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Scottish Settlers - McColls and
McLaurins
Source: A History of Marlboro County: With
Traditions and Sketches of Numerous Families,
1897
After the battle of Culloden, which occurred in 1746,
many Scottish families emigrated to America. The two
Carolinas were fortunate in having some of these valuable
people to make their homes within their borders.
Among
those ranked as rebels in that conflict several came to the Pee
Dee who were destined to distinction in after time; of those
the McIvers and McIntoshs are worthy of mention. It is
likely also that about the same time the McLeans, McLaurins,
McRaes, McColls and others who happened to be on the losing
side, crossed the waters, in search of liberty and peace; and
settled in the country between the Cape Fear and Pee Dee.
But the ancestors of the names at the head of this chapter
seem to have come at a later date, soon after the
Revolutionary War. The writer is largely indebted to his
old Friend, Mr. John L. McCall, for valuable information.
Mr. McColl*, now seventy - eight, is still vigorous and strong,
in body and mind, intelligent, thoughtful, accurate,
and greatly interested in having the traditions of the old
families preserved, has himself been an active
participant in the affairs of the country. He was
born in Marion, came to Marlboro as a boy of twelve, spent the prime
of his life in farming and mercantile pursuits, mostly at Clio,
and in its vicinity. He was elected Tax Collector for
Marlboro in 1862, and assisted Messrs. McRae and Weatherly in
the same service in earlier years. His wife was a
daughter of Mr. Archie Sinclair, who came from Isly in
Scotland, and a highly respectable family of sons and daughters
honor the training of the excellent couple. Among them
are Mrs. H. H. Newton, T. D. and C. S. McCall of
Bennettsville.
When volunteers were called for to go to the
Seminole War in 1835, Mr. McCall was serving an apprenticeship
in a tailor's establishment, but at once enlisted in the
company of Capt. Elmore, of Columbia. He remembers how
his youthful mind was impressed with the wealth, liberality and
patriotism of the elder Wade Hampton, who offered to
furnish twenty horses if the company could be mounted and go as
cavalry. That brief service fully satisfied the martial
ambition of the young aspirant for fame, and made him content
to follow ever after the pursuits of peace. May his last
days be as calm as the setting sun, and all that bear his name
rise up to bless his memory.
John, the father of the above,
came from Appin Scotland in 1791, being then in his fourteenth
year. With him were several relatives, and they first
found shelter under the hospital roof of a kinsman,
David McCall, who had come over earlier, and was living at what
has long been known as the Daniel Graham place, near the North
Carolina State line.
John McColl lived at what was then
called Mt. Washington, now Tatum.
Subsequently did business
at Marlboro Old Court House. He married a Miss Curry, had
but one son, besides our friend, to grow to manhood, and he was
killed by a horse.
An uncle named Daniel, died in this
country. Hugh G. McColl is also remembered as a native
Scotchman, who came over about the same time with the others,
was related to them, and settled on Little Pee Dee and is
represented in this country yet in the descendants of John C.
and Nancy McColl. The old people were fond of talking of
"Big Solomon," who married a daughter of "David the
first." Tradition represents him as a school teacher, a
"man of learning." He was the father of "Long Hugh," who
is remembered as a soldier of the War of 1812, the father
of David Solomon, John and Christian. This second David
is the father of D. D. McColl of Bennetsville "Big Solomon" was
also the father of Peter McColl, who for twenty-five years was
the Clerk of Court for Marlboro and died in office in
1871. He also conducted before the war the first branch
bank ever established in this county, being part of the Bank
of Cheraw. The neatness is a monument to his
memory.
Another, Hugh, called "Steady Hugh", came about the
same time with the others, from whom is descended Mrs. Effie
McLaurin, mother of the excellent young men, John F., Hugh L.,
Luther and W. B. McLaurin, sons of Capt. L.. L. McLaurin.
D. D. McColl is also a grandson of this "Steady Hugh," on his
mother's side. Another Solomon, called "Little Solomon",
of about the same age as Big Solomon, was the father of Hugh
D., better known as a deaf mute, who also has representatives
in the county.
The old people will remember that John "Gurly"
was a brother to Hugh D., who married a Miss Cameron, and from
whom was descended John, Hugh and Malcom McColl, citizens of
the Judson community. "Stumpy" Duncan was the father of
that excellent old man Lock B. McCall, who, when
near four-score years, was drowned in Beaver Dam Creek, near
his residence, while bathing. He was honest, inoffensive
and kind of heart. He, too, was a soldier of the Seminole
War, a private in the company of Capt. Williamson and Harllee's
Battalion. A brother of his named John was left
descendants behind him.
Major John McColl, a brother of
"Stumpy" Duncan, who commanded the Lower Battalion in the
Marlboro Regiment for a time, was a man of excellent character,
pleasing manners, and was the father of those worthy men of the
Judson neighborhood, Lock and Joseph McColl. It is told
of the Major that (like a good many other militia offers in
olden time) he did not enjoy an extensive knowledge of
"tactics," and that on one occasion, when his battalion was on
review, he gave a command which either was awkwardly given or
not understood, and the left wing doubled upon itself in such
confusion. The Major was quite a short, small man,
but was well mounted upon a charger richly caparisoned.
Seeing that the left flank was in a tangle, he endeavored to
put spurs to his horse, but his heals only reached the
lower part of the saddle skirts, but by dint of coaxing and
spurring he galloped down the broken lines and cried out in his
broad Scotch, "What the dickens got you into such a
hickelty-pickelty? Git ye straight again."
Mr. John A.
McColl, exemplary man, splendid, useful citizen, who only a few
years ago sank into the grave, full of years, and full
of praises and affections of his countrymen, especially of
Hebron and Clio, where he lived so long and lived so well, is
said to have spring from a branch of the family that settled
upon Mountain Creek, and his relationship to the foregoing was
not so close. John A. McColl's grandparents, John and
Margaret McColl, and their children, came from Scotland
to America in 1775. They landed at Wilmington and
settled near Mountain Creek, in Richmond County, North
Carolina. His maternal grandparents, John and Mary
Cameron, and their children, came from Scotland to America in
the ship Mary Ann, and likewise settled at Mountain Creek,
North Carolina. Dougald, McColl, his father,
married Jeannette Cameron and came to Marlboro about
1819. John A. had two brothers, Daniel, who died
in Louisiana, on the Red River, an overseer, and Hugh, who was
younger . John A. was the father of nine children.
Four only are now alive, Wellington, Alex, Mrs. Lewis
Spears and Miss Nancy McColl.
But our friend from whom so
much of this information was obtained mentioned two other
families of McColls of Marlboro, whom he claims as of the same
stock with those above named. One of these, in the
childhood of the writer, lived in the Brownsville community, a
venerable Scotch lady, we all honored as "Granny McColl."
A maiden daughter, Miss Katy, and a son, James, lived with her,
and close by lived another son, David R., who was the father of
that substantial and highly respected gentleman now
living a few miles below Society Hill, my old schoolmate,
Mr. John S. McColl. The other family lived for many years
upon the "Three Creeks," five miles below Bennettsville, but,
so far as the writer knows, no member of it bearing the name is
left in Marlboro. But the well-known and much respected
late A. C. McInnis married Miss Flora, a handsome granddaughter
of the old man - McColl, a native of Scotland, who lived and
died about half a mile from what was long known as "McColl's Cross
Roads." S. J. McInnis is the first born of this
interesting couple of pure Caledonian blood. By the way,
the intermarriage of Scot with Scott has been especially
characteristic of the McColls. Attached to the old
"clan," proud of their pure blood, they have married
and intermarried until they are all kin, more or less.
Some of them spell the name with an A, others retain the O, but
nearly, if not quite all of the name in Marlboro, in one line
or another, may trace their origin back to
Appin.
The McLaurins of Marlboro, if not quite so numerous,
have, nevertheless, occupied a conspicuous place among its best
citizens. They, also, as far as can be ascertained, came
to this country soon after the War of Independence and settled
on the Little Pee Dee, some on one side, some on the other, so
it has been in all these years that both in Richmond and
Robeson Counties in North Carolina, and in Marion and
Marlboro in South Carolina, men have lived who have contributed
their full share to the prosperity and enterprise of the
country. The older people in the eastern part of the
State fondly remember three brothers of excellent character,
Daniel C., John L. and "Little Hugh" McLaurin, all of whom have
left large and respectable families. Daniel C., who lived
where the late J. W. Roper resided, kind-hearted, hospitable,
and ever ready to serve his country in any position with
conscientious fidelity, we all mourn his death as the loss of a
valuable citizen. John L. McLaurin, who lived where his son,
the late John B., lived, was not less useful, less loved, and
perhaps more enterprising and successful. He, too, like
his brother, served his people quite acceptably upon the
district boards. A son of his, P. B. McLaurin, was
returned to the Legislature before the war, and another son,
John B., has been elected once since.
The third brother,
Hugh, spent most of his life in North Carolina, a few miles
from Laurinburg, but his sons have several of them been for
a longer or shorter period citizens of Marlboro. L. B.,
Jack, Duncan and the late Jas. R. were sons of this old
man. He and his brothers were sons of a native of
Scotland. His name was Laughlin, and his wife was a Miss
McColl, a sister of one of the John McColls mentioned on
a previous page. So that it is not alone of late that the
young McLaurins and McColls fell in love with each
other.
Another honored old man of this name, John McLaurin,
who came over in 1784, married a Miss McNair, of Richmond, N.
C., and was the grandfather of Capt. Lock* and John J.
McLaurin*; the former a man of uncommon energy and push, of
fine mind, good judgment, and modest worth; John J. one
of the best of men, a universal favorite as a young man, as
an old one, cheerful, kind-hearted, venerated and loved.
The Captain's wife was Miss Effie McColl, and John J. married a
daughter of Daniel C. McLaurin. "Hurricane Daniel,"
another McLaurin of this stock, strayed off to Sumter County,
and his large and respectable connections are among the best in
our sister county.
Daniel, the head of this latter branch of
the family, came to America when his son John was about twenty
years old and settled at first near Campbellton, now
Fayetteville, N. C. After a few years spent in boating on
Cape Fear, the old patriarch came to Marlboro and
established himself near where his grandson, John J., now
lives. And the impression seems to be that Laughlin, the
ancestor of the three brothers, Hugh, Daniel C., and John L.,
came about 1791 and settled at Red Bluff. In all
the years since, the descendants of these old Scotchmen have
clung to the grounds where their fathers first felled the
forests and built their altars - quiet, unobtrusive people, yet
valuable members of society they have always been.
*
Since dead.
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