John Mcpherson of Three Rivers
Who was John Macpherson of Three Rivers? One popular genealogy site has him listed in nearly 200 hundred family trees. Each tree owner has theorized parents for him or some simply list none. Is it possible we will NEVER know who his parents were? After all, Hanoverian soldiers tyrannically marched through the highlands pillaging and burning homes of Jacobite supporters in 1746. Scottish people traditionally memorized and recited their lines of descent. Furthermore, a patronymic, matronymic, or name patterning system was used. Records were necessary, but after the destruction of baptismal or marriage records, the other systems proved invaluable. Thanks, in part, to such Scottish traditions, many have been able to write down their memorized lines of descent. An example of one Scottish historian who did just so was Sir Aeneas Macpherson of Invernesshire. Others after him were: Allan Macpherson of Blairgowie , his son Charles, Alexander and his brother James Macpherson. Therefore, we