Margaret L. Clarke, Editor #29, Evanson Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
The McGillis Family came originally from Invernesshire, Scotland. They arrived in the United States in 1773. In 1783, they left New York State - settling in Glengarry, Upper Canada (Ontario).
Angus and Hugh McGillis - sons of Donald Ban Mar McGillis and Mary McDonell - worked for the North West Fur Trading Company. Both married native women according to the custom of the country. Hugh McGillis deserted his wife and family returning to Upper Canada.
Angus McGillis and his wife Marguerite Le Vent de Bout were married in Grantown (now St. Francois - Xavier) Manitoba on January 11th, 1830. They had the following children.
Marie McGillis married Cuthbert Grant Jr. - the famous Metis leader and founder of Grantown.
Marguerite McGillis married Bazil Delorme.
Donald - also known as Daniel married Julie de Rochblave.
Alexander McGillis married Marguerite Bottineau (my great, great grandparents).
William McGillis married Marie Campbell.
Isabella McGillis married Edward Wills.
Duncan McGillis married Marguerite Bercier.
Cuthbert McGillis married Marguerite Henault a.k.a. Delorme in 1842.
There is a strong likelihood Angus McGillis was born in Tryon County, New York.
Angus McGillis lived next door to his son-in-law Cuthbert Grant Jr. [in Grantown]. His wife was a native woman from Fort William, Ontario. Source of [family] Information - Clarence Kipling Papers.
Angus McGillis and the family were buffalo hunters. It is interesting to note my great, great grandfather - John Richards McKay, the son of John McKay and Mary Favell had a sister Elizabeth "Bethsy" McKay who was the first wife of Cuthbert Grant Jr. They had a son - James Grant. Both mother and son vanished after the Battle of Seven Oaks while Cuthbert was on trial in Montreal for his role as leader in the Battle of Seven Oaks on June 19th, 1816. Their fate is unknown.
Alexandre McGillis and Marguerite Bottineau became parents of my great grandmother Marie McGillis who married first Jean-Baptiste Paul. After he died, Marie McGillis married Alexandre Boudreau a.k.a. Cayen. They became the parents of my paternal grandmother Justine Cayen (born near Fort Carlton, NWT, now Saskatchewan, in July 1869). She married William Edward McKay -(born January 25, 1868) - son of Edward McKay and Caroline Cook, the daughter of Joseph Cook and Catherine Sinclair. Edward Mckay was the son of John Richards McKay and Harriet Ballenden. [ William Edward McKay (Billie) should not be confused with his first cousin, Willie Charles, (W.C.) the son of Harriet McKay (daughter of John Richards McKay) and John Dougall McKay (son of William Mckay and Julie Chalifoux. This William was the son of Donald McKay.)]
Harriet writes: I still don't know where my paternal great grandparents - Alexandre "Alex" Cayen and Marie McGillis went after he was released from prison in October of 1886 [for his part in the Saskatchewan Rebellion] or where they died. . . . I wish I knew of somebody who could help me. Some people tried to find out in Alberta but they had no results. [She has also enquired in Montana.]
Season's Greetings. Thank you to all those who sent in a submission or a payment for subscription. A reminder that those of you who have sent along significant submissions in the past, you are considered life members, and will receive a receipt verifying that. To those of you who are still thinking about it: Is there a piece of research you would be willing to share, or some family history which I may help verify, to advance the discussion here? Interesting areas of discussion could include the history of a fur trade community, a fur trade family, or an anecdote which illustrates that way of life.
My thanks to both Pat McCloy and Charles Denney for their submissions. Both of them wrote in with more detail on Donald McKay. I have combined their information with some from Jennifer Brown to give a fuller picture of both his early history and the end of his life.
Cousin Harriet McKay sent along a very nice write-up of the McGillis family, and a request for information. Thank you very much Harriet, and I hope someone can come up with more information for you.
Verna Redhead sent along a little article on her book on the Adams family. Thank you, Verna.
Best wishes for the New Year to all.
Last edition included a some notes from Dr. Jennifer Brown's files on Donald McKay, born at Gordon Bush, Scotland, in 1753, who died at Barney's River, Nova Scotia in 1833. The note says that "At Albany, May 4, 1793, when John McNab was Chief there, Donald McKay and a Cree wife who had two sons, Donald Jr. and William. Indians killed the wife and burned the house. Donald was left for dead."
Pat McCloy replied to this with the rest of that story: "When young Donald's mother was killed, he was left as dead, and his father nursed him back to health. He bore a great scar on his head for the rest of his life. Donald Sr. had taken William hunting with him when their home was raided. When Donald Sr. returned to Scotland in 1799 he must have left Donald Jr. with some of his wife's people, for when he returned in 1806 he brought William with him and picked up Donald Jr., for he had both boys with him at Deer's Lake. When he left the Northwest for good in 1807 he must have taken young Donald with him, and he was raised with the Scottish family, and emigrated with them to Nova Scotia in 1822. William remained in Hudson Bay till about 1811 when he too went to Scotland and was educated there. About 1819 he signed a contract with the HBC and returned to the North West, remaining for the rest of his life.
William married Julie Chalifoux and had a family. One of his sons, John Dougal McKay, married Harriet McKay, a daughter of John Richards McKay, and "Gentleman Joe" McKay was their son. A daughter Mary married Jacob Berens, chief of the Berens River Indians [Ojibwa]. A son William married Elizabeth Grant and they had a son, Cuthbert Grant Mckay, [and his descendants apparently live in Winnipeg. I have left out the last two descendants and Pat writes that he has more information, but it has to wait. ]
Some years ago I did considerable research on what became of Mad Donald McKay. Up until that time historians published what was pure speculation. Though the details of my delving into his story might be interesting to many people, I will spare you.
However, as the result of Pat McCloy sending me a copy of the 1887 obituary of William McKay, I knew that his brother, Donald McKay Jr. had died at Picto, Nova Scotia, about 4 years earlier. Eventually, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, in the last item a patient helper could suggest, I found Mad Donald had come to Upper Barney's River in 1822, (There are three Barney's Rivers) and that he had died there in 1833. He and Donald Sr. are buried in the nearby Kenzieville Cemetery.
Then to my great delight I discovered there Ken McKay, a descendant of Mad Donald through his second wife. That was not all, for Ken produced Mad Donald's narrative, a sort of biography, which appears to have been written about 1806. Though Ken was not about to part with the approximately 170 year-old original, he permitted me to take a typewritten copy to New Glasgow for copying. Once back home, I sent a copy to Mrs. Shirlie Smith in the Hudson's Bay Archives in Winnipeg. It had to be from this document that your writer learned of Mad Donald's death. It is a document around which a more extensive story can be written about Mad Donald's life, escapades, and participation in the fur trade. In the mean time, perhaps your readers will forgive an old man's boasting.
[My understanding of the note in Dr. Brown's files was that the story came from another branch of the family who live in New England.]
George ADAMS (1796-1865) came to the Selkirk Settlement at the Red River with the 1815 group [of Selkirk Settlers]. He had been born in Bermonsday, just across the Thames River from London, England. He married Ann HEYWOOD (1815-1898) and had 12 children. Ann was the great granddaughter of James ISHAM who came to the Hudson Bay area for the [Hudson's Bay] company in 1730. George and Ann farmed in Poplar Point, Man. George died in 1865. This first generation had married into other fur trade families: FOULDS, COOK, NORQUAY, BIRD, FRANKS, BRUCE, POCHA, SANDERSON, and SPENCE. In 1880 the majority of these families with their mother Ann, came west to the district around and beyond Prince Albert, N.W.T. One family stayed behind and can still be found in western Manitoba. To honor these great families, a book, gathering 7742 descendants of George and Ann ADAMS, was produced by Verna REDHEAD, June KELLY, and Jackie HOBBS. This 412 page book is indexed to make it easy to see if you are included.
Verna REDHEAD, 323 Macarthur Drive, Prince Albert, Sask., S6V 5X3.
The last chapter in the continuing story of Brandon House comes to us through several voices. Last time, we discussed Hugh Heney and the part he possibly played, not only in causing the mutiny but in disruptions to native families. The man who receives attention as his official opposition is William Yorston. If Hugh Heney is the villian in this story, then Yorston is the hero. Continually employed by the HBC at Brandon House from 1796, he had earned the respect of the Masters he served for and came to be the man chosen to be placed in charge for the summer, when the Master of that year and most of the men took the boats full of furs and country provisions out to the Bayside posts. He was in charge the summers of 1807 and 1808. In the outfit of 1808-09, John McKay placed him in charge of the new post "Manito-bah", and apparently left a letter addressed to the secretary of the Company, recommending Yorston to replace him.
Because of this experience, charge of the post seemed to fall on him until someone was appointed by the Company, and back from them when they failed, as Thomas Norn did before Heney's arrival, and Archibald Mason after his departure.
He is of interest here because of a single line discovered in a letter to himself from Thomas Vincent, Master at Brandon House (1807-08), which he included in his petition to the Company, pleading for a hearing after he was punished and then sent home after the "Mutiny".
That line from Thomas Vincent reads "I have sent you a small present for your Wife as likewise a Pair of Trousers for yourself." (HBCA, A.10/1, fo. 111B). When Yorston was sent home after twelve years in Brandon House, he unwillingly left a wife, and possibly a family behind.
Do any of my readers know of any descendants of this individual? I know that there were several other Yorstons in the fur trade. I would also be interested in discovering if these men were related in the Orkney Islands.
Happy Holidays