The Presbyterian Church in Canada. Presbyterian History - A Newsletter of the Committee on History, Volume 25/No.2, October 1981. JOHN MATHESON OF AULTBREAKACHY by Phyllis Lindsay, Sidney BC. [synopsis] John Matheson was born in Aultbreakachy, Sutherlandshire, Scotland, in 1790. The Highland Clearances forced John Matheson, his widowed mother, sister Helen, brothers and other relatives off their farms, and over the years 1813-1815 the family gradually moved to Canada. The evicted Scots gathered at Helmsdale where they were transported by a small ship to Stromness in the Orkney Islands. In June 1813, they set sail in the ship "Prince of Wales" for Hudson Bay. Because of an outbreak of typhus fever, before reaching their destination, the captain unloaded the Scots on the shore of Hudson Bay, and returned to Scotland. Over the winter of 1813-14, the stranded Scots were forced to find means of surviving in the cold and the wilderness until the spring of 1814 when they set out on a 100 mile trek to York Factory. From there, they set out on the 700 mile trip to Red River, and arrived on the 21st of June 1814. On the 22nd of July 1814, John Matheson married Barbara Sutherland. In January 1815, John Matheson was appointed school teacher for the settlement. Because of increasing strife, many families decided to leave the settlement. In June 1815 approximately 140 persons set out for Upper Canada. Following the fur trade routes, the Scots made their way to Fort William, then along Lake Superior to Sault Ste Marie, proceeded along the northern part of Lake Huron and into Georgian Bay. They left the open water and followed the Nottawasaga River and Willow Creek, crossed the Nine-Mile Portage to Kempenfeldt Bay, passed along the shore of Lake Simcoe until they reached the Landing at the mo! uth of the Holland River. From there, they travelled to the Quaker settlement on Yonge Street (Newmarket) where they were taken in and given assistance. There were two men in the group from Sutherlandshire by the name of John Matheson. To distinguish between the two, John Matheson of Aulterbreakachy was named "Red" John, and John Matheson of Borobal was named "Black" John. To further identify the two men, "Red" John was known as Junior, and "Black" John was known as Senior. "Red" John Matheson from Aulterbreakachy married Barbara Sutherland. "Black" John Matheson from Borobal married Mary Bannerman. John Matheson and Barbara Sutherland finally settled and farmed on the south half of Lot 7 in the 6th concession of West Gwillimbury. Township, Simcoe County. Their children were as follows: Hugh 1818, James 1820, John 1824, Angus 1826, Heman 1828. Barbara Sutherland's father, James Sutherland, left Scotland for Red River in 1815. He was sent by the Church of Scotland as a catechist to minister to the Scots until an ordained minister could be sent. He eventually followed John and Barbara to West Gwillimbury and helped to organize a congregation there in 1822. In addition to clearing his land, John Matheson became a leading figure in establishing the church in West Gwillimbury and conducted a Sabbath School. In 1838, their son, Hugh Matheson married Susan Lloyd, daughter of Jesse Lloyd of King Township, York County. She was a Quaker whose family had come from Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. In 1840, John Matheson, his wife Barbara, and sons James, John, and Heman, moved from West Gwillimbury to Zorra in Oxford County. Here they once again began clearing land and establishing a farm, all living together in a log house. Their son, John soon married, and his wife Ann _ joined the household. In 1853, John and Barbara decided to leave Zorra and move to Inverhuron to join their son Hugh and his family. As he had done previously in West Gwillimbury and Zorra, John Matheson was active in church life and was instrumental in establishing a Presbyterian Church in Tiverton. John Matheson died at Inverhuron in 27th September 1866. After a fire at Inverhuron in 1882, most of the Matheson family left that place and went to settle in Manitoba where John Matheson had first taken up land in 1814. Hugh Matheson, died in 1883 in Kildonan, Manitoba. Hugh's son, Jesse, died there in 1907.