Speaking of Kirkcudbright

My McClellan ancestor came to America some time in the late 1700s. As the story goes, two McClellan brothers, John and Henry, appeared in America at an early age. My ancestor, John McClellan was born in about 1770 in Scotland and in 1788 the public records mention his marriage to Mary Margaret Brownlow. They settled in Abingdon, Virginia, where he ran a tavern or farmed or something and had 11 children. Thus we see that our McClellan ancestors are completely removed from the Lord Kirkcudbright drama that was playing out at that time in Europe during the 19th century. In fact, there is no evidence that our McClellan ancestors ever lived in Kirkcudbright or any other city in Scotland, Ireland, or Great Britain. My grandfather's cousin spent some time in Scotland scouring church records there but never found any trace of our ancestor because the 18th century records are incomplete.

Coincidentally, in reading the autobiography of "Scotty Kid: The Life Story of 'Brother Tommy,'" we learn that this man, a railroad tramp, drug addict, and prison convict gloriously saved around the turn of the century through the Los Angeles Rescue Mission who later became an evangelist and missionary, was actually born in Scotland, in fact in the very town of Kircudbright. Anderson makes no mention of the McClellans in his book. However, Anderson does mention that after his salvation he tried to make amends with the townspeople back in his hometown of Kirkcudbright.

Thomas F. Anderson says: “I also had to write to owners of grocery stores in my old home town, Kirkcudbright, in Scotland, and confess to them how I had stolen fruits, soap, eggs, whisky, and tobacco, perfume, fish, and meat. They wrote back forgiving me."

Anderson speaks of his family coming over to America from Scotland but the book offers not much in the way of names and dates. I can see where a prison convict might be shy about presenting the full record on his whereabouts during childhood and adolescence.