THE FERGUSSONS OF CRAGGAN FARM AND NEW INN FERGUSSONS

Derived from the personal name, Fergus, the surname Ferguson/Fergusson was widely scattered in Scotland, and did not come from a common connection. Fergussonis were listed as a clan of Atholl in 1587 Roll of Highland Clans. The different spellings of the surname are of no significance and depended on individual choice of the earlier times (George F. Black, The Surnames of Scotland, NewYork Public Library, 1946; reprinted Birlinn Limited, 14 High Street, Edinburgh, 1996).

James Irvine Robertson in Atholl in the Rebellion of 1745 (Wordwright Communication, Aberfledy, Perthshire, 1994) gives an interesting glimpse of life in Atholl before the rebellion. The duke of Athol and his Lairds, mainly the Robertsons and the Stewarts, owned most of the land. The rest of the people lived on the large estates. “The poverty was grinding. The land was hard pressed to support the thousands who subsisted on oatmeal, barley, and milk which had usually been skimmed to make butter for sale. Housing was as poor as anywhere in the world, and starvation and disease gave people less than an even chance of surviving childhood.”

John Fergusson, Elder, was born a few short years after the stirring events of the Rebellion of 1745, in which the people of Atholl were much involved, and divided in their loyalties. Some were on the side of the English Throne (including the Duke of Atholl at Blair ”"9“ Castle). Others supported the Jacobite cause of the deposed Stuart Kings (including the Robertsons of Struan), while many preferred not to get involved. After a crushing defeat at the hands of the English supporters at Culloden, the Highland way of life was suppressed. Bagpipes, tartan and Gaelic speech were forbidden. Many of the Lairds, supporting the Jacobite cause, had their property confiscated. This was the fate of the Robertsons of Struan of whom Janet Robertson (second wife of John Fergusson, Elder) was descended.

Blair Atholl Parish

Blair Atholl was the ancestral home of several early Marshfield settlers, including Fergussons, Robertsons, MacLaughlans, Millers, McBeaths and Rattrays. In the 1790’s a Scottish parish minister wrote The First Statistical Account of Scotland. Rev. James McLagan wrote Blair Atholl’s report.

Blair Atholl parish was 30 miles long and about 18 miles wide. The land was mountainous and hilly, with pasture land and some fertile soil for farming in the valleys. Two rivers, the Garry and the Tummel, run through the parish. Barley, oats, potatoes and flax were the main crops. “We have much cold, frosty weather, piercing northerly winds, and blasting fogs and hoar frosts, particularly along the rivers, which either hurt the growth of vegetables, or destroy them after they

Courtesy of Emma (MacNevin) MacMillan

Front row: John A. Ferguson, Emma (Weather-hie) Ferguson Back row: Janie Helena, Charles Tupper, Blanche Ethel

have grown. The coldness and the sharpness of the air too, must, in some degree stunt the growth and render the faces of the people more thin and dry, that otherwise they would not be. Although the climate be healthy, the body of the people have not, by any means, the conveniences of the life that are necessary to nurse old age.”

In 1791, the population of Blair Atholl was 3120. In reference to the population decreasing, Rev. McLagan mentioned that “when the