• General Notes

  1724-1769 Held a tract of land in Bolinture/District of Brittle 1 mile from Leasol. Land given to the McCaskills by the McLeods.Finley McCaskill was born about 1700 in Isle of Skye, Scotland and died there in 1769. According to McCaskill family legend, Finley McCaskill is the earliest known ancestor of the earliest immigrants to America. It is said that he had ten sons who left Scotland after his death and settled in North Carolina. The MacLeods kept lists of tenants of their farms. In 1724, 1754, and 1769 Finley McCaskill is noted as holding the tack at Bolinture. Neither he nor another McCaskill is listed there after that time. This information bears out the legend that he died prior to 1770 and that his children immigrated. Bolinture means "the tower fold". It is situated in the district of Brittle to the west of the river and about one mile from Leasol (now Glenbrittle House). It is about three miles from Rhuadh na Dunain which was given to the McCaskills by the MacLeods. In 1792, Bolinture was joined to the Rhuadh na Duain farm. Finley, according to legend, was a poor man. He had ten sons, the last of whom was born in 1743. His wife died in childbirth that year and Finley began to dream of going to America. Before he could do so, however, he died. His sons, some grown and with families of their own, decided to leave Scotland and resettle in America as their father had dreamed.
  
  They immigrated together to the North Carolina counties of Moore, Montgomery, Richmond and Anson in 1770.
  
  This story comes from a detailed compilation of McCaskill family information written by Dixie and Andy McCaskill of Irmo, South Carolina, in the mid 1980s. I had the opportunity to glance through the complete volume in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in 1992.
  
  Source: Directory of Scots in the Carolinas 1680-1830 by David Dobson, Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1986.
  
  This text has approximately six pages of McCaskill entries. Nearly all of the first four generations of McCaskill information come from this source. In some cases, additional names and dates have been added from the Dixie and Andy McCaskill sources.
  
  The April 1992 Clan MacLeod Magazine has an interesting advertisement in it.
  
  Visit Colbost Folk Museum - The Giant Angus Macaskill Museum with a 7'9" model of the tallest recorded "true" giant. In the centre of Dunvegan 296. Isle of Skye, Scotland. 1
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  Sources:
  Abbrev: Directory of Scots in the Carolinas 1680-1830.
  Title: Directory of Scots in the Carolinas 1680-1830 by David Dobson, Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1986.
  Directory of Scots in the Carolinas 1680-1830 by David Dobson, Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1986.
  Author: David Dobson 

Details of Finlay's family with N N