Black Mountain, NC

MacMahans in Scotland and Notable Laird s

McMahans in the Thirteen Colonies and Early America, Including Tennessee, below the Mason Dickson Line.

McMahans in Pennsylvania

John McMahan

Jenny Craig McMahan

John and Jenny McMahan's Children

Archibald and Ann Payne McMahan and Their Children

Jessie and Caroline Barrett McMahan and Their Children

 William Lawrence and Ida Barron McMahan and their Children

Other Descendents of John  and Jenny McMahan

References and Sources: The Colonial American South

St. John's Lutheran Church

Fairview Southern Methodist Church

Wofford College

Clemson Experiment
Station

Deaton Family

Ann Ti gerville reache d
from this link
 

Overview:
The material on this site was gathered as part of a search  for official records of one individual, John McMahan,  who is reported in a series of family narratives to have arrived in Pennsylvania from Scotland around 1740.  Searching for McMahans provided a substantial collection of references to  MacMahons, Mahans and a dozen other variations in Colonial America as well .  Having reached the colonies from  Scotland  and the Ulster Plantation, individuals brought their distinct accents and few writing skills, and so when their names were recorded by others, they were subject to interpretation.  Later generations of McMahans may have dropped prefixes or changed spelling on purpose, but its likely that  McMahans from the Colonial period  retained the general  pronunciation of their names but often times had the spelling changed for them.
The earliest written records of Archibald McMahan, one of John McMahan's sons who served in the Revolution, are found as he enlisted against the Indians before the Revolution, where he was listed alternatively as  Mahon  or Mahan, and  sometimes Mahen.  By the time he was married in 1789 he was McMahan, and so listed in his Revolutionary pension documents. 
The people who were writing down his name his name each had their own interpretation, based on how McMahan came out with a second generation Scottish accent.
The information found at this site, particularly the references of names by state are complete, in that all that was mentioned in the original source was included.

John (possibly James) McMahan and his wife Jenny (probably Jane, possibly Janet)  Craig McMahan came to Pennsylvania from Scotland between 1740 and 1760.  Between 1761 and 1775 they moved to the Hawfields, near  Hillsborough, North Carolina. 

New information will always be appreciated.

Gary McMahan
West Union, South Carolina