| Wellington County GenWeb |
| return |
Pioneer - KYLE, David
Biographical Sketches of
Early Settlers of Wellington County
Information from: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario.
Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906
|
KYLE, David
(d.), b. Roxburghshire, Scot., 1816, d. 1867. The Kyles are an old Scottish
family and were the possessors of fine estates, viz., Hilton Hill, Fens, and
"Lessuden." From an extract from an "Interim Pedigree" of the family of Kyles
of Fens of the county of Roxborough, made up from records of the parish of St.
Boswell's and from tombstones in said parish, by John Wight, accountant in
Glasgow in 1857, and notes attached, state that Hilton Hill belonged to the
Kyles in 1746, but Fens was purchased afterwards by Mungo Kyle, who was b. in
1718, and d. 1771, That the last possessor of Hilton Hill was old David Kyle,
succeeded by Thomas Kyle, Esq., son of Jane Kyle, heiress of Fens, who had
married her first cousin, David Kyle, son of Thos. Kyle of Broomhall, who was a
brother of Mungo Kyle, the purchaser of Fens, and father of Janet, his heiress.
The latter having no brother excepting one who d. in infancy, and Janet by
marrying her cousin and having a son as issue could thus hand on the right of
entail of the Lessuden estate, which otherwise would have gone to another
branch of the family. It was her oldest son Thomas who succeeded to Fens and
the entail of Lessuden , and it was he who was the father of the late David
Kyle, of West Garafraxa. To trace the Kyles back to the earliest recorded
progenitor mentioned on the Interim Pedigree above referred to, namely., Mungo,
b. 1651, d. 1711 the links of descent are as follows: -- The late David Kyle's,
of West Garafraxa, father was Thomas Kyle, of Broomhall, and his mother, Janet
Kyle, dau. of Mungo Kyle, purchaser of Fens, and to whom the right of entail to
Lussuden estate descended. Mungo Kyle's father was David Kyle, who was a son of
Mungo Kyle, earliest recorded progenitor.
The grandson of the first Mungo Kyle, the earliest recorded progenitor, m. Jean Park, who was an aunt of Mungo Park, the celebrated African explorer. The late David Kyle, of West Garafraxa, came from Scot. and set. first in Quebec, where he was a contractor and helped to excavate the Beauharnois Canal and other large public works both in Canada and the United States. Hearing that the railway from Fergus was in course of construction he came to Wellington County in 1856, but afterwards returned for some time to Lower Canada to carry out some contracts there. Upon his first visit to the county he purchased 200 acres of land, 100 acres of which is now owned by his son Thomas, and 100 acres by his grandson Clare. His wife was Agnes Brown, a native of Ire. The late David Kyle from the fact of his superior education and good breeding always was regarded as a prominent and leading man. He had a farm also in Lower Canada, now occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Robert Brown, and another daughter, Mrs. Lindsay, resides near by in that Province. The rest of the family are in the county of Wellington; William resides in Fergus, and is a large stock buyer; Gavin owns 96 acres, lot 15, con. 6, and 50 acres in con. 8, West Garafraxa. Thomas R. Kyle owns 150 acres, lot 19, con. 8, and David Kyle owns and occupies the east quarter of lot 16, con. 6, West Garafraxa. William is the only one of the sons not living in West Garafraxa. The Kyles are all considered good farmers, good neighbors, and are of an old family tracing back 400 years and ten generations, the traditions of which are lived up to by their present day descendants. Thomas has been township Assessor and has a son, Dr. Norman D. Kyle, practicing physician in Fergus. The late David Kyle, of West Garafraxa, during his career as a contractor in the construction of the public works, built in 1855, below Quebec at St. Charles, and the River De Lieux, several works in the way of the International Railway. The railway bridge below St. Charles, over the Boyer River, is still to be seen as a permanent monument of some of his past constructions, as one of the first builders of our Canadian railways. From: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. Toronto:Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906 |
© 2000 - 2004 Wellington County, Ontario GenWeb . All Rights Reserved.