About the Association
It started with one tent on a mountain.
How a few MacLachlan families in the Blue Ridge grew into an association spanning a continent.
Background photo: Vintage photo of an early clan tent at Grandfather Mountain
Roots in the Blue Ridge
Our family tree is planted in the rocky soil of western North Carolina. The MacLachlans were among the first clans to support the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games near Linville, and our tent has stood on that mountain nearly every July since the early 1970s.
Frank J. and Madge MacLachlan of Jacksonville, Florida, were the first MacLachlan representatives there. They were soon joined by James C. and Ida MacLachlan, Ellen K. MacLauchlin, George and Ruth Buelow, and Howard and Beulah Claflin. That small circle of families became the Association.
Milestones
1977
At the Grandfather Mountain tent, members agree to hold a clan dinner the following year.
1978
The first dinner at Sugar Mountain Lodge, Banner Elk, North Carolina. Articles of Association are adopted, and Frank J. MacLachlan becomes the first President.
1979
The first area commissioners are appointed. Across the Atlantic, the Clan Maclachlan Society is founded under Madam Marjorie Maclachlan of Maclachlan, 24th Chief.
1985
The newsletter is renamed The Roebuck, after the legend of the chief who sent the king’s taxes tied to the antlers of a roebuck.
1990
The first Association tour of Scotland visits Castle Lachlan and meets Madam Maclachlan. Membership passes 250 households.
1991
CMANA publishes its Handbook for Commissioners and Conveners, later used as a model by other clan societies.
1996
CMANA goes online with its first website in March 1996.
1997
The Annual Meeting at Fort Ticonderoga, New York, dedicates a memorial cairn to the Scots who fell there in 1758, with a color guard from the Black Watch.
1998–1999
CMANA becomes an autonomous branch of the Clan Maclachlan Society, newly reorganized as a federation of autonomous branches.
Today
CMANA continues to host tents across North America, publish The Roebuck, and gather each year at its Annual General Meeting.
Hall of Presidents
We honor the volunteers who have led the Association.
| Years | President | Home |
|---|---|---|
| 1978–1981 | Frank J. MacLachlan (founder) | Jacksonville, FL |
| 1981–1984 | James C. MacLachlan (founder) | Winston-Salem, NC |
| 1984–1987 | Hugh W. Gilchrist | South Carolina |
| 1987–1990 | William H. Ashworth, Jr. | Gibsonville, NC |
| 1990–1993 | Robert E. McLaughlin | Knoxville, TN |
| 1993–1996 | Jack W. McLaughlin | San Jacinto, CA |
| 1996–2001 | Herbert B. Jacobs | Wayland, MA |
| 2001–2008 | Craig Claflin | Leominster, MA |
| 2008–[year] | Robert (Bob) McLaughlin | Cullowhee, NC |
| [Add later presidents] |