The Iberian Peninsula

A friend suggested I look up "celtiberian " in my quest for knowledge about my early ancestors. I did and learned that it means "celt-liberian" (as in Liberian Peninsula of Europe - now Spain). The people living there, the Celts and the Liberians, co-mingled and apparently migrated to Ireland over two millennium ago. My DNA group (R2B2) closely matches a small group of these people from what is now the area near Albacete, Spain.

I shared my information with my new-found 'cousin' in Canada, Lyn McMullen, and he wrote back:

"I have read that article, and here is a better map outlining populations that inhabited the Iberian peninsula circa 200 BC. It is more specific in terms of listing ethnic population groups that occupied territory at that time. It is this map which forms part of the evidence I have reviewed concerning the Germanos (Germano-Celts), the group I believe our family genetically descend from. They are shown as located in the Celtic lanquagae speaking area just above another group called Oretanus. Recorded history around these Germano-Celt Suebi, clarify that a larger group (mercenaries) were invited into this area later (circa 100BC), then subsequently driven out circa 57 BC by Roman Legion’s. This I believe may have been the migration point for elements of that ethnic population to Ireland."

The circle near the center is the area around Albatete.

So now I'm beginning to get a picture of where my family can trace it's earliest roots. We are descendants of Germano-Celts.

This is great information that would have taken me years, if ever, to find. Thanks to Lyn I have been able to place us in Ireland, Scotland and now Spain over a 2,000 year period. How cool is that!!!

Scottish Gathering in Salado, Texas

Another adventure...


Judy and I went to our first Scottish Gathering & Highland Games event over the weekend. It was in Salado, Texas, just south of Waco.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and took some time to get to know Salado. It didn't take long because it's a small town. We drove through the park and it was so nice that we walked along Salado Creek, a beautiful clear spring-fed creek that flows through town and the park. A fellow Big Green Egger who lives in Salado suggested we take a look at the park as a possible Eggfest site in the future. He was right... it would be a great place for an Eggfest.




But our mission in Salado was to represent our Clan MacMillan Society of Texas group, so we went to the Gathering site to see where our tent would be placed and get a lay of the land. We were surprised at how large an area the Gathering would occupy.



Saturday morning we found the tent already set up and organized. Mark McMillan and his wife Judy were waiting with plenty of information for those interesting in the MacMillan family. But after a couple of hours we could tell that it was going to be a slow day.

Judy, Gary McMillan and Mark McMillan

Judy McMillin and Judy McMillan

Mark McMillan and Jane McMillin

Gary McMillan was across the street as a participant in the Highland Games. He was there all day and we didn't learn until Sunday that he came in 3rd in one event. I think I would have enjoyed participating regardless of the end results. Sounds like fun.

Things got a bit exciting though around noon. The wind kept gaining in speed all morning and was now strong enough to destroy our tent. Suddenly, we found ourselves sitting in the open. As people strolled by they would ask where our tent was and we would reply with "We're a poor clan and can't afford a tent" or "Our tent was repossessed" or "Some scoundrel absconded with it while we were visiting the Porta-Let" etc. They figured it out pretty quickly though when they spotted the pile of crumpled canvas and metal.

Just a few of the 100+ tents

The crowd continue to grow and before long there were hundreds of people making their way around the field. Many of them were in traditional Scottish dress proudly wearing their clan tartans. Only two from our little group dressed for the occasion, Mark McMillan and David McMullen.

Mark McMillan

David McMullen

Even so, as small a group as we were, we marched in the parade of tartans which also included a number of pipe and drum corps. We all ended up on the parade grounds where one lonely bagpipe began playing Amazing Grace. It sounded great, but at the end of the first stanza the rest of the pipes and drums kicked in and it sounded absolutely wonderful.

All of the Pipe & Drum Corps on the field

Pipes 'a playing and Drums 'a thumping


The Clan MacMillan contigent in the March of Tartans


Pipe & Drum Major

Judy and I had already made plans to attend the Ceilida (pronounced Kay-Lee) so we left the tent to others to man.

We met at the ruins of ancient Salado College where the Ceilida took place. We learned that since people in the old days had to create their own entertainment they would gather for a Ceilida and each person would entertain the group by whatever means they could. Whether it be playing a musical instrument, or singing a song, dancing a jig, or telling a story, or reading a poem, everyone contributed to the entertainment of the others. Pretty neat concept when you think about it.

Crumbling fireplace at Salado College

Old wall and a really nice backdrop to performances

The setting was perfect for such an event. Very laid back and informal. It was great.

By the end of the Ceilida we were ready for dinner and decided on The Stagecoach Inn. We knew it had some history behind it but we didn't realize how much until we sat at our table. The Inn began serving customers in 1861. According to the information we read almost anyone who figured prominently in Texas history either dined there, slept there or hid out there. Yes, even some outlaws spent some time there.

Judy on the porch at Stagecoach Inn



We were tired and were asleep at our hotel by 8:00 PM.


Sunday we were up early to help man our little spot of grass among all the tents, but much to our surprise Gary McMillan drove up with a new tent. The store was good enough to replace the destroyed one. This one worked well, especially after some reinforcing.

We had a few MacMillan's (various spellings) drop by throughout the day. It was fun talking to them. After all, they are "cousins." We also showed them our growing collection of charts, maps and data reflecting the MacMillan history.

According to Mark, there is some information that a MacMillan was a member of the Knights Templar. We had a knight's helmet for those who wished to try it on. I did and it's not very comfortable at all.




We hung around until just after noon and left to return to Houston. I can't see well at night so we didn't want to take a chance that it would get dark on us while driving home.

All in all, we had a good time, listened to some great pipe and drum bands and met a lot of very nice people.

Yes, it was another great adventure.

DNA Match Followup

This is a followup to my previous publication - DNA Match... Lyn writes:

What I believe to be true based on all of that is this:
McMullen`s Maolan, Mac Maolain, are the genetic ancestors of the Germano-Celt tribe Seubi, traditionally Switzerland, Rhine valley Germany and Northern Italy, They were mercenaries hired by the Gallician Portugese circa 100 BC, driven out by roman legions circa 52 BC, some migrated from Gallicia along with Laigin and Milesian tribes to Ireland. They surface as the Gaileanga, mercenaries who become part of the Ui Briuin Ai, Connachta Sil Muiredach and lagered with the tribal federation of Ui Maine. Maolan was a descendant of Clan Leochain. Chief of Clan Leachain was O’Darchaide (anglized Darcy), and of the same stock are the Diarmada, O’Faolan, O’ Cannons and O`Mullen’s of Ballymoe Co. Galway. They Mullen’s are nobles with an independent title of Lord of Gaileanga and Luighne, and over a period starting about 900 AD to 1100, begin to evolve as devotees of St John (Maol ain). They lived in parishes adjacent the O’Cannon and O’Faolan with names like Dunmore, Killian and Kilbegnet. In 1000 AD Brian Boru high king of Ireland introduces surnames, so that the son of Maolain, became Mac Maolain. This history which I am currently writing (at about 60 pages right now) is plastered throughout numerous Irish annals, those of the history of Ireland in maps, those of Ui Briuin, those of Clonmacnoise, those of Breifne, etc. During the period the nobles were moving toward the church, they lost leadership of the mercenary Gaileanga and quite possibly some of the sons of Mac Maolain who were not that religious. Those sons appear to have hired on as professional soldiers in a group created by the Dal gCais O’Brain (Boru) circa 1100. They would end up in Coleraine and North Antrim with the name O’Cathain (Cain/Keane/Kane). My beliefs in this regard come from as I have mentioned the fact that my last match MacMillan Clan is circa 1197, and any other MacMillan after that is 3000 years away. In between though I connect on genetic matching, not only to you, but to many Irish and Cain at approximately the same time frame 800 AD. I believe MacMillan Gp1 are the descendants of our Irish Mac Maolains, and also that in North Ireland are the remnants of the earlier Gaileanga who later became part of Mac Lachlan and the Ui Neill in Coleraine and Armoy. Who else is hallucinating in this fashion ? The current recognized chief of the Clan O’Cathain, who states on their DNA site that testing is rewriting their oral history which was exclusively tied to the Northern Ui Neill. His own DNA takes him to Clare and Galway and a run on Cain in general will land you predominantly in Galway. This genetic bent for church and military continues as you can see in the MacMillan line and I was a professional soldier myself. For example Leroy, I imagine that if you were to log onto Ysearch and do the GD calculation for your markers against surnames MacMillan/McMillan, you will find that Cain’s test closer to you than any MacMillan as may other Irish names. The Irish/Scot Clan MacDonald who we are wrapped together during our time in the Highlands also proudly claim Ireland as their origins and list Cain as an associated sept circa 1200. That probably happened because the MacDonnell and MacGregor Gaels came into Ireland circa 1250 as mercenaries to help Irish fighting Normans (lost unfortunately) and would have linked up with the Coleraine based O’Cathain.

Interesting Huh!!!

DNA Match

I received a most interesting email today as a direct result of my DNA data being posted for all to see. The email came from Lyn David McMullen, and it certainly got my attention:

Name: Lyn David McMullen
Email: ////////////// (deliberately omitted)
Message: Hi Leroy. Thought I would contact you, as I have been working many months on DNA trying to reconcile the oral history of my family passed to me as Irish circa 1050-1100 to Scotland, then back to Ireland. Most of the Scotland links are now discovered, which is the MacMillan Clanand for me Gp1. Using the matching information and many identical markers, and the distance provided by David, you come in as about 1260 years from me which would be approximately 800 AD. According to my family history we were in Ireland then as Maolain of Connacht (Ballymoe area). So I am interested of course as to where your family came from in Ireland and also whether it was DNA that lead you to the MacMillan site, or information in the family that you connect somehow in Scotland. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Lyn

View this user's profile at (Deliberately Omitted)

He requested that I contact him. I did, giving him some basic info about myself and what I've discovered so far. I also mentioned my blog site. He quickly wrote back and said:

"Hello Leroy. Thank you for contacting me. Leroy I love your site, it has the creativity of the McMullen`s (hope you won’t be offended). We share many things, including the Catholic faith. I am also busy dissecting the MacMillan site and DNA analysis. Like you I happened onto this site thru DNA. My grandfather and the oral history passed to him starts us off in Ireland well before that. Right now my research places us in Ireland for at least a thousand years, mostly in Galway, the Barony of Ballymoe and the parishes of Dunmore, Killean and Kilbegnet, well before migrating to Scotland in 1100 AD as clerics of the Celtic Catholic Church. By connecting our family historical birthdates back to the lineage posted on the MacMillan site, it appears we came back in 1617 to North Antrim. It is an exciting project, and while we as a family evolve more recently from the front end of the Scottish MacMillan`s Gp1 who list their progenitor as one Gilichrist Mac Maolain circa 1100 AD born Ireland (or Scotland 2nd choice), my gut feel is that your ancestors based on this time line of 1260 years, may be the link to the Irish back end and direct descendants of the Ui Maine lagered O`Maolain (Mullen) Lord of Gaileanga and Luighne. This history is recorded in numerous annals for over four hundred years well before Clan MacMillan came into being and is peppered with parishes, plus both individual (Cormac, Gillachrist, Maolmuire) and surnames that form part of the later Clan MacMillan in Scotland. Your markers have three distinctive elements that are part of all the families from the MacMillan GP1 site who on further investigation connect directly to me (25/14/10) and (29/18/9) and (15/15/16/17). It is the distance that is different. The last McMillan checks in at 810 years which is 1197, after that I jump to a GD of 18 which would take me right back to Iberia with the McMillans. In genetic matching anyone who is closer and you are, has their origins listed as Irish. That fits with my Granddaddy and he was an honest man. When I first logged onto the MacMillan DNA site, I was immediately contacted by a Daniel McMullan, who said his oral history was very like mine. He is a perfect match, but only tested to 12 markers. I am waiting for this DNA haplotype thing to evolve a bit, when I think that it will be much easier to identify relations farther back by using SNP vs STR etc. God Bless Leroy, and here is what I have written so far about the Scotland to Ireland migration. (still working on the chart) Cheers Lyn

He's in the R1B1c Haplogroup

I think this is fantastic news and even though I don't know exactly what all it means I'm eagerly looking forward to finding out.

Kirkpatrick McMillan's Velocipede

My search into the MacMillan (any spelling) Clan history has turned up some interesting bits of information about how creative we are. There have been many successful inventions and businesses along the way.

Probably the invention with the most worldly impact was the human powered bicycle created by Kirkpatrick McMillan in 1840. He called it a Velocipede. http://www3.sympatico.ca/comflex/mcmillan/DevilonWheels.htm

Well, in the MacMillan tradition of creative thinking, I think I can make a very close reproduction of the Velocipede and hope to begin working on it during the winter months. Although I have no detailed plans or drawings, I do have a photo of a scale model:

I believe there is enough detail in the photo for me to reproduce the individual wood and metal parts in full size.

It would be great to take to Clan Gatherings and let folks see how one man's idea, a McMillan no less, changed the world.

DNA Results For MacMillan Family Tree

With over 200 variations in the spelling of MacMillan (mine being McMillin) I could inadvertently overlook a possible family member when reading genealogy data, so I opted to participate in the MacMillan DNA Project. I elected to go for the 67 marker kit rather than update later from the 37 or 12 marker kits.

The results of my DNA are now available to anyone in the world with a computer. Most likely and hopefully, it will be a MacMillan (any spelling) who contacts me to say his or her DNA matches closely, or even exactly to mine. If so, that person is likely a close relative. So far, there have been no hits, but my data was only posted in early August 2007.

Meanwhile, David, the Group Administrator, wrote something encouraging. He said:

"You've been added to Group 22. There is another set of results in the group which is a very close match (65/67) to your results. Unfortunately, the only information I have concerning the participant at this time is that the last name is McMillin, same as yours. I've asked the adminstrator of the North American McMillian Surname Project to give the fellow a shout and see if we can open up a dialogue with him.

The odds are that you two share a common ancestor somewhere in the last 150 - 210 years (5-7 generations)."


If you understand how the DNA marker matches work and wish to compare to mine, my kit number is 94663. You can learn more by clicking here: http://www.familytreedna.com/default.aspx

I still do not know how to read and apply the data but I'm learning. It sure would be exciting to learn of someone now or in the past who is a direct descendant of my McMillin Family Tree.

Death In My Family

My 85 year old Mother, Dorothy Jane "Dot" Sargent McMillin, passed away this week. Heart attack with too much damage to repair. She was born October 14, 1921 and died August 6, 2007.

Her obituary in the Catahoula News Booster read:

Dorothy Jane "Dot" McMillin (85) of Harrisonburg, Louisiana, died Monday, August 6, 2007, in Alexandria, Louisiana.

She was predeceased by her parents, Edward Joseph Sargent (owner and publisher of the Catahoula News) and Nellie Huff Sargent, her husband, Leroy McMillin, Sr.; and her daughter, Tommie McMillin Oxley.

She is survived by her son, Leroy McMillin, Jr. and wife, Judy; Charles Edward McMillin; Billy Joe McMillin, and his wife, Charlotte; grandchildren, Tracye Oxley, Michael Oxley, Hope McMillin, Summer McMillin and Kelli Freemen; 5 great-grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews; and a host of dear friends.

Loved and respected by the entire Harrisonburg community, Dot was a life-long resident of Harrisonburg where she was involved in arts and crafts, ceramics, puppet shows, had a great love of music, and was an enthusiastic cook. Visitation will be at St. Gerard's Catholic Church in Jonesville on Thursday, August 9th, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m., followed by a mass at 11:00 a.m.

Contributions to a charity of your choice would be appreciated by the family in lieu of flowers.

____________________________________________________________________

What the obituary did not say is that she was a free spirit for most of her life. She longed to go to exciting places and do exciting things. Perhaps now she can do just that. If so, Heaven would be a much happier place for all.

We got to see and talk to her before she passed on. Although I'm sad, I'm also joyful that she lived a long time. I'm also pleased that she avoided the two things she dreaded most: slowly dying of cancer and slowly dying in a nursing home. She is surely Up There looking down saying she won on those two points.

Her last three years were difficult but she didn't complain. And she was clear-headed enough to repeatedly express her wishes to be cremated and her ashes distributed by my father's grave, her parent's graves and her aunt's grave (the person who raised her from birth after her mother died).

There was a gathering of relatives and friends at her beloved Catholic Church in Jonesville, Louisiana. We laughed and cried together, all expressing a loss that can never be replaced. The Priest held Mass and spoke of her as if he had known her all his life even though it was a few fleeting moments when he took Communion to her at home. All of this was followed by the traditional meal for all those attending the services. People far and wide brought food and flowers and photos and memories to be shared by all.

I saw people I had grown up with but had not seen for thirty or more years. We all talked like nothing had changed knowing full well that our accumulated ailments and wrinkles alone presented a more truthful expression of our unstoppable aging process. It was fun talking to them and in many ways it reflected their belief that I'm just temporarily away from home.

As per her request, she was immediately cremated and her ashes distributed among the graves of my father, Leroy Lamar McMillin, Sr., her father and mother, Edward Joseph and Nellie Irene Sargent, and her aunt, Fannie Sargent, who raised her from birth.

I had the good fortune to have my wife, Judy, by my side the entire time. She was my strength when I needed it the most.

And so ends another chapter in my life.