MACLELLAN John Fraser b. 1841 Nova Scotia, Canada d. 18 Oct 1926 Los Angeles, California, United States: Noyes Family Genealogy

1841 - 1926 (85 years)

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Name	MACLELLAN John Fraser
Birth	1841	Nova Scotia, Canada [1]
Gender	Male
Possessions	Between 1867 and 1899	Black Brook, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada [2]
	(Summary of Duncan McLellan/John McLellan (Sr& Jr) Land Ownership in Black Brook, Nova Scotia, circa 1867 to 1899 Nick G. Carter, 18 Sept 2012 In August 1867 John McLellan Sr. bought what was probably his second 100 acre parcel of land adjacent to Black Brook Lake in the county of Pictou, Nova Scotia. I conclude that it was the second parcel he bought since the first 100 acres included several hundred feet of lakeside frontage (nearly the whole of the west side of the lake), and the 1867 parcel just barely touches the lake at the southwest corner, near where the actual Black Brook Creek flows into the lake. He may have bought the land to give his 2 sons a place to live and farm with their young families, but this is only conjecture from the way the individuals were enumerated in the 1871 census. In 1867 John McLellan paid $44 dollars for the 100 acres described below in the barely readable photocopy of the NS land record I have: John McLellan of Black Brook, St. Mary's River in the County of Pictou, Yeoman, a lot of land containing one hundred acres sittuate, lying and being in the County of Pictou and Bounded as follows: Beginning at a beech tree standing at the southeastern angle of land granted to Hugh Stewart at Black Brook thence running south 29 degrees east twenty five chains (1) to a spruce tree, thence south sixty-one degrees south forty chains to a stake thence north 29 degrees west to a stake (2) thence north sixty-one degrees east by the southeast line of the said Hugh Stewart grant forty chains to the place of beginning not including any public road. (1) 1 Chain =66 feet, so 25 chains = 1660 feet and 40 chains = 2640 feet. So the land was a rectangle with the long sides 1/2 mile and the shortsides .31 mile long. (2) This point appears to be at the top northwest corner of Black Brook Lake, which I have used as a starting point forlaying out these two properties on a modern map of the area. John McLellan Sr died 18 April 1875, apparently without a will. There were some subsequent legal proceedings involving the two brothers which I will describe below. The information is from copies of court/arbitration documents I have. It appears that in mid-February of 1877, Duncan McLellan and his brother John entered into arbitration over the estate. The date might have been the 19th of February, but my photocopy is cutoff at that point. Three local men were appointed (or selected by them) to make a ruling on their claims: Dougall McDougall, Donald Cameron, and August Cameron. Two separate entries were made to the record on 30 March 1877. The first was the agrement to arbitrate mentioned above, and the second was the decisions of the arbitrators made on 10 March 1877. Rather than do a verbatim copy of the first, rather boring record, I will summarize it. 1] Agreement to Arbitrate between Duncan McLennan & Christy & John McLennan (note that the clerk who did these write-ups consistently spelled their surname like this. I attribute this - which happened a lot with clerical staff writing this name - to mis-hearing the name by people who might not have been familiar with a Scottish brogue.) The initial document states that "differences have arisen" over distribution of the estate, and that the parties have agreed on who the arbitrators will be and to abide by their decisions. Arbitration was a step to avoid actual litigation through the courts. A caveat was made that if any of the parties violated any decision of the arbitration they would be held liable to a $500 fine to be paid to the offended party. The meat comes in the next entry which I have transcribed. I have thrown in some punctuation and formatting to make it a bit more readable. 2] Arbitrators' Award Duncan McLennan & Christy & John McLennan (10 Mar 1877) We the undersigned having been appointed by the heirs of the estate of the late John McLellan of the Black Brook in the County of Pictou in the Province of Nova Scotia, farmer, as arbitrators to settle differences existing between them in reference to said estate, and also to divide said estate among them, having met at said Black Brook on the 19th day of February, 1877, and having heard a full and detailed account of the state of matters, and after having taken an inventory of all the personal property owned by the late John McLellan at the time of his decease, and also a statement of the debts and liabilities of said estate, we [sic] found that the liabilities exceeded the value of the personal property to the amount of six dollars current money of NovaScotia. And now having met to consider the relative claims of said heirs, and after due deliberation, we do unanimously decide and award as following : viz, that Duncan McLellan, the eldest son and heir of the late John McLellan shall have and hold not only that piece, parcel or part which was formerly given unto him, the said Duncan McLellan by his father, of the original block of land claimed by him, but also one half of that piece or parcel of land known as the Intervale or Meadow and shall be divided up and down streams; the said meadow being a part and parcel of one hyndred acres of land granted to the said John McLellan Senior, and also that said Duncan McLellan shall have a practicable right of way (or outlet) on the eastern side of the stream of water known as the Black Brook down to the main road and bridge on said Black Brook, but he, the said Duncan McLellan, shall not be allowed to pasture or graze any cattle on the said meadow until the crops are gathered off the surrounding lands unless by the consent of his brother or the owner therof. We do also award and decide that John McLellan Junior, the youngest son and heir of the late John McLellan Senior of the aforesaid Black Brook shall have and hold the remainder of the aforesaid estate real and personal, subject however to the discharge and liquidation of all the debts and liabilities of the said estate and also subject and bound to support and provide for his mother in a comfortable and christian-like manner in his own house or dwelling place during the time of her natural life, that she will be allowed for her own use and benefit all the clothing and furniture which did in any way belong to the said John McLellan Senior at the time of his decease, also the use and benefit of one cow and three sheep as long as she may require them and further that the said John McLellan Junior, his heirs executors or administrators shall not have power to sell or otherwise dispose of the said property without the consent and permission of his Mother, the widow of the late John McLellan Senior of the Black Brook but and if the said John McLellan Jr fail or neglectso to provide for and maintain his Mother (the widow of the late John McLellanSenior) then she will have perfect right and liberty to sell or otherwise dispose of the aforesaid one hundred acres (less the one half of the intervale) for the purpose of her maintenance and support during the time of her natural life. Given under our hands theis tenth day of March, 1877.. (signed by arbitrators) 13 Oct 1882 - John McLellan & mother Christiana McLellan sign Indenture between them and Duncan Cameron for the 100 acres at Black Brook "in the consideration of the sum of $500..." The deed appears to have been registered 21 June 1884. Did it take Cameron almost 2 years to pay all the money? Also interesting that the indenture describes the land but does not mention the agreement with Duncan on the Intervale. I am almost certain that Duncan was still there until he went West after 1899, and then the land went to son Daniel. This assumption is based on the 1891 census showing Duncan with many of the same neighbors as prior censuses. Ditto for Daniel and family on 1901 and 1911 censuses.)
Census	1871	Saint Marys and Garden of Eden [3]
	(age 26; farmer; Presbyterian.)
Occupation	1877	Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States [4]
	carpenter
	Address: 71 Winchester Street
Census	1881	Saint Marys and Garden of Eden [5]
	(age 40; farmer.)
_UID	BE099830B59A3946906299E03AD752B9E4DF
Death	18 Oct 1926	Los Angeles, California, United States [6]
	(age 87.)
Burial	Aft 18 Oct 1926	Glendale, Los Angeles, California, United States [6]
	Address: Grand View Memorial Park
	(no marker. Two spaces south of marker for Jennie Smith; 1 row west and 1 space south from Wilmot Parcher.)
Person ID	I81127	Noyes Family Genealogy
Last Modified	10 Jan 2013

Mother	MACLELLAN Christy, b. CA 1811, Scotland d. Yes, date unknown
Family ID	F40089	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family MACLEAN Christine Ann, b. 6 Aug 1840, Antigonish, Nova Scotia d. 7 Mar 1899, Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 58 years)

Marriage 17 Apr 1866 Antigonish, Nova Scotia [7, 8, 9]

(NEHGS says 14 Apr 1866; perhaps this was the date of filing intentions.)

Children

	1. MACLELLAN Margaret "Jessie", c. 5 Mar 1867, Nova Scotia, Canada d. 3 Jan 1957 (Age ~ 89 years)
	2. MACLELLAN Archibald Lauchlin, Sr., c. 2 May 1868, Antigonish, Nova Scotia d. Yes, date unknown
	3. MACLELLAN Christina Bell, c. 20 May 1870, Nova Scotia, Canada d. 4 Sep 1944, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age ~ 74 years)
	4. MACLELLAN Elizabeth, c. 3 Oct 1872, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada d. Yes, date unknown
	5. MACLELLAN Elizabeth Campbell, c. 11 Mar 1874, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada d. 8 Jun 1946, Wakefield, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States (Age ~ 72 years)
	6. MACLELLAN Neil Daniel, c. 17 Mar 1876, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada d. Yes, date unknown
	7. MACLELLAN John Duncan, c. 17 Mar 1876, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada d. 16 Sep 1893, Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States (Age ~ 17 years)
	8. MACLELLAN Alexander, c. 30 Nov 1878, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada d. Yes, date unknown
	9. MACLELLAN Catharine Jane, c. 13 Dec 1879, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada d. Yes, date unknown
	10. MACLELLAN Norman Hector, c. 30 Sep 1882, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada d. Yes, date unknown
	11. MACLELLAN Sinclair Angus, b. 5 Mar 1886, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States d. 5 Sep 1969, Carmel, Monterey, California, United States (Age 83 years)

Family ID F31747 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 17 Aug 2023

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Marriage - 17 Apr 1866 - Antigonish, Nova Scotia

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Sources

[S4720] Correspondence-Email-SENA Deborah (TASKER), RE: father's mother's NS ancestors - 1 posting seems a great fit, now to document; 7 March 2011; Paul M. Noyes.
[S4720] Correspondence-Email-SENA Deborah (TASKER), FW: Transcribed McLellan documents; 19 October 2012; Paul M. Noyes.
[S6159] Census-1871-Canada-NS-Pictou-St Marys and Garden of Eden, Roll: C-10561; Page: 10; Family No: 32.
[S6123] Directory-Medford, MA, #16; W.A. Greenough & Co., 97 Oliver St., Boston; page 144.
[S6158] Census-1881-Canada-NS-Pictou-St Marys and Garden of Eden, Roll: C_13176; Page: 16; Family No: 68.
[S4720] Correspondence-Email-SENA Deborah (TASKER), Found some Fraser grave locations on Find a Grave, maybe John MCL?; 17 October 2012; Paul M. Noyes.
[S1210] Marriage Civil Records, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia marriage record.
[S4295] Internet-DB-NEHGS-Mass. VRs, 1841 through 1910, 513:624.
[S5278] Book-A History of the County of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, pp.309-310.