The McLean/Frith/Brimlow Page

The pedigree chart for this family line is now up. The spelling of MacLean versus McLean happened between 1915-1920. I have left Margaret Frith McLean’s spelling based on her birth certificate; however, sometime around the death of Margaret’s father George Edward McLean in 1915, her mother Nettie Ella Frith McLean began to use the spelling of MacLean. This declaration is from the 1899 request for a Widow’s Pension filed by Susan Wynn Frith McLean, the mother of George.¹ The signature on the bottom left is George E. McLean. The family story is that Nettie changed the spelling based on the myth that the Scottish spelled it Mac and only the Irish used Mc. Her children adopted the change and their later records are MacLean. I have left Margaret’s records under her birth spelling of McLean.

While I now have locations to research in England the Brimlows and Browns, the Friths are going to be more complicated. I have some leads to explore when I go to Salt Lake City, but I have nothing beyond a marriage location to begin with on William Frith.

1.Declaration For Widow’s Pension by Susan W. McLean; Civil ar and Later Complete File (NATF 85D); Federal Military Pension Applications; National Archives and Records Administration.