(died 3 June 1824, aged 73), pioneer, U E Loyalist. John Hay, a native of Scotland, settled first in Prince Edward Island in 1773. There is no reason why his background in Prince Edward Island should make his status as a U E Loyalist uncertain, and in fact his name appears on the supplement to the U E Loyalist List (John Hay, Sergt.). After military service in the 84th regiment in the War of the American Revolution, he settled on the Raisin River in Charlottenburgh. He gave the area where he settled the Gaelic name of Gleana-feoir, which means Glen of Hay or Hay Glen. (This “glen” is west of Glendale, on the Glen Donald Road.) Maclennan (1887) gives John Hay the title of captain. The captain title, unless it was purely honorary, came from the militia. In the 84th, John Hay had been a sergeant.
John Hay married Mary McDonald (d. 2 May 1839, aged 71), a native of Scotland. He was a Presbyterian, but his wife was a Roman Catholic. It has also been reported that he was earlier married to a Mary MacLeod, of the family of Kenneth MacLeod of the 1793-1794 Lochiel emigration, probably Kenneth’s daughter. His son, also called Capt. John Hay (d. 19 March 1880, aged 91) served in the War of 1812; he was married to Anna McGillis. The son has the captain title on his tombstone but the father does not. The younger John Hay and his wife gave the bell to St. Mary’s Church, Williamstown. (Villeneuve 185) Also, the younger John Hay gave an altar to St. Mary’s, Williamstown. (Cornwall Freeholder 13 July 1866) Another son was Fr George A. Hay. The tombstone of the elder John Hay, in St. Andrew’s cemetery, Williamstown, has the inscription, “This stone is erected by his affectionate sons William, John & George.”
Sketch of his life in John McLennan, “The Early Settlement of Glengarry,” Transactions of the Celtic Society of Montreal (1887) 116, repr. Ross, Lancaster, 204-205 * Fraser, Gravestones, I, 18, 23, 103 (burials of Mrs Hay and the younger John and probably William in the Roman Catholic cemetery, and of the elder John in the United Church cemetery) * UE List 301 * Reid 200 (two refs.) * Pringle 272, 397, 404, 405, 412 * MacLeods, ii, 27 * Macdonell, Sketches (1893), 155 (Lieut. John Hay, 1803) *The Story of St. Andrews West as Recorded on the Index Cards of Edwin McDonald, ed. Duncan (Darby) MacDonald (1987) 57