Announcements of family interest will be posted on this page. If you have a reunion coming up, a special event planned, or any other item of family interest you would like to share, please email me the information at carl5@cox.net and I will see that it is posted for family viewing.

Scottish family - McKerrell of Hillhouse visit in Oklahoma

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Charles and May McKerrell, formally known as Hillhouse and The Lady Hillhouse, Lochmaben, Scotland, visited in the home of Carl and Pat McBrayer of Midwest City, Oklahoma. Though a short visit - August 28-30, 2010 - it was very delightful. May and Charles were visiting family and friends in the U.S. and made time for the short trip to see Carl and Pat, whom May has visited several times in the past. May is the person responsible for the McBrayer tartan. (See the story on the tartan page of this website.) Also driving up from south Texas were Jay Pledger and his wife Jan.

Photo 1 - Charles McKerrell of Hillhouse

Photo 2 - May McKerrell - The Lady Hillhouse

Photo 3 - Charles and May presenting Carl McBrayer with a Highland Quaich, inscribed with "Carl McBrayer, The McBrayer Historian", in appreciation for his many years of dedicated service in preserving the history and heritage of the McBrayer family.

Photo 4 - "Cowboy" Charles and May at Will Rogers Airport in OKC

Photo 5 - The Quaich - (The Quaich originated in the highlands of Scotland and was used as both a "Cup of Welcome" and also when offering a farewell drink. Being derived from the Gaelic word "cuach" meaning "shallow cup" the destinctive design has remained unchanged over the centuries - a shallow drinking bowl with 2 handles colloquially known as "lugs".)

Photo 6 - Jay and Jan Pledger

St. Michael’s Church --- Dumfries

CAN ANYONE HELP US SOLVE A MYSTERY ABOUT THE MISSING McBRAYER PLAQUE???

Lady Hillhouse (formerly May Roberts), Lochmaben, Scotland, and her husband, Charles McKerrell of Hillhouse, have hosted and enjoyed many McBrayers over the years, and have shown them around the Dumfries area. She has taken them to St. Michaels Church, where the McBrayer Provosts of Dumfries were buried in the crypt of the original church. When the new church was built the bones were found in the crypt, gathered in a box and buried reverently in the grave yard - but without a marker --- as well as to Almagill and Netherwood, the old McBrayer lands on a hillside between the river Annan on one side and the River Nith on the other. Sadly there is no memorial to these prominent citizens of Dumfries that can be located at St. Michaels Church. Some years ago May and visiting McBrayers talked to the late minister, the Reverend John Pagan, who told them nothing would be allowed in the church. Recent McBrayer visitors went to St. Michaels to see the plaque they thought was there. It wasn't in the church. So, after they left May called the present minister, the Rev. Maurice Bond, who stated that he knew nothing about the plaque and said that it would not have been allowed in the church in the first place, but, perhaps it was in the church yard. They looked , but the church yard is quite large and they could not locate it. Maybe they missed it! May then phoned the Parks and Cemeteries Department of Dumfries Council, who is responsible for the upkeep of cemeteries in Dumfries, but they were not able to help and could not find a planning application, which would have been necessary to put a plaque up in the cemetery.

Perhaps there is someone who knows about this plaque. Certainly there is disappointment that we cannot locate a plaque at St. Michaels. We would like to know where it is so that we can go see it. Can anyone help?????

19 July 2010 - NEW - "FOR SALE PAGE" Several times in the recent past I have been told of family items of interest for sale by others or of others looking for particular items to buy. A recent conversation with a cousin has prompted the creation of a page on this website that will be dedicated to those "sale" items. If you have something of family interest that you would like to sell or give away send me an email (with pictures if possible) to carl5@cox.net with a full description of the item and, if you wish you can type up a 'for sale' classified ad, and I will post it on the "FOR SALE" page. Be advised that any item listed will be sold BETWEEN YOU AND THE BUYER. I can accept no responsibility as to the accuracy of the ad or the items offered for sale. Do not list prices at this time. That will be between the seller and the buyer. You can also make arrangements for shipping the items. You can also place an ad if you are looking for something of family interest to buy. To check out any items listed go to the side bar on the left side of the screen, scroll down and click on "Items for Sale". Good luck!

An Announcement from Carl:

OK! Here it is - The New Look for The McBrayer Family Online . Hopefully this new look and the new navigation tabs/bars will make it easier for everyone to navigate through the web pages for all the latest information and pictures of the family. Just click on a link button to view that page or click on the SITE MAP (located at the top of the page) where you will find all the pages on this website listed. To view and search a page simply click on it. To go back you can either use your browser's 'back arrow' or click on another selection to view a different page.

I will be continually updating and changing the information here - adding new pages, downloadable files, and pictures. I hope you will check back often. Be sure to send me your feed back, too. I would like to know what you think, what you would like to see added, etc. ...And, by all means, tell others about the site.

IMPORTANT!!!! EMAIL ADDRESSES!!

I recently sent an email to everyone in my address book announcing the revised website. Many (32) of those emails were returned as no longer a good address and those names have been purged from my computer. If you are now looking at this site and have not received an email it is most likely you are not on my mailing list. If you would like to be added to the address book to receive future information and emailings of family interest please send your name and address to me at carl5@cox.net. For those of you on the list (who received the email)(and those just joining) please, in the future, notify me when you obtain a new email address so the records can be updated. I appreciate your help.

A message to the Kentucky McBrayers from Pat Wurts. She wants to share this with the family.

I am a granddaughter of Charles Henry McBrayer and Pearl Jones McBrayer. I was doing some searching last week on my own family of McBrayers and found that Susie and Ed McBrayer had had a son buried on Cabin Creek in the Red Warrior Cemetery at Red Warrior WV. I was looking for some of their family to tell this to and couldn't seem to find anyone. Teri Pettit pointed me to your website. I hope you can get it to someone who may not know it. I remember they had a daughter Ida and another daughter who was killed in a car wreck, and perhaps a son named Joe. It has been over 50 years since I visited them with my grandparents and I don't know much about them any more. They lived out around Morehead (KY) at that time.

The note on the Red Warrior Cemetery site states:

McBrayer Infant Boy 1-24-1911

s/o W.E. and Susie McBrayer

Thank you for any help you can give with this. I don't know if their children ever knew about this. The Red Warrior Site is online and alphabetized if anyone is interested. There were a lot of people from the Rowan, Carter, Morgan and Lawrence Counties who ended up there.

Pat Wurts

From Anthony McBrayer comes this bit of information about the McBrayer Whiskey.

There is a scene in the movie called “THE BABE” with John Goodman playing Babe Ruth were these kids are in front of a store listening to the ballgame on a radio and one of the kids is standing on a empty crate that reads “Old McBrayer Scotch Whiskey” - thought it was very cool thing ~ if you ever get a chance there are 3 spots in the movie that shows adds for McBrayer Products.

Anthony

(note: There was also a 1940s war movie called "Corsair" that showed cases of the McBrayer Whiskey in several scenes. Carl)

New Daughter/line discovered! Check out the "Download Page". Added March 22, 2010

NEW FAMILY BOOK!!!!

Jerry and Lynda Hutcheson has just released a new book - "Our Hutcheson/Weber Family History" - on their personal family lines. It contains some very interesting reading and a great deal of genealogy information on the descendants of both. Though concentrating on their personal lineages, the book contains a lot on the early life of the Hutcheson and Weber families as well as many pictures and family trees. If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy you can contact Jerry at Jerry Hutchinson at jhutch@vlsiresearch.com or by writing to him at: 5950 Vista Loop, San Jose, CA, 95124-6562. The price is $45 (including postage and handling).

The story and saga of Anne Sanders McBrayer and her final resting place - beside her beloved husband, James R. McBrayer, in Rowan Co., KY. by Teresa Martin Klaiber

http://easternkentuckygenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/anna-sanders-mcbrayer-rest-of-story.html

This site last updated on 2 September, 2010, 9:00 a.m. CDST.