Harriet (Kennedy) MacMillan (1756-1839)

 

Crest of Clan MacMillan

This post traces our roots to Glengarry County, Ontario and back to Scotland through one of our more famous ancestors, Harriet Kennedy.  She was born in Loch Garry, Scotland between 1747 and 1756, the daughter of John Kennedy and Mary Godfrey. She married Duncan Ban MacMillan and had 3 sons and 11 daughters.  Duncan died in Scotland and Harriet and her children immigrated to Canada in 1802.  The journey took 13 weeks. When they reached North America they traveled up the St. Lawrence River and then up the Ottawa River to the area near Hawkesbury, Ontario.  They continued over land to a lot in Lochiel, Glengarry County, Ontario. 

Map showing location of Lochiel in relation to Ottawa, Montreal, and Massena, NY.

"For generations in Glengarry [Harriet and her descendants] lived almost exclusively in a Gaelic-speaking community not unlike their ancestral land. If the early settlers spoke another language it was as often French as English." (R. B. Fleming from "The Lochaber Emigrants to Glengarry"). 

By 1970 it was calculated that Harriet and Duncan had over 7,000 descendants. I would estimate that there are more than 50,000 descendants today. That includes all of us.  Harriet is my 5G grandmother as shown in the relationship chart below. 

Eight generation lineage from Harriet Kennedy to me.

To celebrate the 200 year anniversary of Harriet and her children arriving in Canada there was a big celebration in 2002.  The newspaper article about it and the plaque at St. Finnan's Church are shown below. 

Newspaper article from 2002 describing the celebration of 200 years in Canada.

Plaque erected in 2002 at St. Finnan's Church in memory of Harriet Kennedy MacMillan.

If you are interested in learning more about the MacMillan clan there is a society devoted to them:  http://www.clanmacmillan.org/.

We cannot discuss our Scottish heritage without discussing the MacMillan family tartan, and since it is 2020, it is only fitting to show it to you in the form of a face mask that you can purchase to show off your pride.

Clan MacMillan tartan face mask available online from Esty for $23.99! 

I hope you are all well and staying safe.  I hope to publish one or two more posts in the coming days. 

Ed (21 Nov 2020)