Clan MacBean

Find your family

Most people find Clan MacBean while tracing their family. The clan has been gathering Bean, MacBean and McBain family records for well over a century, and much of it can now be searched online. Here is where to start.

Start here

Write down what you already know. Names, dates and places, going back as far as your grandparents or great-grandparents. Note every spelling of the name you come across.
Search The Register (members). The clan’s newsletter has printed family news, queries and lineages since 1908. A name, a place or a family number is enough to begin.
Search the Lineage Documents (members). Wills, certificates, land grants, Bible pages and obituaries collected by clan members over the years.
Look for your family number. Many North American Bean and MacBean lines have a number in the clan’s published genealogies. If you find yours, note it down; it makes everything else easier to find.
Ask the clan genealogist when you get stuck.

Search The Register

Every issue of the clan newsletter from 1908 to 2026 (204 issues), indexed by person, place and article. Each result gives the issue and page.

Search the Lineage Documents

158 family records gathered by clan members: wills, birth, marriage and death records, land grants, military papers and book extracts, each with a short summary.

Coming soon to the Members Area.

Both search tools are for members of the Clan MacBean Association. Log in to the Members Area to use them, or join the clan.

Family trees

The clan’s family trees grew out of Bernie Bean’s Clan MacBean in North America and later research. Members can browse them in the Members Area:

Descendants of John Bean of Exeter
Patriarchs of New England and New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and the Midwest
UK and Canada patriarchs

Family photos and DNA

Family photos. The Ancestor Gallery, Anonymous Archive Photos and Unpublished Photos hold thousands of old family pictures, many named and numbered by family. Some faces are still unknown; if you recognize someone, please tell the genealogist.

DNA projects. DNA testing helps sort out lines where the paper records run out. Anyone can join the clan’s projects at FamilyTreeDNA:

Ask the genealogist

Members can ask the clan genealogist, Jenny Yasecko, for help with a family line. Tell her what you already know and where you are stuck.

Questions about the history of the clan and its chiefs go to the Chief, who may pass them on to the clan’s Seanachaidh (historian).

Share your family records

Have a family Bible, a will, a certificate or an old photograph? Use the form above to tell the genealogist about it, so it can join the clan’s records for future generations.

Join Clan MacBean

Membership starts at $30 a year. Members receive The Register, help from the clan genealogist, member pricing, and news of gatherings and Highland games.

Or make a donation to the clan or to McBain Memorial Park

McBain of McBain (the Chief) · Clan MacBean Shop · Clan Chattan · Clan videos on YouTube · The Court of the Lord Lyon