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Dad's Notes (G.R. "Sonny" McW)

These were my original notes. More information provided to me by F. Davis seems to indicate that David was the son of Alexander and Jean, not Thomas and Abigail. I will leave these original notes here for now.
First McWilliam of our ilk to land in North America (our ancestor) was Thomas McWilliam (was likely spelled in the Gaelic mode when in Scotland) who landed at Cocagne Island, NB in 1815. He came from Galloway* Scotland. At the time he emigrated to New Brunswick he was married to his second wife Abigail Armour.

The children of his first marriage were:
  • William who married a Curran - (George R. (Sonny)'s notes say that William was a native of Galloway, Scotland and died Sept. 16, 1898, and that 'wife Christina died December 7, 1899, aged 86 years', which would mean she was born circa 1813. Perhaps William - and the others were born in Scotland and came over with their father.)
  • Janet who married Thomas Rankine of Saint John, NB
  • Christine who married a McIntosh at McGrath Mountain, NB
The above would have been half-siblings to our ancestor, David.

The children of his second marriage include David who begat our more recent forebears. All the offspring of Thomas and Abigail Armour were:

  • Alexander who married a Buchanan of Petitcodiac, NB
  • George, who married a Buchanan (According to a post at Roots Web, George married Mary Buchanan of Shediac Apr. 3, 1843 and they had a daughter Mary A. M(a)cWilliam(s) who married Joseph A. Marshman on Sept. 25, 1878, as per Mary and Joseph's granddaughter Florence Davis)
    Sept. 2000 Notes: I found a broken headstone at Bleakney Cemetary 1836 in Petitcodiac which is the one Dad meant as he wrote '1836' beside it in his notes. When you brush out the dirt, the letters do indeed spell Geo. McWilliam. I believe the middle initial is an I or an L. It is not Mac, nor does there seem to be an 'S' on the end. Could find no dates on the headstone and couldn't find any marked graves for brothers Alexander or John.
  • John who married a Buchanan
    (Sonny's notes state that all are buried in East Petitcodiac Blakney Cemetary)
  • James (ran out of Buchanans), unmarried
  • Archibald who married an O'Neil in Moncton, NB
  • David who thought for himself and married Mary Riley (they lived in Moncton, NB) Mary was the daughter of Edward Riley and Ann Buchanan of Sunny Brae, NB.
    Sonny's notes state that the records are at church at McDougall Settlement

Sidebar
*I'm thinking -- could it be Wigtown(shire)? My search for McWilliams at the Latter Day Saints site brought up many of them from there.

I found a Thomas McWilliam christened 27 Sep 1774, Tain, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. Parents Donald McWilliam and Katharine Ross. Do not know if that is OUR Thomas.

Sept 2001:
Found more Thomases.
Thomas McWilliam Christened 11 Sep 1769, Tain, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, Parents: Alexander McWilliam and Katharine Cook.
Thomas McWilliam born 1796 Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, Parents: Hugh McWilliam and Janet Russell.
Thomas McWilliam born or christened 21 Sep 1785, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, Parents: James McWilliam and Margaret Wilson.
Thomas McWilliam christened 22 Nov 1773 Inch Wigtown, Scotland, Father: John McWilliam.
Thomas McWilliam christened 7 Mar 1789, Glenluce Wigtown, Scotland, Parents: Patrick McWilliam and Janet Murphy. There's a second entry, same info except the date is 7 Mar 1780.
Thomas McWilliam christened 9 Jan 1789, Glenluce Wigtown Scotland, Parents: Patrick McWilliam and Janet Kilpatrick.
Thomas McWilliam, christened 17 Dec 1790, Stanraer Wigtown Scotland, Parents: Thomas McWilliam and Sara Kerr.

Some marriages:
Thos. McWilliam to Janet Allan 29 Jul 1777 Glass Aberdeen Scotland.
Thomas McWilliam to Elizabeth Perrie 27 Jan 1807 Glenluce Wigtown Scotland. This Thomas was born abt. 1782 in Barlochhard Wigtown Scotland. (This would make him 25 in 1807 -- approx. when William was born -- and 33 in 1815.)
I could only find one William in Scotland born around that time. This William was christened 10 Jun 1804 in Stranraer Wigtown, Scotland, so he might be the son of the Thomas christened 17 Dec 1790 in the same place.

A very nice Scottish lady who does genealogical research offered one 'freebie' since she was going to be doing some other (paid) research in Wigtownshire, anyway. I haven't heard back from her yet, but I hope to. :-)