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Duncan McCall (1770 - 1832)

Major Duncan McCall
Born in Basking Ridge, Somerset County, New Jerseymap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married about 1790 in New Jersey, USAmap
Husband of — married 27 Sep 1800 in New Jersey, USAmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 62 in York, York, Upper Canadamap
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Profile last modified | Created 18 Sep 2014
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Contents

Biography

Duncan McCall is/was a significant Ontarian .

Birth

Birth:
User ID: 53EA70AC20E4C67302089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF58
Date: 18 NOV 1770
Place: Basking Ridge, Somerset County, New Jersey

Death

Death:
User ID: 53EA70AC20E6B67402089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF59
Date: 25 NOV 1832
Place: York (Toronto), Upper Canada
Cause: Cholera

Burial

Burial:
User ID: 53EA90E2BC21F70602089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF500017
Place: McCall-Fairchild Burying Grounds, Vittoria, Charlotteville Township[1]

Occupation

Occupation: Politician
User ID: 53EA83FB9F04E6CB02089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF500006
Date: FROM 1824 TO 1832
Place: Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada (rep of Norfolk, Ontario)
Occupation: Merchant
User ID: 53EA83FB9FE0F6CC02089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF500007
Occupation: Farmer
User ID: 53EA83FBA0B246CD02089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF500008
Occupation: Justice of the Peace
User ID: 53EA83FBA17F46CE02089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF500009
Occupation: Local militia member
User ID: 53EA83FBA23D76CF02089847FD8B41DB
Record ID Number: MH:IF500010

Notes

Note N4* From Wikipedia
Duncan McCall (November 18, 1769 – November 25, 1832) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada.
He was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey in 1769, the son of a private in the British Army, and came to New Brunswick with his family after the American Revolution. In 1796, his family settled in Charlotteville Township in Upper Canada and Duncan followed in 1797. He operated a store there and also farmed. In 1824, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Norfolk; he was reelected in 1828 and 1830. In the assembly, he lobbied for the replacement of the jail and courthouse atVittoria after a fire and the construction of a lighthouse at Long Point. He served as a justice ofthe peace and was also a member of the local militia. He died in York in 1832 after suffering a fever for several days.
*From Dictionary of Canadian Biography
McCALL, DUNCAN, merchant, politician, jp, and militia officer; b. 18 Nov. 1769 in Basking Ridge, N.J., son of Donald (Donell) McCall (McColl) and Elsie Simpson; m. first Jemima Fairchild (d. 1798), and they had a son and a daughter; m. secondly Mary Lockwood, a widow, and they had a son; d. 25 Nov. 1832 in York (Toronto), Upper Canada.
Donald McCall came to North America from Scotland as a private in the 42nd Foot (Royal Highland Regiment) and transferred in 1762 to the 77th Foot (Montgomery?s Highlanders). After the Seven Years’ War he settled in New Jersey and raised a family. He saw service again during the American revolution. At the conclusion of that conflict he tried; briefly, to re-establish himself in New Jersey; hethen moved to New Brunswick. Like other loyalists such as Samuel Ryerse* and Thomas Welch*, he became dissatisfied with life there; again like them, he was attracted by the possibilities offered in the new province of Upper Canada. On 26 June 1795 the colony’s Executive Council approved the petition of McCall, his son John, and Patrick Haggarty for a tract of land on the north shore of Lake Erie “for the establishment of at least one hundred settlers” from New Jersey. McCall and his three sons, including Duncan, each received a grant of 600 acres. Every settler they brought with them was promised 200 acres. The family, with the exception of Duncan, arrived in 1796 and took up land in Charlotteville Township. He came the following year with a shipment of goods and merchandise from New York. For many years afterwards, Duncan McCall operated a store in the township; by 1816 he was farming as well, having 60 acres under cultivation.
The McCalls were a prominent local family in the Long Point region and became involved in the extreme factionalism that characterized the politics of the area prior to the War of 1812. John McCall, for instance, had supported Benajah Mallory* in his opposition to the office-holding élite symbolized by Ryerse and Welch. Welch dismissed him as an “abandoned Character . . . accustomed to escape from the penalties of the Law in New Jersey, where nothing less than Grand Larceny is laid to his Charge. . . . He is certainly a very bad Man.” Early in 1810, when Duncan McCall was being considered for local office, Ryerse expressed concern to Chief Justice ThomasScott. For one thing McCall was a trader who occasionally resided in the United States. For another and just as distressing, he had been seen in a tavern “deeply Engaged in a game of Chance (throwing Dice and pitching Dollars) which would seem to indicate a partiality for low Company.” McCall, needless to say, did not receive the appointment.
Duncan McCall made his mark at a later date as a politician. He was elected one of the two members for the riding of Norfolk in 1824, 1828, and 1830. The focus of his legislative activity was local. His major accomplishments included the rebuilding of the Vittoria jail and court-house after a fire in 1825 and the erection of a lighthouse on Long Point. His career witnessed the beginning of entrenched opposition in the assembly and an increase of political strife. He had close associations with opposition leaders such as John Rolph* and was an early subscriber to William Lyon Mackenzie*’s Colonial Advocate. Although issues such as the alien question [see Sir Peregrine Maitland*] touched him closely, he had an independent voting record, siding most often with members from neighbouring constituencies. In short, he reflected the major concern of legislators for material development in the areas they knew best. Asahel BradleyLewis’s St Thomas Liberal considered him “always the firm, uncompromising and vigilant friend of equal laws, equal justice, and liberal opinions . . . , the unyielding friend of the people, alike regardless of the frowns and smiles of the little York official.”
An officer in the 1st Norfolk Militia, a justice of the peace (appointed in 1829), and a Presbyterian, Duncan McCall died in November 1832, having suffered from diarrhea and fever for several days. The house was still in session. George Gurnett*’s Courier of Upper Canada (York) claimed he had been the oldest member in the assembly. He was survived by his wife and three children.
Record ID Number: MH:N500004
PRIN MH:I31

Sources

  1. Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 19 April 2021), memorial page for Duncan McCall (1770–1833), Find A Grave: Memorial #205676735, citing McCall Fairchild Burying Ground, Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada ; Maintained by BJW (contributor 47343717) .
  • Sources in McCall Genealogy
Editor: William Yeager
Pub By: Norfolk Historical Society
1979




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Duncan by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Duncan:

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Comments: 1

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McCall-1764 and McCall-1054 appear to represent the same person because: Think this is a pretty obvious one, happy to join trusted list if you'd like me to do it myself.
posted by Anonymous Mitchell

M  >  McCall  >  Duncan McCall

Categories: Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada