my pioneer ancestors

294 Pages·2010·3.44 MB·English

by  John G Harris

MY PIONEER ANCESTORS
MATTHEW GEORGE BURRIS M.D.
1887 - 1948
An account of the Burris and Dean families of Musquodoboit,
Nova Scotia: Their origins, experiences and surroundings;
genealogical records, including those of all individuals in direct line
of ancestry and of numerous collateral branches, from the
earliest days in Nova Scotia and New England to the present
time. These were compiled from the most authentic sources by,

Matthew George Burris, M.D.
Dartmouth, N. S.

Privately published by the Author and his family in 1948.

Re-published in 2010 for the Internet with some editing and an
Addendum by John G.Harris, CMC whose great-great grandfather,
Matthew Burris (the central person in this book) was the grandfather
of the Author.

The original work is published in the original typeface (10 point
Bookman Old Style). The 2010 edits and Addendum are
published in this font (11 point Arial).. References from the original
to the Addendum are identified by the symbol (cid:1).

To the extent practical that all original spellings, grammar and
formatting are preserved. Technical details of re-publishing are
given in the last Chapter.

John G.Harris, CMC
Merrickville, ON

As of February 1, 2010 the “book” is complete, but the “Addendum
remains a work-in-progress.
THIS BOOK
is dedicated to the memory of
M y P a r e n t s
GEORGE AND JANE (DEAN) BURRIS

Of

Upper Musquodoboit, NS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

______________

1) The Burrows Homestead (Plan) ................................. 46
2) Floyer's Map .............................................................. 47
3) Londonderry Township (Plan) .................................... 87
4) The Burris Homestead (Plan) ................................... 134
5) "The Old House"—Built by Matthew Burris C. 1836. 134
6) Upper Musquodoboit and Upper Stewiacke (Plan)….. 205
TABLE OF CONTENTS

_________________

PART I
My Pioneer Ancestors
"The Burris Family of Musquodoboit, N. S."

Chapter Page
1) Introduction ............................................................................11
2) John Burrows, Senr. 175OC-1811 ............................................16
3) Pioneer Relatives, Samuel and Anthony McClean....................... 27
4) Official Records of John Burrows, Sr. ........................................36
5) The Peppard Family .................................................................. 52
6) Samuel and Margaret (Peppard) Burrows .................................. 59
7) The Truro, Onslow and Londonderry Pioneers ........................... 75
8) The Archibald Family ................................................................ 94
9) The Scott Family ...................................................................... 113
10) Matthew Burris 1807-1874 ……………………………………..……. 125
11) The Day Book of Matthew Burris ............................................. 139
12) Matthew and Mary (Archibald) Burris....................................... 146
13) Cousins from Kansas ............................................................... 179
"The Dean Family of Musquodoboit, N. S."
14) The Dean Family of Musquodoboit ........................................... 186
15) Crown Land Grants of Musquodoboit and Stewiacke................ 205
16) William and Mary (Dunlap) Dean ............................................. 215
17) The Dunlap Family .................................................................. 221
18) Adam Dunlap and Grizzel (Dechman) Dean ............................. 225
19) The Dechman Family ……………………………………..………..……234
20) Campbell Family. James Campbell, The Pioneer,
Londonderry Township, N.S.

PART II
Two Ballads of Seven Years War……………………………………… 259

PART III
Old Tales and Traditions of the Church in Upper Musquo-
doboit…………………………………………………………………….... 270

PART IV

2010 Addendum……………………………………………………...294
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The Nova Scotia family name of Burris is well known in Halifax and
Colchester Counties, but is of infrequent occurrence in other parts of this
Province or elsewhere in Canada. From the standpoint of both modern and more
ancient usage the name appears in at least three forms: viz—Burroughs, which
is said to be the correct form; Burrows, with no change in pronunciation, but
with abbreviated spelling; and Burris, the form which my own people have used
in this Province for at least a century. It seems difficult to account for this last
form but as subsequent notes will prove, there is no doubt that it is a
variation of the other two. It may have arisen as a corruption of one or the
other of those forms or have been concurrent with them from a very early period.
The conditions surrounding the early frontier life of many people, including our
own, in Nova Scotia with lack of schools, a minimum of education, etc., might
have accounted for the change from Burroughs or Burrows to the name we now
bear, but on investigation it is apparent that the form "Burris" was used in pre-
American days, and, indeed, in some cases this last form was used alternatively
with Burroughs or Burrows by the same individual, and this was in vogue under
conditions which would rule out ignorance or carelessness as an explanation of the
custom.

In this Province, and scattered now very widely throughout Canada, at least,
are descendants of our first Nova Scotian ancestor, John Burrows. Among these
descendants the two names Burrows and Burris are used by about equal
numbers and all appear to retain the tradition that Burroughs is really the
"correct" form of the name. In the succeeding chapters my main purpose will be to
relate the story of my own people but in these introductory paragraphs it seems
necessary to me to give more than passing notice to the comparatively impersonal
subject of the origin, variations, etc., of the family name itself.

Without-any statement at this place as to their order or precedence all these
forms had their very distant origins in the Anglo-Saxon verb, "beorgan" meaning "to
shelter" or "to protect". Later in the common nouns "burgh", "burgher", "burrow",
etc., it came to mean "A town", "a citizen of a free or fortified town", "one having the
rights of citizenship". In some parts of the world the noun "burgher" still has a very
definite and restricted meaning, but as family names the various derivations have long
ago lost any significance of this order. The history of their origin would suggest again
the well accepted rule relating to family names—that identity or similarity of
names does not of necessity indicate relationship, and without a doubt there are many
families of these names which are not in any degree related by ties of blood.
There are a number of place names in Ireland which in part are identical
with our own family name. The history of these names is interesting and, as
pointing to the origin of our family name, very suggestive. The places referred to are
Burrishool Abbey, Burriscarra Abbey, Burres-in Ossery, Burresoleigh, Two Mile
Borris, Borris-o-Kane, Burris Umheal, and there may be others. Burrishool Abbey was
built about 1450 by Richard de Burgo, an ancestor of the Burke family of Ireland ;
Burriscarra Abbey was built at a much earlier date than this. At first it was
occupied by the Carmelites or White Friars, but in 1412 was given to the Eremite
Friars of the Augustinian Order by Pope John XXIII. The "Burris", "Buttes" or
"Borris" portion of these place names in Ireland originated in the Anglo Norman noun
"burgheis" or "burghes" (pronounced "burris"). The noun was introduced into
England at the time of the Norman Conquest and was used by the Normans to
designate the small. towns which they established in many parts of the country. The
noun in its original spelling appears constantly as a place name "Buirgheis," etc.,
in Irish writings after the 12th century. The endings "-o-Kane" ; "o-leigh" etc.,
were added to distinguish the various places from each other.
The statement made in the paragraph immediately above have been extracted
from the writings of various authorities, viz.

"Irish Names of Places," J. J. Joyce, L.L.D.
"Lectures on the M. S. Materials of Ancient Irish History"'.
Prof. O'Burry; "Journal Royal Society of Antiquaries of
Ireland".
Vol. I; Vol. LV; Vol. LVII. "Topography of Ireland" (Lewis).

These came to me through the courtesy of Rev. Brother William C. Cornelia,
Principal of St. Mary's College, Halifax, and were obtained by him from the
authoritative sources named in Ireland. In some instances, apparently, the "g" or
"gh" of "Buirghes" was definitely pronounced, but the word was shortened to one
syllable, and with a slight accentuation of the final consonants the name "Burke"
appeared. That the Burke family of Ireland was of English origin is indicated by the
ancient battle cry of that family—"Galraigh-aboo!" i.e. "Huzza for the red
Englishmen."
The family name "Burris" is given in Harrison's "Surnames of the United
Kingdom." This author states "Burris is a variant of Burroughs or Burrows, the
genetive or plural of Borough which signified a dweller at a stronghold or fortified
place." In the Northern Counties of England and in the Lowlands of Scotland a
pronunciation very similar to that which resulted in "Burris" in Ireland seems to have
been adopted. In these districts "burgh" is no pronounced as if "bur-e," the "-e" being
almost silent. The plural of this becomes "bur-es" which is identical with the
pronunciation, at least, of our family name. Our tradition states that our ancestor
"came from Northumberland," the "Border County," or "Up near the Cheviot Hills."
In the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland there are at least two towns called
"Burgh." At Burgh on the Solway Firth, over six hun-

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dred years ago, Edward I died, when on his way to subdue Scotland. Relating ;all these
considerations to our own family tradition, the conclusion seems warranted that our name
originated in that district, either as a direct descendant from "buirgheis" or as a variant of
Burgh, Borough, etc., and possibly was first used there as a family name to denote simply a
civil condition of some long forgotten ancestor. Down through the centuries this noun as a
family name seems to have been variously spelled and pronounced. In his "Early Voyages of
the English Nation," written in the 16th Century, Richard Hakluyt, a scholar of no mean
attainments, relates the exploits of the Elizabethan sailors John and William Burroughs and
others of that family name, and in these old stories the forms Burgh, Bur-rough, Borough and
Burrows are used alternatively with each other in one place or another when writing of the
same individual. The name "Hubertde-Burgh" appears in the Magna Charta. He is the same
kindly knight whom Shakespeare portrays in "King John." Relatives of his appear in Irish
history, where the name is changed first to Burke and back again to de Burgh. The
Lincolnshire family—"Burroughs"—trace their origin also to Hubert de Burgh, and among
their number was one or more of the Elizabethan sailors mentioned in Hakluyt's "Voyages."
With the exception of the paragraph already acknowledged, the above notes were
obtained from various sources—Taylor "Names and Places" ; The Oxford Dictionary; the
Encyclopaedia Brittanica; Rapin's "History of England," and elsewhere. They are given here
to prove the origin of our name, but not to suggest the relationship of our people, and this
sacrifice must be made in spite of the fact that Hubert de Burgh was of the family of the
Conqueror himself.

We bear an ancient name. At a time possibly when our Saxon ancestors were contending
with the legions of Augustus Caesar the word which was destined to furnish us with a name
was in use, and the spirit and customs of those ancient warriors were giving it meaning. It was
then a verb. By the time of the Norman Conquest and perhaps before that time it had
become a noun, and already had been adopted as a family name. The Professor of French in
Dalhousie University, a native of France, remarked to my daughter some years ago that her
family name was well known and regarded as of ancient lineage in France, but whether the
French name is in the same form as our own I cannot say. In England the name has seen
many changes, but there seems to be little doubt that the family name "Burris" of today is a
survival from very ancient days of the "buirgheis" of the Normans and since, apparently, it is
still pronounced as it was when William the Conqueror first came to England, the form "Bur
considered quite as correct and is possibly of greater antiquity than any of the other forms
mentioned.

That "Burris" was always the "legal" form is perhaps another matter. In the troubled history of
events in the British Isles some very drastic laws have been enacted in the past, among other
things, dealing specifically with the spelling and rendering of family names. The reference is to
the Statute

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of Kilkenny (1367) and the famous Poyning's Law (1494). Both of these imposed severe
penalties on any Englishman who might adopt an Irish name. These laws were not repealed.
until 1782, many years after our first Nova Scotian ancestor had left the British Isles for
America. This may explain why some individuals of our own family retained both forms. The
English form Burrows or Burroughs would be very necessary for legal or official purposes but
they retained the older form as being more expedient for use in ordinary matters in their
home communities in pre-American days. Much more expedient and tactful, indeed, it might
have been for any Englishman resident in Ireland to tone down the Sassenach quality of his
name! At another place reference will be made to a family in Ontario. They now spell their
name "Burroughs," but a member of that family writes that in pre-American. days their
ancestor used "Burroughs" alternately with "Burris" in signing his own name, the former for
official and the latter for ordinary purposes. The ancestor of the Ontario family was born in
Plymouth, England, about 1750, but resided for quite a time in Ireland. Another group whose
ancestors settled first in Delaware, but who reside now in many parts of the United States, spell
their name as we do, "Burris," but they retain the tradition that it should be spelled
"Burroughs." In all branches of the Nova Scotia family the tradition is held that "Burroughs"
is the correct form but in official records of earlier members of our own family in this
province (Court of Probate, Truro, and Crown Land Office and Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax)
the official name was abbreviated to "Burrows". Our grandfather, Matthew Burris, of
Musquodoboit, who was born in 1807 was officially recorded in 1812 as "Matthew Burrows." He was
well aware of this tradition and at one time in his life thought seriously of adopting the
"correct" form, but in the meantime he had been married, had been appointed to public office
and had transacted business for many years over the name "Burris." He believed it would
require an Act of the Legislature to legalize a change in the matter and so he decided to allow his
name to remain as it was.
Except for its historical content the matter is not now of any importance. Usage has
established the various forms, and I suppose that they are all of equal status as far as
"correctness" is concerned. My belief, how-. ever, is that the statement in our family
tradition--,"Burroughs is the "correct" (or "proper") form"—has acquired a different meaning
than was originally intended, and that the word "legal" or "official" instead of the one given,
would more accurately convey the true meaning of that part of the tradition. I am told that
the evidence already submitted is reliable, and, so far as I am able to interpret it, I am
convinced that the name "Burris' reproduces or approximates the first appearance of our
family name in the British Isles more closely than either Burrows or Burroughs.
The above mentioned matters might be followed much farther afield but this must suffice.
The writer has a more personal purpose in mind and hopes in subsequent chapters to set forth
an account of his own people and their experiences since those days when they left the
motherlands of Eng-

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