PETER
McKERRALL, a successful general farmer of Chatham township, resides on
Lot 16, 5th Concession, on his pleasant farm of 100 acres,
and also owns 500 acres adjoining, being one of the largest land owners
in the County of Kent. He came to the township in 1850 with his
parents, locating on his present farm andhas added to his holdings until
they reached their present proportions.
Mr.
McKERRALL was born in Argyllshire, Scotland, May 25th, 1837,
son of Dougald and Jane (Breckenridge) McKerrall, of the same
neighbourhood, who emigrated to the County of Kent in 1850, and settled
on the homestead farm where the father died in 1879 aged eighty-five
years, and the mother died in 1872, aged seventy-five years, and they
are buried in McVicker’s cemetery. They were consistent members of the
Presbyterian Church. The following named children, besides Peter, were
born to this union: Hugh, a retired farmer of Chatham; Margaret, widow
of Alexander Ralston, of Rockford, Illinois; John, retired farmer of
Chatham, Ontario; Janet (deceased), who married Thomas Brody; Jane,
deceased, who married John McCoig; and Edward, a farmer of Harwich
township.
On
March 28th, 1874, Peter McKerrall married in Harwich
township, Miss Isabella Young, and children as follows were born to
them: Dougald A., with his father, unmarried; Geroge, a farmer on an
adjoining farm, who married Anna Seney; Jane A., who died young; and
Peter A., who married Myrtle Arnold and is a farmer of Chatham
township. Mrs. McKerrall was born in Glasgow, Scotland, April 22nd,
1842, a daughter of George and Janet (Robertson) Young, of that city,
who came to Canada in 8143, settling in Harwich township, County of
Kent, and took up 100 acres of land to which they afterward added until
they had 300 acres, although but little work was done on any of the
land. Mr. Young served as member of the council, township reeve,
justice of the peace, clerk of the court and held other offices in the
County of Kent, settling up estates, and drawing up wills of prominent
men, although prior to coming to Canada he had been an architect and
cabinetmaker. His death occurred in August, 1890, when he was
eighty-one years of age, while his wife died in 180, aged seventy-one
years, and both are interred in Maple Leaf cemetery. They were
consistent members of the Presbyterian Church.
Peter
McKerrall came to his present farm with his parents and has since made
it his home, improving it and making it into one of the best in the
County of Kent. In politics he is a Reformer, but has never sought
office. He and Mrs. McKerrall are prominently identified with the
Presbyterian Church, and they are liberal supporters of its good works.
Both are very hospitable, and their delightful home has always been a
gathering place for their many friends, by whom they are most highly
esteemed. Mr. McKerrall is not only one of the well-to-do men of the
County of Kent, but also one of the most popular, and this prominence
has been attained because of his many excellent traits of character,
quite as much as on account of his wealth. Mrs. McKerrall is equally
popular, and they and their children are very important factors in the
social life of the community.
p. 144
