In 1851, Donald McGilp ("McKillop"), his wife, and all of his children, left Knapdale for Canada West (now it's known as Ontario). Some letters written from his Knapdale friends and relatives survived in a small wooden box until his great great granddaughter found them and copied them. They have already been carried in the website, Kintyre Mag, but since that site is now in hiatus, I have put them up on Knapdale People. Also, I have indexed all of the people mentioned in these letters. You can find this alphabetical list at the "Donald McGilp" section in my site.
There is a lot to be said about these letters: the strong religious faith of the writers just glows in every letter. It should be remembered that this group of friends were members of the breakaway "Free Church" of Scotland, and were therefore more religiously intense than their neighbouts.... but then again, who knows?? We live in a secular age and place, and sometimes, for some people, this intensity is embarrassing, which is a pity.
There are a couple of letters from Archibald McMillan, one of Donald McGilp's many nephews. In the 1850s, he was living in Robison County, North Carolina, and he was the owner - the proud owner - of some 40 slaves. As he notes, he was now living as well as the Factor back in Knapdale. Yet, he was also a religious man. After reading these letters, there is plenty to think about and... discuss!
Note that the American Civil war was just over the horizon from these letters.
There is a lot to be said about these letters: the strong religious faith of the writers just glows in every letter. It should be remembered that this group of friends were members of the breakaway "Free Church" of Scotland, and were therefore more religiously intense than their neighbouts.... but then again, who knows?? We live in a secular age and place, and sometimes, for some people, this intensity is embarrassing, which is a pity.
There are a couple of letters from Archibald McMillan, one of Donald McGilp's many nephews. In the 1850s, he was living in Robison County, North Carolina, and he was the owner - the proud owner - of some 40 slaves. As he notes, he was now living as well as the Factor back in Knapdale. Yet, he was also a religious man. After reading these letters, there is plenty to think about and... discuss!
Note that the American Civil war was just over the horizon from these letters.
1 comment:
I crossed paths with some McKillops (Elgin County) in Hogtown about a year ago. Could they have help you with this?
If I'm connect to Sir Alexander Campbell (possibly through one of his daughters)You could be getting some more internet traffic steered toward you.
I'm sure you'll have a searchable database soon. If you do, where would I find it?
A serious contender with this feature for sure... :)
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