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Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Kent, Ontario
Peter McKerrall


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


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