Background
He was a nephew of Scots-Quebecer entrepreneur Simon McTavish, who took him in to raise after his father"s death. MacTavish married on August 15, 1815 to Emily Caton, the fourth daughter of Richard and Mary (née Carroll) Caton, and granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton the only Catholic and the longest-surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Career
1787 in Stratherrick, Invernesshire, Scotland, was a Scots-Canadian heir to the North West Company and British Consul to the State of Maryland. John and Emily (Caton) MacTavish were the parents of four children, Charles Carroll MacTavish, born January 1, 1818, married a daughter of Lieutenant General Winfield Scott. Richard Caton MacTavish, born March 24, 1821, died March 20, 1841.
Mary Wellesley MacTavish, born November 21, 1823, married the Honorary
Henry George Howard, youngest son of the Earl of Carlisle. And Alexander Simon MacTavish, born April 28, 1829, died May 28, 1863.
John MacTavish died June 21, 1852 at age 65, and Emily (Caton) MacTavish January 26, 1867 at Folly Quarter. They are interred in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.