210 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
It is impossible, with the information at hand, to establish with 
any degree of certainty how nearly related to Colonel McNutt were 
the grantees of the various townships who bore the family name. A 
difference of opinion also exists as to whether William McNutt, who 
settled in Onslow, was a brother or a more remote relative of Colonel 
McNutt. It is stated in Mrs. McCormick’s “Reminiscences and 
Genealogies” that William McNutt was a brother of Alexander and 
came with him to Nova Scotia from Virginia. This tradition is preserved 
in several branches of the family. Dr. Eaton’s investigations, however, 
have led him to the conclusion that William McNutt was born in 
Palmer, Massachusetts. Be this as it may, the fact remains that 
William, Abner, George and James McNutt were the progenitors of the 
McNutts of Truro, Onslow and Londonderry. 
Alexander McNutt was living in Staunton, Virginia, in 1756, as is 
proven by the following extract from the County Court records of 
Rockbridge Co., Virginia (Will Book No. 2, p. 300) :— 
“Be it hereby made known and made manifest to all whom it may 
concern that I the subscriber do hereby certify that Colonel Alexander 
McNutt from Novi Scotia, now in Rockbridge County and State of 
Virginia, stood possessed of two lots in the town of Staunton, in 
Augusta County and State of Virginia in 1756. That is to say one lot 
upon which he lived, containing a good spring. And another lot or 
square said to contain two acres—the brook running to the westward 
and on the east side bounded by the road or street that leads to Colonel 
Preston’s. To all of which I believe he had at that time a just claim, 
and undisputed right to the property; all of which is hereby certified 
this 18th day of September, 1802. 
[Signed by] Hucx Ketso.” 
Recorded September 18th, 1802. 
It could not have been long after the date mentioned in this docu- 
ment (1756) when Alexander McNutt left Virginia to begin the pere- 
grinations that occupied the next forty years of his life. He had hardly 
arrived in New England before the attention of the old colonies was 
directed to Nova Scotia. Louisbourg was captured in 1758, and at the 
close of the same year Governor Lawrence issued his famous procla- 
mations inviting settlers to occupy the lands vacated by the deporta- 
tion of the Acadians. Alexander McNutt was amongst the first to 
display a lively interest in the proclamations. A letter written by 
General Amherst from Albany to Lawrence on the 17th April, 1760, 
indicates that McNutt had already visited Halifax and there discussed 
with the Nova Scotia Governor the best mode of attracting settlers. 
He continued during the year 1760 to be employed by the Governor of 
