Henry, Mary Helena and their extended families
Henry was one of five children and Mary Helena was the eldest of two children, but Mary Helena had many more aunts and uncles. Because they are first cousins once removed they share a lot of ancestors. This page contains the pictures from this archive.
The ancestor family tree dates back to 1770 with Fulton James McLain who was born in Northern Ireland in County Antrim as was his wife Nancy and his first daughter Jane McLain. Fulton McLain’s son is also Fulton McLain (II) and he was born in the USA and is Henry’s father.
Mary Helena’s paternal grandmother was Jane McLain, Fulton McLain I and Nancy’s first child. Jane is also Henry McLain’s aunt making Henry and Mary Helena first cousins once removed.
John Elliot (Mary Helena’s Father) was William Elliot, William was married to Jane McLain – Henry’s aunt. Both he and Jane were immigrants to the USA and came from County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Below is William Elliot’s obituary.
Mary Helena’s mother was Sophia MacLaughlin from Brandon, Vermont. Mary Helena’s grandparents were Alexander MacLaughlin and Ann Elliott (no relation to Mary Helena’s Dad, we think – note the spelling) who immigrated to the US from Inverness (Scotland) in the early 1800s. Below is Alexander McLaughlin’s obituary from 1878.
Mary Helena Elliott was the daughter of John Elliott and Sophia MacLaughlin. John was born in 1835 in New York and Sophia in 1835 in Vermont.
We’ve been struggling to identify which Elliott’s these are, while it looks like Sophia on the right, it may or may not be John on the left.
The Elliotts from New York
Henry’s brothers and sisters
Fulton McLain II and Jane Jack had six children, Fulton McLain III (1858-1946), Ellen McLain (1860-1940), Jane McLain (1862-1925), George McLain (1864-1931) and Henry McLain (1866-1942) and Mary McLain (1872-1921). Only Henry and Jane married. Jane McLain married James Herbert Jack (1866-1933) in New York.
It is not entirely clear how Herbert (Bert) Jack was related to Jane Jack or indeed his wife Jane McLain. It seems plausible that Bert and Jane McLain were second cousins as their grandfathers may have been brothers as is shown in the tree below.
Bert Jack and Jane McLain had one son, Elmer Jack (1900-1972), Henry’s only nephew and the boys’ first cousin. Below is Elmer around 1918.
The DeMeyers – 2nd cousins to Henry and Mary Helena’s boys
Henry and Mary Helena and there family were particularly close to the DeMeyers who were from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Alice May Elliot, who was Mary Helena’s first cousin married John DeMeyer. They had four children, which were second cousins to Henry and Mary Helena’s boys, and would often spend time with the McLain’s down in Raisin Township.
Western migration from Ireland
The McLains, the Elliots and the Jacks all hailed from Northern Ireland (circled in red in the tree). The MacLaughlins (Mary Helena’s grandparents) were from Inverness in Scotland. The McLain, the Jacks and the Elliots were all likely originally of Scottish descent and possibly immigrated to Northern Ireland under one of three waves of migration from Scotland to Ireland:
- before 1615 – various Irish Lords invited over Catholic Scots to settle in the north of Ireland
- 1615-1740 – Ulster plantations when Protestant Scots were given land grants by the British government to try and make Ireland more Protestant and loyal to the Crown
- 1760-1185 – The Highland Clearances – which started when Highland Scots that had been loyal to the rebellion against the Crown (Culloden, 1745) were stripped of their lands and sent to Ireland
The Mclains
Fulton McLain I (Henry’s grandfather and Mary Helena’s great-grandfather) was born in 1770 in County Antrim in Northern Ireland as was his daugther Jane McLain in 1797.
It is not clear who Fulton McLain’s parents were and when they arrived in Ireland, although it is most likely that they were part of the Ulster planations but there is some evidence that they migrated to Scotland from Ireland before 1615, given the name McLain, but who knows? Most of the Irish census, birth and death records were consumed by fire during the Irish Civil War in the 1920s.
Irish immigrants accounted for about one-third of all immigrants to the US between around 1820-1860 and around half a million ‘Scotch-Irish’ immigrants came to American between 1815 and 1845. Fulton McLain (I) and his family were most likely in search of land, rather than being victims of the great famine which occured in 1845. While it is not clear exactly what year Fulton showed up in the US – his only daugther Jane was born in 1797 in Nothern Ireland and his only son, Fulton McLain II (Henry’s father) was born in New York.
Fulton McLain I followed the classic Scotch-Irish migration path in America. That is, he started in New York and then moved West From Stuart McLain’s notes, it seems there is some evidence that Fulton I was a fur trapper which may be true as he never owned a farm.
The Jacks
Henry McLain’s mother was Jane Jack who was the daughter of Fulton Jack. Fulton Jack, like Fulton McLain, was also born in County Antrim Northern Irleand in 1799 although it is not clear when he made the trip from Northern Irland to the US. His wife (Ellen Boyd) was born in New York (in 1811). Fulton Jack, like Fulton McLain, followed the classic Scotch-Irish immigration path. Arriving in New York and then moving West to acquire farm land. In Fulton’s case purchasing that land in the 1830s.
The Elliotts
William Elliott was also from County Antrim and he immigrated to the US in 1828 (which we know from his obituary, see above). His wife, Jane McLain is Fulton I’s only daughter, Henry’s aunt and Mary Helena’s grandmother, she was also born in Northern Ireland.
It is most likely that William Elliott was from the Ulster Plantations in Northern Ireland as he was, according to his obituary, a Presbyterian and a total abstainer, which clearly links him to many Ulster-Scots.
William arrived acquired land and worked as a farmer. He stayed in New York state and gave his farm to his son John (Mary Helena’s mother).
The MacLaughlins
Alexander MacLaughlin immigrated to Canada with his parents from Inverness in Scotland in 1803 where they arrived, by ship, in Prince Edward Island. It is not clear why The MacLaughlins left Inverness, presumably for more opportunities.
Alexander himself lived in Quebec until 1829, when he immigrated to Vermont and stayed there until his death in 1878, where he worked as a shoemaker.
Alexander, like William Elliot, was a teetotaller and a Presbyterian. No smoking, no dancing, no drinking. Alexander’s father died in the War of 1812 between Britain and the US.
Henry's boys 