Last month, another Munro decedent (Noreen Rent) and I reflected on the main historical problem of Daniel Munro, namely (literally and no pun intended) whether his name is actually Daniel or Donald. Or, could it be, that two separate people, Daniel Munro and Donald Munro, served in Montgomery's 77th Highland Regiment and remained Loyalists? If so, these threads need to be untangled. Here are the points we landed on. 1. The name Donald is commonly passed down in the Munro family, unlike Daniel. Donald appears once in 1910, where Daniel is used at least nine times. 2. The 1765 land grant lists Donald Munro. An additional source, Calendar of New York Colonial Manuscripts, corresponds that 200 acres of land were surveyed to "a late corporal Donald Munro in the 77th regiment." There is no listing for a Daniel Munro in this source. 3. Was there a documentation error in the land grant? One family story is that Daniel was illiterate which led to the name error. Another idea that has been offered is that Daniel is a variant of Donald. The Scottish Gaelic for Donald is Dòmhnall, Domhnull and Dòmhnull (1). Is it possible something was lost in translation? 4. The story that emerges is that the 1765 land grant was entrusted to Daniel/Donald's son, Solomon Munro (1772-1845), carrying the document from Nova Scotia through upstate New York, to London, Canada. Upon Solomon's passing, it was kept by his wife Sarah (1782-1857) until she carried it to Bloomfield, Michigan, spending her last days with her son Bedent Baird Munro (1804-1871). From Bedent, the land grant and important family papers were given to James Leonard Munro (1840-1935) who built his family home in Novi, Michigan. James's daughter, Via (1877-1963), when writing the genealogy of the Michigan Munro family in the early 1900s, referred to this land grant, identifying a Donald Munro. The question that begs to be answered is would the Munro family pass this invaluable document along from generation to generation, if it didn't belong to their family patriarch, Donald Munro? 5. Muddying the waters a bit, the Sons of the Mountains: the Highland Regiments in the French and Indian War, 1756-1767: Volume II, provides Scottish regiment muster rolls. The name Donald Munro is listed in the return detachments of the 42nd and 77th in "Company Number 6" but as a sergeant, not corporal, and also as a private in Captain Simon Fraser's Company. The name Donald again appears but in the 78th as a drummer in Captain Alexander McLeod Balmaneach's Company, and lastly as a private in Captain John Fraser Culbokie's Company. The name Daniel however never appears in any list. (2) The search continues! NOTES 1. See, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald 2. See, Sons of the Mountains : the Highland Regiments in the French and Indian War, 1756-1767
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John A. StempienJohn A. Stempien maintains the blog and website, Family Munro and is the co-editor of The Liberty Hyde Bailey Gardener's Companion. He lives in west Michigan with his family. Archives
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