The following is a paraphrased transcription of the letter written by Colonel Alexander McAlester in response to Mr. John Boyd’s June 21, 1770 letter of introduction for John and Malcolm Gilchrist:

1770 Nov. 29. Alexander McAlester, Barmore (Cumberland County, North Carolina, to Mr. John Boyd, Balinakill)

Dear Sir.

I acknowledge the receipt of your letter by Malcolm McGilchrist with whom I was unable to converse at that time, but I’m creditably informed they have both purchased land since then. Each has clear ground on his piece of land to raise bread corn, so they should soon be established.

I wish with all my heart that all poor people, both young and old that have any family to do for would take courage and leave the oppression they now lie under in Scotland and let the lairds and landlords till their own estates; they would in a little time be glad to see their tenants prosper. As for the idea I have of such things, I think the richer the tenant is the richer the laird is. But be they rich or poor, it is all one with the lairds so long as they get their due. While sorry for the present state of affairs, it is a means to make this country flourish by immigration of industrious inhabitants. If they are half as industrious here as there, the barrenness land we have would be good tillable soil. People may have what notions of this place they please or call it what they will – it is the best poor man’s country I have heard of.

There is a rumor of war. Whether it is so or not I can’t say. All I’m sorry for is that it will be a means of hindering the poor from entering the door that God has opened for them. I have no hope of seeing you in America because you have so much to leave in Scotland, but I hope that we can continue to correspond.

[There was no signature]

In a letter written in October of 1771, Mr. James McAlester, tacksman of nearby Ronachan Estate (located just south of Balnakiel), inquired as follows:

I would wish to ‘here in ‘generall how the poor people that went from this country last year is ‘sattled and in ‘particuler those ‘whos name is below as they were from near this place:

Alexander & Angus McAlester Archibald McCoist

Angus Brown John Johnstone, a taylor

Malkem McFaill [McPhail] Donald Johnstone

Archibald McIllbride [McBride] Alexander Graham

Archibald McFiggan John & Malkem McIllcrist

Neil Paterson [Gilchrist]

 

In a reply written late in 1772, Colonel McAlester wrote:

"You desire me in your letter to acquaint you how the people is ‘settled that came over last year. They are all doing well but as you observe they are the poorest sort that comes and no doubt meet with some ‘deficulty before they can fix themselves."

He then adds:

"The McIlcrest and McFiggan I know and is in a good way."

 

The year the Gilchrists’ migrated (1770) has never been a matter of question, but interest has centered on the time of year. The dates taken from three documents have produced a problem in sequence:

(1) February 12, 1770 The date of the marriage of John Gilchrist and Effie McMillan in Campbeltown, Scotland

(2) May 3, 1770 -- John Gilchrist purchases his first tract of land in North Carolina from Mr. Joseph Fort

(3) June 21, 1770 -- Mr. John Boyd of Balinakiel writes his letter of recommendation for John and Malcolm Gilchrist

 

The problem may thus be explained as follows: The couple did not leave for North Carolina immediately following the wedding, as would necessarily have had to be the case for John to make his land purchase on May 3^rd. Mr. Boyd’s letter clearly stated that the letter would be "delivered to you by Malcom MacIlchrist"; and Col. McAlester’s response clearly acknowledged "the receipt of your letter by Malcolm McGilchrist". Missing is John Gilchrist’s signature on the May 3^rd land purchase. It is known that an older daughter of Angus, named Mary and married to John McBryde, had arrived several years earlier. The probable explanation therefore is that John McBryde may have purchased the land prior to the arrival of John and Malcolm. Add to this the fact that most voyages took place during the early summer when there was less threat from Atlantic gales; with favorable conditions sailing time was an approximate two and a half months.

 

John Gilchrist’s first purchase of land on May 3, 1770 was for seventy acres of land on the "mill prong" of Raft Swamp in what was then Bladen County, N.C. (The mill prong was the prong of the swamp on which a pre-Revolutionary War mill had been built.) The land was part of an original three hundred acre tract which was part of a royal grant to Henry O’Berry in 1748. He paid Mr. Joseph Fort, the new owner, ten pounds proclamation money.

More land was purchased in the ensuing years producing, as the map illustrating his acquisitions reveals, a patchwork of landholdings. By 1800, John Gilchrist had become recognized as one of the largest landholders in the eastern part of North Carolina, acquiring an estimated 2400 acres of land.

That John Gilchrist was a man of some financial means is quite apparent from his substantial land acquisitions. From whence the money had come is a question that may never be answered. The authoritative LUMBER RIVER SCOTS, by Dr. Edwin Purcell, himself a descendant of John Gilchrist, states (page 465): "This Gilchrist family came to America with much more of the world’s goods than most of the Scotch people who came to this section. They seemed unusually well supplied with such things as clothing, books, and the best household furnishings of the day." That the money may have come through inheritance does not receive complete support in that Malcolm did not acquire an amount of land commensurate with that of John. Having been married for a relatively short period of time it would appear unlikely that the newly weds would have amassed such wealth – unless John, by careful management of his income had laid aside a substantial amount before the marriage. A careful analysis of his Last Will And Testament does in fact reveal an unmistakable caution in the matter of his finances.

John and Effie became parents of nine children: Mary, Angus, Margaret, Malcolm, Archibald, Gilbert, Flora, John (Jr.), and Linlie who died in childhood. Following Effie’s death in 1794, John married Flora McKay Currie and from this marriage came a daughter who was named Effie. Deeply instilled into the Gilchrist children was a great love and appreciation for the family, the church, and a good education. The family became charter members of the small Raft Swamp Church which became the predecessor of the Antioch Presbyterian Church located, today, on State Road 211 half way between Red Springs and Raeford, N.C. To assure that his children would have the best foundation in education, John secured a tutor from Scotland. The foundation thus established would cause this family in later years to have a significant impact on the development of education in early Robeson County – created from a part of Bladen County in 1787.

The following are the children born to John Gilchrist:

(l) MARY GILCHRIST (1771-Nov. 20, 1843)

She was born shortly after her parents arrival from Scotland. She married twice: Col. Archibald McKay, a British army officer who died shortly after marriage, and John Purcell, a very influential person in upper Robeson County, N.C. Both John and Mary are buried in the Mill Prong Cemetery. There was a son by her first marriage, and seven children by her second.

(2) ANGUS GILCHRIST (1773-Oct. 2,1834)

Along with his father, he became one of the largest landowners in the eastern part of N. C. He was a surveyor and was regarded as one of the most educated men in Robeson County. He built "The Famous Gilchrist House" which was the largest, finest and best furnished house in this section of the state; it became a major stage-coach stop on the route between New York and New Orleans. His first wife was Margaret McKay, a sister of Mary Gilchrist’s first husband; there were five children. His second wife was Elizabeth McNeill; there were three children. Two sons: James Graham Gilchrist (from the second marriage) and Archibald McKay Gilchrist (from the first marriage) moved to Lowndes County, Alabama where they opened a law firm in Haynesville. James G. Gilchrist served as a Confederate colonel, then later as an outstanding member in the Alabama legislature; he was a large plantation owner.

(3) MARGARET GILCHRIST (1775-????)

She married John McPhaul (1770-Aug. 20, 1820); there were eight children. Both John and Margaret are buried in the Mill Prong Cemetery.

(4) MALCOLM GILCHRIST (1776-Mar. 17,1851)

He married Anny Galbraith (July 2, 1799-June 5, 1861); there were eleven children. He was a very well educated man. In 1811, he moved his family to Jefferson County, Mississippi, where he became a very large land owner. A granddaughter, Annie Colman Peyton of Hazelhurst, Miss., became instrumental in the establishment of Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus -- the first state-endowed institution for women in the United States.

(5) ARCHIBALD GILCHRIST (1777-l845)

He married Mary McPherson; there were nine children. Two of his sons became dentists, with Daniel traveling over much of North and South Carolina. Sidney, his fourth child, moved to Gadsden County, Florida, settling near Quincy in 1851.

(6) GILBERT SCOTLAND GILCHRIST (1780-1857)

He first married Nancy McPherson , a sister of Archibald Gilchrist’s wife, Mary. From this marriage came eight children. The family played an active role in the Antioch Presbyterian Church. Following his marriage to Mary Currie (1800-1879), with whom he had an additional six children, he moved in the early 1830’s to Barbour County, Alabama settling on former Creek Indian land just west of Eufaula. Accompanying him and Mary were six of the children from his first marriage and four from his second marriage. He along with his sons Malcolom, Daniel, and John became among the area’s largest land owners. (*Note: The number of children fathered by Gilbert (14) is a correction from the number (18) presented in the LUMBER RIVER SCOTS.)

(7) FLORA GILCHRIST (1782-OCT. 29, 1843)

She married Dougald Torrey (June 14, 1780 - Feb. 4, 1853); there were ten children. In 1806, they became a part of a large group of second generation Scots who settled near Ebenezer Church, Mississippi (near Port Gibson). The settlement became known as "Scotch Settlement" and "New Scotland". They are buried near the site of the Old Ebenezer Presbyterian Church.

(8) JOHN GILCHRIST, II (1785-Dec. 6, 1868)

He never married. He was regarded by most as the most outstanding of his parents children. He became one of the first graduates of the University of North Carolina in 1809. He received his Masters Degree from Chapel Hill in 1812. He returned to Robeson County and opened a law practice, during which time he established Floral College, the first college in North Carolina and only the third in the nation to grant diplomas to women. He served four terms in the North Carolina Legislature. He established the first Sunday School in upper Robeson County (now, Hoke County). He was deeply involved in community life, eventually laying aside his law practice so as to devote more time to that and to Floral College.

(9) LINLIE GILCHRIST (1787 - Died in Childhood)

Following the death of Effie in 1794 John Gilchrist married Flora McKay Currie (1760 - Dec. 5, 1847), and from this marriage came a daughter:

(l0) EFFIE GILCHRIST (June 21, 1796 - Dec. 5, 1866)

She married John Blue II (Sept. 28, 1776 - May 3, 1831); there were ten children. Victor Blue, a grandson, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1887. In the Spanish-American War of 1898, he was advanced five grades for "extraordinary heroism", and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He served in numerous assignments in the Atlantic and Pacific, and finally Washington, D.C. In 1916 he was assigned the command of the battleship Texas, which he commanded throughout World War I; he was part of the North Sea Fleet. For the distinguished service he rendered, he received the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross and Belgium’s Order of Leopold. He was also given a medal reserved for those individuals who display the greatest acts of heroism. The only other such recipients prior to him were George Washington and U. S. Grant. A U. S. destroyer was named in his honor. He was Senior Rear Admiral when he died Jan. 22, 1928, and was accorded every possible military honor. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Effie Gilchrist Blue along with her mother, Flora Currie Gilchrist, were buried in the old Blue family cemetery in Scotland County.

 

The American Revolution exploded upon the colonies on April 19, 1775, reaching North Carolina early in 1776. The Scottish settlers became divided in their allegiance, with most of those settled around Cross Creek at the upper end of the Cape Fear River siding with the British, while those settled in upper Robeson County joined sides with the Patriots. Of great significance to the region was the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge where on Feb. 27, 1776, eighteen miles above Wilmington, a force of 1500 Loyalists, most of whom were Scots, under the command of General Donald McDonald were defeated by a Patriot force of about 1,000 men under Colonel James Moore. The defeat of the Loyalist force ended any further chance for a successful campaign by the British in North Carolina; it also signaled the beginning of large-scale confiscation and pillaging of Loyalists’ property and homes. That John Gilchrist did not condone the fighting or the plunder that followed can be clearly gleaned from the depositions made in his behalf during his contested 1797 election to the North Carolina Senate. Also of note is the fact that Mary, John and Effie’s oldest child married Archibald McKay who had served as a colonel in the British army during the war.

During the bleak period of the Revolution when not only medical supplies became scarce but fear and distrust created an unsettled atmosphere, one woman came forward to render such unselfish service that her name has been forever stamped into the region’s history. She was the mother-in-law of John Gilchrist --- Christian McMillan, known to all people in upper Robeson County and neighboring areas by the Gaelic name Chriosdaidh Ban (pronounced "Charisteena Ban"), meaning "Fair Christian." Christian Taylor McMillan and her husband, Gilbert McMillan, had arrived the year following that of their daughter and son-in-law, and sadly his would be the first grave to be placed in the Mill Prong Cemetery; he died the year after their arrival in 1772. Undaunted by her husband’s death Christian rode her little gray pony in virtually all types of weather to bring help and encouragement to the settlers. Heeding a call at all hours she would ride with no thought of the distance involved; on one occasion she rode a distance of nearly sixty miles to render help to the sick. She died June 15, 1811 at the age of 84 and was buried next to Gilbert.

John Gilchrist, Sr. became quite influential in the political life of Robeson County, as well as the state of North Carolina --- a legacy unquestionably passed on to his son John, Jr. He served as a member of the North Carolina House of Commons from 1792 to 1793, then later in the state Senate from 1796 to 1797.

In the year following his term in the House of Commons, John was dealt a major blow with the death of his wife Effie. During that year of 1794 he made his largest single land purchase – 860 acres, which included McPhaul’s Mill, the pre-Revolutionary War mill from which the "mill prong" of Little Raft Swamp received its name. At this time he married Flora McKay Currie, and for his new wife he began construction on the famous Mill Prong House in 1795. In 1796 their daughter Effie was born.

	Click here for an older, full size image of Mill Prong House
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The Mill Prong House even has it's own website! Click here and visit the Mill Prong House website  Also, for more information about Hoke County, North Carolina genealogical research, visit this website: http://home.att.net/~hbridges/hoke.htm

The elegant house was built on a slight prominence overlooking Little Raft Swamp. Typical of many of the fine homes built in the years immediately following the war, Mill Prong became a near perfect example of the popular country federal style of architecture, having the matching upper and lower portico. The matching brick chimneys were constructed in the attractive Femish bond style using brick made on the site. Instead of the usual turned posts, the posts supporting the upper portico were gently tapered and hand dressed. Throughout the house are to be found hand-hewn, heart pine beams, along with the expert use of mortise and pegged construction which unquestionably has been a major factor enabling the house to survive for nearly two centuries. The original structure consisted of two lower rooms and two upper rooms, and the customary separate kitchen. In the years between 1815 and 1835, a major expansion of the roofline took place resulting in two more rooms being added to both the first and second floors. The house, it is believed, was completed in 1802 the same year that John Gilchrist died. He was sixty-two .

He expressed in his Will that he wished his body "to be decently buried by the right side of my first wife" in the Mill Prong Cemetery located approximately a quarter of a mile behind the house.

The Last Will and Testament of John Gilchrist

JOHN GILCHRIST

To the Memory of John Gilchrist this marble is inscribed. He died in May, 1802, aged 62. He had a vigorous mind much improved by education and travel. He was a patron of learning, often a Legislator. A Presbyterian in faith, in morals circumspect and fond of piety.

EFFIE GILCHRIST

Effie, wife of John Gilchrist Sr. Died AD 1794 age 46 years. The deceased sustained a spotless reputation; possessed a sound energetic and discriminating mind and was for 20 years a communicant member of the Presbyterian Church. Natives of Cantire, Scotland. Emigrated in 1770.

Click here to view a full size image of John & Effie Gilchrist's gravemarkers

Less than two years after the Gilchrist arrival in North Carolina, Malcolm, who was four years younger than his brother John, married Catharine Buie of Cumberland County. Born June 30,1752 in Bladen County Catharine was the daughter of Daniel Buie who, in 1780, was living in the Barbeque District of Cumberland County, N.C.; later he moved to neighboring Moore County. Daniel was in turn a son of Archibald Buie who emigrated in Sept. 1739 from the Island of Jura off Scotland’s western coast. The year following his arrival he acquired 320 acres of land on the southwest side of the northwest branch of the Cape Fear River in June 1740, and an additional 200 acres on the north side of the river’s northwest branch in 1746. Archibald died in May, 1781 having moved his family to the Barbeque Creek area in about 1760.

Malcolm and Catharine settled in Moore County (now, Lee County) near her parents. In a manner clearly in keeping with the Gilchrist character, Malcolm also became a respected and influential member of his community in the years. In 1792 he served as Sheriff of Moore County, then in 1794 and 1795 he served in the North Carolina House of Commons, the year following John’s term. From 1796 through 1800 he served in the North Carolina Senate. In 1809, he and Catharine and their nine children along with other members of the Buie family moved to Maury County, Tennessee to settle newly opened Indian land. Malcolm’s tract consisted of one thousand acres (The deed is still on file in the Maury County Courthouse - Records A - Vol. I, page 167). Malcolm and Catharine’s children were:

(1) JOHN GILCHRIST (1772 - 1852)

(2) DUNCAN GILCHRIST (1774 - ????)

(3) SARAH MARTHA GILCHRIST (1776 - ????)

She married Alexander McMillan; there were two sons born

(4) ANN GILCHRIST (1778 - ????)

She married a Mr. Leach

(5) MALCOLM GILCHRIST, II (1786 - 1845)

He never married. He became an extremely successful cotton merchant and surveyor in Lawrence County, Alabama. His income was built on transporting cotton over the dangerous shoals of the Tennessee River to the Mississippi and on to New Orleans; he came to own a fleet of boats

(6) DANIEL GILCHRIST (1788 - July 24, 1855)

He married Nancy A. Philips (Jan. 21, 1793 - May, 1863); there were seven children. They made their home in Lawrence County, Alabama where they built a large plantation home called "The Old Homestead" near Courtland, Ala. Along with his brother, Malcolm, Daniel became recognized as one of the best engineer-surveyors in that area - doing much work for the government. The brothers received numerous land grants from the government for their services. The family was very actively involved in the Presbyterian Church, where Daniel served as elder. He is buried in the Gilchrist section of the old Courtland Cemetery. His monument bears the inscription: "He was affectionate to his family, faithful to friends, energetic in business, and earnest in religion."

(7) WILLIAM GILCHRIST (1790 - Sept. 5, 1843)

He married Martha Ann Jones; there were three children. He was educated at the University of North Carolina, and in 1811 moved to Maury County, Tenn. He studied law under Judge Overton of Nashville and later practiced law in Shelbyville. He served briefly as a member of the General Assembly of Tennessee. In 1836 he and his wife moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where he began a law practice. He became a judge and later came to hold the position of Director of the State Bank of Little Rock. He was active in the Presbyterian Church; and after holding several offices in the Masonic Lodge, he served as the first Grand Master of the Arkansas Lodge in 1838. He was buried in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock

(8) CATHARINE GILCHRIST (1792 - Sept. 8, 1881)

She married David Dobbins; there were eleven children. The family lived in McNairy County, Tenn., near her parents. He was for forty years a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church

(9) ARCHIBALD GILCHRIST (1794 - Jan. 11, 1852)

He never married, taking care of his mother following the death of his father. He is buried next to his parents in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Maury County

Malcolm Gilchrist, Sr. died on April 12, 1821 and Catharine died on Oct. 5, 1839. Both were buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Columbia, Tenn., in Maury County.

MALCOLM GILCHRIST

CATHARINE GILCHRIST

It is apparent from research that Angus Gilchrist, Sr. of Kilcalmonell Parish in upper Kintyre Scotland did have other children besides John and Malcolm. It appears quite probable that if in fact Duncan, referred to earlier as the possible older son, inherited the family farm, combined with the growing scarcity of land in general, substantial reason would therefore be given accounting for why the brothers emigrated. Another son was Angus, Jr., who became the parish church treasurer in 1782. And, reference is also made by Mr. John Boyd in his 1770 letter of introduction of an Iver McMurchy "who is married to a sister of ‘theirs."

It is also known that an older sister named Mary Gilchrist, born about 1736 and married in 1759 to John McBryde, had with her husband and baby son, Duncan born in 1762, emigrated to Bladen County in 1763. Their graves are also found in the Mill Prong Cemetery; she died in 1792 and he in 1785. The Gilchrists and McBrydes (or, McBride) could trace the existance of a close family friendship as far back as the 1600’s living on the McEachin-leased farms in central Kintyre. In Kilcalmonell Parish the families farmed neighboring farms, and because THE LUMBER RIVER SCOTS states on page 735 that Mary and John claimed to be first cousins a strong theory has persisted that the unknown wife of Angus, Sr. may have been a McBryde. There were five children born to John and Mary: Duncan, John, Angus, Archibald, and Mary.

Of greatest interest is the known existence of two other Gilchrist families living in Robeson County, N.C. – each, according to the 1790 census, headed by a William Gilchrist. The census further revealed that one of the families consisted of three females and the husband and the other, three males under sixteen, two females, and the husband. Mr. Ian MacDonald of Clachan, Scotland discovered the existence of a William Gilchrist who with his family settled on Rockfish Creek in Cumberland County, N.C. (see Mr. MacDonald’s notes at the conclusion of Chapter: III); the family came from Kilcalmonell Parish. The two William Gilchrists are believed to be father and son, with one dying between 1790 and 1800 and the other in 1834. The latter William was survived by a wife, Catharine, a son John, daughters: Catharine who married Daniel Lamon and Margaret (Peggy) who married Gilbert McMillan; there at least four other sons whose names are not known. Gilbert McMillan died May 21, 1849 and Peggy died Nov. 6, 1847, and both were buried in the old McMillan Cemetery located near the junction of Hoke County, N.C. roads 1111 and 1108. William, Jr.’s widow, Catharine, lived in the household of their son, John, past her 95^th year in 1850. Their son John married twice, his second wife being named Sarah. He was buried along with his wife, Sarah, a son and a daughter in the old Antioch Presbyterian Church Cemetery between Raeford and Red Springs, N.C.

Giving further evidence of a possible relationship is the fact that William, Jr. lived very near John Gilchrist, Sr. on the mill prong of Little Raft Swamp. Record indicates that John Sr. and his son Angus were involved in at least three 1794 land purchases made by William, Jr. In 1795. In 1795 Malcolm Gilchrist and William Gilchrist were the two representatives to the North Carolina House of Commons from Moore County (This was quite probably William, Sr. John, the son of William, Jr., named six of his children: Mary, William, Duncan, John, Catharine, and Sarah; which in fact were names also found used by Malcolm and Catharine Buie Gilchrist. On the 1833 role of the newly organized Antioch Presbyterian Church were several of the children of John Gilchrist, Sr. as well as William, Jr., his wife and several of his children. Thus, there appears considerable reason to suspect that William Gilchrist, Sr. was a third brother, another son of Angus, Sr., who may have arrived earlier. This would further support the story that has on occasion been heard that there were three Gilchrist brothers who emigrated to North Carolina in the late 1700’s.

Today, nearly eight generations later the impact made by these early Gilchrists is still felt in the communities in which they lived. They freely gave much of the land they had acquired for the building of churches and schools. The great emphasis which they placed on church and school was equaled only by the love and devotion they gave their families. Respected in whatever they did and wherever they went they established a solid foundation on which later descendants would build.

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