McDonald - Urquhart & Glenmoriston

[kfrye173]

Thank you for the book link Don, was quickly able to find Donald Grant Sen (with Crosky spelling for Craskie) and his son Duncan.  Also saw the other Donald Grant Jun., which is not directly related to my Sen.  just a naming convention to differentiate between the two as they signed up for service.

Also found my other 5th GGF William Buy Cameron who was captured and was to be hung before he was pardoned by the Governor. He also made it to Charlottenburgh.  I probably have some McD links as well, just too many of the same name to know for sure.   

[Chris_RiverRaisin]

Thanks for all this, Kevin!  I've also read your 'Version 6 Craskie Line' on ancestry.ca: it's all very interesting and compelling.

Sorry for my delay in responding -- needles to say, I do not check this site often.

I agree that we do not yet know who the parents of Donald Grant of Craskie (1744-1806) might have been.

The fact that an elder son was called Duncan may, as you say, be a hint, although there is evidence Donald Grant of Craskie ('the weaver') also had elder sons named John and Alexander, who may or may not have come to Canada, and whose years of birth are unconfirmed.

In the Loyalist claims, evidence is given in 1788 by a 'John McDonell of Baldrom' (which I take to be Ballintrom on your map, just east of Craskie) who says that his son and son-in-law went 'at first' -- i.e. joined Sir John Johnson's regiment in 1776.

These two are almost certainly John Ban McDonell (1743-1831), who settled on lot 9 in Glen Road (on the south side of the south branch of the River Raisin) in Chralottenburgh, and Donald Grant of Craskie (1744-1806) who as you know settled on lot 13 of South Branch Road in the same township.

One hypothesis is that Donald Grant of Craskie was married -- probably as a second wife -- to John Ban's sister.

Baptismal records from the Dutch Reformed Church at Fonda on the Mohawk show that Donald and Nancy (or Anna) Grant had a son Donald (born April 26th, 1778) and a daughter Mary (baptized October 28 1780, aged ten weeks) in Fonda, near their lands on the Kingsborough patent.

In this case, if Donald Grant of Craskie the weaver (1744-1806) had a wife named Margaret, as is often claimed in the literature, she probably died before 1778 -- a conclusion the oral record (documented but without written death records) seems to support.

A second hypothesis is that John McDonell of Baldrom's wife was a sister to Donald Grant of Craskie's parent, though this seems somewhat less likely.

My own reading of your analysis and that of John E. Grant and others (Goulet, Gressel, Young etc) is that there are currently two plausible options for the identity of Donald Grant of Craskie's father.  He could be Alexander Grant (1710-43), younger of Craskie, the probable brother of Patrick (Black Peter) Grant (1715->61), or he could be a son of John Roy Grant (b 1705), who is often given as the brother of Isobel Grant (b 1702), who in 1720 married Patrick Grant VIII of Glenmoriston.

One issue that needs to be resolved is whether, as John E Grant and others have claimed, John Grant of Craskie (1663/71 - <1715) was also 'twice married' -- once in 1685 to Christian Grant (who was, controversially, his uncle's wife) with whom he may have had Patrick Grant (alive in 1737), 'elder of Craskie', and secondly around 1700 to Janet McDonell of the Cullachie family, with whom he has Isobel (born 1702) and John Roy (born 1705).

As for the distinction between John Grant of Craskie, who served in the Seven Years' War as a soldier in the 42nd regiment and subsequently received a Chelsea pension, and an Ensign Peter Grant, who was born somewhat later, I cannot comment because I have not seen the research carried out by our New Zealand colleague.

If you are willing to share this with me, my email is chris@chrisalexander.ca.

TBC 1/2
   

[Chris_RiverRaisin]

As you may know, Commodore Alexander Grant (1734-1813) of Detroit and later Sandwich in Upper Canada was the first Grant of Glenmoriston known to have settled in what became Upper Canada.

He had also served in the Seven Years' War -- as a lieutenant in the 77th regiment -- but became involved in the Provincial Marine and commercial shipping after the war:

http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/grant_alexander_5E.html

He always referred to John Grant (1749-1817) of Lachine, one of the putative sons of Black Peter and Janet Grant of Duldreggan who came to Canada, as his nephew and even (because the latter's parents had died) his 'adopted son'.  This John Grant grew up partly in the Commodore's home; they subsequently had a close and successful business association.

The most plausible connection between them is through Alexander Grant of Glenmoriston's aunt, Isobel Grant (born 1696), who married Alexander Grant of Shewglie (died 1746).  Their daughter Hannah Grant (born 1717) married Aeneas Grant (1702-79) of Duldreggan; she was a first cousin of Alexander Grant (1734-1813) of Glenmoriston.  Hannah and Aeneas Grant's daughter Janet Grant of Duldreggan (born 1736, died after 1766) was almost the same age as Commodore Alexander Grant (1734-1813) and the mother of John Grant of Lachine.  It is not difficult to see how the older officer might have come to see the younger relative as his 'nephew'.

It would be great to continue this exchange directly: once again, my email is above.  If you are interested, I will send you my summary of the Grants of Glenmoriston who settled in Upper Canada before 1790, once it is updated.

I find it useful to organize those who settled here into confirmed family groupings, as follows:

(i) John 'Ian Mor na Catheran' Grant (1725-83), rumoured to have been a natural son of Ian a' Chragain, with his son Angus 'Ballagooey' Grant (also mentioned in the Fonda records) and other children;

(ii) Commodore Alexander Grant (1734-1813) of Glenmoriston and his large family;

(iii) Donald Grant of Craskie (1744-1806) and family, including his connections to John McDonell of Baldrom, who was by all evidence older even than John Grant 'the Big Robber';

(iv) John Grant (1749-1817) of Lachine, his siblings and children;

(v) John Grant (1737-1802) of Duldreggan, who only arrived in Canada in 1786 with many children; and

(vi) many others for whom we have documentation, often from their service in the American war, some connected to these preceding five branches, and others not.

You are absolutely right that things got confusing in Glenmoriston after 1745-16; with so many farmers transported or making themselves scarce (and some killed), it was natural for people to come from further east (in Knoydart) or north (Glen Urquhart) to take over remaining farms.

This happened again after the 1771-75 period, when many more (including most of those listed in the groupings above) emigrated on the Pearl and other vessels.

The first census records for Glenmoriston (from 1841) only establish whether the individual was born 'in county' -- meaning in Inverness-shire -- which most were.  But the 1851 records break the place of birth down still further, showing that very few by that time (after several waves of displacement) had actually been born in Glenmoriston:

http://www.glenmoriston.org.uk/Glenmoriston/Census/1851%20Census.php

But the Glenmoriston, Craskie and Duldreggan/Duldreggan families were distinctive, as were the structures of some of the families that came with them; by sharing analysis and pooling our evidence and other resources, we should be able to reach some sound conclusions down the road.

Best regards,

Chris

End 2/2

[kfrye173]

Chris,

Thank you very much for your robust response.

For the record, t and is available to anyone researching this group of western Glenmoriston Grants and the associated MacDonalds

You seem to be very knowledgeable about this dusty corner of Scottish Genealogy and I look forward to collaborating with you.  Many have gone before us trying to figure out this Craskie family only to fall into what I refer to as the cumberland gap.  As it was under his charge that the Glenmoriston records from the Culloden time period were destroyed.  Hopefully, we can do better. LOL 

And yes, of course I am interested in your "summary of the Grants of Glenmoriston who settled in Upper Canada before 1790" and I suspect you have a McDonald version of the same.  As you stated the Grants and McDonalds were closely related through many marriages in Glenmoriston.  So studying both is very helpful. 

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[young1451]

Hi Chris. The 8th Chief of Glengarry Donald McDonell married daughter of 9th Chief Clanranald MacDonald,  and their sons headed the McDonell  lines we still refer to as Leek, Collachie, Aberchalder, Lundie, and Ardnabie; and their  daughter Catherine McDonell married Duncan Grant  b. 1630 d.  1730 who was 1st Grant of  Duldraeggan Glenmoriston  and his greatgrandson Aeneas/ Angus  Grant b. 1702 d.  1779 was declared  Duncan's  Heir at Law  circa 1733, and his son John Duldraeggan  Grant b. 1737 d. 1802 inherited Duldraeggan from him but  emigrated in 1785 arriving in Glengarry Canada 1786  where he acquired Lots 25&26 SSSBRR.
Aeneas/ Angus' younger brother  John  Roy  Grant b. abt. 1704- 1707, would be Transported to Caribbean after Culloden,  and probably did not return,  but he fathered Alexander,  Elspeth   [who married John McDonell one of the Good Men of Glenmoriston] and Donald  Grant Sr.  of Craskie [the Weaver] [all these kids settled South Branch Road  Charlottenburg  Glengarry Canada].   

[young1451]

Aeneas/  Angus Grant of Duldraeggan b. 1702 d.1779,  greatgrandson  of  Duncan  Grant  b. 1630  d. 1730,  Aeneas married Hannah Grant  b.  1717  d.  1801.
Their children  :
Janet  b.  1734  d.  1735
Isabella Duldraeggan Grant Fraser b. 1735  d.  ??  buried St  Andrews West Ont.
Janet  Duldraeggan Grant b. 1736 d.  1766
John Duldraeggan Grant b.  1737 d. 1802 buried St Andrews Church Williamstown  Ont.

[young1451]

Isabella  Duldraeggan Grant b. 1735  married Simon  Fraser Sr. who died in jail,  at Albany NY  in 1779. His parents were William Fraser of Culbokie and Mary / Margaret McDonell of Ardnabie [a sister  of  my  Captain  John  Dhu  McDonell VI Ardnabie].   Isabella  was mother of Simon Fraser Jr. the Canadian  Explorer.

[young1451]

Janet Duldraeggan  Grant  b. 1736 d. 1766 married a Peter Grant who I identify as of Isle of Skye, where he fathered several illegitimate kids including John Grant of Lachine  d. 1817  Montreal;  I  think he was probably  raised with Janet's kids [John's half siblings] at Duldraeggan.
Janet's kids were:
Alexander "Brewer"  Grant  who married Sarah  Claridge,  lived at Williamstown.
Peter  Grant of Lachine [half brother of John Grant of Lachine] fur  trader.
Donald  /  Duncan Grant, also  a fur trader.
Helena/ Henny Grant    married  Mr. Clark a school  teacher,  they  also came to Canada.
Mary Grant    remained  in Scotland to  care for grandmother Hannah Grant.

[young1451]

John  Duldraeggan  Grant b. 1737 d. 1802, inherited  Wadset  of Duldraeggan when father Aeneas / Angus died 1779. John fathered illegitimate son Alexander  Alex  Grant b. 1756 d.1851  buried at Williamstown.  John then married Catherine Grant and had 8 kids with her, but she apparently died before they emigrated in 1785 arriving in Glengarry Ont. 1786 where he acquired Lots 25&26 SSSBRR. Son Major Angus Grant never married, and died in India. John married a Mary McIntyre  in  Montreal 1787, and had 8 kids with her, the last Alpin Grant  b.  1802.
Another son was Honourable Alexander  Grant of L'Orignal Ont.,  where he ran  a fur trading post called Duldraeggan Hall. As mentioned he was 1st cousins with Simon Fraser  Jr.  and they married sisters,  daughters of Allen McDonell of Mattila.  Also 1st cousin  to Peter Grant of Lachine,  after John Grant  of Lachine died  1817, his son Robert  partnered with Spanish John McDonell's son John  Jr. [Le Pret]  and this Honourable Alexander Grant of L'Orignal to  run  that Lachine Shipping Co.