From Scotland to Nova Scotia

MACEACHERN – MALONEY – MACLEOD
MACPHERSON FAMILIES

The MacEachern, MacLeod and MacPherson families emigrated to Nova Scotia from the highland region of Scotland. The first Highland Scots came to Canada in late 1700s to escape oppression by the Lowland government. The second wave occurred from 1783 to the early 1800s, when poor economic conditions in the Scottish Highlands saw tenants abandoning their land and leaving for North America.

Duncan MacEachern was born at Lake Ainslie, Nova Scotia in 1845 to John and Catherine MacEachern. Scant information is available regarding the MacEachern’s arrival in Canada. A highly regarded history of Inverness County, NS makes reference to Duncan’s father, “What is known as Glebe Farm at West Lake Ainslie was formerly owned by John MacEachern, who rejoiced in the sobriquet [nickname] of ‘Yellow Top’ He had a large family but all traces of him have long since disappeared.” History of Inverness County Nova Scotia (1922).

In 1870, Duncan MacEachern married Mary Maloney whose child Mary would later marry Walter French. Mary (Maloney) MacEachern’s grandfathers, Dennis Maloney and Robert MacLeod, were interesting characters in the history of Nova Scotia. Dennis Maloney, a sailor in the British Royal Navy, was born in the Ulster Province of Ireland and drowned during the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). Mary’s other grandfather, Robert MacLeod, came from Scotland in 1828 and was known as an early settler of Northern Cape Breton.

Mary MacEachern’s grandmother was Effie (MacPherson) MacLeod. In 1803, Effie’s father, Norman MacPherson, had sailed on the ship Polly to Prince Edward Island in Canada. Effie was six years old when she left Skye, Scotland and came to PEI, Canada . Effie worked as a midwife, sometimes via snow shoes and horseback. (See Post: Special Delivery – Nova Scotia)

“Pioneer Robert MacLeod and his wife Effie MacPherson, came to Cape North from Scotland by way of P.E. Island, Lake Ainslie and Pleasant Bay. They lived at Lake Ainslie for a few years. their son Donald was three years old they moved to Pleasant Bay, and ere long to Cape North, in 1828.” Cape North and Vicinity by Rev D. MacDonald (1933) p. 83

MALONEY FAMILY LINE
Dennis Maloney (1775 IRE -1805 at sea) – Sarah Ransome (1779 Scot. – 1810)
George Maloney (1801 NS -1877) – Mary McLeod (1814 PEI)
Mary Maloney (1840 NS–1898) – Duncan MacEachern (1845 – ?)

MACPHERSON FAMILY LINE
Norman MacPherson (?) – Christy Cely (?)
Donald MacPherson (b. Scotland d. Prince Edward Island) – Mary MacPherson
Robert MacLeod (1789 Isle of Skye, Scot. – 1857 NS) – Effie MacPherson
(1797 Isle of Skye, Scot. – 1891)
Mary MacLeod (?)– George Maloney (1801 Ireland – 1877)

MACEACHERN FAMILY LINE
John MacEachern (?) – Catherine (?)
Duncan MacEachern (1845 NS–?) – Mary Maloney (1842 – 1898)
Mary MacEachern (1872 NS –?) – Walter French (1875 – ?)

Bygod – It is the Eggleston’s!

Bygod (Bigod, Begat, Baggot) Eggleston was baptized on 20 February 1586/7 in All Saints Church at Settrington, England. In 1630, he sailed to America with his family on the Mary and John, a 440 ton ship with 140 passengers aboard. The ship departed Plymouth, England, on the 20th of March and arrived 70 days later on May 30th at Nantasket, Massachusetts. Those on board are referred to as the Dorset Pilgrims. The Eggleston’s were followers of a Puritan leader, Reverend John Warham, who disagreed with the leadership of Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop believed that government should be run by only a few people, whereas the Reverend John Warham thought it should be run by the people via a freely elected leader. In 1635, Warham’s Dorchester group of about 140 people relocated to the frontier of Windsor, Connecticut.

Bygod Eggleston and his son James were admitted as freemen
of Connecticut Colony in May 1657. A copy of Bygod’s will and final testament
are attached to this document. The Eggleston family is linked to the French
family line as a result of the marriage of Anna Eggleston to John William
Spencer, whose granddaughter, Gladys Spencer married George French.

Bygod Eggleston is my 9th great paternal grandfather.

An expert in population studies has estimated that Bygod Eggleston was the progenitor of no less than twelve million American-born descendants.

Notable ancestors from the Eggleston-Spencer line include President U.S. Grant, President Rutherford B. Hayes and abolitionist John Brown.

EGGLESTON FAMILY LINE

James Eggleston (1560 – 1613 England) – Julian Frear (1565-1635/6 England)

Bygod Eggleston (1580 Eng. – 1674 CT) – Mary Talcott (abt. 1592 Eng. – 1679)

James Eggleston (1617 Eng. – 1679 CT) – Hester William (1636-1720)

Isaac Eggleston (1678 – 1734/5) – Mary Stiles (1669-1766)

Nathaniel Eggleston (1703-1796) – Abigail Goodwin (1708-1801)

Samuel Eggleston (1746-1817) – Dorcas Loomis (1770-1834)

Orrin Eggleston (1783-1870) – Julia Ann Clark (1790-1860)

James Eggleston (1818-1851) – Polly Hillyer (1806-1860)

Anna Eggleston (1843-1921) – John William Spencer (1834-1896)

Spencer Family – Hartford, Connecticut

Abiram Spencer, born 1812, was the owner of Spencer and Gridley Grocers located at 69 Albany Avenue in Hartford, CT. and his family lived next to the store. Previously, he had lived on a farm in Bloomfield, CT,. and had worked as a butcher in the Hartford market square. He moved to Hartford in 1857 and (according to his obituary) had the “reputation as an honorable, fair-dealing man.” Tragically, he died in 1871 when he was struck by a train while walking near his grocery store. Despite a great deal of digging, I have not been able to identify the parents of Abiram.

Abiram Spencer married Emily Ann Waters in 1833 in Hartford and had one son, John William Spencer. Records indicate that Abiram was married for a second time in 1838 to Charlotte Blinn of Wethersfield and had three children of their own (there is no record what happened to Emily). Based on church marriage records and the 1850 census, John W. Spencer was the product of the first marriage. John Spencer was a deputy sheriff and a justice of the peace in Hartford County. When he was younger, John worked as a West Indies fruit trader. He also served as a member of the First Company Governor’s Horse Guard, a unit that regularly escorted the State’s chief executive in inaugural ceremonies.

This 1876 map of Bloomfield, Connecticut shows the location of the farm John and his wife Anna shared with members of the Eggleston family. The Old Farm School (above photo) was built in 1796 and was located across the street from the Spencer/Eggleston property (map).

SPENCER FAMILY LINE

Abiram Spencer (1812-1871) – Emily Ann Waters

John William Spencer (1834-1896) – Anna Eggleston (1843-1921)

Samuel Spencer (1867-1906) – Minnie Mae Fowler (1867-1957)

Gladys May Spencer (1898-1984) – George French (1898-1983)

Time for a little Grace

“O God! that bread should be so dear, and flesh and blood be so cheap!” Like doves to the ark, o’er the waters we flee, To the land blesse’d of God-America, to thee. Cry of the Famishing Irish, 1853

All told, over 100,000 people are estimated to have died from disease and starvation in County Cork during the famine years of 1846-1850. Nearly 100,00 more emigrated. The great hunger forever changed Ireland’s demographic, political and cultural landscape and delivered “our” Daly, Grace, Butler, Young and Mulcahy families to America.

The early generations of Grace, Daly, Butler and Courtney men in America in the mid-to-late1800’s worked as blacksmiths, carpenters, quarry workers, dyers and general laborers, all occupations that required hard, dirty work under dangerous working conditions. While the women in the family, prior to 1900, are listed as “keeping house” this work was diverse and endless; mending and washing the clothes, preparing meals and on top of this, they would give birth to and raise an average of 4-5 children.

The 1880 U.S. Census notes that William J.
Grace, age 21 and born in Connecticut, was working in Hartford and living with
the family of a co-worker (Elias
Marn). His parents, Michael (b. 1825)
and Catherine Grace (b. 1828), were both from Ireland. By 1886, William was working as a
“horse-shoer and blacksmith” in Meriden (CT).
It was there that he met his bride, Mary Ellen Courtney, who lived with
her parents (Michael and Bridget) just a few houses away from where he lived at
63 Arch Street. After their marriage,
William and Mary moved to New Britain (CT) where he continued his trade
(advertisement) and in 1899 they had a son, William Lawrence Grace.

Michael Daly, born in Ireland in 1835, appears in the Waterbury, Connecticut City Directory in 1876-7 under the occupation of dyer located on Grand Street. He is married to Hannah Mulcahy, who was the daughter of Michael and Ellena (Connell) of Ballyvatta, County Cork, Ireland. Their son Edward Francis Daly was born in 1870 and married Mary Ester Butler whose parents (James and Anastasia) would live with them in their later years.

L- Rhea and Raymond R- Sacred Heart Church – Leamlara, County Cork, Ireland where Hannah Mulcahy was baptized in 1837

GRACE FAMILY LINE

Michael Grace (1825+- Ireland – d. ? CT) – Catherine ?

William Grace (1859 Ct. – ? CT) – Mary Ellen Courtney

Raymond L. Grace (1899 CT – 1962 CT) – Mary “Rhea” Daly (Photograph)

Mary Grace French (1933 -2004) – John S. French

DALY FAMILY
LINE

Michael Daly (1835 Ireland
– 1876 CT) – (Jo)Hanna Mulcahy (1837 Ireland – 1906 CT)

Hanna’s parents were Michael Mulcahy + Ellena O’Connell, Ballyvatta, Ireland

Edward F. Daly (b. 1870 CT – 1937 CT) – Mary Ester Butler

Mary “Rhea” Daly (1901 CT – 1988 CT) – Raymond L. Grace

COURTNEY FAMILY LINE

Michael Courtney (1836 Ireland
– ? CT) – Bridget ? (1849 Ireland – bet. 1900-20 CT)

Mary Ellen Courtney (1863 CT – d. 1923 CT) – William Grace (1862 – 1916 CT)

BUTLER FAMILY LINE

James Butler (1843 Ireland – 1927 CT) – Anastasia Young
(1844 Ireland – 1921 CT)

Anastasia’s parents were Patrick Young + Rose A. Powers, Kildare Ireland

Mary Ester Butler (1867 NY – 1946 CT) – Edward F. Daly (1870 CT – 1937 CT)

The French Side of Things

William French departed England with his family on the ship Defence for the British colonies of North America on the 10th of August 1635. They arrived in Boston on the 3rd of October and settled in Newe Towne (which became Cambridge) Massachusetts. One year later, William became a freeman and later (1655) helped establish the town of Billerica, Massachusetts.

In 1637, a group of prominent residents of Massachusetts Bay founded the “Military Company of Massachusetts.” Later renamed the “Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company,” it is the oldest military and chartered organization in North America. William French, a member of the local volunteer militia, was recruited to join the order in 1638 and by the time of his death obtained the rank of captain. He also served as a captain in the King Philip’s War (1675-76) , a major conflict where nearly half of New England’s towns were attacked by Native warriors.

New England public records contain a substantial amount of historical information on William French, including a copy of his will, property ownership and military service.

Ten generations of the French family lived in the Boston region of Massachusetts.

Notable descendants of William French include Charles Goodyear, who discovered vulcanized rubber; Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph; and Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin.

400 YEARS OF THE FRENCH LINE

William French (1603-1681) – Elizabeth Symmes (1603-1668)

Jacob French (1639/40-1713) – Mary Champney

William French (1668-1723) – Sarah Danforth

Ebenezer French (1707-1797) – Elizabeth Hill

Jesse French (1739-1780) – Abigail Jaquith

Luther French (1767-1846) – Sally (Sarah) Bowers

Abram French (1803-1879) – Elizabeth Simonds (photograph above)

Horace French (1843-1903) – Laura Foster

Walter French (1877-?) – Mary MacEachern

George French (1898-1983) – Gladys Spencer

John S. French (1931–2014) – Mary Grace

David R. French (1962 –living) – Molly Shonka

Carole French (2003-living)