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( Sinclair Preachers ) Jeff Smith , Soapy
Smith's Relation sent me a picture of a preacher Sinclair who buried Soapy Smith
at Skagway Alaska when the gold rush was on, Some time
back. Donald
H. Sinclair
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2000 1:17
PM
Subject: The Sinclairs of Tiree,
Argyllshire
The Sinclairs of Argyll were not all 'transmutants' i.e.
stemminbg from ceards or MacNokairds. For example,
we are
indebted to "The St Clairs of the Isles" for the following
information:
Donald Sinclair left his native Caithness to go and
work as a factor on the Estate of MacLean of Kingerloch
who owned the
Island of Tiree. He had a son:
Donald Sinclair who also had
a son:
Peter Sinclair, a farmer, who was born in Tiree in 1758 and died
in 1834. By Margaret Campbell,his wife,
he had a son:
The
Reverend John Campbell Sinclair who was born in Tiree 15th August, 1792;
studied in the Universities
of Edinburgh and Glasgow at which latter place
he graduated. In 1838, he and his family emigrated to Picton
(surely
this must be Pictou) Nova Scotia where he became the Minister of the
Presbyterian Church.
His fluency as a Gaelic scholar and preacher made
him very attractive to thousands of his Scottish countrymen
and their
descendants.
In 1858 he moved to North Carolina and, after the Civil
War, he laboured among the Freedmen until 1869 when his
voice suddenly
failed - the result of his open air addresses. After 1870 he lived with
his son:
The Reverend Alexander Sinclair and his son-in-law,the
Reverend Dr. D.A. Cunningham at whose residence in
Wheeling, West Virginia,
he died on 23rd April, 1878.
The above John Campbell Sinclair married
at Scalastil House on the Island of Mull in Argyllshire. His bride
was
Mary Julia, the daughter of John McLean by Margaret McLean, his
wife. She was an orphan and lived at
Scalstil House with her
cousins on her father's side. Sir Archibald McLean and Sir Hector
McLean, both Major-
Generals in the British Army, were her
cousins.
She died in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on 24th May, 1854 and is
buried in Allegheny Cemetery. They had issue:
The Reverend James
Sinclair, born in Tiree, came to America with his parents where he entered the
Western
Theological Seminary at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania in 1854 where
he graduated in 1857 in which year he was
called to be the Pastor in the
Presbyterian Church of Smyrna,North Carolina.
In 1851 he was made
Chaplain of the 5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment by Jefferson Davis. He
commanded
half of the Regiment at Bull Run and, in December, 1861, he was
made Colonel of the 35th North Carolina Regiment.
After the Battle of
Newberne, North Carolina, he became disgusted with the way the war was being
conducted;
resigned his position; and retired to his home.
He became
and ardent Republican after the collapse of the rebellion; was elected to the
Legislature of North
Carolina and was appointed U.S. assessor in the
District of Cape Fear by President Grant. He married (1)
Mary, the
daughter of Samuel McPherson, on Prince Edward Island, in 1846. He
married (2) in 1860, Mary E.,
the daughter of Dr Edward McQueen, of
Lumberton, North Carolina and had two children. He died at
Monroe,
North Carolina on 5th AUgust, 1877 and is buried in
Lumberton.
Their issue (it is not stated by which wife)
were:
James John Sinclair
Julia Sinclair who married Samuel T.
Neill, attorney at Titusville, Pennsylvania
Alexander Sinclair
Mary
Ellen Sinclair )
Sarah Elizabeth
Sinclair ) twins
Edward Sinclair
Cunningham Sinclair
Annie Sinclair
who married the Reverend D.A. Cunningham of Wooster, Ohio to whom reference
has already been made.
Margaret Sinclair who married John Q. McDougald of
Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The Reverend Alexander Sinclair - see
above.
The Reverend Alexander Sinclair who was born in Mull, Scotland,
on 14th March, 1834 also attended the Western
Theological Seminary at
Allegheny, Pennsylvania in 1854, graduating in 1856 and was ordained Pastor of
the
Presbyterian Church in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania.
In 1857, he was
called to the First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and was
installed in the Fall
of that year. He died in Salisbury, Md on 22nd
February, 1885. He married (1) Nellie Plummer of Newbury
Port,
Massachusetts who died without issue and (2) Mary Laura, the daughter
of Adam Brevard Davidson of Charlotte,
North Carolina by
whom:
Brevard Davidson Sinclair
Mary Duart Sinclair born
1861
John Campbell Sinclair born 1863 died 1864
Alexander McLean
Sinclair born and died in 1866
Alexander Peter Sinclair born 27th November,
1867
Laura Virginia Sinclair born 20th August, 1870
Richard Springs
Sinclair born and died 1873
Annie Harley Sinclair born 3rd February,
1875
The Reverend Brevard Davidson Sinclair (see above) who was
born at Charlotte, North Carolina on October
31st, 1859 became a lawyer but
decided to study for the Ministry. He lived in Newburyport,
Massachusetts
in 1892. He married Tabulah Rice Blair in October 26th,
1887. They had issue:
Brevard Davidson Sinclair II born 30th
July, 1888
Alexander Malcolm Sinclair born 5th October, 1889 at
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Robert Augustus Sinclair born 27th May, 1891 at
Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Roland St Clair, the author of "The St
Clairs of the Isles" acknowledges that the above information,on this
branch
of the Sinclair lineage,came from "An Historical Account of the Genealogy of
the Children and
Grandchildren of the Reverend John Campbell Sinclair"
written by the Reverend Brevard Davidson Sinclair.
I hope that the
above will be of some assistance to those people who are trying to establish
that some of
the Sinclairs of Argyll did emanate from Caithness from where
they spread to Prince Edward Island, Nova
Scotia, Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, North Carolina and West Virginia. Quite a story.
Quite a family
of preachers. So many hell-fire sermons that the
progenitor of this family "lost his voice".
Niven
Sinclair
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