Child # 4 - Angus McCuaig or McLeod
The actual birth or christening of Angus is proving to be a bit elusive. We know who his brothers are. Because we know who the parents of his brothers are, we know who his parents are. We have an estimated birth year based on the information found on his tombstone. Following is the inscription found on his tombstone:
"In memory of
Angus McLeod
who died
Dec 20, 1863 [sic]
Age 50 years
Native of Islay, Argyleshire
Scotland
Friends nor physicians could not save
This mortal body from the grave
Nor can the grave confine it here
When Christ our Saviour doth appear."
Source: McNeil's Cemetery – Wick, Brock Township, Ontario County, Ontario, Canada. Photo taken by RLByam 20 July 1978
According to stories passed down in the family he was killed by a falling tree while clearing the land. In 1978 some of his direct descendants were still living on the land and chances are that they still do. The farm is on the township line separating Reach Township from Brock Township. Their church and cemetery are one mile across this line in Brock Township.
The death year of 1863 on the tombstone appears to be incorrect. Angus died intestate (without a will). His wife Sarah petitioned the court for probate in order to settle his estate. It is in this Petition that we learn his actual death date was 20 December1862. If the age 50 at death is correct then we can calculate that he was born about 1812. This calculated birth year is supported somewhat by census records. On the 1851/52 census he is recorded as being 36 years of age which would give a birth year of about 1815/1816, On the 1861 census he reports that he is 48 years of age which gives a birth year of about 1813. Some twenty years later Angus's hiers signed a quit claim in order to clear the title so that his son John could buy the land.
He married Sarah McGill 31 January 1832 in Upper Barr, Killean & Kilchenzie, Argyll, Scotland
“1832, January 31 Angus McCuaig and Sarah McGill Upper Barr”Source: Church of Scotland, Parish of Killean & Kilchenzie (591/2) Marriages 1820-1854 Page 113 FHL film # 1041070
Spouse: Sarah McGill. To date we have not found a christening record for Sarah. Her birth year of about 1811 is based on the age of 40 years on the 1851/52 census, 50 years on the 1861 census and 60 years on the 1871 census.
We learn that Sarah's mother's name is Margaret on the 1861 census. Sarah's daughter Mary J(ane) age 16 is living with a widow (her grandmother) Margaret McGill age 65 and Donald McGill (her uncle), a Tailor, in Prince Albert which is in District 2 of Reach Township, Ontario County, Ontario, Canada.
Donald McGill and Mary J(ane) McLeod are listed on the 1861 census twice. Once in District 2 as just noted and again In District 5 of Reach Township, Ontario County where Mary Jane's parents and siblings are listed. In the District 5 listing Donald McGill, a Tailor, is marked as a visitor in the McLeod family while Mary J(ane) is marked as absent. That Mary Jane is with Margaret McGill supports family tradition that Sarah's mother, Margaret, and brother were also in Ontario and that her brother Donald was a tailor. It also leads to the speculation that Sarah's father may be named William.
Angus and Sarah seem to have followed the traditional Scottish naming pattern in that the first two sons are named after their fathers and the first two daughters are named after their mothers. We know that the eldest daughter was named Ann, which would be after Angus's mother and the second daughter was named Margaret, which would be after Sarah's mother. We also know that the eldest son was named William and the second eldest son was named John, which would be after Angus's father. It could make sense that Sarah's father's name was William.
Just recently we found Donald McGill's christening in the parish of Killean (Killean and Kilchenzie), Argyll, Scotland. A search on Scotlands People for a Donald McGill, mother Margaret, in Argyll, born between1815 to 1820 found only one result. It is in the same parish where Angus and Sarah were married. All the parameters seem to fit. The father's name in this christening record is indeed William. If Donald is Sarah's brother, as we believe him to be, then her father is William.
Sarah died 15 November 1886 In Reach Township, Ontario County, Ontario, Canada
"Sarah McLeod / November 16, 1886 / female / Housewife / Physician Dr. Park / informant Schedule E / registered Nov 26th 1886."Source: Ontario Death Registrations, 1886 Ontario County Reach Page 14 No 36 Reg # 12907 FHL fim # 1853482
Angus and Sarah lived on Concession 14 Lot 15, Reach Township, Ontario County, Ontario, Canada. Family tradition states they were on this land since the mid 1830’s. This would make sense. William was born in 1833 and John was born in 1834 in Scotland. Ann was born about 1836 in Ontario. We find the family in Ontario on the 1851/52 census at that location It is probable that they were there for many years before that time. Angus did not purchase this land until 1860. He died in 1862.
Census: We have found Angus and Sarah on the 1851/52 census in Ontario County, Reach Township ( District 3 Page1 line 24-36 NAC film # C11743). It is remarkable that we found them at all. There is only one page of the 1851/52 census for Reach Township that has survived and they are on that one page. They have a large family so they take up most of the page.
They are found with their children William18, Ann 16. Margaret 14. John 12, Sarah 10, Janet 8, Jane 6. Catherine 4, Elizabeth 3. and no name 1. It is our understanding that another son John, christened 2 February 1834 in Scotland, died during the sea voyage from Scotland to Canada.
There is another child listed with the McLeod family on the 1851 census. He is listed at the end of the McLeod family after the children previously mentioned. He is Angus McLeod, male. age 8. We are not sure who this child is or who his parents are and he doesn’t appear with this family again on a census.
Our Angus McLeod has also been found on the 1851/52 Agricultural census, Ontario County, Reach Township District 3 Page 35 line 30 Concession 14 Lot 15. He had 100 acres land of which 40 are under cultivation (12 acres of wheat, 10 acres oats, 2 acres potatoes, 4 acres hay). He produced 40 pounds of wool and 50 yards of cloth. 60 acres were considered woods or wild
They are on the same location on the 1861 census. (Ontario County, Reach Township, District 5; page 6; line 11-24; National Archives film C1058) Margaret is not with the family. She married Cyrus Dennis Eck in 1856 and was living in Newmarket, York County on the 1861 census. We learn that Jane is actually Mary J(ane) and the child with no name on the 1851/52 census is Charlotte. William, Mary Jane and Elizabeth are marked absent. William age 27, is working away from home as a labourer for Alex McLean in Brock Township. Mary Jane age 16, is living with her uncle, Donald McGill, and her grandmother, Margaret McGill, in the town of Prince Albert which is in District 2 of Reach Township, Ontario County. There is no information as to Elizabeth’s where abouts.
There is also a (child) Hill, female, age 1 with the family. This is Sarah McLeod’s daughter, Annie J. Sarah and the child’s father, Thomas Hill, were married on 25 December 1861
Donald C. McGill, a tailor, born in Scotland age 41 is visiting the McLeod family. He is Sarah McGill’s brother and lives in the town of Prince Albert in District 2 of Reach Township, Ontario County, Ontario, Canada.
The 1871 census finds Sarah, now a widow, living with her son John and daughter Scharlett (Charlotte) still on the farm in Reach Township. (Ontario County, Reach Township, District B4; page 59; lines 12-16;National Archives film C9976)
We have not found Sarah on the 1881 census. She died in 1886 in Reach Township before the 1891 census.
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