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Hi Vince,
Thanks for such a quick response.
I think this is the same MacPhee family that I have picked up on before. I probably don't have any more information than you do, but I will need to check my records manually and this may take some time.
Let me give you something to ponder while I search. How do you know that he was born in 1737? If he died in 1830, he would have been 93 years of age at the time of his death. This is certainly possible, but how plausible is it? It seems highly unlikely to me that he would have been born in Quebec in 1737 while the French still ruled the area. The only possibility that I can see -- and this is quite a remote one -- is that his father might have been a Catholic who had fought in the first Jacobite uprising in c1715 and had been forced to flee Scotland after the uprising failed, sought refuge in France, joined the French army, served in New France in the 1730s and married a French Canadian woman in New France. Now, as I said, this seems somewhat improbable, but if it is, it would be a fascinating piece of history! Does any of this ring a bell? I assume that John was a Catholic, or did he convert to Catholicism?
If, on the other hand, he was 57 in 1813, according to the militia roll, he would have been born in c1756. This, too, is a fascinating twist! The earliest evidence -- that I know of -- that McPhees were in Quebec in the middle of the 18th century is the eight McPhees listed on the muster rolls of the 78th Regiment of Foot, otherwise known as the Fraser Highlanders, of the British army when the regiment was disbanded in 1763. This regiment fought in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham with Wolfe in 1759 and remained in Quebec City until 1763. The militia roll suggests that he would have been born before the regiment was raised in 1757. However, if we assume that the dates are somewhat imprecise, and calculate his earliest DOB in Quebec -- about 1760 -- had his father been in the 78th, he would have been 53 in 1813. This leaves only four years between his stated age of 57 in 1813 and his likely age of 53. This discrepancy seems immaterial to me.
So, according to this scenario, his father would have been one of the eight McPhees in the 78th. This is entirely possible. Of the eight, I have so far been able to account to any degree for only one of them, Sgt Duncan McPhie, who later appears in New York State as a Pte Duncan McAfee. As I mentioned before, I have come across 18th century references to McPhees in L'Islet, Quebec, which is on the south shore of the St Lawrence River about half way between Quebec City and Rivière-du-Loup. If I am not mistaken, this Lower St Lawrence area was where most of the French settlement had taken place before 1759. It is also the area where some of the disbanded soldiers from the 78th settled after 1763. A Fraser settled on a seignory in Rivière-du-Loup and this place was once called Fraserville. He was Presbyterian but married a Catholic French-Canadian woman and his descendants were Catholic. I think a McKay also settled somewhere in or near Quebec City at this period. So, it is entirely possible that one of the eight McPhees also settled in L'Islet, married a Catholic French-Canadian woman and had children, including your John. Do you know if John had any brothers or sisters?
This scenario may also explain why you have not been able to connect your MacPhees with any others. John's father would have been born in Scotland and you would have to go back to Scotland to establish the connection. My guess is that John's father might have been born in the area west of the Great Glen which I suspect was the recruitment area for the 78th. One way of establishing a tentative connection would be to have a male MacPhee descendant of John take a 43 marker DNA test. If you are not familiar with the DNA testing website for McPhees, you may want to have a look: www.mcduffiedna.com According to the above scenario, we would expect John's descendant to fall into Group 9. In this case, there would be a connection with myself and McPhees in Nova Scotia and western Quebec/eastern Ontario. Do you know of any male McPhee descendants of John who would agree to be DNA tested? If so, please urge him to be tested through the website. The results could very well help you in your research and would certainly be a tremendous leap forward for research into the McPhees in general. The mind bogles to think of finally identifying the descendants of one of the eight McPhees in the 78th.
So, I will let you think about all of this while I try to track down my reference to the McPhees in L'Islet. If you have any other information in the meantime, please let me know.
Cecil
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