THE MCFARLANE FAMILY OF MARSHFIELD

Elizabeth (Monroe) McFarlane was born about 1747 in Perthshire, Scotland and died May 19, 1832. Her name is listed on the same gravestone as that of her son, Mungo McFarlane, in the Five Mile House Burying Ground (Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery). Elizabeth McFarlane died at the age of 85 years. There is no record of her arrival on PEI, however she could be the Mrs. McFarlane on the passenger list of the Cape Briton, which arrived at PEI from Pictou July 23, 1839. At that time, steamers crossing the Atlantic with passengers intending to emigrate to the Colony (PEI) would land at either Miramichi, Pictou or Halifax. From these latter ports, steam ships and sailing vessels were making weekly runs, transporting goods and passengers to this Island.

Mungo McFarlane, born about 1784 and died November 7, 1857, and Peter McFarlane arrived on PEI aboard the ship Clarendon, which had sailed from Tobermory, Scotland in the year 1808. Included in the passenger list was Peter’s wife, Janet McFarlane. All three were from Caplia, Perthshire, Scotland.

The McFarlanes settled at St. Peters Road, and leased their land from the Montgomerys until the 100 acres were conveyed to them in 1821. On February 3, 1835, included in the listing of appointments of Fence Viewers and Constables was the name of Mungo McFarlane, St. Peters Road. In the 1840’s, Mungo McFarlane was a Member of the Colonial Legislature of PEI. Mungo, who did not marry, died at the age of 73 years and was buried in the Five Mile House Burying Ground.

Peter McFarlane was born about 1778 and died November 1850. The Examiner, December 4, 1850, At Five Mile House, St. Peters Road on the 17th inst. the death of Peter McFarlane, a native of Perthshire, Scotland, and for many years an inhabitant of this Island. He is buried in the Five Mile House Burying Ground along with his wife Janet and a daughter Janet, age 13 years. Following the death of Peter in 1850, Janet and Mungo lived in a small house on the corner of the McFarlane farm, located on the east side of the junction of the St. Peters Road and the York Road.

Janet McFarlane (wife of Peter McFarlane), was born about 1777 and died April 12, 1867. They had children Catharine, b. 1811; Janet, b.

-54-

July 24, 1813; Christina, b. 1815; and James, b. August 12, 1817. The Islander, April 26, 1867, At Five Mile House, St. Peters Road on April 12 inst. after a lingering illness which she bore with Christian meekness and resignation to the Divine Will, Janet McFarlane at the advanced age of 90 years. She was a native of Scotland and emigrated to the Island in 1808. She was buried in the Five Mile House Burying Ground.

Catharine McFarlane (sister of Mungo), was born about 1781 in Scotland, died October 7, 1874 at Marshfield, and was buried in the Five Mile House Burying Ground. She married October 13, 1812 James (New Inn) Fergusson. Catharine is believed to have been married to a Mr. Forbes and had children: Peter, Willie, and perhaps John, before she married James Fergusson and had children: Charlotte, Elizabeth, Jessie, Ann, John, and Mungo. (See Fergusson history.)

Christina McFarlane was born in 1815 and died in 1888. She married John Stewart and had children: Betsy, Christy, Peter, Mary Ellen, and Donald. (See Stewart history.)

James McFarlane was born 1817. He married Jean Robertson April 7, 1863 and had children: Mary, Lizzie, Robert, John Franklyn, Isobel, Janet, Ada and James. James inherited the farm from his uncle Mungo in 1858. He was a good provider and a caring father, as is evident in his last will and testament dated April 29, 1890. To each of his four daughters he bequeathed a milch [sic] cow, a bedstead with a feather bed, pillows and blankets for same, and a home for each with keep and maintenance as long as they decide to stay at the homestead. To his son John, his keep and maintenance, all medical attendance, nursing care if required, and likewise if he desires to learn a trade, he is entitled to the washing and mending of his clothes during his apprenticeship and always entitled to a home at the farm. To his youngest son James, his common school education, supplemented by one or two terms of study at the Provincial College or Normal School in a fit and proper manner and his home and keep as long as he desires, and all of the foregoing shall be obligatory upon the son Robert who inherited the farm.

Robert McFarlane was born in 1868, and inherited the farm from his father James in 1890.