CATHERINE MCINTOSH (1828-1925) GRANDDAUGHTER OF DONALD MCINTOSH

     The Donald McIntosh family arrived in the area known as Glenelg, in the northern part of Lancaster Township, Glengarry County, Upper Canada possibly as early as 1804, by travelling up the St. Lawrence River from the east.¹   They were part of an exodus of Scottish Highlanders who left their country in search of a new home that could provide a more secure future for themselves and their descendants.  Basic pioneering activities at Glenelg involved farming, church-going, and military service.  Donald McIntosh had several sons whose numerous offspring became dispersed in distant parts of Canada and the United States, after the burgeoning population of Ontario outgrew available farm land, although some of the family remained in Glengarry.

       The McIntoshes were squatters on Lot 24 Concession 17 of Lancaster Twp., Glengarry County.  Initially, the family lived on the north part of the lot but later moved to the southern part to a location that was higher and drier, instead of swampy.²  Four hundred acres comprised this lot and the adjoining Lot 25 to the southwest.  On 2 Apr 1812, it was arranged for Donald McIntosh to purchase the lots for £150 from Captain Samuel Anderson, a United Empire Loyalist who owned 1800 acres near Lochinvar.  The transfer was not yet finalized.  In 1818 the property became part of the eighth concession of the newly created township of Lochiel instead of the seventeenth of Lancaster.  The title for the lots was eventually granted on 6 Aug 1819, but by this time Donald McIntosh had died.  (See Appendix A)  His son John McIntosh apparently inherited Lot 24.  John’s brother Donald received the east half of Lot 25, and another brother Angus was given the one hundred acres of the west half of the lot. ³

       The name of the wife of the first Donald McIntosh is unknown.  Their son John had been born in Scotland in about 1780,⁴ followed by Donald in 1786.⁵ Angus was born in about 1792 at Glenelg, Scotland. ⁶  Perhaps this was where these McIntoshes had originated.  About forty families from Glenelg, Invernesshire including MacLeod, McGillivray, McCuaig, McLennan, McPhee and McIntosh had arrived at Lancaster Township with Captain Alexander MacLeod of Maoile or Myle, Glenelg.   Early in Apr 1794, they managed to navigate the icy St. Lawrence River to Montreal.  Bateaux brought them from here to Lancaster, and most members of the party settled in the area that became known as Glenelg.  Each family received two hundred acres as a Crown grant.⁷  It may be that the Donald McIntosh family moved to this area to join former friends and relatives who were already establishing themselves here.

       Glenelg became known as Kirk Hill when a small wooden church building was constructed near the Glenelg corner on the East Hill in 1820.  It was called the Lochiel Presbyterian Church of Scotland.  A fierce debate arose within the Church of Scotland in 1843 about whether ministers should continue to be appointed by the Presbytery or if congregations should be allowed to choose their own ministers.  Some members separated from the established church and formed their own Free Church as a result of the schism.⁸  At Kirk Hill, the Presbyterian Lochiel Free Church was founded on 7 Apr 1845 with a building completed in 1850 on Lot 27 Concession 7, just west of the Old Kirk on Lot 26 Concession 6.  A new building was also constructed at the Old Kirk in 1862 and the church was renamed St. Columba Church of Lochiel.  In 1911 this church became part of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, as St. Columba Church of Kirk Hill.  In 1924 the members voted unanimously against joining the proposed Union with other Congregationalist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.  The Free Church to the west, however, voted in favour of joining the Union, and it became known as the Kirk Hill United Church.  The family of John McIntosh attended "The East Church" and that of his brother Donald McIntosh "The West Church."

ST. COLUMBA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH KIRK HILL, LOCHIEL TWP., GLENGARRY CO., ONTARIO

      On 28 Mar 1810,⁹ John McIntosh married Ann McDonald born in Scotland in about 1792.  The minister was the Reverend John Bethune of St. Andrew’s Church at Williamstown, in the south part of Lancaster Township.  Bethune was a former chaplain of the 84th Regiment of Foot and had received a grant of land at Williamstown as a United Empire Loyalist, where he established the first Presbyterian Church in Upper Canada in 1797.

       Ann’s family of McDonalds was known as the "gobhainn fuar" McDonalds or the "cold blacksmith" McDonalds.  There is a story that one day her father was working in shanty.  While crossing a frozen river or lake, one of the horses on his team overreached and pulled a shoe.  Having the implements to reshoe the horse, he stopped by the side of the road and with some nails and a hammer, he reshod it right on the ice.  He was christened the "cold blacksmith."  From then on, the family members were all known as the "cold blacksmith" McDonalds.¹⁰  They lived just over the county line in West Hawkesbury Twp., Prescott County, north of the John McIntosh farm.  Ann McDonald had a brother named Donald (unmarried), and a sister Nancy whose son Alexander McDonald died in shanty in his early twenties.  There are no family members left there now.

       John and Ann McIntosh had the following children:

• Mary born 21 Apr 1811, bapt 18 Aug 1811 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Williamstown. ¹¹
• Donald born 3 Nov 1812, bapt Feb 1813 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Williamstown. ¹²
• Christina born abt 1818, married¹³ Olaus MacLeod (1816-1896), son of Norman MacLeod and Sara MacQuaig, by license on 29 July 1841 at Lochiel Church of Scotland, homesteaded at Lot 27 Conc 8 Kenyon Twp., Glengarry Co., died 5 Feb 1896.  Children:¹⁴ Catherine born 23 Oct 1842, married G. Deihl; Alexander born 3 May 1844; Donald Olaus born 3 Apr 1846, married Catherine McCaskill (1850-1936), a sister of Alex McCaskill who married Christie Ann McLennan; Angus born 14 Mar 1848, unmarried; Duncan born 14 July 1850, married Margaret Clark, lived in Ottawa; Ann born 13 June 1852, married D.R. MacIntosh, moved to Seattle, Washington, USA; Janet (Jessie) born 18 Oct 1854, married E. Roberts, moved to New York, USA; John born 3 Dec 1859, married Isabel MacGillivray, was an artist in New York.
• Finlay born abt 1820 in Upper Canada, a tailor, married Nancy MacLeod (1827-24 Nov 1904) (See Appendix C), daughter of Alexander MacLeod and Catherine Fraser, by license on 19 Jul 1849,¹⁵ died 2 Jan 1889 in Lochiel Twp.¹⁶  Children: Janet born abt 1850; Alexander born abt 1851; John born abt 1854; Donald born abt 1857; Catherine born abt 1859; William born abt 1861; Christy Ann born abt 1863; Ewan (Hugh) born abt 1865; Alexander Norman born abt 1867.¹⁷  Alex, Dan, Willie and Hughie moved to Brainerd, Minnesota, USA and their mother Nancy lived there with Dan after Finlay died until the time of her own death.¹⁸
• Mary born 21 Nov 1821 in Lochiel Twp., bapt 20 Dec 1821 at Lochiel Church of Scotland, married Roderick McLennan (born in Scotland abt 1821) by license on 4 Jul 1844 at Lochiel Church of Scotland, died 2 Jun 1916 at Clear Springs, Manitoba. ¹⁹(See Appendix C) Children: Mary born 11 Jun 1845, bapt 18 Jul 1845 at Lochiel Church of Scotland, married William McLeod; Janet born abt 1848; Alexander born abt 1849; Kenneth born abt 1850; Christy Ann born 18 Nov 1855, married Alexander McCaskill (born 7 Dec 1845);²⁰ Annie; John Donald; Wilhemina ; Roderick; Rebecca²¹ born 10 Jan 1863, married Malcolm McCaskill (born 15 Nov 1848)²²(See Appendix C). Mary lived in the Winnipeg area and at Glen Ewen, Saskatchewan, Kenneth in Wyoming, USA, while Christie Ann and Rebecca moved to Clear Springs.  After Janet died at Vankleek Hill, her mother Mary moved to Clear Springs to live with Christie Ann.²³
• John born 25 Sept 1823, bapt 5 Oct 1823 at Lochiel Church of Scotland, married Flora McGillivray (abt 1832-7 Jan 1907),²⁴ died 6 Apr 1886 Lochiel Twp., ²⁵ buried at St. Columba Church of Scotland, called Little John.    The log house built by John McIntosh Sr. on Lot 24 was occupied by the family of his son, Little John.  It has been faced with red brick siding and is over one hundred and fifty years old.  It looks west toward the former Donald McIntosh residence on the adjacent lot 25.  Children: Janet born abt 1854; Donald J. born 10 Aug 1858, bapt 14 Nov 1858 at Lochiel Church of Scotland, married Catherine Fraser, a daughter of Duncan Fraser and Anne McGillivray,²⁶ moved to Field Brook, California, U.S.A.; Murdoch J. born 22 Jul 1860, bapt 2 Oct 1860 at Lochiel Church of Scotland, died 22 Dec 1907 at Eureka, Cal. of lung trouble,²⁷(See Appendix C) unmarried; Ann born 3 Apr 1862, bapt 6 Apr 1862 at St. Columba Church of Scotland; Ann Mary bapt abt 24 Aug 1863 at St. Columba Church of Scotland; Margaret Harriet born 26 Oct 1865, bapt 8 Apr 1866 at St. Columba Church of Scotland; Flora Ellen born 31 Dec 1867, bapt 23 Feb 1868 at St. Columba Church of Scotland, died 24 Jan 1882 in Lochiel Twp. of diphtheria;²⁸ John Neil born abt 1872, lived at Madawaska, Ont., Waterloo, Que. and in B.C., worked as a locomotive engineer with CNR;²⁹ Malcolm born abt Jun 1873 in Lochiel Twp., died Jan 1882 of diphtheria.³⁰
  
• Ann born 4 Oct 1825, bapt 9 Oct 1825 at Lochiel Church of Scotland.³¹ 
• Catherine born 6 Jul 1828, bapt 26 Jul 1828 at Lochiel Church of Scotland,³² married Allan the Cooper McDonald (1828-abt 1875), son of Hector McDonald and Margaret McPhee,³³ died 2 Feb 1925 at Montreal, Que., ³⁴ buried at Maxville, Ont.³⁵(See Appendix C).  Children: Flora born 19 Mar 1858 at 20th Conc. Indian Lands, bapt 21 Jun 1858 at Lochiel Church of Scotland,³⁶ married John Lamouche, died abt 1908;³⁷  Donald born abt 1861, married Martha, died 17 Nov 1949 at Regina, Sask.; Annie Bella born abt 12 Jul 1864 at Moose Creek, Stormont Co. or in Glengarry Co., married Richard Thomas Cox (1856-1939) at Montreal on 7 May 1885,³⁸ died 28 Jan 1958 at Regina;³⁹  Alexander Archie born abt 1863-64 or 7 May 1868 at Dunvegan, Ont.,⁴⁰ married Fanny Willows (born 1870) ⁴¹ on 6 Dec 1893; Margaret born abt 1867, married William Hurd on 14 Nov 1895;⁴²  Mary Flora born abt 1870, died abt 1890 of tuberculosis.

HOME OF  JOHN AND ANN MCINTOSH  & FAMILY

     John McIntosh Sr.⁴³ died between 1861 and 1871 and his wife Ann died 18 Sept 1879 at Lot 24 Conc. 8 Lochiel Twp.⁴⁴ It is thought that they are buried in the cemetery at St. Columba Presbyterian Church, Kirk Hill, in the same plot as John Jr. and Flora.⁴⁵  A tall, white monument located a short distance northeast of the front steps of the church marks the burial plot.  The inscription on one of the four sides of the stone reads John McIntosh died April 6, 1886  Age 62 years .  An adjacent side records the death of his wife Flora McGillivray, but it is nearly illegible.  It is impossible to tell whether the other two sides had writing on them at one time or not.⁴⁶  The burial ground division recorded in the church register for various families shows the McIntoshes having five lots in the 5 range between the Camerons and the MacLeods.⁴⁷

GRAVESTONE OF JOHN MCINTOSH & WIFE FLORA MCGILLIVRAY & POSSIBLY OTHER MCINTOSH FAMILY MEMBERS CEMETERY OF ST. COLUMBA'S  PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, KIRK HILL, LOCHIEL TWP., GLENGARRY CO., ONTARIO

  Donald McIntosh married Isabella MacLeod in the parish of St. Andrew’s, Williamstown on 2 Mar 1813.⁴⁸  She was born about 1794⁴⁹ in Lancaster Twp.  Their children were:

• Ann born 5 May 1821, bapt 14 May 1821 at Lochiel Church of Scotland.
• Donald born 1823 in Lochiel Twp., married Ann MacLeod daughter of Roderick MacLeod and Sara McRae on 18 Feb 1862,⁵⁰ died 18 Sept 1876 in Lochiel Twp.,⁵¹ buried at Kirk Hill United Church Cemetery, Lochiel Twp. Children: Mary moved to Regina, Sask., unmarried; Samuel (unmarried); Cathrine married Findlay MacCuaig, moved to Winnipeg, Man., no children; John; Isabella (unmarried); Malcolm Donald born 1874, died of diphtheria 25 Dec 1881;⁵² Sara Ann (unmarried). ⁵³

• Rachel born 9 Oct 1829, bapt 1 Nov 1829 at Lochiel Church of Scotland.
• Janet born about 1833, married Neil McIntosh, son of Norman McIntosh and Christena Morrison, on 29 Jan 1868,⁵⁴ died 1898 in Lochiel Twp.  Neil died 24 Oct 1902 of pneumonia.  Children: Donald John;⁵⁵ Christena died of bronchitis on 24 Oct 1902 just fifteen minutes before her father passed away⁵⁶ (See Appendix C); Ewan (Hugh), unmarried, died 1927; Mary Isabella married Malcolm Fraser of Baltics Corners 7th Conc. Kenyon Twp. in 1896;⁵⁷ Margaret married Donald Benton who died before 1902;⁵⁸John; Bella who married Mr. Fraser of Kenyon Twp.;⁵⁹ another daughter, name unknown.  In 1878 Neil McIntosh purchased Lot 26 Conc. 9 of Lochiel Twp. from the Camerons, including the old building that was the former Bullfrog Tavern,⁶⁰ a famous stopping point for stagecoaches on the road between Cornwall and Ottawa near Lochinvar.
• Christina born 28 Nov 1837, bapt 24 Jan 1838 at Lochiel Church of Scotland.

     The house built by Donald McIntosh⁶¹ was lived in by his son Donald and later his grandchildren, Sam, Bella and Sara.⁶²  It was a one and a half storey log house that faced south.  There was a staircase in the centre going up to bedrooms from the main room.  A summer kitchen off the back of the house was used for cooking to help keep the rest of the house cool.  This house is now being used as a storage shed.  It is quite decrepit.⁶³
 

HOME OF DONALD AND ISABELLA MCINTOSH & FAMILY

     The headstone of Donald McIntosh and his wife Isabella is found in the cemetery at the Kirk Hill United Church and reads Donald McIntosh 1786-1870 and Isabella McLeod 1793-1877.  On the same stone is a record of their son Donald McIntosh 1823-1876 and his wife Annie McLeod 1841-1912, with their children Sam McIntosh 1864-1933 and Malcolm D. 1874-1881.  At the east edge of the cemetery, another gravestone records other children of Donald and Ann as McIntosh John 1869-1938, Isabella 1871-1956, Sarah Ann 1876-1959. ⁶⁴

        Angus McIntosh married Christena McCrimmon (born 1798 at Swordale, Glenelg, Scotland),⁶⁵ daughter of Donald McCrimmon and Anna MacLeod, at the Lochiel Church of Scotland on 10 Apr 1821.  The McCrimmons had arrived on Lot 35 Concession 8 of Lochiel in 1817. ⁶⁶  Angus and Christena had a family of:

• Christena born abt 1833,⁶⁷ married Donald Duncan MacGillivray.⁶⁸ Children:⁶⁹ Mary Ann born abt 1855; Christena (6 Mar 1859-18 Feb 1942) married Angus Ranald MacDonald (born 1851) on 3 Oct 1882;⁷⁰ Mary Catherine born abt 1861; Margaret Ann born 19 Mar 1863, bapt 15 Apr 1863, parents’ location given as Lot 28 Conc 7 of Lochiel Twp.;⁷¹ Angus born 21 June 1865, bapt 11 Sept 1865;⁷² Ewan born abt 1866.
• Sarah married Norman MacLeod⁷³
• Donald born 2 Feb 1822, bapt 26 Feb 1822 at Lochiel Church of Scotland
• Neil
• Donald
• Catherine born 13 Jan 1823 in Lochiel Twp., bapt 10 Mar 1823 at Lochiel Church of Scotland
• Mary born 23 Nov 1824 in Lochiel Twp., bapt 24 Dec 1824 at Lochiel Church of Scotland
• John born 30 Jul 1826 in Lochiel Twp., bapt 7 Aug 1826 at Lochiel Church of Scotland
• Margaret
• Ann
• Hugh or Angus
• Eliza

     Angus and Christena are found in the 1851 census of Kincardine Twp., Bruce County with seven of their children.  His occupation is listed as innkeeper and the agricultural census gives the location as Lots 21 and 22 Concession Lakeshore.⁷⁴  Evidently, Angus returned to Lochiel Twp. later in life.  In 1871 he was living with the family of his daughter Christena and her husband Donald MacGillivray.⁷⁵  His death certificate shows that he died in Lochiel Twp. on 13 Mar 1876.⁷⁶  The "Annotated Farmer’s Almanac of Angus Alexander McMillan" associates this death with Lot 25 Conc. 8 Lochiel Twp.⁷⁷

       John and Angus McIntosh were privates in the 2nd Regiment of the Glengarry Militia in the 1st Flank Company during the war of 1812.⁷⁸  For military service they received the following grants of land: Angus McIntosh- 100 acres south half Lot 11 Concession 8 Caledonia Twp., Prescott County 2 Jul 1828.  John McIntosh- 100 acres Lot 11 and east half of lot 12 Concession 10 Caledonia Twp. 2 Jul 1828.⁷⁹  In 1875 the Canadian government distributed funds to veterans of the War of 1812 who were still living at that time.  Angus McIntosh, age 82, of Lochiel, Glengarry, a private during 1812-15, received $20.00.⁸⁰

       The Donald McIntosh family of Scotland arrived in the area of Glenelg, Glengarry County in the early 1800s in search of opportunity.  As pioneers, they helped establish an early agricultural community in what is now the province of Ontario.  Like members of most other Glengarry families, many McIntosh descendants migrated to distant locations when rural population exceeded the available farm land, and other options became available in urban centres or on new frontiers.  Progeny who have travelled to visit Glengarry several generations later have been pleasantly surprised to find a welcoming neighborhood where they still have roots and distant relatives.

185

Registered at half past Ten Oclock in the Forenoon of Friday the Sixth day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand Eight Hundred and Nineteen upon the affidavit of Donald McIntosh.  R. Hammond Deputy Register

  A Memorial to be registered pursuant to the Laws of the province of Upper Canada of an Indenture bearing date (at Cornwall in the province of Upper Canada, the Second day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and twelve, made by and between Samuel Anderson of the township of Cornwall in the County of Stormont in the Eastern District of the province of Upper Canada) Esquire, of the one part and the late Donald McIntosh of the township of Lancaster in the County of Glengarry in the Eastern District and province aforesaid, yeoman (deceased) of the other part; Purporting to be an Indenture of Bargain and Sale whereby the said Samuel Anderson Esquire for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds of lawful money of the said province to him in hand paid by the said Donald McIntosh and the receipt thereof acknowledged hath granted bargained, sold, aliened, transferred, conveyed and confirmed unto the said Donald McIntosh and his heirs and assigns forever all that certain parcel or tract of Lands situate in the township of Lancaster in the County of Glengarry in the Eastern District of the province of Upper Canada being composed of Lots Number twenty four and twenty five in the Seventeenth concession of the said township of Lancaster containing by admeasurement Four Hundred Acres be the same more or less which said Four Hundred acres of Land are butted and bounded or may be otherwise known as follows, (that is to say).  Commencing at posts in front of the said concession at the South East angle of each of the said Lots respectively, Thence North twenty four degrees west, one hundred and five chains twenty Seven links more or less to the allowance for road in the rear of the said Concession; Thence South sixty six degrees west.  Nineteen Chains more or less is the western limits of the said Lots respectively: Thence South twenty four degrees East one hundred and five chains twenty seven links, more or less to the allowance for Road in front of the said concession; Then North Sixty six degrees East, nineteen chains more or less to the place of beginning at each of the said lots.
 

186

Together with all Houses out houses woods and waters thereon erected lying and being and all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances to the said premises in any were belonging, and the reversion and reversions remainder and remainders rents issues and profits thereof; and all the Estate, right, title, interest claim, property and demand whatsoever either at Law, or in Equity of him the said Samuel Anderson of, in, to, or out of the same and every part thereof; under the reservations, limitations and conditions expressed in the Original Grant from the Crown.  To Have and to Hold the same with the appurtenances, freed and discharged from all incumbrances whatsoever unto the said Donald McIntosh his heirs and assigns to the sole and proper use, benefit and behoof of the said Donald McIntosh his heirs and assigns forever.  Which said Indenture is witnessed by Cyrus Anderson and Donald McIntosh Jun Both of the Eastern District and Province aforesaid Gentlemen, and this Memorial thereof is hereby required to be registered by Samuel Anderson the Grantor therein named.  Witness my Hand and Seal at Cornwall the twenty Sixth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight Hundred and Nineteen.

  Signed and Sealed
in presence of      Signed    S. Anderson
Signed: C. Anderson
Signed Donald McIntosh
 
 

Memorial located by D. Granger
Transcribed by D. Granger and C. Dunbar