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WILLOW COTTAGE . FARM RES. OF

Willow Cottage Meacham’s 1880 Atlas

To my son George all real and personal estate with the following exceptions: to sons John, Thomas, and Robert, 5 shillings each; to son William 10 pounds; to son James 20 pounds; to daughters Elizabeth, Catherine and Nelly, 5 shillings each. Sons are prohibited from ‘alienating any of their lands out of the Family of Douglas ’. Witnesses Charles Binns, John C. Binns, and Angus MacDonald.

John A. Douglas

John A. Douglas (1780-1854) was probably the eldest son of William and Catherine Douglas above. He came to Stanhope in 1800 and was married on January 31, 1804 by the Rev. Theophilus DesBrisay to Mary Ann Higgins (1782-1862), daughter of Cornelius Sr. and Isabella (Lawson) Higgins of Stanhope. In 1809 he obtained 100 acres of land from the Montgomery brothers on the south side of the present Stanhope East Road; here he built a fine home, known as “Willow Cottage”.

John A. was a very‘strong man; one day he was driving to town and came upon several men who were trying to remove a huge tree which had fallen across the road. John jumped off his cart, asked the men to stand back, picked up the tree, and cleared the road. He was also known for his enormous appetite; he could eat a whole leg of lamb at one meal, and when asked if he would like a second helping, would reply, “I believe I will, I could eat through a whole dyke of it.”

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