This book records the names of John McColm Sr., his wife Margaret Sinclair and most of their descendants down to the present day. It also contains some commentary concerning John Sr. and his children as well as the origins of the community of New Richmond, Quebec, including Black Cape and Cascapedia, where the family has now been centered for eight generations.
There are two chapters in the book; the first contains the commentary, and the second sets out the details of the McColm family. At the beginning of the latter chapter, I have set out the vital statistics of John Sr., Margaret and their children, and the names of their fifty-seven grandchildren. Following this beginning, the second chapter is then divided into seven parts. Each part starts with one of John Sr. and Margaret's children, and then lists, by generation, the descendants of that child. For example, Part Five sets out the details of Thomas' descendants, and Part Seven, the details of Alexander's descendants. The number or letter which immediately precedes a descendant's name, indicates both to which generation of the McColm family he belongs and his place in the order of births within his or her own immediate family.
I have classified John Sr. and Margaret as the first generation of the McColm family to live in New Richmond. Except for them, each generation was assigned a different type of number or letter as follows:
| Second generation | - | upper case roman numerals I, II, III |
| Third generation | - | upper case letters A, B, C |
| Fourth generation | - | arabic numerals 1, 2, 3 |
| Fifth generation | - | lower case letters a, b, c |
| Sixth generation | - | lower case roman numerals i, ii, iii |
| Seventh generation | - | upper case letters in brackets (A), (B), (C)* |
| Eighth generation | - | arabic numerals in brackets (1), (2), (3)* |
* Note: Due to the limitations of the HTML format, the seventh and eighth generation letters and numerals do not appear in brackets. The seventh and eighth generations can be distinguished from the third and fourth generations by their greater level of identation.
Helen, John Sr.'s second child, was assigned the numeral II, her children the letters A to J, her grandchildren the arabic numerals, and so on. Thus, the line of descent to Lona May Sharpe is II, E, 1, a, i, (A), (1). This code of letters and numbers may be obtained by starting with the number preceding Lona's name and then determining the number or letter which precedes the name of each ancestor in the line back to Helen. Once the code has been established, relationships with other descendants may be determined. For example, Paul Matthew Williams, III, A, 3, b, i, (A), (2), and Lona Sharpe are sixth cousins. Of course, through ties with other families, there may also be a closer or more distant relationship.
Before proceeding any further, I would like to make a few comments explaining how this book and the idea for it evolved.
One day in the fall of 1971 while I was living in London, I mistakenly entered a building that on inquiry turned out to be the General Register Office of vital statistics for England. As the records were only of events occurring in England after 1837, I was soon on my way. However, this incident triggered the idea that during my stay in England I might be able to discover something concerning my Scottish ancestors. I subsequently made several inquiries in London and, during a trip to Edinburgh at Easter time, 1972, where I spent a few days sightseeing, I also visited the General Register Office for Scotland. Although by the time I returned to Canada in June I had acquired only a few general details of the McColms, I now had a knowledge of where to look for this type of information. By the end of September, I was examining the records of censuses taken of New Richmond in 1825, 1831, 1861 and 1871. (Censuses were also taken in 1841 and 1851, but some of these records, including those of Bonaventure County, are classified as missing.)
In the following months, as I became more involved in my research, the idea of publishing a McColm family tree came into being. I do not remember if it was my own idea, one that was suggested to me, or I accepted the responsibility when it was rumored that I was going to do it. By Christmas time 1972, when I met Mr. Ron Taylor, the researcher for "The Burtons of Black Cape" by Mr. Raymond Martin, I had decided to proceed with this book. Ron gave me a number of suggestions including some thoughts on how long it might take to complete such an undertaking. Based on our conversation and my early insight into the size of our family, I projected that it would take about five years, partly because it would have to be done in my spare time.
The following years were busy ones for me, both in terms of my career and the work involved in preparing this book. The most time consuming aspect was the necessary correspondence to locate descendants and obtain details. In this task, especially in connection with my efforts to obtain details of bygone generations, I am particularly grateful to a number of people who contributed a significant amount of pertinent information beyond the details of their own immediate families. I would like to identify many of these people, however, in order to avoid offending others whose contributions I also valued highly, I will not do so, but instead, I extend to them a special note of appreciation.
I have already mentioned my examination of the nineteenth century census records for New Richmond. These, along with other useful sources of information, were available at the National Archives in Ottawa. Another invaluable source of information was the records of births, deaths and marriages which are maintained at the United Church in New Richmond. The generous access I was given to these records is very much appreciated.
Although it was not possible to trace every descendant and to obtain relevant details, I hope you will enjoy what I have prepared. Before proceeding to chapter one, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for all of your assistance. Without it, this book would not have been possible.
William R. McColm
January 1978
40 Driveway, Apt. 401
Ottawa, Ontario