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Pioneer - MACCORMICK, William
Biographical Sketches of
Early Settlers of Wellington County
Information from: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario.
Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906
|
MACCORMICK, William
(d.), was born in Kintyre, Argyleshire, Scotland, in
1806, and died in 1900, aged 94. Among the first settlers of Puslinch
township who came from Kintyre, Scotland, few were earlier than the
MacCormicks. The first member of this family to arrive in Canada, was
Malcolm MacCormick, who came to Puslinch in 1833, two years after his arrival
in Canada, and settled first on lot 10, of the Gore. His family of eight
sons and four daughters were all born in Canada, except Angus, the eldest,
who was born in Scotland and died in New Orleans, in August, 1903. Of the
daughters, Mrs. Gilbert MacAllister and Mrs. Malloy, live in Erin township;
three sons, John, Neil, and Duncan, are farmers in East Garafraxa, and
Malcolm, James, and William, are located in Michigan. Angus, the eldest son,
began his career as a sailor at the age of fifteen, and soon rose to the rank
of Captain, which he held with distinction, on the Great Lakes and on the
Mississippi, for a period of twenty-eight years. During the American War, he
gave his services to the cause of the Union, serving on the U. S. gunboat,
"Tilley," until the close of the war. Later, at New Orleans, he was
Superintendent and Treasurer of the Crescent La. Ocean Steamship River
Pilots, for the Mississippi River. He was also Treasurer of the Republican
League, for the State of Louisiana, and was several times appointed delegate
to the conventions for nominating presidential candidates. Archibald, and
Neil MacCormick, were the next members of the family to arrive in Canada.
The former was drowned at Toronto, and the latter died in Puslinch, in early
manhood. William MacCormick, came to Puslinch in 1841. He had been engaged
in farming in his native Argyleshire, and prior to leaving for Canada, was
for a period of three years a member of the police force of the city of
Greenock. From this portion of his experience, he cherished many interesting
reminiscences, as well as a tangible token of the high esteem in which he was
held by the captain of the force. The voyage from Glasgow to Montreal, on
board the "Lady Charlotte," a sailing vessel of three hundred tons, and
carrying four hundred passengers, occupied five weeks and three days, a
faster trip than the average in those days. The crew consisted of the
Captain and four sailors; but certain of the passengers, more or less skilled
in navigation, took turns at the wheel, and otherwise supplemented the
numerical weakness of the crew. The journey from Montreal to Puslinch, via
Ottawa (then Bytown), Kingston and Hamilton, took two weeks' time. Mr.
MacCormick, with his wife and family came direct to Puslinch, where he
purchased rear lot 19, Gore, from the widow of Captain George Lamprey. At
that time, the farm was all bush, and contained many of the large pines for
which the Gore of Puslinch was once famous. The farm was cleared by Mr.
MacCormick and his sons; many of the larger pines being sold for a dollar
apiece, to Charles Mickle, who had a sawmill on lot 22, con. 1.
Mr. MacCormick was a Reformer in politics, and took a deep interest in school and church matters, being a Trustee of S.S. No. 6, for years, and a leader in Knox Church, Crieff, until his death, which took place at the homestead in February, 1900. He married first, Jane MacKay, in Scotland. Issue: Archibald, who died in Scotland; Mrs. John Currie, Middlesex Co.; William, Jr., born in Scotland; Donald, born in Puslinch; John, and Mrs. Colin Campbell, of Dorchester, Ont. Mr. McCormick later married Elizabeth, daughter of Angus MacMillan, of Puslinch. Issue: Malcolm, Mrs. James MacNaughton, Galt; and Angus, on the homestead. Of this family, William owns and works rear lot 18 of the Gore, Puslinch. Donald owns front lot 19, con. 1, in Puslinch, and John has his forge on said lot 19, on the site of the first forge-established in the district. Malcolm, whose portrait appears on another page of this work, was born on the Puslinch homestead, and attended the public schools at Crieff and Killean, the Georgetown Academy, and the Galt Collegiate Institute, under Dr. Tassie. Later he graduated at Ontario Business College, Belleville, and taught for two years on the staff. He then attended Eastman College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he graduated with first-class honors, and taught on the staff, as associate professor in the practical department. He subsequently graduated, with first-class honours, at Queen's University, in the course of literature and philosophy. Among the features of his university course may be mentioned: his securing the Cameron Gaelic Scholarship, as the best speaker, reader and writer of Gaelic; his election as orator of his year by big fellow students; his standing first in modern languages in the third year, and his being appointed critic for the Modern Language Society. In his fourth year, his pure accent and pronounciation and his fluent command of idiomatic French, secured his appointment to the staff of the University, as tutor in the French language. In 1884 Mr. MaeCormick founded the Guelph Business College, opening on Sept. 1st of that year. The college soon took high rank, as an educational institution for the youth of both sexes. Students, representing over twenty states, provinces and territories, have attended its classes, and the success of its graduates, in various professions and callings, has been very marked. In his important work as an educator, Principal MacCormick emphasizes the principle that quality is more important than quantity; and aims not only at educating the mental faculties and training the hand, but especially the building up of a strong, reliable, and public-spirited character. He is independent in politics, takes a deep interest in all national and imperial questions, and has the distinction of having founded, in his own college, the first Canadian Club. He is thus in no small degree responsible for the rapidly developing interest manifested in Canadian questions, due to the widespread establishment of Canadian clubs throughout the continent. He is a Presbyterian, and has been closely identified with St. Andrew's Church, Guelph, during the pastorates of the late Rev. Dr. Smith, and Rev. Dr. Eakin, both of whom were members of the faculty of the Guelph Business College. Principal MacCormick has been an ardent student of literature and language, and gives instruction by conversational methods in English, French, German and Gaelic; also instruction in Latin and Greek, as occasion requires. His literary work, in the form of metrical translations in both Latin, French, German and Gaelic, as well as in original compositions in both English and Gaelic verse, has already receive favorable recognition. He has been accorded an honored place among Scottish-Canadian poets, and is, perhaps, the only native Canadian Litterateur, up to the present time, who has both written both Gaelic and English verse. The name Malcolm (Gaelic, Calum or Colum; Latin Columba) has been handed down in the McCormick family for generations. Three generations back, Malcolm MacCormick served in the British navy, under Lord Nelson; and in defence of the Empire lost his life at Gilbraltar on the battleship Malta, under Sir Robert Calder. From: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. Toronto:Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906 |
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