A Hopeful And Radiant Future

We [members of the SAR] lay firm hold on that thrilling past..[but] our society is not solely dedicated to such study...is a living organism, it has aims which direct it towards the future also. 

And so we stand between a venerable past and a hopeful and radiant future...". [Source]

Francis McDonnell At Stony Point

Source

"...[the Seventh] served in Canada in the campaign of 1775, 1776...[and] was in the actions at...Stony Point...".

"The famous "forlorn hope" under Lieutenant James Gibbons at Stony Point was comprised of twenty men, mostly drawn from the Seventh Regiment, and it is recorded by Alexander Garden, Major of Lee's Legion, that the commander of the "forlorn hope" himself informed him that it was an Irish soldier from the Seventh who hauled down the British flag from the fort on the occasion of the memorable assault.

More about Francis McDonnell/McDonald here.

Sarah Backus's Illustrious Family

Sarah (Whiting) Backus Ingersoll was the daughter of Gamaliel Whiting and sister of General John Whiting and the wife of John Backus. The biographical information about Sarah was found in The story of Laura Secord and Canadian reminiscences; Sarah was Laura Secord's step-mother.  The marriage between John Backus and Sarah Whiting ended in divorce.

Mrs. Sarah Backus had one daughter (Nancy Backus) by her first husband, who married Mr. McKinstry. In 1850 David and Nancy (Backus) McKinstry were living in Ypsilanti, Michigan. David McKinstry died in 1856.

Nancy (Backus) McKinstry's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mary McKinstry, died in Cairo, Egypt*.

*Michigan In Brief
Date: Friday, March 10, 1876   Paper: Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI)
"Mrs. Mary McKinstry, of Detroit, died at Cairo, Egypt, Thursday last.  Her worldly possessions in and about her home are estimated at a million."  Mary was the widow of Commodore James Paterson McKinstry, and was the daughter-in-law of Nancy (Backus) McKinstry... .

Brief bios of David and Nancy (Backus) McKinstry's son, Elisha Williams McKinstry, and Elisha's son, James C. McKinstry, were listed in A National Register of the Society, Sons of the American Revolution, Volume 1.

[Edward] Elisha Williams McKinstry was an Associate Justice on the California Supreme Court. He was born in 1825 in Detroit, Michigan, and attended Kenyon College and Columbia Law School.  He, his wife, his son James, daughters Laura and Frances, his mother-in-law and a servant were all living together in San Francisco in 1900.   Elisha died November 1, 1901.

In 1880 the E. Elisha McKinstry family was living in Oakland, California:

United States Census, 1880

name : Edward Mc Kinstry

Oakland, Alameda, California, United States

occupation : Associate Judge

birthplace : Michigan, United States

Household Gender Age Birthplace

self Edward Mc Kinstry M 55  Michigan, United States

wife Anna Mc Kinstry F 33 New York, United States

daughter Laura Mc Kinstry F 15 California, United States

son Charles Mc Kinstry M 13 California, United States

son Clarence Mc Kinstry M 12 California, United States

brother-in-law Charles Heges M 57 New York, United States

sister-in-law Anna Heges F 46 New York, United States

other  Loy M 25 China

Another son of David and Nancy (Backus) McKinstry was West Point graduate Justus A. McKinstry (see photo).  James Paterson McKinstry, a naval officer, was also their son.