McGregor Cemetery - Ellwood City PA

Among the early settlers of the Hazel Dell area was a Scottish immigrant named Donald McGregor. He was born into the Clan Gregor (or Clan McGregor) of the Scottish Highlands and related to “Rob Roy” McGregor, a famous clan leader and modern-day folk hero. Donald McGregor settled on a farm south of the Connoquenessing Creek in about 1808. He was closely associated with the Slippery Rock Presbyterian Church and became an elder in 1818. He was to married to Mary Bennett and they had several children together. The McGregor’s resided on rural farmland in what later became the heart of Ellwood City, where a small family burial ground contained a few graves from the 1830’s and 1840’s. Their son Robert Gregor McGregor (1830-1902) (shown above) became a well-known school teacher and newspaper editor in the region. (c1900)

In the early 1900’s, as the town of Ellwood City rapidly expanded, the old abandoned McGregor Cemetery was becoming surrounded by houses. The remains at the Nye Cemetery, a similar family burial ground located near the Tube Mill, were disinterred and removed to Locust Grove Cemetery in May 1906. The same thing happened at McGregor Cemetery, but just when this took place is not known at this time. The cemetery contained the remains of Donald and Mary McGregor and at least three of their children. The red star indicates the general area where I believe the cemetery was once located. (c2012)

An excerpt from an article appearing in the New Castle News of January 15, 1902. Mary Matheny (1816-1834) was the daughter of Donald and Mary McGregor, and married Joseph Matheny in 1833. (Jan 1902)