MAJ. GEN. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR married PHOEBE BAYARD
Title: History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania / v.1
Authors: Boucher, John Newton, 1854-1933., Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921.
Pg. 624 (CHAPTER 46 (XLVI) SPECIAL BIOGRAPHIES) summarized
MAJOR GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR was born at Thurso Castle, in Scotland , and sprang from one of the most noted British families.His people were of Norman birth.In the line of his ancestry were knights, earls, lords and dukes, many of whom had battled for English and Scotch supremacy, and whose names have been for centuries embalmed in the poetic and legendary lore of English story.
He was born April 3, 1736, the son of WILLIAM and MARGARET (BALFOUR) ST. CLAIR, who by reverses of fortune on the part of their immediate forbears had lost most of their extended ancestral possessions, and were at the time of his birth without great influence at the court of ST. JAMES or in their native land.ARTHUR, the youngest son of WILLIAM ST. CLAIR, took up the study of medicine in the University of Edinburgh.His father died, and he moved to London that he might have the benefit of hospital practice in the world’s greatest metropolis.There he entered the office of DR. WILLIAM HUNTER, then regarded as one of the first physicians of London.
About that time a war broke out between England and France, the American part of it being known as the French and Indian War.Under the new ministry of WILLIAM PITT, enthusiastic young men enlisted in the service of the crown.With the assistance of his family, he purchased an ensign’s commission, dated May 13, 1757, and sailed for America with ADMIRAL EDWARD BOSCAWEN’S fleet, the same which brought to our shores the historic army of GENERAL JOHN FORBES.He was in the general army of GENERAL JEFFREY AMHERST...(pg. 625) A part of the Sixtieth Regiment was sent to Boston, which was then the leading city of the Colonies after Philadelphia.ST. CLAIR accompanied them bearing public documents to GENERAL GAGE, who was his cousin.While stationed there he met and married PHOEBE BAYARD.She was the daughter of BALTHAZAR and MARY BOWDOIN BAYARD, and was related to the TEMPLES, the WINTHROPS, and was in every way a woman of patrician birth.They were married in Trinity Chapel, Boston, in May, 1760.With her he received a legacy of 14,000 pounds, indeed a princely fortune as fortunes were then.Shortly after his marriage he moved to Bedford, Pa., having been acquainted with the PENNS.In 1767 he was appointed commander of Fort Ligonier, which position he filled for two years.After the opening of the Land Office in 1769 he was closely identified with the formation of new counties and in the sale and settlement of western lands.His brother-in-law, CAPTAIN BAYARD, also came here, and together they took up large tracts of land in the southwestern part of the county.In these old boundaries he is sometimes designated as LIEUTENANT and sometimes as CAPTAIN ST. CLAIR...continues until pg. 638
Soon after the sale of his property he was turned out of house and home.DANIEL ST. CLAIR, his son, owned a tract of land on the Chestnut Ridge, above the Four Mile Run, and to this the old man and his family moved.To secure bread for his family he entertained travelers, though his house was but little more than a four roomed log cabin.On Jan. 24, 1814, he was granted a tavern license by the Westmoreland Court...continued
Pg. 641
PHOEBE BAYARD, his wife, who was born in 1743, survived him nineteen days and was then buried by his side.
Pg. 642
The reader will notice that the date given as that of his birth, April 3, 1736, is not the usually accepted one, (March 23, 1734).The error has been but recently discovered by a noted genealogist of the ST. CLAIR family.The Kirk Session Book of Thurso, Scotland, notes that he was born March 23d, and baptized by REV. WILLIAM INNES, March 24, 1736.But eleven days must be added to March 23, because of the new style calendar.This gives his real birthday as April 3, 1736.He was therefore 82 years, four months and twenty-eight days old when he died.
I am not related to this family, just giving you some notes.
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