Another McIntyre

In the prior McIntyre post regarding a search for the family and origins of my great-great-grandmother, Margery McIntyre (born ca. 1786), I neglected to mention a further candidate. What I did mention then was that a James and an Ann McIntyre on the River Rouge Road near St. Andrews East, Quebec, were the likeliest suspects ― if not old enough to be Margery's parents, then potentially close relations. Another man seemingly of Margery's age also came into focus.

On 7 September 1802 Laughlan McIntyre, a ship carpenter, married Margaret McIntyre at the Anglican Church in Quebec City.[1] He signed the register before witnesses Angus McIntyre and James McDonald. He stated his age as twenty-nine years (born ca.1773). Note the witness Angus, a name that occurs in the children of John Cameron and wife Catherine McIntyre (but not among Margery McIntyre Fraser’s). One of my questions: was Laughlin a carpenter on a ship, or a carpenter at the port engaged in building ships?

Then Laughlan McIntyre was a witness at the 30 October 1807 baptism of Allan, son of John and Catherine (McIntyre) Cameron from “Carrion” [Carillon], Quebec.[2] We don’t know if the event took place in Montreal or St. Andrews East (the St. Gabriel minister did visit St. Andrews sometimes). Laughlin's signature at both times looks identical to me.

Born within a few years of each other, Laughlan’s connection to Catherine McIntyre seems evident but he became quite elusive after that. I could not find him in Lower Canada (Quebec) census returns 1825, 1831, and in the two Canadas 1842 and 1851 (trusting the indexing) but his age made it debatable whether he lived until 1851. Thinking of carpenters and ships, where was the flourishing shipyard of the era? — Kingston, Upper Canada.

The Governor Simcoe built 1793 at Kingston as a merchant schooner. By C.H.J. Snider, Toronto Public Library reference PICTURES-R-486. Retrieved from Ship the "Governor Simcoe" (PICTURES-R-486), CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28133956

  

Yes. A search revealed children of Loughlin/Lauchlin/Laughlin and Margaret McIntire being baptized in Kingston: John, 7 August 1803; Donald, 5 August 1804; Mary, 31 August 1806.[3]

The couple was still there in March 1810 when they were sponsors, along with a Margaret Cameron, at the baptism of Abraham Greely’s son. At Laughlan’s first appearance on record there, in 1803, an author’s note says he “became a member of Lodge no. 6 A.F. & A.M. in 1806.” Therefore it’s fairly clear he was living in Kingston in the first decade of the nineteenth century and probably later. His presence at the 1807 baptism in Quebec seems to have been a family visit rather than his own residence.

Nothing further has been found to date. If this is the same Laughlan, he is not in the index to Kingston’s Cataraqui Cemetery transcript, nor did he leave a will or estate file there. A Captain John McIntyre of Portsmouth (just west of Kingston) died 24 July 1849 age forty-two[4] and his wife Isabella Fraser died 27 July 1874 age sixty-seven;[5] possibly John was Laughlan’s son. A Donald Malcolm McIntyre is apparently also in Cataraqui Cemetery but details are absent. Transfer records for Masonic Lodge members at that early date do not seem to be available, in case Laughlan had again moved.

The cluster of McIntyres in Pittsburgh Township (just east of Kingston) does not show any likely points of connection; the oldest family members there in 1851 are Hugh (ca.1791) and Archibald (ca.1801).[6] 1842 census returns for Pittsburgh have not survived.

The search for Laughlan stalled. And what about Margaret McIntyre, his wife? Did any of their children take to carpentry or a marine life? What about their marriage witness, Angus McIntyre? Then Christmas happened. Great excuse for a break ...

[1] “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection) 1621-1967, digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.ca : accessed 17 March 2015), McIntyre-McIntyre marriage 1802; Anglican registers (Quebec City).

[2] “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection) 1621-1967,” digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.ca : accessed 5 March 2012), baptism Allan Cameron, 1807; St Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church (Montreal, Quebec).

[3] A.H. Young, The Parish Register of Kingston, Upper Canada, 1785-1811 (1921. Reprint Global Heritage Press, 2003), 107, 110, 118, 132.

[4] Thomas B. Wilson, ed., The Ontario Register, Vol. 5 (1981), p. 170; citing Globe (Toronto) 31 July 1849. Further details about Captain John are not forthcoming in Cataraqui (Kingston) cemetery or burial records.

[5] Cataraqui Cemetery Comprehensive Index, (Kingston, ON; Kingston Branch OGS, c1996) shows Capt. John McIntyre and Isabella (Fraser) in Cataraqui Cemetery Section 17E; the transcription gives death information for Isabella. Cataraqui Burial Register, volume 1, 1853-1875 (Kingston, ON; Kingston Branch OGS, c1987) p. 66 #2793, Isabella (Fraser) McIntyre age 67, b. Scot, res. Portsmouth, buried 28 July 1874, minister Dr. Snodgrass, Cataraqui Cemetery E.

[6] 1851 Canada Census, District 9, Frontenac County, Subdistrict 73, Pittsburgh Township, p 93, Hugh McIntyre household and p 47, Archibald McIntyre household; Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-11721.

© 2016 Brenda Dougall Merriman