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I thought I would post this to help anyone that does not have this information .
I know Denise and Connie have it but not sure who else,the bottom part is on the family in Ontario, so here goes:
Saco Valley Settlements and Families
Ridlon, G.T., Sr. Saco Valley Settlements and Families. This book list the most important events
in the towns on the Saco River, from their plantation to 1895, with memorials of the families and
individuals instrumental in their settlement, advancement and prosperity.
Bibliographic Information: Ridlon, G. T., Sr. Portland, Maine, 1895.
Marr Family.
The name Mar or Marr was derived from a district in Aberdeenshire, between the rivers Don and
Dee, in Scotland. This ancient division was called a marmordom. The earliest mention of the
territory under this distinctive name was in 1065, when the marmor of Marr witnessed a charter.
From this remote ancestor down through a long line of titled members of the family the estates
passed to the Erskines, who became the Earls of Marr. The possessors of the estates, who lived
during the stormy periods of Scottish history, experienced many vicissitudes of fortune, being
involved in the wars there. Some representatives of the family during the earlier successions
appear to have been very able and worthy men, and for services rendered the crown were
invested with many honors and titles. When the Lord of the Isles advanced upon Aberdeenshire,
intending to ravage the country, with his 10,000 men; when he had reached the district of Marr
he met stubborn resistance from the earl of that name in an engagement called, "The Battle of
Harlaw," as celebrated in the old ballad, which runs as follows:
"To hinder this proud enterprise, "And thus the martial Earl of Mar
The stout and mighty Earl of Mar, Marcht with his men in richt array,
With all his men in arms did rise, Before the enemy was aware,
Even frac Curgarf to Craigievar. His banner bauldly did display,
And down the side of Don right far, For weel eneuch they knew the way,
Angus and Mearns did all convene And all their semblance weel they saw,
To fecht, or Donald came sae near, Without all danger or delay
The royal burgh of Aberdeen. Came hastily to the Harlaw."
The first of the Erskine family acknowledged to be Earl of Mar was John, in 1571, whose
portrait is in the author's collection. He was called the fifth Earl of Marr. His son John, the
second Earl of Marr of the Erskine family, was probably the most distinguished of the line and
was educated under Buchanan with King James VI at Stirling castle. He was a gentleman of
remarkable diplomatic sagacity who was exalted to high honors. By his classmate, James VI, he
was called "Jocky o' Sclaittis," that is, of the slate; and when he claimed the hand of Lady Mary
Stuart, who declined to bestow the same, the king interceded successfully and in his
matter-of-fact way said: "I say, Jock, ye sanna die for ony lass in a' the land." We have his
portrait.
Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settelment
SKETCH XXV.THE EARL OF MAR, AND THE MARRS AND LEMONSOF NORFOLK.
EVERY young student of Scottish history has read of the two attempts made to re-establish the
house of Stuart on the Scottish and English thrones--the first by the Chevalier de St. George, in
1715, and the second by his son, the gay and daring "Prince Charlie," in 1745. It will be
remembered that it was the Earl of Mar who raised the standard of revolt when the first attempt
was made; that 10,000 Highland clansmen joined his standard, and that the kilted revolters were
held in check by the Duke of Argyle until they were finally dispersed. It will also be remembered
that the first Pretender escaped from the Highlands and returned to France, accompanied by the
disappointed and crestfallen Earl of Mar.
Now, it is claimed on strong circumstantial evidence, that this old Scottish chieftain, who is
described as Sir John Francis Mar, was a brother of Lawrence Marr, the father of David Marr,
the old pioneer who settled on "Marr's Hill," in Woodhouse, at the beginning of the present
century. It is said another brother or two besides Lawrence were implicated in this Jacobite
revolt, and that Lawrence escaped into Ireland, and subsequently came to America and settled in
Northampton County, Penn., near the little town of Bethlehem, on the Delaware River. If this
grand-ancestor of the Norfolk Marrs was really the Earl's brother, it is quite possible that a few
corpuscles of royal Stuart blood course through their veins. A grandson of Robert II., the first
Stuart who wore a crown, married the Countess of Mar, and secured the earldom. This Earl of
Mar was the natural son of Sir Alexander Stuart. Later on, during the reign of James III., we find
an Earl of Mar who was a brother of that king; and a century or two
Page 143
after we find another Earl of Mar entrusted with the guardianship of the youthful James VI., who
also succeeded to the throne of England as James I.
It is said the Earl of Mar who led the insurrection in 1715 was a bachelor, and left a fine property
in the vicinity of Paisley, County of Renfrew; and it is said Lawrence was the only brother who
married and had children. It is upon this condition of things that the descendants of Lawrence
Marr base their expectations of receiving a fortune. It has cost them a
Page 65
Page 66
considerable sum already by way of investigations, and the chances are that, after incurring
additional expenditure, the fortune will still "be acomin'," as is the case with the fortunes of so
many of our old families. As before stated, there is good circumstantial evidence in favor of the
claim. Lawrence is said to be the name of the missing heir, and Lawrence was the name of the
grand-ancestor of the family in America, and, according to a family tradition, he was a refugee
from his native land on account of his participation in the Highland revolt. David Marr, the old
Norfolk pioneer, had in his possession, it is said, a pair of massive silver knee-buckles and a pair
of silver shoe-buckles which had belonged to his father; and if these silver trappings had been
worn by him in the Highlands, it would signify a social standing several degrees above the
commonalty of the Highland peasantry, to say the least. No doubt there are numerous unclaimed
fortunes in Europe awaiting American claimants, but the difficulty is in furnishing the required
proofs. With the stringent registration laws now in force, future claimants will have less
difficulty in tracing back their ancestry.
Lawrence Marr died in Pennsylvania, leaving several sons and daughters. One of these sons,
David, and one daughter, Mary, with her husband, Joseph Lemon, came to Long Point. It is said
that Thomas, another son, started for Canada, but died on the way; and that Richard Marr, late of
Woodhouse, was a twig of this branch.
David Marr had thirteen children, twelve of whom grew up. Two of the twelve were
sons--Lawrence and David; and
Page 144
the daughters' names were, Sarah, Mary, Anna, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Susanna, Rachel, Martha,
Margaret and Judith. David Marr was past sixty when he came to Long Point, and he lived but a
few years after he came.
Lawrence, eldest son of David, came to the new settlement in advance of his father. He came in
about 1800, accompanied by his wife and his little brother David, who had not yet entered his
teens. Lawrence was twenty-seven. His wife Rachel was the daughter of Colonel Butler, an
officer in the British army, who lost his life in the conquest of Canada. Lawrence Marr made a
wise choice of a home on the hill known as "Marr's Hill," being the fine, substantial home, at
present, of A. W. Smith. He was twice married. By his first wife he had three sons--David,
Robert and Joseph; and two daughters--Mary and Nancy. By his second wife, Naomi
Strawbridge, he had four sons--Richard, Benjamin, Graham and Joseph. His son Joseph by his
first marriage died young, and this accounts for the second Joseph. He also had five daughters by
his second wife--Elizabeth, Rachel, Catherine, Mary Ann and Maria. Of these sons, BENJAMIN
contracted a cold while serving in a troop of horsemen during the rebellion, which resulted in his
death. DAVID was a Justice of the Peace, and if Norfolk ever had a magistrate who proved
himself a "peacemaker," it was Squire Marr, of Woodhouse. The story of his labors as a
peacemaker is not found in the public records, as he settled nearly every case that came to him
without the necessity of a trial in court. He was a man of peace, and a consciousness of having
been instrumental in bringing about a reconciliation between two belligerent neighbors was far
dearer to him than the acquisition of a few paltry fees. ROBERT, the second son, built a
saw-mill on Black Creek, and met with marked success financially. GRAHAM, next to the
youngest son, studied medicine and became a doctor.
David Marr, second son and youngest child of the original David, came to Long Point, as before
stated, with his brother Lawrence while yet a mere lad. After remaining a year or two in the
wilds of the new settlement, he went back to Pennsylvania.
Page 145
Not meeting with a hearty welcome, he made up his mind to try it again as soon as he could earn
money enough to pay his expenses. He earned $4.00 threshing out three stacks of rye for a
Pennsylvania Dutchman, and with this money in his pocket he started alone, and on foot, for the
new country once more. It is said this youthful pioneer walked every step of the way from the
Delaware River to Marr's Hill--excepting, of course, ferryings across rivers. He learned the
cabinet-making trade, was handy with tools, generally, and worked on any sort of building job
that had any money in it.
Page 67
He sent to England for a complete set of cabinet-making tools, which cost him $900, and he paid
for the outfit by making 300 wheelbarrows during the war of 1812, at $3.00 each. He bought
fifty acres adjoining his brother Lawrence on the south, and here he settled with his wife Anna,
daughter of the old Lynn Valley pioneer, Solomon Austin. David Marr never went to school a
day in his life; but he attended thirteen sessions of a night-school taught by a man who never
spent a day in school himself. He was one of Norfolk's pioneer cabinetmakers, and many a night
the sound of plane, saw and hammer was heard in his little shop all night long, in making
coffins. He was industrious, upright and honorable, and was never plaintiff or defendant in any
suit at law. He died in 1871, in his eighty-first year. He had six sons--Solomon, Joseph, Edward,
John Hiram, William and Duncan D.; and three daughters--Esther, Jane and Mary. JOSEPH
succeeded to the homestead; EDWARD, SOLOMON and JOHN HIRAM settled in Iowa;
DUNCAN D. learned his father's trade, and settled in Simcoe; MARY died single, and ESTHER
and JANE married, respectively, William Brooks and W. F. Nickerson.
A number of the original David Marr's daughters married and settled in the States before his sons
or himself came to Canada, but the descendants of the family in Norfolk know nothing about
them. David Marr was born in 1743, and his wife Sarah in 1747, and as he did not come to
Canada before the year 1805, his large family were all grown up, married and settled
somewhere, except the two youngest, Judith and David.
Page 146
David Marr's old family Bible has been preserved, and all that is known of the family is learned
from its time-stained old Register. It simply records the names of SARAH, ANNA, ELEANOR
and MARTHA--who they married or where they settled no member of the family in Norfolk
knows.
Mary Marr, eldest daughter of the original David, married George Rymal, and settled at
Hamilton.
Elizabeth Marr, the third daughter, married Abraham Diltz, and settled in Harrison County,
Kentucky.
Susanna Marr, the sixth daughter, married Charles Redman, a school teacher, who died in
Pennsylvania, leaving one son, David.
Rachel Marr, the seventh daughter, married David Marr, and settled in Glanford, near Hamilton.
Margaret Marr, the ninth daughter, married Andrew Labar, and settled at Trafalgar, where she
raised a large family of girls.
Judith Marr, the youngest daughter, married Abraham Labar, and settled in Norwich. John Labar,
of Bloomsburg, is a son of Judith. It is said that Judith Marr was living with relatives at Hamilton
at the time her brother David returned to Canada, and that he rested overnight at the place where
she was staying, and the following day she accompanied him the remainder of his long journey.
It is said they started at sunrise from the old Barton church on top of the mountain, and walked
to their brother Lawrence's new home on Marr's Hill, reaching their place of destination at eight
o'clock in the evening, having walked a distance of fifty-two miles over rough and uneven roads
and through immense stretches of mere forest trails.
It is said the original Lawrence Marr had five or six sons; that he and his eldest son were
Loyalists during the war of the Revolution, and that his remaining sons, including David,
supported the cause of independence.
The late Richard Marr, of Woodhouse, married Martha Marr, and had six sons--David, William,
Thomas, Lawrence, Adam and George; and three daughters--Margaret, Rachel and Martha.
Page 147
Mary Marr, daughter of the original Lawrence, married Joseph Lemon, of New Jersey. It is said
she and her husband came to Canada. Two sons of this union settled in Norfolk early in the
century--namely, Joseph and Jacob.
Page 68
Joseph Lemon settled in Woodhouse, near Port Ryerse. He had five sons--Alexander, James,
Samuel, Thomas and Jacob; and two daughters--Catherine and Nancy. Of this family:
ALEXANDER married into the Gilbert family, and settled in Woodhouse. He had one daughter,
who married a man named Saulsbury. JAMES married (???) Clendenning, and settled on part of
the homestead. He had three sons--Hiram, "Riah" and Joseph. SAMUEL went away; THOMAS
settled in St. Thomas; JACOB married Charity Lemon, and settled in Elgin; CATHERINE
married Henry E. Collins, who finally settled near "Five Stakes" in Elgin; and NANCY married
Ebenezer Gilbert, of Woodhouse.
Jacob Lemon, brother of Joseph, the old pioneer, settled on Lots 5 and 6, in the Gore of
Woodhouse. These lots are now divided into four or five valuable farms, constituting as fine a
tract of land as lies in the county. Mr. Lemon possessed a jovial disposition, and in his day was
one of the most popular citizens of Woodhouse. He had one son, Jacob, who was the youngest in
the family. His daughters' names were: Catherine, Lavinia, Charity, Eliza, Sarah, Matilda and
Rebecca Ann. CATHERINE married David Duff and settled in Woodhouse; CHARITY married
Jacob Lemon; ELIZA married Henry Decew, and settled at Port Dover; SARAH married Caleb
Smith, and settled in Iowa; MATILDA married Joseph Lemon, and settled in Charlotteville; and
REBECCA ANN married Philip Pegg, and settled in Woodhouse.
Jacob Lemon, the only son of Jacob, married Mary Ann Wheeler, and settled on the homestead.
He had one son, Isaac; and four daughters--Sarah Ann, Elizabeth, Esther and Rebecca.
The Lemon families were prominent among the old Woodhouse Methodist families, who lie
buried in the old Woodhouse cemetery.
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