Eight generations of McCrackens have called the Crabtree community of Haywood County, North Carolina home. Before that, the family traveled through Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and before that—Northern Ireland. This is the story of where I come from.
The tree is 100% complete through 4 generations (all 16 great-great-grandparents identified) and very strong through 8 generations. This is exceptional depth for American genealogy.
The Four Grandparent Lines
Every family tree branches into four grandparent lines—two paternal, two maternal. Each line carries its own migration story, notable ancestors, and connection to a different corner of the world.
McCracken Line
Paternal Grandfather: Jack Phillips McCracken (1907–1969)
Scots-Irish roots from Northern Ireland. John Anthony McCracken emigrated in the early 1700s, settling in York County, Pennsylvania. His descendants moved south through Georgia and Tennessee before establishing deep roots in Crabtree, Haywood County, NC—where six consecutive generations lived and died.
Origin: Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Rogers Line
Paternal Grandmother: Clara Mae Rogers (1908–2003)
English and Irish roots with a remarkable lineage. This line traces back to Rev. William John Rogers "The Martyr" (1507–1555), burned at the stake during the Marian persecutions. The Rogers family also connects to Augustine Washington—father of President George Washington.
Origin: County Mayo, Ireland & Warwickshire, England
Clark Line
Maternal Grandfather: J.C. Clark (1925–2001)
Virginia roots stretching back to the colonial era. James Hugh Clark Sr. (1765) settled in Tennessee before the family moved to the mountains of North Carolina. The Clarks intermarried with the Green and Nelson families, creating a web of connections across western NC.
Origin: Virginia Colony
Davis Line
Maternal Grandmother: Nora Evelyn Davis (c. 1926–2008)
Haywood County natives with deep roots in the Iron Duff community. Francis McGee Davis (1825) was featured in the Centennial of Haywood County. The Davis line intermarried with the Forrester, Justice, and Moody families—all pillars of the mountain community.
Origin: Haywood County, North Carolina
The Migration Arc
The McCracken story is a story of movement—from the old world to the new, from the coast inland, from the piedmont to the mountains.
John Anthony McCracken born in Ulster. The McCracken surname is Scots-Irish (Ulster Scots), reflecting the Ulster Plantation period when Scottish Presbyterians settled in the north of Ireland.
John Anthony emigrates to the American colonies, settling in York County, Pennsylvania. He dies in Hamiltonbann in 1774—two years before American independence.
David McCracken moves south. Joseph McCracken born in Habersham County (now White County), Georgia in 1776—the year of the Declaration.
David McCracken dies in Lincoln County, Tennessee. His son Joseph prepares to move further into the mountains.
Joseph McCracken settles in Crabtree—just years after Haywood County was formed from Buncombe County in 1808. The family would remain here for the next 200 years.
Jeffrey Neal McCracken born—the eighth generation of McCrackens in Haywood County.
Notable Ancestors
Augustine Washington
1719–1762
Father of President George Washington. Connected through the Thornton line: Augustine's daughter Jane Augusta married Col. John Spotswood Thornton, whose descendants married into the Rogers family.
6th Great-Grandfather
Rev. William John Rogers "The Martyr"
1507–1555
Oxford scholar burned at the stake during the Marian persecutions in England. His son fled to Wittenberg, Germany, and the line eventually emigrated to America.
13th Great-Grandfather
John Anthony McCracken
1707–1774
The earliest confirmed McCracken patriarch. Emigrated from Northern Ireland to Pennsylvania. Died in York County just before the American Revolution.
7th Great-Grandfather
Francis Taliaferro
b. 1470, Venice, Italy
The earliest traced ancestor in the tree. Italian origins through the Rogers/Davis maternal lines—a reminder that American families often have surprisingly deep European roots.
13th Great-Grandfather
The McCracken Patrilineal Line
The father-to-father line—nine generations from Northern Ireland to the present.
Expand the Patrilineal Line
Earliest confirmed McCracken. Emigrated from Ulster to colonial Pennsylvania.
Son of John Anthony. Moved south from Pennsylvania.
Married Elizabeth Wilson in 1764. Migrated through Georgia and Tennessee.
First McCracken to settle in Crabtree, Haywood County. Born the year of the Declaration of Independence.
Lived his entire 87 years in the Crabtree community. Married Mary P. Howell.
Married two Welch sisters—Charity (d. 1909) then Jennie.
Married Clara Mae Rogers in 1931. Had eight children.
Seventh of eight children. Married Doris Ann Clark in 1968.
Eighth generation McCracken in Haywood County. That's me.
Where We Come From
The tree spans three continents, but the heart remains in the Appalachian Mountains.
| Region | Ancestors | Key Counties/Areas |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | ~500+ | Haywood, Buncombe, Henderson |
| Virginia | ~80 | Spotsylvania, Goochland, Westmoreland |
| South Carolina | ~60 | Union, Newberry, Greenville, Spartanburg |
| Tennessee | ~40 | Knox, Lincoln, Sevier |
| Georgia | ~30 | Habersham (now White), Franklin |
| Ireland | ~10 | Coleraine, County Mayo, County Tyrone |
| England | ~5 | London, Somerset, Warwickshire |
| Germany | ~3 | Treysa (Hessen) |
| Italy | 1 | Venice |
DNA & Ongoing Research
Modern DNA testing has confirmed the Scots-Irish heritage and helped identify distant cousins still researching the same lines. Y-DNA testing traces the strict paternal McCracken line back to haplogroups common in Western Europe and Ulster Scots populations.
The research continues—there are still gaps to fill, documents to find, and stories to uncover. If you're a McCracken, Rogers, Clark, or Davis researcher, we may be related.
"We are the sum of our ancestors. Their journey is our inheritance."