The Shemwell Family

"... It is believed that we are descendants of the Children of the Mist. The MacGregors are the descendants of Gregor of the Golden Bridle. We believe that he was the brother or son of King Kenneth McAlpin, the first Scottish king to unite the Picts and Celtic peoples of the Scottish Highlands. The ancestral MacGregor lands were on the east side of Loch Lommond through Glenorchy up to Loch Katrine and the Braes of Balquhidder. Not only were the MacGregors proud of their lands, they were coveted by many of the other clans. First and foremost among them were the Campbell. The beginning of the end for the MacGregors and their beloved lands happened when Robert the Bruce awarded the Barony of Loch Awe (which was situated in the middle of Clan Gregor land) to the Campbells for services rendered in helping him gain his throne. However, he left it to the Campbells to take the lands from the MacGregors. The Campbells were unable to wrest their "reward" from MacGregors and the MacGregors held the land for many years by "right of might". When the clan cheiftain, Ian Dhub (Ian the Black) died without a male successor in 1519, the Campbells put forth Eian MacGregor, a son-in-law of Sir Colin Campbell, as the successor over Gregor Patrickson Gregor the Great. Thus, the Campbells finally got some kind of hold on the land. Now, the persecutions of the MacGregors began in earnest. The MacGregors were blamed for the murder of John Drummond-Ernoch, a deputy forestor of the Royal Forest. It was claimed that they killed him after he had caught a party of MacGregor poachers and summarily hung a few of them. It was said that they then went to the home of John Drommund-Erncoh's sister, Lady Margaret Stewart of Ardvolich (a kinsmen) and paraded his head in front of her after she had fed them a light meal of bread and cheese. (It is highly unlikely that they would have committed such a breach of Highland ettiquette.) At any rate, they were brought before the Privy Council (of whom Sir Colin Campbell was a member) and, on 4 February 1590, a commission was issued that they were to seek and apprehend certain MacGregors deemed responsible for this heinous act. It was also recommended that all the MacGregors shoudl be captured and punished because, if they weren't in on this crime, surely there were other crime that they had committed! The commission also allowed anyone to use any measure they deemed necessary, including lethal force, to bring the justice the condemned MacGregors. It was also stated that the captors would received half of the value of the propery which would be forfeited by the MacGregors upon capture. This is not to say that the MacGregors were not a wild and bloody clan because they were. They always lived a rebel life and by their own rules. They feuded with other clans such as the Culquhons whom they slaughtered when the Colquhons were in retreat. In response to such constant rebellion and the Colquhon killings, their lands were seized, the Laird MacGregor and several of his followers were executed and, later on, their name was proscripted. The terms of the proscription were thus: 1. Babies not born yet will not take the MacGregor name under penalty of Death. 2. No more than four shall meet at a time, under penalty of Death. 3. They shall bear no weapons, save an unpointed knife for cutting their meat. 4. To kill a MacGregor is NOT a crime, but is to be encouraged. After the MacGregor clan was prohibited from using the name and lost their homes, they became known as Clann a'Chedd or The Children of the Mist. In order to avoid any further persecution, our ancestor James MacGregor came to America around 1650 where he gave the oath of allegiance in Virginia on April 11, 1652 after he had fought during Montrose's campaign. He changed his name to William Mackgehee and worked for a better life for his family. It is believed that he was killed by Indians. An irony for sure. Eventually, the Mackgehee surname changed to McGehee, Magee and other forms of the name. Our Magee clan migrated to Duplin County, North Carolina and then moved westward to Mississippi, settling mainly in Pike County, Mississippi and Washington Parish, Louisiana where they became leaders of their community...."