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Pioneer - McKAY, James McBride
Biographical Sketches of
Early Settlers of Wellington County
Information from: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario.
Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906
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McKAY, James McBride
. The subject of our sketch is a son of the late John Mckay, of Aldboro'. The
pioneer of the McKay family in Canada was the late Angus McKay, b. in Kildonan,
Sutherlandshire, Scot., in 1791. In 1813 he was m. to Jane Sutherland, and the
same year, through the inducement held out by Lord Selkirk, they, with many
others, sailed for Red River, then called Selkirk's Settlement. They landed at
Churchill, on Hudson Bay, where on account of the scarcity of provisions, all
of the able-bodied people were ordered to go to Fort York, a distance of 200
miles. The journey had to be made on snowshoes, to which they were entirely
unaccustomed, and they were sent off with little beside what was on their
backs. On the way, Mrs. McKay was taken ill, and delivered of her firstborn
child. As, on account of the scarcity of provisions the others could not stay
with them, they were left behind until Mrs. McKay became strong enough to
resume the journey. It was for them indeed a perilous position; left alone,
thinly clad, unaccustomed to the wilderness, and exposed in the dead of winter
to the severity of that northern climate. Eventually reaching their friends at
Fort York, the party about July started in batteaux for Red River, a journey in
which they were obliged to pull up rapid streams and cross portages on rollers
and skids. They found the settlement in anything but a prosperous condition,
and during their stay did not taste a morsel of bread, subsisting principally
upon catfish, occasionally varying their diet with a little pemmican. Feeling
themselves betrayed by the promises held out to them and not fulfilled, they
resolved to go to Canada, and in March, 1815, they left Red River in bark
canoes, and in about six weeks reached Fort William. From Fort William they
started in batteaux , following the north shore of Lakes Superior and Huron
until they landed in Nottawasaga River, south of Georgian Bay. Mr. McKay look
up land at Aldboro', Elgin Co., about 1818, and soon made himself a comfortable
home. He was a Presbyterian, and at the disruption in Canada, he espoused the
cause of the Free church, He was an Elder in his church for forty years, and d.
in his 80th year.
His son, John McKay, b. as related, in 1814, m. Margaret McBride, who d. in 1842, at the age of 76, while Mr. McKay d. in 1906. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian church for aver fifty years, and a Liberal in politics. Issue: Jennie (d.), a prominent speaker on the Prohibition platform, in N.D.; Bessie, m. Daniel McBrayen, set. Bottineau, N.D.; James McBride, Angus Ross (d.), formerly a barrister at Winnipeg; Mary, m. Peter Stalker, living in Aldboro' ; John Samuel, in Montreal, and Maggie d. in infancy. James McBride McKay m. for his first wife Miss Marie Antoinette Humphrey, of Rodney. Issue: John Roswell, living in Bottineau, N.D.; His second wife was Miss Eleanor Turnbull, dau. of the late William Turnbull, of Brantford. Issue: Angus Reginald. Mr. McKay was appointed Justice of the Peace at the age of 26. In 1891 he started the Harriston Oil Co., and he is at present interested in many of the industries in Harriston. He has been Councillor, and was Mayor of Harriston in 1902-1903. He is on the Board of Managers of Guthrie Church, and is a Liberal in his political affiliations. ( footnote re: book printing error in the second paragraph ..... the date that is wrong, not the age of Mrs. Margaret McKay ) From: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. Toronto:Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906 |
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