by Jonathan Tucker

This is the 22nd article in a series of articles about the life and descendants of Micum McIntire, a Scottish prisoner of war who settled in York, Maine, and about MacIntyres in general. This is the second article about work—what the first few generations of York McIntires did to make a living, acquire income, and accumulate family resources in their frontier community. This article focuses on the third generation—Micum McIntire’s grandchildren. As always, this article draws heavily on the information in the “Red Book” geneaology by Robert Harry McIntire, as well as other sources. This article may be revised as new information becomes available.

These articles have been being researched, developed, and published at intervals of 2-3 weeks since last fall. Following publication of this article, I am going to take a break of a month or two before resuming with new articles. The summer highland games season is upon us, and I hope to see many of you at the Micum McIntire Clan Association Reunion on this coming Saturday, August 3 in York, Maine.

The most definitive and comprehensive current source for information on MacIntyres in general is the newly-published book, “Clan MacIntyre: A Journey Into the Past,” Martin L. MacIntyre, Regent Press, Berkeley, CA, 2018, second edition. Copies may be purchased by contacting Martin at martin.macintyre@juno.com.

The most definitive and comprehensive current source for information on MacIntyres in general is the “Clan MacIntyre: A Journey Into the Past,” Martin L. MacIntyre, Regent Press, Berkeley, CA, 2018, second edition.  Copies may be purchased by contacting the author at martin.macintyre@juno.com .

The definitive genealogy is “Descendants of Micum McIntire,” Robert Harry McIntire, revised edition, 1983, Bookcrafters, Chelsea, MI.  This is often referred to as the “Red Book” among Micum descendants because of its bright red cover.  New copies may be obtained through the Gift Shop on this website:  https://micummcintireclanassociation.org/shop/?product-page=2.  Used copies can still be obtained from time to time through online booksellers.

Those interested in pursuing their own genealogical connections to Micum McIntire may submit question through this website at:  https://micummcintireclanassociation.org/micum-mcintire-genealogy-questions/

There is an earlier version published in 1940—it is less complete but still useful.

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EARLY McINTIRES & WORK

As we saw in the 21st article, the nature of work in the first two generations—Micum and his sons—emphasized subsistence frontier activities, although the existence of York Village center and its harbor four miles downriver from Scotland District provided opportunities for trade and other economic activity. Likewise, the relatively short overland journey between Scotland District in western York and the mills and village center at Newichawannock (South Berwick/Upper Kittery) provided similar opportunities.

And in many ways, the principal source of wealth resulting from these early settlers’ work was the ability to obtain land grants and purchase land. If you could own land, then you had resources to manage, harvest, produce, and sell, and your family’s future was better assured. As we will see, the third generation of Micum McIntire’s children began to take some steps away from frontier subsistence labor.

THE THIRD GENERATION – MICUM McINTIRE’S GRANDCHILDREN

The third generation of Micum McIntire’s descendants lived between 1707 and 1801. Joseph, first child of Micum’s son John McIntire, was born in 1707, and Samuel, last child of John McIntire, died in 1801. The children of Micum’s youngest son Micum Jr. were born later (1709, Alexander) and died sooner (1786, also Alexander).

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN McINTIRE & SUSANNAH YOUNG

In his September 24, 1757 will, Micum’s oldest son John McIntire distributed over 200 acres of land among his four (4) surviving sons—John Jr., Ebenezer, Daniel, and Samuel (John’s eldest son Joseph had been dead for 27 years when the will was written).

John’s will divided equally “all my household stuff of every kind within doors and all my quick stock” between his daughters Susannah and Hannah. “Quick stock” is an archaic term meaning portable items of all kinds capable of being sold quickly and converted into cash. 

John’s youngest son Samuel, who was 36 at the time the will was written, was appointed executor of John’s estate, was bequeathed the McIntire homestead property, other lands, and “all my utensils of husbandry [farm implements] both wood and iron, and half my seat or pew in the meeting house.” The seat(s) in question would not have been in the central First Parish Church in York Village. They would have been pews in the Second Parish Church authorized for Scotland District in 1719. This church was located at the corner of High Pine Road and Route 91 (Cider Hill Road), about 1.2 miles east of the McIntire Garrison. Services were first held there in 1724.

Micum’s son John McIntire died on December 2, 1771 in York, and his will was probated on January 6, 1772. Here are his children:

Joseph McIntire

Joseph McIntire, John and Susannah’s oldest child, was born March 25, 1707. It is assumed that as the eldest, he was intimately involved in the work undertaken by his father—farming and other subsistence activity. Joseph died relatively young at the age of 23, on June 25, 1730.

Susannah McIntire

Susannah was John McIntire and Susannah Young’s second child, born May 16, 1709. On September 6, 1733, Susannah married Joseph Main. Susannah and Joseph had three daughters—Mercy, Dorothy (possibly named for paternal grandmother Dorothy (Pierce) McIntire), and Lucy. Dorothy and Lucy were twins.

Her father John McIntire’s will divided equally all his “household stuff of every kind within doors and all my quick stock” between Susannah and her sister Hannah. It is not known what Joseph Main did for a living—although farming is a fairly safe bet. On April 8, 1735, Joseph purchased 6 acres of land in the southwest corner of York from one Daniel Farnum, a brief eight months after the birth of Mercy, his and Susannah’s first child.

John McIntire Jr.

John Jr. was John McIntire and Susannah Young’s third child, born February 25, 1711 in York. On July 15, 1737, John Jr. married Abigail Webber, with whom he had eight (8) children—Joseph (named for John Jr.’s older brother?), Abigail, Samuel, Susanna (the third Susannah in the family—her great-grandmother had been Susannah Matthews, her grandmother had been Susannah Young, and she was Susannah McIntire), Theodore, Phineas, Elizabeth, and Dorcas. 

John Jr. received from his father 86 ½ acres of “meadows and marsh, both salt and fresh, which is situate and lying on the southwest side of the southwest branch of the York River”—10 of the acres had been inherited from grandfather Micum McIntire, the remaining 76 ½ acres of which had been purchased by John McIntire from Captain Samuel Came. 

John Jr. was 46 when his father John wrote his will. By that time, John Jr. was an established merchant, trader, and a shipbuilder. In historical records he is frequently styled as “Captain” John McIntire—this was in recognition of the ships he built and owned, rather than any office he held in the militia. In addition to the valuable marsh land he received from his father, John Jr. acquired several land grants from the town. He was a well-to-do citizen. John Jr. and Abigail lived at The Knolls at York Harbor.

In his own will, John McIntire Jr. divided his property and principal goods among his four sons. He made bequests to his daughter Elizabeth, and to the children of Susannah and Abigail (both daughters having passed away before the will was written). He gave his youngest daughter Dorcas “seventy pounds, a good feather bed, bedding, furniture, and one good cow.”

One indicator of John McIntire Jr.’s relative wealth was his ability to afford to own an African slave, Dinah, whom in his will he described as a “faithful servant” and directed “be set at liberty and be free from any further servitude.” See article 8, in which it is indicated that this gesture had little if any tangible meaning in Dinah’s life. She was at a minimum a servant in the McIntire family until her death sometime before 1788.

Another possible side effect of John’s prosperity (or perhaps Webber genetics) was that all four of his surviving sons and his daughter Dorcas were, because of rich diet or Webber genetics, morbidly obese, weighing over 300 pounds.

When his uncle Daniel McIntire died in 1774, John McIntire Jr. administered Daniel’s estate.

John McIntire Jr. died February 19, 1785 in York.

Hannah McIntire

The fourth child of John McIntire and Susannah Young, Hannah was born November 6, 1712. On October 26, 1732, Hannah married neighbor Alexander Junkins Jr., with whom she had eleven (11) children. Her father John McIntire’s will divided equally all his “household stuff of every kind within doors and all my quick stock” between Hannah and her sister Susannah.

Hannah died around 1775. In 1777, Alexander Junkins remarried to Mary Tanney. 

Ebenezer McIntire

Ebenezer was the fifth child of John and Susannah, born April 16, 1714. In late October or early November 1738, Ebenezer married Mercy Randel of Berwick. They had four children—John, Ebenezer Jr., Susannah, and Tobias.

From his father John, Ebenezer received “all my lands whereon he now lives containing fifty acres,” John’s clothes, and another 3 acres of marsh land.

Ebenezer seems to have principally been a farmer. In his own will Ebenezer played strong favorites. He gave his oldest son John only six shillings. He gave 30 pounds to his son Ebenezer Jr. His daughter Susannah received “half a dozen chairs.” All of the rest of his estate went to his youngest son Tobias. 

Ebenezer died February 26, 1785 in York. 

Daniel McIntire

Not to be confused with his uncle Daniel, this Daniel was the sixth child of John McIntire and Susannah Young, and was born September 5, 1717 in York. In August, 1741, Daniel married neighbor Mercy Junkins, with whom he had eight (8) children.

Daniel inherited 68 acres of land from his father John.

Samuel McIntire

The seventh and last child of John McIntire and Susannah Young, Samuel was born September 20, 1721. On August 14, 1744, Samuel married Sarah Came, daughter of Captain Samuel Came. Samuel and Sarah had five children—Jeremiah, Samuel Jr., Sarah, Hannah, and Mary. 

Robert Harry McIntire’s Red Book reports that, “It has been said that she [Sarah] was ‘“sent up to Boston to school” and that she was an expert needleworker having made the baptismal dress which was worn by the infants of the [Scotland] parish when they were presented for baptisms.’ An educated woman from a family of means who could make a specific economic contribution to the family.

It is not known what Samuel McIntire did for work but, having married into the well-to-do Came family, it is unlikely that he struggled economically. 

THE CHILDREN OF MICUM McINTIRE JR. & JANE GRANT

Micum’s third son Micum McIntire Jr. was born after 1684. He married Jane Grant in 1708 and they had three children—Alexander, Keziah, and Mary.

Alexander McIntire

Alexander, the first born child of Micum Jr. and Jane, was born June 9, 1709, in York. On February 6, 1728, he married Mary Weare and together they had six children—Dorothy, Mary, Jane, Alexander Jr., Micum, and Keziah.

Alexander was referred to in the York town records as a surveyor. He received six land grants in the 1723 division of town land, and probably additional properties in the last significant dispersal of town lands in 1750, when he served on the committee overseeing the dispersal. His skills led him to be appointed to a 1770 committee assessing the condition of the “Great Bridge over York River”—either the bridge at the York Village (Lindsay Road/Organug Road) crossing or where Route 1 now runs. 

It is possible that Alexander may have served under British General Jeffery Amherst in the 1763 Cape Breton campaign that successfully captured the French fortress at Louisburgh in Nova Scotia. General Amherst was known as a meticulous military planner, and a competent surveyor would have been valuable to the effort.

Alexander’s will was dated September 10, 1779. It distributed Alexander’s property among his two sons, Alexander Jr. and Micum, and granted them portions of his pews. To his daughters he distributed some land, livestock, portions of the family pew, clothing, and numerous household goods. He bequeathed to his grand-daughter Sarah (daughter of Alexander Jr.) “a bed and bedding, a pewter platter, six pewter plates, a pair of handirons, a skillet, a round table, a pot, six chairs, my buckles, a looking glass” and the use (not ownership) of a quarter of his real estate, “because of the care and respect she hath shewn to me in sickness and health for seven years past and for her dutiful obedience to me.”

Alexander died on May 9, 1786. When his will was probated in February 1788, Alexander’s son Micum—who had been appointed administrator—made a claim against the estate for the cost of “keeping and nursing Dinah, a Negro servant of the deceased, for thirteen weeks.” See article 8.

Alexander’s will was contested during probate because, while two witnesses had signed it, they had not been present when the testator signed the document. Alexander Jr. initially appealed the disallowance of the will, but didn’t follow up on his appeal, and Micum, as administrator of the estate, completed dispersal of the property.

Keziah McIntire

Keziah was the second child of Micum McIntire Jr. and Jane Grant. She was born May 13, 1713 in York. On November 25, 1763, she married Joseph Came, son of Captain Samuel Came. Together they had nine children.

Like her first cousin Samuel Mcintire (whom see), Keziah’s marriage into the well-to-do Came family of York meant that she had few worries economically. It also meant that she married into a family with substantial connection to the local slave trade.

When Samuel Came died, Keziah was bequeathed the improvements and income of a third of the Came farm at Birch Hill, including buildings, and a mill, the “quick stock,” and household goods. In Keziah’s own will on February 26, 1773, she bequeathed her own negro slave, Prince, to her daughters Mary and Jane. See article 8.

Mary McIntire

As previously noted, Micum Jr. and Jane’s third daughter Mary died before 1743, and there is no record of her marrying or having any children.

SUMMARY

It is notable how quickly the fortunes of the first three generations of McIntires expanded and improved, in large part because they were present during the earliest stages of the community’s development, when the distribution of land grants was underway. Access to the ownership of land was a major factor and made an immense difference in their ability to “come up in the world.” Yet even that would not have been enough if they had been incapable of doing the hard work involved to survive and move forward, and if they had not been emotionally resilient enough to recover from setbacks.

It is worth contrasting the fortunes of the first three generations of McIntires and other “frontier” SPOWs with the lives and fortunes of so many Scottish prisoners of war who remained in the more settled and urbanized areas of New England around Boston, in the vicinity of the Lynn, Braintree, and other iron works. The Scots who moved out into more rural or frontier settlements did better on the whole, if they survived the Indian wars. For the Scots who stayed in more densely settled areas where land ownership was already distributed and ‘sewn up,’ and where economic competition was more vigorous and controlled by the established English proprietors—some of those men struggled to succeed, and some of them failed.

We also cannot discount the factors of life experience and emotional resilience. The Scots Charitable Society (SCA) was established in 1657 and incorporated in 1786. To this day it provides assistance to needy persons of Scottish heritage. The SCA arose out of a very real need to support and care for indigent former prisoners. Many of the men had suffered durable physical and emotional injuries as a result of the Battle of Dunbar and its aftermath—injuries that kept them from being able to build successful lives.

So, while luck—the timely availability of inexpensive land—and an ability to work intelligently and well were factors in our McIntires’ success, we cannot overlook character and life experience. Remember that Micum Mcintire had probably been a soldier in a Campbell infantry regiment in Scotland since at least the 1640s, a decade before he was captured and transported. See articles 9 and 10. He and his brothers had to an extent grown up as soldiers in a period of war. 

For Micum and Dorothy, their three sons, and their sons’ families and children, from 1675 through 1763, York was an embattled frontier settlement under periods of repeated attack. Whatever former Scottish prisoners like Micum felt about the ongoing conflicts with Native Americans, violent conflict was not a new experience for them. They may have been to a degree inured to violence, and capable of providing a steadying and calming example for their families.

To thrive in such a setting took more than luck and the acquisition of resources. It required of the men and women living in that setting sufficient emotional resilience, endurance, and the knowledge that, in order to go through great difficulty and to come out intact on the other side, they needed to go through their difficulties together, supporting one another, their extended family, their clan, and their community. That is an important part of the legacy they have left to us.