Exploring My MacKenzie Roots

This afternoon, my daughter and I attended our first Scottish Highland Festival, complete with bagpipe bands, harp circles, and haggis, although I must admit I wasn’t brave enough to try this uniquely Scottish delicacy (actually, I just wasn’t hungry but no one would ever believe that story). The sweet sounds of bagpipe music wafting through the air and the sparkling lilt of harp tunes coming from the barn were inspiring, to say the least; yet, the best part of the day was our visit to the Clan MacKenzie booth in the Clan Village.

There, to my surprise, I found a woman from the shoreline of Connecticut who lives not 15 minutes from my home. Why this astonished me, I cannot say. I guess it always surprises me when I meet people with whom I share a common heritage. The idea that we have all arrived at such different destinations in our present lives through the long-forgotten lives of relatives who probably knew each other, or at least knew of each other, centuries ago never ceases to amaze me.

In my case, these relatives can be traced through my mother’s family in Mechanicsville, Iowa. There, Lydia McKenzie married a gentleman named George Conner. They had eight children: Elizabeth, Ida, Ella, Edward, James, Pearl, Mary, and Jennie. Their daughter, Mary, married a man named Charles Studer. They had my grandmother, Leone, who married a wonderful gentleman by the name of Edward Henkel. Leone and Ed had my mother, who then had me.

Not much is known about Lydia McKenzie before she married George Connor so many years ago. However, thanks to the genealogical research of my daughter, I do know this:

1. Her father, John McKenzie, was born in Vermont. Her mother, Elizabeth, was born in Ohio. They both died around 1880.

2. In 1850, John & Elizabeth McKenzie lived with their four children (Nancy, Lydia, Isaac, and Martin) in Lorain County, Ohio. Their fifth child, Mary, was yet unborn.

3. By 1860, John & Elizabeth had moved with their children to Pioneer Township in Cedar County, Iowa (near the present-day city of Cedar Rapids).

4. In 1880, John & Elizabeth lived with their daughter Lydia and her husband, George Conner, in eastern Iowa.

5. The parents of John McKenzie, Lydia’s father, were Isaac & Nancy McKenzie from Addison County, Vermont.

Now, I realize that not everyone who attends these Highland Festivals is interested in learning the specific genealogy of how they became Scottish. Yet, if any other McKenzies who are genealogy fans ever find their way to this blog, and to this particular posting, please feel free to comment with any information you may have about these historical folks. Maybe we are connected by more than just a familiar clan name. In the meantime,

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

--- Celtic blessing