| Notes |
- 1869 Sep 2 - HR joined the American Civil War when is was 19 years old. His father-i-law, Andrew lamest may have fought side by side. HR & Lamott may have been drawn of Kansas by the American government's offer of free land in Kansas to veterans.
HR was born the youngest son of Hugh & Mary. He was 15 years younger than his oldest sister, Ann, & yet their paths, or rather her children's paths, crossed his in Manitoba years later. We have often wondered if he knew that Lemuel Little was his nephew, who homesteaded very close to both himself & Andy.
His childhood years were quite idyllic on the farm in Erin, Ontario. Being the youngest, he was spared a lot of the heavier farm labour that his older siblings bore the brunt of. hat's not saying that he didn't have to do farm work, for he did. He was to become a very successful farmer….later on in his life; so he learned his trade well. But I am getting ahead of my story.
What possessed him to become a Soldier of Fortune, we don't know. As related by Andy only that he did become one.
But first, he got a girl "in the family way". He met Andrew Lamott's only child Rebecca about 1861. It was also the same year that his father, Hugh, died. The Lamott's were living 20 miles to the north (in Arthur Township) of the McCutcheons, on a homestead. According to the historical records found, Andy was 4 months old when his parents married. It was also around this time HR went to live on that homestead, with his new in-laws & a new born baby. Over the next several years, he & Andrew Lamott were to became very close.
12th April 1861 & the American Civil War had just begun. There were 45,000 Canadians who served in this war. Andrew Lamott & HR McCutcheon were amongst them. HR, recently losing his father, never inherited anything. His Dad died intestate & his Mom continued living on the original farm in Erin. HR needed funds to finance his own farm in Ontario. The cheap new western Land Grants were still 15 years in the future.
It is believed that HR, after getting married in June 1862, headed south to the USA by August 1862. He returned once in 1864 or 1865 long enough to make Rebecca "in the family way again" with Mary, then he left, not returning until sometime in 1867. Robert John was born thereafter. This coincides with Andy's recollections. One time Andy recalled "……when he was young, he was no darn good as a father….." Andy remembers him coming & going when he was a young boy, not being around very much, henceforth his comments. It also coincides with the births of the children. Andy maintained that Rebecca lost no children. And then there are the existing war records that need to be verified, as of yet.
It's understandable why a boy would think that his father was "no good" when he wasn't around very often during Andy's formative years.
Why did HR go to war as a Soldier of Fortune? Perhaps adventure, loyal to the cause of slavery (he fought for the Union), maybe he liked to kill, money. At home on the farm in Arthur, he was lucky if he made $10 per month. From historical records, Soldiers of Fortune, pedestrian Soldiers, were paid, in gold coin, between $20 & $22 US per month. They were paid more than the regular recruits, who earned between $13 & $16 a month. In those days, a sizable sum of money; enough for him to buy a farm. When he came home to Arthur, his saddle bags would have been jingling with USD gold coin.
In 1867, HR McCutcheon, Rebecca, Andrew & his sister, Mary, were living on EOSR, Lot 26, along with Andrew Lamott & Jane Ferguson. This was the farm in Andrew's tale "The Man Who Rode with Jessie James". To quote Andrew "When I was a young lad I lived on my grandfather's farm near Mount Forest in Ontario…" This was the grandfather whom Andrew McCutcheon was named after.
By 1870 he owned the farm in Arthur; Andrew Lamott & Jane had moved south to Neosho, Kansas. In the 1877 County Atlas for Arthur, Wellington, R. McCutcheon is solely named on EOSR, 26, Lot size 100 acres. Lamott is no longer listed on that lot.
Circa 1880, HR heard the stories of cheap land opening up in the "Territories," as Western Canada was called. For $10 a quarter section of land could be purchased in Manitoba. He applied for a Land Grant & received it. After disposing of his farm in Arthur, Ontario around 1885, HR, his wife, & 5 of their children left Arthur, Ontario for the "Territories". According to family folklore, they came west in Red River Carts, settling on a farm in the locality of Spring Hill, Manitoba which is located north-west of Neepawa. HR & his family first appear in the 1891 census for Manitoba, in the newly formed Rural Municipality of Rosedale. HR was one of the first settlers in Springhill. HR received title to his land on the 28 January 1898.
In 1897, building was brisk in the Glensmith area. Council news lists a few [houses] as follows: H.R. McCutcheon frame story & a half at $500.00, W.E. Mabley log house $200.00. His is an entry in the book "Kelwood Bridges the Years". This entry is significant in that is an attestation as to the wealth that HR was accumulating. Compared to the houses of the era being built, log homes at $200, he built a very capacious house; 2 story framed. It was "the talk of the town".
HR's wife, Rebecca Lamott, died in 1912 leaving him on the farm, living alone. He got ill not long after she died & was unable to care for himself so a nurse by the name of Cecilia Black was hired. She stayed with him until his death on the 15 November 1917. He was finally laid to rest beside his wife of 52 years at the Riverside Cemetery in Neepawa, Manitoba.
When HR died, he was relatively wealthy. The land depression still had not devastated Manitoba & when the farms were sold, $5000 was bequeathed to each of his 4 surviving children. He also bequeathed $500 to his grandson, Robert McCutcheon, perhaps because Robert (Bob) was his name sake. Bob, who was only 19 years old at the time, spent his inheritance on a new car called the Tin Lizzie. Bob drove it for a while, as long as the gas lasted & then had to tow it behind a team of horses. "HR" also left a small amount of money to his nurse, Cecelia Black.
Ref: Recollections of son Andy McCutcheon & his grandson Lawrence McCutcheon.
Transcripts by P J Ahlberg. Thank you. - - -
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1842 - 1917 (74 years)