McLeod Family's Home Page


A McLEOD FAMILY GENEALOGY

(Also researching Fowler, Campbell, Daye, Ross, McKenzie,

Buchanan, Jones, Miller and Stone in New Brunswick

and Lincoln in Massachusetts)

History, with its flickering lamp, stumbles along the trail of the past,
trying to reconstruct its themes, to revive its echoes
and kindle with pale gleams, the passion of former days.
"Winston Churchill"



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THE McLEOD STORY


This page is about my McLeod family's roots which run from New Brunswick, Canada in the 1700s to Maine and Massachusetts, U.S.A. in the 1800s and back to Canada in the 1900s.

My great, great, great grandfather, Donald McLeod, arrived in New Brunswick (N.B.) sometime in the late 1700s. It is unknown whether he was a single man or was already married to Margaret Morrison (b. 1772 in Ross Shire, Scotland, d. 20 March, 1840, in Campbell Settlement, N.B.) when he arrived but all three of his children, Jane (b. 1802 d. 27 February, 1842) (m. James Buchanan 12 April, 1827), Lydia (b. 1807 d. 3 May, 1855)(m. William Jones (1802 - 9 August, 1854) on 22 September, 1825) and Hector (b. 1808 d. 10 January, 1873) were born in N.B.

Donald passed away (when and where is unknown) and Margaret subsequently remarried, bringing her three young children into the home of her new husband, Duncan Campbell (after whom Campbell Settlement, N.B. was named). Margaret and Duncan are believed to have had 4 children, Duncan, Margaret, Christiana (Christy Ann) and Eliza although there is some question about Eliza as certain sources indicate only the three eldest children.

Donald McLeod's son, Hector, was born in N.B. in 1808. He married Sarah Ross in 1831 and they had 7 children:

Sarah passed away on 13 May, 1848 and Hector remarried to Margaret McKenzie (b. l817 d. 1902) in 1849 and had five more children:

Hector received a Crown Grant of 100 acres at Campbell Settlement from the government of New Brunswick in 1852 and he and Margaret lived there in a log house until Hector's death on January 10, 1873 (see the land grant records). It is believed that Hector was killed by a falling tree during a "chopping frolic" in Campbell Settlement. His oldest son, John, built a new frame house for his stepmother after his father's death. At a later time, Margaret moved to Portage Vale, N.B. where she resided with her daughter, Annie, and her son-in-law, G. Lester McCully, until her death from cancer in 1902 (see her wonderfully-worded obituary). She is buried at the Pioneer cemetery in Penobsquis, N.B. No further information is known about Hector or Margaret at this time.

Hector and Sarah's son, John (photo), was my great grandfather and was born in Kings County, New Brunswick. He worked as a station agent/telegrapher for most of his life. Census records indicate that he was a "scholar" until at least the age of 14. Where he came by his schooling, particularly the skill of telegraphy, is unknown. He did have an uncle, however, (Duncan Morrison Campbell) who was involved with the railway and perhaps it was the classic story of "who you know" that got him his first job with the railroads. John married Abigail Fowler (photo) (1848 - 1927) in 1875 (that's great grandma in the background!) in Penobsquis, N.B. Abigail had previously been married to William Penn T. Stone and had a daughter named Della S. (1870 - 1958) (m. Dr. Edward Heywood Lincoln).

Census records advise that when John was 34 years of age, he and Abbie were living in Maple Green, Restigouche County, in northern N.B. and that he was working as a station agent at Dalhousie Junction.

Over the course of their lives, John and Abbie lived in different parts of New Brunswick and travelled to Maine (ME) where John was the Canadian Pacific Railroad station agent at Seboeis (1895 photo of station). It is believed that, upon his retirement in 1913, John and Abbie moved to Amherst, Nova Scotia. It was here, in 1913, that John applied for his "Volunteer Bounty" and the medal awarded to the volunteer militiamen who had actively participated in the Fenian Raids in 1866. According to John's declaration, he was enrolled in the Militia Regiment of Kings County and served with it at Fox Hill under the command of Captain D.M. Campbell. In April, 1866, the regiment was called out by Governor's Proclamation and was ordered to march from Campbell Settlement to Norton where they took the train for Hampton. At Hampton, word came that they were not needed and they were dismissed by Colonel Saunders. Although John did receive his medal (it remains in the family), it is unknown whether he ever received his bounty (believed to be $100.00) and considering that he apparently never fired a shot at any "Fenians" (Irish Americans who were intent on taking over Canada), perhaps he was not considered worthy of government funds because correspondence indicates he still had not received same a year later.

At some point, John and Abbie returned to the U.S. and lived their later years with Abbie's daughter, Della, in Belmont, Massachusetts. Abbie passed away there in 1928 (read her obituary) and John in 1943 (read his obituary) and both are interred at the Highland Cemetery in Newburyport, MA alongside their daughter, Irva.

John and Abigail's first two children were sons, Frederick and Irvin, both of whom died as toddlers in Maple Green, N.B., before reaching three years of age. Both are interred at the Cardwell Baptist Cemetery in Penobsquis, N.B. They then had four more children, three sons and a daughter:

One of those sons, Frederick Ernest (photo), was my grandfather (not to be confused with his deceased older brother!). Frederick was married (photo) to Nora Elma Witham (photo) (1884 - 1921) in 1903 in Monson, Maine where he was working as a station agent/telegrapher. Fred and Nora had six children:

Nora passed away on April 20, 1921 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and on July 19, 1923, Fred married my grandmother, Mabel Annie Wakefield (1894 - 1969) in Edmonton, Alberta. Fred and Mabel had three daughters and two sons, one of whom is my father. They subsequently moved to Savona, British Columbia and the family has prospered and produced two more generations of McLeods. To protect the privacy of living family members, this is where the story ends (for now!).

***

I wish to thank the many family members who gave and loaned their prized family photographs and documents to me in order that this collection be made possible. Many have also assisted by allowing me to "pick their brains" about our family's history and I hope you all know how grateful I am.

Special thanks to "the olde cuz", Jack LaBrier, for all his assistance and moral support, to Shirley (Florence) Donaldson for helping me to get started, to Lee Gormley in California for her friendship and great contribution to filling in the blanks about our Fowler family and to Bill Fowler in Washington State and Louella Ryan in Maine whom, although recent Fowler contacts, have provided much information regarding the Fowlers. A very special thank you to Uncle Lawrence McLeod who laid the groundwork in this whole enterprise and encouraged me every step of the way.

And, last but certainly not least, I wish to thank my husband, Glenn, who has spent many years patiently listening to me prattle on about this adventure, tromped graveyards with me and endured hours alone while I sit at this computer... how lucky I am!

***


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Canada GenWeb
New Brunswick GenWeb
Kings County, New Brunswick GenWeb
Restigouche County, New Brunswick GenWeb
Last updated on 12 December, 2007

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