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  1. #11
    A fountain of knowledge Mike_E's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen M. Kohler View Post
    Aberdeen rings a bell. So, it may not be as long a shot as you think though. Because the MacKays/McKays got around a lot. I’ll have to research this more.

    Where in the US is your ancestor’s home?
    Hi Stephen,

    My ancestors were in Iowa, Clinton county to be precise. James Steel Cornwall, who's mother was a Mackay went to the US in the 1850's, and met a lady from Hull UK, and married her. They travelled back a forwards a couple of times, and one daughter stayed in the UK, and I'm descended from her. I've got access to Scotlands People, but have had little luck with getting anything on Jame's parents. James was born in 1833. I'll keep digging, and maybe will bump into your ancestry somewhere along the line.

  2. #12
    daveareed
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    Default Colonel Andrew Reed Descendent

    I am a descendent of Colonel Reed...I'd like to discuss... Please email me.

    -David Reed
    Bangor, Maine




    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen M. Kohler View Post
    Hi Cuz,
    We are spitting close. My grandfather is Edward Thomas Swansburg. His father was Edward Doane (called Jones) Swansburg (He worked as a ship’s joiner for his wife’s cousin Donald McKay in the east Boston shipyards). Jones was married to Margaret Janet “Jane” McKay. Christian Swansburg (Schweinsburg from Hesse) is my fifth great-grandfather.

    More on the Schweinsbergs – They only settled in Hesse after The Thirty Years War. The came over with the Rea MacKay’s highland troops from Caithness and Sutherland and fought in the war to support their blood relatives from Sweden. The name varies much but you can bet that anyone with “Swan…” or “Swin…” in their name from Northern Scotland is related. They descend from Norse Vikings, Norman pirates, Anglo-Norman invaders that melded into the Scottish population.

    Is your Reed family descended from Colonel Andrew Reed of Boothbay, Maine and Antrim, Ireland by any chance?

    I know your Walker side very well. Aside from immigrating to East Boston and Weymouth, Massachusetts some made Maine their home.

    I was born in Melrose, Massachusetts. My mom and sister live in Reading, MA.

    Let’s explore this more.

    Cuz Stephen
    Last edited by Jan1954; 18-03-2008 at 5:46 PM. Reason: Email address

  3. #13
    tpbiii
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen M. Kohler View Post
    I am interested in the McKay family of Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. I am specifically seeking information on the parents and siblings of David McKay b. May 24 1793 in Thurso, Caithiness, Scotland. David immigrated to Canada and settled on the west side of the East Jordon River, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada. David McKay married Janet McPherson, dau. of Lachlan and Elizabeth (Urquhart) McPherson, b., April 6, 1799 I East Jordan. N.S. I have much information on generations descending from this marriage that I am happy to share with other McKay researchers.

    /R

    Stephen
    Washington, DC
    Hi Stephen,

    My name is Tom Barnwell. My mother is Mary Ellen (McKay) Barnwell, daughter of Leslie B. McKay, son of (William) Ernest McKay, son of William McKay, son of David McKay and Janet McPherson.

    I am writing these from the upstairs bedroom of the house on the Jordan River (Jordan Falls, NS) in which David and Janet lived and raised their children. (We live in Atlanta, and we are up in Nova Scotia for the summer.) His son William (my great great grandfather) lived in the house and raised his children here too. Most of the family move to Boston and Everett MA sometime between 1880 and 1890, and the house went to a relative named Donald McKay. In 1890, William bought the house, and went there every summer -- my grandfather, Leslie, spend summers there with his grandfather, William.

    When William died, the house went to his daughter, Ann Grace, who gave it to my Grandfather in the 1940s. He made it into a summer home (he lived in Florida by then), and I (and all my siblings and cousins) spent summers here in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

    We have had the house since 2002. I retired from Georgia Tech in 2006, and now we are spending summers here too. The house has remained in the family now for pretty near 200 years.

    Sounds like we should talk.

    Best,
    -Tom

  4. #14
    Inez Reed
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    Default McKays and others in Boston, MA area

    Hi Tom - My grandfather, Thomas Sutton Walker (1887-1967), left Jordan Falls when he was about 12 or 13. He was the youngest son of Thomas and Margaret McKay Swansburg Walker. As the youngest boy, he was likely farmed out to relatives in the Boston area. I haven't checked the 1900 or 1910 census to see just where he was living or with what relatives. He may have worked in the shipyards.

    The family home in Jordan Falls was a two story frame with a four square roof that was built in the late 19th century.

    Up until recent years, I had several Mahaney cousins living in the Shelburne area. I'm still piecing together the siblings, various great aunties, etc. There are also Armstrong and Manguard families that are related.

    Best wishes,

    Inez

  5. #15
    tpbiii
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    Quote Originally Posted by Inez Reed View Post
    Hi Tom - My grandfather, Thomas Sutton Walker (1887-1967), left Jordan Falls when he was about 12 or 13. He was the youngest son of Thomas and Margaret McKay Swansburg Walker. As the youngest boy, he was likely farmed out to relatives in the Boston area. I haven't checked the 1900 or 1910 census to see just where he was living or with what relatives. He may have worked in the shipyards.

    The family home in Jordan Falls was a two story frame with a four square roof that was built in the late 19th century.

    Up until recent years, I had several Mahaney cousins living in the Shelburne area. I'm still piecing together the siblings, various great aunties, etc. There are also Armstrong and Manguard families that are related.

    Best wishes,

    Inez
    Hi Ines,

    Well your family names are very familiar. Our hobby is playing music, and we played a show last night with Curtis Mahaney in Liverpool. Curtis is the (77 year old) son of the late Sidney Mahaney -- the legendary dory builder of Shelburne.

    My Grandparents' closest friends in the 50's were George Swansburg and Vic and Viola Walker. Vic and Viola lived up the road about 1/4 mile in a house such as you describe. We had dinner on Friday with Francis Walker Richardson, the last living child of Vic and Viola. If that is the house, I spend many hours there as a child, where I was trained to play many, many card games. Their youngest child was named Margret -- she died last year. Could Vic have been your uncle?

    Vic and Viola Walker and my grandparents, Leslie and Gertrude McKay, are all buried in the cemetery on the Lake John Road in Jordan Falls.

    Another Mahaney we know in Shelburne is Al Mahaney. He is probably in his late 70s or early 80s. He lived many years in MA. He is a country musician, and he pretty much runs the Shelburne summer musical events. We play music with him now and again.

    My grandfather died in 1960 -- just a year before I entered MIT in 1961. He was born on Beacon St., which is where I lived while in school. He died too soon to know.

    Best,

    -Tom

  6. #16
    Inez Reed
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    Default Vic & Viola Walker

    My grandfather Walker had two older brothers, Uncle Vic(tor) and Uncle Charlie. My grandfather was a great story teller. He had worked the lumber camps most of his adult life and must have spent endless hours telling stories, embroidering tall tales and probably stretching the truth pretty thin. Supposedly "the boys" were competitors in such sports as log rolling. I think that their father was also involved in the lumber industry.

    The last time I saw Uncle Vic and Aunt Viola must have been in 1964. We had stayed with my cousin Jeanette Mahaney. I want to say that Al was her husband. They had three children. Ruth was the closest in age to me so I remember her the best. I think Doug is now retired from the RCMP and may live in Ontario.

    I also had a cousin who I remember only as "Nurney". We would spend summers up at some of the camps in that area.

    My grandfather also had an elder sister, Aunt Kate who I met once. I think there were other kids but they may have died young.

    I haven't thought of Uncle Vic in so long. Thank you for mentioning him.

    Thank you for mentioning these folks. Make me feel all the warmer just thinking about them on such a drizzly evening!

    Best wishes,

    Inez

  7. #17
    Inez Reed
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    Default Cribbage

    Interesting you mention playing cards, my grandfather (known as Sutton) was a fiend for playing cribbage. My mother had a cribbage board that he'd made when he was working up at Barnjum lumber camp (in Maine) when she was a child (1920s).

    George Swansburg was a cousin of sorts, I think, he was g-grandmother Jane (or Margaret properly) Swansburg Walker's brother(?). I really should go through the census records and fill in some of these gaps!

    Best wishes,

    Inez

    I understand there was a family Bible kicking around somewhere but never saw it. I don't know if it was old but it may have been helpful on some of these McKays.

  8. #18
    tpbiii
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    Quote Originally Posted by Inez Reed View Post
    My grandfather Walker had two older brothers, Uncle Vic(tor) and Uncle Charlie. My grandfather was a great story teller. He had worked the lumber camps most of his adult life and must have spent endless hours telling stories, embroidering tall tales and probably stretching the truth pretty thin. Supposedly "the boys" were competitors in such sports as log rolling. I think that their father was also involved in the lumber industry.

    The last time I saw Uncle Vic and Aunt Viola must have been in 1964. We had stayed with my cousin Jeanette Mahaney. I want to say that Al was her husband. They had three children. Ruth was the closest in age to me so I remember her the best. I think Doug is now retired from the RCMP and may live in Ontario.

    I also had a cousin who I remember only as "Nurney". We would spend summers up at some of the camps in that area.

    My grandfather also had an elder sister, Aunt Kate who I met once. I think there were other kids but they may have died young.

    I haven't thought of Uncle Vic in so long. Thank you for mentioning him.

    Thank you for mentioning these folks. Make me feel all the warmer just thinking about them on such a drizzly evening!

    Best wishes,

    Inez
    Hi Inez,

    We just came back from Chuchover -- Curtis Mahaney took us mackerel fishing. We caught 20, and took them back to his house and cooked them. Out on the boat (we stayed real close to shore), we had a fine view of the Acker house and barn. Your cousin Catherine (Nurney and Jeanette's sister) lived there with her husband Tom, and they shared the house with her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Mack and Annie Acker. I came to visit my grandmother after my junior year at MIT, and I ended up escorting Valda Acker (Tom and Catherine's daughter) to her senior prom. That would have been June of 1964. I really did not know her well as a young adult, but I played with her as a child.

    Nurney was one of my all time favorite people. He was very close in age to my uncle "Buddy" (L. B. McKay Jr.), and they got into quite a bit of trouble together. When I was young, he was mostly away in the Air Force. His wife's name is Gene. After my grandmother was widowed in 1960 (she lived 30 more years), Nurney looked after her with great care and dedication. I am sure you know he died young of cancer. Even now, it makes me sad to think about it.

    He and my Aunt Annie (Ann Grace McKay, my mother's sister) were involved in the great moose caper. They were back in the woods, out of season, with a couple of other kids -- they all had 22 caliber rifles. They were not suppose to be there!

    So they came across a moose, which charged them. After many shots, the moose finally went to its knees, and they all ran away as fast as they could. At that time, your Uncle Vic was the game warden. For days and days, that moose was the talk of Jordan Falls -- who could have poached it. After the commotion died down, your Uncle Vic showed up one day at the door with the moose antlers. He gave them to my aunt, and said "I think these belong to you." Those antlers hung in my bedroom in Florida when I was in high school.

    My family was also quite close the Jeanette and Al Mahaney -- we often visited them in their home in Shelburne, and I believe I stayed the night several times.

    My grandfather taught me to play cribbage, and I played many a game with Aunt Kate. I called Francis (Walker) Richardson today -- she is Nurney, Jeanette, and Catherine's sister -- the last of the siblings. She and I have had a cribbage match going since 2002 to decide the USA/Canada championship. We play a couple of times a year, and we talk about it continuously. Weird thing is, every year it is a tie. Spooky.

    She told me she has her whole side of the family documented, and she will be glad to share. I'm off to VT for a week to visit my wife's family and Francis is off to PEI to visit her daughter, but next week after we both return, we have to settle this cribbage thing once and for all . If you like, I can bring along a scanner and copy that stuff for you.

    Also, my mother (Mary Ellen McKay Barnwell) is alive and well at 88 and living in Jacksonville. She knows all this stuff really well. If you want to make some contacts, send me a PM.

    Best,



    -Tom

  9. #19
    Inez Reed
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    Default Dear Nurney

    Tom - I had heard that Nurney died young. He had a big heart and I'm certain that he periodically looked in on Aunt Kate. As you said, just thinking about a world without Nurney makes me sad.

    I'm not really too terribly certain just how we were related to the Mahaney clan but you'd have to go pretty far to find better kinsmen. I have many "relatives" that I couldn't tell you "if" or "how" we're related but they are none the less kin.

    I would love to see just what material you have on the family. My mother was an avid genealogist and it always frustrated her that she couldn't get beyond Sutton and Jane (Swansburg) Walker. I filled in some material but the Walker tribe isn't as well documented as I'd like. Over the years, I've been able to piece together some of the direct line but not much detail of the McKay and their allied families.

    I had hoped to get to Grand Lake Stream, Maine for the Walker family reunion the first week in August (roughly Civic Holiday weekend). Grandfather Walker came to the village during the second world war when he ran lumber crews out of the German POW camps. After the war, I think grandfather also worked as a gilly in all but the dead of winter and then it was making snow shoes and canoes.

    You had to mention mackerel fishing...sigh...I haven't been mackerel fishing in years. Do you run jig lines?

    Take care and hope to hear from you soon. I think you can send a private email here if you like (somehow through the forum). I'm semi-retired as a cultural resource consultant and get to devote more time to these little addicting projects...

    Best wishes,

    Inez

  10. #20
    Stephen M. Kohler
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    Default McPhersons and Mckays

    Quote Originally Posted by tpbiii View Post
    Hi Stephen,
    ...son of David McKay and Janet McPherson.

    I am writing these from the upstairs bedroom of the house on the Jordan River (Jordan Falls, NS) in which David and Janet lived and raised their children.

    I retired from Georgia Tech in 2006, and now we are spending summers here too. The house has remained in the family now for pretty near 200 years.

    Sounds like we should talk.

    Best,
    -Tom
    Cuz Tom, Pleasure to meet you though I am a Florida State seminole Fan having served five years in the Army in Tallahassee. I'm really an ACC fan. You can not get a better hot dog than at Georgia Tech.

    David and Janet are my ggggrandparents. Do you have M. Robertson's genealogy papers on the McPhersons and the McKays?
    Can anyone explain the relationship of David McKay and SGT Donald McKay (The Highlander)?
    Were they brothers? Were they father and son? I understand that David's passage from Caithness was bought by Donald. Is there anyway we can convince you to post a picture of the home in Jordan Falls?

    Inez and I will need to plan a trip to Jordan Falls one day when you are summering there. I dream of sailing to Nova Scotia one day. I am a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army with 25 years of service. I once taught Information Technology. Now I live in Northern Virginia and work at the Pentagon.

    We will need to talk an awful lot more.

    Cuz,
    Stephen

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