I am working my way back through Buchanan History. Any help with spelling?

Question

Any information confirming the pre-1600 Buchanans.

Answer 1

Not exactly sure what help you are asking for so I will blanket the answer. Buc is a prefix to the Hanan. The Buc is shorten spelling of Buckler. A buckler is a protector. You will find Hanan in Genesis of the KJV. (Ge. 36) while we the prefix "Baal", we also see the prefix "El" in 2 Samuel 21:19. This ref. Is one of controversy. Who killed Goliath? David or El-hanan? Are they one in the same? What's the deal hear?

  The problems get worst when we move forward in time and traveling the world combine to separate family. The spelling is changed many times by members of the Hanan origin declare their individual Identity. At some point we find a family member saying the Buchanan clan started in Scotland or Ireland. The "CLAN" when breaking down the word smithing, as I have just noted goes way back in time before the very conception of a name of an island. How ever you can see a very definitive corilation of Buchanan's being a defender of the faith. This practice of changing the spelling of sur names can be purposefully submitted, accidental or mandated. You have to beware that through lazy, pressured and/or uneducated application to documentation, we seem to always be at the mercy of dialects and phonics.

  Some of the mis-spellings I have seen thus far are; Buccaan, Buccanan, Bucanon, Buchan, Buchanon, Buchannon, Buckannon, Bucconan. These are only a few that are proven to be misspellings due to phonic attempts at pronouning the name Buchanan and then spelling the mispronounced versions.

  You have to remember that the record is in error. The person is really a Buchanan that was victimized by a lazy clerk type record keeper. The only way to prove the Buchanan name will be family connections cross verified by many sources.

  All this information is my belief from years of study. Use this information with caution. Don't believe me or anyone 100%. Research what I gave you to give you a lead and direction of posibility and perspective that you might not get somewhere else.

  Hope this helps at least a little.

  The following words below represent a story about a clan. Pay close attention to how and why names get changed in the coarse of history.

Katherine was born about 1725. Katherine Buchanan ... She passed away about 1760.[1] Richard McCauley provides this history of the M'Cauly Clan The patriarch of our branch of the M'Cauly Clan as of now is Henry M'Cauly (one record is spelled Henri M'Cauly, during this time Scotland was tied closer to France than to England). At this time there is no official records in Scotland. The only records are the parish records written by the church ministers. We have two records of Henry, the first says that he was a merchant in Glasgow, Scotland. The second record says he is the father of Reverend John M'Cauly, a minister in Dumbartonshire. John being a good minister kept good parish records of his family, which is to be expected. John's wife is Katherine Buchanan, the Buchanan Clan's territory was north and each of Loch Lommand. The next record that we find from John is in the Orkneys Islands. The Orkneys Islands are off the north east coast of Scotland. The islands are very stark and isolated. This would not have been a good assignment for a minister with young children. James is born during this period of time. John and Katherine have four children that we know of Alexander, John, James and Isobel. The next record that we find is at Carncross, Scotland, saying that James is going to Virginia in North America to become a merchant. Alexander and John would soon follow. The last record we found in Scotland is in Sterlingshire and tells of Isobel's marriage to Alexander Monarch. James is next found in Norfolk, Virginia as Captain of a merchant ship that sails to Central and South America. During this period if you were a Captain of a merchant vessel you were automatically a Captain in the British Navy. There are records to indicate that the British Army seized two shiploads of mahogany lumber and James applies to the British Government for reimbursement. There is no indication that he ever received any compensation. James has his ship, the Elizabeth, seized by the Virginia Militia. The only information about the ship is it is listed as a fast sailing ship. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, James joins the Queen's Loyal Virginia Regiment as a surgeon. The Queen's Rangers soon absorb this unit. He is taken prisoner at least twice and maybe three times. There is one record of a British prisoner of war performing surgery for General Marion Francis. He is listed as Doctor James McCally. This can not be proven to be our James. James' wife is Elizabeth Watson. Nothing is known of Elizabeth at this time. They have seven children, William, Polly who marries a Duncanson and later a man named Porter, James Jr. who marries Penelope Williams, Rebecca who marries William Bennett, Susannah who marries at least 3 times, Henry who will discuss later and Jonathon. At the end of the war James and his family moves from the coast to Pendleton County. From there his family moves to Harrison County with his daughter, Rebecca, and her family. Here James dies on September 17, 1810. His wife Catherine moves to Clarksburg where her son, James Jr., lives. A year later the courts appoints William Bennett as guardian of Jonathon McCally. Henry is our next subject. Henry was born in 1789 in Pendleton County. After moving to Harrison County with his family, he next shows up as a teenager working in Highland County, Ohio supplying lumber for the state's new capitol. Henry next shows up in Harrison County, Virginia. On August 10, 1810 his marriage bond to Sarah Alkire is signed by his father, James, her father, John Alkire and his brother-in-law, William Bennett. Where Henry lives later becomes Lewis County, Virginia. There is no record of Henry until 1824 when he is shown as living at Sand Fork. Henry and Sarah have eleven children; Susannah, Prudence, Elizabeth, John S., James, Lysander, George, Solomon, Joseph, Margaret and Sarah. In the fall of 1869 Henry is charged as being a Southern sympathizer. Being too sick to respond to the summons, Henry, at the age of 80, is disenfranchised. This means that he has no rights as a citizen of the state. Shortly thereafter he moves to Kentucky where the disenfranchisement has no effect. There in 1873 Henry dies. His wife Sarah dies on November 30, 1887. The next subject of our text is John S. McCally. John was born on December 16, 1816 in what is now Lewis County, WV. On October 3, 1838, John married Mary Burkhammer. They eventually settled in Roane County just below Reedyville. John and Mary had nine children; Amanda, Lucinda, Sarah, George, Joseph W., Malissa, John G., Josephine and Mattie. Besides operating his own 400-acre farm, John was given the task of overseeing the 200 acres that would eventually belong to the children of Solomon, his brother. One June 24, 1905, John died and was buried beside his wife in Mt. Olive Cemetery at Reedyville. Or next subject is Joseph Will McCally. Grandpa Joe, as my father referred to him, was a farmer for most of his life. He was known to be very frugal and would spend his money very wisely, a trait that I did not inherit. On March 3, 1875 he married Sarah B. Boggs. Joseph and Sarah had eight children; Hezekiah Oathwell, John D., Maggie D., Martha B., Freeda, Lilly and Freddie. After Joseph became too old to continue farming he began a new career. He started making and selling his own salves and medicines. He would buy the ingredients and then mix the medicines and salves according to his secret formulas. His tiny black liver pills were his big seller. He would get in his buggy and travel the county selling his medicines. At the end of the day he would always find a friend or relative to spend the night with. On March 15, 1939 Joseph died. He too is buried beside his wife at Mt. Olive Cemetery at Reedyville. Our final subject is John D. McCauley. The first thing I notice is the change in spelling of McCally. Around 1900 the spelling was changed, not only did our branch of the family change the spelling but also branches in Lewis County, WV, in Columbus, Ohio in Kentucky and in Missouri. No one knew that the other ones were changing the spelling. I was told the spelling was changed to match the pronunciation of the name. John was born on March 8, 1882 at Reedyville. On February 28, 1904 he married Ella Jane Phillips. They lived for many years on their farm on Buck Ridge near Peniel. He started a local phone company and was doing quite well until the stock market crash of 1929 wiped out the company. He also worked building houses, doing road work and masonry work. John and Ella had ten children; Roxie, Ruth, Bessie, Bertha, Sue, Hugh, Coy, Grace, Willadean and Velma. On January 8, 1957 John died and was buried in the cemetery at the Peniel Church.

This fact is a story managed by the Scotland Project.

Comments

Another point, the clerk's were not lazy, they were being careful, to get the languages translated to a common language. Up to the 1600's, the common language Franca was latin. But, local languages were being sounded to the latin. The two did not mix. You can see in the writtings of business and religion the main language adopt a slang for the terms. And, education systems were highly segregated, religions taught religion, trades taught the trades, and the regional accents added to the mix!!! Wicked.

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That's some mighty interesting, um, hogwash you've assembled there.

Buchanan is the name of a region in Stirlingshire. It has absolutely nothing to do with bucklers, Hanan, or Baal. That's not how etymology works.

Being a (place)name of Gaelic origin, it had no agreed-upon "correct" spelling in the Latin and English that most of the records of the region were kept in. You can see some of the great variety of the placename-turned-surname's written forms in Black's Surnames of Scotland under Buchanan.

I don't have a good source to confirm the placename's etymology, but Behind the Name (which is generally better-than-average in terms of online "baby name" sites) says Buchanan derives from Gaelic for "house of the canon". If you could track down how to spell that in medieval Gaelic (which had a more standardized spelling system than most European languages of the time), you could use that as your "base" form of the name.

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Medieval Scots Gaelic was an unwritten language.  The spelling is standard because it's hypothetical.

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Medieval Irish Gaelic spelling is far from hypothetical. (And since "Scots" is used as the name of the dialect of English spoken in Scotland, it's generally better to use "Scottish Gaelic" for the Highland language.)

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Irish, yes.  But it's common practice for copyists to update the spelling of their originals, and for editors of printed editions to standardize the spellings of the manuscripts.

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Lazy is not to be excluded from my answer. I am 60 Years of age and have witnessed lazy in the behaviour of military, governments and businesses. There are clerks in past as well as present who do not pronoun my surname right. I can only wonder if they are reading from a misspelled writing or don't care how ignorant they sound when speaking to the owner of the surname. I agree with your added reasons for misspellings. Let's not exclude lazy and include your broader answer. I enjoyed your more complete reply.

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Perhaps you should get a better grasp on the word Etymology. The study of how meanings of words change throughout history and where names come from are apples to oranges. Perhaps you should include more include more resource material than baby name meaning apps of of google play store. I support my Alleged " hog wash" with a much broader array of facts. The KJV of the Bible, The Vulgate version of The Bible, The Hebrew Language and all that brings to the forefront of the oldest know record of geneology known to the human race. Remember this! The straightest line is formed between to points. Buy having a known reference point farthest in the past and a reference point accurate in the present, is a way the meet an objective.

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Laugh myself silly. Look at the way Buchanan is spelled at the bottom of your relpy. When I read it on my end it is spelled Bu hanan. It reads " by another Bu hanan". We just found another reason for misspellings.  Digital error.

  Does this read the same way at your end?

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Using the Bible as a source for a placename in Scotland is like attaching Mother Theresa's obituary to George Washington's profile. There is absolutely no relationship between the two: Hebrew and Gaelic are not even in the same language family. They're not even distantly related. The sound combinations used in the one are totally and completely irrelevant to the other, and any similarity is pure coincidence.

I suspect that my explanations and arguments are totally futile: you appear to be quite set in your ways. You're like my dad, who was perfectly willing to accept the wildest conspiracy theories and ridiculous attempts at showing how Hungarian is related to Sumerian based on random similarities between various (probably-spurious) word-lists. I don't know why otherwise-intelligent people persist in these kinds of irrational beliefs....

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It's totally obvious your intent is not genealogy. This study is not about you being right. It's about finding related blood. If you have good information, I would love to hear it. Just the facts young man. No beat downs or arguments. If it's your most important goal to be right in an argument then,  your information has little value to me. Thank you for challenging me to keep me on my toes but, I raised my children and don't have time to raise another teenager. Just not interested in arguing. I took your points and don't agree. Simple as that. But, I'm sure you will have to have the last word. Your just that kinda guy. I get it. If you want to start argument that gives you that warm and fussy feeling of thinking your the guru then have fun. That's not why I search for my relatives. Bring me some facts I can use not your desire to be right through trying to force your point of view on someone you have no respect for. Like I said, just the facts not your commentary. (Buc-hanan, Baal-hanan, El-hanan is a fact)

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Good day Sirs,

I stumbled upon your group of wordsmiths and truly enjoyed the witty repartee.

Permit me to suggest that Buey Anselan is laughing it up as well from the great beyond.
Cheers,

Mac

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Buc-hanan, Baal-hanan, El-hanan is a fact

Whoever made that up was wetting himself.

In any case, you can't find "related blood" at that distance, because we're all related to everybody.

Answer 2

Hi Robert,

Not sure how I got to your query - I was chasing McGibbons! But if you're still looking for Buchanans, you might want to look at the Gaelic surname 'McChananich' too. Nobody seems to have mentioned, in the conversation that your question led to, that McChananichs in Gaelic-speaking Cowal, Argyll, 'anglicised' their name to Buchanan!

Cheers, Anne

Comments

So many myths, actually, the name Buchanan comes from many lands. Remember the story that the scotch/Irish are not native to  Scotland or Ireland but from the sea people who settled in the  Spanish french border mountains. Who were from the sea people who raided Egypt in the early days.  If you follow the genes, that's dang close.

But, there are outliers, there are Turkish, German and viking recorded words that sound the same, or ouuld phonetically sound like Buchanan, such as son of, buch. Depending on the type of boch, buch, Bach, it could mean cannon loader, to the book holder for the priest.

But, everyone says a Germanic name in Scotland identifies the family.  No, just be proud, there is a history, that can be traced, good and bad, everyone wants to read of the hero's, but remember that for every baron, there is a horsetheif.