John MacMaster (1773)

Born 1773 in Achintee, Fort William, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (MacIsaac) MacMaster — married about 1801 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Creignish, Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Lorna Conway [send private message]

Biography

Names in the Braes of Lochaber Besides MacDonalds and MacIntoshes.

• MacMasters , originally proprietors of Ardgour.

^[1]

John McMaster (Iain Mac Ewen ic Iain) commonly known as "Iain Ruadh'", came, with his first cousin, Donald MacMaster, "Weaver", from Moidart, Scotland, to Antigonish in the year 1801. After a brief sojourn in Antigonish both came to Cape Breton, and settled down, side by side, in the district of Creignish. As a matter of course, their first dwellings here were two of the rude, little, log cabins of the period. Eventually, Iain Ruadh built for himself a substantial stone house, which is still doing duty for his grandson Dan MacMaster. If these century old houses of the pioneers could talk in any modern language, what a story would be theirs?

John MacMaster was married in Antigonish to Mary Maclsaac, whose brother John Maclsaac afterwards settled at Low Point. The issue of that marriage was a family of five sons and seven daughters, namely: John, Duncan, Angus, Hugh, Dan, Catherine, Mary, Maggie, Eliza, Sarah, Annie and Jessie.

^[2]

Nova Scotia Archives - Census Returns 1811, 1817 and 1818

• RG 1 vol. 445 no. 1
• 1811 Gut of Canso, Long Point, Rear Land, and St. George's Bay

• Donald McMaster, Weaver & Farmer, 2M 14-60, 3F 14-60, 2M <14, 1F <14, 6 total unmarried, 14 cattle, 15 sheep, St. George's Bay station
• John McMaster, Farmer, 1M 14-60 [John 38], 1F 14-60 [Mary 31], 3M <14 [Hugh 11, John 4, Daniel 1], 5F <14 [Margaret 10, Jessie 8, Anne 7, Mary 6, Catherine 2], 8 total unmarried, 8 cattle, 12 sheep, St. George's Bay station

^[3]

Nova Scotia Archives - Census Returns 1811, 1817 and 1818

• Gut of Canso to Judique — 1818
• Reference: Commissioner of Public Records Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 vol. 445 no. 40

• Donald McMaster, 54, 5'4", fit for militia, 16 yrs on island, b. N.Britain, parents b. N.Britain, oath of allegiance taken, no arms, married, 3 children.
• John McMaster, 46, 5'8", fit for militia, 16 yrs on island, b. N.Britain, parents b. N.Britain, oath of allegiance taken, no arms, married, 9 children [Hugh 18, Margaret 17, Jessie 15, Anne 14, Mary 13, John 11, Catherine 9, Daniel 8, Angus 4].

^[4]

Cape Breton Island Land Petitions 1787-1843

• Cape Breton number: 2487
• Microfilm: 15797
• 1820
• McMaster, Donald
• Petition to Ainslie: Petitioner, age 55, native of Scotland, has lived seventeen years in Cape Breton. He is married and has seven children. He asks a grant of the land he occupies near Low Point. Report of Crawley to Crowdy: Lot 58 near Low Point, 240 acres. To be called, "Moone". Plan.

^[5]

• Cape Breton no.: 2223
• Microfilm: 15796
• 1819
• McMaster, John
• Petition to Ainslie: Petitioner, age 46, a native of Scotland has lived seventeen years in Cape Breton. He is married and has eleven children [Hugh 19, Margaret 18, Jessie 16, Anne 15, Mary 14, John 12, Catherine 10, Daniel 9, Angus 5, Elizabeth 1, Sarah <1]. He asks a grant of lot 57 at Low Point, which lot was assigned to him in 1816. Surveyor's Report: Lot 57 near Low Point on the eastern shore of St. George's Bay, 250 acres. Plan.

^[6]

CBC News Article dated 25 February 2015:

"Creignish stone cottage restoration wins heritage award"

The great-great-great-granddaughter (Lorrie MacKinnon) of a Scottish immigrant to Cape Breton has restored the stone house he built for his family in Inverness County, N.S. Ian MacMaster built what's known as Moidart house around 1801.

^[7]

• Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia
• Media Release
• 2014 Built Trust Heritage Award Winners
• Joyce McCulloch Residential Heritage Award

Moidart, or the MacMaster-MacKillop house, is located at 2250 Highway 19 in Creignish, Inverness County, Cape Breton Island. !is simple one-and-a-half story stone building perched on a hillside was built over two centuries ago by Iain Ruadh MacMaster, the great-great-great-grandfather of the present owner. It is named Moidart after Moidart, Scotland, the ancestral homeland of the original owner. Recently the building has been painstakingly restored. The conservation work involved significant stone wall repair, and stripping the building of gyproc, layers of wallpaper and other 20th century upgrades. Underneath revealed original stone, hemlock walls, pine ceilings, and spruce floors. Most of the wood was removed, and numbered and cleaned before being reinstalled. Additional materials were sourced from around the province. The conservation of Moidart preserves one of the few examples of immigrant Scottish stone architecture left in Nova Scotia. (see photo)

Lorrie MacKinnon, great-great-great granddaughter of the original owner, accepted the Joyce McCulloch Residential Heritage Award for Moidart.

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1773 in Moidart, Scotland Death: in Creignish, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada John 'Iain Ruadh' 'Red John' MacMaster Burial: Stella Maris Cemetery in Creignish, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada Birth: 1773 in achintee ho Scotland Father: Ewen (Hugh) MacMaster b: in Scotland Spouse: Mary MacIsaac b: 1780/1790 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada Married: in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada Married: 1801 in Antigonish

Children:

1. Angus MacMaster b: 1806 in Low Point, NS, Canada, Death: 21 May 1874 in Low Point, NS, Canada (5 Children) Spouse:Mary MacInnis b: 1819 in Nova Scotia, Canada
2. John MacMaster b: 1808 in Creignish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Spouse: Jannet (Jessie) MacEachern b: 25 April 1820 (Ten Children)
3. Hugh MacMaster
4. Daniel (Dan) MacMaster
5. Mary MacMaster b: in Creignish, NS, Canada
6. Margaret (Maggie) MacMaster b: in Creignish, NS, Canada
7. Anne "Annie" MacMaster b: in Creignish, NS, Canada
8. Jessie MacMaster b: in Creignish, NS, Canada
9. Eliza MacMaster b: 1821 in Creignish, Cape Breton, NS
10. Duncan MacMaster b: Apr 1823 in Creignish, NS. Spouse: Cecilia (Cicely) MacEachern b: 5 Nov 1823
11. Sarah (Mary Sarah?)MacMaster b: in Creignish, NS, Canada. Spouse 1: Donald Macdonald b: 1792 in Centennial,CB. Spouse 2: Lauchlin McInnis
12. Catherine MacMaster b: 1810 in Creignish, N.S. Spouse: William Angus Pioneer MacDonald b: 1798

^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Loyal Lochaber and its associations : historical, genealogical, and traditionary by Drummond-Norie, William, 1898, Morison Broyhers
2. ↑ History of Inverness County, Nova Scotia, by J.L. MacDougall, Jan 2, 1922, p. 592-593
3. ↑ https://archives.novascotia.ca/census/RG1v445/results/?Search=no.+1
4. ↑ https://archives.novascotia.ca/census/RG1v445/returns/?ID=3253
5. ↑ https://archives.novascotia.ca/cape-breton-land/results/?Search=mcmaster&SearchList1=3&Start=16
6. ↑ https://archives.novascotia.ca/cape-breton-land/results/?Search=mcmaster%2C+john&SearchList1=3
7. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/creignish-stone-cottage-restoration-wins-heritage-award-1.2971559
8. ↑ https://htns.ca/pdf/events/2015/HT%20Media%20Release.pdf
9. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/170738549/john-macmaster