M.P. LINES: "John MACCOONE Of Westerly, Washington Co., Rhode Island"; [private]; Mesa, AZ; 1992.
Name also spelled Mackone. Later generations used the name Coon.

All of the true COON family are descendants of JOHN MCCOON of Aberdine Scotland. In the late 1600s the Scots set out to dethrone the king of England and replace him with the Scottish Prince (Bonny Prince Charles I think). The field of battle in Scotland is still marked with a pile of stones. Each Scottish soldier would bring a stone from his home village. Before a battle these stones were put in apile. After the battle, the survivors would retrive their stone. Then the commander would count the stones remaining and would immediately know his losses.

The English received word of the Scottish up-rising and met the Scotts in battle. The Scotts had only Pistols and swords. The English had just perfected the long rifle. The battle was pretty much one sided and the Scotts suffered heavy losses. Hence the old saying NEVER TAKE A KNIFE TO A GUN FIGHT.

The enlisted personnal were allowed to swear an allegiance to England and return to their homes. The officers were considered trouble makers and put on prison ships either to the American colonies or Australia. John Mccoon was an officer and was brought to America as a prisoner. Later he was given his papers as a freeman.

As a prisoner he was sent to the colonies, arriving in Cambridge, Mass. on the ship "John and Sarah" on 11 Nov 1651. He took the oath of allegiance May 18, 1669.