MCKAUGHAN, Archibald Jr.

Notes:

From CUZ of Sorts: ARCHIBALD McKAUGHAN, JR.: born 1735, County A ntrim, Ireland. He cam e to America with his parents in 1747, at the ag e of 12 years. They settled in Pennsylvania , believed to be Cumberland C ounty. He married JANE MERCER, daughter of Moses and LaGrelda Fo rreste r Mercer from Scotland to Pennsylvania. Little is known about Moses and L aGrelda afte r they came to America. The Mercer cousins who have worked o n that line believe Moses was rel ated to General Hugh Mercer, they bot h came to America around the same time and Jane's brothe rs always seem ed to be near General Hugh. History books tell us General Hugh Mercer was the private doctor to the K ing of Scotland an d after their war with England for their Independenc e the King was exiled and so was Genera l Hugh Mercer. We do not know w hether Moses Mercer was also exiled or not. General Hugh settl ed in Cu mberland County, Pennsylvania (Mercersburg was named after him). When t he revolutiona ry war broke out, Hugh Mercer enlisted as a doctor and w as commissioned to General. He was i n many battles in Pennsylvania and w as sent to Princeton, New Jersey where he was killed. Tw o of Jane Merc er's brothers were with him in Princeton at the time. Archibald McKaughan, Jr. served as a private eighth class, Captain Jack 's Sixth Company, Four th Battalion, Cumberland County Militia, accordi ng to a patrol return dated 24 October 1782 ( page 313, Vol. 6, 5th ser ies, Pennsylvania Archives). He is recorded as Arch McCaughran. I fe el t he name was written by a clerk and the clerk wrote it "McC", rather tha n "McK" because Ar ch Jr's signature on a land survey in 1804 and he sp elled the name McKaughan. The "r" in th e name indicates the Gaelic pro nunciation and the "r" the roll. His name is recorded Archibal d McKaug han on the D.A.R. Patriotic Records, cleared 9 November 1933 by Zula Mo ore Nelson, Wi chita Falls, Texas. There are, however, several errors i n her report. After the revolutionary war, all the Mercer brothers and all the McKaug han's regathered i n a territory which is now Sullivan County, Tennesse e. Around 1800, when Kentucky was formed , all the Mercer brothers and f amilies and Archibald McKaughan, Jr. and family went to Pulask i County , Kentucky. Archibald's land was 15 miles west of Somerset, west of Nan cy about 2 mil es, and one mile south on road #1664. The King Creek men tioned on the survey is now named Spu tter Creek. The land is now owned b y Mr. Glen Roy. Their graves are in the pasture on a hill , among a clu mp of trees, between the two barns. It is hard to tell just how many gr aves ther e are for the cattle have trampled them, and there are only t wo marked with names. One, a sol dier recorded Caughran (no date), appe ars to be a grandson, and the other a baby recorded a s Caughron (1853) . I have neither of these on my files. If the soldier was the father of t h e baby, it appears he had dropped the prefix "Mc" from the name and u sed "C", as we find the m doing sometimes during this time, and again t he "r" which indicates the name was still pron ounced the Gaelic way, t he "r" being the roll in the name. In the early days, Pulaski County , Kentucky was quite large; in fact, it went to the Tennessee border. The y built sub-courthouse s so the men could get to a courthouse in the wi ntertime when the river was frozen and road s icy. One such sub-courtho use was built at Monticello, Kentucky. Later, when Pulaski Count y was d ivided into several counties, Monticello became the county seat of Wayn e County but i t appears they kept all the old records so if you look f or information, you have to work bot h courthouses. The Wolf Creek Dam h as been built between Archibald McKaughan, Jr's land and M onticello so y ou have to go to Somerset and around but at the time he lived there. I w as tol d by Mr. Roy that they would take a skiff across the river. It i s 7 miles from Monticello an d 15 miles and many hills to Somerset. Thi s explains why we found more information in Wayne C ounty on them than P ulaski County. The information containing the children and birth dates was found in tw o courthouses - in Way ne Co., TN - Monticello and Somerset. From Four Generations of McKaughans in America - "After the war, h e moved with his fam ily to East Tennessee. They cleared their land, b uilt their homes, put in their crops, and m ade peace with the indians. T hey were doing fine until North Carolina found out about them a nd took t heir land. Archibald, Jr. was one of the signers to form the little st ate of Frankl in. After North Carolina took over their land, they move d on to Jackson County, Tennessee, b uying land next to his brother, Hu gh about 1815. It is assumed that they both died and are b uried in Ja ckson Co., TN." Archibald McKaughan, Jr. was buried in a pasture on a hill among a clum p of trees on land no w owned by Mr. Glen Roy - Pulaski Co., KY (west o f Somerset). Archibald McKaughan, Jr. is listed in D.A.R. patriot Index published 19 67 pr. 455. Archibald McKaughan, Jr.'s record was cleared 9 Nov. 1933 by Zula Moore N elson of Wichita Fal ls, Texas Military Record of Archibald McKaughan, Jr.: Private 8th Class in Capta in Jack's Sixth Co., F ourth Battalion, Cumberland County, Pennsyvania M ilitia He is my DAR patriot - #751693 Archibald McKaughan, Pvt. PA

Family/Spouse: MERCER, Jane. Jane was born about 1750; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. MCKAUGHAN, Rebecca was born in 1775 in PA; died on 8 Nov 1812 in Jackson County, TN.
2. MCKAUGHAN, George was born in 1776/7 in PA; died about 1822 in Pulaski County, KY.
3. MCKAUGHAN, Hugh was born about 1779 in Rowan, NC; died about 1845 in Nacogdoches, TX.
4. MCKAUGHAN, Archibald was born in 1780 in PA; died in Brackenridge County, KY.
5. MCKAUGHAN, Forrester was born about 1788 in PA; died in Jun 1848 in Hardeman County, TN.
6. MCKAUGHAN, John Westley was born in Oct 1802 in KY; died on 22 Feb 1866 in Clay County, IL; was buried in Hoosier Prairie, IL.
7. MCKAUGHAN, Alexander C. was born in 1816 in TN; and died.