Ernest and Ibbie Switzer collection on Angus McKay, 1854-1958

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Switzer, Ernest; Swtizer, Ibbie
Title
Ernest and Ibbie Switzer collection on Angus McKay
Dates
1854-1958 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.6 linear feet, (2 boxes)
Collection Number
WCMss.093
Summary
Angus McKay was born to Angus and Margaret Campbell McKay on January 13, 1832, in Ontario, Canada and arrived in Walla Walla in the early 1860s. This collection consists of his invoices, business records, correspondence, fraternal organization materials, civic organization information and public office and election records.
Repository
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Penrose Library, Room 130
345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA
99362
Telephone: 5095275922
Fax: 5095264785
archives@whitman.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Angus McKay was born to Angus and Margaret Campbell McKay on January 13, 1832, in Ontario, Canada and is the great-grandfather of Ibbie Switzer. In 1860 McKay traveled from Ontario to the east coast of the United States, from which he sailed via what was then the Panama Isthmus to San Francisco. He then took a stagecoach to the Walla Walla Valley. Upon arrival, he established a freighting business supplying pack trains with goods.

He married Mrs. Mary Ann Winship Née Hunter in 1866, and the couple had seven children, three of whom, March, Angus Jr., and Bessie, survived into adulthood, along with Mary Ann's two children born of her first marriage, William and Lillian. The couple settled on a homestead near Russell Creek, where they lived for 61 years. While living in Walla Walla, McKay served 58 years as Justice of the Peace and several years as the chairman of the county republican party. He was also a founding member of the local Masonic Lodge and a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church. He died in Walla Walla on March 7, 1928 of pneumonia, following hospitalization for a broken hip.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of the invoices, business records, correspondence, fraternal organization materials, civic organization information and public office and election records of pioneer Angus McKay. Homestead certificates, deeds and a journal containing the minutes from meetings of the Russell Creek Farm Bureau and associated documents are included in the collection. The collection also contains a series of biographical writings on Angus Mckay and his descendants.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by Ernest Switzer and Ibbie Switzer, Angus McKay's great granddaughter, on May 14, 1987. The accession number is Retro-0652.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top