In 2007, Sue Emerson (an American) and Don McGruther (a Scot) jointly published the results of their separate, long-term research into our McGruther/Magruder family. For $100 you could snag yourself a copy of Sue’s Magruders in America CD and Don’s book, Wha’s Like Us? MacGrouthers in Scotland before 1855.

In 2025, unbelievably, we lost both Sue and Don, and even before that their research had become largely unavailable. Before he died, Don asked me to take over distribution of both products and Sue’s family agreed. But before we get to that, here’s some background.  

Magruders in America

Sue’s project was to document all descendants of Alexander Magruder, our 17^th century immigrant ancestor. Long before the explosion of online resources, she ransacked countless genealogies and local histories. She purchased records from the DAR and other organizations. She traveled the country with a scanner, visiting scores of archives and courthouses, piecing together the fabulous quilt of Magruder families. The resulting publication, Magruders in America, is a 1758-page PDF distributed on a CD.

Sue’s goal was impossible to achieve perfectly–imagine the number of names! of families! of states and counties! So, yes, there are errors. I use her work as a starting place, then look for documentation that proves or disproves her information. She has saved me hundreds–maybe thousands–of hours versus starting from scratch.

Because so many generations passed before mixed-race marriages were legally recognized, those looking for African American descendants will not get the same kind of help. Maybe your folks will be there, in more recent generations, but more likely the ancestral thread back to Alexander will have gone unrecorded and therefore undiscovered by Sue Emerson. However, few people find out much about their enslaved ancestors without identifying the people who held them in bondage, and for that work Magruders in America is invaluable. My personal approach is to look at entire extended families of slaveholders, tracking the multiple ways enslaved people were recorded and moved around among relatives. Needless to say, without Sue’s work mine would be infinitely more laborious and less productive. Another perk is that, in many cases, she provides town-and-county-level locations, which can lead to a breakthrough.

Wha’s Like Us? MacGrouthers in Scotland before 1855

Don’s project is not that kind of genealogy, but “a one-name study of the name MacGrouther [in all its spellings] prior to the advent of modern records.” His chief sources were records in the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, the Bell Library in Perth, and the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. Wha’s Like Us? MacGrouthers in Scotland before 1855 is a 268-page, large-format book. What he found is, by its nature, fragmented, but the fragments form patterns and suggest or confirm connections.

One interesting fact about Don’s work is that he originally set out to prove our connection to Clan Gregor, but wound up disproving it. He also took part in y-DNA tests comparing the Y-chromosome of several McGruder/Magruder men to well-established Clan Gregor DNA profiles. (They do not match.) Almost to the day he died, Don kept raising his voice for accurate family history and better understanding of the contexts in which our ancestors lived. To the latter point, once you understand the family and context into which Alexander the Immigrant was born it becomes pretty near impossible to believe the legend of our MacGregor origins.

How to Order

I’m honored and excited to help get these two wonderful resources into the hands of more Magruders. To that end, you now can purchase Sue’s and Don’s work either together or separately.

Of course, making this happen has been a bit complicated, especially as Magruder’s Landing is a personal website, not a business. After looking into several payment options, I’ve decided to start small and see how much interest there is. If orders come in, and keep coming in, I’ll add a third-party e-commerce service to process sales.

All proceeds will be donated. Don’s wife will donate sales of Wha’s Like Us? to a UK charity of her choice. Sales of Magruders in America will go toward defraying the cost of DNA tests for those wishing to join the Magruder/McGruder group projects at FamilyTreeDNA.

To order, just send me an email. Say what you want to order, and I’ll reply with directions to pay by Zelle, PayPal, or a personal check. *Please don’t order by commenting on this post.*

$30 Magruders in America + Priority Mail $4 = $34

$30 Wha’s Like Us? + Priority Mail $14=$44

$50 Magruders in America & What’s Like Us? (bundle) + Priority Mail $14=$64