The McNichol Family in Scotch Colony

James McNichol, age 48, and his wife Jane McLean, age 46, arrived in New Brunswick onboard the Castalia on May 12, 1873. They soon occupied Lot 3 in the Scotch Colony, opposite the Melville Church. Their land grant for their farm of 100 acres was dated December 28, 1876.

Back in Scotland, James was a currier at St. Nicholas, Aberdeenshire in the 1861 and 1871 censuses, living with his wife Jane and her daughter Emelie Shaw ( born about 1860 in Nairn.)

James was secretary of the Kincardine Agricultural Society for many years. He was in charge of making a fire to keep the church warm and did other types of duties at the church, such as maintaining the fence (in return he received the grass from the church property.)

It’s said that the minister lived with the McNichols before the Manse was built, just up the hill from the church.

James was born in 1825 at Alloa, Scotland. He died at age 67 on August 5, 1892 at Lower Kincardine, New Brunswick, where his funeral on August 18 was attended by many folks. His wife Jane lived another 24 years in Kincardine where she died in September 1916 at age 89. They were both buried at Melville Church.

Jane McLean McNichol was born January 28, 1827/8 at Nairn, Scotland. In 1882 she was a midwife. She is mentioned in the Fort Fairfield Review as follows:

July 22, 1903: “Mrs. Georg Anderson spent last week with her grandmother Mrs. McNicol at Kincardine.”
Jan. 24, 1906: Kintore, NB: “Mrs. McNicol, Kincardine, spent Tuesday with her granddaughter Mrs. George Andrews” [Anderson.]
June 24, 1908: “Mrs. George Anderson is visiting her grandmother Mrs. James McNichol in Kincardine, who has not been well as usual.”
Mar. 17, 1909, Kilburn: “The Scotch people of Lower Kincardine gave Mrs. McNicol a surprise party on Monday evening. A number of little gifts were left. Lunch was served, and enjoyed a very pleasing social time.”

Jane’s daughter, Emelie Shaw, was a 20 year old cotton millworker in 1871. On July 10, 1873 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Emelie Shaw married William Gibbs Meadow (born about 1841 Leverington, England, died before 1920). William was a soldier in 1871, pensions gardener in 1881, and postman in 1891, all in England where they lived. Two of their eight children, Emily Louise Meadows and William James Meadows, came to Scotch Colony about 1891. and 1903 respectively A third named George William Meadows also came to the USA.

On October 25, 1900 In Victoria County, NB, Emily Louise Meadows (1876 Dublin, Ireland-1929 Perth-Andover, NB) married George Anderson (August 11, 1868 Nopich, Scotland- September 20, 1923 Upper Kintore, NB). They had eight children. (George’s first wife, Jennie Milne, died at age 32 in 1899, leaving two young sons.) George was a little boy on the Castalia in May 1873, son of blacksmith Peter Anderson and his wife Isabella Shepherd. George Anderson’s farm of 40 years in Upper Kintore, lot 120 N 1/2, was granted on September 9, 1894. George, Emily and Jennie were buried in the Upper Kintore Cemetery.

Grandson of the McNichols, Emily’s younger brother, William James Meadows (1879 England-1946 NY), was married in 1905 in Boston to Elizabeth Coutts (born 1874 Kintore, NB.) (Elizabeth’s parents, William Coutts and Mary Craigie, were also Castalia passengers, along with her older siblings. William was granted lot 150W with 375 acres near Tobique River in 1878.) The Meadows lived in Boston for a while where he was a boilermaker, and their two sons were born. By 1920, the family lived in Connecticut where he was foreman of a plumbing shop.

The Fort Fairfield Review reported:
August 26, 1903: “William Meadows of Sunderland, England, is visiting his sister Mrs. George Anderson.”
July 27, 1927: Tobique: “Mrs. Emily Anderson and [son] Kenneth were visiting Mrs. William Meadows [her brother’s wife, Elizabeth] at William Coutts’ one day last week.“

Another grandson of Jane and James McNichol was George William Meadows whose naturalization record states that he departed his Perth, NB residence and arrived at Fort Fairfield, ME, presumably on his way to Boston in 1923 at age 36. During WWII, he was employed at the Boston Navy yard as a loftsman.

In 1923 the 50th anniversary of the Scotch Colony was held at the McNicol farm. Here is a rare photo showing the McNicol house and horse shed with Melville Church opposite.