Sorry for the cliffhanger in the last post. I really need to learn to pace my writing and keep it to the five minutes or less of reading. This post breaks that rule too – sorry in advance!
2019…The Promising Year
The answer to the question I left you hanging on, briefly and sadly, was no. John Marjoribanks had not found the heir to the title Chief of Name and Arms of Logan. It took some time – most of 2019 – to analyze the claimant’s family tree versus what we knew of the Logans of that Ilk. With the help of a few professional genealogists, John was able to determine that while the claimant’s family lived very close to the ancestors of the last Logan chief, they were not of the same line of Logans. This work really helped us understand just how widely represented across Scotland the Logans were (and still are).
James and I were really starting to hit our stride in 2019. Many plans were coming together for increased recruitment of new members. He and I both attended several festivals that year. We also spent a great deal of time reaching out not only to potential new members, but also organizations aligned to Scottish heritage like the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA) and many St. Andrew’s Societies (Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.) to make sure Clan Logan was known and represented in a positive way.
2020 & 2021…Standstill, or maybe not
I don’t wish to spend a lot of time on 2020. I only mention it in that it saw the key to the Chief Restoration Project – the archives of Scotland – completely shut down. They would remain that way for nearly two years as the governments of the world responded in their own way to the pandemic.
This did not bring the project completely to a halt though. John, James, and I spent time individually and together going through the prior research of the project making sure important elements weren’t missed and that we really “knew what we knew.”
As James and I looked for a way to bring together the Society members in 2021 (there were practically no Highland Games & Festivals to attend), I hit upon the idea of creating a virtual meeting. Everybody was doing it, why not us?
We decided to make the topic of the Chief Restoration Project the reason to get together, and John happily put together an excellent presentation on the subject. This “lull” of time in the project, aided by John’s presentation, became the launching pad for everything that has followed in the search since. Not only that, the success of this meeting inspired me to continue hosting quarterly meetings on “topics of interest” to members of Clan Logan for several years after. These have formed the basis of our quarterly online Board of Director meetings as well.
2022…A New President
In January of 2022, James encountered some health issues. Not wanting to see the Society thrown into the difficulties he inherited with the unexpected passing of Vernon, James exercised due caution and stepped aside as president. He nominated me to take his place and the board approved the change.
Now, what was I going to do?
I’d spent the last seven years learning at the elbows of giants. If you cannot tell by now, I truly love and respect these men who helped build Clan Logan Society International. As others can attest, building AND maintaining a functioning volunteer society of any kind is not easy. These men, Vernon, John, and James, were incredibly successful despite numerous setbacks. We had arrived at two decades since the founding of the Society and I was now in charge.
To be honest, the last three years have been a blur, most especially 2024. My first thought I remember being that we needed to wrap up the first twenty years of the Chief Restoration Project. (Incidentally, dear Reader, did you know that some clans have taken 40 years or more to get through the searching that tends to lead to a supervised convention?)
To bring a solid conclusion to the early search, I contracted with Dr. Bruce Durie BSc (Hons) PhD OMLJ FIGRS, one of the leading genealogists of Scotland. Bruce spent many months working with John and myself reviewing all of the work done and making sure we’d followed every lead possible. Bruce was able to uncover a few leads of his own in the process, but they too proved futile in the search for the Chief of Logan.
With Dr. Durie’s review in hand, and a final report from John Marjoribanks, I felt confident we should now approach the Lord Lyon King of Arms and ask for the opportunity to hold a supervised family convention. I wrote the request, and after a review with the leadership of the Society, we presented the request to Dr Joseph J. Morrow CVO, CBE, KC, LLD, DL, FRSE.
In short order, our request was granted and we now have Bute Pursuivant, Mr. Colin Russell, as our Supervisor from the Court of the Lord Lyon. I and the other people helping plan the convention have had nearly monthly meetings with Colin leading up to the family convention in April to keep him up to speed with the details and learn any feedback Colin might have for us. We’re all looking forward to meeting him in person in Edinburgh.
There have been many other accomplishments in the last three years that I am very proud of as well:
- Bringing together the leadership of Clan Logan Society International for the first time in more than 100 years at the Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival in Estes Park, Colorado in 2023
- Recruiting top talent to bring new life to the leadership roles in the Society
- Development of new heritage resources for members of Clan Logan (more info on this coming at the convention)
- Winning the design award for the new ’21st Century Logan’ tartan
- Representing Clan Logan at the 36th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in Boston, Massachusetts
- Continuous hosting and representing Clan Logan at many Highland festivals and games
I appreciate you, Dear Reader, for taking the time to take a walk with me down Memory Lane. I have enjoyed the stroll immensely and realized just how many photos I have that I should probably start sharing. There are so many stories to tell from the last ten years, but WordPress AI says I am at SEVEN minutes of read time – so sorry!
My main point has been though, that I have spent most of the last decade learning the true stories of Clan Logan and how they added to the history of Scotland. I have been particularly focused on the Chief Restoration Project for most of that time, helping in any way I could to find a living heir to the title, Chief of Name and Arms of Logan.
I can think of no greater honor than to be confirmed by the members of Clan Logan as Commander of the name Logan and represent all of you globally in the continued search for the heir to the chiefship. Thank you for your consideration.
Kevin Logan 
Leave a comment