This old Scottish family came to the United States from the east coast of Scotland in the early part of the last century. [early 1800s]. It is descended from some of the best blood in that ancient kingdom, including that of Campbell and Stuart, and partakes of the character which makes the Scottish nation noted for its intelligence and thrift.

(I) Donald MacHenry was a farmer residing on an island east of Sterling Castle, Scotland, where he was noted as a cattle raiser, and passed his active life.

(II) John, son of Donald MacHenry, was born near Sterling Castle, in 1805. He received an ordinary education and learned the trade of baker. At the age of seventeen years he set out for America, sailing in the ship "Henry Clay," and landing at the port of New York. He visited various cities in pursuit of his trade, among them Chicago and Buffalo, having a business of his own in the former. Being convinced that Cape Vincent, N.Y. was destined to become a commercial city of importance, he located there in 1847, and established a baking and confectionery business, which he continued to operate until his death in January, 1877. For many years he supplied steamers between Buffalo and Montreal with bread and pastrie, Cape Vincent being the only supply station between those points. Although not native born, Mr. MacHenry was a loyal supporter of the Union, a Democrat in politics, and a member of the "home guards" during the civil war, being too old for offensive military service.
He was an active member of the Episcopal Church, and served as vestryman of the local parish.
He was twice married. He married (second) in 1869, Nancy Milligan, born 1852, in Malebrock, county Down, Ireland, daughter of John and Sarah Jane (McClements) Milligan. John Milligan was born in 1823, in Malebrock, and married, in 1847, Sarah J. McClements, whose mother was a Campbell. She died in 1887, at the age of sixty-two years, and he died Feb. 3, 1907, aged eighty-four. In 1849 they came to New York, and after residing a short time in the province of Ontario, he settled in the town of Cape Vincent, where Mr. Milligan purchased and cleared land in the "Wilson settlement," giving much attention to the production of hay and horses. He was a successful farmer, and retired from active labor some years before his death. Like most of his compatriots he was an active supporter of the Presbyteriqn church. Of his six children, all except the fourth lived in Cape Vincent. Nancy, the eldest, is mentioned above as the wife of John MacHenry. The others were: Mary, John, Rebecca, Joseph and Hannah. The last died at the age of seventeen years. Mary was wife of Herbert M. Fish, of Cape Vincent, and Hannah married Peter Moore, a manufacturer of Santa Rosa, California, where they lived. John and Joseph both married and are the prosperous owners of farms on which they reside, in the town of Capt Vincent, N.Y.

John and Nancy MacHenry were the parents of four children:
Mary, became wife of Cassius Clay Parshal, and resides at Oneonta, N.Y.
William John, a wholesale dealer in cigars and tobacco and is interested at Imperial, California.
Charles A., mentioned below.
James, wife of William Hewitt, who resides in Syracuse, N.Y.

(III) Charles Ainsworth, junior son of John and Nancy (Millingan) MacHenry, was born Oct. 14, 1875, in Cape Vincent, where he attended the local public schools. He was later a student at Lowville high school and the Potsdam and Cortland normal schools. He graduated in the law course of Cornell University in 1898, and pursued a post-graduate course of one year in the same institution and one year at Yale. In 1900 he was admitted to the bar and began practice in New York City, being for a year a clerk in the office of Lenney & Donovan. For a short time he ws head of a law firm, but has since practiced independently and with success. He gives considerable attention to corporate law, and is counsel for the Gorton_Pew Fisheries Company and other concerns.
Mr. MacHenry is a member of the New York County Lawyers' Association, the Society of Medical Jurisprudence, the Masonic Club of Brooklyn and the Yale Club. He is affiliated with Mistletoe Lodge, No. 647, A.F. and A.M. of Brooklyn, of which he was master in 1906-07, and Orient Chapter, R.A.M., of Brooklyn.
In politics he is an independent Democrat, and a member of Tammany Hall.
He married, July 8, 1906, Margaret Camilla Mowen, born May 10, 1878, in Brooklyn, daughter of Captain James and Mary (Power) Bowen, on Brooklyn.

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