Margaret McLeod unmarried daughter of Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod

Awards



Bookstore:

Walking With Ghosts - Volume IDescendants of Angus & Nancy McCutchen MacLeod

Also Available in Ebook

Volume 1 Companion containing transcribed/scanned documents used in writing Volume 1.

Now Available

Walking With Ghosts - Volume II - The War Between The States


About this site

Walking with Ghosts - Home
Background
Mystery Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
I've been published....sort of
Email

YDNA - MacLeod

Clan MacLeod Project Haplogroups

Clan MacLeod Project/R-L165(S68)

FTDNA R-L165(S68) Project

YDNA Page for Angus MacLeod

YDNA Page for George W McLeod



My MacLeods

North Carolina Timeline

South Carolina Timeline

Alabama Timeline

Earliest Known Ancestors

Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod

Generation 2

Alexander and Sarah McIntosh

Daniel and Catherine McLean

Norman

Margaret

Nancy and Roderick Bethune

Polly and John McKay/McCoy

Betsy and Norman McLeod




Other MacLeods

MacLeod Main Page

Angus MacLeods

Alexander MacLeods

Daniel MacLeods

Norman MacLeods

James MacLeod (Marg Blakely)

Norman MacLeod (Virginia and Ohio)

Mary McInnis McLeod

Von Hacke Records on MacLeods



Walking with Ghosts..........

a website for the descendants of Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod~~

~~~~~~~



Margaret McLeod

unmarried daughter of Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod

This page is the intellectual property of the web site owner. It may not be re-published on any website, genealogical database, or any other media without the express permission of same. Visitors are welcome to copy this for use in their own records, however, please remember to give credit where credit is due and to use the following sourcing information: !Source: Lori McLeod Wilke; "Walking with ghosts", Research 2000 - 2009


Introduction:

The Will of Margaret McLeod has caused a great deal of confusion among the McLeod Researchers of Kershaw and Sumter Districts in South Carolina (present day Lee County). She can be found in numerous family files throughout the internet as the daughter or sister (or in law) of women and men of like first name( i.e. Elizabeth's, Nancy's, Norman's, Daniel's).

There is no doubt that Margaret was the daughter of an Angus MacLeod; the land found in her estate file is the same land sold to a Margaret McLeod and a Catherine McLeod in 1827 by their father, Angus. Her will, the estate and the deeds of that sale are conclusive. The identities of her sisters who are named in her will sometimes are a matter of confusion.

Margaret named four sisters, three brother in laws, and a brother - Betsy, the wife of Norman McLeod, Nancy, the wife of Roderick Bethune, Polly, the wife of John McKay, and Daniel, her brother whom she named as a co-executor with Roderick Bethune.

One source of the confusion is the work of Von Hacke, a genealogist who organized the records of Sumter County onto index cards in the 1960's. He named a certain Daniel McLeod as the son of the same Angus who was the father of Margaret using only the will of Margaret as his source. Margaret's will contained no identifying statements regarding her brother making it obvious that Von Hacke made a guess at the identity of her brother.

Census, land and estate records show that there were two Daniel McLeods in the area at the time of Margaret's will and deeds allow us to trace the properties in Margaret's estate through 1902. Her brother was not, as Von Hacke stated, Daniel McLeod who was married to Jane Christmas, but Daniel who was married to Catherine McLean....

The property sold to Margaret in 1827 lay next to the McLeod Mill Pond property of her father Angus McLeod; Angus sold this property to Daniel, h/o Catherine McLean in 1831 - the Bethunes, who had inherited some of Margaret's property owned the land next to McLeod's Mill Pond. The Mill Pond property remains in the family today owned by a descendant of Daniel and Catherine's through their only son, John Robert McLeod.

To help provide proof of the correct identity of Margaret's sisters and brother, I have created a Timeline which allows researchers to read the documents of this family in a chronological order making the relationships clear. For further reading, see the pages listed below:

Von Hacke Records / South Carolina Timeline / Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod


The Interview with Albert John McLeod cr. 1920

"How are our Boykin Cousins?"

"Alexander, with his family, left Scotland and traveled to Ireland (or the Island?) for a time. They sailed to Virginia and a brother, Norman, was born on board ship. They eventually migrated to Robeson, North Carolina where another brother named Daniel was born. Alexander with his wife, a McIntosh, left for Old Camden District in South Carolina. Alexander had two grants of land on Beaverdam Branch. He had cousins who were Bethunes. Daniel's descendants remain in the area today" (Sumter/Kershaw)."

Interview notes provided to Lori McLeod Wilke by Col. Purdy Belvin McLeod Jr., who received them from the late Jay Frank McLeod, the Interviewer of Albert John McLeod. Albert was a gr grandson of Angus and Nancy McCutchen McLeod.


Scotland -

Margaret's parents, Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod/McLeod, were married around the year 1782 in Scotland. After their first child, Alexander (husband of Sarah McIntosh) was born (1783) they left Scotland and began their immigration into North Carolina. According to the above interview, her brother Norman was born on board the ship which left a port in Ireland and sailed to Virginia. Daniel was born shortly after their arrival in North Carolina. The birth place of Margaret is unknown but could be Scotland or North Carolina. Interview notes provided to Lori McLeod Wilke by Col. Purdy Belvin McLeod Jr., who received them from the late Jay Frank McLeod, the Interviewer of Albert John McLeod. Albert was a gr grandson of Angus and Nancy McCutchen McLeod.

Angus and Nancy McCutchen McLeod /North Carolina Timeline / South Carolina Timeline


Margaret McLeod, believed to be the eldest of Angus and Nancy's daughters, appears to have been born around 1783 / before 1790, but whether she was born in Scotland prior to her parents and eldest brother, Alexander, leaving Scotland for North Carolina is unknown - Margaret died before the Every Name Censusus could tell us her place of birth and a more exact age. Census research done by Lori McLeod Wilke using Ancestry.com Census Images On Line

The family spent approximately 20 years in Richmond County North Carolina prior to migrating into the Kershaw and Sumter Counties of South Carolina (1790 - 1820). Margaret is found unmarried in her parents home in the 1820 Census.

In 1827, Angus McLeod "for love and affection" sold to Margaret and her sister Catherine, also unmarried, all his plantation tools, 250 acres "more or less" on the Beaverdam Branch of the Scape Or. The cost of the land for the girls was $10.00. On the same date, he also sold to them for one dollar his slaves. The deed was witnessed by her brother in law Roderick Bethune, Archibald Fraser and Angus McCaskil (her brother Alexander, h/o Sarah McIntosh was deceased in March of 1824 and the whereabouts after 1824 of her brother Norman are unknown)l. September 08, 1827 Sumter County Deeds GG, 255 and 256 accessed and copied by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke, June 2004 Sumter County Courthouse, South Carolina

The deed itself shows that this 250 acres was not the tract of land on which Angus lived at the time; it lay on the North East side of the McLeod Mill Pond in the Egypt Community in Lee County. September 08, 1827 Sumter County Deeds GG, 255 and 256 accessed and copied by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke, June 2004 Sumter County Courthouse, South Carolina

In 1828, Margaret was taken ill and on June 14th she made her Will, leaving her portion of the land her father sold her and Catherine to their sister Nancy McLeod Bethune. Her husband, Roderick Bethune sold the property to John Boykin in 1839. A descendant of John Boykin, sold the property in 1902 to Mary Huggins. The plat for the sale stated that this property was bounded by The Estate of John Robert McLeod (Margaret's nephew who later inherited the Mill Pond from his father, Margaret's brother Daniel) and the New Hope Presbyterian Church. The Church's cemetery is aka McLeods Cemetery - Lee County South Carolina, Past and Present, Volume II copyright 2002 Lee County Chamber of Commerce; produced by the Fine Books Publishing Company of St. Augustine, Florida. Page 124, colume 2, paragraphs 1, 2 and 5, purchased by Lori McLeod Wilke June 2003 from the Lee County Chamber of Commerce. Lee County Deeds Book SSS:278; Lee County Deeds Book SSS:278 accessed at the Sumter County Courthouse, June 2005 by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke.

WILL OF MARGARET McLEOD State of South Carolina

In the name of God, Amen. I, Margaret McLeod, of the District of Sumter, and State of South Carolina, being of sound mind, make this my last will and testament.

I will and bequeath unto my sister, Catharine, for and during the term of her natural life, and no longer, all my Slaves, which I now own, or may own or possess at the time of my death and from and immediately after the death of my said sister, Catharine, I will and bequeath the said Slaves unto my three sisters, Nancy, the wife of Roderick Bethune, Polly, the wife of John McCoy, and Betsey, the wife of Norman McLeod, share and share alike to them their heirs and assigns forever.

I will, bequeath and devise unto my sister, Nancy Bethune, wife of Roderick Bethune, all the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal, unto her, her heirs and assigns forever Subject however to the payment of my debts.

I nominate, constitute and appoint my brother, Daniel McLeod and my brother-in-law, Roderick Bethune Executors of this my last will and testament.

In testament whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 14th of June AD Eighteen hundred and twenty eight and 52nd year of American Independence.

Signed and Sealed by Margaret McLeod as her last will and testament in the presence of us who have subscribed as witnesses at her request and in her presence
Margaret X McLeod [Seal]

Daniel McCaskill, Junior,
Angus McCaskill
Daniel McCaskill

Recorded in Will Book D-1, Page 187 Recorded Jan 5th 1829 William Potts, Ordy. SD
Bundle 68 Pkge 4

Margaret's will was probated on January 5th 1829 and named her four sisters, Catherine McLeod, Betsy wife of Norman McLeod, Nancy wife of Roderick Bethune, and Polly wife of John McCoy (later records show his name as John McKay a common mispelling of the name due to the heavy Scottish accent most of this generation spoke with). She named her brother Daniel McLeod and her brother in law Roderick Bethune as co-executors. It was witnessed by Daniel McCaskill, Sr.; Daniel McCaskill Jr., and Angus McCaskill, who had also witnessed the sale of the land to Margaret from her father. Will of Margaret McLeod, daughter of Angus and his unnamed spouse, recorded in Will Book D-1 page 187, dtd June 14th 1828, recorded on January 5th 1829 accessed at the Sumter County Courthouse, June 2005 by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke .

The March 12th 1829 Warrant of Appraisement shows the appraisers of her estate to have been Archibald Fraser; William Arrants; Angus McCaskill; Daniel McCaskill Jr.; Daniel McCaskill Sr. The gentleman were to present their findings to the Probate Court on June 1st of the same year. Estate of Margaret McLeod, recorded on January 5th 1829 accessed at the Sumter County Courthouse, June 2005 by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke .

On that date, three of the appraisers appeared before the court to make the following report of Margaret's estate: 524 acres of land valued at $262, 4 negros valued at $425; 32 head of cattle valued at $176; one lot of hogs valued at $39; one riding chair and buggy valued at $12.50; Cart valued at $7.50; 1 gray mare valued at $4.00; Plantation Tools valued at $2; Household Furniture valued at $47; Kitchen Furniture and tools valued at $4.37; 1 lot sheep valued at $9.00. Estate of Margaret McLeod, recorded on January 5th 1829 accessed at the Sumter County Courthouse, June 2005 by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke .

According to Margaret's Will, her sister Catherine inherited the four slaves and her sister Nancy McLeod Bethune inherited the remainder of the estate. This disbursement leaves some questions regarding the situation that Catherine McLeod was in at that time. Although Angus sold "for love and affection" all his plantation and tools and a part of the land shown in Margaret's estate to both girls, Margaret is taking her share and giving it not to Catherine but to Nancy. Will Book D-1 page 187, dtd June 14th 1828/ Estate of Margaret McLeod, recorded on January 5th 1829 accessed at the Sumter County Courthouse, June 2005 by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke .

It could be assumed that Margaret and Catherine lived together on the land of their father and shared ownership of it until Margaret's death. In 1829, her brother Daniel was administering the estate of their deceased brother, Alexander McLeod, the husband of Sarah McIntosh, for Alex's widow and five minor children, so it can also be assumed that Roderick Bethune, who was the co-executor of Margaret's estate took on the full responsibility of the executorship. Therefore, it stands to reason I suppose that Margaret would leave her portion of the property to his wife, in effect, assuring the future care of her sister Catherine. Estate File of Alexander McLeod, #1775, Kershaw County, Camden Courthouse, accessed and copied by Lori McLeod Wilke and David Jay Wilke June 2003

Nothing is known to date of Catherine's eventual fate; did she marry or die early? By 1830, their father, Angus and their mother, Nancy are found living with Roderick and Nancy McLeod Bethune, but exactly where they were living is uncertain at this time. Had Roderick and Nancy moved onto the McLeod Mill Pond property with Nancy's parents or were they living elsewhere on their own property? The fact that Roderick is shown as head of household instead of Angus indicates that Angus and Nancy left the Mill Pond property and moved in with their daughter's family.

In 1831, the McLeod Mill Pond property was sold by Angus and Nancy to their son Daniel; the property remains in his family today (2006). In 1839, the portion of Angus McLeod's estate that had been sold to his unmarried daughter, Margaret, and left by her to her sister Nancy McLeod Bethune, had passed out of the hands of the family and into the hands of the Boykins. Nothing is known of the lands received by Catherine from her father. Lee County South Carolina, Past and Present, Volume II copyright 2002 Lee County Chamber of Commerce; produced by the Fine Books Publishing Company of St. Augustine, Florida. Page 124, colume 2, paragraphs 1, 2 and 5, purchased by Lori McLeod Wilke June 2003 from the Lee County Chamber of Commerce/Records of Daniel McLeod/ Records of Angus McLeod, accessed and copied by Lori McLeod Wilke, David Jay Wilke during the years 2003 -2005 at the Sumter County Courthouse, South Carolina -

Note: Von Hacke wrote in his paragraph on Catherine McLeod that she witnessed an 1835 land purchase of her brother, Daniel McLeod (from John and Nancy McLean) however, it is more likely that the Catherine who was witness to that deal was Daniel's wife, Catherine McLean McLeod.

The burial place of Margaret McLeod is unknown; it is possible that she lies in an unmarked grave on the property owned by her father Angus, then by her sister Nancy and which was sold to New Hope Presbyterian Church at some point - McLeod Family Cemetery aka New Hope Presbyterian Church Cemetery.



http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~formyfamily/index.htm
!Source: Lori McLeod Wilke copyright © 2000-2011 All Rights Reserved