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Michael McNally, a
native of Epsom, Surrey, England was the first of the McNally line to settle in
New Brunswick. He came to the United States with his father, Richard Henry
McNally who died Oct. 10, 1780 in Flushing, NY. Research done by various McNally
family members shows that he was listed as a volunteer in Captain David
Kinlock's Troop of the British Legion Cavalry on Oct. 27, 1778. He was
approximately 15 years of age when he volunteered. He was later promoted
to Adjutant, February 1779. By the end of the Revolutionary War he
was an Ensign in the Prince of Wales Royal American Regiment. He was
mustered out of the Prince of Wales Regiment Oct. 14, 1783 in Saint John, New
Brunswick and first settled in Maugerville. A few years later he moved to
Lower Queensbury in York County. The area he settled in was later to
become known as McNally's Ferry. Pictured below is the sword belonging to
him. It is now in the hands of Rev. John Hugh McNally, his 4th great
grandson.
Michael
was born in 1764 and died at his home January 13, 1848. His
obituary stated that he was a professor of Religion. There are petitions on file
at the Provincial Archives that reveal he was the master of a school about
1820. The book, Fredericton, New Brunswick, British North America by
Isabel Louise Hill, includes the following about Michael McNally: " In
October, 1824 the Rev. Dr. James Somerville, missionary of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, wrote to London that he could
'recommend Mr. McNally, a teacher in the Parish of Queensbury, for the Society's
allowance.'" He married Sarah Ruth Bradley and had at least 15 children.
These children and their descendants have scattered to many parts of the world.
A further tribute to McNally's Ferry can
be found by following the link on my homepage. To find more information on
the descendants of Michael McNally you can follow the reports link from my
homepage.
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