Blann-Watts Genealogy

Welcome to The McLeod Family Page, which furnishes historical detail beyond the site index, exploring  three generations of McLeods going back to Duncan McLeod of Kintail, Scotland.
 

​7.  Jane McLeod-- The mother of Mary Ann McRae and first wife of Alexander McRae was born on Dec.9, 1799 probably in Anson County, North Carolina. She died in Humphreys County, Tennessee sometime between 1824 and 1829. She married Alexander McRae in Tennessee around 1821-22 and gave birth to two daughters before her early death: Mary Ann (1823-1873) and Elizabeth "Betsy" (1824-1888). According to the 1880 census for Elizabeth, both her parents were born in North Carolina.
Her daughter, Mary Ann, married Robert Marshall Graham (1820-1825) and had five children with him before she died, after which Robert Graham married her sister, Elizabeth. The parents of Jane McLeod are not known with certainty, however there is enough circumstantial evidence, including census, land records and DNA matches, to narrow the likely father of Jane to one of two brothers, Alexander McLeod and Roderick McLeod, who likely emigrated from Scotland, grew up in Anson County, NC and moved to Humphreys County, TN between 1809 and 1819 and both appear in the 1820 Humphreys  Co, Tennessee census, each with a female Jane's age in their household. A year or two later Jane left home and married Alexander McRae of Anson Co. NC who first appears in the 1830 Humphreys  Co, Tennessee census, as a widower with two young daughters.
     Mary Ann McRae’s oldest daughter, Amanda “Mandy” Melton (who married William Brumager), left extensive accounts of her childhood and her mother, Mary Ann, which were published by Amanda’s daughter, Mrs. Lillian Brumager Stott, in 1982 in the Camden Gazette newspaper. She was the owner of a family relic, a cloth "sampler" woven by Mary Ann when she was nine years old, which includes the birth date of her mother, Jane McLeod, and also includes a brother of Jane, John McLeod, who was born Dec. 7, 1807 and died in Philadelphia on Feb. 3, 1836. Mary Ann also included her own birth date as Feb. 25, 1823. Jane may have had other siblings but perhaps Mary Ann included John alone because he had just died recently. Amanda speculates that Jane's father was probably Alexander McLeod who she says “entered 160 acres near Big Sandy, and had it surveyed in January 1821. This would have been about the time Jane McLeod and Alexander McRae were married” in Tennessee. This is an important point that lends supports to the idea that Alexander may have been the father, for his 1821 land activity and local presence is associated early on with Mary Jane's first wedding (probably in the home, like most weddings in Tennessee that time).
      The earliest records of Alexander McLeod (b. ca. 1762) in Tennessee are a 1809 Stewart Co. TN military land grant to Alexander McLeod on Woolf Creek of Richland Creek and he appears in the 1810 reconstructed Tennessee census. His brother Roderick McLeod, was in Tennessee by Sept. 1814, purchasing land in Stewart Co. TN.Both brothers had relocated to the adjacent county of Humphreys by the 1820 census. Alexander makes a number of land purchases from 1809 until 1825, when he finalizes the sale of 110 acres on Little Richland Creek to William Prince. This is the last recorded activity for Alexander and he does not appear in the 1830 census. He appears to have died at about age 63 without a will ca. 1825, when Mary Ann was two years old. (Alexander's brother, Roderick, lived on until 1844 and died in Yazoo Co. Mississippi.) If we ask why Mary Ann did not include her McLeod grandparents in her sampler, the answer may lie in the fact that Alexander and his wife died too early for Mary Ann to have known them or have information about their dates of birth and death, whereas her mother, Jane, may have lived until 1829 when Mary Ann was 6 years old. The sampler, created by Mary Ann at 9 years old, included the birthdates of only three family members followed by a prayerful poem and was not meant to be a complete genealogical record.
     We have the name of one other likely sibling of Jane who is named Duncan McLeod. He is thought to have been born around 1803 and is documented as deceased in  probate records dated 1838. Land records show that Alexander McLeod sold a small plot of land in the town of Reynoldsburg, Humphreys County, Tennessee to Duncan on Jan 28, 1823. The context strongly suggests a father cheaply selling a small plot of land to his 20 year old son to get him started on property of his own. The 1820 census for Alexander McLeod shows: 1 female the age of Jane (age 16-25), one son the age of John (age 10-15), a female (likely the wife whose name is unknown) age 24-44 (born 1776-1796), and three other males of age 16-25, one of whom is probably Duncan (the other two--possibly sons or boarders--remain unidentified). There are 8 whites in the family and (sadly) 8 slaves in Alexander's extended household in the 1820s. The slaves were probably procured in Tennessee and worked in agriculture (cotton, corn, livestock), living in slave cabins near the farmstead. They suggest that Alexander, as farmer and land speculator, had become reasonably prosperous since moving to Tennessee, as the 1800 census had shown him without slaves in Anson County. By the early 1820s, Alexander was relatively well established, supporting the idea that his children could branch out, with Jane marrying into the McRaes, Duncan set up with land, and John later traveling as far as Philadelphia, where he met his early demise.
     The census data and relatively small family appears to fit well and support Alexander McLeod as the likely father of Jane, yet his brother, Roderick, cannot be ruled out as her father. The 1820 census shows Roderick also has a female and a male the ages of Jane and John, although he has a substantially larger family than Alexander. As Alexander  and Roderick are the only two McLeods listed in the 1820 census in Humphreys Co., Tennessee, one of them is almost certainly Jane's father. (There is an Angus or Anguish McLeod in nearby Dickson Co., TN who may be another McLeod sibling or younger offspring, but he shows no daughter of Jane's age in the 1820 census.) Below we furnish further details of what is known about Alexander, Roderick, and some of their siblings in Anson Co. NC, as well as their parents who immigrated from Kintail, Scotland to North Carolina shortly before the start of the Revolutionary War. Though teenagers, both Alexander  and Roderick appear to have joined the Patriot cause in war, as evidenced by their subsequent military land grants in Tennessee. 

8. Alexander McLeod/ Roderick McLeod. The totality of evidence strongly points to one of these two brothers as the father of Jane McLeod.  One line of genealogical research (provided by researcher Tom M. Sloan) suggests that Alexander and Roderick were sons of Duncan McLeod (1739-1770) of Kintail, Scotland. According to this source, the children of Duncan McLeod (all born in Scotland) were as follows:  Alexander (b.1762), Roderick (b. 1764), Angus (b.ca.1766), Christine (b.1768), Norman (b.1771), and Mary. While this list appears reasonable and the birth dates and filial relationships (per DNA and proximity) tend to fit the other evidence, I have not been able to locate any documents, such as family bibles, that would verify the accuracy of this family group list. There is an account, handed down by the McLeods, of the family's emigration from Scotland. It is referenced in several genealogical histories, but like most family lore, it appears mixed with legendary embellishments; yet it is worth recounting since it likely retains a kernel of accurate memory. 
      The story centers around Duncan McLeod and his family who immigrated from Kintail, Scotland to North Carolina ca.1770-72. Duncan McLeod was born in 1739 in Kintail, Ross-shire, Scotland. He had seven sons and two daughters with Margaret Black (1731-1805) between 1756 and 1789. Their children's names were: William, Angus, Alexander, Roderick, Christian, Mary, Norman, John (and James?). Duncan McLeod embarked from Glasgow in 1770 with his children, wife and sister Jeanette. Subsequently, he died at Sea "near Madagascar" and was buried in Wilmington, S.C. at the age of 31. During the voyage, the ship’s captain had became fond of Duncan’s 5 year old son, Angus, and when the rest of the family was put ashore near Wilmington, NC to bury the father, the captain sailed off with Angus, leaving a note assuring the family that Angus would be well raised and provided for and that another ship would be by to get them in a few days. Years later, the family, having settled in North Carolina, heard that Angus had become a millionaire in Cuba but they never saw him again.
     According to Tom Sloan's research, which also references the same tale, Roderick was orphaned at age 7,  grew up in North Carolina and became a subordinate musician in the Revolutionary War. He is said to have fathered three children: Alexander (b.1782), Solomon (b. ca.1784) and George (b.1786). Sloan cites no details about Alexander McLeod and his children in America. (Alexander appears to be a previously under-researched McLeod compared with his brothers, Roderick and Norman.)  Interestingly, a very similar story of a father dying at sea while coming to America with his  nine children is told with variations about the ancestors of Farquhar McRae (Jane's father-in-law), the dying father's name sometimes identified as Ian (John). Duncan's father is thought to be John (Alexander) McLeod, born on October 18, 1717, in Glendale, Inverness-shire, Scotland (death date unknown); his wife's name was Jane Hunter (1714-1770). This similar "death at sea" with nine children story was first published in a 1890 book by Rev. J.A.W.Thomas. The McRae version is recounted and analyzed in volume 2, p.79, of Larry Cates’ book, Kith and Kin in Carolina: Notes on the Early McRaes in the Southeastern United States.

      Further information about Roderick McLeod comes from a grave inscription for a Roderick McLeod who died in Yazoo, MS in 1844. According to an online biographical profile (from the McLeod Cemetery in Yazoo, MS), Roderick was born in Scotland in 1764, raised in North Carolina and died in Mississippi Oct. 13, 1844. Alexander McLeod (b.1808), a later son of this Roderick, had the inscription placed near the marker. Find-a-grave contains a photo of the old moss-covered grave of Roderick McLeod in Mechanicsburg, Yazoo Co, MS. Either the tombstone or possibly a more readable plaque near it is said to state: "Sacred to the memory of Roderick McLeod, Born in Scotland, 1764, raised from boyhood in North Carolina, and died Oct. 13,1844--aged 80 years--erected by his affectionate son, A.McLeod." This younger Alexander McLeod (1809–1868), likely named after Roderick's brother, was married to Virginia, per a further inscription. After our profile of their father Duncan below, we will examine in more detail the actual records that exist concerning Alexander, Roderick, and a few siblings and provide a timeline and DNA evidence as well.

9. Duncan McLeod-- The father of Alexander and Roderick McLeod, Duncan McLeod was born in 1739 in Kintail, Ross-shire, Scotland. He had seven sons and two daughters with Margaret (Elizabeth) Black (1731-1805) between 1756 and 1789. (Note: There is different Margaret Black who married Felix McGuire and raised a family of McGuire children during the same period that our Margaret Black was married to Duncan McLeod, so the two Margarets shouldn't be confused.) Duncan's parents are thought to be Rev. John (Alexander) McLeod, born in Glendale, Isle of Skye, Scotland in 1717 and died "at sea" in 1775, and Jane Hunter, born in Long Calderwood, Scotland in 1714 and died in North Carolina in 1773. John's parents are thought to be  Alexander  Samuel MacLeod (1690–1772) and Christina MacLennan (1690–1750) of Scotland. I have not found much documentation to support these parents and grandparents of Duncan McLeod, with the exception of a 1770 immigration record from Scotland to North Carolina for Jane Hunter MacLeod, her husband John McLeod and a son, Daniel McLeod. There is also a baptismal record for Jane Hunter in Glasgow dated May 6, 1714 which lists John Hunter and Jane Sempil parents (U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s on Ancestry.com). According to family lore, Duncan McLeod and his sister, Jeanette, immigrated with Duncan's family ca. 1770-72, the voyage on which Duncan died at sea. Jane appears to be a family name and it is possible that my Jane McLeod, as well as her uncle Norman McLeod's daughter named Jane McLeod, are both named after Jane Hunter McLeod. 
 

Tracing the McLeod family with records:

    Jane McLeod's birth year is verified as 1799. She was likely born in Anson Co. NC where both Alexander and Roderick were in residence, per the 1800 census and land records. Jane's husband, Alexander McRae, also of Anson Co, NC, is the son of Farquhar McRae (1750-1832) and Catherine Campbell (1760-after 1834), both immigrants to Anson Co. NC from Scotland, along with Catherine's brother, Finley Campbell (1775-1829), who moved to Humphreys Co. in the early 1820s several years before his death there. Alexander McRae does not appear in the 1820 census in Tennessee and is first documented in Tennessee in the tax list of 1828 in Henry Co. TN (which borders Humphreys Co.). As Mary Ann was born in Tennessee in 1823 (the date confirmed by her sampler), and her likely parents were already in Humphreys Co. in 1820, we can surmise that Alexander arrived in Tennessee and married Jane McLeod ca.1821-22. He may have traveled from Anson County with his uncle Finley Campbell who died in Humphreys County ca. 1829.

    When we look at North Carolina to try to locate Roderick and Alexander McLeod in earlier censuses, we find a number of individuals with these names, as well as many McRaes, particularly in the area of Anson, Cumberland and Richmond Counties. Fortunately, we have land and tax documents which indicate family connections between Alex McRae's and Jane McLeod's families in Anson Co. NC which continue in Humphreys Co. TN. The McRaes and McLeods intermarried frequently, sold each other land, with members of both families moving from Anson Co., NC to middle Tennessee around 1820. The evidence suggests that Roderick later moved further west to Haywood Co. TN in the 1830s and on to Mississippi in the 1840s, prior to his death in Yazoo Co. MS in 1844, while Alexander appears to have died in Humphreys County ca. 1825. Their brother, Norman McLeod, married Mary McRae and remained in North Carolina, leaving a will, while their sister, Christian, married Phillip "Finley" McRae and remained in North Carolina until after her husband's death  in 1824, subsequently moving to Alabama.
      A key document tying the two families together in Anson County is an 1806 cemetery deed (indenture) between Roderick McLeod and the Campbells and McRae in-laws--witnessed by John Lee, Alexander McLeod, Finley Campbell and Catherine McRae's other brother, Farquhar Campbell (Anson. Deeds 1771-1809 in FamilySearch). There is also an 1804 Anson Co. NC land purchase in which Farquhar McRae & Finley Campbell (Alex McRae's maternal uncle) sell land to Roderick McLeod. These records establish Alexander McRae's family and Jane McLeod's father, aunts and uncle as a close-knit group before many of them moved to middle Tennessee and provide indirect evidential support for linking Jane McLeod with this particular McLeod family in Anson County.

DNA evidence:
  
     Autosomal DNA matches in Ancestry's Thrulines are programmed to find a genuine DNA match and then pair it with lines from user trees. This works well if the user trees are accurate, well-researched and without endogamy, but if the user trees contain mistakes due to scanty colonial records and multiple immigrants of the same name and timeframe (as they are in this case), the DNA matches must be closely examined to determine whether they actually identify the right ancestors. I have over 70 DNA matches to various descendants of Duncan and Margaret McRae, but some, when scrutinized, are mixed with other McLeods of the same name in Canada and Scotland, etc.
       My most reliable McLeod DNA matches from Duncan McLeod are associated with Norman McLeod, who left a clear record trail in Anson and neighboring Richmond County, NC and an 1838 will (probated April 4, 1841), making his line easy to confidently trace. (North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 on Ancestry.com) Norman last appears in the 1840 Anson Co. census at the ripe age of 90-99, which suggests that he was born ca. 1750 in Scotland and was the oldest known child of Duncan and Margaret McLeod. He never moved from North Carolina, although there is another (likely related) Norman McLeod living in Stewart Co. TN in the 1820s, who appears as a juror and as a witness with Roderick McLeod on an 1825 Stewart Co. TN land deed. Norman McLeod (b.ca. 1750) married Mary McRae (b.ca.1775), a younger woman who is thought to be the daughter of Finley Phillip McRae and Christian McLeod. Together they had twelve children. Notable among the names in Norman's will are his wife, Mary, sons Duncan and Alexander (1802-1862), and daughters Margaret and Jane (1806-1868) who married John Calhoun McRae. I have 18 DNA matches between the descendants of Norman and my Jane McLeod McRae, 6 of them between 21 and 41 cM and tree verified, a strong indication of close relation. However, these cMs may be a bit higher due to Norman's wife being a McRae--probably a second or third cousin of Alexander McRae, Jane's husband. A surprising number of Duncan's children and grandchildren intermarried with the McRae's.

Timeline:

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    1. A 1794 Anson Co. NC land deal by John Campbell (maternal grandfather of Alex McRae) is witnessed by Roderick McLeod & Farquhar Campbell (John's son).

    2. A 1795 Anson Co. NC land deal by Farquhar McRae (Alex McRae's father) is witnessed by Finley & John Campbell

    3. An 1804 Anson Co. NC land deal in which Farquhar Finley Campbell & Finley Campbell (Alex McRae's maternal uncles) sell land to Roderick McLeod
  4. An 1806 Anson Co. NC grave yard indenture between Roderick McLeod and the McLeods and Campbells --witnessed by John Lee, Alexander McLeod & Finley Campbell (Alexander McRae's uncle).

   5. John C. McRae of Anson Co., grandson of Farquhar McRae, in an 1889 letter, mentions Uncle Alex, moving to Tennessee

1799- birth of Jane McLeod, probably in Anson Co. NC

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1800 Anson Co. NC census:
Roderick McLeod:  1 M & F 26-44; (born 1766-74); 1 M under 10, 1 F under 10 (Jane?)
Alex McLeod: 1 M & F 26-44; (born 1766-74); 1 M under 10, 1 M 10-15, 1 M 16-25, 1 F under 10 (Jane?)
Farquhar McRae: 1 M & F 26-44; (born 1766-74); no children, 1 slave

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1810 Anson Co. NC census (only 2 McLeods in Anson Co. in 1810):
Roderick McLeod (45 or over; born before 1766); 3 M under 10, 1 M 10-15; 3 F under 10,

        1 F 10-15 (Jane?), 1 F (Wife?) 26-44 (born 1764-1786).
Norman McLeod (45 or over; born ca.1750) with family; older brother of Alexander and Roderick 

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Tennessee:

Alexander McLeod is a witness in Humphreys Co. TN in 1810 (listed in 1810 reconstructed TN census-he is the only McLeod known to be in Tennessee by 1810)

1809 Stewart Co. TN military land grant to Alexander McLeod on Woolf Creek of Richland Creek
Angus McLeod is a witness in Stewart Co. on Sept 19, 1811 with Daniel Buchanan, son in law of John Graham (Mary Ann McRae's father-in-law). An Angus McLeod (b. 1762) is thought to be a possible brother of Roderick and Alexander McLeod, but he does not have a daughter Jane's age.
 

Sept. 1814 Stewart Co. TN land purchase by Roderick McLeod, the earliest record of him in Tennessee

1815--land grant awarding twenty acres in Humphreys County to Alexander McLeod in recognition of military service. He was probably a soldier in the Revolutionary War at around age 18.

1817 -Alexander McLeod bought Lot No. 21 in Reynoldsbrough (Humphreys Co.), TN, a portion of which he later sold to his probable son, Duncan, in 1823

 
1820 Humphreys Co. TN: (Jane married ca. 1822 so was probably still living with her parents in 1820)

Roderick McLeod (45 or over; born before 1776) 1 M under 10, 2 M 10-15 (includes Alex Jr. & John?),
3 M 16-25 ; Wife: 45 or over (Nancy?); born before 1776; 1 F under 10, 2 F 10-15, 1 F 16-25 (Jane?)

Alexander McLeod 45 or over; born before 1776; 1 M 10-15 (John?), 3 M 16-25 (includes Duncan?); Wife: 26-44; born 1776-1794; 1 F 10-15, 1 F 16-25 (Jane?); 8 slaves

(A Solomon McCloud paid taxes in Humphreys Co. in the 1820s (a son of Roderick per Tom Sloan)

Finley Campbell (1775-ca.1828), brother of Catherine Campbell (wife of Faruqhar MacRae) moved to Humphreys Co. TN near Alexander and Roderick McLeod and appears on the 1820 census
Angus/Anguish McLeod Dickson Co. TN (1 M 26-44, 2 M under 10, 1 F under 10, 1 F 26-44)

1821-22 likely year of marriage of Jane McLeod and Alexander McRae in Humphreys Co. TN

1821 -Alexander sold two tracts on Little Richland Creek (~110 acres) to William Prince. These were
proved in court in 1825, the last known record of Alexander McLeod  in Humphreys Co. before his death

1823- birth of Mary Ann McRae, followed by birth of her sister, Elizabeth, in 1825
           Alexander McLeod sold 160 acres of land to Josiah Aiken in Humphreys County

1824 (Henry Co.) – Alexander received a 200-acre land grant on Sandy River, near the later site of Big Sandy and McRae Chapel.

1826 -Roderick McLeod land transaction in Humphreys Co. TN; last record of him in middle TN

ca.1825- likely death of Alexander McLeod; Jane McLeod  dies between 1825-29
 

1830 Humphreys TN census Alexander McRae, age 30-39, no wife,  50-60 female,  & two small girls, age 5-15 (Mary Ann & Elizabeth)
A Roderick McLoud (age 20-29) and his wife in Stewart Co. who could be a son of Roderick Sr.
neither Alexander nor his brother, Roderick, appear in the 1830 TN census

ca. 1831- Alexander McRae remarries Lavina Rumbly, following Jane's death

mid-to late 1830s- several land deals involving Roderick McLeod in Vicksburg and Warren Counties in Missisippi, near Yazoo Co. MS

1838 Roderick McLeod land records showing he previously owned land in Haywood Co. in west Tennessee which the present owner, Josiah Little, is selling to Alexander McLeod of Washington Co, MS (this Alexander is likely Roderick's son, born in 1809)

1840 census Roderick McLeod and wife (Roderick b. 1764 is 70-79 and wife is 60-69--likely Nancy b. 1780) in Haywood Co. TN in West TN)  This is almost certainly Roderick who moved from Humphreys County sometime after 1826

1843-- land deed from Yazoo Co., MS shows Roderick McLeod receiving land from his son Alexander

1844-Roderick buried in Yazoo, Mississippi by his son Alexander, whose mother is named Nancy

1850 census for Yazoo, MS-Alexander McLeod, Roderick's son (b.about 1811), his wife Cordelia, his children and his mother (Roderick's widow) Nancy McLeod, age 80; Alexander and Nancy were both born in North Carolina per census. Nancy dies before 1860 and Alexander dies in 1868.

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Commentary: It appears that Alexander and Roderick McLeod may have first come to Stewart Co. TN, then moved to neighboring Humpheys Co. by 1820. Alexander McLeod has granted land in Tennessee in 1809 and appears on Humphreys Co. tax records by 1810. Roderick appears on the Humphreys Co. tax records in 1814. Thus, Jane was probably brought to Tennessee between age 10-15 from Anson Co. NC., perhaps at the same time Finley Campbell also came to the area. Alex McRae might have also traveled to Tennessee prior to 1820, as his likely relative, John L. McRae, appears in the 1820 Dickson Co. TN census (which borders Humphreys Co.) with an unidentified male in his household of the right age to be Alex McRae. This would most cogently account for the relationship and marriage of Jane McLeod and Alex McRae in Humphreys Co. prior to the birth of their first child in 1823. Alexander McRae appears in the Benton Co. TN census in 1840 with an unidentified older female who may be his mother, Catherine Campbell, since her husband, Farquhar McRae, died in 1832 in North Carolina, and Catherine's whereabouts is otherwise unaccounted for after his death other than a 1834 court case in Anson County which settled Farquhar's estate.

     Conclusion: The evidence compellingly suggests that Alexander McLeod and Roderick McLeod of Humphreys Co. are the two most likely candidates to be the father of Jane McLeod, due to the evidence of the 1820 Humphreys Co. census (both show a female of Jane's age) and demonstrated family connections between the McLeods of Humphreys Co. TN/Anson Co. NC, and the family of Jane's husband, Alexander McRae, and his mother's brother, Finley Campbell. It is not proven that Alexander and Roderick McLeod are brothers and sons of Duncan McRae who died at sea, but this remains a reasonable working hypothesis. That both Alexander and Roderick McLeod are both over 45 in the 1820 census also fits with Tom Sloan's birthdates for them of 1762 and 1764, respectively.
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More on Roderick McLeod's final years:  There is  a 1838 record of a 37-acre parcel of land  in Haywood County, TN being  sold to Alexander McLeod of Washington Co. MS, by Josiah Little of Haywood Co. TN, and it is land that Roderick McLeod had previously owned. (Deeds: Haywood. Deeds 1836–1838 on FamilySearch) The last record of middle Tennessee residence I have found for Roderick McLeod is an 1826 Humphreys Co. TN land transaction. There is also an Aug. 5, 1829 land grant to Roderick McLeod in Stewart Co. TN, however this is probably a younger Roderick since a "Roderick McLoud" appears in the 1830 Stewart Co. census in which the oldest person in the household is between 20-49 years of age. (This might be a son of Roderick Sr.?) It is probably the same Roderick McLeod Sr., age 70-79, who appears in the 1840 census in Haywood Co. in West Tennessee, along with a 60-70 year old female, presumably his wife, Nancy. As his age of 70-79 in the 1840 census is consistent with a 1764 date of birth and he no longer appears in Humphrys Co. TN, this is very likely our Roderick McLeod and his wife.
     The 1838 land deed in Haywood Co. TN links the Roderick McLeod who lived in Humphreys Co. TN with the Roderick McLeod of Mississippi who had a son named Alexander (b. 1809) and a wife named Nancy, and was buried in Yazoo, MS in 1844. The 1838 record states that Roderick McLeod had previously owned this land and it was subsequently bought by Alexander McLeod (probably his son b. 1809), who lived in Washington Co. MS. (Washington Co. MS and Yazoo Co.MS are relatively close, about 80-90 miles, but Haywood Co. TN is about 300 miles from Washington Co. MS.) There are several land records in both Haywood, TN and Missisippi during the 1830s and 40s which involve Roderick and his son Alexander. These suggest that sometime after 1830 Roderick bought and sold land in Haywood Co. TN and possibly speculated with land in Mississippi. His son, Alexander, also moved west and bought some of the Haywood property adjoining the land where Roderick and Nancy lived (1840 census). Over the next few years Roderick traveled to Mississippi where his son sold him land in Yazoo in 1843, after which he sold off his Haywood land. A year or so after settling in Yazoo, MS Roderick died in 1844.

      Note: The Directory of Scots in the Carolinas 1680-1830 list shows a Roderick McLeod, age 69, in a household with a 60 year old named Margaret and a 28 year old named Nancy. (The year of the census isn't specified but the ones around it are for 1812.) In 1812 our Roderick McLeod would be 48, so this is unlikely to be him.

Summary:
The identity of Jane McLeod’s parents has not been directly recorded in surviving historical documents. Jane married Alexander McRae in Tennessee by 1822 and gave birth to children in Henry County, TN, in the 1820s. The evidence for Jane’s parentage is circumstantial but cohesive. She fits well into Alexander, as well as Roderick McLeod’s 1820 households in age, geography, and timing. The 1830s–1840s Mississippi land records show Roderick as legally active, owning and losing land, and reveal a deep father-son relationship between Roderick and Alexander McLeod of Mississippi. Tom Sloan's research suggests that Roderick had three children in the 1780s by an unknown wife, probably in Anson, North Carolina. Due to the gap of over a decade after their births, it would appear that sometime before 1799, Roderick remarried Nancy in North Carolina and had a second family perhaps beginning with Jane (b. 1799 and ending with Alexander ca. 1809-11. By 1814, Roderick and his family had moved to Stewart Co.TN and later moved to Humphreys county by 1820. The census shows he has several older males (a somewhat larger family than his brother Alexander) and children the right age to be Jane and John. Alexander also has children the right age to be Jane and John, and at this point seems the more likely father, but further evidence would be needed to identify conclusively which of them was Jane's father.