Margaret MacKay

     Margaret MacKay was born in of Dornoch, Sutherlandshire, Scotland.¹ She of Dornoch, Sutherlandshire, Scotland, married Hugh MacCulloch before 1731. No marriage record has been found. However, they are shown in the Dornoch Parish Register as parents of James and Adam, and Hugh is shown as the father of Alexander, the mother's name not given. These three are the only MacCulloch children found in the Dornoch Parish Register, and the only adults of the name found there are Hugh and Margaret (MacKay) MacCulloch. Based on available evidence of time, place and naming patterns, it is assumed, not proven, they are the parents of the 1766 immigrants to America - Adam, Alexander and another son, probably James - although it is unclear if Adam whose baptism is recorded is the immigrant Adam because of a descrepancy in dates. (see the records of the "two" Adams.). It is, however, known that there was an ancestor named Hugh living in Dornoch in 1728. Adam's grandson, Hugh, upon visiting Dornoch castle in 1871 during his tenure at the banking house of Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Company in London, found a record signed in 1728 by an ancestor named Hugh MacCulloch. He was surprised at how remarkably similar the handwriting was to that of his own father, also named Hugh. Although the exact relationship is not given, it is reasonably certain that this ancestor, living in 1728, is Hugh who married Margaret MacKay.^1,2