| Notes |
- Descendants of the Dewar family have a grandfather clock, whose inscription says it was brought from Killin, Scotland in 1804 by Duncan and Catherine Dewar to St. Andrew's Parish, Argenteuil, in Lower Canada. Killin is a parish in the western part of Perthshire. The inscription further states that it was placed in the clock in 1925 by John Dewar of Toronto.
The book "History of the Counties of Argenteuil, Quebec and Prescott, Ontario", by Cyrus Thomas (1896) states that Duncan arrived in 1804 with his wife and one child, along with the family of his older brother Peter. The Dewars, along with about 300 other Scottish emigrants, embarked in July, 1804 from Greenock, bound for Quebec. The book relates that a few days into their voyage, their ship was captured by a French privateer (this was during the unpleasantness with Napoleon). The boarding party was led by a fellow highlander named McDonald. After a pleasant conversation, lubricated by rounds of highland whisky, the emigrant ship was allowed to proceed unmolested.
Duncan and his family purchased 100 acres of land on what was eventually called the Harrington Estate, in the area of Chatham, in Argenteuil County, Lower Canada (now Quebec). This area is situated on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, about 1/3 of the way from Montreal to Ottawa.
Duncan also built and ran a store for a short period. "He was a man much respected, very quiet, and so domestic in his tastes that he kept aloof from politics and everything calculated to to attract him away from home or the care of his domestic concerns." The list of sons of Duncan Dewar is taken from the book, which also mentions that there were two daughters. Only the sons John, Duncan and Hugh were said to have had children.
The book states that Duncan Dewar died in 1869. This is likely in error if he was born in 1763. Also, he does not appear in the 1851 or 1861 censuses (his nephew, Duncan, born about 1775, does appear in those censuses, and in fact it was he who died in 1869). Also, Catherine Dewar, born about 1781 in Scotland, does appear living with Duncan's and her son, Hugh in the 1851 census for St. Andrews, Deux Montaignes County, so probably Duncan had died before 1851.
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1763 - UNKNOWN