An old and mysterious genealogical blueprint was handed down in one branch of the McDonald family tree claiming that their ancestor William R. McDonald of Herkimer County, New York, was a Revolutionary War veteran and the son of Maj. Richard McDonald of Somerset County, New Jersey, who served in the Revolution with Gen. George Washington.

The blueprint makes some extraordinary claims - that Richard immigrated to America from Scotland, joined the English army and fought at the Battle of Quebec, that his brother was the son of a clan chief, and that Richard himself served on Gen. George Washington’s staff.

Is the blueprint what it purports to be or not? Are the claims historically accurate? Family researchers have debated the blueprint’s authenticity and accuracy for years.

Now, genealogist Laurence Overmire, the world’s foremost authority on the McDonalds of Somerset County, arguably the earliest known lineage of McDonalds in America, and the author of A Revolutionary American Family: The McDonalds of Somerset County, New Jersey (Indelible Mark Publishing, 2015), conducts a thorough point-by-point investigation of the enigmatic blueprint to ascertain if it is indeed authentic or a fanciful fabrication.

Astonishing DNA evidence verifies Overmire’s dramatic findings.

This is a must-read for anyone who descends from William R. and Abigail (Fowler) McDonald, as well as those who are descended from any branch of the Maj. Richard McDonald family tree originating in Somerset County, New Jersey.

The book also delineates the generations descending from William R. and Abigail (Fowler) McDonald with fascinating biographies and family stories that have been handed down from generation to generation.

Interrelated families include Adair, Ala, Alter, Apes, Barrett, Betts, Bliss, Brown, Cavanagh, Cavanaugh, Coggill, Collins, Connet, Cooke, Correll, Deitering, Debler, Dickinson, Diehl, Dowd, DuPont, Furtick, Garrett, Gerren, Gibson, Harger, Harris, Hill, Hower, Jenney, Kutsche, Lancashire, Mackstaller, McCarty, McCrory, McIntyre, Merry, Mikesell, Morgan, Moseley, Oley, Parr, Schalkofski, Schroeder, Smith, Stuckey, Summerrow, Wallace, Wilcox, Wilder, Vincent, and many more.