Ancestry of 6th GGM:
Faith McCall (1737-1785)
(Benajah, James III, James II, James the Immigrant)
JAMES MACKALL (later spelled McCall)
(c.1620-1660) Scotland to Massachusetts
(c.1620-1660) Scotland to Massachusetts
10th GGFather & POW
FAST FACTS: The McCALL family branch of our
Mayflower lineage is distinctly different than the other branches for a number
of reasons:
(1)
Immigrant
James McCall was Scottish, not English.
(2)
He
came to America in 1650, much later than the other families in this line
who emigrated between the years 1620-1635 in the “First Great Migration” from
England.
(3)
As
a soldier in the defeated Scottish Covenanter army at the Battle of Dunbar,
he fought against Cromwell’s English troops and, as prisoner, was part of the
forced march of 5,000 captured Scots to Durham Cathedral prison. Only sixty
percent of them survived the 100-mile journey. Prison conditions and disease would take the
lives of another 1,500 prisoners before James was selected for transportation
to the Colonies. Those chosen for removal were to be “well and sound, and
free from wounds” after two months of rough confinement in England. So,
James was one of the lucky few.
(4)
An
“involuntary immigrant” as transported prisoner-of-war, James was among
sixty-two Scots sent to work at the first colonial ironworks at Saugus and
Braintree.
(5)
As
prisoner-of-war, he was likely sold by agents at a cost of 20-30 pounds for seven
years of indentured servitude. Early records show how the prisoners arrived
in the Lynn area after their long voyage on the Unity. They also show that
James worked at the Saugus Iron Works as a forge hand under John Vinton. Perhaps
recognizing the value of his military background, the company supplied James
with a musket, bandolier and sword. Indentured servant or not, James quickly
became a useful asset to the community.
(6)
Once
his time was served, James remained and settled in Braintree to begin a new
American life as a free man, husband, and father of twins. Unfortunately, just
as his freeman’s life began after only ten years in America, so it
ended. James did not live to see his children turn three years old. His son James, grandson James,
and great grandson Benajah represent the family line leading to 6th GGMother Faith
McCall. (Faith’s mother’s lineage goes back through the females to the
Mayflower’s Elizabeth Tilley and her mother, Joan Hurst Tilley.) We will explore this family line next.
 |
| McCall Immigrant Ancestry |
SOURCES include:
(1) PRISONERS-BATTLE OF DUNBAR 1650 https://www.geni.com/projects/Scots-Prisoners-and-their-Relocation-to-the-Colonies-1650-1654/3465
(2) JAMES McCALL OF LYNN AND BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS, https://scottishprisonersofwar.com/james-mccall/
(3) JAMES MYCALL AND MARY FARR OF LYNN,
MASSACHUSETTS, http://catnip13.tripod.com/Mycall.html
(4) NEW WORLD
IMMIGRANTS, Vol. I; Scottish Prisoners Deported to New England by Cromwell.
M.Tepper, ed. Baltimore. 1979. (167-168)
(5) New England, The Great Migration and
The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 for James Mycall Great Migration Begins, Vol 3, P-W
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