1 1 3 R AN S . T I N . S EC O I I , 9 T

The A me rican Loya lists i n the Ea ster n S e igni o ries a nd To wnsh ip s of the

r v n ue P o i ce of Q bec .

Br WI L B " R . I E B E RT OHI o T A T E " N IVE RS IT Y . H S , S

W . Presented by D r . . D . Lesu eur

Ma 28 (Read y ,

r t ian ul a dist ric t n o rt h V The g eat r g r lying of New York and ermont , F t h e . . anc is with the St Lawrence and the St r forming other two sides , was a fav ou r ed region for loyalist im m ig r at io n during the Rev ol ut ion a r y

W r H fi d w a . To the south was the valley of the udson lle ith adherents C own wh ile Lake Ch am l ain as n l ink of the r , p served a connecti g between Ric hel ieu wh ic h the valley and the River , along were situated several B itish — N o ix Y o k r posts , the Isle aux on the New r frontier , and at dis

r . . tances farther no th , St Johns , St Ours , Chambley , and Sorel , the l ast

m r . na ed m a r k ing the j unc tion of the Ric hel ieu and the St . Law ence f alon . These posts , and others g the St Lawrence , of ered refuge to those whose op inions and ac tiv i ties rendered them ob nox ious to suc h of their

- fellow co untrymen as espoused the cause of American independence . i m an c ond itions It is not surpris ng , therefore , that y sought escape from wh ic h they found intolerable by what m ay be called the Lake Champlain route . However , not all the American refugees who entered the Pro v ince of Quebec came by way of the lake : nu mbers of those from t he

Mohawk Valley followed one of several western routes , by way of i w t o . Oswego or po nts farther east , whence they passed the St La rence i and so down the beaut ful river to Montreal or Quebec . With the beginn ing of the Revolution the m ovement of Tories n i to Lower Canada began . Lieutenant Colonel Al lan Maclean fled 1 775 from Schenectady by the Oswego route in the early summer of , i “ E ” tak ng with him a party of Royal Highland migrants , composed n chiefly of Scotch refugees and disbanded soldiers , in whose e l istment

Guy Johnson had aided . These men were enrolled under instructions from G eneral Thomas Gage , authorizing the formation of a corps of two battalions to consist of ten companies each , each company to com i i * On prise n ne offi cers , two drummers , and f fty privates . its arrival in Quebec , the party numbered eighty men . A local offi cer described them in disparaging terms as Irish fishermen unacquainted with the ” In use of arms . September , Maclean and h is men were d ispatched W 4 TH E RO YA L SOCIETY OF CANADA

a v from Quebec to St . Johns to help resist the inv sion of Canad a b m 1 500 Richard Montgo ery and h is force of Continentals . After b ut m arching as far as Sorel M aclean took post there , when the local

i rt m l itia on whom he depended for support dese ed , he sought refuge with his troops aboard armed ves sels in the h arbor and returned to

i n s m the capital of the prov nce , arrivi g j u t in ti e to render valuable service in the defence of that pl ace against the attacks of Benedict * Arnold . n If Quebec was saved from capture , Montreal was not , and remai ed l 1 7 76 . in possession of the Americans unti the last week in June , On

n re - the day followi g its occupation by the Canad ians , Sir John Johnson

arrived there with abo ut two hundred followers , having fled from his patrimonial estate in the Mohawk Valley toward the cl ose of the pre n Sir ceding m o t h . T John received a cordial welcome from Governor

Guy Carleton , and was at once comm issioned to raise a battal ion , to ’ n be called the K i g s Royal Regiment of New York , from among h is i n companions an d the distressed people he had left beh nd . In granti g this commission Carleton was act ing under the express authority of in E a the home government ngland , which had given its pproval of the formation of a corps by Sir John in the previous March i Th is shows conclusively that the baronet ’ s mil itary preparations at Johnstown before his flight were part of a preconcerted pl an that might h ave been thwarted if General Ph ilip Sch uyler and his Cont inentals had taken Sir n i in 1 776 n i i Joh nto custody January , , i stead of disarm ng and releas ng 4 n him at that time . However , when the danger of arrest agai threatened i Sac o nd a a Johnson and his party escaped , depart ng by way of the g , n i thence taki g a northwestwardly route to avoid Lake Ch ampl a n , i lest it m ight be in the possession of the Americans , and enter ng the

r . Provin c e of Quebec probably east of the St . Law ence by way of St

Regis . The corps received frequent accessions from the colonies , the i w in first to be recorded be ng parties , some ith arms , who had come 5 n n in . at Crow Poi t for refuge , and who j oined the regiment November The spirit of the new organization was warm ly commended by Carleton t h e two months later . At the same time , provision was made for care of the unin corporated refugees with the regiment and for the adm inis “ t rat io n of the oath of allegiance to all who had thus far arrived .

* ’ 1 65 66 55 n . . B Can . 890 Arch , , State Papers , , ; Sir John Johnson s Orderly ook , , ;

y m in 1 0 1 and n . Flick , Lo alis New York , , the references there give

1 890 73 n B o f Ont . TCan . Arch . , , State Papers , ; Seco d Report , ureau Archives ,

7 76 38 1 382 383 384 4 1 0 4 1 1 . Prt . I . , 3 5 , 3 , , , , , ,

h 1 885 235 . Can . I Arc , , ‘ 1 4 n o f B n I . 2 . Sto e , Life ra t , , “ 1 890 a 78 . n . Ca . Arch , , St te Papers , ° 2 1 5 23 1 25 . an . h 88 C Arc , , ,

[e B E RT ] TH E A ME RICAN LOYAL ISTS 5

Ebenezer and Edward Jessup were not far beh ind Johnson in crossing the boundary line between New York and Canada . Accord ing to the testimony of Jonathan Jones , one of their party , they fled fro m l 1 776 A bany County , New York , in October , , with a following of eighty * n loyalists . The route they travelled brought them to Crown Poi t , where the y j oined the British Army before it retired to the Isle aux

Noix and St . Johns on account of the lateness of the season . For n convenience in drawi g rations and other suppl ies , the party was ’ t eni o raril v p attached to Sir John Johnson s regiment , then in winter W . e quarters at La Chine on the St . Lawrence are told that Sir Guy ’ e ssu s Carleton was disposed at first to treat J p men merely as refugees , 4 1 7 77 but as early as November , , they were organized into three comp anies with Jones and the two J e ssup s as c apt ains f I n the follow ’ in i g spr ing , as the time drew near for the mov ng of Burgoyne s and ’ 1 6 St Leger s expeditions , Sir John Johnson gave orders (M ay ) that ’ ” ’ Jessup s Corps should be ready to march at a d ay s warning , and ’ a month l ater the three com pan ies left La Ch in e to j oin Burgoyne s army at St . whence the l atter was to proceed on its campaign

r 1 7 1 . 7 78 down the Hudson In a communication to Bu g oyne , July , , Ebenezer J essup reminds his form er com m ander that his corps was mustered in at Ske ne sb o ro ugh under commissions in blank suppl ied by Carleton for th at purpose , that the corps or battalion , which was ’ i to be designated the K ing s Loyal Americans , was to be f lled to a i specif ed number before the commissions were issued , that as the i n expedition advanced nto the country many j oi ed the corps , but th at , — from a variety of causes , the battalion fell short by sixty three men of m ‘ the num ber required to entitle the officers to their com issions .

. On the heels o f the Jessups , a party of loyalists was brought in l by Dr . Samuel Adams , of A bany , whose arrival is recorded in a letter of

2 1 776 . December , Several years later Adams declared that he h ad raised these men to serve with Burgoyne and had come into Canada with “ a hundred of them , together with some volunteers who had escaped W x through the woods . hether the number mentioned was an e ag e rat io n i g , or we are to suppose that most of the men j o ned other corps after their arrival in Canada , is not clear . At any rate , it appears fro m the muster roll that Captain Samuel Adams ’ com pany of Rangers was “ raised ” (which I take to mean “ comm issioned ” ) by order of General 9 1 777 Burgoyn e , August , , and that it comprised at the time four ‘s — r v offi cers and twenty six effective p i at e s .

* f O n 1 0 . 250 2 o 1 . Ca n . 1 885 5 B t . . 5 Second Report , ureau Archives , , Pt L , ; Arch , , , ’

Ha Idim . 6 1 6 7 5 8 1 1 n n 3 n . 4 n . and Pa a rs B . B T p , , pp , , ; Joh so s Orderly ook , , , , ’ J o h 4 n . nso n s B 36 n . I Orderly ook , , , , ‘ H 2 . a ldim and B 2 1 4 . 6 Papers , . , p I* 7 l im 1 7 . 1 6 . n . 0 8 d a a 1 885 25 1 888 6 Ha nd . 6 C . B Arch , , ; , ; Papers , , p TH E RO YAL SOCI ETY O F CANA DA

Mc Do n ald s Very soon after the arrival of Adams , the appeared ’ ’ in Canada with a bod y of a hundred recruits for Macl e an s and Johnson s

m D o n . Mc alds A regi ents These were lexand er and John , the two Tory Scotch m en who had lived on S ir J ohn Johnson ’ s estate until they were

1 776 . taken captive in January , Later , they obtained permission from m y General Schuyl er to visit their fa ilies , and seized the opportunit to abduct some of the Scotch settlers and Germ an loyal ists of the ne igh b o rh o o d e fle c t in in E , g their departure March , arly in the fol lowing A pril the Mc D o nalds were at La Chine pre p arat o rv to taking L the field when o rd e re d . )

in The arrival of these parties of loyalists quick succession , and n their readi ess to enlist for service , led Carleton to issue instructions , 1 2 1 7 7 6 . December , , for the form ation of corps of refugees He already had a partial warrant for doing so in the establ ishment of Sir John ’ m fi Johnson s regiment under authority fro the Colonial Of ce , and h is action anticipated by only a few months new instructions fro m the same 26 1 777 source , dated March , , authoriz ing an invitation to all loyal subj ects of the neighboring frontiers to j oin the King ’ s forces under the assurance of receivin g the same pay and allowances as the other corps i i raised in America , wh le to each of those serv ing unt l the restoration of peace a grant of two hundred acres of land was promised in addit io n i

Of the parties mentioned above , those of Jessup and Ad ams A set out with Burgoyne upon his expedition . nother corps that

accompanied Burgoyne was that of John Peters , a colonel of mil itia u and j udge of the court of common pleas from Gloucester Co nty , 1 4 . 7 7 New York As early as August , , Peters h ad been mobbed ”

and kept from his house for eight months , and after returning had

rece ived the same treatment . In consequence he fled to Canada , n 1 77 6 . arrivi g there in March , I n June he was in Montreal , warning

the town of the intended attack upon it by the Americans . Thence i he went to j o n the British army at St . Johns . Less than a year later “

h is wife and seven sons came to Canada , after they had been plundered

‘ ” of everything excepting their wearing apparel by t h e revolutionists . — 1 2 1 777 fi . By M ay , , Peters had gathered up twenty four of cers and men 24 On June , he received formal enl isting orders from General Carleton ’ b at allio n for his , which was to be c alled the Queen s Loyal Rangers , and in the following month he was commissioned lieutenant colonel ‘ of the new corps .

’ * ’ 1 44 n Can . r . 1 890 84 1 888 643 B n m A ch , , ; , ; Stone , urgoy e s Ca paign , ; Joh son s

B 56 n . Orderly ook , J o h nso n B 30 . T s Orderly ook ,

Can . . 1 885 25 1 2 7 2 3 38 . I Arch , , , , ‘ H l a dim an B B 1 7 . 1 . 21 5 . 2 2 1 0 . 6 3 d . 09 Papers , , pp , ; , p [S IEBE RT] TH E AM ERICAN LOYALISTS

1 777 For us the plan of campaign of the summer of , in which W r . is in Bu goyne , St Leger , and Sir illiam Howe participated , of

t e re st n in . l o ly relation to the loyalists The va lev of the Hudson , by r l which Bu goyn e was to descend upon A bany , wh ile Howe ascended is the river to the same point , was full of loyal ts ; and so also was the

. valley of the Mohawk , by which St Leger , marching from Oswego , l ’ was expected to reach A bany at the right j unc t ure . Burgoyne s i i u 1 9 advance guard , sa l ng from C mberland Bay on June , comprised

lo v alist n . i his or provi cial troops Among the troops that j o ned St .

Leger at. Oswego were Sir John John son and one h undred and thirty three men of h is corps from La Chin e * and Colonel John Butler ’ s L

R Nia ara . Tory angers from Fort g ) Burgoyne , Johnson , and S ir Guy Carleton all expected other bands of lo y alists to rally to the support

r i of the advanc ing forces . Indeed , Carleton fu n shed General Bur goyn e with blank comm issions for the enlistment of two or more corps r n m i of rangers , in add ition to those al eady u der his co mand ; wh le

r i the latter sought to assu e h mself of these accessions , which he hoped “ ” in m i Ske ne sb o ro u h to gather fro Hampsh re , g and Albany , by send i n r e ing emissaries nto the colo ies for the pu pos : Partly , no doubt , u o m r as a res lt of these precautions , and p artly of their volition , numer ous provin cials j oined the British on their lines of march : we learn i i of their attach ng themselves to Burgoyne at Crown Po nt , Ticon il Ske ne sb o ro u h . E . deroga , g , Ft dward , Ft M ler , Saratoga , and other ’

places , and to Johnson s corps under St . Leger at Oswego and Ft . ‘ u Stanwix . The testimony of these vol nteers shows that wh ile many m in n in of them ca e si gly , others came in l arger or smaller groups .

. " . Thus , Dr James Stuart , of lster County , New York , j o ined St Leger

’ at Oswego with fift v- two meni and Jacob Mil ler enl is ted with fifty ‘

m . . under the same co mand at Ft Stanwix Paul Heck of Camden , i s l n n Charlotte County , attached h m e f to Burgoyne at Crow Poi t ” 7 y - with a compan of th irty nine farmers ; Samuel Perry , of Saratoga ,

- 3 appeared at Ticonderoga with forty seven recruits ; and . at the same n l W in i — ° J r. poi t , Isaac Man , , of Sti l ater , came with f fty seven ; Daniel Ske ne sb o ro u h Jones , of Charlotte County , presented h imself at g with

* ’ 4 . 2 n . n B 1 0 n . n 8 Joh son s Orderly ook , , , , , ,

l i . t b d , 2 , n . C . 1 0 an . 9 8 86 . I Arch , , ‘ 9 22 2 . I . 8 4 2 4 n t B o f Ont . . . 9 3 3 6 Seco d Repor , ureau Archives , , Pt I I , ; Pt , , , , 409 439 44 4 4 1 4 . 4 1 9 44 0 . , , , , etc ; 400 , , , etc 5

0 . n t B r a o f r Ont . . I . 3 3 Seco d Repor , u e u A chives , , Pt , H ldim a 2 1 4 . 1 23 . and B . Papers , , p 7

I . 4 1 . B o f A Ont . P t . 0 Second Report , ureau rchives , , , 3

. I . Ibid , Pt . , 45 .

Ibid . , 335 . 8 TH E ROYA L SOCI ETY OF CANA DA

* thirty ; John Howard also j oined the arm y at Ske ne sb o ro ugh and soon after assisted in collecting and bringing in a hundred recruits " Hugh

Munro enlisted at the same place , was at once appointed to a captaincy ’ in Jessup s corps , and gathered a nu mber of men who became the nucleus of a batteau co m pany that was formed after the arm v reached

Edw r Ft . a d ; I other accessions at the two encampments last named were the result of the activity of Francis Pfister and Robert Leake , who ’ sent in , according to the latter s statement , eighty men , with a return ‘ W of the number they had raised ; ill iam and Thomas Fraser , of Tryon

. E County , enlisted at Ft dward after escaping from Albany , where , with one hundred recruits they were conducting to Canada , they h ad “ been imprisoned ; Captain Daniel Mc Alpin with sixty American ” Wi Volunteers , raised at the instance of Sir ll iam Howe , also enlisted

- m n at Ft . Edward " Gershom French conducted ninety four e to the

fo rc e army at Saratoga , after arming them by at the expense of the 6 Americans ; Alexander Cruksh ank and six others esc aped from ’ E " n sopus j ail in lster County , New York , to Burgoy e s camp at Sara ’ 7 Cruksh ank s i VanAlst ine toga , family com ng in soon after ; Peter , of i l ’ K nderhook , A bany County , added th irty men to Burgoyne s forces , but where is not stated ; neither is it stated where a party of the Mo hawks j oined Burgoyne , but the Rev . John Stuart , missionary to this tribe , declares that he sent his congregation of Indians to support the ’ 4 : re dm e n King s troops , probabl y the group of 0 o 50 l ed i n by Joseph 8 Clem ent of Tyron County . " nder these c ircumstances Burgoyne should have had no d iffi cul ty in forming the extra battalions for which he had blank com

o r in i . m iss ions , fill ng the ranks of those already under his command He had sent em issaries into the colonies to secure Tory recruits before he started down Lake Champl ain ; prom inent men who j oined h im “ ” were at once sent back with h e at ing orders to bring in such parties u as they co l d raise , and , with no abatement of zeal in this direct ion , one of his obj ects in despatching Baum ’ s expedition to the Connecticut 1 4 ’ m River on August , was to complete Peter s regi ent of provincials , ’ “ ’ y which formed part of Bau m s forces . Before Burgo ne s adv ance gu ard h ad passed Crown Point , Peters and his corps h ad been j oined by thirty - three men (June on the fourteenth of the following * r B i . f nt . I . 398 o O . Second Repo t, ureau Arch ves, , Pt , H l m n d a di a . 2 1 B 4 . 235 . T Papers , , p

- 1 . 2 1 0 2 1 1 bid , pp . 5 . ‘ 4 1 . Ibid . , p . I‘ i . 1 7 Ib d . . 1 7 . , B 6 , p 5

° - . 1 6 1 . B . Ibid , , pp 1 3 . 7 2 . B Ibid , . 1 4 , p . 96 . ' . 96 5 . . c i nt . B . 21 5 . 96 B o f r O . Ibid , , p ; Second Report , ureau A h ves, , Pt I I , ’ 9 n m 2 B . 7 n a 8 . Stone , urgoy e s Ca paig , p [S IEBERT] TH E AMER ICAN LOYAL ISTS 9

t h e v y - six month received an access ion of twent , and two days later

— ' the date on which they took part in the battle of Benn in gton sixty

rt y - eight more enlisted . Th i seven others j oined the corps at various ’ i< a are nt l v e x e dit io nfi t im es , p p before Baum s p These figures are taken from the muster roll s and seem to show that a total of 1 64 men j oined i the corps up to the t me of the engagement . That they fall far short

i l d ay b e of what were probably the facts w l appear below . On the and rt in fore the battle Francis Pfister Robe Leake , accord g to the

i w 200 . testimony of the latter , j o ned Baum ith upwards of men These were less than a th ird of t h e whole number which Leake says

s they had rai ed under orders from General Wil liam H e we . t But

’ - in- Mc Co m b A lb anv Pfist er s father law , John , of Hoosick , County ,

Haldim and New York , says in a memorial to that Lieutenant Pfister 500 f 3 1 8 l and he engaged upwards of ef ective men , of whom actua ly j oined Burgo y ne i This continual enl istm ent of loyalists was shrewdly taken advantage of by the enemy to impose on the credul ity of t h e

s C i n Briti h leaders . olonel Baum h mself accordi g to General Riedesel , sufl e re d small bodies of armed m e n to encamp on h is sides and rear u nder the representation th at they were loyalists . Later , stronger ’ is rr k i forces of revolution ts a ived and attac ed Baum s cont ngent , m i which was made up mostly of Ger ans , whereupon the seem ng loyal “ is s al l was t so began to attack the Germans . The resu t that Baum ” sudd e nl v fo und h imself cut o ff from all his detached posts . Aft e r two hours of hard fighting the German offi cer was mortall y ‘

. wounded , most of his men were lost , and he was forced to surrender

Haldim and In an undated memorial to , Colonel Peters states that

o wn Be nn in t in 1 6 e n h i s losses at g (August ) were one lieutenant , one 2 1 0 l n sign and privates kil ed , one captain one lieutenant , one ensig 5 ’ - and twenty seven privates taken prisoners . Of Pfister s regiment , i l 1 21 ' Pfister h mself fell , and Leake tel s us that of Pfister s men were k h m t e i n . ill ed or captured , re a nder retreati g to Ft M iller , where they j oin ed the main b o d v of the arm v and were placed under the com mand of Samu el Mackay . He also states that they were j oined within ’ a few davs b v ot hers of Pfist e r s men to the number of Th e muster rolls indicate that six d ay s after the battle abo ut a hundred

e men left the corps . This was in accordance wit h the t rms of their

t m y s enlis ent , but whether the d i persed or betook themselves to

’ Haldim nd 1 7 m . a B . 6 o f e Papers , , uster roll Pet r s corps 2 id . . 4 1 42 B 1 4 . l , , pp , .

l i . . b d 2 7 . I , p 0 ' ’ ’ Fo r Rie de se l s n B r n m n 3 1 32 fo r B n accou t , see Stone , u goy e s Ca paig , , ; urgoy e s ’

o f . account , see the latter s State the Expedition “ Ha ldim an 2 1 . 2 1 . d B . 5 0 Papers , , p 6 1 . 2 4 . 4 1 42 B . Ibid , . p p , . 1 0 TH E ROYAL SOCI ETY OF CANADA

Haldim and Canad a does not At any rate , Peters tell s that in S e ptember he mustered 3 1 7 men at Sarat o ga fir doubtless that num n ber included the conti gent brought in there by Gershom French , ’ r l which was incorporated wit h Peter s corps . It p o b ab v also included i C ' whatever rema ned of aptain Justus S herwood s company of Tories , 1 7 76 i for Sherwood , who had entered Canad a in , had ra s ed a com n p any and served u der Peters throughout the campaign , returning to Canada immediately after the Co nv e nt io n i

m During the battle of Bennington , Burgoyne and his ain army i 1 E n 3 . were at Ft . dward , where they remai ed unt l September O n i l that and the following day they crossed to Ft . M l er on the west sid e m of the Hudson , being accompanied by the loyal ist co panies and corps . Mc Al in It was , indeed , from the corps of Peters , Jessup , p , and M ackay that Burgoyne suppl ied the losses of h is regiments of the l ine after an

C s i e 1 9 engagement with the ongre s troops at Bem s Heights , Septemb r , ordering the transfer of a hundred and twenty “ men of tried bravery ” 4 ufi r d and fidelity for th is purpose . That the loyal is ts s e e in this enco unter is indicated by Peters ’ statement of heavy losses from certain

h is own i . companies of m lit ia regiment , which h ad j oined h i m Lieu ’ n tenant Colonel K ingston , who served as B urgoy e s adj utant and secre tary , testified before the committee of inquiry of the House of Commons n l 1 that at the openi g of the campaign , Ju y , there were no more than

- n in eighty three provi cials the army , exclusive of Canadian troops , i six n and that two months later they had ncreased to hu dred and eighty , 5 i i . the r m aximum number , accord ng to his statement Burgoyne .

r n Ske ne sb o ro u h w iti g to Lord George Germaine from h is camp at g , l 1 1 n e ssu n Ju y , after ment i oni g the battal ions of Peters and J p as bei g “ ’ “ ll in n u sti embryo but very promisi g , said th at some h ndreds of men , i ” i i a th rd part of them with arms , had j o ned him s nce penetrating to that place ; that some wis hed to serve to the end of the war and some ”

l . for the campaign on y , and that he had not hesitated to receive them Ske ne sb o ro u h g was one of the earl ier camps , but we know that loyalists did not ceas e coming in after th at po int was reached . There are reasons for supposing that some did not contin ue long w i th the expedi

v tion ; but on the other hand , many more ser ed Burgoy ne nobly on the battlefield , as we have seen . Nevertheless , after the destruction ’ of Baum s force , the British Commander began to d isparage the loyalists

* - 1 7 . 1 7 1 9 l im B . 6 . Ha d and Papers , p p

2 1 . 2 1 0 . . B Ib id . 5 T , , p 1 B 7 n B r o f A . . 2 . 1 . . 228 . 1 0 8 1 bid , , p ; Seco d Report u eau rchives , Pt I I , 4 ’ B B 1 1 6 Kin i o f n 249 250 . urgoyn e s Orderly ook , ; gsford , H story Ca ada , , 5 B n e o f d 97 1 1 3 a . . urgoy e , Stat the Expe ition , , , p li

B a e o f n a . xx x xdi . urgoyn e , St t the Expedi tio , p xxxvi , [s rrss nnr] TH E LOYALISTS 1 1

m W 20 both as to character and nu bers . riting to Germaine , August , 1 777 “ , he was loth to admit that he had more than about of whom “ ” he declared not half were armed who may be depended upon , the “ ” rest being trimmers merely actuated by interest . It has already been noted that Lieutenant Colonel Kingston ’ s figures place the loyalist n 1 l conti gent at six hundred and eighty on September , or on y ten d ays ’ We l ater than the date of Burgoyne s statement . must believe , there fore , either that Burgoyne gave too small a number , or that a consider able accession o f loyalists took place during the days immediately ’ l following Bau m s defeat . In either case , the figures are total y mislead ing as to the whole number of provinc ials who j oined the exped ition . On this point the best evidence we have is the accumulated testimony of the loyalist volunteers themselves , which indicates approximately i i three times the number ment ioned by K ngston , not count ng those We who j oined St . Leger . may be sure , however , that h is own catas ’ t ro ph e at Saratoga did not improve Burgoy ne s op inion of the loyalists he not onl y failed to introduce a word in their beh alf into h is articles “ ”

l de fe at . of capitu ation , but also blamed them for his T s Happily , the Tories posses ed sufficient prudence to make up for

- i - their neglect by their commander n chief . Of those who remained with h im un til the surrender m any escaped before the actual cap itula tion , although Lieutenant Colonel Kingston testified that he had never heard of any corps find ing its way back to Canada . However , he adm itted that the matter of fligh t had been discussed and that the guides with the expedition had said that those attempting escape must break into small parties and follow the Indian paths . 1 Th is is evidently what was done by the maj ority . Those who first succeeded in getting i away to Canada were Captain Mackay and his company , and Capta n

Fraser . A week before h is surrender , Burgoyne h ad sent Captains Fraser and Mackay with their light troops back to assist in opening a i . E . road to Ft dward , on the l ne of retreat On the appearance of the ’ i enemy in considerable numbers Fraser s men were recalled , wh le the “ ” v n ‘ pro i cials under Mackay ran away , according to Burgoyne , that

r . is , sta ted northward for Ticonderoga 1 9 . On October , British the commandant at Mt Independence ’ reported Mac Kay s arrival at the head of one hundred volunteers and i in s i Canadians , add ing that other small parties h ad s nce come Capta n

* B o f i a . v . urgoyne , State the Exped tion . p xl i

‘ 1 1 4 . l v l m in . m i 33 3 a x 1 09 1 1 0 . 1 Ibid , , , p ; Flick , Loya is New York , , 1 I . 1 1 bid , 5 .

B r n e o f n a . . u goy e , Stat the Expedi tio , p xcii “ 1 890 2 n . . 1 Ca 0 . Arch , , 1 2 TH E ROYAL SOCI ETY O F DA

h im Fraser appeared on the twentieth , bringing with a copy of the articles of the convention , or s u rrender , which had occ u rred three days

s before . I t is said that on the night before the convention was igned , m m r a large nu ber of the re aining p ovincials , preferring the risks of

flight to the conditions of surrender , struck out through the woods * m for the Quebec coun try . C olonel Peters throws ore l ight on the flight of the loyalists at this ti m e by decl aring in his mem orial to Haldim and 1 1 7 i in that he conducted about privates nto Canada the fall of 1 77 7 . ’ “ h e n 1 6 He further states that left Burgoy e s camp on O ctober , having ’ n e m that unfortu ate Gen ral s order , signed by General Phil ips , to ake h is i e fi e c t escape nto Canada , which he had the good fortun e to ,

diffi c ul t v i with the greatest hav ng his son and a few others , with m h i . T That flight in volved the fugitive in grave risks is illustrated by l W C the experience of A exander hite of Try on ounty , who had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the enem y and to suffer twelve l months imprisonment at A bany before he could obtain his d ischarge .

He then betook himself to New York City , whence , with the approach in m 1 783 of the evacu ation , he secured passage to Quebec the sum er of , 1

y thus arrivin g in Canad a six ears after his attempted escape .

’ A large number of Burgoyne s Tory recruits , who nine or ten years l ater told something of their story to the British Com m issioners of loyalist claims in Canada , do not particul arize in regard to the time of n their escape , contenting themselves with the indefi ite statement that m “ l “ ’ ” they ca e to Canad a in the fa l of or after Burgoyne s defeat , “ ” 4 . n n or at the convention Others are more expl icit , explai i g that they ” “ ” “ in were taken at Saratoga , or were the convention , or had under \ ” the convention eave to go to Canada . Still others say that they “ ” 4 came to Canada after the convention . fraction were , to be sure , in taken prisoner in the course of the campaign , languished confinement rt for a longer or sho er time , and were thus prevented from getting to the desired h aven along with the greater number of their loyal ist 7 comrades . Not a few spent more or less of their time in the States for several years after the convention , before settling permanently in their “

. 1 786 m newly adopted country As late as , it appears that nu bers of

* K n o f n 4 4 i gsford , History Ca ada , 3 . Haldi m a nd B 2 1 5 . 2 1 1 T Papers , , p . . Se c o nd B o f O nt . . II 1 0 5 1 . I Report , ureau Archives , , Pt “ I 4 483 Pt . 86 2 4 66 47 . 3 8 330 336 3 3 7 338 344 345 449 4 5 1 457 . . : Ibid , . , , , , , , , . , , 1 0 02 1 0 0 6 1 0 84 1 . 2 7 1 27 Pt I I , , , , 6 , 1 . 5 II 927- 8 949 9 5 Ibid , Pt . , , , 3 . ° 940 942 . . 386 42 1 4 45 466 47 4 . Ibid , Pt I , , , , , 4 , 483 . 48 ; Pt , I I , , ,

4 44 . 9 3 , 9 7 . I 329 5 1 . 3 . Ibid , Pt , , [e B E RT] THE AMERICA N LOYAL ISTS 1 3

al in Ye rm o nt loy ists were still resid ing , and it was said that no obj ection * was made to their presence there . ’ “ ” Sir e As for J lm Johnson s Royal Greens , they had no recourse ’ x bu t flight after St . Leger s disastrous attack on Ft . Stanwi on August

3 4 1 7 77 . and , Contrary to the confident expectations of Sir John , the Mohawk Valley lo y alists did not flock to his standards to any great ’ ’ extent , and when consternation struck St . Leger s c amp , Johnston s i n corps fled with the rest . Such part of it as was left tact after the precipitate retreat accompanied their leaders back to Oswego and thence to Montreal . Doubtless , the others took their course through the woods i to the same point , or to La Ch ne , whence they h ad started on the e x p e dit io n Hr l h ’ ’ ’ ’ Not on y Jo nson s and Mackay s corps , but al so Peters , Jessup s , ’ ’ ’ Mc Al in s p , Leake s , and Adams companies made their way to Canada 1 1 77 7 n in greater or less numbers . By December , , Captai Mackay was at Montreal , whence he made a return of the loyalists there , explain “ ing that they were d ivided into four corps . it Four and a h alf months later , he was at Chateauguay in the angle between the St . Lawrence and the northern boundary of New York with more than seventy of h is " 1 7 78 men At the close of January , , Lieutenant Colonel Peters was ’ 5 - at La Chine with ninety four of the Queen s Loyal Rangers . Captain ’ - “ Mc Al pin s force in Canada at th is time was seventy eight . With in 1 779 forty of these he was sent to Sorel May , , to succeed Sir John m Johnson in the co mand of several corps of loyalists at that post . Thence he wrote to Haldim and that he was forming a company for i Capta n Robert Leake , and that one of the Jessups had j ust left for the m ’ . e n . River St Francis with th irty According to orders , Leake s new 3 company was to consist of eighty men , but by June it had an enrol fl n - s ix ment of one hu dred and forty Toward the close of August , 1 778 W l , Captain i liam Fraser and his company of forty rangers were at

aux l i the Isle Noix . I n the fo low ng October a blockhouse was estab lis h e d l at Yam aska , a few mi es east of Sorel . Here Fraser and his a iso n in 1 arr . E 780 E men were placed as a g arly September , , benezer Jessup was at Quebec prosecuting a pl an to raise a new regiment— the King ’ s Royal Americans— which by the following December numbered * I 9 o B o f O nt . . 38 8 8 . Sec nd Report , ureau Archives , , Pt , , ' ’ St o ne B m n 2 1 9 n h n B T , urgoyne s Ca paig , ; Sir Joh Jo nso s Orderly ook , 9 7 8 n . 9 , , 0 1m . . 1 886 528 1 Arch , , . Ha ldi m n 1 6 7 . 1 2 . a d B . 7 1 73 Papers , , pp , 5 I 1 b kl , 59 . ° 1 0 7 . I bid . , 7

Ca n . . 1 888 6 6 1 6 1 84 887 442 . Arch , , , ; , 9 H ldi m 2 1 4 . . a and B . 55 Papers , , p 1 1 1 — Sec . , 19 3 1 1 4 TH E ROYA L SOCI ETY O F CANA DA

* 1 . 1 78 i r about sixty men In , Capta n Justus She wood furnished a L complete company for th is c o rp s ]

The return of these provincial regiments , whic h must have been followed clos ely by nu merous other sym pathizers with the British cause , was not overlooked by Governor Carleton . In order to supply the refugees with temporary support they were attached to Sir Joh n ’ 1 2 1 778 Johnson s regiment by an order of January , , and were directed n w to obey the orders of their new commander , whether co nected ith other corps or not . It was specified , however , t hat those who had surrendered un der the terms of the convention of Saratoga were to do l no military dut y . I Toward the end of the following Apri they were ’ i further provided for by a new order of Carleton s , which d rected that “ the sum of sterling be paid to Sir John for the present reli e f of ’

. n sun several corps of Royalists belonging to Gen Burgoy e s army , and i ” dry other persons who have taken refuge in this Prov nce , but was deducted for provisions issued to them during the previous six ’ ‘ r c arn ai n . months , that is , since the close of Bu goyne s p g The corps thus provided for are dul y designated in the records that have come w do n to us , and the strengt h of each is given in a series of subsistence

b i- h i 24 1 778 reports issued at mont ly ntervals from October , , to February ’ 2 1 M Al in 3 7 79 . c s y , The last of these reports shows that p part then ’ - e ssu s u consisted of eighty seven officers and men , J p party , of one h ndred ’ i — ’ and fourteen , Peters party , of s xty eight , Leake s party , of one hundred ’ - and forty , Adams party , of thirty nine , and that there were in addition t h irt e se v e n y persons not attached to parties , making a total of 1 778 ’ Toward the end of May , , Johnson s regiment , with all those attached , 3 was required to march to Quebec , evidently on their way to the ir W S . e post at Sorel , with John still in command find them here a

-r Mc Al in m yea later , when p ca e to relieve Johnson , in order that the h latter might devote himself to completin g is regiment . I n the mean ’ E time , Maclean s corps of Royal Highland migrants had made notable

fi in . Bv 9 headway since the day of its rst appearance Canada March , 1 779 l 6 1 6 m e n , the muster rol of its first battalion showed , including 7 ’ o fIi ce rs m m , many of its recruits having co e fro Sir John Johnson s ’ old neighborhood in the Mohawk Valley . M aclean s success in complet in g this battalion was promptl y rewarded by a royal order of April 1 6 that the corps be placed on the regular establishment and numbered

* 1 888 95 . Can . . 6 Arch , ,

-

222 . 1 0 7 . IIaldi m and B . T Papers , , p 49 Ib id 2 1 74 . 45 . I , , 3 , pp ,

M o r t in m 5 1 . y ers , The Tories Loy alis s A erica , 5 — - — 9 9 . 1 34 7 46 4 5 1 6 6 . Haldim a nd B . 8 3 3 8 5 Papers , , pp , , , ,

2 1 74 . 48 . Ibid . , , 3 , p 7 2 . B 1 73 . 9 Ibid . , . , p [S I EBERT] TIIE AMER ICAN LOYALISTS 1 5

- m i h E . t e ighty fourth Regi ent At the same time , the K ng directed that each of the ten co m panies be augmented from fifty privates to

m ' * e ve nt in A e i ic a . y , the augmentation t o be levied Nine months Haldim and later , however , Governor wrote to Germaine that he de ’ s aire d i p of Maclean s be ng able to accomplish this increase , and declared that even Sir John Johnson , with all h is endeavors , had not succeeded

lio n in completing his first b at t a . T

i r Despite this d scouraging repo t , the depleted ranks of the various loyalist corps that had been in active service now began to fil l with the numbers of Tories arriving in Canada . The largest additions ’ ’ appear t o have been made by Johnson s Royal Gre e ns I and J e ssup s ‘ ' A E - Royal mericans , but Maclean s first battalion of the ighty fourth ’ " ’ ’ -\l in s n l p American Volu teers , Peters Queen s Loya 7 and . Rangers , doubtless other corps received accessions But the corps were not left to be augm ented merely by volunteer enl istment . Their c om m anding offi cers were soon given permission to send recruiting n parties to the colo ies , and this method was constantly employed u d ring the remainder of the war . Its success will be suffi ciently illus ’ ra w 1 7 0 t t e d i . 8 in connection th Jessup s corps In July , , according to y l report , several lo alists were col ecting men beyond the borders of 8

C . E anada In the following December , Colonel benezer Jessup , who l m had a ready secured a considerable enrol ent for his new regiment , t was au horized to com plete it , and a month later to send men into the °

. E colonies for that purpose Maj or dward Jessup , the brother of E 1 782 benezer , was urging a continuation of the practice in January , , and in the foll owing May was able to report a com plement of seven m “ 66 m ” m co panies of more t han co plete (in each co pany , I suppose

m i s m he eans) , at the same t me a king permission to for another with W r- John alte mire as captain , John Ruiter as lieutenant , and Hermanus ‘ 0 Best as ensign . But evidently the organization of new companies did not stop here , for in June the Maj or sent a letter to Quebec contain fi ing a l ist of proposed of cers for two other companies . These were

filled during the next four months , a fact evidenced by another letter ,

* l i 50 . 80 . Ha d m and B . Papers , , p

2 1 - id . B 4 5 . 2 . l , . , pp 8 83

Se c o nd r f 2 7 9 7 1 B o O nt . . I . 35 35 36 3 0 386 4 9 I Repo t , ureau Archives , , Pt , , , , , , , 4 39 44 9 4 59 479 5 7 5 4 2 . 9 0 942 1 6 . , , , , , ; Pt . I I , , , 8

. 2 0 3 1 1 1 6 1 . 3 9 3 3 37 338 38 3 423 45 467 . 00 09 Ibid , Pt . I , , , , , , , , ; Pt I I , ,

Pt . 37 1 . 95 3 . I bid , I , ; Pt II ,

. 4 1 4 4 7 . 5 Ibid , Pt I , , . 7

. . 328 . Ibid , Pt I , ; Pt I I , 3 Ca n . . 1 88 8 649 . Arch , ,

. 692 1 887 7 Ibid , ; , 3 6 .

. 1 888 69 7 . Ibid , , 9 , 0 1 1 6 TH E ROYA L SOCIETY OF CANA DA

6 Ro v al on October , announcing that the corps of Americans was more ” ’ m e m i th an co plete . Neverth less , s all part es of recruits for Jessu p s corps continued to arrive at the Isle aux Noix and Dutc h m an ’ s Point W m 1 783 . as late as March , ith the approach of su mer , the regiment

e b y experi nced a slight loss in numbers , this deficiency being made u p d espatching th irty of the men from the Yamaska blockhouse to the i u i Isle aux No x in J ne . Judg ng from the corresponden ce of the time ,

e Vc rc h eres the companies under Maj or Jessup had their headquart rs at ,

l e on the east bank of the St . Lawrence , wh i e those und r Colonel Jessu p

were stationed at St . Johns and the neighboring posts . Toward the

close of November the corps was ordered disbanded . While recruiting was being carried on vigorousl y t o com plete and

n i n e w to maintai at full strengt h the existing loyalist reg ments . corps n 1 1 779 . C were also bei g organized On May , , Lieutenant olonel “ Robert Rogers was commissioned by Sir Henry C l in ton to raise two m battal ions of able bod ied rangers . Rogers was reco mended to

Hald im and , and in July asked the latter to grant passports to his

offi cers for the purpose of obtainin g recruits in Quebec . Two months k later , the Governor General fran ly informed Rogers that his officers “ l m i were on y losing ti e in Quebec , ow ng to the number of new levies not being yet completed in spite of every exertion to get the l o valis t s ” to j oin . He also advised the Colonel to go back to Penobscot where the latter claimed to h ave a force of seven hundred recruits . But , ’ Haldim and m later on , perm itted Colonel Rogers brother , Maj or Ja es

Rogers , to enlist men for one of the proposed battalions , on cond ition

r that h is ope a tions should be confined to the colonies . In order to

s complete three companie , recruiting parties were sent to Gloucester , t h e Green Mountains , and Ch arlotte and Cumberland counties in August 1 W 780 . in w omen and ch ildren were brought along ith the men , of — whom one hundred and thirty three j oined Rogers at St . Johns during

the next three months in a state of nakedness and great want . I n 1 782 i ’ January , , this detachment , which was called the K ng s R angers , — a numbered one hundred and ninety three men , the offi cers being Az riah

Pritchard , and Henry Ruiter , in add ition to M aj or Rogers . To the m l 1 783 . end of Apri , , the battalion for ed part of the garrison at St

Johns , then was made a source of supply of men for service aboard the

fleet on Lake Champlain , until the general order for the disbandment of the provincial corps was received in

n y y 1 781 A other corps or compan , first organized in Jul , , was that W of John . Myers , who had previously acted as a recruiting sergeant ’ m for Rogers detach ent . Myers engaged his men in the colonies ,

* 1 7 - 82 1 7 4 42 44 1 5 52 1 8 404 Haldim and Can . . 888 6 3 6 88 46 5 5 55 8 6 Arch , , ; , , , , , ; , ;

B - 1 7 34 1 . . 6 338 Papers , ,

1 8 TH E R OYA L SOCIETY O F CANA DA

i t h e an r from the beg nning of war , and we know from endless a ray m of notices , me orials , and petitions preserved in the official correspond

m re fuo e e s ence of the time that the peaceful ele ent among t he . includ B . y ing Quaker loyalists , was much l arger t han can ever be traced 1 7 76 the middle of January , the n u mber of unincorporated refugees with Sir John Johnson s corps was alre ad y sufficientl y large to require the attention of the authorities at Que b e c t Doubtless the other

m . loyalists regi ents had their share of dependent refugees . even at

arl v f this e date . That they had later is apparent from the o ficial

y i i enumerations of lo alists , ncorporated and un ncorporat ed , at the

y 1 1 7 79 various posts , these enumerations extending from Jul , . to 1 5 1 784 . September , l The enumeration of July , as wel as several succeeding it , is con fined to loyal ist ind ividuals and fam il ies receiving provisions from ’ the King s stores without charge , and cannot be regarded therefore as a complete census of all the loyalists at these posts Among others ,

i y - t y - sex on Ch am b l v it gives s xt eight as the number at Sorel , twen at , 24 and two hundred and nine at St . Johns . By October , there was a i off il t h e fall ng of about th irty at St . Johns , wh e the figures for other

y N o v e m b e two places remain relativel stationary . A week later , or l st , a report of the number of loyalists in mil itary service at the posts

y was issued . This , by comparison , is found to be supplementar to y the enumeration j ust preceding . It gives one hundred and fort

ffi y - six m s fo rt v - eight o cers and men for Sorel , thirt for Ya a ka , four ‘ for St . Johns , and omits Chambly altogether . D uring the next i three years , there was a m arked ncrease in the number of familic resorting for gratuitous food and shelter to t h e posts and depots with

wr . in the old d istrict of Montreal on both sides of the Riv e r St . La ence 24 1 780 s On November , , thi number , which was distributed at seven difi e re nt teen points , was Ten months later it had reached

24 1 1 82 at nine places ; by January , , it had risen to dis if b v 24 1 783 tributed at fourteen d ferent localities , and March , it had a y attained the maximum , so far as our statistics go , n mel , d is ” m t h e tributed again at seventeen posts and agazines , next return ,

fo rt v . o es four months later , showing a decl ine of about It g without saying th at the prin cipal forts in the territory south eas t of t h e St . Lawre n c eh t h e region we are concerned with h e rcg sh are d in this 5 Man increase of homeless exil es . v of these persons were from C har

* Haldim a nd B 1 3 3 7 . . 8 6 Papers , , p .

an . . C 1 885 2 52 . T Arch , , Haldim n 1 6 ° 6 . 9 1 1 4 1 a d B . 0 5 3 I Papers , , pp . , , , 4

. 4 5 . Ibid . , p 5 4 96 . 1 66 p . 6 S3 . Haldim B 1 1 70 B . 1 48 . 5 5 1 5 7 4 1 69 and . 1 6 , Papers , , pp , , . , : , p 1 2 7 1 29 , . [e B E RT] TH E AMER ICA N LOYALISTS 1 9

y . lotte and Tr on co unt ies and the City of Albany , in New York State while a smaller proportion of them c ame from New England .

The lull in this invasion was not to last long , if lull there was .

y 6 1 783 B August , , the foremost vessels of the fleet of nine trans

-s i l o v alis t s m port , which was to br ng in over seven hundred fro New

e n . York and its environs , wer passi g up the St Lawrence on their wav from Quebec to Sorel . New York was then in process of evacua W . tion , and so continued for the next four months hen the first

s Haldim and transport arrived at Quebec , discovered to his alarm W that the smallpox had broken out among the passengers . ithout delay he sent a physician to Sorel with proper assistance for their

relief , and instructions to take every precaution to prevent the spread m of the contagion a ong the inhabitants . He also directed Abraham m l in Cuyler , formerly ayor of A bany , but now a refugee serving as

spector of loyalists in the province , to visit that post for the purpose of seeing that those newly arrived were adequately lodged and other m wise provided for . At the same time , he sent a essage announcing w the arrival of another transport with loyalists , h ich he said , would * proceed immed iately to Sorel . The last vessel of the fleet arrived

at Quebec on August In a letter to Lord North two days before , “ ” Haldim and 700 referred to the arrival of from New York , and spoke in anticipation of measures for their rel ief and surveys for their

m in f ro v inc e l settle ent di ferent parts of the p i Meanwh i e , the sick , m who had been removed fro the fleet , were isolated in the hospital , all vaccinated , and soon convalescing to the satisfaction of con

cerned . A report sent to Haldim and stated that the whole body of loyalists at Sorel seemed contented and pleased with their present ‘ situation . The size of this b o dv which was d upl icated by similar

n r compa ies at Montreal and other posts on the St . Law ence , appears m from a census taken five onths later . This showed approximately

e —five seven hundred p rsons , of whom one hundred and eighty were

—five men , one hundred and thirty women , and the rest children l 5 together du y recorded as desirous of settl ing in Canada . About the middle of October two additional transports arrived from New

VanA lst ine - York , bringing Captain and one hundred and eighty two

other loyalists , men , women and ch ildren , who were quartered at 6 Sorel .

* Haldim n M a d d t o C0 1. a r . B 1 39 . 4 v Ha ldim an 3 9 350 : G o . P pe s . , pp , acbean ,

A u . 1 6 1 783 m t o s m 2 1 a e A u . 7 g , ; sa e , g 5 , 83 . l b id . 1 4 8 . 1 . B . 7 t , , p 6

I 7- 2 b id B . 64 6 5 . 5 I , p p , 5 5 . ‘

1 . . B . . 34 : 8 1 783 . 1 38 3 M t o Ha ldim a nd . bid , II I , , p acbean , Sept , 5

. 1 68 B . 7 . I bid , , p . “ - . 1 48 . 1 7 . 7 2 1 6 . 4 6 1 . B 4 B . 5 6 5 6 7 69 B 1 6 5 . Ibid , , p p ; , p p , , ; . , p 20 TH E R O YA L SOCI ETY OF CANADA

V ' li r e i c e e s . C The enlisted refugees at Sorel , , St Ours , hambly , and m m St . Johns were nu eric ally a less constant factor than their un ilitary m brethren , and especially the loyal ist wo en and their famil ies . The me n belonging to the loyalist corps at these and the neighboring posts were constantly called into requ isition for scouting , secret ser vice , and recruiting parties . Such service had its peculiar temp t at io ns , especially towards the end of the war , for complaint was m ade of a disposition am ong the loyalist soldiers to desert ; and Haldi n i 1 783 mand fou d it necessary , in the spr ng of , to forbid officers to send parties of them into the colonies without the special perm ission

- in - w y of the commander chief , and he also arned the lo alists them selves that any who shoul d presum e to leave the province without

< permission would be deemed deserters and pun ished ac c o rdingl y fi

That the fam il ies of those who withdrew from uncongenial soil in e accompanied them many cases , or were led out at an early opp r i ub t un t d o t . y in other cases , there can be no T I n numerous other n l i i stances , however , fami ies of refugee loyal ists were brought nto n Canada u der flags of truce , a system that was in operation on Lake

l 1 778 if . Champl ain from the fal of , not earlier This method made practicable the exch ange of dependents and prisoners of war , and was regul arly employed throughout the rem ain der of the contest . As i the British were in control of the lake , the r vessels and batteaux were in constant requ isition for the conveyance of aggregations of l n au l Sk e ne sb o ro u h i fami ies from Poi te Fer , Mi l Bay , g , Crown Po nt , n and other convenient places to St . Johns , whence they were sent u der guidance to various localities to j oin husbands and fathers from W whom they h ad been separated by the exigencies of war . e hear n of the arrival of Messrs . Campbell and Stevens at St . Joh s about r20 1 778 s Septembe , , under a flag of truce with a loyali t party of r fam ilie s i eighteen , partly made up of thei own Three days l ater , a A C number of famil ies arrived from lbany and the onnecticut River , ‘ and were at once placed in charge of scouts to be conducted to Sorel . l i l re About the middle of the fol ow n g July a simi ar group , who had l c e nt . t y come under flag to St Johns from Benning on , in southwestern i in Vermont , were sent to j oin the r connections , some of whom were 5 rs o . the immediate neighborhood , the othe being at S rel Once more , 1 n about September , St . Joh s served as a gateway t o Canada for loyal

* R ie s d l B 8 42 1 u n t o Ge n . e e Haldi m a nd 9 . 36 Papers , . 1 3 , pp , ; nsig ed letter ,

. 1 1 7 . 9 1 7 82 Haldi m and t o Rie se d e l Mar. 3 83 Dec , ; , , 86 329 444 Se c o nd B of Ont . . T Report , ureau Archives , , Pt I , , , ,

1 7 . Can . . 88 338 I Arch , ,

Ibid . 5 44 Ibid . , 3 . [s m us nr ] THE A MERICAN LOYALISTS 2 1

ist women and children led in by two men , probably under the white * ' E in 1 7 80 l au 20 flag . arly March , , a f ag arrived at Point Fer with

n in - l sleighs , bri ging seventy three men , women and chi dren , exclu ” n sive of drivers . The letter contai ing this information adds in post ’ - A script that th irty two persons had j ust arrive d . r nother letter an n o un c in W g the arrival of famil ies is that of illiam Fraser to his sons , W l J r. Captain i liam , , and Thomas , who were stationed at the Yam “ 1 . 0 aska blockhouse near Sorel . I t is dated Near Ft George , May , 1 780 , and as the location of the sons was unknown to the parent “ the missive was simply addressed to them in the Province of Canada . The revelation of the hardsh ips endured by these fugitives is so typ ical ff of the trials of this class in their e orts to reach rel atives and friends , who had already claimed the protection of the land of refuge , that the Fraser letter is deserv ing of more than passing notice . I t told i in the sons that their mother , wives , and ch ldren were good health that their father had ge t pe rmission in the previous fall to remove to o ff i Canada , had sold a great part of his moveables , but , be ng delayed , i i had obta ned a p ass to send on the women and ch ldren . However , the drivers of the two sleds employed for the purpose had found the creeks unfrozen and the roads bad , and had left the party at Lake re George , except Mrs . Fraser , Sr . , and one of the boys , who had turned with the sleds . The l etter went o u to say that when the ground had become settled Mr . Fraser secured a wagon to take Mrs . Fraser in a back to the party , the expectation of a flag from Can da as soon as the lake should be open , but that they had waited so long that they h ad almost given up hope . The letter stated further that t hey were living chiefly at the expense of the poor loyalists and closed with the “ ’ ’ pathetic appeal ; I have T urn d myself out of Doors for y r sakes and ’ ’ ’ for God s sake Don t you Neglect us But Do y r Best to get us into I t is pleasant to know th at these people reached their n destination , fou d their relatives , and that the aged father was granted a pension , albeit a small one , for h is loyalty . Protected by the symbol of amity , additional fam il ies from the colonies were brought to St . Johns about September and others were sent back from Pointe au Fer in the foll owing month with a letter to the commanding offi cer 5 l . 1 78 1 at A bany I n May , , Colonel Tupper wrote from the l atter place that he was sending in women and children who wished to j oin their husbands and fathers and that he trusted that those in Canada would

4 n 3 6 . Ca . . 1 8 7 Arch , 8 ,

l id . , 347 .

Haldim d 2 1 4 . 1 90 a n B . I Papers , , p . ‘ Can . . 1 887 350 . Arch , ,

2 . Ibid . , 35 22 TH E ROYAL SOCI ETY O F CANADA

‘ 4 ( m ’ l lm z be returned in exchange . On J uly , the ship reported the

arrival of a fl ag of tru ce wit h famil ies at C rown Point . The group

m - o h ns m co prised twenty five persons and was taken to St . J i A onth

e m T um b ull t ia . lat r , other fa ilies received on board the r were sen , The Quebec authorities now ord ered t h e fa m il ies and prisoners of the

e ne m de t aine d . y , in Montreal and other posts , to be assembled at St Johns for deportation to Ske ne s b o ro ugh under Maj or F av and Wil ’ r rrv l iam Marsh . I t requi e d six batteaux to c a Marsh s conting ent of

one hundred and seventeen people , old and young , and he returned ,

1 4 o ne b e on September , with hundred and thirteen in exchange , i — long ng to twenty three lo y alist families , eight being men , twenty “ m - l T um . E three wo en , and eighty two chi dren arly in October , the r bu w m ll C in . e was dispatched to ro n Point to fetch the Rev J l Stuart , who was waiting there under a flag of truce with fourteen women and " - l 1 783 thirty nine chi dren At the end of May , , two groups of fami

lies were sent to St . Johns , one under a flag from New York State , m the other under similar protection fro Vermont . It was officially reported at the same time that about 200 more ” were already assembled at Sk ene sb o ro ugh awaitin g conveyance and that others “ ” 6 l . were expected every day . I n the fo lowing November , Dr George

Smyth and Mr . Man went to the States with a number of famil ies and

e w prisoners for exchange , and the latt r is kno n to h ave returned with 7 some . It woul d be easy to supplement the above l ist with many other in fi stances , but a suf cient number has been cited to indicate the frequency m i of recourse to flags of truce along the shores of Lake Cha pla n , and the facility thus afforded to l o valist famil ies to reunite in the l and of

their refuge . I t is no exaggeration to say that these fatherless groups took full advantage of their opportunities in the open season during the

greater part of the Revolution , flocking in like parties of summer ex cursio nist s i , and sometimes braving the severities of a northern w nter in their eagerness to leave behind the l and of their sorrows and fears

y il and reach the goal of safety and loyalt , where fugit ive or ex ed kin

dred were already awaiting them . However the white flag was not the onl y means of rescuing loy alists

Haldim and i from their l and of bondage . Governor ordered ncursions of the Mohawk Valley with the definite purpose of affording such persons

* Can . . 1 7 88 364 . Arch , ,

id . 9 1 87 4 9 . l , 8 , l 0 l i . 5 ) d 0 . I , 4 2 . 3 2 4 5 02 33 . 33 5 0 6 1 . Ibid , , , , 36 . 3 5 . 0 62 1 5 3 888 80 8 . Ibid , 3 , ; , 0 . 1 8 7 506 . Ibid , 8 , 7 5 0 . Ibid . , 9 [e B E RT] TH E A LLERICAN LOYAL ISTS 23

1 7 1 7 0 y y . 8 an opportunit to escape On March , , an appeal of lo alists w w Hal dim and at Johnsto n , New York , was for arded to , in which they Th e v as ked for a pilot to lead them into Canada . decl ared that other s t h e v l i u wi e wou d be compelled to j o n the enemy , or , refusing , wo ld y i be sent to Alban in irons , whil st their property was conf scated and

s their house destro y ed . The Governor communicated this to S ir John

y i l Johnson at Montreal a few davs later , sa ng that he wou d send a vessel ” " to the lake early in Mav to receive these un happy p e o ple fi In reply Sir Je lm proposed an expedition b v way of Lake Cham plain to Gill is

' land , or Split Rock , and thence to h is own estates in order to encourage ” y ff m lo alists to come o and to distress the e ne v . T The date fixed for the departure of the expedition from St . Johns was about May th ird . I The forces under S ir John ’ s command numbered five hundred and twenty “ i o wn eight men . compris ng some British soldiers , a detachment of his ”

Ro v al . regiment of Greens , and about two hundred Indians and Tories The invaders were carried b y vessel to West Bay where t h e v l anded on

May 1 1 s w . . thence to proceed through the woods to Joh n to n This

t h e v in y i march accomplished ten da s , mov ng with such secrecy that t he v y s l o valis t s completel surpri ed the inhabitants , except the resident 3 w s y y at ho e instance the had come . The expedition was entirel suc ful c e ss b y 3 at . , and June Sir John was back St Johns having brought 6 o ff u fi v one h ndred and ft v lo alist s and many prisoners . He also brought ' “ o h b e in eight negroes , whom permitted t he Indians to dispose of to ” 7 i habit ants of Montreal and others . Apparently , the ent re bod y of y rescued lo alists accompanied their liberator on h is return to Montreal , " y in i and most of them promptl enl isted his regiment But , accord ng g l to Bri ad ier General A lan Maclean , commandant at th is place , about

y t o . fort of them decl in ed j oin any corps He , therefore , suggested to ’ Hald im and s secretary the propriety of putting them in prison , on the l score that such a number of loose , idle fe lows were a menace to the 9 y H n . aldim a d communit This refused to allow , saying that some em 10 ’ ployment would be found for them . But , according to Sir John s 1 2t h y n report of June , these unincorporated lo al ists were already earni g

* n . 1 ldim . Ca . 7 Ha and 88 347 : Ma . t o Arch , . ( j Carleton ) Ha ldim and ( t o Sir J elm Johnson . )

‘ ’ Can . 1 88 648 . I Arch 8 .

6 49 . "Ibid . , 1 1 8 7 1 9 o 7 . 8 3 n B f A m . Ibid , , : Sto e , order W ars the Rev I I , 5 f t h m B o e A . . Stone , order W ars Rev , I I

Can . . 1 887 . 474 54 6 Arch , 7 1 . 888 9 . Ibid , , 64 3 9 6 4 . Ibid . .

Ca n . c 1 887 300 . Ar h . 8 . 3 1 Ibid . . 24 TH E ROYA L SOCI ETY O F CANA DA

o wn w their livel ihood , and , ith the exception of a few , were costing the m govern ent noth ing .

' At least two later exped itions in behalf o f lo y alists were authori zed

Haldim and by , one of whic h was carried into execution in the autumn 1 7 0 8 . of and the other a year later The earlier of these , l ike the one

was above narrated , suggest ed , pl anned , and led b y Sir John Johnson , n h im i and was evidently i tended by to br ng in a fresh su pply of recruits . Sir John was now engaged in raising his second battalion ; Tand . although he h ad sent several loyalists into the States to collect men in the l atter “ Haldim and 1 0 : part of July , he wrote to , August Recruits cannot be expected from the Colonies unless a force be sent to encourage them ” m to come o ff. A party of fifteen recruits came in fro the Mohawk m ten days later , and reported that more would have co e but for the

l Indians rt approach of the hosti e Oneida l Meantime , sim il ar pa ies m were constantly arriv ing at St . Johns and Cha bly , and continued to do so during the fall of Some of these men were destined to ’ fil l suffi c i the ranks of Johnson s corps ; nevertheless , there seemed to be m 9 ent reason for sending out the proposed exped ition , and , Septe ber , Haldim and wrote to Sir Henry Clin ton that he h ad ordered a detach

ment of six hundred picked troops , together with a contingent of “ y I ndians , to march from Oswego to Schenectady in order to destro ” 5 the crops and favour the escape of the loyal ists . At th is time Sir n John and his troops were at La Ch i e , near Montreal , preparing to pass 6 1 u p the St . Lawrence to Oswego . By October , he was at the latter ’ place awaiting the arrival of a body of Butler s Rangers and another Wh of Mohawks un der Chief Brant from Fort Niagara . en ready to ’ 7 move Johnson s forces , accord ing to Stone , consisted of three companies o wn m of his regiment of Greens , one company of Ger an Yagers , another W n . e of British regulars , and the Niagara conti gents j ust mentioned are not concerned here with the inc idents of the expedition , except m to note that it failed in its pri ary obj ect , that is , the securing of a ’ considerable body of recruits . Johnson s explanation was that the “ loyalists and others had been forced into the forts , so that men could ” not be ge t . But he left behind a few trusty guides to bring in such “ recru its as they m ight collect , and reported that one of these h ad ” ff h ri gone o with 20 or 30 men from the back of Co no j o a e . After com

* Can . r . 1 888 649 . A ch , , b id 1 8 8 “ , 8 , 648 . 1 . 6 50 . 1 bid , 4 4 1 1 9 0 9 . 3 6 1 0 . 6 1 887 350 454 A u . 20 23 27 30 . . Ibid , , , g , , , ; Sept , , ; Oct , ,

N o v . 1 22 2 , , 5 . 5 Can . . 1 7 47 88 5 . Arch , , 1 Ibid . , 888, 65 1 . 7 f A m B o . 1 05 . order W ars the . Rev. , I I

26 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

’ i second battalion to the King s Royal Regiment of New York , plac ng ’ C "" s it under Johnson s command , with aptain John Ross as maj or Th i

action was taken in the latter part of J uly . As the death of Maj or Mc A l in i Daniel p , adj utant of the several prov ncial corps at Sorel , ’ r i Sir occurred at this time , h is men were encou aged to j o n John s regim ent fi and probably many of them entered the second b at t al io n i It is also probable that the men enrolled by Jerem iah French were in ‘ c o r o rat d n e . p with this battalion By the end of November , Sir Joh was able to make the assertion that he h ad enlisted “ upwards of h w s s t e . a thousand men , meaning , doubtle s , from beginning of the ar

Meanwhil e , a part of the second battalion under M aj or Ross , i ’ Capta n Robert Leake s I ndependent Company from Sorel , and o ther 6 m 1 78 1 troops were sent to Carleton Island . In Septe ber , , Ross received instructions concern ing an intended expedition to the Mohawk River

and frontiers of Pennsylvania , in which he and h is forces were to p ar i 7 t ic p at e in conn ection with troops and Indians from Niagara . Toward

Haldim and r i m the end of the same month , w ote to nfor Sir Henry i ni Clinton of this ncursion , explai ng that it was partly to coerce Vermont “ in to loyalty and partly to afford loyalists an opportunity to escape ” n 8 4t h from the oppression they labour u der . On October , Ross with f two hundred and fi ty troops and about sixty I ndians , accord ing to

an official report of the time , left Carleton Island for Oswego , where he was j oined by the contingent from Niagara under C aptain Walter

N . Butler , with but few Indians and these of such a character t hat “ ” 9 Ross described them as t he refuse of different tr ibes . From Oswego n 1 1 t h b y the march i land began on the , and was ac companied the usual devastation of the enemy ’ s country until Johnstown was reached on

25t h wli e n W i i v the , Colonel illett and his Cont nentals engaged t he n aders W and forced them to retreat . It was during this retreat th at alter

i D o c k st e dder Butler was k lled , and Lieutenant , another loyalist , met

* Can r . 1 8 663 666 723 1 88 444 . . 88 ; A ch , , , , 1 1 id . 888 665 1 1 7 2 l , , , 66 ; 88 , 44 . i a 1 8 88 6 53 65 5 . t bi , , , 4

. 67 0 699 . Ibid , , 5 Can . . 1 888 6 53 . Arch , , 6 7 Ibid . , 66 . 7 7 4 . 1 88 248 2 9 . Ibid , , , 8 5 . Ibid . , 53 9 m m . 283 284 . n n b and m Ibid , , The u bers give y Stone Ca pbell are uch larger “ than those quoted above : Stone say s the exp edi tion consisted o f four com pa ni es o f ' n n n B n r n o f M the seco d battalio Colo el utler s ra ge s , u der the direction aj or B hi s s o n a nd t wo n nd n n m n in o ne n utler , , hu dred I ia s ; u beri g all , about thousa d ” m r h A m Re v II . e n m m n o f M . Bo e a o t e , under the co a d aj or Ross ( rd W rs f . , “ m m t o 60 7 m e n 47 7 B and and 1 30 Ca pbell reduces the nu ber , ritish Tories , n n Bo der Wa a e o N e w Yo k I dia s . ( r rf r f r , [s rrz B r-z rrr] TH E AMERICAN LOYALISTS 27

re t ir h is death in the woods . But there is no evidence to show that the ing force drew a following of Tories in its wake . ’ Scarcely more than a week after Ross s expedition had left Oswego , l i the surrender of Cornwa l s occurred at Yorktown , and h is army of more than seven thousand men became prisoners of war . In the gloom of this disas ter the Canadians entertained fresh anticipations of an “ attack on Canadafi‘< A frontier officer wrote to Haldim and that only ” n powerful al liances or a miracle could save the cou try . Scouts and patrols were sent out from Sorel and Yamaska , as well as from the more l advanced posts , whi e recruiting parties were not permitted to terminate f r l 1 their e fo t s unti late in the summer of 783 . T

Meantime , the need of establ ishing the loyalists in permanent i 1 778 settlements was becom ng more and more urgent . In October , , Haldim and y h ad establ ished a loyalist colon at Machicho , on the north i side of Lake St . Peter . I n November of the year follow ng , Maclean wrot e to Quebec that he was being so plagued with “ royal ists real and ” pretended at Montreal that he wished Governor Haldim and would “ ” e m Ma ish Mac h ic h e d u have th m all re oved to p p ( ) or Pointe Lac , “ ” h w r t e v e e . which was near by , as they were doing no good where I — H is protest which was more forcible than elegan t in its language

e secured prom pt attention at the seat of governm nt , and Maclean was accordingly commanded to send a part of his troubleso m e lo y alists to ’ n i M Al in c s . j oi Capta n p Royal Americans at St Ours , on the east s ide

r of the St . Lawrence . At first the pe s ons selected for removal raised obj ection , on the score of their inability to pay for the conveyance of W their families . hen this obj ection was met and conveyance was “ 3 6 W prov ided , they fl atly refused to go to the number of besides omen C M ’ W and hildren , according to aclean s report . hether this attempted m m m removal was intended to be a te porary arrange ent erely , or the beginn ing of a permanent settlem ent of loyal ists with in the territory bet

S is . ween the t . Lawrence and the New York boundary a m atter of doubt

1 778 Hald im and E In the fall of , had recommended to the ngl ish governm ent the purchase of the Seigniory of Sorel with the obj ect of m strengthening the post and garrison there , dee ing the situation of

m c o rres o n great advantage . This atter continued to be a subj ect of p dence between the Governor and Lord Geo rg e Germ aine to the end of 1 782 Haldim and March , , when received definite instructions from the

Lords of the Treasury regarding the purchase , which he was authorized ‘ . t e C to make Several months before his d cision was reached , aptain

* C n . . 1 8 0 a 8 7 39 ff . Arch , , , id 1 88 728 1 1 l 8 , , 729 , 730 , 6 8 , 6 9 .

Hald 1 . 4 1 . im a nd 1 29 . 56 B . B 3 1 t Papers , , p ; . , p 1 9 1 Ca n . . 0 1 885 324 33 2 73 28 2 1 3 5 . Arch , , , , , , , 28 T H E RO YA L SOCI ETY O F CANADA

Breh m suggested the Sorel d istrict as an availabl e pl ace for a s ettlem ent

. C of loyal ists Stationed at Montreal , the aptain had ample opportunity to observe the hardships endured by the inhabitants among whom the ’ Haldirn and s refugees were quartered . H e c alled attention to the fact that the citizens were required to furnish the loyal ists with firewood

and with carriages when they moved , while the government would be

burdened with the expense of their subsistence until the war should close . He therefore inquired about the fe as ib ilit v of granting these people “ c tracts of l and either on Lake St . Fran cis or at the pla es called the ” Mulline t s and Milles Roches , where they might build their own houses

and cultivate their own lands . He spoke particularly of the nu mber of women and children belonging to the men of Sir John Johnson ’ s

corps , and suggested the possibility of giving them lands in the Seigniory l of Sorel , where they m ight l ive independently , even wh i e the men were l absent on mil itary serv ice . This , he thought , wou d be in keeping ’ l * with the Governor s idea of a m i itary colony to protect the frontier . The suggestions of Captain Brehm anticipated by about a year

and a half the royal instructions relative to the settlement of Sorel .

Haldim and 1 783 These instructions were received by in the summer of , and formed a part of the general instructions for the allotment of lands to such refugee loyalists as were desirous of becom ing settlers in the

o any Province of Quebec . Lands were als to be assigned to non i ’ commissioned off cers and privates of the King s forces , who had been n reduced in the provi ce and were prepared to settle there . The special provisions relating to Sorel call ed attention to the e x p e die n cy o f a prompt settlement of that seigniory by as many persons of approved loyalty

Haldim and as possible , and directed Governor to assign small allot ments of the disposable lands of the district to non - com missioned f o fi cers , privates , and other loyalists . The siz e of the allotments was left to the discretion of the Governor - Gene rah t

Soon after the above instructions were received , the contingent of seven hundred loyalists from New York landed at Sorel , and were given temporary lodgings at that post until they should be sent out to form their permanent settlements in various localities . Among these W f was Captain Alexander hite , l ate sherif of Tryon County , who had B been in charge of the associates aboard the transport le cket . i M any W of the New Yorkers , including Captain hite , were attracted by the i w advantages of their new location in a reg on already populous , ith an l excel ent harbor on the St . Lawrence , a fine frontage on the River or n Chambly Richel ieu , and an abu dance of government land to be

* H 299 a ldi m and B 74 . 1 Can. . 8 8 6 544 . Papers , . , p ; Arch , , Th i ’ r 1 90 xi . d B o f Ont . 5 lm v T Report , ureau Archives , , , l i , lxiii ,

Se e ante . . I , p 1 9 [ S IEBE RT] THE AME RICAN LOYALISTS 29

W h is l i . had for t he ask ng hite and fel ow exiles , of whom a large part

an if w were mech ics and tradesmen , believed that a to n were established l y at Sorel , the place wou d soon become a center of trade , industr , and y 1 7 4 W i . 8 shipbu lding Accordingl , at the end of March , , hite appl ied

Haldim and s e s to for grants of land for h im lf and h is a sociates , evidently on condition that a town should be provided . The applicant received a prompt repl y that his request for land would be cheerfull y complied w l “ with , but that the situation of a to n wou d necessarily require i di W i Despite t h s indefinite understan ng , h te and a number of others decided to remain and take up farm lots , apparently l bel ieving that the town wou d be laid out within a few months .

May 1 784 C l r — I n , John o lins , who was deputy su veyor general , was sent to Sorel to distribute lot-s to a few loyalists whose names were

specified , and to suc h others as wanted lands for actual occupation ; but he was not to grant to any one more th an a single lot of sixty acres . W hen a town site shoul d be determined upon mechanics and tradesmen m W who had settled on far lots were each to be allowed a town lot . ith

- i - i n . W the exception of Maj or Jessup , his son law , Mr alker , Capta n i s n Barnes , Capta n Glei senberg , and Lieutena t French , eac h of whom

ll - Th v a s . e was assigned a lot . settlers were to draw for their lot might i if . afterwards exchange these among themselves , they wished Sim lar h settlements were established at Chambly and St . Jo ns within the w region southeast of the St . La rence , while many other colonies were establis hed outside of this region . A census of the number of disbanded troops and loyalists settled on crown lands in the Province of Quebec , 1 7 4 t h e . 8 including St Lawrence townsh ips , during the year shows

y 5 500 . e approximatel Of these settlers , less than eight hundred receiv d

y i n nanre d ro al grants the neighborhood of the three posts above , 1 m J o h ns 3 6 66 3 75 . namely , at Sorel at Cha bly , and at St t y Of the subsequent h istor of the refugee settlers at St . Johns and h m v a C a b l we know nothing . Of those who took up l nds at Sorel we

' W - l i catch some later glimpses . hen Deput y Surveyor General Co l ns s i i 1 784 di tributed lots to the loyalists at th s post in the spr ng of , the

n e . site of the proposed tow had not yet been chosen , as we have s en above Nor had it been when Haldim and withdrew from the governor general n ship in the middle of the followi g November . Then , for almost two years the administration was conducted by temporary appointees in

r y the persons of Hen Ham ilton and Colonel Henry Hope . Neither of w these offi cials took it upon himself to establish a to n at Sorel . But soon after the arrival of Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton) as governor ’ 23 1 786 fo rt v W general . October . some of hite s associates made known

* Hal m . 1 di and B 5 . 1 1 7 6 36 3 . Papers , , pp ,

Ib . id 21 829 . 1 00 1 1 1 . T , , , pp , 9 — Sec . I I , 1 1 3 2 30 THE ROY A L SOCIETY O F CANAD A to his lordship their g reat disappoint m ent in not securing a to u n and ventured to rem ind h im that he had commissioned their leader to fetch them from New York to the province in which they now found them

o r o o r selves without lands tools enou g h for farming , and without the p p f tunity o following their former occupations . Encouraged by the i y m k ndl treatment they had received fro Dorchester in the past , these memorialists did not close their petition until they had revealed the whole list of grievances ; they told h im of the departure from Sorel of m any good tradesmen ; of the com plete stoppage of their provisions since

m w y alle e d in " September of the favoritis sho n , as the g , the d i t rib ut io n n m of clothing ; of their l ack of farmi g imple ents , l ive stock , and n i tillable land ; of their inabil ity to obtai th ngs on credit any longer , since that was gone ; of the granting of lots to people who , they said . had no

l y i i e i right to them ; and , fina l , br ng ng up again th ir chief gr evance , m they besought Dorchester to orde r that a town b e laid out for the . n Duri g the preceding su mmer , these and other grievances of the m refugees at Sorel had been aired before a board of com issioners , which Lieutenant Governor Hope had appointed to investigate disturbing m m cond itions in several loyalist settlements . These co issioners had

n t Haldim an d reported , among other th i gs , hat Governor had held out to such tradesmen as should settle at Sorel that a town would be estab “ ” lish e d n and a tow lot granted to each , and that the annual expectation of this town lot had in duced many persons to remain loiterin g about with l u noth ing better to do than take up im aginary grievances and j e a o sie s .

k no r m Doubtless this report became to Lord Dorchester , and , thereby seemed to call for another statement from those with whom m it dealt . At any rate , such a state ent was forthcoming in December ,

1 7 ll y w 86 . It represented that the settlers h ad fu expected the to n in 1 784 l n to be laid out , and a supply of materials for b u i di g , utensils , n and other thi gs to be furnished at the same time . It declared that ’ Haldim and s intention was to give such assistance as wo uld m ake Sorel “ ”

wn . n a city , or at least a trading to It compl ai ed that the settlers

‘ had not yet received the deeds for their farm lots . It repeated the i i earl ier compla nts about the poor quality of their land , the r l ack of

i . farm ng tools , and their dire need of food and clothing It closed with an appeal for such relief as would keep the petitioners and their fellow f su ferers from perishing . There can be no doubt that Dorchester ,

y s i always the friend of the lo al i ts , answered this memorial w th the relief asked ; and the accompanying plan shows that he took prom pt measures y to establish the town , which the refugees at Sorel needed so sorel from * the beginning . “ * B un o f l in mini n dle Grievances the Loy a ists at Sorel the Do o Archives , at

t Om . Ot awa , 3 [S IEBERT] THE AME RICAN LOYALISTS 1

I f the year 1 784 was the first of several years of disappointment i for the settlers at Sorel , it was a year of fulf lment of hopes for hundreds of other loyalists , who had made their headqu arters at this and other stations on and o ff the Richelieu River . Numbers of these people departed from this region to form settlement-s at m ore or less remote i 1 784 " . points in pper and Lower Canada Thus , by the end of Apr l , , Captain William Fraser and h is Royal Rangers from Yamaska were * i way i mov ng to Montreal , to be forwarded by of La Ch ne to the upper country on the west side of the St . Lawrence . During the following

wa r month , Sorel astir with preparations for the early departure of one

an l . large party under Messrs . V A stine and Grass up the St Lawrence

Cat ara ui K t o to q ( ingston) , and of another down he river the B ay

h r was Ch ale ursfl t e . of r At ame time , St Johns the scene of similar activities on the part of t h e provincial corps under Maj ors Jessup and Ro z e rs which were soon to settle on the great river in what are now the counties of Leeds , Grenville , and Addington , and in the country about the Bay of Quint" in the Province of Ont ario . l; i Despite this exodus of prov ncial troops , it must not be supposed that the onl y loyalis ts who found homes within the region the rangers

e . were now l aving were the eight hundred at St Johns , Chambly , and m Sorel . Doubtless , any others h ad settled quietly in various com m unit ie s long before the British g overnment took any steps to com

j e nsat i . p American Tories for the r adherence , losses , or services I n m “ — deed , there were nu bers of ministerial tools as they were some — tim es dubbed b y their foes who deliberately chose their abodes in localities that Haldim and expressly wished them to shun . To the ’ e i Gov rnor General s m nd , the Canadian frontier along the New York 1 782 boundary was unsuited to loyal ist occupation . I n September , , — he h ad ih h is o wn wo rds received letters from Vermont and th e ” m Colonies reporting that a number of fa ilies , rebel as well as loyalist , m were co ing to settle on the borders of Lake Champl ain . He dis o f f approved this because , he said , it would a ford means of conveying news to the enemy , and create a rendezvous for deserters and rebel m 1 782 . in emissaries He therefore undertook , early Nove ber , , to discourage the proj ect by send ing word into the States that noth ng ‘ of the kind would be permitted . One of those who helped to m ake k w t h is r no n prohibition was Captain Justus She wood , who was in m m ’ 4 1 7 83 co and of some loyal ists at Dutchman s Point . O n April , , t h e Captain wrote to the auth orities at Quebec that he had taken

* Ha ld im 7 d B . 0 . a n . 38 3 Papers , 1 , p

3 4 7 9 383 . I id . 7 3 T b . , pp , , — 1 20 1 7 . h e av it t . o f e and G n Ont . 6 6 t , Hist L eds re vil le , , , H 4 . aldim a nd B 9 . 3 5 . 1 3 Papers , , p 32 TH E ROYAL SOCI ETY O F CANADA

’ every pains t o assure \ e rm o nt e rs of Haldim and s d etermination to " m e prevent settle ents on the fronti rs , and had even spec ified th e m boundaries beyond which they must not presu e to improve , namely , E Middlebury Falls , North and ast , for the west side , and t he chain of the G reen M ountains for t h e eastern boundary of the Connectic ut

River people . w m This question was raised , of course , by the new aves of im i ra i n g t o that flowed in during the closing scenes of the Revolution . 1 782 n n In March , , Captai Sherwood transmitted i telligence from “ Al bany that there were great nu m bers of lo y alists in N e w York and the Massachusetts provinces ” who wished to remove to Canad a

i m l l a c e w with the r fa i ies , provided a p ere available where they could settle and support themselves without any expense to go ve rn m e nt j

In the following M ay , General St . Leger wrote from Montreal to Quebec concerning “ many persons under the designation of Loyalists l ately come from the colonies ” who were travelling abo ut in h is neighbor “ d r hoo ; In the latter pa t of June of the same year , word also came e i from Maj or John Nairn , at the Isle aux No x , of people detained “ there and at the Loyal Blockhouse who wished above all things for ” leave to settle in Canada . I n view of the distress of some of these

in all persons , the Maj or asked permission future to forward those of 4 1 n . E l 783 . whose fidelity he felt assured arly in Apri , , the Rev Ran a Co ssit l m n i , of H averhi l , Massachusetts , sent a com u ication to Capta n Sherwood that his parishioners had stood firm for the Crown in spite of persecution , but that now , terrified by the storms likely to arise , they wished to know if there was not room for them in the King ’ s wi dominions . He added , th pathos , that though they had been made 5

all . poor by the war , they asked was the protection of the l aws

’ Haldim and s obj ections to the settl ing of the frontier did not put a stop to the series of petitions requesting his consent for large Onl v parties of loyalists to take up their residence there . two months ’ after Sherwood s efforts to d e sse m in at e ' t h e adverse views of the Gover

-s e nor General , some loyal ist presented a memorial for p rmission to settle ’ 6 on Caldwell s M anor . The m anor occupied the larger part of the broad tongue of l and between the Richel ieu River and Missis squo i Bay at the f i y northern end of Lake Champl ain . A ter another nterval of sixt

' W m y in s . days illiam Marsh , a Ver ont lo al i t at St Johns , sent (August

* 1 8 7 . Ca n . . 888 3 Arch , , 1 65 B 1 . Haldim and . 38 . T Papers , , p

1 0 . 1 24 . l b id . B I , . 3 , p 1 9 . 9 . Ibid . , p 5 1 3 7 . Can . . 888 8 Arch , , 0 1 7 . . 9 Ibid , 88 , 3

34 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

plan for the speedy settlem ent. of t h e n orthern part of Verm ont and * the Grand Isle by the distressed loyal ists then in the States . At the m same time , several other men ca e to Captain Sherwood in search of “ an asylu m for a great number of loyal ists ” who were “ determined to ” leave a country wholly under the d irection of their cruel oppressors . The Captain promptly reported these m atters to the government at

c i m m Quebe , add ng that he was being uch e barrassed not only by the

in b y m any coming for advice , but also those who heaped insults upon “ ” e arl v h im , claimed the frontier as their ground , and predicted the “ ” d y t ra e . deni al to Tories of even the l iberty to T A few d a s l ater .

Sherwood transmitted word of a new development , namely , the great progress being made by revolutionists in settling the frontiers as far m il as the Onion and Le o e rivers . D espite the obj ections of Governor Haldim and to the occupation of the southern border of Quebec by the i W m i loyal ists , we f nd John . Myers and Tho as Sherwood sign ng a

t 26 1 783 Missis uo i petition of Oc ober . , for a grant on the east side of q Bay for the benefi t of certain Tories named in a l ist accompanying the document "" Permission to go to the Missisquo i region was

also sought by Colonel John Peters , as the representative of a body of refugees in Canada who obj ected to the great distance of 4 r Cat a aqui. Haldim and Toward the close of November , wrote a letter to Lord North in wh ich he explained that by keeping the frontier east of the n St . L awrence u inhabited as long as possible a rupture with the neigh 5 in l l boring Americans would be avoided ; and , the fol owing Apri , the ’ King signified his approval of the Governor- General s position on this “ question . Nevertheless , not all of the petitioners could be prevented 1 7 4 i . 8 from carry ng out their plans In February and June , , Captain E Justus Sherwood and M aj or dward Jessup , respectively , reported that those who had intended to go to Mis sisquo i had given u p their 7 l proj ect , but that some still persisted . A ready , in February , lot s were n bei g sold and settlers were taking possession , although some were

ff . stopped as th ey were leaving St . Johns with their personal e ects The W proprietors were Captains Az ariah Pritchard , John . Myers , and W E r John Ruiter , Lieutenants ehr , Ruiter , and Taylor , nsigns Bi d and

. rt n y . Best , and Messrs Ma i and Ta lor Most of these men belonged to m ’ ’ M aj or Ja es Rogers battalion of the King s Rangers at St . Johns ,

* 1 7 . 1 90 . Haldi rn and B . 8 Papers , , p

Can . . T Arch ,

Ib id 1 889 74 . I . , , 4

7 . . 6 Ibid , 5 56 . 20 1 . Haldim and B . Papers , . p 6 7 . B . 5 0 . 1 5 Ibid . , , p 7 4 7 1 . Ibid . , 84 , 5 M L [ s rnnnnr] T HE A ERICAN LOYA ISTS 35

* an d were doubtless associated with others from the same corps . They claimed to have purchased an old Ind ian title , but most of the land under th is title—according to Captain Sherwood— lay in Vermont and was said to have been extended to the north of the Pike River by what “ ” the same offi cer called a trick of the purchasers . The version of the b C purchase given y aleb Closson and Oliver Sweet , who belonged to

. the party , was that the l ands had been secured from a Mr Robertson “ of St . Johns , who in turn had bought them fro m the Ind ians , nine

h e Mis sis s uo i m iles south of t q River and nine mil es north , bounded [on l k ” i m a e . the west] by the T Accord ng to this description , not ore than one sixth of the property lay with in the borders of Canad a ; and the authorities at Quebec , after careful investigation , denied that any of it d id . 1 784 Nevertheless , towards the end of April , , the settlers of th is l i i district were sti l try ng to obta n the sanction of the government , and one of their number sent in the nam es of three h undred persons who

fift - fiv . e were ready to j oin them i Of these , y names came from the

s Mac hic h e loyal i t colony at , ten others probably from Sorel , and the 4 rest apparently from St . Johns and its vicinity . Prospective colonizers h ad been solicited at all of these places as well as at Montreal , and had been promised gratuitous provisions as long as the loyalists settl ing 5 l on govern m ent grants shoul d receive them . Fourteen fami ies had ’ y d Missis s uo i l alread locate at q Bay and three more on Caldwel s M anor , o all i i . n of these be ng north of the prov nce line Captai Azariah Pritchard , ’ i Haldim and s m however , find ng that opposition to the settle ent was m V unalterable and that ost of the land secured for it lay in ermont , decided to sever his connection with the enterprise and betake himself

a . to the Bay of Ch leurs Moreover , Pritchard , who was a man of i — i ’ energy and nfluence , dissuaded about two thirds of the K ng s Rangers ,

- n h m . Miss iss uo i accord i g to is own esti ate from settling at q Bay . 7 The others would not give up their purpose of doi ng so . I n the fall of 1 784 the c o l o nv made a considerable gain through the accession of a m l 8 dozen or more fa i ies , and the disobedient settlers were promptly ’ in stru ck from the government s provision list . Early the following

r in Februa y , some of them sent a petition for the continuance of the ’

i . y K ng s bounties , bear ing marks of their indignation The announced

* - 1 1 1 V . 1 . . 88 7 6 83 . ide a nt e Ca n . 8 6 Arch , , , , p

l id . , 7 1 1 .

- 1 6 7 4 87 . fl l n B . a dim a d . 38 3 I Papers , , pp

7 1 4 H 7 7 . 7 . . ldim and B 384 3 8 Can . 1 888 a 1 Arch , , ; Papers , . , pp , 5 1 888 7 1 4 : w o M . Can . . t Arch , , Sher ood athews

H l 1 2 1 1 . 62 . 2 1 0 a dim and B . Papers , , pp ,

2- 7 . . 9 39 . Ibid , pp 3 ‘ w 1 1 ma n r to r o f e n 5 6 . Tho s , Co t ibutions the Histo y the East r To nships , , 36 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF C ANAD A

i it as the r opinion that all loyalists , Settling in the Province of Quebec , ’ l i n if i are A lowed Provision whether on K ng s La d or not , with n the ” n i Provi ce line , and they declined to th nk that it was by any order of King or Parliament that faithful subj ects were d e prived of government “ n wh o u bounties , even excepti g such and only such , settl e in Partic l ar w Pe rh a e s Places , h ich p through the Indication of Selfe interested

n m m in . Gentlemen , h as been put i to the head of the l ate Co ander Chief V * Th is petition was signed by Christian \ e h r and fourteen others . A com parison of these names with the nineteen names of famil ies who a l rrived in the previous fall , or earlier , shows on y six names common

n - to both l ists . Taki g all together , we have a total of twenty eight d ifferent nam es of fam ilies known to h ave settled east of Missis squo i

1 785 . i B ay up to February , That others should be in cluded is ndicated by the testimony of various refugees before the Brit is h Commis sioners of in 1 787 1 788 claims at Quebec and Montreal and , in wh ich it appears L

re io n . n Ot th at they were residents of the same g ) Most , if all , of the men

and all of this group had fought during the war as loyal ists , n e arly of — them as indicated by their names were of D utch origin . i Those who can be defin itely traced located on the shore of the bay and in the adj acent country north of the Vermont b o rm d arv in part of the region later known as the Eastern Townships .

Mississ uo i On the western side of q Bay , as we have previously ’ i u C l mentioned , lies the pen nsula that embraced Fouca lt or aldwe l s ’ Manor . Adj oin ing this on the north was Noyan or Chr istie s Manor . i l y The pen nsula was a ferti e and well wooded region , and suffi cientl isolated from the rebellious stat-e s on either side to attract refugee m loyalists and neutrals . Hence , any took up their abode there after

r was the Revolution . Among the fi st to enter a loyal ist group that assembled in C anada and formed a colony on the western side of the n l -o r m peni sul a a mi e two south of the Ver ont line , where Alburgh now

m i l . stands . They supposed the selves st l within the Province of Quebec D iscovering their mistake when the forty - fift h parallel was accurately

all -e defined , most , if not , of them made hast to recross the l ine and V m T ill iam choose new locations . A ong these colonists was Soles a

M i s uo i n i i nn R 1 02 . iss s q Cou ty H storical Society , Th rd A ual eport ,

- 940 1 269 . 7 . . 7 S c o nd B of Ont . . I . 45 936 T e Report , ureau Archives , , Pt , ; Pt I I , , ' o n m n : ITh e nam es appeari ng the co bi ed lists are as follows Christian W ehr, B n u m i n Harm o n us Conrad est , Joh R iter, Ada Deal , Ludw g Streit , Alexa der Tay lor , B n n n Gi B est , Christia Hay er, Alexa der Hy att , lbert H y att , John Saxe , Jacob arr,

olm M ili m G Sixb m n n J ock , Ph p Luke , Joseph S ith , arret y , Ja es A derso , Frederick M h n M n G l J o s am ind Hayner , Peter iller, C ristia ay er , Joh Cole , eorge Fel er , Drow, m ili i Van V an d m n w J r. Lud ig Streit , , Jacob Tho as , Ph p Ru ter . John orst , Ja es He der s o n n m o f t o m n m : B n , . The a es those referred as sub itti g clai s are Robert risba e

'

m n m and n . Abraha Hyatt , D u can Ca eron , Joh W aggoner [ s m as nr] THE A LIE RICA N LOYAL ISTS 3 7

native of Rhode Island , who remained at St . Joh ns and Sorel until the

t h e close of war , when he j oined the company going to A person less prompt in departing from the American side was Captain

e m 1 792 John Savage , who in a petition to the gov rn ent , in , stated ’ n that he had a farm in Caldwell s Manor within the American l i es , from which Colonel A llen was attempting to remove h im for refusing to take the oath of al legiance to the American st at e s . T This appears to have been the same Captain Savage wh o several years previously had returned m m with a Mr . Ca pbell fro St . Johns to Vermont to aid I ra Allen in ’ W n . settli g loyal ists there , pursuant to the latter s plan hen it became ’ clear that Allen s real p u rpose was to in cite Congress to admit Vermont i " l nto the nion , his colleag ues abandoned h im , and apparently A len took revenge b y forcing Savage and his associates to withdraw to C anad a "; Another loyalist famil y that suffered persecution in this seigni ory was t h e Martin fam ily whose buil dings were burned by rene ‘ gades from the States . l Other refugees , a ready in Canada , also des ired to go to Cald l ’ 5 wel s M anor and memorialized the government for its consent . The fact that they were preparing to occupy private lands on the Am er can frontier constituted a two—fold reason why the authorities at

y ac t uall v Quebec probabl withheld their approval , if they d id not h t e . oppose request At any rate , these settlers , l ike those at M issis ° s uo i q . found it necessary to petition for such supplies , but evidently l fai ed to get them , for they were reported as being in distress early 1 7 784 . in Au gust , , by Stephen De Lancey , inspector of loyalists ’ m e m A ong these settlers wer any of Burgoyne s American recru its , i C C ncluding John hurch , aptain Henry Ru iter , and John Pickell , w Lidd e l . Daniel Beagh , And re , Jeremiah Spencer , and John Curtis V These men were from the States of New York and ermont . Among l W' the civi ian pioneers of the district were Moses estover of Sheffield , W Massachusetts , and Rev . il liam Marsh , who helped to organize “ what was probably t h e first Baptist C hu rch of Lower Canad a . Chris tie ’ s M anor likewise received a nu mber of famil ies driven from their

* m t o o f n 20 7—8 Tho as , Contributions the History the Easter Townships , ; Day f o t h e w 289 . History Eastern To nships ,

Th o m as r o f f 1 3 1 4 . T , Histo y She ford , , Mis si 05 04 1 . ss uo i r A n . . 1 I q County H isto ical Society , Third Rep , ,

I bid . 5

Ca n . . 1 889 73 . Arch , , 7 Ibid . , 7 . 7 Ca n . 1 . 888 742 . Arch , , 3 m n t o o f n 1 58 Tho as , Contri butio s the History the Eastern Tow ships , ; Second

. 1 1 1 1 1 9 1 2 7 1 2 59 1 26 8 m B o f . 1 O nt . . . 94 1 8 6 Rep , ureau Arch , , Pt I I , , , , , , ; Tho as , n r 2 1 — 0 1 94 5 . Co t ibutions , , 38 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANAD A

homes by the persecution then prevalent in the States m any of these

i E s . be ng of ngli h , Scotch , Irish , or German origin

From the loyalist settlements of the seigniories and Mis s is s quo i Bav some afm il ie s scattered throughout the adj oining country e ast i ward for f fty m iles , that is , beyond Lake Memphremagog , and north h ir i ward for t t v m les . This d istrict includes the present cou nties of Mississ uo i f q , Brome , and She fo rd , and parts of Stanstead and Sher

rm brooke c o t ie s . The d ispersion was no doubt partly due to natural

m b y causes , b ut it was also sti ulated a new policy on the part o f the 1 79 1 government of Lower Canada . I n , the government gave up its old pol icy of op posing settlement along the Am erican border with a n view to attracti g a large class of immigrants from New England . The new policy provided for the grantin g of a township to a compan y

t h e m i ry of associates , who were requ ired to pay the expense of preli na

urv v w s e . The to nship was then erected , and the lands allotted to n E w the associates . Thus , what are know as the astern To nsh ips l i ’ ’ were created . As the loyalists dwel ng on Caldwell s and Christie s

a Mississ uo i Bay l i m nors and q cou d not obta n grants there , because n m i these districts were private i stead of royal do a n , their desire for boun ty l ands coul d only be satisfied b y their organizing or j oinin g a

company of associates ; and this was wh at some of them did . i

Mississ uo i Robert M anson and Thomas Shepard , of the q colony , in were given l ands Bolton Township , near Lake Memphremagog , in i Capta n Henry Ruiter , of the same settlement , received in w several lots Potton To nship , south of Bolton , and settled there W in later becom in g an associate of Sutton . hen the l atter in 1 802 m township was established , it was granted to a large nu ber C Mis of associates , many of whom were loyal ists of the aldwell and

Mississ uo i sissquo i commun ities . Among the grantees of q were Br in . isb a Hermanus Best , R , Adam Deal , Frederick H ayner , and l wi l ’ A exander Taylor , h lst among those of Caldwel s M anor were n W l E Lid de l . phraim H awley , A drew , Rev i l iam Marsh , John Pickell , W Wil C aptain Henry Ruiter , Jeremiah Spencer , Moses estover , and 5 i n l i t . a l liam Hunt ng on C pt a n Joh Savage , a so of the Caldwel settl e

t h e ment , was the leader of assoc iates to whom the Townsh ip of Shef n in 1 80 1 t n ford was gra ted , o her loyalist grantees bei g h is son John , 6 Missis u i Ba s o y . and John Mock , of q Gilbert Hyatt , another of the

'

D a i o f t h e 1 o wn sh i s 3 2 4 . y , H story Eastern p ,

- 9 . Mississ uo i y i A n . Re 9 7 9 T q County Historical Societ , Th rd p ,

Th o m as 3 1 5 3 1 6 332 . I , Contributions , , ,

. 02 303 . Ibid , 3 , 5 1 74 fi' m n . Tho as , Co tributions , ,

Da r o f w 343 . y , Histo y the Eastern To nships [ s re ns nr' ] T HE AME RICAN LOYALISTS 39

n origi al settlers on the bay , was apparently the agent of the asso 1 803 ciates who , in , received portions of Ascot Township in Sher ’ brooke C ounty . Several of Hyatt s brothers also received grants m * w w . in the sa e to nship In the same year , Roxton To nship was

a n Mississ uo i erected , and gai pioneer settlers east of q Bay were among E the grantees , includ ing liz abeth Ruiter , the widow of John Ruiter , i r W un o . together with her six ch ildren , and Christian ehr , j T The m ost notable of the loyalist associates of the EasternTown m ships was undoubtedly Abraham Cuyler , for er mayor of Albany , New

York , who . after serv ing as inspector of refugees loyal ist in th e Pro m v ince of Quebec , became the promoter of a loyalist move ent to th e 1 2 . 78 Island of Cape Breton I n , Cuyler went to London to seek aut h o ri compensation for his losses , and wrote thence to the Canadian ties for the concession of the whole Township of Hemmingford . Fail in in g in this petition , be applied for allotments D unham , Stanbridge ,

f n . Farnham , Shef ord , and Stanstead tow ships Next , he claimed a

e part of Montreal , but , as this was not available , he was giv n

acres elsewhere , and , in addition , he and his two sons received grants m b in 1 798 . e as associates of Farnh a However , there is reason for lie ving that the d is posable crown lands in this town sh ip were exhausted before Cu y ler sec ured his cl aim . i

The extensive district thus wid ely , if sparsely , seeded with loyal

We e ist stock lay east of the Richelieu . st of th at riv r lies the elongated C ounty of Hunt ingdon , adj acent to the New York boundary , and ex tending clear to the St . Lawrence River . It also received its sprink

n o f li g loyalist settlers . Those who took up their residence in the r eastern pa t of Huntingdon came from the banks of the Richelieu , l V from the district of La Colle adj oining , from A burgh , ermont , and even from Sorel . Thus , some of the pioneers of the eastern part of i Hunt ngd on were the sons of refugee settlers along the Richelieu , wh o “ ” as they grew up moved back into the bush and made clearings fo r

W m m La themselves . ith them ca e a few fam ilies of loyal ists fro i Colle and Alburgh . The Township of Hemm ngford was opened in in 1 800 A l this way the spring of by James Fisher and his fam ily , of burgh . Several years earlier a small loyalist settlement was begu n m on the eastern slope of Covey Hill , nine m il es west of He mingford . ’ So far as known the first member of th is c o m m unt iy was James O n Neill , a Tory from Pen sylvania , who served in the Royal Regiment E of H ighl and migrants during the Revolution , and em igrated to Can

* Da o f 7 n n 3 6 3 77 . y , History the Easter Tow ships , ,

l id , 34 1 .

Mississ uo i n D a o f A n . . 93 I q Cou ty Historical Society , Third Rep , ; y , History the n w s 27 2 . Easter To n hips , 4 0 T HE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CAN AD A

. 200 ad a after h is discharge He secured a grant of acres , which he 9 1 7 7 . occupied in April , N ich ol as Sweet , of Vermont , arrived in the n - in- m l i ext year with two brothers law , and si u taneously with a fam ly m of loyal ists , Gordon by n a e , who had been at Sorel . A number of other American families j oined this settlement , but how many of i them were loyal ists can not be ascerta ned . Samuel Covey , after whom the locality was named , was the son of one of the loyalists who f n l . C y fou ded A burgh A ter nine years on the hill , ovey and his famil

l i in 1 830 t o removed to La Tortue , then to Clarencevi le , and f nally , , ’ n E Frankli , where lived Samuel s three brothers , James , nos , and w r . n as A chibald A other resident of Franklin Jacob Mann ing , son m of a loyal ist of Poughkeepsie , who settled for a ti e at the head of n in 1 804 m L ake Champlai , but the spring of re oved with his son to k * F ran iln . n 1 788 Among the loyalists livi g at La Colle in , were

W l W Y o rk n Robert hitman , formerly of Stil ater , New , T and A gus Mc Be an m Ve rm o nt , for erly of Otter Creek , i

n n At the western end of the Cou ty of Hunti gdon , a large part of

Godmanchester Town ship on Lake St . Francis was ceded to veterans

l Hic h inb ro o k w of the American war , as was also a sma l part of To nship , i which adj o ned it on the east . The survey of these and other townships in f in 1 788 1 789 ffi the county was ef ected and , and both o cers and m il itiamen received grants . It is more than likely that some of these i f were American loyal sts , although we h ave not the in ormation at hand

t o . confirm the conj ecture It appears , however , that the land nearest b e r the lake proved to undesi able , and that the recipients disposed of r l thei claims , with the exception of perhaps a dozen fami ies who formed a settlement on the second range of St . Anicet . Little is known of the n subsequent h istory of th is commu ity , save that they abandoned their W ar 1 81 2 h abitations at the outbreak of the of , a fact patent to the im migrants arriving som e v e ars later in the di s mal testimony of the roofless shanties st il l stand ing and the clearin gs already overgrown ‘ with sapl ings . Among the earliest efforts to propagate the Protestant religion in Canada were those made at Sorel before the war had terminated . u n They proved unsuccessf l for a brief period , owi g to the dubious m a character and conduct of the clergy an in ch rge , whom a contemporary i “ ” irr v r n . o witt ly called the e e a d M r . Scott As this pers n was chaplain h irt — of the T y fourth Regiment , he was under the j urisdiction of Colonel

l i o f n n n and B h 1 4 1 9 2 2 . 23 Sel ar, H story H u ti gdo , Chateaugay, eau arnois , , , ,

26 30 .

I . 4 . c n . 83 Se o d B o f i On t . T Report , ureau Arch ves , , Pt ,

49 . 1 . 3 1 bid ,

l o f n in h and B 1 6 1 7 1 5 8 . Sel ar, History Hu t gdon , C ateauguay , eauharnois , , ,