| Notes |
- Duncan Stewart and Agnes McGregor in Kirkline
Blair Drummond Moss, Kincardine-by-Doune, Perthshire, Scotland
Latterly in Dundee & St. Anicet, Huntingdon, Quebec, Canada
Duncan Stewart, in Kirkline, b. 1775, Clachglas, Glenbuckie, Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland , d. UNKNOWN, Quebec, Canada . Duncan was the younger of the two sons of Duncan Stewart in Clachglas, a descendant of the Stewarts in Tulloch (Branch III of the Stewarts of Ardvorlich).
Living in Ardcheanochdan
Duncan Stewart was born in Clachglas in Glen Buckie in Balquhidder parish, Perthshire, Scotland. Duncan would most likely have been raised with Gaelic as his first language and he would have been schooled in English. We know nothing more of his younger life until he married in 1801 in Callander parish to Agnes (Ann) McGregor from Crieff parish. Their first son, Alexander, arrived a little early in 1799, two years prior to his parents' marriage. Given the significant gap before the birth of their next recorded child, Mary, in 1806, it seems likely that there was at least one child born between 1801-1806 for whom we have no record and who did not survive long enough to be recorded in the 1814 Moss Census. Onomastics would suggest that the child was probably named Duncan.
They initially lived in Ardcheanochdan on the north shore of Loch Achray in Callander parish. A palatial hotel was later built on the site of Ardcheanochdan, which is today known as the Tigh Mor Trossachs Hotel. Duncan and Agnes lived there likely as cottars and labourers on the estate. They moved briefly to Dullater on the south shore of Loch Venachar in 1807 where their third child was born. And, by 1809, they had moved to Kirkline on the Blair Drummond Moss.
The Hard Life of a Moss Farmer
Duncan is described in Stewarts of the South as: "Duncan Stewart, of Kirkline Flanders Moss, has four sons who are labourers about himself." Fortunately there is only one Duncan listed in the 1814 Moss Census as residing in Kirkline who also happens to have four sons (shown below). This allows us to identify Duncan and his family with confidence. Life on the Moss was difficult.
A special breed of person was now required who could endure the hardship of living on the moss. (George) Home-Drummond (owner of the Moss) found them amongst the poverty-stricken dispossessed Highlanders from Perthshire who were still suffering from the consequences of the Jacobite Uprising fifty years before. Most came from the Balquhidder area.
(MacKerracher, Archie, Perthshire in History and Legend, pp. 134-142, © 1988 The Estate of Archie MacKerracher, published by John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh.)
Duncan toiled on the Moss and raised his family there for a decade. It was likely a hard and miserable life.
The War of 1812 Opens up the New World
After the North American War of 1812 (which ended in 1814), the British Government actively began seeking settlers to move to the British controlled colonies of Upper and Lower Canada (the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec) to help secure the border areas of the colonies from any potential future American invasion. Enticed by grants of free land, boatloads of settlers left Perthshire and elsewhere to try their fortunes in the New World. In 1819, Duncan Stewart and his family joined the migration to the New World.
Immigrating to Canada
Sources conflict over whether Duncan Stewart and his family arrived in Canada in 1818, 1819, or 1820. Duncan's son Charles was born in 1819. No record of his birth has been found. His date and place of birth can only be inferred from census records. The 1851 census shows him born in Scotland. The 1871 census shows him born in Quebec. The 1881 census shows him born in Ontario, which is believed to be the correct one. Records show Duncan didn't inhabit the family farm in Dundee until 1820. Many of the Scottish immigrants went first to the town of Lancaster in Glengarry, Ontario, Canada, which was located directly across the St. Lawrence River from the Dundee settlement -- a distance of about 5 km. Glengarry had been settled for over a generation by the time of Duncan's arrival and predominantly by Scottish Highlanders. Duncan Stewart is listed among those Lancaster families. It seems most likely that Duncan Stewart and Agnes McGregor were living in Lancaster in 1819 when their son Charles was born and moved across the river a year later when the house was finished. (Sellar, Robert, The History of the County of Huntingdon and of The Seigniories of Chateaugay and Beauharnois From Their First Settlement To The Year 1838, originally published by The Canadian Gleaner, Huntingdon, Quebec, Canada, 1888, pp. 169-170.)
Settling in Dundee, Quebec
Duncan and his family would have felt at home among their own people in Lancaster while Duncan secured their new home across the river on the south bank in Huntingdon County, Lower Canada (Quebec) on Lot 61 on the Dundee Road. (There are no known maps of the old lot assignments, so we don't know exactly where the Stewart farm was. Based on census records and other descriptive documents, it's believed that their farm was located midway between Dundee and St. Anicet townships very close to the township boundary line on modern maps.) Duncan and his sons, together with help from their neighbours, built a shanty for the family to live in. Their first winter in Canada was likely far more harsh and severe than anything they'd ever experienced back in Scotland. And the summers would have been much hotter than what they were used to back in Scotland. They must have wondered if they'd traded the frying pan for the fire.
According to Sellar, "Duncan Stewart, Duncan McNicol, and 3 McMillans settl[ed] in 1820." (pp. 169-170) Sellars also says, "The second [English-speaking settlement] was begun in the fall of 1820, when Duncan McNicol crossed from Glengarry, where he had landed the year before, and squatted on 56.... He soon had for a neighbor, Duncan Stewart, and the following spring, while the ice was good, three brothers of the name of McMillan, who had emigrated from Lochaber in 1819." (pp. 188-189) Two of Duncan's sons, James and Donald, each married McMillan daughters. However, the 1831 Statistical Report for Godmanchester says that Duncan arrived in 1818. The 1831 account is preferred as more likely to be correct.
By the fall of 1820, their new home was ready to be occupied. It was located on Akwesasne First Nation territory which they leased from their indigenous neighbours for terms that were exploitive. They would have settled in as subsistence farmers living off the land, perhaps with some small cash crops for sale in the nearby market towns. They would have earned extra money by felling tall trees to be used for ships' masts and by making potash. Most of their neighbours in Dundee and St. Anicet were Gaelic-speaking Highland Scots with whom they would have shared music, drink and traditional dancing on a regular basis.
In 1820, the residents of Dundee petitioned the government for release from their rental contracts with their neighbouring Akwesasne landlords, claiming that they had been mislead in signing the contracts. Duncan Stewart is listed as one of the petitioners. (https://canadagenweb.org/quebec/huntingdon/record/dundee1820.htm)
In 1825, Duncan Stewart is shown residing in a house with 11 occupants: 2 under the age of 6 (Charles 6 and Daniel 3); 2 between 6-14 (John 13 and Peter 9); 2 between 14-18 (Archibald 16 and Jannet 16); 2 males between 18-25 (Alexander and James D); one male over 60 (Duncan 50); one single female between 14-45 (Mary); one married female between 14-45 (unknown); and one married female over 45 (Agnes McGregor). Also residing in Dundee at the time was Robert Stewart with one child under 6, one male 18-25, and one married female between 14-45. Robert is of no known relation to Duncan.
The 1831 Godmanchester Statistical Report gives us an informative picture of the progress of the family's development of their farm. It shows Duncan Stewart occupying Lot 60 Range 1 in St. Anicet, Huntingdon. It indicates that he settled in 1818. It also shows his son, Alexander Stewart, as another head of household sharing the same lot, occupying Range 1 & 2. They had 13 acres cleared, 12 acres under cultivation, one house, one barn, one head of family and his wife, 8 males, 2 females, one horse, 14 horned cattle, 6 pigs and 12 sheep.
Duncan lived out the rest of his life in on the family farm in St. Anicet. Duncan is buried in Isle of Skye Cemetery in Dundee, Huntingdon, Quebec, Canada, along with his wife, Agnes, however his gravestone has not survived. Church burial records show that Duncan was 62 years of age when he died. His exact date of death is not given. Assuming the age to be correct then Duncan Stewart died in 1837.
In 1842, Duncan Stewart's widow, Agnes McGregor, was residing in Godmanchester (which included St. Anicet) where she is recorded in the census as "Widow Stewart" with 5 inhabitants in her home. Next to her was Alex Stewart with 7 inhabitants, Peter Stewart with 3 inhabitants, and James Stewart with 5 inhabitants.
Duncan's widow, Agnes McGregor outlived him by many years. After Duncan's death, she moved in with their son Donald in Dundee. She lived to the age of 82 and is buried in Dundee cemetery. Many of their children married and continued to live in the area for another generation before spreading out across North America.
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1814 Blair Drummond Moss Census
Residence: Kirk Lane No14
Former Possessor Peter McNie
Present Possessor Duncan Stewart 40 yrs
Ann McGregor 32 "
Children
Alexander 14 "
May 9 yrs
James 7 "
Jannet 7 "
James (sic) 5 "
Archibald 3 "
John 1 "
Persons deceased: None
Years Settled on the Moss 4 years
Where they came from Callander
Cats 1
Dogs -
Poultry 2
Swine -
Sheep -
Cows 2
Horses 1
Harrows 1
Plough 1
Carts 1
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1775 - 1837 (62 years)
