The Next Generation

Alex and Christy MacDonald had three children:    Adam, Mary Elizabeth, and William Baillie.

Adam was born in 1824.   In the 1840’s he received the back 100 acres of the grant with the stipulation that his father retain the right to harvest wood for his own use.  Adam cleared a homestead near the summit of the grant which had a commanding view of the Waugh River valley and beyond across the Northumberland Strait to Prince Edward Island[1].   He was joined on this farm by his bride, Margaret Matheson, daughter of Donald Matheson and Christy Sutherland, Matheson’s Corner.

Descendants know very little about this man.   He was only 31 years old when he died on October 14, 1855 leaving his widow with four small children under 5, one of which was an infant.   How Margaret coped with raising this young family and managed to keep the farm is remarkable.   She never remarried.  One can assume that her father-in-law made sure that food was on the table and no doubt there were plenty of hands available among Adam’s dozens of first cousins not to mention the Matheson web of relations around Earltown.   The family narrative suggests that Margaret was a weaver like her father and sisters. In later years she was joined by her Glasgow-born cousin, Eliza Matheson – the Scotch Lady, who earned her keep by weaving as well.

Although Adam and Margaret are recorded as been buried in The Falls Cemetery, that burial ground was not in existence in 1855.  They are buried unmarked in the Murray Cemetery inside the gate.   A daughter-in-law recorded them on her stone at The Falls for convenience.   Also buried in the lot at Murray’s is Eliza, the Scotch Lady, and Adam’s youngest daughter Eliza.

As mentioned above, Adam and Margaret had four children.

1. Alexander MacDonald, 1850-1931, married Harriet MacLean of Nuttby.   She was a daughter of Alexander MacLean (Ally Og) and Christy MacLeod.   Harriet was an only child and heir to the property on the John Sutherland Road therefore Alex moved in with the MacLean family.  Unique in those days, an in-law suite was added to the back of the house for the older generation.  Grandchildren remember Alex as an easygoing sort, more inclined towards playing the violin and looking for ceilidhs than managing the farm.  However, he ended up no better or worse off for it.   Alex and Henny had three children: 

1. Adam, 1874-1947, who married Isabel Martin of Lewis Mountain near Little Narrows, Cape Breton.  The farm at Nuttby was his home base but the family moved from place to place as Adam operated a portable saw mill.  The family eventually moved to a farm near Loch Lomand,  Richmond County, Cape Breton for a few years.  Adam later abandoned farming and took up mining in New Waterford.  He is buried at The Falls.  They had 8 children of which two remained in Colchester, – Joanna Redmond at Waugh River and  George in Truro.
2. Alexander Lane, 1877-1944, better known as “A.L.” married Willena Lynch, daughter of Charles Lynch Sr. and Jane MacKay, Nuttby.   In 1902 he acquired the Balmoral Grist Mill from the MacKay family which he operated for the remaining 42 years of his life.  Many of the surrounding mills were not continued by his generation so he ended up servicing area that included Waugh’s River, Earltown and West Branch.  They had two children, Archie who continued with the mill and who was it’s last miller before becoming a museum, and Mabel, Mrs. Alan Collins of Ontario.
3. Christena “Christy”, 1881-1948, was married to Charles Lynch Jr., brother of Willena.  They lived on a farm at the crest of Gunn’s Hill overlooking Earltown Village and the surrounding area.  The farm is now a blueberry plantation.  They had two children,  Annie who died young, and Russell who continued on the farm for a number of years.  Russell was married to Belle MacKay of New Truro Road.  After she died in an auto accident in 1940, Russell moved to Ontario.  They had two sons, Donald and William, and also brought up  Harry MacKay, Belle’s son.

2. Donald Matheson MacDonald, 1852-1932, went by Dan and was also known as Donadam to distinguish him from others of the same name. He was the heir to the farm at The Falls.  In 1880 he married Agnes Menzie of Brule, daughter of William Menzie and Agnes Donaldson.  They had one daughter Catherine who died unmarried at the age of 30. Agnes died in 1908 after which Dan married Christena Baillie of Balfron, daughter of Donald Baillie and Annie Sutherland.  She had spent some years working in Boston before returning to the area.  After Dan’s death, she sold the farm and moved in with her siblings at Balmoral.

3. Christena, 1853 – 1932, married George G. Matheson of Upper Kemptown in 1875.   They first lived at the Beck farm in Balfron for a short period before purchasing an undeveloped farm off MacLeod Road.    Details of this family can found here on the Macleod Road post.

4. Elizabeth 1855-1897   Eliza’s story is sort of sad from beginning to end.   She was born the year her father died.   In 1876 she was blessed with a beautiful daughter Margaret outside of legal marriage.   This precipitated a public rebuke at the church, likely administered by her grandfather MacDonald who was a senior elder of the congregation.  The father was a married man which didn’t help the situation.

In the 1880’s  Eliza went to Boston.   Margaret was partially brought up by her grandmother at The Falls and also spent periods of time in Newton, Ma., with her mother.

Eliza married Moncton native Jacob Harris Gibson on Christmas Day in 1886.  However, this relationship did not survive and ended in divorce.  At the age of 40,  Eliza died at her home in Newton.   Her remains were brought home to The Falls and she was buried in Murray’s Cemetery.

Margaret remained in Newton where she married James Henry Kivell in 1908.  In 1909 they had a daughter who died in infancy.  There was no further family and Margaret died in 1918.   James, a mechanic in the employ of the US Army, died in 1925.

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[1] This farm is accessed off the road leading to New Annan.  After the MacDonald family expired, it was the home Jimmie and Frances Langille for many years.  It is now a study centre and retreat for Buddhist practitioners operating under the name Dorje Denma Ling.