LAURINBURG — Stewartsville Cemetery is rich with history, but what some may not know is the history reaches out further than just Scotland County.
One of the county’s earliest settlers is Laughlin McLaurin, who is a descendant of the late actor Robin Williams.
Williams was known for his roles in films such as “Dead Poet Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, his voice-over role as Genie in Aladdin and many more.
“He was a frequent visitor to Scotland and good friends with Scottish comedian Billy Connolly,” said local historian Bill Caudill. “The two made many annual visits to the Lonach Highland Gathering — dressed in full Highland regalia.
“Laughlin McLaurin and Sarah Ann McColl would be Robin Williams’ fifth great-grandparents,” added Caudill, “both being his emigrant ancestors who came from Appin, Argyll, Scotland — a region just north of our sister city of Oban and the home of the majority of the families who came here in 1790, many of whom are buried at Stewartsville.”
According to Caudill, the couple was part of the 1790 voyage with her brother Hugh R. McColl and the 16 McLaurin families.
“Also on that 1790 voyage were our local Stewart, MacColl, Carmichael, MacLucas and other associated families,” said Caudill. “This was the voyage which produced the early settlers of the immediate Laurinburg area.”
Laughlin and Sarah Annie (Ann) lived in Marlboro County S.C., they were the parents of Laughlin Jr. McLaurin who married Mary McLaurin from Anson County.
“Laughlin Jr. and Mary moved to Smith County in Mississippi in 1819,” said Caudill. “Robin Williams is a descendant through the Sen. Anselm Joseph McLaurin line.
“You’ve probably Googled and found a lot of references to Robin Williams and Scottish roots, however, it seems that nobody has ever bothered to publish anything that traces him back to his emigrant ancestor Laughlin,” said Caudill. “When he first became popular some thought he was actually Scottish – due to some skits he did using a Scottish brogue.
According to Caudill, one source even falsely reported that he was born in Edinburgh and came to the USA as a young man.
“This was completely off base,” said Caudill. “As you can see, Robin’s ancestor was one of the many families who out-migrated from this area further south and west in the early years of the 19th century — which in turn had him ending up in Mississippi, and his mother’s family remained there.
Robin Williams’ clan
The earliest written reference to Williams’ McLaurin ancestors in Appin, Scotland, is from the mid-1300s, according to historian Hilton McLaurin out of Lubbock, Texas.
“Early Catholic church records have MhicLabhruinn (Gaelic spelling) clergy at Ardchattan and Isle of Lismore parishes at that time,” said McLaurin. “The McLaurins were also known as McVicars before surnames were stabilized in the 1700s.
“They were a learned ecclesiastical kindred under the rule of the Lords of Lorn,” added McLaurin. “Our Registered Coat of Arms from 1790 contains a pastoral staff and mother and child which I believe represents Lismore Cathedral and the outlying benefice churches.”
According to McLaurin’s records, Robin Williams and all the other Laurinburg McLaurin’s ancestors were staunch Jacobites, rebelling against the English Crown in the Stewart of Appin Clan Regiment 1745 through 1746.
“At the final Battle of Culloden, 13 McLaurins were killed and 14 wounded,” said McLaurin. “One of the known Culloden survivors, Duncan McLaurin (died 1809), the oldest among the 16 McLaurin families who emigrated to Carolina, is also buried in Stewartsville Cemetery. Duncan is the brother of Robin’s sixth great-grandfather Donald McLaurin, who did not emigrate.”
JJ Melton can be reached at [email protected].
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