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 The Corner Table |
A PARTIAL HISTORY OF SIX COLQUHOUN FAMILIES In 1790, the first federal census was ordered by the fledgling nation, the United States of America. It was a difficult undertaking requiring more than three years to complete, and some information was obtained at gunpoint from reluctant participants. In North Carolina, opposition to the census ran high, as many of the Scottish families feared the census would be used to determine Patriot vs. Loyalist leanings during the War of Independence. Many who remained loyal to the King during the revolution had already sold their lands under threat of seizure or seen their lands seized, and many had been deported or fled back to Scotland, including the popular Flora McDonald, who attended Bluff Presbyterian Church during her ten years in North Carolina, and John McLeod, one of the circuit ministers of Barbecue, Bluff and Longstreet Presbyterian Churches, who was arrested as he concluded a service at Bluff after the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. In this census, six families of the Colquhoun surname were listed as heads-of-family in Cumberland Co., N.C: Laughlan Colquhoun, listed in "Major Black's District", whose family consisted of himself and wife, 2 boys under 16, and 3 girls; Duncan Colquhoun, listed next after Laughlan in Major Black's District, whose family consisted of himself and his wife;and on another page, listed in order: Malcolm Colquhoun, whose family consisted of himself and wife, 1 boy under 16, and 2 girls; John Colquhoun and wife; Archibald Colquhoun, with his wife and 2 girls; (Mary Campbell's name appears as a head-of-family between the three together and Ms. Colquhoun) Mrs. Colquhoun and 1 female, after the name of Mary Campbell, is listed in the same district as Malcolm, John, and Archibald. According to their oral history, some kinship exists between these families; however, the exact relationship is unknown. Clearly some kinship existed between Duncan and Lauchlin, who claimed adjacent lands in the western portion of Cumberland County, in what today is Hoke County. And clearly the families of Archibald, Malcolm and John, all members of Bluff Presbyterian Church, interacted and intermarried, but thus far no records have been found proving the connection between the first two and the last four. Mrs. Colquhoun appears as a head of family only in the 1790 census. Who was she? Was she the widow of a brother, or the mother of one or more of the others? What happened to her after 1790? If she were a young widow, she may have remarried; if she was older, she could have died. No records have been found to definitively settle her status, and she is not included as one of the six families to be covered in this document. The sixth family to be discussed herein is the family of Anne "Nancy" Colquhoun and her husband, Daniel Graham. This couple is more difficult to identify in the census records and to document through the public records, as the extended Graham family was well established in the area before the Revolutionary War, and the public records, including the Census of 1790, include several individuals of the name Daniel (and Donald) Graham. Where did they originate? Although the spoken history of two of the lines states those families came via Skye, a closer examination of the public documents suggests a point of origin of Kintyre, Argyle or Appin. Their native language does not appear to have been English, so perhaps they were gaelic speaking. The second generation were all educated, and wrote English. They were land owners, and it is often through the land records that a line is traced. How did they arrive? The United States did not require the filing of passenger lists until the mid 1800s, and British passage logs consisted primarily of steerage and indenture lists. Only one known passenger list includes Colquhouns - the Jupiter's log of September, 1775, and none of the six families to be discussed herein arrived on the ship. A document found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Center in Clinton, MS states that Captain John C. Cahoon, son of General John Cahoon, who was son of surgeon Samuel Colquhoun of Scotland engaged in shipping between Scotland and Nansemond County, Virginia, and 'they were told the Colquhouns in Cumberland County, North Carolina, who are termed the Scotch Colquhouns came over on these boats and since there were no lands to be patented in Nansemond or Bertie, went on to Cumberland'. We have been unable to verify this statement; no Nansemond or county of similar name currently exists in Virginia. At present, their point of entry remains a mystery. |
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