PETER DUNCAN
McKELLAR, one of the prominent business
citizens of Chatham, who for forty years has ably filled the position of
registrar of the County of Kent, with a fidelity to the public not
exceeded by any other official, is of Scottish descent, and comes from a
pioneer family of the county. The line is traced back to John and Mark
(Clark) McKellar, who had one son,
Dugall, born in 1673.
Dugall McKellar married Mary McNair,
and they had two sons, Duncan and John, of whom the latter married
Isabella Campbell, and had two sons, Neil and Patrick. The former had
one son (Duncan) and one daughter. Patrick was a colonel in the British
army, and was present at the taking of Gibraltar. He left a large
estate, but no children.
Duncan
McKellar, son of Dugall,
born in 1703, married Catherine McLean, and they had two sons, John and
Archibald, and two daughters, Mary and Catherine. John
McKellar, born in 1731, was the
great-great-grandfather of Peter D.
Archibald
McKellar, the great-grandfather of Peter
Duncan, was born in Scotland May 28, 1760. He was the father of the
following named children: John, Peter, Neil, Archibald, Duncan, David
and Sarah.
Peter
McKellar,; of
this family was the grandfather of Peter D.
McKellar, of Chatham. On August 1, 1811, he married Flora
McNab, and of tgheir
children only two grew to maturity: Mary, born December 10, 1812, who
married Duncan McNab, a merchant of
Hamilton, Ontario, and is now deceased; and Archibald, born February 3,
1816, at Glenshiel, Scotland. In 1818 the
latter was brought by his parents to Canada, the family settling in
Aldborough township,
County of Elgin Ontario, where they lived until 1836. During this period
Peter McKellar built the first mill for
grinding grain in that section. Prior to the construction of this mill
grinding had been done by the primitive method of reducing the grain by
means of pulverizing it between two stones, by hand. In 1836 Peter
McKellar removed his family to Lot 17,
Raleigh township, County of Kent, where he
settled on the banks of the river Thames, and there both he and his wife
died, the former January 29, 1861, and the latter February 9, 1877, at
the age of ninety-six years. They led quiet, irreproachable lives, and
are recorded as most respected and useful pioneers of the county.
On August 11th,
1836, the date of the arrival of the family in the County of Kent,
Archibald McKellar, father of Peter D.,
married Luch McNab,
who was born in 1820. After their marriage they remained on the old
home, Archibald, being the only son, continuing to assist in the
operation of the farm there until 1848, when he removed to Chatham, and
formed a partnership with John Dolsen in the
lumber business, an association which continued until 1863. During
these years of active business life in Chatham, Archibald
McKellar had been a member of he Western
District council and also of the city council of Chatham. His ability
as a public man was recognized still more fully when he was sent, in
1857, to the Parliament of the United Provinces of Up0per and Lower
Canada. In 1867 he was elected to the Parliament of Ontario, which
position he ably held until 1874, and during a part of this time he was
a very prominent figure, being Provincial Secretary and a Commissioner
of Public Works. In 1874 he retired to the
shrievalty of Wentworth, residing in Hamilton, Ontario and
holding that position until his death, February 11, 1894; his wife
preceeded him February 13, 1857, at the age
of thirty-seven years. To Archibald McKellar
and his wife were born the following named children: Peter Duncan is a
resident of Chatham. Mary Jane, boarn
August 13, 1841, married Rev. John McMeehan,
September 18, 1861, and died June 19, 1870, leaving four sons. Flora,
born April 8, 1843, married William H. Birrrell
in 1865. Sarah Ann, born March 13, 1845, married February 19,
1868,Feorge H. Sanborn, of Fargo, North Dakota, and they have one
daughter, Millicent. Janet, born January 222, 1847, married January 20,
1869, John R. Gemmill, (who is the present
sheriff of the County of Kent), and died leaving three sons and three
daughters. Donald, born February 5, 1850, married
Lomila Bobier, October 17, 1876, and
they have four living children. Thomas, born January 27, 1853, died
March 13, 1893, unmarried. Lucy Marion, born March 2, 1855, married
David AG. Fleming, September 1, 1875, and died July
27, 1879, leaving one daughter.
Peter Duncan
McKellar was born November 2, 1839, on the
old homestead in Raleigh township, County of
Kent, and was nine years of age when his father moved to Chatham. In
the public schools of that city he received his early education, which
was supplemented by a course in the Upper Canada College, and a law
course at University College, at Toronto. During the se years he had
been applyhing himself to the study of the
law, and in July, 1862, during his third year, he was appointed to his
present position, a testimonial of worth, as Mr.
McKellar was at that time but twenty-three years of age. He has
most efficiently filled the office for more than forty years. By his
acceptance of this position his law course was cut short one year.
Mr.
McKellar is a stockholder in and secretary of the Chatham
Dredging Co., formed in 1883, with D.G. Fleming as president and S.T.
Martin as manager and treasurer. He is the owner of 750 acres of fine
farming land in the County of Kent, which is tenanted, and also owns a
fine home on Victoria avenue, in Chatham, and
is very justly regarded as one of the solid and substantial men of the
county.
On October 19, 1876, Mr.
McKellar was married to Miss Louise Ann
Stegmann, of Toronto, who died June 30,
1890. Mr. McKellar belongs to the First
Presbyterian Church of Chatham, of which his wife was also a member, and
he is prominent in the city’s social life. He views the political field
as a supporter of the Liberal party.
