Editing Winsor McCay (section)

===Family history===
McCay's paternal grandparents, farmers Donald and Christiana {{not a typo|McKay}}, immigrated from Scotland to [[Upper Canada]]{{efn|Upper Canada became the southern portion of the Canadian province of [[Ontario]] upon [[Canadian Confederation]] in 1867.}} in the mid-1830s. McCay's father, Robert {{not a typo|McKay}} (1840&nbsp;– March&nbsp;21, 1915) was born in [[Woodstock, Ontario|Woodstock]], Upper Canada, the third of six children. McCay's maternal grandparents, Peter and Mary Murray, were also Scottish immigrants, and settled as farmers in [[East Zorra-Tavistock|East Zorra]] in Upper Canada. Their daughter Janet was the third of nine children.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=21}}

Robert was a member of King Solomon's No.&nbsp;43 [[Masonic Lodge]] in Woodstock.{{sfn|Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon|2002}} In 1862, Robert first traveled to the U.S.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} Robert and the twenty-five-year-old Janet married on January&nbsp;8, 1866, at Woodstock's Methodist Episcopal Church. The couple moved across the [[Canada–United States border]] later in the year and settled in [[Spring Lake, Michigan]], on the eastern coast of [[Lake Michigan]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=21}} Robert was employed by American entrepreneur Zenas&nbsp;G. Winsor (1814–1890), with whom he had made contact in Canada.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}}

Records of McCay's birth are not extant. He stated in an interview in 1910 that he was born in 1869, and this is the year listed on his grave marker. {{not a typo|Late}} in life, he told friends he was born September&nbsp;26, 1871, in Spring Lake, and they published this information in a magazine.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} Michigan census records from 1870 and 1880 list a Zenas&nbsp;W. {{not a typo|McKay}}, who was born in Canada in 1867,{{sfnm|1a1=Canemaker|1y=2005|1p=22|2a1=Bien|2y=2011|2p=123}} and others have speculated 1866 or 1868 based on evidence on how the censuses were carried out.{{sfn|Canemaker|2018|p=28}} No Canadian birth record has been found, and a fire in Spring Lake in May 1893 could have destroyed any American birth record he may have had.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} His obituary in the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' stated, "not even Mr. McCay knew his exact age".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=46}}<ref>Alexander Braun, in discussing the conflicting evidence, comes to the following conclusion:"The most reliable source on the child's birth, due to its chronological proximity, is the McCay family Bible, the entry in which was quoted directly by O'Glasain. Unmistakeably written there are the words, "September 26, 1869—God blessed the union of Robert and Janet (of the clan Murray) McCay this morning with an eight pound son. He shall be named after our dear friend, Winsor Zenis[sic]." Alexander Braun: The Complete Little Nemo 1905-1927, Taschen, 2014, p.11</ref>

The McCays had two more children: Arthur in 1868, and Mae in 1876. Both were born in Michigan. Robert worked as a [[teamster]] under Winsor, and by May 1870 had saved enough money to buy a parcel of land. From 1879 to 1881, he worked as a retail grocer.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} In 1885 he moved the family to [[Stanton, Michigan]], and expanded his land holdings; he was successful in real estate with his brother Hugh, who moved from {{not a typo|Canada}}<!-- not Upper Canada by this point --> in 1887.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}}

By 1905, Robert was also a [[notary public]]. He had settled in [[Edmore, Michigan]], and by this point had changed the spelling of his surname from "McKay" to "McCay".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}} His son related this story about the change:

{{blockquote|Three Scotsmen of the [[Clan Mackay|clan McKay]] were looking for a fourth member to fight four members of the Irish clan Magee&nbsp;... 'I'm not one of you', my father pointed out. 'You see, I'm one of the clan M-{{not a typo|c}}-C-A-Y.' And that is how I got both my name and my sense of humor.|Winsor McCay{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}} }}