Sacha McLean and his wife Elisa will be adding a generation to the McLean's this May.  Congratulations.

John McLean's (b. 1789 d. 1865) Silver Watch is now in the hands of my nephew, Sacha Darshan McLean.  This McLean family heirloom is in his loving hands in the hopes it will pass through future generations of McLeans.

A trip to North Carolina May 1-5 2012 - Meet cousin Larry McLean of Mooresville, NC, and Bob McLean of Maryland.  Visit several McLean sites.

Larry lives northwest of Mooresville on Charlotte Highway on land once owned (we think) by his great grandfather Marcus Leroy McLean, brother of my great grandfather Quincy Adolphus McLean.

Bob McLean (of Maryland) left, Bob McLean (of Sonoma) right.  Bob2 and I first met when my brothter-in-law, Fred Edwards,  asked me to do a YDNA test for a Bob McLean of Maryland to see if he and I were related.  It turned out that we matched 67 of 67 markers which makes us close relatives.  We do not know for sure exactly who is our common ancestor, but there is a story that when his ancestor Daniel McLean came to North Carolina, he had a cousin or uncle John McLean Sr living nearby.  I think there is a good chance that this John McLean Sr living nearby could be the father of my great great grandfather John McLean 1789-1865.

Day 1 - May 1st

My first day in North Carolina I drove from Charlotte where I was staying to Larry McLean's place northwest of Mooresville.  

1.  We drove together to visit the site of the property John McLean Sr bought in 1787 on Coddle Creek in Rowan County.  

This is a segment of a map of Early Rowan County Landowners.  My yellow lines show the 268 acres purchased by John McLean Sr 1787.

The blue lines show property lines from 1787 on today's Google Map.  You can see the Drag Strip and all the performance related businesses that now occupy part of this land.

The Mooresville Drag Strip is now located on part of the original 268 acres.  Larry and I were unable to find evidence of the original residence as 225 years has passed and the area is overgrown with trees.  While we drove through the area, I took some video to show the character of the land.

Next Larry and I drove to Woodleaf where John McLean Sr was granted then purchased 321 acres in the north east corner of Rowan County, NC.  This property was between the 2nd and 4th Creeks near where they feed into the South Yadkin River.

This is a segment of the Early Landowners of Rowan County.  My green lines show the property lines.

It is the deed selling this land in 1787 that names John McLean Sr's wife Elsa.  

I found this McLean site the most likeable of all the sites I visited.  It was the least developed - most like it might have been in 1780.

Next Larry and I drove to the Centre Presbyterian Church and Cemetery at Mt. Mourne just southwest of Mooresville.

Several members of John McLean Jr's family were members of this church and would have driven the five miles from their plantation north of Mooresville for services.

John McLean Jr and his wife Mary E (Crawford) McLean are buried here as is the infant daughter of Quincy and Sarah McLean, Mary McLean.

John McLean 1789-1865

Mary E (Crawford) McLean 1793-1873 wife of John McLean

Mary McLean infant daughter of QA & SA McLean

Larry McLean with his great great grandparents John and Mary McLean

After our visit to the Centre Presbyterian Church Cemetery Larry and I returned to his house.

Larry recently had to move his house several hundred yards as the school next door wanted to expand.

Fortunately his old White Oak remains.  It may well have been there in the mid 1800's when Marcus Leroy McLean owned the land.

What a great place.

After visiting Larry's place, we drove down the road a half mile to the site where our great great grandfather and his family lived.  I discovered this property is split by Reed's Creek, so now I am referring to it as Reed's Creek, Mooresville.  John purchased this land in 1846 and the land and several adjacent and nearby properties were divided amongst his children after his death in 1865.

Unfortunately I could learn nothing from ground level observation as all the access roads were fairly newly developed.  

This concluded my first day of visits to McLean sites.  

Day 2, May 2nd 2012

I am to visit with my cousin Bob McLean of Maryland and his cousin Carol.  We plan to meet at the New Sterling ARP Church and Cemetery near Stony Point.

Cousins Bob and Carol

Bob McLean of Maryland at New Sterling Church and Cemetery

Gateway to New Sterling APR Cemetery

Some McLean markers at New Sterling

The book "From Stirling to Sterling" was written in 1987 at the 200th year since the church was organized in 1787.

Page 183 in that book lists some McLeans buried in the cemetery from markers and church records.

But before we discuss who these McLeans were, we should first review the six Clan McLean family lines that were present in this area in the late 1700's.

Of these six Clan McLean family lines, some members of four of them are buried here.  We know from  records and from YDNA testing the following:

John McLean Sr of Vashti - YDNA from Marvin A McLean of this line shows he is not related directly to the Daniel McLean or John McLean Jr of Reeds Creek Mooresville line.

John McLean Silversmith - YDNA from Gene McLean of this line shows he is not related directly to the Daniel McLean or John McLean of Reeds Creek Mooresville line

YDNA from Bob McLean of Maryland and Bob McLean of Sonoma shows that the Daniel McLean of Elk Shoal Creek and John McLean Jr of Reeds Creek Mooresville lines are very closely related.

YDNA results from a member of the William McLean of Coddle Creek line show that this line is not directly related to the Daniel McLean or John McLean Jr lines.

No descendants of the John McLean Planter line have been found.

My line from John McLean Jr of Reeds Creek Mooresville (with probable father John McLean Sr of Woodleaf and then Coddle Creek) is not buried here.  Nor is an member of the William McLean of Coddle Creek family line.  

Two members of the Daniel McLean family line are buried here.  Daniel's line and my line are closely related as proven by 67 of 67 matches YDNA.  No paper connection has been found yet.

Next Bob, Carol and I visit the possible site of Daniel McLean's property on Elk Shoal Creek.

There are two possible sites of Daniel McLean's 150 acres on Elk Shoal Creek.  They are both in the same area.  Bob McLean of Maryland is attempting to trace ownership of current land back to establish which of these sites was purchased by Daniel McLean

Bob McLean, his cousin Carol and I visited one of the possible sites.

After visiting the Elk Shoal Creek site, I went on by myself to visit the site where my great grandmother Sarah A. Alexander was born, her father, Ephraim M. Alexander's place at the corner of Marvin Church Road and Paul Payne Store Road in Stony point.

The caption on this photo says The Old McLean Place.  However it is actually the house of Ephraim M Alexander, Sarah A Alexander's father.  As it turns out my grandfather, Robert B. McLean was orphaned at age 12 and went to live with his grandfather in this house.  

Terry McLain, a member of the John McLain Sr of Vashti family line recognized this house.  He said it had recently burned down, but was sure that it was the Alexander place, told me where it had been located.  In the video that follows it would have stood next to the old barn.  This photo was taken in 1919 by either my dad or grandfather on a trip through North Carolina his family made as they made their way from the east coast to California.

This is a photo of Sarah A Alexander and her sister who would have been born here.  Sarah married Quincy A McLean.  They are my great grandparents.

This concludes day 2 of my North Carolina Trip - May 2, 2012

Day 3 May 3, 2012  I spent birdwatching with a member of the Charlotte Audubon Society, Nicole Hoekstra who is a graduate student, native of Canada.

Nicole Hoekstra

In the end I saw 56 species of birds in North and South Carolina, and added 9 new life birds to my list.

Eastern Wood-Pewee 581

Great Crested Flycatcher 582

Yellow-throated Vireo 583

Eastern Towhee 584

Veery 585

Eastern Screech-Owl 586

Brown-headed Nuthatch 587

Acadian Flycatcher 588

Wood Thrush 589  

Day 4 May 4, 2012 I visited Cemeteries near Shiloh Township to see if I could find where Julius Hugh McLean, Quincy's brother was buried.  I also visited the Snow Creek farm northeast of Hickory where Quincy and Sarah lived with my grandfather Robert Baron McLean and his two sisters Mary and Nancy.

I had originally planned to visit the Troutman Cemetery then the Pineview Cemetery as these were the only two cemeteries I could find near Shiloh Township and Fallstown Township.  Julius Hugh McLean's obituary said he died in Shiloh Township and was to be buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Fallstown Township.

I did find and visit the Troutman Cemetery.  I did not find any McLean's there.

Troutman Church

After visiting Troutman Cemetery, I started to drive to Pineview Cemetery to see if Julius Hugh was there.

But along the way I saw this little cemetery so I stopped.

Then I saw the sign.  This is where Julius Hugh McLean, brother to Quincy and Marcus McLean is buried.

Pleasant Hill Primitive Baptist Church 1798 Buffalo Shoals Road, Statesville, NC

Old house next door.

I was not able to find Julius' marker, but clearly this is his final resting place.

Having found Julius Hugh McLean I moved on to Hickory.  My plan was to first visit the site of the Old City Cemetery in Hickory then perhaps to see the Oakwood Cemetery then on to Quincy and Sarah's Snow Creek ranch north of Hickory.

At the time Quincy and Sarah purchased this ranch and moved here from Charlotte, the Catawba River had not been dammed to make Lake Hickory.  Snow Creek which ran through their property fed into the Catawba.

This site seems to be in a very nice rural area.

This concludes day 4 of my visit to North Carolina.

Day 5, May 5, 2012 I spent some time in the morning in South Carolina at Anne Springs Greenway.  Then caught my flight back to San Francisco.

This visit has given me a better feel for what the land must have been like when my ancestors were here .  It also makes me more curious as to where John McLean Jr and his family lived from the time they left Coddle Creek, Rowan County in around 1821 and when they purchased the Reeds Creek, Mooresville property in 1846.  By census records it seems they were somewhere in the Elk Shoal Creek, Buffalo Shoal Creek, or Stony Point area.  Julius Hugh's obituary says he was a native of southern Iredell county having been born and lived there all his life.  He was born 1826.  I will continue to research this looking for an answer.