John MacFarlane of
Margaree
by
Donald J.
MacFarlane
John MacFarlane was one of the first of his family to be born in
Nova Scotia. Dougald
MacFarlane and his wife Margaret MacDonnell, progenitors of the MacFarlanes of Nova Scotia,
arrived from Scotland with his extended family in Pictou in 1801 aboard
the ship DOVE. 1 Dougald was at this time about 80
years old 2, 3. They rented a farm for a short
time at Antigonish Harbor then settled at South River, Antigonish County
about 1803 or 1804. 4, 5 Archibald
settled on a homestead about two miles south of his father. It was here in
1804 that John, the oldest son 6 was
born to his parents Archibald (son of Dougald and Margaret) and Margaret
Gillis. 7, 8, 9,
10
In 1822 Archibald and his brother John moved with their families to
the Margaree area of Cape Breton Island. John moved to Margaree
Harbor while Archie settled in South West Margaree on what became known as
the Chapel Farm. 11 John, Archie’s son, now about 18, went
with him. 12, 13, 14,
15
At 21 John and his brother Angus took up homesteads near the
Outlet, the head of the Margaree River, close to where it drains Lake
Ainslie. In 1888 they were
described as the best looking farms in North Inverness. 16
In 1834 John received a grant from King George III giving him title
to 100 acres of land and also in 1834 a grant from King William IV to an
additional 200 acres. 17, 18,
19 It
was during this period that John married Jessie Gillis, from Judique,
Inverness County. 20 They subsequently had a family of
five boys; John, Dan Angus, James and Dougald, and five girls; Mary, Ann,
Margaret, Jessie and Catherine.
21, 22,
23
The 1871 Canada Census returns give a view of John’s holdings. Land totaling 530 acres held one
dwelling house, two barns or stables, two carriages or sleighs, three
carts, wagons or sleds, four plows or cultivators, one horse rake, one
threshing machine and a fanning mill. The Return of Cultivated Land
tells us John had improved 150 acres, with 115 acres in pasture. One quarter acre was in gardens
and orchards. Two acres of
wheat yielded 30 bushels of spring wheat. In addition the land had in the
past year yielded nine bushels of barley, 150 bushels of oats, 450 bushels
of potatoes, 30 tons of hay 10 bushels of apples and 12 pounds of maple
sugar. Live stock and animal
products seem to have figured prominently in John’s calculations. His production of these products
exceeds that of any of his immediate neighbors.
In 1871 his farm contained or produced two horses over 3 years old,
two colts or fillies, two working oxen thirteen milch cows and fourteen
other horned cattle. In
addition the farm contained 60 sheep and eight swine. Five cattle, ten sheep and three
swine were killed or sold for slaughter or export. Seven hundred ten pounds of butter
and four hundred thirty pounds of home-made cheese were produced, as was
eighty-eight pounds of wool and eighty-nine yards of home-made cloth and
flannel. In addition the farm
accounted for twenty muskrat skins.
The Return of Products of the Forest tells us that John’s farm
produced fifty-two cords of fire-wood. Then as now the Margaree River
helped to provide. John
reported that he had eighteen fathoms of nets and seines of all sorts
which allowed him to produce one barrel each of salmon, eels and trout.
24
John and his family did not achieve this level of prosperity
without reverses. “He met
with many losses in his early days of housekeeping. In the space of three years he
lost by fire two beautiful houses, a large barn full of hay and wheat,
together with eighteen head of cattle, and a pair of horses. He was always remarkable for his
coolness and discretion. When
his last house was burned he was working in the woods and hurried home
with his broad axe on his shoulder.
When assured of the safety of his family from the flames, he turned
to the few people present and said ‘plenty of wood in Cape Breton to make
another house’. “ 25
John along with his brother Angus, who had a grant of land next to
him, erected the first grist mill in the area. Angus was ever after known as ‘The
Miller’. 26
It appears that along with his other concerns, John took an
interest in politics. “He was
the confidential crony of the late lamented sir Wm. Young in his campaign
in this county and was the leader of the 500 Scots who marched into
Cheticamp in 1832, with their banners floating in the breeze, and the
sound of the pibroch rending the air, stirring the hearts of the gallant sons of
Albion, but also terrorizing the sons of Gaul, there was no resistance
given. The day passed
quietly, and on the pole being closed, Young was elected and Smith
defeated.” 27
John appears to have been a Christian in deed as well as word. “His home was the home of the
poor, he was a man of few words, and many deeds, to the needy, the widows,
and the orphans, he delighted to give; and with the sorrowing he was an
everready sympathizer. As a
citizen he did his duty conscientiously, faithfully and without
ostentation. As a Christian he was always at the
post of duty, and everready to do and give for the good of the church and
his fellow man; and as a husband and a father while strict to duty and
true to conviction, he ruled in love, with that beaming kindness and
cheerful attention, that made home a great blessing, an earthly attraction
to his family. 28
John died December 19th, 1887. His body was returned to St.
Andrew’s, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia to lie with his father and
grandfather in ‘McFarlane’s Burial Ground’, the first cemetery in the
area, which was opened on his grandfather’s farm. 29,
30 |
ENDNOTES
1. Passenger
List of the ship Dove.
1801. Public Archives
of Nova Scotia, CMG II, Supp. 1, vol. 10 Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada.
2. J.
L. MacDougall, History of Inverness County, facsimile reprint
edition (Belleville: Mika Publishing, 1972),
403.
3. Drummer
on Foot, “South River,” The Casket, issue 61-1913-37-2, Antigonish,
Nova Scotia, Canada.
4. Ibid.
5. MacDougall,
op. cit., 403.
6. Anonymous. “Obituary of John MacFarlane” 1888, Harold MacFarlane, Margaree,
Nova Scotia, Canada.
7. MacDougall,
op. cit., 404.
8. Raymond
A. MacLean, History of Antigonish, vol. 1, (Antigonish: Casket
Printing and Publishing Company, 1976),
101-102.
9. 1871
Canada Census (population), Nova Scotia, District No. 203 Inverness,
Sub-district O 13 East Lake Ainslie, New England Historic Genealogical
Society reel C-10566.
10. 1881
Canada Census (population), Nova Scotia, District # 4 Inverness Co.,
Sub-district Youngs Bridge, page 35, New England Historic Genealogical
Society reel C-13165.
11. Anonymous. “Obituary of John MacFarlane”,
op. cit.
12. Drummer
on Foot, op. cit., South River.
13. D.
D. MacFarlane, “Parish of South-West Margaree,” a series in The
Casket, April & May 1896, Antigonish, Nova Scotia,
Canada.
14. MacDougall,
op. cit., 403.
15. MacLean,
op. cit., vol. 1,101-102.
16. Anonymous. “Obituary of John MacFarlane”,
op. cit.
17. Land
Grant to John MacFarlane from George III through Thomas N. Jeffrey
President and Commander in Chief of the Province of Nova Scotia dated June
30th, 1834. Public Archives
of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
18. Land
Grant to John MacFarlane from William IV through Colin Campbell, Lt.
Governor of the Province of Nova Scotia dated September 17th, 1834. Public Archives of Nova Scotia,
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
19. Church,
Ambrose F. Topographical Township of Inverness County, Nova
Scotia. Bedford, Halifax
County, Nova Scotia, Canada:
A. F. Church & Co., 1884.
Public Archives of Nova Scotia, Halifax Nova Scotia,
Canada.
20. MacDougall,
op. cit., 404.
21. MacDougall,
op. cit., 404.
22. MacLean,
op. cit., vol. 2, 120.
23. MacFarlane,
op.cit.
24. 1871
Canada Census, op. cit.
25. Anonymous. “Obituary of John MacFarlane”,
op. cit.
26. MacDougall,
op. cit., 416-417.
27. Anonymous. “Obituary of John MacFarlane”,
op. cit.
28. Anonymous. “Obituary of John MacFarlane”,
op. cit.
29. Anonymous. “Obituary of John MacFarlane”,
op. cit.
30 Drummer on Foot, op. cit., South River. |