Hi Dotty,
As my cousins Niven and Donald have already said, our family lines have
strong links with the Hendersons. There were several marriages between the
two families, particularly in the Caithness area in Scotland, so you might
try looking there for your ancestors. A good source is the Scots Origins
online database if you don't mind paying six pounds. (very worth it).
The use of middle names didn't really come into vogue until the early
1800's, although you'll find some before then, and they are very helpful in
tracing your ancestors. You can be assured that the use of the name
Sinclair as a middle name indicates a marriage to a Sinclair at an earlier
stage, quite probably the maiden name of a mother or grandmother in the
generation just prior to it's first appearance. That was it's most common
usage to begin with.
In our particular family lines, there was a marriage between Christian
Henderson and George Sinclair and the name Henderson was given to children
in the generations following. As far as I am able to tell it was used most
often to show the linking between families, much as the naming patterns of
children help identify which ancestor is yours. It can be very helpful.
There is a site on the origins of Clan Henderson at:
http://reseau.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/Clans/Henderson/Origin_
Henderson/Henderson_Origin.html
Historically Clan Henderson is actually listed as a sept of Clan Gunn (very
strong ties with the Sinclair's); Clan MacNaughton and Clan MacDonald of
Glencoe. It doesn't appear as an individual clan in "The Clans of the
Highlands of Scotland", edited by Thomas Smibert, Esq and Published by
James Hogg in 1900
I will keep an eye out for other Sinclair/Henderson marriages, but at this
point I have no record of the ones you've listed. However, you can be
guaranteed that you won't find it that far back with a name of George St
Clair Henderson!
It's best to use the roots-web list for this kind of query - perhaps you
should join that one too! You can find the link to join it at
http://www.mids.org/sinclair/genelist.html - I'll cross post this answer to
there, and perhaps that will find some more information for you!
Happy hunting :)
Margaret :)
10:38 AM 29/09/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Listmembers,
> This is my first message. I'm researching my g-g-g-g-grandfather:
>ROBERT HENDERSON: (1771-1854) Rich Hill, Muskingum, Ohio. One of the
>witnesses of his Will was John Sinclair, Muskingum, OH. Two of my
>Henderson's were:
>
>JOHN SINCLAIR HENDERSON &
>GEORGE ST CLAIR HENDERSON
>
> There may be more, I don't know all of the children of all of the
> generations but this middlename SINCLAIR tradition spans at least 4
> generations.
> Can anyone explain the background for this loyalty and/or tradition
> between the two clans? Were there intermarriages?
>Appreciate any information,
>Karen Henderson
>Sunnyvale, CA
> ><mailto:DOTY_CARSTENSEN@MSN.COM>DOTY_CARSTENSEN@MSN.COM<
>
>
[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html