When I was growing up, the family legend about our arrival to the United States was that three brothers arrived in Maine from Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbright, Scotland. They were all stonecutters and they worked the quarries in Spruce Head and Clarks Island, Maine. The oldest was my great-grandfather, Robert Kinnay Grierson.
A while back, after digging around in my family's genealogy, I came in contact with a descendant of one of my great-grandfather's brothers, George Cartney Grierson. She told me that George had injured his hand in the quarries and had to stay behind. The next brother in line was too young and stayed behind with the rest of the family. It was actually the father and the two oldest sons that immigrated to Maine. The father's name was James Stewart Grierson and his two sons that were with him were Robert Kinnay and William Kinnay Grierson.
Their arrival date in Maine is said to be about 1880, but the final arrival date for the rest of the family is in 1881. They worked the quarries to earn passage for the family still in Scotland and made a home in Clarks Island, Maine. The rest of the family arrived in Portland, Maine in the summer of 1881. The event was made into a family reunion. The mother, Margaret KINNA was introduced to a banana. Not ever seeing one before, she ate it, peeling and all. She didn't care for it too much and never ate another one again.
There were many years of fighting between the MacGregors and the Campbells after King Robert (Robert the Bruce) granted charter of MacGregor lands to the Campbells for aiding him in gaining the throne of Scotland. This lasted until 1603, when the death of John Drummond and the Battle of Glen Fruin led to the proscription of their name. This meant it was legal for someone to kill you because your name was MacGregor. Many MacGregors changed their name or took on aliases to avoid the penalties of proscription. Some of these names were made so that it was possible to find your way back to the name MacGregor. The proscription of the MacGregor name was finally lifted for good in 1774.
Grierson is a Sept of the Gregor/MacGregor clan in Scotland and is also an elided English translation of the surname MacGregor. A suggestion on how the Grierson surname was derived from MacGregor is: MACGHRIOGAIR (pronounced MACGREEKER) is the Gaelic spelling of MacGregor. MACGRIEGOR (also pronounced MacGreeker) is an old English spelling of MacGregor. Take the English spelling and drop the MAC and the letters GO. Then place SON (which is what MAC means) on the ending of the remaining letters.
I have learned earlier in the summer of 2000 that our surname was changed from MacGregor to Grierson in the year 1390. Top of Page
Here are some links on Clan Gregor/MacGregor and some Scottish links.
My ancestral tree goes; Arthur W. GRIERSON7 (Arthur Harold6, Raymond Francis5, Robert Kinnay4, James Stewart3, William2, William1). I’m part of the third generation that was born in the United States.
I have an outline report available for viewing on the descendants of William Grierson who married Isabel Paple. This outline covers five(5) generations so as not to compromise any privacy of those still living. Descendants of William Grierson & Isabel Paple (pronounced peoples)
Outline Report | Generation Report
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I have some pictures of family members who have passed on. To view a larger image in the gallery, click on the picture and that will open a new window. Close the new window when ready and you will be back at the gallery.
If you have any questions I might be able to answer on the Grierson genealogy contact me by E-mail.
The background image is the MacGregor modern tartan. Click here to see image that's not faded.
"Midi files sequenced by Barry Taylor." Background music: "Scotland the Brave"