see a primary source document cited for that assertion and assume it must rely on oral tradition--or speculation based on probabilities. In any case, I would be happy to forward this PDF to anyone who wishes to review it.

Let me see if I can do that. And no, if you mean origins in Ulster or Scotland, no, I didn't spot anything in the way of a primary source.

I'm realted to James McClelland died in 1855 ballygowan county down Ireland looking for parents and siblings