Neil & Mary (Morris) McDonald

For awhile I was quite dismayed, then annoyed by not really knowing anything about my Great Grandmother Isabella McDonald (John Angus Gillis’s wife).  My mother, Catherine (Dineen) Greaser, had many bits and pieces from her days spent at her Gram's (as she called her) in Georgeville, Antigonish County (link to map) Nova Scotia, during the summers. As family historians and genealogists know, that small pieces, no matter how little, can be the "very link" you need. In the case of my Great Grandmother, Isabella McDonald, those small pieces helped save me a few years in discovering her family & paternal grandparents. 

My mother told me that her Gram, was from Pugwash, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. First I discovered Pugwash is in Cumberland County, not Pictou.  My mother also told me to look for a family by the name of "Wallace", that she heard them speak about "Wallace" a lot and therefore they were most likely relatives.  She also recalled what a couple of Isabella’s siblings names were.  I then searched the 1871 Cumberland census (since that's where Pugwash is) and I found Neil & Mary Ann McDonald with children by the name of Isabella, Allan, Anne, James Anderson & Neil, and to my surprise, they lived in the town of "Wallace".  So, the name she thought was that of a relative, was in actuality Isabella’s birthplace. The problem was that my Great Grandmother’s tombstone lists her birth as 1 Jan 1861, and according to the census, this Isabella was 12 years old in 1871, not the expected age of 9 years.   What I later discovered is that since there was no formal recordation of birth, people didn’t always remember their "exact" birthdate. They went by what they were told from what their parents remembered, or what was recorded in the Family Bible if they had one.  Based on  a copy of the marriage record I located for Isabella & John Angus, her parents were listed on there, and her age and John Angus's name & parents name solidly place her as the Isabella with Neil & Mary that I found on the 1871 census...so I was thrilled with my find!

Those on a "hunt to find their ancestors" often times worry if they’ll find nuts hanging from the tree limbs, or criminals, or just what. What we don’t usually prepare ourselves for are the "family tragedies" that sometimes occur, which can be the reasoning for those so called "nuts", who knows. There wasn’t much to go by and it appears that possibly Isabella chose to distance herself from her family due to some tragedies that befell them. According to information I have gathered thus far, it appears that she had a younger brother named Dugald that died at the age of 7 years, when Isabella was only about 10 years old. Then, within 4-5 years later her father died at the young age of 36 (cause of death unknown yet...the searching never ends). In addition, the year she was born, Neil's two sisters (age 18 &21 I believe) died. I haven't discovered their cause of death yet either. Not long afterwards, Neil's parents died, Isabella's Grandparents. .That is a lot of hardship on any family...especially for the women that are left behind with 5-10 children to raise. In this case, her mother, Mary Ann Morris, would have had about 5 or 6 children still living. That may be why Isabella left home to marry. In addition, there’s a good possibility that Mary Ann (Isabella’s mother) remarried. I found a McMullin family in the 1891 census that has an Anne & Neil McDonald living with a Mary Ann & Alex McMullin, and Anne & Neil seem to fit the ages of Isabella’s siblings. Another piece of the puzzle I have yet to discover is who the Sea Captain was. According to my mother, one of Isabella’s brother’s was probably a Captain since he was married to a German girl and always took her on his voyages. Since he took her on his voyages it does lead you to believe that he must be a Captain, afterall, shipmates weren’t allowed to bring family aboard.