Mary MacINTOSH (pictured at right) was born 22 January 1869.
She married Alexander LAWSON (born 1865), the son of
George LAWSON and Catherine McWILLIAMS.
Mary and Alex's children were:[4a,b]Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
Archibald W. was the eighth child of David & Betsey MacINTOSH. He was born 15 October 1835 [1] at Black River. On the first day of January 1868, Archie married Isabella SINCLAIR of Campbellton. The wedding was performed by Rev. James LAW, longtime Presbyterian minister in Rexton and father of the later British Prime Minister, Bonar LAW. Isabella was born 17 March 1841 [1], the daughter of Laughlin SINCLAIR.
Archie & Isabella's children were:
Deedie writes of her grandparents:
Archie died in April 1918 [2] and Isabella died 25 March 1927 [3]. They are buried in Buctouche.He was tall & thin & straight-backed, with snow-white hair & beard & bright, blue eyes. Grandma was small & dark, the true Celtic type. Grandpa was handsome & fun-loving, but very upright. He would allow no gossip in his home. He used to sing, often in Gaelic, and dance. He played the fiddle. Most of the family was musical, and the elders were always delighted if any of the children of the family could sing.
Grandma had a hoarse Scottish voice and a quick way of speaking & moving that was a little fearsome to me, as a child. But she must have been very kind-hearted, for all her children loved her dearly; and she took in a small, illegitimate baby (Little Jim) when she had three small children of her own to care for. She kept an immaculate house and did exquisite embroidery, and made wonderful, rich preserves. With her large family and busy days, she had a flower garden with blue-bells, heartease, blush roses, and a snowball tree in one corner, and back of the house at Black River was an enormous cherry tree, whose fruit she made into delicious preserves.
[1] 1901 Census, Kent Co., Wellington Parish, subdivision 3, pages 16-17. Reel T-6441.
[2] Family connections. His gravestone in
Buctouche Protestant Cemetery
says 1918, although Deborah M. Hale's transcription says 1919.
[3] Prov. Archives of N.B.
Index to Death Certificates (RS141C5). Ref. 415013, film F18918.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
Mary MacINTOSH (pictured at right) was born 22 January 1869.
She married Alexander LAWSON (born 1865), the son of
George LAWSON and Catherine McWILLIAMS.
Mary and Alex's children were:[4a,b]
Deedie recalls:
Mary & Alex were married in N.Y. City, where he worked for a brother who was a contractor. He was always intensely religious, having family prayers every night and grace at the table.
They returned to the old home at Mundleville, N.B. when George was a baby, and always lived there afterwards, taking care of Grandpa & Grandma Lawson and running the big, prosperous farm.
Aunt Mary had a tragic life, losing several of her children. The first Gordon and Archie died when they were seven or eight, Eunice when a baby, and Cousin George in young manhood. He was a prisoner of war in World War I and was killed in a coal mine while imprisoned. He was very gay & popular in the family.
George (pictured at right) joined the army in April 1915.
He was captured at the Somme on 8 October 1916 and sent to a POW camp in the Ruhr.[4c]
On 6 February 1917, George fell down an elevator shaft while
getting off shift in a coal mine near Bochum. He was buried in the POW camp.
In 1923 his remains were reinterred at
Cologne Southern Cemetery (or Sudfriedhof), Köln, Germany.[5]
George's correspondence with his mother and father while he was a PoW has been preserved by the family, surviving even a fire which destroyed his siblings' house in the 1980s. Transcripts of the preserved documents may be viewed here.
His mother Mary died 16 January 1937, and his father Alex died 2 May 1957.
Gordon was in World War II, but did not see active service, remaining in England during his service. On his leaves, he travelled in Scotland and visited Ayr, the old home of the Lawson family.
None of the children ever married. Gordon, Archie, and Isabelle tended the family
farm together, faithfully attended St. Andrew's Church in Rexton, and rarely ventured
far from home.
Deedie's recollection that the first Gordon & Archie died when they were seven or eight appears to be slightly in error: The two boys both died in the winter of 1900-1901. Helen Lawson has written that they perished in a diptheria epidemic.
[4a] Prov. Archives of N.B.
Index to County Birth Registers (RS141A2/2) and
Index to Provincial Registrations of Births (RS141A5).
[4b] Alex Lawson's family bible.
[4c] National Archives of Canada,
Ref. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5469-35. Regimental No. 444498.
[5] Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
"Aunt Bessie" (right) was born 3 January 1870.
Deedie remembered her:
Aunt Bessie always lived with us when I was a little girl. She was Mama's favorite sister. She was tall & slim, with curly hair & very pink & white skin and long, slender hands & feet. She played the piano, drew delicate landscapes, & made us all pretty clothes. She had a fine, bold color sense and hooked beautiful rugs.
She went to live with Great-auntie Ann when she was a small child, and had a very gentle rearing, with the advantages of a wealthy home. She had beautiful, unpretentious manners and always knew what was right to do & never swerved from her integrity.
She taught me things that were important to a child - how to pronounce difficult words, a song about a violet , how to knot my thread when sewing, how to mix my water-colors. I never saw her impatient, or anything but gentle and kind. She would teach good table manners by offering a prize for the one who was most polite, then would give us each a prize - little boxes of peppermint taffy she had made, each piece wrapped in fringed paper, & each box containing a note praising our efforts.
She was very romantic and had been deeply in love with her handsome cousin, Jim McClelland; but would not marry him because of the relationship.
She had a fine mind, but was very self-effacing, and lived a life of selfless service and love for the family, helping Mama while she lived, then caring for Isabel & Dot for two years after Mama's death. She helped bring up Aunt Beckie's children when Beckie was left a widow, then went, with Aunt Annie, to Duncan's home, when his wife died & left him with three babies.
When she was growing old, she got Duncan's little girl started in writing to us so the Melrose relations would still be kept in touch with the MacIntosh family.
Bessie died 24 June 1944, and is buried in St. Andrew's Church Cemetery, Rexton.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
John Ross MacINTOSH was born 5 Nov 1877. In about 1902 he married Anna E. SPEAR of Whitehead, Nova Scotia (b.23 Sep 1875).
Their children were:
Deedie writes:
Uncle John was jolly & pleasant. He was a cabinet-maker & used to work around Boston when we were children. Aunt Anna was a fine cook & a beautiful house-keeper, but we did not like her very well, for some unknown reason.
When Archie was about twelve, he was at Black River one summer when Isabel & I were there. He was a nice-looking, typical city boy, who knew all the latest wise cracks & songs. He had a very nice voice.
The family moved out west &, when last heard of, were in Denver, Colo. After the big flood there, they dropped out of sight & the family always felt they were lost in the flood.
There was indeed a major flood in Denver in 1921, but it turns out that none of the family perished in it. In 2002 I was contacted by Arleigh HAGAN, granddaughter of John R. MacINTOSH. She has filled me in on the rest of the story:
John applied for U.S. citizenship in November 1895 and was naturalized in October 1905. He and Anna moved from Boston to Kansas City and thence to Denver, Colorado. Their marriage ended in divorce there about 1922, and although John made some effort to keep in touch with his children & grandchildren the date and place of his death are currently unknown. His daughter Jessie last saw him sometime around 1940.
Anna passed away 28 January 1969 in Seattle, Washington.
John & Anna have nine known grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
Annie was born 14 July 1879.
Deedie, writing in about 1950, describes her:
Aunt Annie was always the stay-at-home, who made the bread & took care of the old folks. When she was young, she always helped Duncan on the farm, & went back into the fields every morning & evening to help milk. Good-tempered & helpful, she worked for everybody, & everybody took her for granted.
When Duncan's wife died, Aunt Annie went to live at his house and help take care of the children. She still keeps house for them in Rexton, and Duncan's children are devoted to her.
She cared for Grandma, Aunt Bessie, & Aunt Beckie in their last illnesses. All the family tragedy she has seen has not embittered her a bit. She loves to talk & to visit & to go places. She is a fine house-keeper & a wonderful cook. Her apple pie & barley soup are the best I ever ate. Everything she cooks tastes just right.
She broke her hip a few years ago & is quite lame, but she moves about as quickly as ever, and is very spunky and active, and has a quick wit and ready tongue.
Annie died 10 January 1961 and is buried beside her sister Bessie in St. Andrew's churchyard, Rexton.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
Isabella MacINTOSH was born 24 February 1882.
Deedie recalled that Belle trained as a nurse at the Malden Hospital in the United States. "She was very pretty, with a tall graceful carriage & a beautiful figure. She was one of the fair MacIntoshes, with pink & white skin & curly hair. After she graduated she was in charge of the operating room for several years, then did private nursing."
She returned to Canada at the time of the first World War. On 11 February 1919 she married Alonzo (Lon) McINTOSH of Harcourt, son of Andrew J. McINTOSH and John-Ann FERGUSON. To Belle's great sorrow "a tubular pregnancy ruined her chances of having children, but an adopted daughter, Mary, gave her some comfort & pleasure."
Belle and Lon moved to Rexton in the 1940s, near her brother and sister. Lon died in 1953, and Belle died 20 July 1963. She and Lon are buried in St. Andrew's Cemetery in Harcourt.
Their adopted daughter Mary was the biological daughter of Norman McINTOSH (1877-1955) and Elizabeth MASON. We suspect Norman and Lon were both descendants of Finlay McINTOSH, but this has so far resisted proof.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
Rebecca MacINTOSH (pictured at right, with daughter Flora)
was born 1 June 1884.
She married Gordon Baxter MESHEAU,
son of James MESHEAU or MICHAUD and
Flora MacBEATH of Mill Creek.
Their children were:
Deedie writes:
Aunt Beckie lived through the terrible experience of seeing her husband killed before her eyes by an enraged & drunken neighbour. [14 May 1922, ref.6] She went home to live with the family; but, after the fire, moved to Rexton so the children could go to a good school. They were handsome & popular & good students. George went to work in a branch of the Bank of England, after school, then later enlisted in the Air Corps. He was a navigator & was killed in one of the early bombing raids over Berlin. He is buried in England.
Flora became a teacher. She was very pretty and chic, but after George's death, became mentally unbalanced.
Beckie died in 1946 and is buried in
Buctouche.
George (pictured at right) died 7 May 1942, and is buried in Pershore, Worcestershire, England. Recent research by Mr. Andrew Long indicates that George's Wellington bomber went down on a training flight just a few miles from the airfield at Pershore.
Flora died in 1984 in Norton, N.B.
[6] Prov. Archives of N.B.
"Index to Death Certificates 1920-1950"
RS141C5. Reg. no. 017464, film no. F18920.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
David Duncan MacINTOSH (pictured at right)
was the youngest son of
Archie & Isabella.
He was born on 16 September 1888 at Black River. He helped
tend the family farm until both his parents had passed away.
He was the last of the MacIntoshes to leave Black River,
moving from there to East Galloway and later into Rexton.
On 30 April 1930 Duncan married Isabell Matilda WARD. Ilda was born 16 March 1892 to James G. WARD and Maggie McNAIRN. Duncan and Ilda had three children of whom two are still living. Deedie writes:
Duncan's wife died when Ruthie was born, & Ruthie only lived five years. His losses did not disturb Duncan's calm good-nature, and he [was] popular and admired.
Matilda was buried in St. Andrew's churchyard in Rexton in 1937. Duncan's sisters Bessie and Annie helped him raise his children. Matilda Ruth was lain beside her mother in 1942, and Duncan joined them upon his death 3 December 1974.
The house Duncan was born into still stands (2000) at 115 Boudreau Road in St-Pierre de Kent.
Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
This page last updated 2006 October 5.