The McQuarrie clan tartan
Hector McQuarrie was born on 2 October 1834, in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Hector McQuarrie
From a biography by his son John Gray McQuarrie: "In 1850, members of the McQuarrie family were still tenant farmers at Kilmacolme in the highlands of Scotland. About this time a family council was held. There were then eight in the family -- too many for the small acreage to support.
"Allan McQuarrie, the father had his leg amputated perhaps three years before, had only a "peg leg." His sons were: Robert, the eldest, about eighteen; Hector, sixteen; Neal, fourteen; John, twelve; Agnes, ten; and Mary, eight.
"It was necessary for at least one of the boys to leave the home to go out on his own. Although Hector had never been more than twenty miles from his country home, he recognized that his father's handicap placed Robert as the responsible head of the family. He concluded that he was the logical one to leave, Beyond what he could carry in a knapsack, the family had nothing to divide -- not even a donkey to carry his bedroll.
"It required courage, principle, and sacrifice for a country boy of sixteen to cut himself loose from all his boyhood moorings, not knowing where or when he could find new attachments.
"When he reached Glasgow, his only resource was brawn and muscle. He bound himself as an apprentice in a blacksmith shop. His wages at first would be a mere pittance. But when he became a journeyman he would have a trade -- an opportunity to manage his own business. His decision was wise. His future experience prove that…on the last frontier, he would never be without gainful employment.
"In 1854, my father [Hector] heard the gospel message from Elder Baxter. Soon after this association commenced, he applied for baptism. He invited Elder Baxter to accompany him to his Highland home that [his family], too, might hear the warning message. This proved good news to the family…who were also baptized.
"The spirit of gathering took hold of the family. Again it was Hector that was the one to blaze the trail to find "The Place" to make the beginning of a new home."
Hector left Scotland with Robert Wright Baxter, who wrote about their trip to America: "On February 13, 1855 I started with my wife Jane and four children and Brother Hector McQuarrie for Zion. We sailed from Greenock to Liverpool. April 2 we arrived in Philadelphia. Our fare was $18.00 adult tickets and $12.00 fro children. We went on the steamship "Mongal" to St. Louis arriving May 13. The cholera was very bad four died in one family. I helped dig many graves.
"On July 3, we started in the Richard Ballantyne Company to cross the plaines to Zion. Sister Margaret Thomson fell out of the wagon, her legs were run over, but she soon got well. We had two yoke of cattle, one yoke of cows, 10 sacks of flour and 10 people, bedding, cooking utensils, etc., in each wagon. In my wagon was me, my wife, four children, Brother Hector McQuarrie, Arnold Goodluff, Sister Diamond, and Margaret Thomson.
"On September 26, 1855, we arrived in Salt Lake City. The grasshoppers had eaten the crops. I worked for Golding and Raleigh making shoes. They paid for shoes and leather, but we couldn't eat leather. For 13 weeks we never tasted bread. We lived on roots. At one time we paid $2.50 a bushel for weeds and roots."
From the diary of his brother Robert, "In February 1855, my brother Hector immigrated from Scotland to Salt Lake City. In April 1857, we immigrated to America with mother, father, 2 brothers and 2 sisters We left our home and sailed from Greenock to Liverpool per Steamship Vanguard. Besides father's family, we took with us Hamilton Garrnk and Agnes Gray, who after our arrival in Salt Lake City became the wife of my brother, Hector."
"My father made a wise choice when he settled in Ogden. He secured a full acre of ground which proved to be the most favored homestead in the city. He opened a blacksmith shop. He built a log house which provided a shelter for the balance of the family, which came in 1857." (from the biography by his son John Gray McQuarrie)
Hector married Agnes Gray on 29 November 1857 in Ogden, Utah. They had five children: Robert, Agnes, Hector, Matthew, and John.
Agnes Gray McQuarrie
"He was a blacksmith with nothing but his shop and tools and his homelot, with a one-room sandstone house, unfinished attic, and later a lean-to kitchen. The walls were of one inch boards.
"The boys and girls I associated with had store clothes, shipped from the States, I was still wearing coarse jeans from the Washington factory; also homemade shoes and hats. We still had rag carpets and homemade furniture. My father was the typical village blacksmith with his sinewy arms and black hands. His clothes were coarse. He wore a long leather apron stained with coal smoke and pitted by the hot sparks which flew from the anvil.
"Among his associates my father was honored because of his loyalty, industry, and, especially, for his much-needed skill.
"In 1861 Brigham Young and the Twelve decided to build a Temple in the St. George Valley. My father, being a skilled mechanic, was called.
"At the time my father had a wife and two children: Robert, age three, and Agnes, age one. He owned little other than his shop and an interest in the home lot. These possessions were sold for sufficient to buy a roomy wagon, a yoke of oxen, and a year's supply of necessary food and clothing. He then set out on a trip of 400 miles, which, considering the difficult roads, required greater effort than the thousand miles he walked across the plains.
"The journey south proved too difficult for little Agnes. She died at Indian Creek, six miles north of Beaver. [Hector] walked in to Beaver, secured a pine board, made a rough box large enough to contain the child's body. She is buried there in what has become an unmarked grave." (from the biography by his son John Gray McQuarrie)
Hector also helped many other members of his family and his wife's family come to and settle in America.
"When the foundation of the Temple was being laid, [Hector] was needed more in the quarry to sharpen drills, picks, and crowbars than in his town blacksmith shop. So he moved his bellows, anvil, and vice and set them up between the large black rocks on the ridge just west of town.
"When the Temple reached a stage in its construction where lumber was needed, it was necessary to build a road through Black Rock Canyon. My father and his tools followed the road construction.
"With the completion of the road and the establishment of the lumber mill, my father moved to Mt. Trumble. He repaired the mill, the logging carts, made chains and ox shoes, kept freight wagons in repair, etc. He could make bolts, hinges, etc. - out of old iron spikes for building. In fact, he was the most necessary general utility man in keeping the lumber rolling.
"As a result of hard work; poor water; exposure to storms, heat, and cold; and often poor food, he was forced to retire when he was nearing age sixty." (from the biography by his son John Gray McQuarrie)
It is mentioned in a "Report on Genealogy and Temple Work" by J.G. McQuarrie that "Hector…worked in the in the St. George Temple from the time he was 60 years of age until he was 80 (years of age)."
Hector's wife, Agnes died in 1900 and was buried in the St. George Cemetery.
Hector McQuarrie moved to Salt Lake City in 1919. There is no mention in any of my records as to why, or if he was living with any relatives. The 1920 Census has him listed individually.
Hector McQuarrie died 16 November 1920 in Salt Lake City, but was buried in St. George next to his wife.
I am always amazed at the stories of my family who immigrated to America and all the incredible hardships that they went through. I enjoy being able to hop into our air-conditioned van each Sunday to drive 50 miles to my husband's parent's house in the mountains. 150 years ago this would not be a weekly journey. It would be a difficult, several day journey.
Direct line ancestry: Hector McQuarrie --> Robert Gray McQuarrie --> Ruth McQuarrie Penrose --> Lu Penrose Bond --> Kathryn Bond Berkowitz --> Lora Marshall Nehring
