MacKinnons Migrate

In 1826, a group of Gaelic-speaking Scottish families -- all relatives-- made the long trek to Florida, moving themselves and belongings in a long line of wagons. They were the McKinnons, the Douglasses, the MacIvers, the Campbells, the MacRaes, the McLeans and others. They settled in Walton County, in the beautiful Euchee Valley, Knox Hill, Euchee Anna on Bruce Creek and in Mossey Bend.

Laughlin Love MacKINNON his wives (-?) and Catherine (-?)

Neill L. MacKINNON and Christian MacKINNON

Col. John Love MacKINNON and Catharine DOUGLASS

Sarah Douglass MacKINNON and George Franklin TARVIN

Daniel Love MacKINNON and Mary ATTAWAY

Also view the pages of Catherine MacKinnon and her son John McLennan on this site

MacKINNON RESOURCES

You are invited to join The Clan MacKinnon Society

With so many thanks to Jo McDonald Manning, Bee Lane and to Myrtle Bridges and Joann MacKinnon Osborne, Jo McDonald Manning
and with information based on family documents and letters and from
The History of Walton County by John Love MacKinnon, Jr.

Laughlin Love MacKINNON and his wives (-?) and Catherine MacKINNON

With many thanks to Joann MacKinnon Osborne of the Clan MacKinnon Society

Husband: Laughlin Love MacKinnon

LifeNotes:

Born: Strath Parish, Isle of Skye, Scotland; Married: Died:
Parents:

1st-Wife: (-?) Who was she???

LifeNotes:

Born: Married: Died:
Parents:

Their known children were:

2nd-Wife: Catherine (-?)

LifeNotes: I have designated her as a second wife because of her age; she was born later than her husband's children. Neill and Catherine, so obviously she is not their mother. She pioneered with the Scots from Richmond Co., NC to Walton Co., FL. Lived at Euchee Anna and Red Bay. She is shown in the 1850 Walton Co., FL census as age 82, born in Scotland.

Born: ca 1768, Scotland
Married:
Died: 1854, Red Bay, Walton Co., FL
Parents:

Their child:

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Neill L.MacKINNON and Christian MacKINNON

Husband: Neill Love MacKinnon

LifeNotes: He and Christian were 1st cousins. Came to America from Isle of Skye, Scotland after 1795. Settled in Rockingham in Richmond Co., NC. Listed in the 1800 census.

Born: about 1743, Strath Parish, Isle of Skye, Scotland. He appears as age 70 on a list of aliens living in Richmond Co., NC in 1813 and having come to America after 1795.
Married:
Died: probably in NC, as he is not listed in any of the FL census
Parents: Laughlin MacKinnon

Wife: Christian MacKinnon

LifeNotes: She and her husband were 1st cousins. Listed in the 1810 census for Richmond Co., NC. She migrated with her son John Love MacKinnon and his family to Walton Co., FL; she is listed living in his household aged 90 in the 1850 Walton Co., FL census.

Born: ca 1761 Strath Parish, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Married:
Died: 1851, Walton Co., FL
Parents: her father would have been brother of Laughlin MacKinnon. Who is he?? And who is her mother???

Their children were:

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Col.John Love MacKINNON and Catharine DOUGLASS

Husband: Col. John Love MacKinnon

LifeNotes: After 1795, came to North Carolina from Isle of Skye, Scotland with his parents and siblings. They settled in Richmond Co., NC. He grew to be a tall slender man 6'6", a "great athlete in water". The MacKinnons belonged to the Marks Creek Presbyterian Church, which was built on land donated by John MacKinnon.

John MacKinnon and Catharine Douglass settled on Bruce Creek, west of the Indian Fields. They called their home Pleasant Hill. They were in harmony with the Euchee Indians who lived in the Valley.

Moundbuilders had once lived where the Scots now cleared fields. Eagles flew the skies; wolves, bears and panthers roamed the earth; alligators swam the waters (alligators still swim the waters!!!).

The move was good for John Love MacKinnon; he was able to amass a fortune. He built the first cotton gin in west Florida. He raised prime cattle. He traveled often to Pensacola on business. He was the first Justice of the Peace of Walton Co., FL. In 1835 he was elected as representative to the Constitutional Convention at St. Joseph's FL when the state was admitted to the Union. Daniel G. McLean also went to the Convention.

In the 1840s, Col. MacKinnon went to Tallahassee and bought 40 acres below Genoa (Geneva?); he had his workers clear the land and set up a town, calling it Freeport. He then had a broad road cut straight to the roads leading to Euchee Anna and Mossey Bend (all these roads later became public roads). Giles Bowers built a merchantile business there, the first successful business of its kind in the county.

All the MacKinnon sons and most of their male cousins served the Confederacy. During that time. the family suffered loss of their fortune, to the point of hunger. Following the war, there was a federal raid in Walton Co., FL, keeping the people terrorized.

Born: on 2/12/1790, Isle of Skye, Scotland. Note: birth date does not jibe with estimated date of when he came to America. (Working on this; he may have been born in Amercia). Listed in the 1860 Walton Co., FL census as age 70, born Scotland.
Married: 4/26/1821 in NC
Died: 8/9/1871 in Walton Co., FL; buried at Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Parents: Neil L. MacKinnon and Christian MacKinnon

Wife: Catharine Douglass

LifeNotes: She kept a refuge during the Seminole War. And she took in two small Indian boys. There is a picture of her brother Angus Douglass in the book The History of Walton County. He and his brother Alexander Douglass and their mother Sarah Curry (Douglass) came to Walton Co. with the other families.

The picture at right is to give you an idea of what a pioneer home of the early 19th century was like.

Born: 2/16/1803 Richmond Co., NC, Listed in the 1860 Walton Co., FL census as age 59, born in NC.
Married: 4/26/1821 in NC
Died: 9/25/1868 in Walton Co., FL; buried at Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Parents: Angus Douglass and Sarah Curry. Sarah Curry came to Walton Co., FL too.

Their children were:

In the 1840s, Col. John Love MacKinnon went to Tallahassee and bought 40 acres below Genoa (Geneva?); he had his workers clear the land and set up a town, calling it Freeport. He then had a broad road cut straight to the roads leading to Euchee Anna and Mossey Bend (all these roads later became public roads). Giles Bowers built a merchantile business there, the first successful business of its kind in the county.

In 1850, A. D. MacKinnon journeyed to Texas and helped to rescue a couisn who had been captured as boy by the Comanches. The boy was now a man called Bosque John, had lived most of his life with the Indians, was returned to his relatives in FL whom he loved to entertain with stories of his wild life among the Natives. See the story on Neil McLennan's page.

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Sarah Douglass MacKinnon and George Franklin TARVIN

With thanks and affection to my cousin Frank Tervin

Wife: Sarah Douglass MacKinnon

LifeNotes: She was a very young child in the party of Scottish families that migrated into what became Walton, Co., FL. There in the beauty of the Florida frontier, the families endured many hardships and fears. At night, they heard wolves howling. Bears roamed the woods and attacked the livestock and the dogs. Alligators swam the waters. There were Indian raids. Her father and uncles fought in the Seminole War. After which, peace came into the area and her family prospered.

More settlers moved into the territory, one of whom was a young gentleman farmer-lawyer named George Franklin Tarvin who bought a large farm near the McKinnons' land. Sarah and George married and soon had 5 young children; the future looked happy for the family. One day in 1858, George rode off to take care of some business in Georgia. On the trail, he suffered a fatal attack (a brain hemorrhage, probably). Sarah was summoned; she rushed to be at her husband's side, but, alas, he had died before she reached him.

So there on the eve of the Civil War in which all her brothers served, the young widow was left to raise 5 children on her own. She must have done a noble job. In their beautiful tribute to their mother, published shortly after she died, they spoke of her high energy and loving devotion to duty. See the obituary written by her dear children and published 3 months later.

Born: 10/25/1825 in Richmond Co., NC. Listed in the 1860 Walton Co., FL census as age 34, born in NC.
Married:
Died: 6/19/1891 in Walton Co., FL; buried at Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church Cemetery, adjacent to John Love MacKinnon (elder), Walton Co., FL. See the obituary written by her children.
Parents: John Love MacKinnon and Catharine Douglass

Husband: George Franklin Tarvin

LifeNotes: A well-to-do attorney, he and his brother David Tervin came to Walton Co., FL from GA to settle and make their fortunes. The Tervin family is of the Tarvin family (they are one and the same); they were probably originally in Cheshire, England before coming to America and the last of our Tarvins in England was in Liverpool.

Their pages are on my other site Carol Middleton's Genealogy Home Page; go there them click on the TERVIN surname.

Born: 11/2/1819 in Richmond Co., now Columbia Co., GA
Married:
Died: 11/19/1858; buried at Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church Cemetery, adjacent to John Love MacKinnon (ekder), Walton Co., FL
Parents: George Tarvin and Martha H. ?

Their children were:

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Daniel Love MacKINNON and Mary ATTAWAY

Thanks to Linley Katherine MacKinnon Allen and Brian Dameral

Husband: Daniel Love MacKinnon

LifeNotes: he served in "D" Company, 1st Florida Regiment during the Civil War. Later he was an attorney in Walton Co., FL He served Walton Co. in the State House of Representatives in the days of Reconstruction.

Born: 12/24/1843, Walton Co., FL
Married: 10/20/1870, Jackson Co., FL
Died: 12/24/1924, Marianna, FL
Parents: John Love MacKinnon and Catharine Douglass

Wife: Mary "Mollie" Attaway

LifeNotes:

Born: 5/27/1851, Jackson Co., FL
Married: 10/20/1870, Jackson Co., FL
Died:
Parents: Catherine Tillinghast (daughter of Paris Jenks Tillinghast) and (-?)

Their known children were:

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