Back to The MacIntoshes of Black River.
From land grants and petitions he shared with David in 1819-1821 we know that Donald McINTOSH was born about 1782 in Scotland, came to Canada in 1816 and to New Brunswick in June 1817, and was granted land at Glenelg settlement between David and Finlay. Based on Deedie's record we assume that Donald and David were brothers, sons of John & Euphemia. Although the petition makes no explicit mention of children for Donald, we know that David had one child at the time the petition was made which is not mentioned, so we don't assume that Donald was childless then either.
A Donald McINTOSH died intestate in Wellington Parish on 15 September 1849. According to the statement filed by his son Angus, he had (at that time) no widow, three sons, and three daughters. The sons were John, residing in Saint John; David, residing in Upper Canada; and Angus, residing in Kent County. The daughters were Nancy, Christina, and Sarah, all married and residing in Kent County.[1] It seems likely that this was the same Donald that received the land grant beside David.
But by 1950, contact between his descendants and David's was so remote in memory that Deedie Meservey recorded nothing about Donald other than the name of his wife: Catherine McCRIMMON.
Now we take a trip back to the other side of the Atlantic in order to trace this Donald. The marriage of David MacINTOSH and Betsey SINCLAIR is recorded in the old parochial register (OPR) of Glenelg, Scotland. David is said there to be a resident of Bernera, and so I naturally assume that the whole family resided in Glenelg immediately before they emigrated to Canada. Among the surrounding entries in the register are these christenings:
| Year | Infant | Parent | Occupation | Residence | Born | Baptized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1808 | Catherine McIntosh | Donald MacIntosh | Fisher | Bernera | June 10 | --- |
| 1809 | Ann McIntosh | Dond. McIntosh | Labourer | Bernera | Sep. 22nd | Sep. 30th |
| 1810 | Nanny McIntosh | Donald McIntosh | Fisher | Bernera | December 6th | |
| 1813 | Christy McIntosh | Dond. McIntosh | Labourer | Milary | May 13 | June 20 |
| 1815 | Flory McIntosh | Donald McIntosh | Labourer | Mielary | May 8th | May 14 |
| 1816 | Jon. Angus McIntosh | Donald MacIntosh | Labourer | Bernera | July 28th | August 3rd |
These parish records provide one vital link: Donald Beattie (nacelod@aol.com) is a descendant of John Angus MacIntosh. His family preserved the story that John Angus was about four years old when he came from Scotland to Buctouche with his family in 1820: This is without doubt the last child mentioned in the OPR abstract above, and proves that the Donald mentioned in the Glenelg OPR is the same one that settled near Buctouche.
Now, do all those christenings represent one family of siblings? Are Catherine, Ann, Nanny, Christy, Flory and John Angus all sisters and brother? This is a difficult question. On the face of it there are three Donalds: One a labourer in Bernera, one a fisher in Bernera, and one a labourer in Miolary. But a Highland peasant in those days could easily slide from labouring to fishing and back from one season to the next.
What about the locations? The hamlet of Miolary lies on shore of Loch Hourn, about five miles south of Bernera. (Note the "Bernera barracks" on the map below.) If these were adjacent to one another we might suppose confusion over whether the family lived in one or the other, or half-way in between. If they were further apart, we would take it as proof that there were two Donalds. As it is, they seem to be at a distance where we might suppose a tenant labourer could move between one and the other from year to year, but that is tenuous speculation.[2]