The Name:    The surname  Manson is most commonly associated with the  northern regions of Scotland, particularly Caithness and the Orkney Islands.  The surname is a patronymic from the given name Magnus (Magnus' son).   The surname is also found in other parts of Scandinavia (Scotland, for geographical and historical reasons, actually being part of Scandinavia).  The surname also has English roots as a patronym of the name Mann.  Likewise, it is also formed from the Ashkenazic Jewish patronym for Man, meaning roughly "person" in Yiddish. 

The Ancient History:  In Scotland, the Mansons are a sept of Clan Gunn.  This clan was perhaps the most powerful and one of the oldest of the original clans in Scotland.  The Gunns are a Pictish clan descended from Norway's King Olaf the Black, as are many clans.  The name Gunn comes from Gunnar (sometimes rendered Gunni), grandson of the heroic Sweyn Asleif's-son, the so-called "Ultimate Viking."  The various septs are descended from the sons of George Gunn, the 15th century Coroner of Caithness who was killed at the Battle of St. Tayres.  The Manson sept is actually descended from Henry Gunn, George's seventh son.  The history is a bit complicated; suffice it to say on this page that the Mansons are of the Henderson line. 

The Gunn clan motto is "Aut pax aut bellum" ( Either Peace or War).  Below are the clan crest and tartan.


                                             




  One rendition of the ancient Gunn tartan. (Courtesy of Scottish Clans and Families).  

                           
Migration to North America:   Mansons began coming to North America in the seventeenth century.  There were three main immigration arrival points:  New England, Virginia, and Georgia.  In New England, the Mansons arrived and settled in the area around Kittery on what is now the Maine-New Hampshire border.  In Virginia, the Mansons early settled around York County.   Many of these family members migrated to Georgia at the beginning of the nineteenth century.   In the meantime, several separate Manson emigrant groups had left the British Isles for Georgia.  In the 1770's, after the failure of the Bank of Ayr, Captain William Manson brought a group of immigrants, including members of his family, to Georgia and established the Friendsborough settlement.  This settlement was located near a Quaker settlement in Wrightsborough township.  There is some confusion about whether Friendsborough, its name notwithstanding, was  itself a Quaker settlement. Some say that William Manson was a Quaker; others say he had Quaker business partners.  Other Mansons came to Georgia directly from Britain as convicts who had been banished for life.

Our American Family:  The Mansons considered here are centered on Otis Manson (1874-1930?), who was born in Hootenville, Upson County, Georgia. His father was George Preston Birdsong. His mother was Matilda Manson (1843-1910?), born in Talbot County, Georgia.  Her father is presently unknown.  Matilda's mother, however, was Jane Manson, a mulatto woman born about 1826, apparently also in Georgia.  Jane was also the mother of Mary C. Manson, born in about 1846.  Jane was the daughter of Charlotte Manson, believed to have been the child of Scots-Irish immigrants to the Carolinas. 

In the 1880's, George Birdsong, Matilda and Otis moved to Rockdale, Milam County, Texas, for reasons unknown.  In Rockdale, Otis met and married Bettie Sanford.  Otis and Bettie had seven children.

Learn more about the  Descendants of  Charlotte  Manson


Notable Quotable Mansons

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