Margaret L. Clarke, Editor General Delivery, Mirror, Alberta T0B 3C0
The family of William, the brother of John Richards McKay has not received the attention it deserves. William was about two years younger than J.R. and after the death of their parents in 1810 he seems to have gone with Joseph Beioley to the James Bay area, and he served at various posts there till 1832 when Beioley put him in charge of the HBC post at Mistassini, where he remained till he retired to the Red River Settlement in 1857, hoping to get land promised by the HBC to its retiring employees, a promise on which the company reneged. About 1815, he married Mary Bunn, a full sister of Dr. John Bunn "au façon du pays", and they had a church marriage in Red River in 1858 (St. Paul's, 8 Jan. 1858). He died at Red River 12 March 1864, and was buried at St. Andrews (#617). William was deeply religious, a fact which probably made him too thoughtful of the Indians to satisfy the HBC.
His eldest child was Joseph William Mackay, of whom there is a brief biography in the Encyclopedia of Canadian Biography, vol. XII. He rose to the rank of Chief Factor, and is known as the founder of Naniamo, B.C. Although William McKay himself used the Mc spelling of McKay, his children seem all to have used the Mac spelling.
Not much is known of the second son, Robert Thomas McKay (Mackay) who began his career with the HBC, then went to the U.S. where he became a successful dry goods merchant. He retired to Tacoma, Washington, where he acquired rental property and fell victim to the wiles of a spiritualist whom he married and who fell heir to all he owned.
The next child was Margaret, who married William Corston from the parish of Rendale, Orkney, a faithful servant of the HBC, who died at Moose Factory on 6 April 1890. She lived on at Rupert House till 13 October 1902. Much could be written about their family, but only a few highlights will be noted here. Their daughter Mary married Angus Faries and their son Richard Faries became an Anglican Archdeacon and assisted his great uncle, John Alexander Mackay in the compilation of the Anglican / Cree dictionary and the translation of the Bible into Cree. Another daughter, Jane Corston, married Ashton Alston. An Alston daughter, Mary Adelaide, married Charles G. Taylor, and was very active in the Thunder Bay Historical Society.
In the late 1800s the HBC ran into hard times and gave no employment to many minor servants. Among these were several descendants of William Corston. In order to survive, some joined Indian bands. As a result among the James Bay Cree are many Indians who are descendants of William Corston through his grandson Wiliam James Morrison, son of James Morrison and Jane Corston. Identifying these Indian descendants is a problem.
Another daughter of William and Mary Corston was Louisa Isabella Corston who married Charles Hugh Munro Gordon from Helmsdale, Sutherlandshire. He and two of his sons were in the HBC service, but so far I have not been able to follow them into retirement.
Returning to the other daughter of William and Mary McKay, Mary Fletcher McKay married Thomas Richards, an HBC servant who served in posts in Northern Ontario, and was in charge at Fort William when the Company closed it down. A daughter, Clara Caroline Richards married Frederick Henry Sutherland, who became a doctor in the Peace River area. Their daughter, Kathleen Mary Sutherland married Alfred Harold Bowtree who became an M.L.A. for Kamloops, B.C. Reverend Edward Richards, a son, became a missionary at Sioux Lookout, Ontario.
Nancy Mackay, possibly a twin of Mary Fletcher, married Samuel Taylor, an HBC stonemason. When Willam and Mary retired to Red River in 1857, the Taylors went with them. Samuel, an Orcadian, was the chief builder of the stone church, St. Clements. He kept a diary, which is now an important source for the history of his times. His children did well. The most important one was James Taylor. He became a farmer, and was a leader in efforts to obtain land grants which former HBC servants felt had been promised them. He was deeply religious, and decided to go into the ministry. He went to the Prince Albert area, and served in various Anglican churches in the area. He studied at Emmanuel College in Prince Albert (and later was principal there for seven years). He graduated and became secretary for the Diocese of Saskatchewan. He left that post in 1924 and retired to Portland, Oregon. One of his sons entered the church. Reverend Oswald Taylor was the minister in a Portland, Oregon, church for many years and there was a chapel in the church commemorating him. I think it is Grace Memorial Episcopalian Church, Oswald Taylor Memorial Chapel.
Another son, Ivan Roy Taylor went to Worwich, Rhode Island. There are descendants in the eastern states. Annabella, a daughter of Reverend James, married Melville Henselwood, whom she divorced. She became a nurse in Winnipeg and nursed the father-in-law of my cousin, Albert Percival Drever, in his last days.
Jane Taylor, daughter of Samuel and Nancy, became the second wife of John Edward Harriott, Jr. Her sister Louisa married Reverend W.C. Burman. Their adopted son Walter Burman became headmaster at St. John's College, [University of Manitoba] Winnipeg. Louisa and Mary's brother Robert married Sarah Ann Moore of an early HBC family. A grandson became a nuclear scientist with the U.S. government.
Elizabeth Mackay, daughter of William and Mary, married first Thomas Moar, who died leaving her with a young family. To give them a home it was arranged she should marry John McKay, a descendant of John Richards McKay, whose father was her cousin, and she had several more children. Elsie Mackay, the Selkirk historian was of that family.
John Alexander Mackay was the youngest child of William and Mary McKay. He was born at Mistassini, not at Moose Factory as most accounts state. He came under the influence of Reverend George Barnley and later of Bishop Harden, and became a clergyman. He went to Prince Albert where he became an archdeacon and was put in charge of Anglican missions in the North West. He was also a teacher at Emmanuel College. He directed the translation of the Bible into Cree and the compilation of the Church's Cree dictionary on which he worked with his grand nephew Archdeacon Richard Faries. His grand nephew James Taylor was secretary of the Diocese of Saskatchewan, and the McKays of Prince Albert were descendants of his uncle, John Richards McKay.
Editor's Apology
It appears I inadvertently inverted the birthdate of Elizabeth Montour in the data on James Curtis Bird from the HBC Archives. Her birthdate as found there in his prepared biography is 1789 not 1798 as it appeared in the last edition.
The article by Mr. McCloy which appears in this edition was sent 20 January 1996, and was probably among the last work he did. I spoke with Catherine Myhr, reference librarian at the Glenbow Museum Archives and she said that he visited the Archives a week before his death. Mrs. McCloy wrote me with the sad news, and said that he was only hospitalized for a short time. Our hearts go out to her in her loss. The memorial notice on page one is adapted from the formal notice she sent me. The rest of it reads:
" He is also survived by brothers John and Dennis, sisters Aileen and Kathleen, and many nieces and nephews. Pat will be missed by his fellow bowlers at the Bow Valley Lawn Bowling Club. At his request, there will be no funeral or memorial service. Pat was a strong supporter of the Salvation Army and any memorial donations can be directed there or to any charity."
When Mr. T.R. (Pat) McCloy, archivist and librarian, died quietly on April 9th, 1996 at the age of 90, he had spent 17 years as head librarian of the Glenbow Alberta Institute, and some 55 years following his own private research into fur trade family genealogy. His research followed a very specific plan. Instead of looking for all his ancestors, as do most private researchers, he decided to chose one ancestor (John McKay, ca 1760 - 1810) and endeavour to collect full data on every descendant, including all the divorces, suicides and illegitimate children. He also researched connections between families and colateral lines. He kept researching and passing on information until the end, sending a researcher a summary of a family line in January, and visiting the Glenbow Archives a week before his death.
His focused research and collection which began during his convalescence in England during WWII, link him with the beginning of hard research into fur trade family history, but because he was an archivist, he left a collection, not a book. He did develop biographies of the focal ancestor, John McKay, which appeared in the the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol.5, 1801-1820, and his eldest son, John Richards McKay, which appeared in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol 10, 1871-1880.
Mr. McCloy left his collection to the Glenbow Archives, where it is hoped it will join the Denney Papers in aiding Metis family research.
Please note the change of address on the front page. As of the end of May, the Newsletter is returning to the place of its conception. We will be publishing from Mirror, Alberta until further notice.
Other changes are also forthcoming. We are in negotiations with Rupert's Land Research Society with plans for a combined mailing with possibilities of further cooperation. We hope that this will result in a wider readership and a richer field of material from which to draw.
from David Courchane, 1301 - 3rd Street N.E. East Wenatchee, Washington 98802-4914.
[David apparently heard about us through Harriet Mckay. He sent along his records on the descendants of James Curtis Bird as well as a pedigree chart for the Montour family. The following is the editor's compilation of that material into narrative form.]
The information on the Montour family does not give sources, but briefly outlines Elizabeth Montours' paternal line. Her father is given as Nicholas Jean Montour, christened 31 October 1756 in Albany, NY, and died 6 August 1808 at Pointe du Lac, Quebec. Her mother is given as "Indian". Nicholas Montour's father is given as Andrew "Sattelihu" Montour born about 1700, died about 1775. Nicholas' mother is given as Sally Hands, born about 1728, died about 1823 in Ontario, Canada. The parentage is only given for Andrew Montour. The chart gives his father as "(Chief) Oneida" with no other information. Andrew's mother is given as Elizabeth dL Couc born about 1667 in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, and died about 1752 in Pennsylvania. Her father is given as Pierre dF dC Couc and her mother as Marie Mite Amecke. Finally, the table lists Pierre (dit Fleur dC Couc, born in 1624 in France, married to Marie Mite Amecke 16 April 1657, St. Maurice, Trois Riviere, Quebec, died 1690 in Quebec, with his parents, Nicholas Couc and Elizabeth T. Tampair. [The editor suggests that anyone interested in pursuing this line further contact David Courchane.]
The list of descendants David Courchane sent gives "Oo-menahomisk" ? a Swampy Cree, as the first wife of James Curtis Bird. It appears that the first children could be from her. They are: James Jacques (Jemi Jock) born 1792, George born 1794/95 at South Branch House, Levi born 1801 at Edmonton House, Henry born 1804 in Edmonton House.
He then gives Elizabeth Montour, born about 1789 of Nicholas Jean (dit Menard) Montour and an Indian, as the second wife. He gives no sources for those dates, but if they are correct, Elizabeth would have been three when Jemi Jock was born, five when George was born, twelve when Levi was born and fourteen when Henry was born. With these very young marriages, the age at first birth is usually about fifteen. Elizabeth would have been sixteen when the next child, Elizabeth Maria, was born in 1806 in Canada.
After listing their children, David goes on to list the marriage to Mary Kelly, previously Mrs. G.J. Lowman, and their three children. To me, it looks like James Curtis Bird had three wives, following the pattern outlined by Sylvia Van Kirk of moving from a native wife to a metis one and finally to a white wife.
This new publication by John C. Jackson, published by Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1301 S. Third St. W., P.O. Box 2399, Missoula, Montana, is an absolute treasure trove of information for those looking for ancestors or relations in the Pacific Northwest. It is certainly on my "must have" list.