Donald Livingstone of Beauharnois County, Quebec

[Canadian Livingstone]

I have finally located my ancestor Miles Livingston's son Donald Livingston (1796?-1862), a great-great Uncle of mine in the province of Quebec, Canada at long last. For the longest time I was regretably oblivious to the fact that Miles according the Red River Colony records had a teenage son Donald Livingston from a previous marriage with him when he departed from Scotland in 1812 for British North America (Canada). When Miles Livingston of Morvern Parish, Argyll left Bowmore, kilarrow Parish on the Isle of Islay for Lord Selkirk's Red RiVer Colony in then British North America in June of 1812 he was accompanied by his son from his first marriage Donald Livingston a young laborer whom I estimated to be born around 1796 aproximately. Young Donald found work as a general laborer at the settlement while another Donald Livingston(1791-1876) who accompanied he and his father Miles to Selkirk's Colony at Red River became a boat builder for the settlement. Miles was also accompanied by his bride Janet (Jessie) Livington also a native of Morvern who he married only a few days before leaving Islay according to information kindly provided us by the Presbyterian minister from the old Round Church at the port of Bowmore on the Isle of Islay. The minister duly noted that Miles and Janet were married on 20th of July 1812 and subsequently left for America (British North America) aboard the Staffa which I later learned was a vessel which Lord Selkirk had one of his highland agents Archibald McDonald utilize for purposes of rounding up settlers from Mull and Islay to reach the Hudson Bay company ship the Robert Taylor awaiting them at Sligo, Ireland. Staffa of course is a picturesque island in the Kilninian and Kilmore Parish area of Mull and one would suspect this small vessel likely operated out Tobermory in the early 1800's.

Miles, his second wife Janet (Jessie) Livington and their two infant children Nancy and Hugh left the settlement in June of 1815 for Upper Canada (present day Ontario), however his son Donald remained employed as a laborer at Lord Selkirk's Red River Colony and Donald was apparently being held financially responsible for the tools, the musket his father Miles took with him and whatever else Miles owed Lord Selkirk and the settlement for before he hastily left the Red River Settlement in the Summer of 1815.To his credit Donald honoured his committment to the Lord Selkirk as a servant of the colony after the colony was destroyed in the summer by opponents of the settlement in the Summer of 1815 he returned to the settlement. After a subsequent attack and destruction of the Colony in the summer of 1816 by a rival fur trading company violently opposed to the Hudsons Bay Company allowing Lord Selkirk to establish a settlement in the west, Donald decided to leave the settlement and not return. His cousin? the other Donald Livingstone (1791-1876) was steadfast and loyal to Lord Selkirk and the settlement despite efforts by Duncan Cameron of the North West Company to get Donald to turn against the settlement. He infact returned after the summer of 1815 when the colony was first destroyed by the North West Company and in 1816 after the colony was reestablished for a second time to continue boatbuilding for the settlement and was a rewarded for his loyalty by being made a constable for the colony when Lord Selkirk visited the settlement in 1817 and the colony was resurected. This Donald Livingston also a native of Morvern was a son of Neil Livingston living on the Island of Islay. He and his wife Ann McGilverary of Mull whom he married shortly after the Robert Taylor arrrived at the Hudsons Bay Post of York Factory raised a family at the Red River Settlement and in 1819 Donald was joined by his father Neil, his mother and several family members including his younger brothers James and Hugh.

Miles Livingston's son Donald on the other hand by the fall of 1816 had left the Red River Settlement and made the arduous trek north about 700 miles via a chain of rivers and lakes to York Factory at Hudsons Bay apparently to return to Scotland aboard a Hudson Bay Company vessel but that did not happen because of the weather. He then is apparently headed more or less east in the direction of Quebec to the fur trading centre of Montreal,Quebec spending the Winter at Hudsons Bay Company post on Charlton Island at James Bay not far from present day Northern Quebec during the Winter of 1816/1817. It is here where the information trail from the Red River Colony stopped.

Then in 1819 when his father Miles Livingston now living in Upper Canada, Etobicoke Township, employed as a boatbuilder petitions the Government of Upper Canada for a grant of land listed with him on the petition is Donald Livingston of Montreal whom I presumed to be his son whom I suspected had continued from the James Bay area outpost in the Spring of 1817 all the way south east into Quebec and made his way to Montreal perhaps finding employment there.

Miles Livingston received a land grant in Esquesing Township, Halton County, Upper Canada on Concession 6 Lot 6 following his petition of 1819 but there was no apparent record of his eldest son Donald ever receiving or settling on a grant of land in Halton County. So I gradually came to the conclusion that perhaps he never left Montreal or Quebec after he arrived around 1817.

This morning I discovered to my surprise a reference in a legal document of Louis Sarault a Notary from Quebec that there was a transaction involving my great-great-great grandfather Miles Livingston of Esquesing Township, Upper Canada and his son Donald Livingston of the Seigneury of Beauharnois, Quebec dated August 16, 1837. Perhaps the full document when I acquire it will contain some more useful info but this a great start. Most importantly this document confirmed that Miles Livingston' son Donald had infact gone to Lower Canada (Quebec) as I suspected and remained there. I also noticed this Donald Livingston served in the Beauharnois Militia in the Lower Canada rebellion of 1837 as a private with the Third Company of Ormston First Concession. Ormston was situated in old Beauharnois County in Southwestern Quebec. As you can probably imagine at this point I was ready to get out the champayne and have a celebration. Further information indicated that a Donald Livingston was located in 1854 in Southern Beauharnois County in Edwardtown Township residing on a lot north east of the town of St. Chrysostone. THe earliest document I noticed regarding Donald Livingston of Beauharnois Seigneury had Donald Livingston land surveyor a sworn witness on a deed executed before the above mentioned Louis Serault on October 18,1822.

The Seigneury of Beauharnois was acquired by British merchant Alexander Ellis in 1795 and remained in that family for several decades. The Seigneury was settled by french Canadians and more recent English and Scots settlers. There were apparently two Donald Livingstons living in Beauharnois County by the 1840's. The Ellis or Ellice family records include at least one document from 1842 involving a Donald Livingston and a land record from 1855 involving a Donald A. Livingston. Donald A. Livingston appears to be another Donald Livingston born abt.1807 in Scotland who lived in Edwardtown Township at the village of St Chrysostone in the 1850's, a Baptist farmer who died in.


I subsequently discovered that in the 1830's there was a land surveyor of highland Scot origin in old Beauharnois County named Donald Livingston. Later old Beauharnois County was apparently subdivided into additional counties one of which became neighbouring Huntingdon County if I have that correct. I then located a death record sure enough for a Donald Livingstone a land surveyor who died September 26,1862 in Huntingdon County formerly Beauharnois County approximate age given as about 60 born in Argyllshire, Scotland. He apparently attended the Scottish Church of Huntingdon and Athelson at the time of his death and I suspect he may have been buried in the old cemetery of the original Presbyterian church that once existed in the town of Huntingdon in the County of Huntingdon but I am not certain. That cemetery was closed around 1880 when a new cemetery was established and while some of the old stones would have been tranferred it is unlike that I will be able to locate old Donald's cemetery stone or his gravesite in the old cemetery or the newer one.

Well this sounded very much like Miles lost son Donald whom I estimated was born abt. 1796 as an 1812 list from York Factory, British North America listed him as being 15 and over. Anyways whether he recorded as 60 or 65 at the time of his death I am reasonbly confident this is the Donald Livingston mentioned in the earlier record from Beauharnois County in Southwestern Quebec as being a son of Miles Livingston and confident a family mystery may be finally solved. It all so looks very promising that in knowing approximately where he lived I will be able to locate the exact Township where lived and find him in some census record in old Beauharnois or Huntingdon County census records prior to his death in 1862. It appears that Donald may have lived near the towns of Ormston, St. Chrysotome and Huntingdon in South western Quebec in his lifetime. I am both surprised and elated to have had such luck locating him. Thanks to all those out there who made this possible.

regards,

Donald

[Jewel]

Congradulations Donald!!

Isn't it great to get to the bottom of a unfound relative. Just wanted to tell you how happy I am for you.
You must be full of good feelings, I say pop that cork!!

Jewel

[Kyle MacLea]

Wonderful news, I am very happy to hear this, Donald! I will need to go back and re-read it in its entirety, but it looks like a wonderfully complete story!

Kyle=

[Bachuil]

Donald,

Well done. You do indeed make your own luck and sheer dermination has been rewarded.

Niall

[Jill Richmond]

Very well done, Donald. All your hard work and sleuthing has paid off, and you have solved a family mystery. Congratulations!

Regards,
Jill

[Canadian Livingstone]

Thank-you All,

This mystery has both purplexed and frustrated me regarding this second Donald Livingston that travelled with Miles Livingston and the other Islay boatbuilder Donald Livingston (1791-1876) son of Neil Livingston of Islay. Miles I should explain was originally recruited as a colony servant and employee like the others and was a skille boatbuilder/carpenter like Donald Livingston son of Neil Livingston but the colony records indicate after the first year he focused on being a settler and establishing a farm and helping to establish a permanent settlement at Pt. Douglas in present Winnipeg, Manitoba during his brief and unfortunate 3 years at the settlement.( Boatbuilder/carpenter Donald Livingston (1791-1876) son of Neil Livingston of Islay who accompanied Miles to Lord Selkirks settlement in the Summer of 1812 is by the way a great-great-great Uncle of Jerry Schmidt and Edith Matheson who are forum participants and Livingston family researchers )

For the longest time I had convinced myself that the other Donald was an older brother of Miles who had accompanied Miles and Donald the boatbuilders to Lord Selkirks Red River Colony in what was then a remote and vast terrain of Western British North America. Other researchers and a second look at the old Red River Colony records where it states that this Donald Livingston a colony laborer was a son of Miles Livingston pretty much convinced me that my earlier assumption about this Donald Livingston being an older brother was clearly incorrect. So it has been a bit of long road travelled to get at the truth but at long last I have arrived and a happy conclusion to this research adventure or should i say misadventure has finally been reached. Thank-you Rod, Edith and in particularJames at the Manitoba Archives for helping to show me the error of my ways.

regards,

Donald

[Jerry]

Donald,

Nicely done!


Jerry