Contents:
Janet Morrison Richmond I McKay Elgin W Watson Dean Gilchrist
An extract (or two) from the e-mails of my good and kind friend:
From: Janet Morrison morrison@dialpoint.net
Hi Ian,
I was glad the 1779 Argyll Census site interested you, as well as some of
the readers (hopefully.) I've found some helpful information on the LDS [Latter
Day Saints] web site, too. It has just recently gone online at
http://www.familysearch.org . I found that Jean Eskinor/Eshinor, who married
John Morison of Baraskomill, was born in Campbeltown in 1669! I think they
might be my g-g-g-g-g-g-grandparents, since William and Janet named their
first son John. I'd never heard the name Eshinor until we found Jean's marriage
in the parish records from Campbeltown. I did a search on that surname at
the LDS web site and the only place the name shows up is Campbeltown, Scotland.
Isn't that interesting? Elizabeth Marrison said she'd never heard the name.
They were there in the 1600's, then vanished.
Cherrio, ca' canny, and all that stuff!
Janet
..................Saturday night Marie and I went to an outdoor drama about
an hour from here, near the South Carolina line. The story centered around
the life of President Andrew Jackson, who was born in that area, which is
called the Waxhaws" for the Waxhaw Indians who lived there when the first
white settlers arrived in 1670. I've just learned in the last few months
that my g-g-g-g-g-grandmother Sarah Hutchinson Lessley was the sister of
President Jackson's mother. I have read that Sarah H. Lessley delivered Andrew
Jackson. The Hutchinsons and Jacksons came from Carrickfergus, Ireland. When
Marie and I started working on our trip itinerary we hoped to go there, but
it didn't work out. Now, with the possibility of a day trip over from Campbeltown
to Ballycastle, perhaps we'll get close!
The story of the Jacksons and the Waxhaw Settlement is not without scandal,
intrigue, and humor. The Presbyterian minister's wife (who was a daughter
of the first pastor of Rocky River Church) was accused of murdering her husband.
His body was exumed a year after his death and the Elders of the church forced
her to press her finger into his scull. If her finger bled, she was guilty
of the crime. If her finger did not bleed, she was not guilty. This was allegedly
on old Scottish custom! Her finger did not bleed, but there were those in
the community who apparently forever believed she was guilty. Andrew Jackson's
mother had befriended her and stuck with her through the ordeal. Another
thing that really happened was that Andrew Jackson's father died in the winter
while it was dreadfully cold and snow was on the ground. His buddies were
suppose to take his body by wagon to the cemetery. It seemed that they stopped
at every house along the way to partake in "spirits" to warm themselves and
give them the courage for the task at hand. By the time they reached Twelve
Mile Creek they were quite drunk and none of them realized that Jackson's
body slid off the wagon and into the creek as they were crossing. They got
some ways along before one of them realized the wagon was empty. They retraced
their steps and it was apparently late in the day before the body was located
and recovered. It was night before they finally made it to the cemetery with
the body. It is an entertaining story which is only made more interesting
now that I know some of my ancestors were
involved.............................
Y'all ca' canny,
Janet
..............I had e-mail from Carl Porter about Crossibeg and the Kilchousland
Cemetery today. He seems quite kind and willing to share information.
Elizabeth Marrison e-mailed to clarify the 1779 Argyll Census for me. I had
been confused at the introductory statement which indicated Kintyre was not
included in the census, because I was seeing many Kintyre farm names in the
place name index. Elizabeth wrote that she has a copy of the census. She
said the Kintyre farms are included in the place name index; however, the
people of Kintyre are not listed in the census. How sad. I guess that means
that the Janet Morrison listed is not my ggggg-grandmother after all. I really
got my hopes up when I saw Crossibeg in the index.................
Until next e-,
Janet
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From: Richmond I McKay mckayr@erols.com
Hello: I have followed your web version of the Kintyre Antiquarian and enjoyed it very much while also learning about the area and its history.
Family research has indicated that my ancestors lived in Argyll before
immigrating to America, but proof was lacking. Recently, several sources
have combined so that the proof to Scotland may be possible. However,
as this is my first effort to "recross the Atlantic", I would appreciate
any advice from your readers as to what to do to pursue the task.
Here is the story:
My direct ancestor was "Archibald McKay", one of the earliest elders of Longstreet Church mentioned in "A Forgotton Campbeltown" on the A.I.B.Stewart page this month. He was born ca 1720, and married Ann Gilchrist. They went to America in 1752 during the post-Culloden exodus, and they had at least four children that were born in Scotland: Janet, ca 1744; Sara, ca 1746; Alexander, ca.1748; and Isabella, ca 1750.
The following comes from an article entitled "Six Pre-Revolutionary War McKays Named Alexander - All From The Valley Of The Scots" in Argyll Colony Plus, Vol. 8, No. 3, pages 171-190. It was written by John Scalf and Peggy Mordecai. The first and second Alexanders were the Alexander who came in 1739 and his son. The third Alexander came to America about 1743. In a November 1993 letter, Judge Ian Stewart sent an abstract from the early Court Books of Sheriff Court, Campbelltown, Argyll, Scotland.
"In 1782 Jean Hendry, Relict (i.e. widow) of the deceased Alex McKay (the third Alexander above) planter in North Carolina petitioned Campbellton Sheriff Court to serve as her heir in general to the deceased Daniel Hendry, her brother's son." The article establishes a sibling relationship between the third Alexander, m. Jean Hendry, and Iver McKay, the father of the fourth Alexander in the article. The article states: "The christening record of Iver McKay was recorded in the Extracted Birth and/or Christening Records, of Campbelltown, Argyll County, Scotland. It was done on 10 Dec 1732. The parents were Archibald McKay and Isobel McNeill of Campbelltown." Next, the authors establish that the brothers Alexander and Iver had a sister, Isabella, m.Duncan McKeithan II. The authors conclude that there is a high probability that a John McKay and my Archibald - the Longstreet church elder, above - were also brothers to the third Alexander, Iver and Isabella. The strongest evidence cited as to a sibling relationship between my Archibald and Iver was a document indicating a very strong relationship between them. "Four months after the birth of Iver's son John, on 16 Apr 1768, a deed of gift was drawn up placing under Archibald's authority (various property) with the stipulation that they would be given to Iver's son John on his 21st birthday. (The authors report that this transpired at a time when the colony was blessed with only one mature Archibald McKay).
The fifth Alexander was John McKay's son, and the sixth was Archibald's son who had been born in Scotland prior to the 1752 departure. It is believed that Archibald's family continued contact with relatives in Scotland. Following the problem called the Revolution, Archibald (Jr.), 6th child of my Archibald, was in Great Britian, and wrote a letter in 1785 which stated: "i intend to spend next summer in Scotland...You will please to write to me, under cover to Messrs. John and Hector McKay, No. 5 Crown Court, Westminister..." Upon returning to America, he named his first born son "Hector" indicating some type of fondness. Now the question is--"how do I take this information and search for answers in Scotland? Any advice, information, or direction to resources will be appreciated.
Final question, most of the material written about the Clan McKay deals with those to the North and has little if any value for the McKays living in the Argyll area. Can anyone suggest references or sources that are oriented more toward the families living in Argyllshire (not necessarily limited to McKays)
I apologize for the length of this e-mail, but it is more of a continuing story than a report.
Thank you.
Rich McKay
From: Elgin W Watson ewatson@ix.netcom.com
Dear Ian,
Thank you for your monthly efforts in placing the Magazine of The Kintyre Antiquarian & Natural History Society. I greatly anticipate each issue!!
I have several lines of ancestors who emigrated from the Campbeltown area in the 19th century.
It appears that one line of my ancestry left the Killean & Kilchenzie Parish in 1820 as an indentured servant to Virginia. Do you have any knowledge of any reference material where I could research this area?
Thanks in advance for your assistance. I am working on submitting a contribution too for the Society's perusal (perhaps, the results of indentured servant research).
Best Regards,
Elgin W. Watson
From: Dean Gilchrist deanotow@att.net
Ian,
Thank you for including my e-mails in the wee drams and the links. I was surprised to see them when I logged onto your site. Have you seen our finished product on: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~steve/robertwg/
I am hoping that you will see some portion of it that you like well enough to print in your on-line magazine, which would in turn, I hope, stir up some renewed interest in the Gilchrist history. With some luck, we might even get a discussion going about Chapter I and our clan affiliation, about which there seems to be several opinions. Also, there is a neat poem at the beginning of the site which Bob's brother Don wrote for their dad on Father's Day 1977.
I'm not a writer, but if there is anything I can do to help with a starter page, etc. I'd be happy to try it.
Best regards, Dean
Page 2: Col. Vic Clark and Argyll Colony Plus - Some Observations
Page 3: David Whitehead's Genealogy Special
Page 4: The Rat Stane // Gaelic in Kintyre
Page 5: A Campbeltown Family in Antrim // King James the Sext - XV Parliament xix of December1597
Page 6: Boswell, Johnson and the Rector
Page 7: James Watt at Campbeltown - Part 3
Page 8: By Hill and Shore - Part 1
Page 9: The Wreck of the Charlemagne
// The Ballad of the Charlemagne //
Copy of a Highland
Distillery License