Texas Flag Clan McCord masthead Scottish Flag

If you have Real Audio, Windows Media Player or other media player for MIDI and WAVE files you can select the Scottish Traditional song you wish to hear while visiting this page from the table below. Click the song name and it will load and play automatically.

Amazing Grace Annie Laurie The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond
Cailin' Mo Ruinsa Corn Rigs Are Bonnie The Fallen Hero
Flow Gently Sweet Afton The Flower of Scotland The Glendaruel Highlanders
I Know Where I'm Going Isle of Skye Killiekrankie
Road to the Isles Scotland the Brave Scots Wha Hae Wi' Wallace Bled
The Scottish Soldier Sweet Rose of Alandale Will Ye No Come Back Again

Scottish MIDI files courtesy of Barry Taylor

From There to Here

Our part of the McCord family tree consists of people descended from the following families:
McCord * Pierce * Jordan * Parrish * Grant * Carson * Larkin * Noah * Moorehead
Frye * Tidwell * Harrell * Murphree * Helton * Capps * Newell

Welcome to Clan McCord Genealogy, the exploration of the lineage of Marc Wesley McCord of Dallas, Texas, a native son of Scottish, Eastern Band Cherokee, Lipan Apache and English descendancy. This page traces the origins of the McCord Family "YY" from the Isle of Skye, Scotland to Texas over 15 generations, as of now. I am one of the 13th generation.

The earliest recording of a variant of the McCord name was found in Wigtoune, Scotland from 1471, but no unbroken chain of lineage has been confirmed to our oldest proven ancestor, John MacKorda who was born on the Isle of Skye sometime around 1600. Details of John's birth, life and death are scant, at best, but we do know that he fathered James Duncan MacKorda (1620-1689) who, along with three of his sons, was killed in the Battle of Killiekrankie Pass fighting the army of William of Orange, who led the English invasion of Scotland in that year. William's army was defeated in that battle, and returned to England only to return later at defeat the Scots at Falkirk.

James Duncan MacKorda fathered John Duncan MacKorde who immigrated to Ireland, and then later followed his son William McCord, who was the first of our family to immigrate across the Atlantic Ocean to America. Our family first came to America in 1720-1738 to the Hudson Valley before spreading like a giant oak tree across the areas now known as New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Texas (today, the McCord family can be found all across the United States and around the world.)

William McCord was the father of David McCord of Derry Township (now Hershey), Pennsylvania, who built McCord Fort there where he and most of his family were murdered during an Indian raid on their farm. The lone known survivor of that raid was David's son James McCord who was captured by Indians and then handed off to the French. The French moved him to Canada, then sailed him back to Plymouth, England, where he was one of many prisoners exchanged for French prisoners being held by the English. James later returned to the United States and served under George Washington in the American Revolution in a unit from Washington County, Tennessee (1778-83), in what was then a part of North Carolina. After the United States won independence from England James was appointed by William Blount, a signer of the United States Constitution, to serve under President Washington as a constable in the newly-formed Southwest Territory.

William Porter and Hester Ann Noah McCord James' son David McCord married Susannah Carson, who is believed to be a cousin of legendary Indian fighter and buffalo scout Kit Carson (we also believe that our branch of the family tree is related by marriage to the families of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett - absolute proof of this has not been verified.) David and Susannah had a son named Azel McCord, who married Jane Jennie Larkin, and they had a son named William Porter McCord (May 17, 1816 - November 7, 1881) who married Hester Ann Noah (December 30, 1825 - March 5, 1891.) William and Hester (photo at left) had a son named William Ross Jackson McCord (October 23, 1849 - Apri 12, 1913) who married Margaret (Mary) Priscilla Parrish (September 25, 1856 - December 8, 1945) who tied the knot on October 22, 1872 and then gave birth to my paternal grandfather Mark Carter McCord (December 29, 1883 - August 31, 1947) whose siblings were C.H., Hugh A. McCord (January 21, 1882 - February 25, 1971), Lillie M., Madge L. (Sallie), Mary F., Jessie Ella McCord Hill (July 19, 1888 - March 13, 1982), Wilma E., Catherine E. (Kittie), and Evangeline (Eva) McCord. Mark Carter McCord married Dora Pierce (born February 14, 1903 in Cove, Arkansas and died March 8, 1999, in Terrell, Texas) who gave birth to my father Arthur Ross McCord (August 3, 1920 - August 22, 1981.)

William Ross Jackson McCord (inscribed as W.T. McCord on his tombstone), his wife Mary, great uncle Hugh and his wife Mary J., and great aunt Ella are buried side-by-side in the cemetery at Van Alstyne, Grayson County, Texas.

My grandmother's father was Theodore Pierce (June 10, 1880 - March 17, 1968) of Cove, Arkansas who lived the last 55+ years of his life in Lubbock, Texas with his wife Katie Emily Grant Pierce (1881 - August 2, 1967). Theodore Pierce's mother was half-blood Lipan Apache and Katie Emily Grant's mother was full blood Eastern Band Cherokee. Theodore and Katie Pierce had six children: Arthur (Lubbock, Texas), Bill (Sacramento, California) Ira and Truman (Slaton, Texas), Dora Pierce McCord Jordan and Mrs. Jim Davis (personal name unknown.) It is believed that all of the Pierce family known to me is now deceased. Katie was related to US President and Yankee General Hiram Ulysses Simpson Grant. She had a brother, Tom Grant, who loved in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a sister, Sopa Grant Baxter, who lived in Lamont, California.

Following a divorce from my paternal grandfather, my grandmother remarried Jay Lee "Red" Jordan, and sired my uncles Jay Lee Jordan, Jr., who died as an infant between 18 months and two years after birth, B. C. (who became Bobby Carl Jordan upon induction to the military, where full names are required), William Joseph (Billy Joe) who was killed fighting the Japanese on Iwo Jima in World War II, Charles Buddy, Eugene (Gene), Earl W., and John Henry, and my aunt Juanita Jordan Page. Earl and his second son Mike died in a crash of one of Earl's airplanes in 1975. Earl's first son James Earl Jordan lives in Florida, and his third son David died several years ago in Houston, Harris County, Texas. Gene died in Sourlake, Texas in 2002. Buddy lives in De Leon, Comanche County, Texas on his dairy farm. Johnny lives in Conroe, Montgomery County, Texas with his wife Norma. Juanita died in Canton, Van Zandt County, Texas. Jay Lee Jordan, Sr. died and is buried in Conroe, Texas.

Sudie and Ross McCord, 1945Ross, as he was commonly known, was born in Slaton, Lubbock County, Texas, and lived in various parts of the state including Lubbock, Amarillo, Austin and Dallas, where he attended Sunset High School. Dad joined the Texas National Guard shortly after high school and was stationed at Fort Clark at Brackettville near Del Rio where patrolled the Texas-Mexico border protecting the Santa Fe railroad line on horseback until his unit was mobilized and converted into the 112th Cavalry before going overseas to fight in World War II. He served tours of duty in Italy, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Corregador, the Phillipine Islands and other places that I do not recall today, receiving several injuries and illnesses along the way, but returning in relatively good condition, though he did lose the hearing in one ear as the result of a Japanese knee mortar that exploded a few yards away from him killing his best friend. He earned two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, as well as numerous unit citations.

After the end of WW II, dad returned to Texas and was hired as a brakeman on the Santa Fe rail line until he eventually became a carpenter. He was working for John "Shorty" Ervin Helton who was married to my mother's aunt Sudie Tidwell, and was driving with Shorty and Sudie in Austin when they spied my mother, Sudie Catherine Frye (born March 5, 1921 in Greenville, Hunt County, Texas and died January 10, 1996, at home in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas) walking back to work. They picked her up and that is how she met dad. They married November 3, 1945 (see photo at right), and in eight months my older brother Arthur Ross McCord, Jr. was prematurely born on July 12, 1946, though he died from complications of underdeveloped lungs less than a day later.

I was born in Dallas, Texas on January 29, 1948, followed by siblings Robert "Bob" Eugene McCord (August 17, 1949 - November 18, 2011), William "Bill" Ervin McCord born September 13, 1950, Mary Catherine McCord Greenstreet Weaver born July 27, 1952 and Karen Ruth McCord Clark born January 19, 1954. All children of Ross and Catherine, as my mother was commonly known, were born in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas. I and my siblings were all delivered by Dr. Timothy Green at Dallas Methodist Hospital (now named Methodist Central Hospital) in Oak Cliff. Dr. Green was our family physician until his death.

Living in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas for the first 19 years of my life, I attended L.O. Donald Elementary School, L.V. Stockard Junior High School and Justin F. Kimball High School, graduating in May, 1966, after which time I attended East Texas State University in Commerce before moving to California in pursuit of my musical career, where I attended the University of California at Berkeley studying pre-law with a music minor. My musical career got in the way of my formal education, and I dropped out of college in 1969 to follow my heart as a composer, singer and musician. I deeply regret being that I ever got away from writing and performing music.

I was fortunate to have been denied enlistment in the US Army on March 4, 1968, and that allowed me to continue pursuing music, a love that remains with me today. Exactly one year before being drafted I married Susan Jean Wiggin (born June 28, 1946 in Arlington, Texas) and we had a stormy relationship that eventually ended in divorce just six months after the birth of our daughter Christina Mary McCord (February 3, 1969 - January 29, 2011), and I was denied a lifetime with my daughter until the last three years of her life. Having been infected with triple negative breast cancer, Christina was not expected to survive, so her mother finally told her that I had been prevented from ever having contact with her inspite of my efforts to be a part of her life. At that time we began a constant personal and electronic communication that led to getting to know one another fairly well.

It was a rough 3 years for Christina, and she finally succombed to the after-treatment effects of chemotherapy, which destroyed her heart, liver and kidneys. She died on my 63rd birthday, just 5 days before her 42nd birthday, in Austin, Travis County, Texas, where she had lived all her adult life. Christina never married, and she pursued a career in technical sales until her death. She had many close friends who loved her dearly, and all attest that she always made everybody around her happy with her cheerful personality. I miss her, and there is not a day that goes by when I do not think about her often. No void in my life can ever be as great as the one left by her passing.

Marc running Martindale Dam on the San Marcos RiverToday, I still live in the Dallas area working as a web designer and professional river guide leading clients on canoe, kayak and raft trips in 8 states. Over the past 16 years I have canoed at least 1,000 miles or more in 12 of those years, and I exceeded 1,500 miles in 2008, during which time I was actively involved in marathon canoe racing, an insane pursuit that is much more work than play. Not all, but many of my web design clients have river recreation oriented businesses, and I am the publisher of Southwest Paddler, a wildly popular website that is an information resource for rivers in the 8 states where I lead trips and paddle for the sheer thrill of being on a river and one with nature. I have a core of close friends with whom I paddle frequently, and most of us are excellent Dutch oven chefs, so we eat better on river trips than we usually do at home. There are some who say we only paddle to get somewhere to cook and eat - and they are not far from right!

My web design business is CobraGraphics, and my river guide business is Canoeman River Guide Services. Please contact me by E-mail if I can be of assistance to you for web design services or guided river trips.

Bob lived in far North Dallas until his death on November 18, 2011. He served in the United States Air Force in the late 1960's, started selling computers in the early 1980's, and then ran his own business selling, servicing and maintaining computers and doing web design from the early 1990's until his death. We frequently worked together doing computer field service work and setting up small business networks, and we both got into web design around 1996, when the Internet was in its infancy.

Bill lived in Austin until his death from a fall striking his head on August 19, 2018. He joined the US Army at the age of 17, and then went to Vietnam as a medic where he witnessed things that nobody should ever see, especially at such a young age. But, military life did not suit him, so he separated shortly after his return and became a hippie, following in the footsteps of his two older brothers. At times, he sold cars and drove wreckers, but after finally locating permanently to Austin he worked for the City of Austin in the Water and Wastewater Department until throat, mouth and neck cancer forced his retirement. Bill and I got heavily into canoeing in the late 1980's and paddled together frequently until 2000, when he had his cancer surgery. Bill still paddles occasionally on much shorter trips than we used to do where we would paddle 30-50 miles in a weekend. His son Will has paddled, and raced, with us since the mid-1990's, starting when he was only 8 years old. We have spent many nights camping together under the stars on a river bank.

Mary lives in Pottsboro, near the Oklahoma border. After graduation from high school Karen became a hairdresser, and worked in her own salon until a couple of years ago. Karen lives in Richardson with her husband Richard Clark of Missouri when they are not running around the country camping in their Casita, which is actually smaller than some of my tents! They eventually plan to move to the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina when Richard retires from Raytheon where he is an engineering manager.

Bill's son Will lives in Austin, as do Bob's daughters Heather and Holly. Mary's daughter Cathy lives with her husband in Arizona, and the whereabouts of her son John and daughter Sherlyn are unknown to me. Karen had three children: son David, born in Dallas, Texas on June 18, 1976, lives and works in Dallas, daughter Wendi Annette Clark, born May 1, 1980 in Dallas is married and lives near College Station, Texas and a still-born daughter Sarah Lynn Clark (October 26, 1981, born in Dallas.

As additional information is available it will be added to this web site. As I learn more about genealogy additional links and information will be added. Anyone having information that will help fill in some of the gaps is encouraged to send me an e-mail to Marc W. McCord.

I want to personally say a great big Texas "THANK YOU" to Symm McCord, Don McCord, David McCord, Robert McCord, Paul McCord and Jack McCord, who all assisted in helping me find the vast bulk of the information I know about my family earlier than my first great grandfathers. I was amazed how closely old family legends matched some of the same information they supplied, and they had no advance knowledge of much of that from me! On behalf of my brothers and sisters, we are gratified and appreciative for your efforts in tracing the Clan McCord genealogy from our homeland of Scotland to wherever we are around the world today.

The links below explore our family heritage in words and photos.


WW II Destroyer USS McCord (D-534)


Genealogy Links

knotline

Valhalla McCord Family Tree of Life
McCord Family Association Social Security Death Index
The SurnameWeb National Archives & Records Admin.

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Ross and Catherine McCord circa 1975

Ross and Catherine McCord circa 1975

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McCord Family Web Sites

Don McCord's Web Site Ann Avaritt Dugger's Page
Symm H. McCord's Family Bibles Walter Dowling Wood's Homepage


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© January 29, 1998. All Rights Reserved.

Last updated March 26, 2020