William McQuillan

1841 - 1882  (41 years)

• Name	William McQuillan
  Born	1841	, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Misfortune	froze to death
  Residence	1861	Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-168642
  Died	8 Dec 1882	Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I168642	Generations
  Last Modified	12 May 2025

  
  

  Father	William McQuillan,   b. 1805, , Ireland ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Agnes "Nancy" Blair,   b. 1811, , Ireland ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F19337	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  MCQUILLAN, WILLIAM A Terrible Case During last Thursday's storm, December 8, 1882, John McQuillan was in Galt and in the afternoon, he started to walk home, taking with him a considerable quantity of whiskey. He lives about six miles from Galt, in Puslinch, and his mother, being anxious about him as evening came on, persuaded his brothers who were at home, to go out in search of him. This they did but walked well on towards Galt before they met him. Joining with him, they started back but did not reach home that night. During the evening, John Gibson, who lives not far from McQuillan's, thought he heard some shouting but as that was no uncommon thing, he paid but little attention to it and went to sleep. When he awakened in the morning, he again heard shouting and going out to see what was the matter, was astonished to see the two brothers, Thomas and John, at the bottom of his orchard, the one on his knees hanging on to the stem of an apple tree and the other trying to get over a fence, which he could not do. Mr. Gibson at once tried to assist them, when one of the brothers told him that "Bill was lying back a piece, dead. " Mr. Gibson was unable to get them into his house but got food for them and then got the assistance of John Young, when the two were got into the house and search made for the other. In a little while, he was found, partly lying in the snow and partly on a stone pile, quite dead but not at all rigid, which went to show that his death resulted from exhaustion and exposure, not from being frozen to death. His body was carried up to the house and his relatives who live but a short distance away, notified of the disaster. After a short time, the two living brothers so far recovered as to be able to go home and at the time of writing, while somewhat injured by the exposure and cold, they were both recovering, the feet of one being badly frozen. Their description of how they passed the night and of the death of their brother is not very intelligible. They all partook of the whiskey they had with them and from its effects and the inclemency of the weather, while not altogether unconscious, they became nearly so. William has been, for some time, in a weak state of health and but poorly adapted to face such a fearful night. They travelled as far as they could and then, in seeking shelter, they got off the road into the field, where William's body was found. There they got so much confused and exhausted that they could go no further and stopped, shouting for help. Sometime before daylight, both brothers say that William, who had all along been the most exhausted, died. They stayed with his body until daylight, when they saw Mr. Gibson's house and tried to reach it on their hands and knees, their shouts at last being heard by Mr. Gibson. William's funeral took place on Saturday. This is the second member of this family who has perished in this way. Some years ago, the eldest sister was found on the roadside, dead from exposure. -Information from the death certificate: Born in Canada c. 1838. He was 44 years of age. -Information from the marriage certificate of Mary McQuillan: Born c. 1847, daughter of William and Agnes McQuillan. On Sept. 20, 1893, she married Walter Brown. A Celebration of Lives Obituaries of Puslinch Township, Wellington Co., Ontario Vol 2 Anna Jackson & Marjorie Clark Used with kind permission of Marjorie Clark

  
  

• Sources

  [S862] Census - ON, Wellington, Puslinch - 1861, Div 5 Pg 14.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1841 - , Ontario, Canada Residence - 1861 - Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada Died - 8 Dec 1882 - Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth