The Niven Family: Introduction

NIVEN

INTRODUCTION

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They came to America from Scotland, from the Isle of Islay. They were MacNivens; Daniel and his nephew Daniel. Once here, they dropped the "Mac" from their names and started the American Niven line.

From the Manuscript of the Rev. Duncan C. Niven, of Monticello, New York, as quoted in Nevin Genealogica, page 122, as well as in the unpublished manuscript of Bessie C. Niven, his cousin:

" 'The home of the Niven family, Islay or Isla, the ancestral home of our branch of the family is the most southwestern in the inner group of islands lying off the western coast of Scotland, known as the Hebrides. . . . The earliest ancestor of the MacNiven family that I have been able to unearth was Malcolm MacNiven of Cargostan, Islay. Just when he was born is a matter of uncertainty but probably about 1715. He was a man well to do for those days being a raiser of horses and cattle. The name of his wife is unkown to me. They had four sons, Daniel, Duncan, Archibald and Neil. Possibly there was a fifth one. I have no means of ascertaining which of their sons was the oldest but as Daniel was the only one of Malcolm�s sons who came to America and whose time of birth is known, I have taken him as a starting point. He was born at Cargostan, Islay, in 1742. When he was 23 years of age he determined to leave Scotland for the New World. Whether to improve his fortune or to escape impressment into the English naval Service is not known but probably for both reasons. He landed in New York in 1765, and there engaged in business. When the war between the Colonies and Great Britain broke out, with the love of the Highlander for freedom he at once joined the Rebel cause and was commissioned a Captain of Engineers in the Revolutionary Army. He continued with the army until it was disbanded at Newburgh, N.Y. He then returned to New York and carried on business as a merchant as we find in the New York Directory for 1786. Shortly after he removed a mile and a half northwest of New Windsor where he purchased a farm and milling property now known as West Newburgh. Here he lived until his death 20 November 1807. He was one of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati and was an ardent friend and supporter of George Washington. He was buried in "The Old Town Burying Ground" at Newburgh.

"He was twice married. First to Eleanor .....? who had sons Malcolm, John, Daniel, and a daughter Rachel. They with their mother were buried in the cemetery of the Scotch Chuch in Cedar Street New York. His second wife was Jane Wallace of New York by whom he had twelve children.

"Malcolm MacNiven�s son Duncan married Flora, daughter of Captain Colin Campbell and his wife Mary McCarty, and moved from Cargostan to Bowmore, where their son Daniel MacNiven was born 12 June 1766. Daniel landed in New York 16 April 1791, and visited his uncle Daniel Niven Sr. in Newburgh and then returned to New York where he was in the merchant tailoring business until 1799 when he returned to Newburgh and continued in the same line until 1810. He again returned to New York and then to Wurtsboro where he bought a property and kept an inn. He was married by Rev. John McMann, D.D. in the City of New York, 24 April 1798, to Ann VanRiper, daughter of John VanRiper and Catherine Post. Daniel Niven died 5 January 1867, aged 100 years 6 months and 23 days. ['] "

Bowmore can be seen almost exactly in the center of this map, which comes from Murray's Hand-book For Travellers in Scotland, 1903, posted by Laurel O'Donnell.

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