Return
to John Halliday Chapter Page
The Family He
Founded
Fifteen children were born
to John Holliday and Margaret Johnstone. Three died in infancy.
Twelve lived to maturity, married, and had children. As generation
succeeded generation descendants became quite numerous, so that
a century after their deaths the number is approximately a thousand
persons. Three factors make an exact account of this family difficult,
indeed impossible.
First of these is the self-evident
one of the number involved. Second is the fact that the multiplicity
of different surnames makes the tracing of lines of descent ever
more involved with each generation. Upon marriage of a female
member the surname changed. Thus, within two generations the
descendants of the eight Holliday sons bore exactly fifty surnames
different from theirs, while the four Holliday daughters had
in one generation descendants bearing twenty-seven surnames other
than Holliday. By the time the sixth generation from John Holliday
has been reached (in 1962) the number of different surnames is
beyond calculation. Any precise knowledge of the individual descendants
has become impossible.
Even when one confines
the record to those descendants born to the Holliday (or Halliday)
surname, there is a factor which makes a completely accurate
account difficult. This is the fact that as settlement in North
America moved westward in Upper Canada, then to the Great Central
Plain, and ultimately to the Pacific Coast members of the family
dispersed widely over the continent. Contacts one with another
became increasingly difficult and tended to disappear entirely
with successive generations. To re-establish contacts and to
acquire from long-separated 'cousins' the data required for a
reliable family history became a task of some magnitude, requiring
time and persistent effort. Complete success has not yet (1962)
been obtained.
It follows that this particular
record of the family John Holliday and Margaret Johnstone founded
can be but a partial one. It will in crude only descendants who
were born to the surname. It will be limited to information obtained
about approximately four hundred such descendants. Since, however,
these form a significant proportion (about 40%) of the estimated
total number of descendants and include those who have lived
from Atlantic to Pacific and from the Panama Canal Zone to the
northern Canadian prairies, it may be taken as a reasonably accurate
picture of the whole. Since very few of the living descendants
are known to the author to spell their name with an 'loll, this
record may justifiably return to the original spelling and refer
to them as the "Halliday" family.
As already indicated, the
Hallidays became a part of the general westward spread of North
American settlement. This did not occur, however, for the oldest
members of the family. When the six oldest sons, - John, William,
George, James, Francis and David - reached maturity the area
around Perth was still in a developing economy. They took up
land or practised trades of a frontier community in the immediate
vicinity. Only the two youngest sons, Isaac and Calvin - went
westward. They settled in the newer Upper Canadian frontier near
Lake Huron. For the next generation the attraction was to the
farther West of the prairies. By the end of the century descendants
of every one of the eight sons, with the possible exception of
Francis (whose line is still undiscovered) and of David (whose
line remained in the East), were to be found in Western Canada
and the United States. Even one of the first generation, Isaac,
spent the last years of his life on the North Dakotan plains.
It is not surprising, therefore, that succeeding generations
were found and still are found in every Canadian Province from
Quebec westward and in at least twelve States of the American
Union.
Equally diverse as their
places of residence were the vocations followed by the family's
members. Three sons (and possibly a fourth) of the Scotch Line
family became farmers, - John, William, possibly George, and
James, - the two former on homesteads on the Madawaska River,
and James on the old homestead. The others learned trades, -
carpentry, harness-making, and similar ones in demand in a frontier
community. The second generation showed wider diversity, with
many of its members engaged in such commercial pursuits as retail
merchandising, banking, milling, or other light manufacturing.
Not until the third generation did professional careers become
frequent among the Hallidays. Then and afterwards practically
every learned profession has had members of the family among
its ranks. These include those of the Church, law, medicine,
pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, social work, pedagogy, musicology,
astronomy, journalism, and others. Since the earlier pursuits
of agriculture and merchandising continued - and continue - to
be represented, the family vocations comprise a cross-section
of the general economy.
The distaff side of the
family confined their careers in the earlier generations to household
arts. These have continued to be prime vocations as demanded,
but as the social mores have altered female members have moved
into the same professional or business spheres as male members
of the family.
Individuals among the Hallidays
have achieved a modest degree of prominence in their respective
communities. One of the more interesting of such was William
Halliday, second son of John Holliday. He had become a pasterer
by trade but returned to farming and settled at Springtown, U.
C., in Bagot Township. There he became known as "The Madawaska
Poet". William was described by Senator Haydon in his "Pioneer
Sketches" as "a bit of a wag and a poet withal".
He liked to seize upon a local event and celebrate it in verse,
with a kind of pawky Scots humour. The one existing complete
poem from his pen followed upon the unintentional shooting by
a neighbour of two dogs belonging to him. He chose, in verse,
to consider it reason for a family feud. It is worthy of reproduction.
THE DEATH OF THE TWA' DOGS
1. Ye Scots wha roost on
Bagot's rocks and Blythfield's
mountains high,
Where prowls the wolf and wily fox - you hear them
nightly cry -
And he that tills the fertile yird by Springtown's
stately ha',
And ye wha border on McNab - we should be brithers a'.
2. Come listen to a brither
Scot, wha bears Sir William's name,
That far-famed Knight of Ellerslie, Wallace, dear to fame;
And in my veins pure rins the bluid that warmed
That man of might,
If there was one degenerate drop it soon should see the light.
3. I warn ye a', both great and sma', to wale your steps with
care,
A treacherous band through a' the land has laid the deadly snare;
For waur than fox or prowling wolf are waiting to betray,
The Brills of late beset my path, to take my life away.
4. With rancorous hate
and murderous hearts they laid my collies low,
But I have sworn to be revenged, they soon shall feel the blow;
I never did a body wrang, I scorn a wicked deed,
I am a canny, harmless man, that plaisters for my breid.
5. The serf may thole the
tyrant's lash, and cringing, lowly fa',
But my proud spirit canna brook an insult, great or sma'.
The bluid o'Wallace, boiling hot, shall sco'rn their low degree,
I never shall disgrace my name, though not as stout as he.
6. Yes, rouse the Wallace
bluid, for bluid shall all my wrongs repay,
A hero's name shall nerve my arm to sweep my foes away;
The Brill may boast with haughty tongue, a Chief of all his clan,
There's not a Wallace e'er was born but stood a better man.
7. Come on! proud Brill!
your haughty head shall soon be lying low;
'Tis no great honour to my name to meet so mean a foe.
If I should fal poor Scotia's sons, from Bagot's rocks and bogs,
May gather up my worthless clay and lay me wi' my dogs.
8. Scorned and despised,
let no man weep; I ask no filial tear;
Let the worst Scot amang the lot shout 'Coward' o'er my bier;
Engrave these words upon my tomb, to my eternal shame -
'Here lies a Wallace, and the first that e'er disgraced the name'.
The kind of local fame
more commonly achieved by the Hallidays was, in the realm of
politics. The frequency with which its members were elected as
school-trustees, councillors reeves, or mayors of their respective
municipalities showed a strong sense of responsibility for the
conduct of local government. This began with the first generation,
with John in Bagot Township and James in Burgess where the family
homestead lay. It has been continued in each generation since,
with specific known instances down to the fourth generation today.
Perhaps the most prominent of such political achievement was
that of two brothers of the second generation (sons of James)
when Francis Halliday became a State Senator in North Dakota,
U.S.A., and his brother James a Member of Parliament in the House
of Commons, Ottawa.
While this New World branch
of the Hallidays is not known to have produced any professional
member of the armed forces, like other families of the western
world it did provide its quota of soldiers, sailors, and airmen
for "duration" service in the XX century wars. In both
First and Second World Wars and in the later Korean War many
of its members served in various capacities and ranks. Several
of them made the supreme sacrifice. At least two received special
recognition: one member of the fourth generation serving in Italy
in the Second World War was given a Citation and the Bronze Star,
U.S.A.; while in the First World War one of the third generation
was awarded the Military Cross during service with the British
Army in France.
As the story of his life
shows, John Holliday considered adherence to the Cameronian branch
of Presbyterianism a matter of vital importance. Not so most
of his descendants. Some of them remained staunch members of
that branch and several of their direct descendants still do.
The majority, however, gave allegiance to the larger and more
widespread Canadian Presbyterian Church. Through the years and
as the influence of inter-faith marriages, frontier mission conditions,
and individual convictions made themselves felt in religious
matters, members of the family were found in many different branches
of the Christian faith. They have been or are adherents of the
following: Anglican, Associate Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist,
Pentecostal, Plymouth Brethren, Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Reformed Presbyterian, United Church of Canada, and possibly
others.
Were John Holliday expressing
his opinion upon the succeeding generations of the family he
founded - and doubtless he would be ready to express one! his
judgment would probably be one of mingled blame and approval.
Without a doubt he would disapprove of the general transference
of religious loyalty from the Cameronian discipline. On the other
hand he would be proud of the degree of professional education
achieved by so many of his descendants, some of the intellectual
competence therefor perhaps being credited to a direct inheritance
from the schoolmaster himself. His enforced Scots thrift would
approve the financial affluence which several of the family gained
through business acumen. While his own struggle to assert his
and his fellow settlers' rights in the pioneer community would
appear to have won a permanent victory as many of his children's
children became the elected heads of their respective communities,
and one of them a member of the nation's Parliament. On balance,
his family might be considered a credit to their pioneer ancestor,
the schoolmaster of Hutton and of the Scotch Line.
John Holliday died at the
home of his daughter Mary on the Line, on March 21, 1870, at
the age of ninety-two. His body was laid to rest beside that
of his wife in the family burial plot on the old homestead. There
is a nostalgic fitness in the fact. Years later it was expressed
by a great-granddaughter thus, "Many a staunch old pioneer
sleeps his last sleep where he pillowed his head the first night
after his soul felt the joyous anguish of the words 'the ground
that is mine own'." John Holliday sleeps his last sleep
on ground forever his own.
Notes
Clarence Holliday's original
biography of John Holliday was written in nine numbered chapters
and he provided notes as references for various items in each.
Since this format has been changed, the original notes are referenced
to the chapter titles.
A Forthright Man
(1) William Bell, Journal,
July, 1817.
(2) Andrew Haydon, Pioneer Sketches in The District of Bathurst,
p. 29.
(3) William Bell, Journal, March 18, 1818.
(4) Ibid, December 22, 1827.
(5) Ibid, October 10, 1830.
(6) Ibid, December 22, 1827.
(7) Ibid, June 29, 1817.
(8) Isabel Skelton, A Man Austere, p. 118.
(9) William Bell, Journal, 1819.
(10) Andrew Haydon, Pioneer Sketches, p. 30.
(11) Public Archives of Canada, Q 135, p. 192.
(12) Ibid, Q 133, p. 268.
(13) Ibid, Upper Canada Sundries, December 28, 1815.
(14) William Bell, Journal, December 9, 1819.
(15) Ibid, January, 1828.
(16) Isabel Skelton, A Man Austere, P. 119.
(17) Public Archives of Canada, U. C. Sundries, August 10, 1819.
The Halliday Family
(1) Map A.
(2) History of Annandale Family Names, Archives of Annan.
(3) Prevost, Annals of Three Dumfriesshire Dalesil, p. 33.
(4) For the complete poem, "The Twa Dogs" by William
Halliday of Springtown, Ont., see the chapter titled The Family
He Founded.
(5) Agnes Marchbank, Upper Annandale. (Paisley, 1901).
(6) Map A.
(7) Anonymous article, The Clan Halliday, Moffat News and Times,
June 21, 1956.
(8) Woodrow, History of the Covenanters, p. 242.
(9) Map A.
(10) Prevost, History of Dumcrieff (unpublished); and Record
Office, Edinburgh, Clerk of Penicuik, 5697; 5720.
(11) Session Records, Moffat Parish Church, January, 1739: and
Record Office, Edinburgh, Registers of Moffat Parish
Early Life in Scotland
(1) Statistical Account
of Scotland, 1793: Hutton and Corrie.
(2) Map B.
(3) Agnes Marchbank, Upper Annandale (Paisley, 1901)
(4) see "Berrier", Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names.
(5) see "Berscaur", Johnson-Ferguson: Place-Names of
Dumfriesshire
(6) Map C.
(7) William Rogerson, Hutton-Under-The-Muir (Dumfries, 1908)
(8) see below, Chapter Eight.
(9) Henry Graham, Social Life in Scotland in XVIII Century
(10) Map D.
(11) see below, chapter titled Emigration
(12) see below, chapter titled A New Life Begins
(13) Public Archives of Canada, U. C. Sundries, 1815 (vol. 25).
(14) Ibid, 1819.
Emigration
(1) Public Archives of
Canada, Q 328, p. 143.
(2) Ibid, L. C., series G, p. 6.
(3) Andrew Haydon, Pioneer Sketches etc, p. 11.
(4) Public Archives of Canada, Q 127, p. 169.
(5) Ibid, Q 135, Pt. I, p. 3.
(6) lbid, Q 135, Pt. 1, p. 106.
(7) Ibid, Q 135, Pt. I, p. 109.
(8) Ibid, Q 135, p. 125.
(9) Ibid, Q 135, p. 129.
(10) William Bell, Hints To Emigrants, Letter X.
(11) Public Archives of Canada, Q 135, p. 149.
(12) Isabel Skelton, A Man Austere, p. 85.
(13) Public Archives of Canada, Q 135, p. 186.
(14) Ibid, Q 135, p. 192.
(15) Ibid, Q 135, p. 197.
(16) John Holliday, Letter to Sir Peregrine Maitland, August
10, 1819. (See below, Chapter Seven)
(17) Isabel Skelton, A Man Austere, p. 85.
(18) Ibid, p. 86.
A New Life Begins
(1) Public Archives of
Canada, Q 135, p. 268.
(2) Isabel Skelton, A Man Austere, p. 87.
(3) Andrew Haydon, Pioneer Sketches, etc., p. 25.
(4) Public Archives of Canada, C. 621, p. 103.
(5) lbid, Q 133, p. 266.
(6) lbid, Q 133, p. 268.
(7) lbid, Q 133, p. 268.
(8) Josephine Smith, Perth-on-the-Tay, appendix.
(9) Mary Holliday Fraser, Almonte Gazette, May 3, 1890.
(10) Public Archives of Canada, (R.G.5, Al, Vol. 25) 1815.
(11) Ibid, U. C. Sundries, March 25, 1816.
(12) Mary Holliday Fraser, Almonte Gazette, May 3, 1890.
(13) Robert Gourlay, Report on Settlements in Upper Canada, 1817.
Pioneering on the Scotch
Line
(1) Mary Holliday Fraser,
Almonte Gazette, May 3, 1890.
(2) Robert Gourlay, of the Ottawa Valle ) p. 7.
(3) John McDonald, Pamphlet, 1826, quoted by Andrew Haydon, Pioneer
Sketches, etc. p 104.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Public Archives of Canada, Q 137, p. 259.
(6) William Bell, Journal. July, 1817.
(7) Robert Gourlay, Settlements1817.
(8) Josephine Smith, Perth-on-the-Tay (Ottawa, 1901).
(9) see chapter titled A Forthright Man
(10) William Bell, Journal August, 1830.
(11) Lands Titles Office, County of Lanark, Perth.
The Schoolmaster
(1) William Bell, Journal,
June, 1818.
(2) On this incident see above, Chapter V.
(3) William Bell, Journal, November, 1817.
(4) Ibid, April, 1818.
(5) Ibid, March, 1818.
(6) Ibid, December, 1819.
(7) Public Archives of Canada, Q 135, p. 186.
(8) John Dobie, son of Jane Holliday Dobie.
(9) H.E. Wedick, Scotland's Magazine, January, 1961, p. 39.
His Religion
(1) Statistical Account
of Scotland, 1793: Hutton
(2) William Bell, Journal June, 1817.
(3) Isabel Skelton, A Man Austere, P. 167 - 170.
(4) Ibid, P. 118.
(5) William Bell, Journal February, 1828.
(6) Ibid, March 30, 1830.
(7) lbid, December, 1830.
(8) See above, chapter titled Early Life in Scotland
(9) Ibid.
(10) William Bell, Journal, January, 1835.
(11) Ibid, October, 1835.
(12) History of Ramsay Reformed Presbyterian Congregation - Almonte,
1888
Return
to John Halliday Chapter Page
|
