Saturday, November 3, 2012

Our Ancestor...

William Colquhoun (Pronounced Ca-hoon) was perhaps the first Cahoon to come to the colonies. He was from Dunbartonshire, Scotland. His descendant live all across the US. They have variations on the surname with the most common being, Cahoon, Calhoun, Cahoone, Cohoon, Colhoon, Colquhoun and Calhoun.

Inscription of the plaque above:


Near this spot stood
The Cahoon Brickworks
from 1673-1675,
founded and operated by
William Cahoone (Colquhoun)
of Luss, Scotland, and Swansea, Massachusetts.
____
-taken prisoner in Dunbar, Scotland, during the Cromwellian Wars (1650)
-shipped as indentured servant to Braintree, Massachusetts (1651)
-freeman at Block Island, Rhode Island (1664)
-one of founders of Swansea, Massachusetts  (1669)
-killed by Indians on eve of King Philip's War while striving to get a doctor for the wounded of Swansea (June 24, 1675)
____

Presented by his descendants, June 24, 2000


This plaque marks the site of William's Brickworks in Swansea, Massachusetts and
is mounted on a boulder by the Swansea Luther Museum which houses what is believed to be one of the actual bricks from this operation. The script is the notice of William as the official brick maker for the town.

3 comments:

  1. Hello. I have a website dedicated to the Scottish Brickmaking Industry. I recently stumbled across your post about William Cahoone and see he was a Scotsman who ended up making bricks in the USA. I wonder if you would allow me to link in into an article on my site due to the Scottish connection.

    www.markcranston.co.uk

    best regards

    Mark

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry it took me a while to respond. That would be fine if you want to link. I will be adding photos of a possible brick that he made.

      Delete
  2. Anyone know where this plaque is located? I visited the area several years ago and stopped in the library to see if they knew the location. They put me in touch with the local historian at the historical society. He told me that the family contacted them, the plaque was approved, they had the plaque made, a dinner was held to unveil the plaque before it was mounted, and then the family disappeared with the plaque which was never mounted.

    ReplyDelete