Searching McKay/Ferguson/Matheson in North Uist 1830's

[Salpathal]

Hello Everyone.

I am stumped.  It seems I have been searching FOREVER for information re: my gr gr grandparents and have found NOTHING.  The information that I have is as follows:

Angus McKay b. North Uist around 1815.  He married Catherine (maiden name unknown) who was also born in North Uist.  They were married in North Uist around 1835 or so.  They had a daughter, Mary in 1839 and a son Donald who was born around the same time (1841?).  Then they emigrated to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and had ten more children.  I cannot find anything on them at all in North Uist.

Alexander Ferguson b. North Uist around 1818.  He married Flora Matheson b. around 1811 in North Uist.  I believe they were married in North Uist, but I don't know when.  They also emigrated to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and had children there.  Again, I can find nothing about them at all in North Uist.

Are there any North Uist genealogy wizards out there that can help me...I'm getting VERY frustrated.

Thank you very much, in advance, for any help.

Sally

[ellenbrora]

Hi Sally

Have had a quick look and so far have found nothing to help you    No immediate sign of any of them on 1841 census in North Uist. I have the full set of croft histories of North Uist, so hopefully with a little more information we might eventually find something to help. These are not indexed so its a mammoth task to try and find them without a bit more info.

North Uist was predominantly Free Church and so few records of births and marraiges pre statutory registration (1855) are available on IGI or ScotlandsPeople.

There was a major clearance from North Uist to Cape Breton in 1836, so we may not find you families on the 1841 census here. 

So first a load of questions!

What leads you to believe that Mary McKay was born in North Uist in 1839 and Donald in 1841 (ish)?

What are the sources for the rest of your current information? eg; what leads you to believe that Alexander Ferguson was born in North Uist around 1818? etc.

On the 1900 US census at Suffolk Mass, Alexander Ferguson, who looks likely to be the son of Alexander and Flora, b. Sep 1850 Nova Scotia according to submitted entry on IGI, declares that his mother was born Scotland, but his father was born Nova Scotia.

There is an ancestral file for Alexander/Flora on IGI (are you the submitter by any chance?). But it gives approx years of birth for Alexander as 1824 and Flora as 1828, and has them both born Cape Breton, Nova Scotia!

Do you have any emigration/immmigration details for any of them?

Do you know Alexander and Angus' occupations?

Can you give details of all children born to each couple (that you know of) in order of birth?

Let us have as much information as you know so far and we'll do our best to help.

Regards

Ellen

[Salpathal]

Ellen,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I will answer the questions as best I can.  Okay, here goes...

The information that I have is mostly from my grandmother (Katie McKay) and her cousin Rachel.  It is also from marriage registrations in Cape Breton, birth certificates, and census information in Nova Scotia.

My grandmother and Rachel told me that Angus McKay and his wife Catherine were both born in N. Uist on the dates I provided.  They said that they had two children there; first came Donald (I was mistaken before when I said that he came second) and then came Mary in 1839.  Then came the following who were all born in Nova Scotia:

Flora - 1844
Charles - 1847
Annie - 1858
David - 1859
Neil
Katherine
John
Jessie
Angus
Another son

Some of the ones without dates came between Charles and Annie, and some between Mary and Flora.

As for Alexander Ferguson, I am not positive about his birth date, it is just what I was told, but I am pretty certain of the Scotland, N. Uist part-- my grandmother was a wealth of information about family history and we picked her brain and wrote it down for years before her death.  Also, Angus and Catherine's son, Charles, married Alex and Flora's daughter, Sarah, (my gr grandparents) and when I found them on the 1891 census, Charles and Sarah both said that they, themselves, were born in N.S., but all of the four parents were born in Scotland.  Family history says it was N. Uist.

As for the submission of Alex and Flora on IGI, I don't know if they are the same ones. 

I don't have any emmigration or immigration information on any of them.  I'm not sure where to look since I'm not sure when they came.

Both Alex and Angus were farmers.

Alexander and Flora had one child that I am aware of:  Sarah Jane Ferguson, b. 16 Aug 1857 in Sydney Forks, Cape Breton and died in Glace Bay, Cape Breton on April 28, 1930.  Her married name was McKay (sometimes spelled MacKay).  I strongly believe they had other children, I just don't know who they were.

The death date of Alexander Ferguson is 25 Jan 1886 and Flora died 05 Feb 1892.  Both died in Cape Breton N.S..

I can't think of anything else to tell you about them, but if you can think of anything just let me know. 

I appreciate your help more than I can express--I know this is a big request!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart (and the top of it too!)

Sally

[ellenbrora]

Hi Sally

OK, I'm just trying to build up a picture of the families before I go searching in the croft histories.

It looks to me now like the McKays almost certainly left Uist before the 1841 census.

From 1880 Canadian census:

@ Ball's Creek, Cape Breton, NOva Scotia:

Angus McKay, Married, Male, Scottish origin, 72 yrs, b. Scotland, Farmer
Catherine McKay, Married, Female, Scottish origin, 64 yrs, b. Scotland.
Mary McKay, female, Scottish origin, 40 yrs, b. Nova Scotia      (so not Scotland as we thought)
Charles McKay, male, Scottish origin, 33 yrs, b. Nova Scotia, Farmer
David McKay, male, Scottish origin, 21 yrs, b. Nova Scotia, Farmer
Kate McKay, female, Scottish origin, 15 yrs, b. Nova Scotia
Kate McKay, female, Scottish origin, 5 yrs, b. Nova Scotia  (probably a grandchild)
Ann McKay, female, Scottish origin, 28 yrs, b. Nova Scotia
John McKay, male, Scottish origin, 26 yrs, b. Nova Scotia
Jessie McKay, female, Scottish, 22 yrs, b. Nova Scotia

The Fergusons are also @ Ball's Creek, Cape Breton in 1881:

Alex Ferguson, Married, Male, Scottish Origin, 64 yrs, b. Scotland, Farmer
Flora Ferguson, Married, Female, Scottish Origin, 66 yrs, b. Scotland
(to save my typing, all children below are b. Nova Scotia and classed as Scottish origin)
Mary Ferguson, female, 35 yrs
Donala Ferguson, female, 29 yrs
Alex Ferguson, male, 27 yrs
Sarah Ferguson, female, 25 yrs
Millie Ferguson, female, 40 yrs  (could be a daughter in law, and the following two children could be hers - grandchildren - all conjecture at this point)
John Ferguson, male, 12 yrs
Willie Ferguson, male 5 yrs
Charolet Andrews, female, English origin, 55 yrs b. Nova Scotia, Farmer.

So, what the above lead us to believe:

1. As you thought, all four parents were born in Scotland. But we only have word of mouth information at the moment to say that this was North Uist.

2. The McKay family almost certainly left Uist before the 1841 census.

3. The Ferguson family, at this stage, could still be in Scotland for the 1841 census.  In fact Alexander and Flora may not even be married by then. The first Ferguson child birth we have at the moment is Mary c.1846 in Nova Scotia.

I'm going to go now and have a further look at the 1841 in Scotland to make sure I've not missed anything, then I'm going to have a trawl through the croft histories to see what I can find.

Some other info from 1881 and forward in case you don't have it.

1881 @ Lingan, Cape Breton

NEIL McKAY, Married, Male, Scottish Origin, 33 yrs, b. Nova Scotia, Miner
Margt McKay, Married, female, Scottish Origin, 32yrs, b. Nova Scotia
Angus, 10 yrs
James, 8yrs
Kate, 6yrs
Jessy, 5yrs
Alexr, 2yrs.

Looks like Neil married Margaret McKenzie on 03 Apr 1869 @ Glace Bay, Cape Breton. She was b. 1849 @ Christmas Island, Cape Breton  of Scottish origin (family originally from Barra, which is a beautiful small island south of the Uists.). None of this information is as yet confirmed.

1891 census Ball's Creek, Cape Breton

DAVID McKay, now age 32, Farmer, is married to
Mary, age 20, b. Nova Scotia (both parents also b. Nova Scotia) and they have a child
Catherine, age 2 months.

Right off to have another go before I have to go out for a couple of hours.

Cheers

Ellen.

[Salpathal]

Hello Ellen,

You are my hero and a saint!  Thank you a million times over.  I wish I could help you in return, but you are obviously way better at this than I am.  However, I have a sister in Salt Lake City near the Family History Library and I will gladly volunteer her services to you if there is anything we can help you with.  (She is on the other end of my phone and knows I am volunteering her services...she is so grateful too!)

Thank you again for all your work.

Sincerely,
Sally

[ellenbrora]

Hi Sally

You're very welcome. I'm enjoying myself - I love a puzzle!

More questions for you..........

As you have Alexander and Flora's dates of death, does that mean that you have copies of the certificates? and if so, do they give any information as to their parents? This would help enormously in trawling through the croft histories.

I haven't found anything useful in them so far, but there are 5 volumes!! so there is still hope.

Trying to establish the children of the marraiges and their birth order is important too as generally the Scots of the period followed a naming pattern.

Often, but not always, the first son was named after the paternal grandfather, the first daughter after the maternal grandmother, the second son after the maternal grandmother and the second daughter after the paternal grandmother. Forgive me if you know this already!

Thus for example IF we have all the chidren born to Angus and Catherine McKay, it would be possible that Angus' parents could be Donald McKay and wife Flora, while Catherine's parents could be Charles ? and wife Mary.

Going to have another little root around before I head off to bed.

And thanks so much for the offer re Salt Lake City - you never know I might just take you up on that one at some point.

Cheers

Ellen

[Jared]

Sally,

I am one of your cousins from Glace Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.

I have some historical information to help you out in your search for the McKay Clan.

Charles McKay married Sarah Jane Ferguson (3 June 1884) in Caledonia Mines, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

Charles (b. 17 March 1843 Ball’s Creek)
             (d. 23 October 1908 Glace Bay)

Sarah (b. 16 August 1857 Sydney Forks)
          (d. 28 April 1930 Glace Bay)

Both Charles and Sarah are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Glace Bay.

Parents of Charles: Angus and Katherine McKay formerly of Scotland

Parents of Sarah Jane: Alex and Flora Ferguson formerly of Scotland

Children of Charles and Sarah Jane:
Alex (1887-1954)
John Grant (1892-1960)
Katherine (1896-1992)
Mary C. (b. about Nov 1884; d. 11 Feb 1891)
Lottie (b. 14 July 1984; d. 8 May 1901)
Mary Jane (b. about Feb 1898; d. 18 Aug 1898)
“Our Babe” (?)

Alex’ children (wife Catherine “Cassie” Moffatt);
Robert
Lillian

John’s children (wife Christina Martin):
Angus Morton (died as an infant)
Charles (bachelor)
Jean (m. Gerald Shaw)
Alexis (m. Aulay Verbiski)

* This is where you come in Sally…

Katherine’s children (husband Joe Patton):
Mary (never married)
Donald (“ “)
*Charles (1929-2008)
Sally, the last time your dad visited Glace Bay (about 20 years ago or more it seems), he and (Dorothy) came to my house for dinner. Charlie certainly never forgot his roots and had fond memories of my mom (Alexis better known as Lexie) and our cousin Robert (better known as Bobby).

In the fall of the year, I was surfing the web for information on Charles Patton as I had heard little from him since his last visit, except a xmas card here and there. I was shocked to see his obituary. He was an impressive person whom we were all proud of. I immediately sent Dorothy a sympathy card. I hope she received it. Our condolences go to Charlie’s daughters and sons as well.

Sally, I don’t know how far you want to go in searching out the McKay Clan of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I do have quite a bit of info on other members of the McKays from Balls Creek, but not all of them. But I am trying.

Bobby and Dave McKay of Glace Bay have been sharing information on this very topic.

After you respond to this article, I have a number of questions pertaining to your grandparents.

Your cousin,
Barry (McKay) Verbeski

[Canadian Cousins]

Hello,

I came across the references to Angus McKay and read all the above posts with interest.  I don’t know if you will receive this reply – my first one on RootsChat.com, but I hope so. 

My great great grandparents were Neil McKay and Margaret “Peggy” McKenzie.  Their oldest child, Angus McKay, married Mary Gillis and their only child was Jessie Anne McKay who is my maternal grandmother.  According to my grandmother, her father died of a “typhoid relapse” while she was an infant and her mother never remarried.

I have not done a lot of research on my mother’s side of the family.   I’ve been focused more on my father’s side as he would like to know the ancestry of his grandfather.  However, I have been in touch with descendants of the MacKenzies of Christmas Island, Cape Breton, who confirmed what little I knew – that their Margaret McKenzie married Neil McKay, a miner, and that he and Peggy had ten children:

Angus  [1870 - abt 1895]
James  [1873 - ?]
Catherine “Kate”  [1875 - ?]
Jessie  [1877 – abt 1893]
Alexander  [1879 - ?]
David  [1882 - ?]
Archibald  [1884 - ?]
Mary  [1886 – 1976]
Neil  [1888 - ?]
Annie  [1891 – 1910]

They told me that the marriage of Neil and Margaret and a listing of their children can be found on page 78 of  “McKenzie’s History of Christmas Island Parish” written by Archibald J. MacKenzie, Margaret’s brother.  Also, my grandmother Jessie sent me a newspaper clipping of the obituary of Mary McKay in 1977 with all ten children listed but out of order as my grandmother pointed out at the time.  It does appear however that the above order of children matches those listed as members of the Neil McKay family on the 1881 Canadian Census taken at Lingan, Cape Breton. 

The 1871 Canadian Census at Lingan Mines listed “Neal and Margreat McHay” which could very possibly be Neil and Margaret McKay.  No children are noted though.  This Census also noted that Neal McHay was born in Prince Edward Island and that both he and Margreat were Canada Presbyterians.  Our Margaret McKenzie McKay was Roman Catholic and on later censuses of the family is cited as such.  On the 1881 Canadian Census, all the children are listed as Roman Catholic whereas on the 1891 Canadian Census, all the sons are listed as Presbyterian and the daughters as Roman Catholics.  My grandmother told me her father Angus McKay had converted to Roman Catholicism and that his conversion caused friction with his brothers.

It is so unfortunate that the 1861 Canadian Census only lists heads of families.  So much information could have been saved for us.  Although there is an Angus McKay listed in Cape Breton with 6 sons and 4 daughters in 1861, I can’t be sure that one of the two sons listed between the ages of 10 and 15 is our Neil.
 
Prior to reading your posts, the only background I had about Neil McKay’s parents was that contained in one of my grandmother Jessie’s letters to me.  She wrote the following:

“When my greatgrandfather McKay came over to Canada first..he stopped at PEI and visited Friends..they gave him gifts of a cow, hens, etc to start his place up..and he crossed Northumberland Strait with all that and selected a lovely spot.  I saw his first home..one rm down and one up..then he went back to Scotland and brought his bride who was a McKay and married him..out to this lovely spot..he came in on the wrong side of the little brook and he had to wade over carrying her to her home..romance for her and wet pants for him.”

So, I guess the story waxed more romantic without the mention of two babes, Donald and Mary, left back on the boat, eh?  If indeed these two were actually the Angus and Catherine McKay you were discussing.  The naming of Neil and Margaret McKenzie’s first two sons and first daughter does match up with the grandparents, Angus and Catherine McKay and James and Catherine (McDougall) McKenzie.  But I don’t know if this is just a coincidence or not. 

Well, hope this wasn’t too long.  It certainly would be great to establish a link to our Neil McKay’s parents.  Let me know what you think.

Take care and God bless!

Sincerely,
Laurie

[CabbageJames]

Like many, I am on the hunt for Mathesons of North Uist that emigrated to Canada ---eventually farming in Cape Breton.  My great great grandfather was John Matheson born Sept 1839. It is written on his gravestone--"born in North Uist."  We have the information on John and his wife Janet, and we also have the gravestone of John's father Hector Matheson who was also of North Uist.
What we are curious about,  is more information on Hector and also any info on his wife Sarah.  We don't know her surname.  We'd appreciate any info you may have.  Thanks.