This is the third part of the family of William Murray and Grace Grant. The previous two parts are found on Historylinks. https://historylinksdornoch.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/its-complicated-the-relationship-of-william  In this part we follow the three offspring who came to Nova Scotia.

Janet, the fourth child of the above couple, was born in Fluchary, Parish of Dornoch, in 1792. Around 1810 she married Alexander MacIntosh of Evelix and settled in that community. On February 23^rd, 1812, the parish register gives evidence of the birth of their eldest daughter Grace.

The year 1812[i] was an eventful one for the young couple as they embarked on another life journey. They sailed to Pictou to join the expanding colony of Sutherland expats in the western part of what is now Pictou County. It would have been a challenging journey with an infant daughter only a few months old. Family tradition claims that Janet also brought along a cow which had been a wedding gift from her father William[ii]. They settled at the base of Mount Dalhousie on the boundary of the communities of Elmfield, Plainfield and Diamond[iii].

In addition to carving a farm out of the forest, Alexander also served as a school teacher for a period of time in the infant settlement. He had received a basic education in the homeland, something not every settler brought to the new world.

They had seven children of which we are aware:   Grace, who married David MacIntosh of Eight Mile Brook; Elizabeth who married the boy next door, Alex MacKay “Bratten”; Williamena, the wife of Sandy Murray, Scotsburn; Margaret who married George Munro of North Earltown and later settled at Elmfield; Catherine; Janet, wife of William Carson, Meadowville and one son Alexander who also lived at Meadowville.

We take note of this family in detail as there were a number of connections to Earltown. As noted, Margaret, or Peggy as she was called, married George Munro, a native of Leatty, Rogart, who came to the Back Mountain of Balmoral around 1818. They lived briefly in the Earltown area before permanently settling at Elmfield.   Williamena and Sandy Murray had two daughters at East Earltown, Annie, the spouse of Alex MacBain of MacBain’s Corner, and Margaret, wife of Robert MacKay “Achany” of MacBain’s Corner.   The Forbes family of Denmark descend from Margaret.

[i] 1812 is the year cited by their grandson, Rev. John Murray, in his “History of the Scotsburn Congregation”  Truro News Publishing  1923

[ii] This is a story my grandmother, Grace Murray Matheson, was fond of relating. She was a granddaughter of Janet’s brother Donald “Craig”.

[iii] “Illustrated Historical Atlas of Pictou County” 1879, J.A.H. Meecham and Company