This information was originally published by:
ONTARIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Papers and Records
Volume 2, Published in Toronto in 1900
Pages 68-124.

Return to my main index.


LIST OF UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS WHO SETTLED AT LONG POINT.
NOTE.-Where no date is given it has been found impossible to obtain accurate information. Where the date is marked (?) it is approximately, but may not be absolutely correct. Name Township Date. Anderson, Captain Walter Charlotteville 1799 Austin, Solomon Woodhouse 1795 Berdan, Albert Woodhouse 1798 Buckner, or Boughner, Mathias Windham 1801 Buckner, or Boughner, Henry Windham 1801 Bowlby, Thomas Woodhouse 1797 Brown, Samuel Charlotteville 1800 Culver, Jabez Townsend 1794 Culver, Timothy Townsend 1795 Cope, William Walsingham 1798 Davis, Thomas Woodhouse Dedrick, Lucas Walsingham 1793 Dougharty, Anthony Townsend 1810? Freeman, Daniel Charlotteville 1798 Finch, Titus Charlotteville 1798 Foster, Elias Walsingham 1800 Fairchild, Peter Townsend 1805? Green, Reuben Townsend 1811 Glover, Jacob Windham 1810? Gilbert, Josiah Woodhouse 1799 Hutchison, Capt. William Walsingham 1798 Hazen, Daniel Walsingham 1797 Haviland, John Townsend 1803 Johnson, Lawrence Charlotteville 1799 Maby, Frederick Charlotteville 1793 Munro, Lieutenant James Charlotteville 1796 Montross, Peter Charlotteville 1799 Millard, Daniel Woodhouse 1799 Matthews, James Woodhouse 1799 McCall, Donald Charlotteville 1796 McMichael, Edward Walsingham 1794 Powell, Abraham Windham 1799 Ryerse, Samuel Woodhouse 1795 Ryerse, or Ryerson, Joseph Charlotteville 1799 Smith, Abraham Charlotteville 1794 Smith, Hart Windham 1811 Spurgin, William Charlotteville 1800 Secord, Silas Walsingham Secord, Peter Charlotteville 1793 Shaw, Michael Townsend Tisdale, Lot Charlotteville 1798 Teeple, Peter Charlotteville 1793 Welch (Walsh), Thomas Charlotteville 1794 Williams, Jonathan Woodhouse 1800 Wycoff, Peter Woodhouse 1801 Wilson, Jacob Woodhouse 1805? Wilson, Joseph Woodhouse 1805?
CHAPTER XXVI. DEDRICK.
(The first Loyalist who settled in Norfolk County.) THE Dedrick family were of German descent, and early settlers in Pennsylvania. Lucas Dedrick was one of the Pennsylvania Loyalists, but remained in his native state till 1793, when he came directly to Long Point. He built a log cabin on the high land overlooking the marsh, about a mile and a half west of the present village of Port Rowan. He was, no doubt, the second white settler in Walsingham, his predecessor being the noted Dr. "Witch" Troyer (not a Loyalist), who had settled lake front in Eastern Walsingham. It was not till 1797, after the township had been regularly surveyed, that Mr. Dedrick received the patent for the land on which he had settled. The creek which flows into the lake just west of Port Rowan is called Dedrick's creek. Over it Mr. Dedrick built a rude but substantial bridge, the earliest engineering structure in the county. One of his daughters, Hannah, was married to John Backhouse, a major of the Norfolk militia. She received in 1815 a grant of 200 acres near her father's home in Walsingham.
CHAPTER XXVII. MABY (MABEE).
FREDERICK MABY was a native of Massachusetts. He appears to have not taken a very active part throughout the whole of the Revolutionary War, yet there is undeniable evidence that he had joined the Royal standard previous to 1783, for it is so mentioned in the officiai list of United Empire Loyalists preserved in the Crown Lands' department of the Ontario Government. Massachusetts surpassed all other states in the stringency of the laws against the Loyalists (Vide supra Chap. V.) Immediately after the Treaty of Paris, the power of the triumphant insurgents being secured, the hatred of the new govemment for those that remained loyal showed itself unmistakably. Sure of immunity, the Americans treated the families of the Loyalists with the utmost severity. Frederick Maby owned a large farm in Massachusetts and was accounted a wealthy man for those times, for he was rich in flocks and herds. But night after night the grossest outrages were inflicted on the unoffending animals of this Loyalist owner. One night sixteen of his cows had their tails cut off. During another the sinews and tendons of the hind legs of his horses were cut and the poor animals had to be shot. Ears were slit, nostrils split open, and other most dastardly outrages inflicted without the condemnation of the Legislature. Nothing remained but voluntary exile to Canada. Accordingly, in 1785, the Maby family fled to New Brunswick, settling at St. John along with a cousin named Peter Secord. At their home in that province they were occasionally visited by an English trapper, Ramsay by name, and, as it was in the tale of one of his adventures the Mabys first heard of the Long Point district, it may be worth while to relate it. This trapper was accustomed to make yearly visits up the lakes for the purpose of trading with the Indians. On one of these trips he took his little nephew with him, a boy at that time about 10 years of age. During his voyage along the northern shore of Lake Erie with his canoe richly laden with gaudy prints, and the trinkets so dear to the hearts of the dusky natives, and also with a considerable quantity of liquor, he came to Long Point and landed for the night. There they fell in with nine Indians, whose eagle eyes took an inventory of the contents of the canoe, and in one of those treacherous outbursts of overwhelming covetousness, seized his boat and merchandise. It was not long before they got drunk on his fire-water and resolved to burn him at the stake and hold a war dance round the flaming body of the ufortunate white man. However, the potent liquor proved rather too much for the Indians, and when they found themselves able to stand on their feet only with difficulty, they resolved to leave the prisoner alive till morning. So they bound the Englishman, his back to a tree and his hands tied around it by thongs of buckskin, and in the most blissful unconsciousness of what was in store for them, eight lay down to sleep, leaving one of their number as guard. This one relieved his loneliness by copious draughts from the bountiful supply of good liquor so fortunately provided. Unfortunately for them, they had neglected to tie the boy, who was hiding timidly among the trees on the outskirts of the camp. Ramsay watched his chance, and calling the boy, asked him to steal a knife and cut the thongs which bound his hands. The boy did so, and forthwith Ramsay seized the knife, and making a dash at the already tottering guard, struck him to the heart. Then seizing a musket he proceeded to brain the whole party, an easy task, for the Indians had long since passed the stage of consciousness. The tables being thus successfully turned the Englishman and his nephew reloaded their canoe and proceeded on their journey. This tragic tale, whether it is to be credited or not, is at least believed by the descendants of the Maby family now living, who say that it has been handed down from generation to generation in their family as a true adventure of their friend, in the locality where their family afterwards settled. Let us come back, however, to something which may well be regarded as more authentic by the sceptical minds of this sceptical age. On one of his subsequent trips up the great lakes, Ramsay was accompanied by Peter Secord. Together they visited Turkey Point and explored the country inland for some distance. Secord was very much delighted with the land, and on returning to New Brunswick persuaded his cousins to move west. The long journey was accomplished in 1793, and they settled in the township of Charlotteville, on the high land overlooking Turkey Point. Mr. Maby, however, died within a year of his coming to his new home, and was buried on the top of the high ridge which skirts the lake. In 1795, when Lieutenant Governor Simcoe visited the Long Point district he was shown this grave, the grave of the first white man who had died in the district, and the Governor knelt with reverence by the rudely-shaped mound. The wife of Frederick Maby was named Lavinia. In 1796 she applied for a further grant of land in her own name. On the 20th of June of the year mentioned, a list of applicants for lands in the townships of Walsingham, Charlotteville, Woodhouse, and Long Point settlement generally, was filed in the office of acting Surveyor-General Smith. The names of some of the applicants are well known, Ryerse, Maby, Backhouse, Secord and others. In the case of Mrs. Maby, a widow, about whose patent there was some delay in the department, Governor Simcoe was very peremptory in his order that she, being the widow of a Loyalist, must have her application promptly attended to. The family of Maby are connected with the Teeple, Stone, Secord, Smith, Layman and Montross families. Their descendants live at present in Charlotteville and Walsingham.
CHAPTER XXVIII. SECORD.
As is mentioned in the previous chapter, Peter Secord paid a visit, to the Long Point country before it was settled, and on returning to New Brunswick induced his cousin, Frederick Maby, to move thither. The Maby party consisted of Frederick Maby, his wife and seven children, with the husbands of two of the daughters, Peter Teeple and John Stone, and also Peter Secord. They all settled in Charlotteville. Another Secord family which settled in Norfolk was that of Silas Secord who had been a sergeant in Butlers Rangers and had settled, in 1786, with his wife and one child in the Niagara District. He was subsequently given an allotment in Walsingham. One of his daughters was married to Joseph Andrews, of the same place.
CHAPTER XXIX. TEEPLE
SERGEANT PETER TEEPLE was one of the earliest settlers in Norfolk County, coming with his father-in-law, Frederick Maby, in 1793. He settled on lot eight of the broken front line of Charlotteville. Subsequently three of his sons received land in Oxford County, whither he also removed a few years later. William Teeple, laborer, son of Peter Teeple, a U. E. Loyalist, two hundred acres, Oxford, in Oxford County, 14th January, 1812. Edward Teeple, two hundred acres, Oxford, in Oxford County, 6th January, 1815. Pellum C., Teeple, two hundred acres, Oxford, in Oxford County, 8th December, 1832. Luke Teeple, two hundred acres in Charlotteville, Norfolk County, 20th May, 1817.* Sergeant Teeple was quite a prominent man in Norfolk. He was one of the first justices of the peace, and one of the three appointed to administer oaths to municipal officers. He was also a prominent member of the first Baptist Church in Norfolk, and one of the original trustees of that body. During the war of 1812, Luke Teeple, the Sergeants youngest son, while visiting his friends in New Jersey, was arrested by the Americans, and kept as a prisoner for over two years. On being freed he immediately returned to his home in Norfolk County. * The entries are from the Docket books of grants of land to United Empire Loyalists and military claimants, preserved in the Crown Lands Department, Toronto.
CHAPTER XXX. SMITH.
IN New Jersey four Acts were passed by the Legislature dealing with the Loyalists of that State. The first provided for the punishment of traitors and disaffected persons; another provided for the taking charge of and leasing the real estates, and for the confiscation of the personal estates of certain fugitives and offenders therein named; a third for forfeiting to and vesting in the state the real property of persons designated in the second statute; while a fourth more rigorously defined and enunciated the principles of the first. By it certain offenders who had contributed provisions and other specified articles to the king's service were given sixty days to leave the state, after which time, if they still remained, they were to be adjudged guilty of felony and to suffer death. Abraham Smith had been a soldier in the New Jersey volunteers and had taken a rather prominent part in the Revolutionary War. It seems that he did not realize the seriousness of this statute, for the sixty days had passed and he had not conformed to the regulations. Promptly at the expiration of the allotted time, there appeared at the house a sergeant and a few troopers with a warrant for the arrest of the head of the family. But Mr. Smith had seen them coming and had had time to conceal himself. His wife met the soldiers at the door and coolly told them that her husband had gone that morning to Summerville, to make arrangements for transporting their goods to Canada, and she did not expect him back before the evening of the following day. She also volunteered the information that they were about ready to leave, and pointed to sundry large wooden boxes, in which they intended to transport the goods they were taking with them. "You and your family may go," replied the sergeant, "but your husband will have to stay and stand his trial". So they left, with the intention of returning the following evening for their man. During their absence preparations were hurriedly made, Mr. Smith was put into a large box, and with him some provisions and a couple of jars of milk. Then the box with its precious freight was duly lifted with a couple of others on to the first load, and one of the hired men drove the team straight for the northern boundaries of the state. They travelled all that night and part of the succeeding day as rapidly as possible. When they had crossed the borders of the state whose regulations Smith had violated, they proceeded more leisurely, though by no means without danger. The returning soldiers were calmly met by the information that Mr. Smith had not returned, and they had better take the road for Summerville and look for him there. By the time the sergeant realized that he had been duped, Smith had crossed the borders of Maine into New Brunswick, whither his brave wife and family followed soon after. After remaining a short time in New Brunswick they removed to Western Canada, settling first in the eastern part of what is now Welland County. Their eldest son, William, came still farther west, and lived among the Indians near Long Point. His father, mother, brothers and sisters removed to Charlotteville about 1794, and "squatted" on land about the centre of that township. This particular portion was secured to them along with other lots by patents issued about three years later, by Hon. Peter Russell, acting Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. Another Smith family (Loyalists) settled in Norfolk County some years later, namely, Hart Smith, also of the New Jersey volunteers. From New Brunswick he came west to the township of Crowland, in Lincoln County, and thence to Windham, in 1811. The Crown Lands' records show the following grants of land to his family: Catherine Doan, wife of John Doan, and daughter of Hart Smith, 28th May, 1811, two hundred acres in Charlotteville. Eliza, daughter of Hart Smith, 8th April, 1812, two hundred acres in Windham. Aaron, son of Hart Smith, 8th April, 1812, two hundred acres in Windham.
CHAPTER XXXI. McMICHAEL
THE McMichael family are from Ayrshire, in Scotland. Early in the eighteenth century they emigrated to America, one branch of the family settling in New Jersey and another in Pennsylvania. When the war broke out Edward McMichael was a prosperous merchant in Philadelphia. Of him, Colonel Sabine has the following note (Vol. II., p. 72): "Edward McMichael, of Pennsylvania, was lieutenant in the Whig army while stationed at Fort Schuyler, but in August, 1776, he deserted to the enemy." He was given a captain's commission in the "Guides and Pioneers" of the British army, and at the battle of Trenton was wounded in the face and deprived of the sight of one eye. Later he was with the unfortunate Cornwallis at Yorktown. After the war he was attainted of treason and his property confiscated, for the Legislature of Pennsylvanla designated sixty-two persons who were required to surrender themselves to some judge of the court or justice of the peace within a specified time, and abide trial for treason, or in default thereof to stand attainted. McMichael was very far from pursuing the suicidal policy of staying in the "burning fiery furnace" if he could get safely away, and at the expiration of the days of grace he was settling his family on the western bank of the Niagara River. Consequently his property in his native state was confiscated, for, by a subsequent Act, the estates of thirty-six persons who had been previously attainted, were declared to be confiscated. Among this list also appears the name of McMichael. In the Niagara district the McMichael family remained till 1794, when they removed farther west and settled in Walsingham, on the lake front. The Captain lived but six years in his new home. In 1800 he passed away, leaving to his widow the stupendous task of bringing up her ten children amid the hardships of a wilderness home. But bravely Mrs. McMicliael applied herself to the best interests of her and the high characters of her children show that in them the mother's work was blessed.
CHAPTER XXXII. AUSTIN.
SOLOMON AUSTIN was originally from North Carolina. He was a private in the Queen's Rangers and served all through the Revolutionary war. On one occasion, at least, he exhibited conspicuous bravery. This was at the battle of the Horseshoe. The standard-bearer was killed and the flag fell to the ground and was in danger of being lost. Solomon Austin leaped forward, and grasping the standard bore it bravely till the close of the action. After the battle Major-General Simcoe inquired his name, praised him in public before the marshalled company, and gave him to understand that if he could ever be of service to him afterwards his bravery would not be forgotten. After the war North Carolina passed a Confiscation Act, which embraced sixty-five specified individuals, the terms applied not only to the lands of these persons, but their negroes and other personal property as well. Some of these continued to live in their native state, although the majority immediately proceeded to Canada. Solomon Austin, however, remained in Carolina till 1794, but in that year determined to remove his family to Upper Canada, where General Simcoe, his old friend, was Governor. In June, 1794, he appeared at Newark with his wife and family of nine cliildren (four sons and five daughters). He met with a very flattering reception, the Governor offering him a home in his own house until he should make a selection of land. He was also offered six hundred acres in any unselected part of the province. The Governor directed him to inspect the country and choose for himself. Accordingly he made a trip through the western district on foot with his eldest son, going as far as Detroit. Finally he chose a home on Patterson's Creek, now called the River Lynn, about three miles south-east of Simcoe, in the County of Norfolk. This proved to be a very pleasant and fertile district. It is now known as Lynn Valley. To this spot he removed with his family in the early spring of 1795, and by the end of the summer had a log cabin erected and almost an acre of land cleared and fall wheat planted. In the war of 1812, true to their principles of loyalty, the father and four sons shouldered their muskets and marched under Brock to fight the hated "Yankees', once more. They fought at Malcolm's Mills (Oakland), Malden, and Lundy's Lane. In the Norfolk militia two of the sons soon obtained the rank of captain. The descendants of this family are the most numerous of any of the families of the settlement. Solomon, the eldest son, married Miss Sarah Slaght, and became the father of ten children. Two of their sons were the proprietors of the largest carriage works in the county, and continued their business for over twenty-five years. Another son is a Baptist minister. Jonathan, the second son, married Miss Hannah Potts, and had seven children. He and his son John built Austin's mills in the Lynn Valley. Philip, the third son, married Mary Slaght, a sister of his eldest brother's wife, and had a family of sixteen children. Moses, the youngest son, married Mary Wisner, of Townsend, and had seven children. Of the daughters, Mary, the eldest, married Henry Walker, who is said to have been the second white child born in Norfolk County. Amy married a man named Styles, and had fifteen children. Esther married Raymond Potts, a U. E. Loyalist. Elizabeth married John Pegg, who had accompanied the party from Carolina. Anna married David Marr, and had nine children. The last one of the original family to die was Philip (October 17th, 1876), in his 87th year, having lived to a greater age than any of his brothers or sisters. For many years previous to Philip's death an annual gathering of children and connections was held at the old homestead on the anniversary of his birthday. On the last gathering his direct descendants numbered 137, while the direct descendants of the original founder, Solomon, numbered 734.
CHAPTER XXXIII. WELCH.
THE Welch family is one of the most distinguished who settled in Norfolk County. The original home of the family was in Wales, from which country one branch moved in early times to Ireland, and subsequently (1740) one member of the family (Francis) left Tyrone County and emigrated to America. Francis Welch settled first in Philadelphia, but soon gave up his quiet life in the city for a roving one on the sea, and during the Seven Years' War placed his vessel at the service of Britain. His eldest son was the Thomas Welch who settled in Long Point. This Thomas Welch had settled in Maryland, where he followed the profession of surveying. On the outbreak of the war of the Revolution he joined the King's troops, and was appointed quartermaster in one of the contingents of the Maryland Loyalists. At the close of the war he was appointed to survey lands for the Loyalists in New Brunswick. There he remained till 1794, when he removed to the Long Point settlement. In 1796 he succeeded Mr. Hamlin, and finished the survey of Charlotteville. The family name is properly spelled Welch, but towards the close of the century it began to be written Walsh, and has continued so to the present. The name is perpetuated in "Walsh," a small village of Charlotteville. Thomas Walsh (as we shall now spell the name) was appointed, in 1796, Registrar for Norfolk County. On the organization of London District in 1798 he was further appointed Registrar of the Surrogate Court, and Deputy Secretary for the issue of land patents for the district. Twelve years after he became Judge of the District and Surrogate courts, and in this same year his son, Francis L. Walsh, was given the Registry office. In the journals of the old court, now in the Registry office at Simcoe, there is the following curious item: "Francis L. Walsh, small gent., fined two shillings for swearing volubly at Henry Slaght's two sons." This Francis Walsh had assisted his father in the Registry office, from the year 1808. He has the record for the longest term of government service in Canada, and, in the belief of the writer, the longest in the British Dominions, for he held the position till his death in 1884. The family have had considerable parliamentary honors. For two terms (1821-1828, and in 1835-1836) Mr. Francis Walsh occupied a seat in the Provincial Parliament. His son, Aquilla, represented the North Riding of Norfolk in the Dominion House, 1861-1872. There is no man more highly spoken of than the old Registrar. He had always a kind smile and an encouraging word for everybody. In the early days of the settlement he used to advise the strangers who came to settle as to what he considered the best lands yet untaken and often protected the unwary from the wiles of the "land shark." He remained till his death a faithful government official, devoted to the duties of his office, and to works of kindness and charity among the people he had seen grow up before his eyes. At one time he was presented with an oil portrait of himself and a costly silver set, as a token of esteem and good-will, from the inhabitants of Norfolk County, many of whom had been the recipients of his kindness. Long was his life on the earth and great was the good he did therein. Truly, according to the dictum of Solon, he might call his life happy, for he had "reached the end of days ripe in years and wisdom, and the gods had given him favor in the eyes of his fellows."
CHAPTER XXXIV. CULVER.
0F this family name there were two distinct and yet strangely united families, the families of two cousins, Jabez and Timothy. Before the war of the Revolution they lived in New Jersey, and the families were very intimate. Four of the daughters of Timothy Culver did not require to change their name when they married, for their husbands were the four sons of Jabez. The names of the daughters were Anna, Elizabeth, Marian and Martha; and the sons, Jabez, Aaron, John and Gabriel. That was surely a strong family combination. The first Culver family to settle in Norfolk was that of Jabez Culver. They left New Jersey in 1793, and made the journey on foot, arriving in the township of Townsend in March of the next year. They are thus one of the earliest pioneer families. Rev. Jabez Culver was an ordained Presbyterian minister when he came to Norfolk, and by 1806 he had the Presbyterian church of the new settlement fully organized, though the services had to be held at his own house for many years. The old gentleman settled in Windham, but his sons in Townsend. Jabez Culver did not take any active part against the Americans in their struggle for independence, but Timothy Culver was in regular service. However, he seems to have been unmolested after the war, for he did not flee to Canada, but remained in New Jersey till 1796. In 1795 Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Culver walked all the way from New Jersey to visit their daughters and sons-in-law in Norfolk County. They were so pleased with the new district that they determined to move there themselves, and this they did in the early spring of 1796. The U. E. Loyalist records show the following grants of land to the four danghters of Timothy Culver, all under date of the Order-in-Council, 14th November, 1799: Elizabeth, wife of Aaron Culver, two hundred acres in Townsend Marian " John " " Anna " Jabez " " Martha " Gabriel " Walsingham In 1795 Governor Simcoe, during his visit to Turkey Point granted to Aaron Culver water privileges on Patterson's Creek, and a mill was built there within the limits of the present town of Simcoe. This mill was enlarged a few years later and became one of the most important in the Long Point district. When the war of 1812-14 broke out, it was owned in partnership by Aaron Culver and E. Woodruff. During "McArthur's raid" of November, 14, it shared the fate of four other flouring mills, and was totally destroyed. In the report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of that year the loss of Mr. Culver and Mr. Woodruff is mentioned to be £1751 5s. As McArthur's Raid will be mentioned in more than one chapter, it may be interesting to devote a few lines to a connected statement of its course. General McArthur had about 1,500 troops when he invaded the province from Detroit. He had proceeded as far as the Grand River when, fearing troops from the east, he turned southward and took up a position at Malcolm's Mills, now known by the name of Oakland. The Norfolk militia commanded by Major Salmon, marched out to attack them. The forces met on the banks of the river which flows through Oakland. Before the engagement the wily American sent a detachment unnoticed down the river; hence the British troops were attacked both front and rear and quickly routed. The battle is sadly spoken of today by the old settlers as the "foot race." The victorious army of McArthur then marched to Waterford, burning the mills there-Avery's and Sovereign's. A detachment also came through Simcoe ravaging and plundering. Thence the ravagers marched to Lyndock, and the whole force being reunited, retreated by the Bostwick Road to Talbot Street, and along that highway to Detroit.* The members of the various branches of the Culver families have always taken an important part in the affairs of the townships in which they reside. * For a full account the reader is referred to the official despatch of Brigadier-General McArthur to the Secretary cf War, 18th November, 1814, published in "Documentary History of Canada, 1812-14," edited by Colonel Cruickshank. (Part II, pp. 308-312.)
CHAPTER XXXV. SAMUEL RYERSE.
0F this family there were two brothers Samuel, the elder, and Joseph. They were descendants of an old Dutch family, and their ancestors had held judicial appointments under Kings George II and III. At the opening of the Revolutionary War, Samuel Ryerse enlisted a company of over a hundred men for the service of the king, and was appointed captain thereof, his company being designated as the Fourth Battalion New Jersey Volunteers. The original spelling of the name is Ryerson, but on making out his commission a mistake of spelling was made, and the form Ryerse continued through sundry despatches, commissions and patents and was finally retained by this branch of the family. After the war the Legislature of New Jersey having confiscated his property, he, in company with others, moved to New Brunswick and was given a grant of land near Fredericton, being assigned three thousand acres of the new survey. In 1794 he took his family (for he had been married in New Brunswick and had four children) back to Long Island, New York, in the hope of being able to settle there, but he soon found that the bitter hatred of the Americans for the Loyalists had not died away in the slightest, and so determined to come back to Canada. Before removing his family Captain Ryerse and a friend came to this part of the country on a prospecting tour. At Niagara he was welcomed by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, who promised him a liberal grant of land, amounting in all, with that given to the members of the family on coming of age, to over eight thousand acres. Late in that fall he returned to New York and made preparations to move his family the following spring. At the opening of navigation they started in a sloop up the Hudson in company with the family of Captain Bouta, and from Albany portaged across to Schenectady, where they procured one of the Schenectady boats, which have been described in a previous chapter. In this flat-bottomed boat they made their way against the current up the Mohawk, and thence up Wood Creek. Between the head of navigation on Wood Creek and the Oswego river, which flows into Lake Ontario, is a portage of ten miles, over which their boat had to be drawn by hand on a kind of a rude waggon, the wheels being simply slices of a round beech tree. They skirted the southern shore of Lake Ontano to Niagara, then up the Niagara to Queenston, from which place they had a long and wearisome portage of nine miles till Chippawa was reached. From that place all was smooth sailing to the Long Point district, which they had chosen. The long journey was completed on the last day of June, 1795.. The spot selected by Captain Ryerse was the land surrounding a creek, towards which the forest-covered acres sloped gently down. This was called Ryerse Creek, and the little settlement which grew up at its mouth, Port Ryerse. Before the fall a comfortable log-house was erected with the help of the settlers already there, a more pretentious building than was common, for it contained a parlor, two bedrooms a kitchen and a garret. As there were valuable water facilities on his land, one condition of his patent right was that he erect both a saw mill and a grist mill. In 1797 the former was built and the latter the following year. This milling enterprise (the flour mill) was almost the ruin of Captain Ryerse, for he did not understand flour milllng, and for some years no one arrived in the settlement that could properiy manage his mill. In addition, the cost of repair was heavy, as much of the supplies and machinery necesaary could only be procured for cash, which was exceedingly scarce in the Ryerse family at that time, for he had to sell part of his land at a dollar an acre to assist in building it. The dam broke, the machinery got out of order, bolting cloths and other supplies were continually needed, and it was certainly a financial loss for many years. The toll was only one bushel in twelve, and the settlers had not much wheat to grind, what they raised being intended solely for their own consumption. During the summer season the mill was absolutely idle. However, 'experientia docet', and in any case it was a very great benefit to the little settlement, for no other mill at that time existed nearer than at Niagara Falls, a hundred miles away. The saw-mill, on the contrary, brought in better returns. The machinery was simpler and less apt to get out of order, and it did not require skilled operators. Sawn lumber was a staple article of trade, and the toll was half the lumber sawn. The lumber found a ready sale, not so much for cash, as for whatever the settlers had to barter. Consequently, the saw-mill was remunerative but the flour-mill a heavy loss. In 1800 Capt. Ryerse was appointed his Majesty's Commissioner of the Peace for the District of London. He was first Chairman of the courts of Quarter Sessions, and Judge of the District and Surrogate courts. The duties of magistrates in those days were not simply judicial. They had to solemnize marriages, register births, bury the dead, prescribe for the sick, and read the Church service on Sundays. They were the judges, lawyers, doctors, ministers, and even the dentists of the community. Virtual paragons they must have been to have attended to the various wants of all ranks and conditions of men. About the beginning of the century the militia of the district was organized, and Mr. Ryerse was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of Militia. The regiment used to meet annually on the 4th June, the King's Birthday, for training. It was a motley company, the majority being big slouching, round-shouldered young men, armed with old flint-lock muskets. These could be easily distinguished from the few spruce, upright and military-looking soldiers who had served a quarter of a century before in the war of American Independence. In 1804, the log-house mentioned was burned, having caught fire from the rudely constructed chimney, and all the books and keepsakes, articles of plate and bric-a-brac, brought from New York and prized beyond all price, were burned. For some time thereafter the family lived in the house of the miller who managed the grist mill for Mr. Ryerse. The later years of Mr. Ryerse's life were spent in the weakness of failing health. That dread disease consumption had laid its icy fingers on a constitution never too strong. In 1810 he was compelled to resign the military and political offices he held, and in June, 1812, passed away at the age of sixty. He was buried in the little plot of ground on which was afterwards erected a church (as he had designed) to mark his resting-place. The mills and property of Mr. Ryerse were destroyed in the war of 1812. On the 14th of May, 1814, an American force crossed Lake Erie, and, after plundering and burning the town of Dover, marched along the Lake Shore to Port Ryerse. When it appeared there Mrs. Ryerse entreated the officer in command to spare her property, for she was a widow and defenceless. But she only succeeded in saving her house. The mills and all other buildings were remorselessly given to the flames. The excuse argued was that the buildings had been used as a barracks and the mills had furnished flour to British troops. The militia of the district, under Colonel Talbot, was near Brantford at the time, and in his unfortunate absence the labors of the late Captain Ryerse were destroyed.* * Vide infra Chapter XLI
CHAPTER XXXVI. McCALL.
THE McCalls were of a Scottish clan from Argyleshire. Donald McCall came to America in the year 1756 with the regular British troops who were sent over against the French at the beginning of the Seven Years' War. He was a private in Montgomery's Highlanders, and took part in the capture of Louisburg in 1758, and served also under Wolfe at the battle of the Plains of Abraham and the taking of Quebec. With a detachment of his regiment he was afterwards sent up the lakes. From the Niagara River the party came along the north shore of Lake Erie in batteaux, and when near Turkey Point had an encounter with a party of French and indians. Their enemies fired at them from the shelter of the woods, but the plucky Highlanders promptly ran their boats ashore, defeated and chased them inland as far as where the village of Waterford now stands. On their way back they encamped for the night on what is now lot 18 of the 4th concession of the township of Charlotteville, near the present residence of Simpson McCall. In the morning the soldiers improvised some fishing tackle, and in a short time had caught out of Young's Creek all the speckled trout the party could eat. In 1763, after the treaty of Paris, being discharged on the breaking up of his regiment, he settled in the State of New Jersey, where he lived till the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. He immediately joined the King's Regiment, aud did not retire from military life till after the surrender of Yorktown. When he returned to his New Jersey home he soon found that he was regarded as an alien and shunned by his neighbors. Not caring to remain, in 1783 he made his way to New Brunswick and settled on a small allotment there. lu 1796 a party from New Brunswick, led by Donald McCall, came west to the Long Point settlement. He was selected as the leader because he had previously visited the country. Among the party were the loyalists Lieut. Jas. Munro and Peter Fairchild. They landed at the mouth of Big Creek on July 1st, 1796, and took, up land in various localities. The old leader, remembering his adventures with the French and Indians, and the episode of the speckled trout fishing alluded to above, made his way inland to the identical spot where the camp fires of his Higland regiment had been lighted forty years before. His family consisted at that time of five sons and three daughters- John, Duncan, Daniel, James and Hugh, and Catherine, Elizabeth and Mary. Duncan, being already married, settled near his father, on Lot 23 of the 5th concession. On the 26th July, 1796, a son was born to him, the first white child born in the county of Norfolk. This child (Daniel) served afterwards in the War of 1812, taking part in the Battle of Lundy's Lane and in a skirmish at Malcolm's Hollow (Oakland), where the British were outnumbered and driven back by General McArthur. Until his death he received the pension voted by Parliament to the veterans of 1812. Duncan McCall, his father, was elected to the Upper Canada Parliament, and remained a member till his death in 1838. In this connection mention must be made of Simpson McCall, also a grandson of the original founder. This gentleman now resides on the lot which his grandfather chose. His father, James McCall, was a lieutenant during the War of 1812. Mr. Simpson McCall was born in 1807 and died in 1898, at the ripe old age of ninety-one. He had also the singular honor of attending for some time the District School of Dr. Egerton Ryerson, late Superintendent of Education of Ontario. For thirty-four years he was Postmaster at Vittoria (1834-68), and in connection therewith had a general store. For four years he was Warden, of the County, and has been a justice of the peace since 1845. He was elected a member of Parliament in 1867, and held the position for two terms. He was an Independent in politics, though he inclined to the support of the Conservative party. In the respect and veneration of the whole community, Mr. McCall in his old age received his reward for the sterling honesty which was the predominant feature of his whole life, and the unflinching justice and impartiality which were his most notable traits of character.
CHAPTER XXXVII. MUNRO.
LIEUTENANT MUNRO was one of the chief members of the McCall party which came to Long Point in 1796. He settled in the township of Charlotteville, three miles west of the village of Vittoria. Being a man of considerable means, he built the best house which had been erected up to that time. It stands today, a disused relic, about half a mile back from the road running straight west from Vittoria. It is a two-storey frame house of considerable size. The frame of hewn timber was made so strong that it seems even yet able to defy the storms for another century. The bents are four feet apart, strengthened by tie girths, morticed and tendoned-a marvel of axeman's skill. The planks for the floors and sheeting were cut out by the "whip" saw; and there must have been many a bee to accomplish the tremendous task of providing sawn lumber for so large a dwelling. The floors of this old building are almost worn through with the wear of many feet for nearly a century. The writer was assured that it is the original roof which is on the building at the present time. The shingles are of cedar, rudely whittled by the draw-knife, and show in places an original thickness of over an inch. In the main room is the immense fire-place, built of rude stone, occupying in itself almost space enough for a modern sleeping chamber, in which many a back log of oak or walnut five feet long and two feet through roared and hissed and sputtered in the early years of the century. This building is notable for another reason, namely, because it was used as the court-house of the district for two years, 1800-1802, for it was not until the latter date that the court was removed to Turkey Point. This was the only building in all London District that was capable of accommodating the court. The first court was organized in April, 1800, the first commission of magistrates being as follows: Peter Teeple, John Beemer, William Spurgin, Wynant Williams, and Captain Samuel Ryerse; to which two others were afterwards added, Captain William Hutchison and Major John Backhouse. Colonel Joseph Ryerson was the first sheriff and Thomas Welch the first clerk of the court. The old journal of the court, containing the minutes of the meetings between the years 1800-1812, was found some time ago in a heap of rubbish. It is preserved to-day in the Norfolk archives in Simcoe. A temporary jail was erected near the house, a log building, 14 x 25 feet, divided into two rooms, one for debtors and the other for those charged with criminal offences. Lieutenant Munroe was to act as jailer, his stipend being $100 per annum. It was agreed that as soon as a permanent court-house and jail were erected elsewhere, that Mr. Munroe should buy back this building at a fair and just price. This building was erected during the winter of 1800, by day labor, and was used for nearly a year, until the courts were removed to Turkey Point. Lieutenant Muuro was a son-in-law of Donald McCall, having married Catherine, the eldest daughter, before coming to Long Point. His family cousisted of two sons, Robert and Daniel, and one daughter, Mary. The U. E. Loyalist records show the following grants of land to his daughters: Amelia Sophia Munro, spinster, two hundred acres in Walsingham, 23rd December, 1815. Charlotte Dustin, wife of Paul Dustin, two hundred acres in Walsingham, 23rd December, 1815. Harriet Ann Gillaspy, wife of William Gillaspy, two hundred acres in Walsingham, 23rd December, 1815. Mary Green, wife of Jeremiah Green, two hundred acres in Townsend, 23rd December, 1815. Among the descendants of Lieutenant Munro was J. H. Munro, Esq., member of Parliament at Confederation, who remained in the House of Commons till 1872. His brother, Malcolm Munro, was a member of the Local Legislature for about the same time. The Munro family are connected with the Wood, Smith, Jewell, Smalley, Wilson and Tisdale families of Norfolk County.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. HAZEN.
ONE of the most distinguished Loyalists who settled at Long Point was Sergt. Daniel Hazen. The grand ancestor of the American Hazens was Edward Hazen, who emigrated to Massachusetts in 1648 from Northamptonshire England. In the year following, his wife died and was buried at Rowley, a small village in that state. In 1650 he was married to Hannah Grant, and their eldest son was Thomas, born in 1657. The town records of Rowley, Massachusetts, prove that Edward Hazen was a man of substance and influence in his day. He was appointed Overseer or Select-man in 1650, '51, '54, '60, '65, and '69, and Judge of Delinquents in 1666. On his death, in 1683, his estate was inventoried at £404 7s 6d. a considerable sum in those days. The writer will trace in the family history that branch only in which the Long Point Loyalists are interested. John, the eldest son of Thomas Hazen, married Mercy Bradstreet, the granddaughter of Governor Bradstreet. One of their sons was Daniel, while his eldest son was the Daniel Hazen who afterwards settled at Long Point. Daniel,jun., was born on the 10th of August, 1755. When he was twelve years old his father removed to New Jersey, and the family became prominent in that State as formerly in Massachusetts. Daniel had just come of age when the Declaration of Independence was signed. On the outbreak of hostilities, with all the ardor of a native-born Englishman, he joined the King's army, and so distinguished himself that he was appointed sergeant in Barlowe's regiment of the New Jersey Volunteers. On several occasions he was entrusted with important commissions, which he so discharged as to bring him into constantly increasing popularity with his superior officers, for he was a man to be depended on, and though wary and cautious, as bold as a lion in open fight. Until the outbreak of the war he had been employed in a surveyor's office, and had become very skilful and accurate in that profession. At the close of the war, with his young wife (Anna Ward), he moved to New Brunswick, and was appointed by the Government to survey lands along the St. John's River, for the Loyalists who were coming in crowds to that province. Sergeant Hazen received, among the rest, a large grant of land on that river, and lived there for about eight years; but being filled with the desire to explore western Canada, he left New Brunswick in 1792, and settled in the new Province of Ontario, first in Brant and afterwards in Chippawa, in the Niagara district. During the summer of 1796 the Hon. Peter Russell, acting Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, sent Sergeant Hazen and a Mr. Hamlin to survey the townships of Charlotteville and Walsingham in Norfolk County. Charlotteville was surveyed by Mr. Hamlin and his successor, Mr. Welch, but Sergeant Hazen by himself completed the whole survey of Walsingham. In surveying land the first line run is called the base line. Then others are drawn parallel to it. In Walsingham these are two and a quarter miles apart with an allowance in each case of sixty-six feet for a road. In this township there are three of these, the boundary lines not being known as "base lines." The township is therefore nine miles wide. At right angles to these were roads called the concessions, and numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. There are fourteen of these in Walsingham, at a distance of five-sixths of a mile apart, the fourteenth concession being one mile wide. There are, therefore, six allotments of two hundred acres between the side lines, or twenty-four farms to each concession, the size of the farms being five-sixths of a mile by one hundred and twenty rods. The roads were simply marked. Many were not opened out for years after the survey, and some, indeed, are still "blind roads." Sergeant Hazen was very particular about having absolutely pure water for the use of his family. During the survey he came to a lovely little stream, where the water fell in rippling sparkles over the rocks, like Horace's "fons Bandusia, slendidior vitro". As he saw it, and examined the land on either side, he exclaimed, "Here will I live, and here will I be buried!" Accordingly he determined to remove from Chippawa, and in 1797 he received a large grant of land in Walsingham, the allotment that he had chosen for himself. He had six sons and two daughters, who received from the Government the following grants of land. The entries are taken from the records of the Crown Lands Department: "Daniel, jun., yeoman, son of Daniel Hazen, Order-in-Council 19th December, 1806, two hundred acres in Woodhouse. "Lydia, spinster, daughter of Daniel Hazen, Order-in-Council 29th July, 1806, two hundred acres in Walsingham. William, yeoman, son of Daniel Hazen, Order-in-Council 5th August, 1807, two hundred acres in Walsingham. "John, yeoman, son of Daniel Hazen, Order-in-Council 13th October, 1812, two hundred in Walsingham. "Rachael, spinster, daughter of Daniel Hazen, Order-in-Council 13th October, 1812, two hundred acres in Walsingham. "Anna Hazen, wife of Daniel Hazen, jun., and daughter of James Matthews, a U. E. Loyalist, Order-in-Council 19th December, 1806, two hundred acres in Woodhouse." There were also the two youngest sons, Caleb and Elijah. Elijah was the carrier of His Majesty's mail from Vitteria to Port Rowan, for which he was allowed seventy-five cents per week. This gives one an idea of the value and scarcity of money in the early times, eight shillings York currency being the ordinary price of an acre of ground. Sergeant Hazen was a very large man, tall and powerfully built. He is described as a man of exceedingly good humor, with a kind word for every one. He was a man of strong religious conviction, and a prominent member of the original Woodhouse Methodist Church, organized by Daniel Freeman. He attended service every Sunday, though it meant for him a walk of over twenty miles through the woods. When the regular minister was absent, Sergeant Daniel would officiate himself, and his words were always acceptable to the little congregation. The old Sergeant, on the outbreak of the war in 1812, promptly took up arms in defence of Canada, and served for the three years. Fortunately no accident happened him, and at its close he settled down to peaceful life once more at his home in Walsingham, called "Hazen's Corners." In 1824 he was a candidate for election to the Provincial Parliment. There were three days of open voting. Unfortunately, although almost every vote in Walsingham was cast for him, the opposition in the other parts of the county was too strong, and he was not elected. Such was the life of the original surveyor of Walsingham as related by his grandson, Jacob W. Hazen, of Tilsonburg, now in his sixty-sixth year, an extremely interesting and entertaining host. The writer was shown several relics of his grandfather, notably the sword which did duty in the Revolutionary War, the musket used in 1812, the epaulettes of his uniform, and the Bible which was carried constantly through the latter war, also many of his papers, sketches of places, and maps of surveys. In many places the writing is indistinguishable, but the sketches show extreme neatness and care. The Hazens may well be proud of their good old Loyalist ancester.
CHAPTER XXXIX. BOWLBY (BOULSBY).
DURING the war of the Revolution Thomas Bowlby became a volunteer in Captain Thomas's Company of the New Jersey Volunteers. For some years after the war, however, he remained in New Jersey. During the summer of 1797 he, his wife and young son, with their goods in a waggon, made the long journey to Long Point and settled in Woodhouse, on a grant of four hundred acres of land. Mr. Bowlby was a man of considerable influence in Norfolk county, and a prominent member of the Masonic order. In this connection the following story is told. In November, 1814, General McArthur, during his famous raid, having burned the mills at Simcoe, Oakland and Waterford, was marching westward to Vittoria, where he intended to burn the Russell mill. However, the news that General McArthur was a Mason rapidly spread over the country, and the people of Vittoria, to whom their mill was of more value than a gold mine, urged Thomas Bowlby, the head of the Masonic lodge of that place, to go to meet the General and beg him to spare the mill. This he did, and with a white kerchief on the end of a stick he met the American cavalry at the top of the hill which overlooks Vittoria, and urged McArthur to spare the mill, appealing to him as a member of the Masonic order. To this the General consented, and though his troops murmured mightily at the "tender-heartedness" of their General, he marched them straight through the town without allowing one to leave the ranks. Truly the power of Masonic duty was as strong in those early days as in these.* The writer is indebted to Mr. T. W. Dobbie, surveyor, of Tilsonburg, for this account of his maternal grandfather. * Vede also Owen, "Pioneer Sketches," pp. 351-352.
CHAPTER XL FREEMAN.
ANOTHER noted man in the history of this settlement was Daniel Freeman. He had lived during the war in New Jersey, remaining loyal to England, though not taking part in actual hostilities. Always of a deeply religious nature he was created by the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States, first an exhorter, next a licentiate, and finally a regularly appointed minister. It may be remarked that he is credited with having preached the first evangelical sermon ever delivered in the city of Detroit. However, in the year 1798 he came to Long Point country, and became the foundor of the first Methodist society in this district. The Government granted him lot 24 of the 4th concession of Charlotteville, and there he established his new home. As soon as he was settled he set earnestly to work to organize class meetings, which have always been the distinctive mark of the Methodist Church. His work prospered, the people of the little colony came willingly to hear him, and in the third year of the century the settlers decided that a regular meeting-house or chapel was necessary, and they immediately proceeded to erect the first Methodist church in the county. It was situated in Woodhouse township and is called the Woodhouse Methodist Church. It was a log church, forty foot long and thirty-four feet wide, and about fifteen high. The church was quickly completed, and never did the Methodist people of any part of the world worship God in truer sincerity under gilded dome, than did the congregation of half a hundred in that little log meeting-house in the centre of the forest. No doubt the silent grandeur of the lofty beech and maple, the oak and walnut trees, with their branches spreading like the cedars of Lebanon, the green sward stretching like folds of the richest velvet among the trees, the blue sky and the singing birds, and all the beauties of nature surrounding their little chapel would awaken in their minds feelings of veneration and reverence for the great God who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. The minds of the earlier settlers, trained by habit to meditation in the forest, naturally found this a fit place for contemplation and worship. The second church was a frame building (1818); the third a handsome brick structure, which now stands on the identical site of the first church in the Long Point district.
CHAPTER XLI. FINCH.
TITUS FINCH joined the Royal Standard shortly after the Declaration of Independence, and continued in the service till the close of the war. In 1784 he landed in Halifax with other Loyalists, and built a home for himself about forty miles west of that city. Mr. Finch was a very religious man, and feeling himself called to the ministry, was ordained, and preached on the Sabbath to his friends and neighbors in their new home. In 1798 he removed to Long Point, obtaining from the Government a grant of six hundred acres of land on the fourth concession of Charlotteville. He and his son built a grist mill near Port Ryerse. This mill was burned on the 15th May, 1814, by Americans who came across Lake Erie in six schooners. No sooner had they left, however, than plans for a new mill were got ready, and in less than two months everything was completed, and in operation again. In the Government satisfaction for damages Mr. Finch received £265, or one-half the value of the former mill.* Following the example of the apostle Paul, who "worked at his trade," six days in the week, "Elder" Finch labored on the farm or in the mill, and on the seventh he preached the Gospel. In 1804 he organized the first Baptist Church in London District, and remained as its minister till his death, in 1821. *Despatch from Lieutenant-General Drummond to Sir George Prevost ("Documentary History of Canada," Part I, p. 16) "Kingston, May 31st, 1814. "SIR,-I have the honor to transmit herewith for your Excellency's information the deposition of Mr. Mathias Steele, of Woodhouse, who was on the spot at the time the enemy landed there on the 14th inst., and which I feel satisfied is correct." "Personally appeared before me, the Hon. Richard Cartwright, one of His Majesty's Justices assigned to keep the peace in and for the said district, Mathias Steele, of Woodhouse, gentleman, who, being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists, saith, 'That on Saturday, the fourteenth of the present month, an American force, computed at about eight hundred men, and consisting of regulars, militia and seamen, under the command of Colonel Campbell, disembarked at the mouth of Patterson's creek from six schooners, where they encamped for the night. That having met with no opposition, they, on the following morning, advanced and took possession of the Village of Dover, and having plundered the houses of all the inhabitants and carried off all their provisions, set fire to the village and entirely destroyed it. They then proceeded to Ryerson's mills, situated a little farther up the lake, and set fire to them with several other buildings; and proceeding still farther up the lake, destroyed another set of mills belonging to Mr. Finch. He further deposeth and saith, that to the best of his knowledge and belief they destroyed altogether twenty dwelling houses, three flour mills, three saw mills, three distilleries, twelve barns, and a number of other buildings. He further deposeth and saith, that they shot all the cows and hogs that they could find, leaving them to rot on the ground. And further, that on the said Colonel Campbell being asked the reason of this wanton and barbarous conduct, where he had met with no opposition, he answered that it was done in retaliation for the burning of Havre de Grace, Buffalo and Lewiston, and further this deponent saith not." "MATIAIAS STEELE. "Sworn before me at Kingston, this 31st day of May, 1814. "RICHARD CARTWRIGHT, J. P.
CHAPTER XLII. TISDALE.
THE Tisdales are one of the most noted families of Norfolk County. They are the descendants of an old Welsh family of considerable prominence in Britain in the seventeenth century. About 1700 a branch of the family came to America, and settled in Freetown, Massachusetts. For some time before the war Ephraim Tisdale was the owner and captain of a vessel engaged in trade to the West Indies. When the colonies declared war against Britain, Captain Tisdale placed his boat at the service of the king, and he was engaged to distribute supplies at various points on the Atlantic coast. Colonel Sabine in his book on "Loyalists of the American Revolution" (Vol. II., p. 357) has this interesting note: "During the war, while on a voyage to St. Augustine, Ephraim Tisdale abandoned his vessel at sea to avoid capture, and gained the shore in safety. Though nearly destitute of money, he accomplished an overland journey to New York, a distance, by the route that he travelled, of fifteen hundred miles. In 1783 he embarked at New York for New Brunswick on the ship Brothers, Captain Walker, and on the passage his wife gave birth to a son, who was named after the master of the ship." Mr. Tisdale and bis family (eight sons and four daughters) settled on lands allotted to them at Waterbury in New Brunswick. This is on the St. John River, between St John and Fredericton. Here they all lived together till 1798, when Lot, the second son, came to the Long Point settlement, and was assigned land in Charlotteville. He was greatly delighted with his new home, and wrote many letters to New Brunswick urging his father and brothers to come west. In 1801 Lot paid a visit to New Brunswick, and returned the same year with two brothers, William and Ephraim, and his sister Hannah (Mrs. Perley). In the following year another brother, Joseph, made his way to Long Point, and in 1808 three other brothers and Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Tisdale, sen. The old gentleman lived for eight years in the new home. Four of the Tisdale brothers, together with Benjamin Mead, formed in 1810 a business partnership, and built a large store in Vittoria. Their enterprise prospered, and in a short time they were regarded as well-to-do men. True to his loyalist instincts, Mr. Ephraim Tisdale, jun., fought in the war of 1812, and in this connection the following incident is told: In 1814 a body of American militia, 150 strong, the scum of the troops, came across Lake Erie for the purpose of plundering and burning. They had marched from Dover to the mills of Titus Finch, at the place since known as Cross and Fisher's Landing, and burned them. Thence they were proceeding to Turkey Point to destroy the district courthouse, which was then standing on the bank near where the road now leads down the hill which overlooks Turkey Point. When near Normandale (four miles from Turkey Point) they were attacked by a body of twenty eight irregular volunteers armed with fowlmg pieces and rifles and driven back to their boats. The volunteers one of whom was the elder Mr. Tisdale, ran through the woods to the bank of the lake to cut off their retreat. They were too late to prevent the enemy from embarking, but killed an officer and fourteen of the men. The enemy immediately set sail for Turkey Point; but when a short distance from shore discovered the redcoats of a party of troops, which had just arrived to reinforce the volunteers, and, not caring to risk an encounter, forthwith put the helm hard around and made away for the end of Long Point and thence across to the place "from whence they came." In the rebellion of 1837, Ephraim Tisdale, jun., served for two years as sergeant in a troop of cavalry, and during that period was at the Niagara frontier when the steamer Caroline was cut out and burned. He was one of those engaged in that exploit. Subsequently to 1837, he held a captain's commission in the Militia. He was also a justice of the peace for over twenty-five years. Among the descendants of Ephraim Tisdale is the well-known ex-Minister of Militia, Colonel David Tisdale, M.P. for South Norfolk.
CHAPTER XLIII. BERDAN.
THE Berdan family were prominent land owners in New Jersey. On the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Albert Berdan enlisted in the New Jersey volunteers, and was appointed sergeant in the 2nd battalion. On the conclusion of peace he settled in New Brunswick, where he remained till 1798. In that year he came west, settling in the township of Woodhouse. He and his family received allotments, partly in Woodhouse and partly in Charlotteville. When the Courts of Quarter Sessions were organized in 1800, and the first session held in April, at the house of Lieut. James Munro, Albert Berdan was sworn in as the first constable of Woodhouse, and was also appointed the first Court Crier. An item in the court journal for the spring term of 1801 states that Albert Berdan was indicted for swearing in the presence of one of the jurymen, Lucas Dedrick. But this seems to have been quite common in those days, for in the same session two other prominent men were fined for the same offence. Moreover, in the fall session of the same year, Mr. Berdan was again indicted, this time not only for profane language, but for aggravated assault, for we read: "AIbert Berdan, fined £5, Halifax currency, for assault and battery." In fact, the great majority of offences that were brought into court in those early days were for assault or abusive language. There are very few instances of theft.
CHAPTER XLIV. COPE.
WILLIAM COPE was born on Long Island, the first year of the Seven Years' War. In the Revolutionary War he was a private in the Royal Regiment, New York. After the war he remained for about ten years in New York State, but in 1794 removed to the Niagara District, and four years later to Norfolk County, settling on the lake front of Walsingham, called for many years Cope's Landing. The old pioneer died in 1813. His eldest son, Jacob, was one of those wounded in the battle of Lundy's Lane. The descendants of the family live in and around the village of St. Williams, a border town between Walsingham and Charlotteville.
CHAPTER XLV. JOSEPH RYERSON.
JOSEPH, younger brother of Samuel by nine years, was born in New Jersey at a town called Paterson, on the 28th February, 1761. At the outbreak of the war of American Independence he entered the army in 1776 as a cadet. Being for some time too small to handle a musket, he used a light fowling piece. About the close of that year, Sir Peter Parker and Sir Henry Clinton called for volunteers to form a light infantry corps, to go south for the purpose of besieging Charlston. Joseph is mentioned by Col. Sabine as being one of the 550 volunteers for this campaign. When Col. Ennis, the recruiting officer for this expedition, came to Joseph Ryerson, he told him that he was too small to go; but the boy replied that he was growing older and stouter every day, and the colonel, pleased at the lad's ready answer, accepted him. The service was hard and dangerous, and scarcely a sixth of the force returned, Joseph being one of the eighty six who got safely back to the Northern States after the unsuccessful siege. After this, the light infantry corps was dispersed, and the men who remained were returned to the regiments from which they had volunteered. In 1778 he was made an ensign in the Prince of Wales Regiment. This honor was conferred on him in recognition of his services in the bearing of dispatches from Charleston to a point 196 miles in the interior. In the course of this he had many narrow escapes. One story is related by Peter Rodner, who had served in the same division, and remained, till death, his faithful and intimate friend. He says that on one occasion Ryerson was sent on a scouting expedition and was rash enough to crawl up to a tent of American officers, when he was discovered by one standing in the door, but determining to save himself by an act of unparalleled intrepidity, walked boldly up, and, drawing his bayonet, plunged it through the heart of the hesitating officer and escaped before the startled Americans could give pursuit. He also mentions that Ensign Ryerson was one of the most determined men he ever knew, and with the service of his country uppermost in his mind, often exposed himself to great dangers for the accomplishment of his purposes. In the following year he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the same regiment, in recognition of the courage which he showed in the beariug of special despatches by sea to the north, having eluded the enemy many times and repulsed them frequently at great odds. He was in six battles and several minor encounters, and once wounded. In 1783 he went to New Brunswick, being assigned lands at Majorville, on the St. John. There he remained till 1799, when he removed to Upper Canada and settled in the township of Charlotteville. In Canada, he held in succession the military offices of captain of the militia, major, and afterwards colonel. In 1800 he was made a member of the first commission of magistrates, and was for some years chairman of the Courts of Quarter Sessions. In that same year he was appointed high sherrif of London District, which position he held for about five years. He held also the position of Treasurer of London District for eight years. True to his loyalty to the British crown whenever danger threatened, in the war of 1812 he again shouldered his musket, and, together with three of his sons (George, Wi]liam and John), remained in active service to the end of the war. He seems to have been of a stronger constitution than his brother Samuel, and to have remained healthy aud vigorous throughout his life. The Colonel lived till 1854 and was probably the last of the original U. E. loyalists who joined the Royal Standard in 1776. His descendauts, who live at the present time, have inherited his pluck and perseverauce, unswerving loyalty to the Crown, and unsullied faith in the glorious destiny of the land for which their distinguished ancestor fought so long and so faithfully. The families of the two brothers, Samuel Ryerse and Ryerson are connected by intermarriage with some of the best families of the Province. The circle of connection is very wide, including, among others, the Austin, Barett, Lee, Stirling, Wilson, Burch, Freeman, Williams, Bostwick (the late Colonel Bostwick, of Port Stanley, was a son in law of Joseph Ryerson), Wyatt, Rolph, Hazen, Mitchel, Clark and McMichael families.
CHAPTER XLVI. ANDERSON.
JUST before the war there settled in New Jersey a Scotch family of the name of Anderson. On the declaration of the hostillties they declared themselves on the side of the King, and enrolled themselves in the New Jersey volunteers. One of the family, Walter, rose to the rank of captain. His true British bravery, his sharp wit and clever repartee commanded the admiration and respect of the men of his company. He had an extraordinarily versatile nature, aud at night around the camp-fire he was the popular entertainer, spinning off by the hour romantic stories with exceedingly dramatic execution. About the close of the war he was one of the Loyalists who took refuge in Ward's blockhouse on Long Island. In that place they were besieged by the Americans; but, before a surrender was made, he and a comrade named Henry Bush, escaped by night across the ice to the mainland of Connecticut. In this State they were, however, in exceedingly dangerous territory, for Captain Anderson was one of the persons who were designated by name, and in a certain posted order were required by the Executive Council to surrender themselves to some judge of a court or justice of the peace within a specified time and abide trial for treason, or, in default of appearance, to stand attainted. It is needless to say that these men were very far from trusting themselves to the tender mercies of the Executive Council of Connecticut, and a plan of escape was soon concocted in the fertile brain of Anderson. They assumed the role of a pair of itinerant evangelists, a Moody and Sankey, or Crossley and Hunter, of the last century. It seems that Bush could sing very acceptably. His rich, melodious voice would ring out in sonorous tones over the rows of New Englanders in the log meeting-houses in such affecting strains as: "We'll drive the devil around a stump, We're marching on to glory; And hit him a thump at every jump, We're on our journey home." Nor was Anderson less talented on his side. Clothed in a rusty black coat reaching to his knees, his beard shaved off, with the exception of a most sanctimonious looking pair of side whiskers, his shoulders bowed beneath the burden of the woes of wretched humanity or the ponderous Bible which he carried so carefully under his arm, with a voice tremulous with emotion he would plead with the people to accept the offer of salvation. Anon, in firmer tones, he would relate such familiar tales as that of the good Samaritan or the rich man and Lazarus, and draw moral lessons therefrom. As he proceeded, we are told that he would work himself into a paroxysm of rage as, on the basis of: "Woe unto thee Chorazin, woe unto thee Bethsaida," he would proclaim the vengeance of a justly angry God on account of the wickedness of the country in general, and the ill-fated remnant of loyalist English in particular; and the barbarous atrocities of the Six Nation Indians at Wyoming. His eyes would glow, his mouth quiver, his heart throb, his breast heave, and his finger-nails dig into the palms of his hand, as in a fervor of religions frenzy he prayed high heaven to send the red archangel with the two-edged sword of flame to separate the sheep from the goats, and the dire deceivers from those that were true. Thus they held one meeting each day at early candle-lighting in all the school-houses and chapels in a comparatively straight line between the southern and northern boundaries of the State. Once safely out of Connecticut they struck with unclerical haste for the military high road, which ran along the west shore of lake Champlain. In a flatbottomed boat they rowed themselves the whole length of the Upper St. lawrence and of Lake Ontario, and settled in the Niagara district. Captain Anderson's family made their way to him as soon as possible, and for about thirteen years they lived in the County of Lincoln. In 1799 they moved to the Long Point settlement, having received land in Charlotteville. The old Captain died from injuries received by falling from a roof in 1810. "Full of years and honors", he passed away, leaving to his five sons and two daughters a name to be respected and honored as long as the lamp of patriotism sheds light on the deeds of men.
CHAPTER XLVII. GILBERT.
JOSIAH GILBERT, of New Jersey, was a corporal in the King's American Regiment. In company with a man named Pearlie he acted as a spy in the War of the Revolution. After peace was concluded he came under the penalties of the same acts passed by the legislature of New Jersey, as have been detailed in Chapter V., and his escape from his native state was almost as dramatic as that of Abraham Smith. Late in October, 1783, a body of troops came to his house seeking him, and Gilbert had barely time to leap on his horse and get well away. But he had not gone far when the shouts of his pursuers, also mounted, fell on his ear. The race for freedom was an exciting one, but Gilbert managed to maintain his lead. His pursuers hoped to catch him at the river Alleghany, never thinking that he would venture to cross it. But the brave man, throwing himself from his horse, rolled a small cedar log into the water, and with his left arm round it for support, attempted to steer himself with the other to the opposite shore. By the time the Americans reached the river, he was nearly two hundred yards from the bank he had left, although it was only with extreme difficulty that he was making his way slowly across. Forthwith, the sergeant commanded his men to open fire upon the swimmer, and the unremitting sharpshooting was kept up as long as Gilbert was within range. The arm which encircled the log was shot in the fleshy part, but by good fortune the bone was not splintered, and he was enabled to still cling to his support. The log itself received many balls, but by keeping it between himself and the enemy his head was protected until he was out of range, ana the disappointed troopers had to return gloomily home. The corporal made his way to New Brunswick, where he remained till 1799. In that year he came to the Long Point country settling in the township of Woodhouse. In the war of 1812 he was appointed captain of a local body of volunteers, and again nobly proved his loyalty to Britain. Some of his descendants live at the present time near Springford in North Norwich, and some in Dereham. A grandson, John Gilbert, aged eighty-nine, is yet living in Dereham, and also the eldest sister of John Gilbert, a Mrs. Mahoney, at the ripe old age of ninety-two. One of the sons of John Gilbert is called Josiah, after his noted ancestor.
CHAPTER XLVIII. JOHNSON.
MANY Loyalists of this name distinguished themselves in the war of American Independence. George and James Johnson served as junior officers in the Royal Regiment, New York. Sir John Johnson was Lieutenant-Colonel, and William, a captain in the King's Loyal Regiment. Jonas Johnson was a soldier in the noted Butler's Rangers, and another, James, a trooper in Jessup's Brigade. But one only of the name settled in Norfolk County, to wit, Lawrence Johnson. He had served as a corporal in Colonel Robinson's regiment. When taken prisoner in one of the countless skirmishes of the war, Colonel Livingstone, the Commander of the American squadron, sent the prisoner to the President of Pennsylvania with the message: "Lawrence Johnson is an impudent, determined villain, undoubtedly in the service of the enemy. If you examine him, you will find him to be one of the greatest liars you have ever met." With such a testimonial as this, the governor was graciously pleased to entertain the unfortunate Johnson in one of the strongholds of the capital, and the loyalist remained the guest of the governor till the end of the war. At the conclusion of hostillties, Johnson was told to leave the country, and, glad enough to be out of prison, promptly went to New Brunswick in the spring of 1784. For fifteen years he remained in that province, that is, until 1799, when he removed to Long Point. He is described as a tall, spare man, of considerable physical strength and great powers of endurance, sharp-witted, clever with his tongue, and of remarkable power of rapid decision in emergencies. He was a pioneer Baptist and one of the original members of Titus Finch's church.
CHAPTER XLIX. MONTROSS.
IN the war of American Independence, Peter Montross, sen., had been a soldier in the Loyal American Regiment, and at the close of the war settled in New Brunswick. In 1799 his three sons, Levy, Silas and Peter, and their three sisters, came west to Long Point, settling in Charlotteville near the lake. They each received from the Government two hundred acres in Charlotteville, under date of Order-in-Council 17th February, 1802. (The allotment of Silas was Lot 20 of the 1st concession, near the "Glen".) The wife of Silas Montross was Sarah, daughter of Frederick Maby. She received one of the first grants of land given in that section, the entry being the third on page 1, folio I. of the Docket Book for warrants of survey to U. E. Loyalists and military claimants. The various sons of Silas Montross also received free land. Evidently both the father, Peter Montross, and son Silas, were in active service in the Revolutionary War, for Silas is mentioued also in the list of the Loyal American Regiment; but at the time of the war he must have been very young. Silas built a distillery at a place called Cross and Fisher's Landing (Old Newport), now known as the "Glen." In 1814 the crews of the six American schooners, who burned the mill of Titus Finch, burned two houses and a barn belonging to Mr. Montross, aud looted this distillery of forty barrels of whiskey. When peace was restored, he was given by the Goverument £235 11s this being 50 per cent of the assessed value of his loss.
CHAPTER L MILLARD.
DANIAL MILLARD was a corporal in the 85th Regiment. In 1786 he came to Niagara. The entry "Daniel Millard and wife" appears on the Niagara provision list for that year. In 1799 he removed to the township of Woodhouse. He was a man of exceedingiy good character, reliable and trustworthy. He was appointed, in 1800, the first treasurer for London District. His two sons were given land in Norfolk County, the one in Woodhouse, the other in Townsend.
CHAPTER LI MATTHEWS.
DURING the war of the Revolution, James Matthews served as a cavalryman in the New Jersey volunteers. After the war he settled on Lyon's Creek, in the Niagara District; but, in 1799, exchanged his government allotment there for lot 3 of the Gore of Woodhouse. He was a member of the first court jury of London District, and a trustee of the original Woodhouse Methodist Church. In the war of 1812, he again volunteered, and did faithful service for his country in the transportation corps. The old pioneer died in 1818, having lived a century all but four years.
CHAPTER LII. POWELL
THE name of Abraham Powell was inserted on the list of U. E. Loyalists by special Order-in-Council, 13th January, 1807. At that time he had been living in Windham for eight years. On the 7th February, 1809, he was granted two hundred acres in Charlotteville, aud on the 20th October of the next year one of his sons, Jacob, also received two hundred acres. The other sons received further grants in Windham at a later date. It is said that Mr. Powell opened the first store in Windham, at a place which afterwards received the name of Powell's Plains. In 1804 he was appointed Road Commissioner for Norfolk County, aud subsequently held other municipal appointments. One of his sons, Israel, was the Norfolk representative in the Dominion Parliament from 1841 to 1848; he was also warden of his county for some time. The family has always taken a prominent part in municipal politics.
CHAPTER LIII. FOSTER.
ELIAS and Mary Foster were the first who settled in Walsingham, west of Big Creek. Before the war of the Revolution, Elias was in comfortable circumstances in Long Island. However, he promptly threw in his lot with the British, and served in the Royal Regiment, New York. In 1783 he came with others to New Brunswick, settling about ten miles from Fredericton. He was a widower at the time he left his American home, but married again in New Brunswick. In 1800 he came to Long Point with his young family, settling in Walsingham, near the marsh land, west of Port Royal. Three years after he was made a justice of the peace, aud later, a justice of the Court of Requests. He continued a man of prominence aud influence till his death, in 1833. His eldest son, Edward, served in the war of 1812 as a commissariat officer. This gentleman was a skilful hunter, and his family tell many thrilling "bear stories," tales of adventure in the thick forests west of Walsingham Centre. His list of bear "scalps" is said to have amounted to over one hundred. Muskrats seem to have been plentiful in Walsingham at that time, for it is said Mr. Foster killed as many as seventeen hundred in one year. The skins had a value of about two shillings, York currency. Evidently Long Point was a sportsman's paradise to an even greater extent than it is at the present time.
CHAPTER LIV. WILLIAMS.
IN the Revolutionary war, Jonathan Williams was a captain in the Loyal Rangers. Strange to say, he was not so much molested by the Legislature of the State of New York after the war as were others. He was left off the confiscation and "expurgation" lists. Consequently, it was not till 1800 that he came to Canada, when he settled in the township of Woodhouse. His son, Titus, was born in Long lsland in 1790, and came over with his father. Four years before the war of 1812, Titus received an ensign's commission in the 2nd Regiment of Norfolk militia, and as soon as war was declared he was made lieutenant of the left flank company, which assembled at Turkey Point. He was second in command of the 100 volunteers from this county who accompanied Brock to Detroit, which was followed by the ignominious surrender of the American general, Hull. His rank was then raised to that of captain. Shortly aftcrwards he was ordered to the defence of Fort Erie, which, it was surmised, would soon be attacked, for thirteen thousand men were arming and drilling at Buffalo. When the attack came, the Canadians were forced to retire, for their numbers were far inferior to those of the American force. However, on his way back to Chippawa Capt. Williams succeeded in surprising and taking prisoners thirty Americans under Capt. King. In the fight at Fort Erie, which lasted through the night, it may be mentioned that Major Bostwick and John Matthews, of Norfolk County, were wounded: the former in the head, the latter in the leg. The next year he was ordered to take forty men and a large boat and proceed to Sugar Loaf, where a quantity of flour was buried. This he was to seize during the night, if possible, aud bring it to headquarters. After dark he proceeded to the point and ran his boat on shore, but before they could land a volley was fired into the boat, for the Americans had received information from a deserter. They had run on the shore with such impetus that the boat was grounded, and there being no chance of escape, the whole party were taken prisoners. The captives were forwarded from one place to another, Schlosser, Fort Niagara, Batavia, Geneva, Albany, Pittsfield, Mass., and, finally, Philadelphia. On account of some executions of deserters taken in arms by the Canadian Government, Williams and his companions were looked upon as hostages, and stood in hourly danger of the gallows. They were incarcerated five in a cell, in close confinement. As time went on, however, the feeling subsided, and they were liberated on the 18th of May, 1814, and arrived in Upper Canada July 25th, 1814. On his return he was appointed adjutant and fought at Lundy's Lane. After that battle he was placed in command of the militia working on Fort Norfolk, in Turkey Point, and remained in that capacity till the close of the war, when the militia was disbanded. There were few engaged in this struggle for home and fireside that fought longer or more gloriously. From the 25th of June, 1812, till the forces were disbanded, in 1815, he was either on duty or a prisoner of war. Subsequently, he was made successively major and colonel, and did not lay down his commissions until failing eyesight demanded his resignation. Lord Elgin sent a cordial letter of appreciation to him on the occasion of his handing in his resignation. It reads as follows: "I have much pleasure in availing myself of the opportunity of expressing to Col. Titus Williams the high sense I entertain of his services, and he is hereby permitted te retire, retaining his rank." Assuredly the U. E. Loyalists were the "stuff of which heroes are made." The writer has been told many further incidents of the bravery of Col. Williams, in the war of 1812, but sufficient has been said to prove his courage. [My ancestor was Jonathan Williams and I wish to correct his paragraph. Jonathan received his land in New Brunswick in the block set aside for the Guides and Pioneers up the St. John River. I have a copy of the original agreement setting out all the Guide & Pioneer names. He was transported to NB by ship from New York. Yes, he did return to New York and appears on the census or voters' list and was living next door to his wife's parents. They had babies baptised in the family church. He came to Upper Canada, to Norfolk, applied for land and was refused as he had received land in NB. Doris Ann Lemon, UE.]
CHAPTER LV. BROWN.
SAMUEL BROWN was a New Jersey loyalist, who came to the Niagara District in 1786, settling in the township of Stamford. His name appears on the provision list for that year. "Samuel Brown, wife, and one child," reads the entry. This child was his eldest son, James, who had been born in New Jersey three years before. In 1800 he removed to Norfolk, settling about the centre of Charlotteville. His family by this time consisted of five sons and four daughters. Four of the sons left Charlotteville and settled in Middleton, becoming four of the earliest pioneers of that township. One, Samuel, jun., was a very successful hunter and trapper, and accumulated considerable property, paying for it with the bounties he received from the Government for wolves' scalps. For these a bounty of $6 each was received.
CHAPTER LVI. SPURGIN.
WITH regard to William Spurgin, the only reliable information we have is that he was a loyalist from North Carolina. He settled in Charlotteville about the year 1800, as far as we know. His son, Samuel, received a grant of two hundred acres in the same township on the 26th of May, 1817.
CHAPTER LVII. HUTCHISON.
THE trouble between loyalists and revolutionists began in many cases long before the war. The radicals were intolerant of opposition, and to attempt to be neutral was, in their language, to be a "traiter." Such was the case with William Hutchison, of New Jersey. At the opening of the war he was urged to join the rebel army, but persistently refused. Henceforward he was followed by the open and avowed hatred of the American patriots. Their dislike in this case was unremitting and implacable. His cattle were mutilated, his barns burned, and, finally, his estate was confiscated, and orders were given to bring him "dead or alive" before the executive officers of the State Legisiature. Nothing remained, therefore, for himself and friends (for there were eleven to whom this order had reference), but an attempt to escape to the King's troops. His wife and eight children had to be left behind. The small body of eleven men were followed, and, being brought to bay by a detachment of American cavalry, bravely defended themselves for some minutes, but seeing the contest useless, took refuge in an old barn. Their hiding-place was soon discovered, and ten of them were caught and afterwards hanged. It happened that William Hutchison did not enter the barn as did the others, but threw himself among some furze bushes a little distance from it. But his hiding place was none too safe, for one of the sentries peered into the bush, remarking that "it would be a d___ fine place for a 'rebel' to hide himself." But being hidden in the deep shade he was not discovered. So he crawled along the borders of the field to get to the road, lying motion-less when the moon shone brightly, and again moving when it was hidden by a cloud. On every side he could hear the calls of the American troopers to each other as they prowled round in search of him. Finally, hovever, he made his escape to the British army, and, burning for vengeance, he asked to be appointed to the command of a small body of troops. His request was willingly granted, for, before the war he had been granted a captain's commission, and he was a captain of one of the regiments of New Jersey volunteers. His company did remarkably daring service for the Motherland during that bitter war. But his wife and little children did not survive the hardships to which they were subjectcd, and at the conclusion of peace he and his two remaining sons went to New Brunswick. There he married again and settled on the St. John River. There he remained for about fourteen years, when he removed to the township of Walsingham, Norfolk County (1798). He was an added member of the first commission of magistrates for the London District. In the war of 1812, true to his loyal spirit, he took his three eldest sons, of whom two had been born in New Brunswick, and went to the front. At the battle of Moravian town, Alexander, the eldest, was killed. Captain Hutchison was a justice of the peace, and for one term of 1809, chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions at Turkey Point. He was also an associate justice of the Court of Requests for Walsingham. The descendants of the Captain live yet in Walsingham, and are connected with the Beard, Sovereign, Backhouse, Fairchild, and McKinna families of Norfolk county.
CHAPTER LVIII. BUCKNER.
THERE were four brothers of this name settled in New Jersey before the war, Mathias, Henry, John, and Martin. They came originally of good old German stock, and remained staunchly loyal to King George. Not content with a passive allegiance, they took up arms, not in defence of the "Vaterland" across the water, but in defence of the right of their adopted sovereign. In the U. E. Loyalist record we have an entry to the effect that Henry and John joined the Royal Standard at New York, the latter in 1779. With regard to Mathias, the entry records show that he joined the Royal Army in the Jerseys as early as 1777. Martin is not mentioned, but, no doubt, he was an active loyalist also, for the four brothers came to this country together in 1795. The long journey from New Jersey was made on foot, a walk of five hundred miles. The two children of Henry, a son and a daughter, Henry and Anne, mere infants at that time, were slung in baskets, one on either side of a pack horse. Father and mother walked by their side and carried a few small relics of their former home. They followed the military highway by Lake Champlain, Fort Ticonderoga, Plattsburg, and then turned Northward to Cornwall. Slowly they made their way by land along the north shore of Lake Ontario, and along the high road running west, which Governor Simcoe had projected in 1795, but which at that time was; in many places, simply a blaze, for the Governor had left the Province before his intentions could be carried out. They settled first at Lyon's Creek, in the Niagara District, but about 1800, removed to the Long Point settlement, and received from the Government the following grants of land, chiefly in the township of Windham: "John Boughner, son of Mathias, of Willoughby, Lincoln Co., 200 acres, 30th September, 1800. Mathias Boughner, jun., son of Mathias, 200 acres, 3Oth Sept, 1800. "Anna Boughner, daughter of Mathias, 200 acres in Woodhouse, 23rd June, 1803. "Alex. Boughner, son of Mathias 200 acres in Windham 26th June, 1807. "Getta Boughner, wife of Alexander (Supra) and daughter of Jacob Glover, a U. E. Loyalist, 200 acres in Windham, 16th. Feb., 1811. Two daughters of Henry Buckner also received land. "Elizabeth Owen, wife of Abner Owen, 200 acres in Woodhouse. "Mary Wilson, wife of Joseph Wilson, jun., 200 acres in Windham, 4th. May, 1811. The present home of Elias Boughner, on the 13th. concession of Windham, is on the identical site of the original log cabin, erected just a century ago. It will be noticed that the name as spelled in these entries is "Boughner," a mistake of the copyist no doubt; but as the grants of land were drawn out in that name, the majority of the family adopted it thenceforward. For years the wolf, the bear, and other feroeious animals were a source of terror to the early settler. The want of firearms and ammunition, in many cases made their extermination a task of great difficulty. They grew very bold and would come even by day to the door of the shanty, ready to seize the poultry, pigs, sheep, or provisions of the early settler, and even his little child, while night was made hideous by their incessant howling. The little sheep-fold of Mr. Mathias Buckner had been broken into, night after night, by wolves. There was not a doubt as to the nature of the marauder, for a few inches of snow lay on the ground and the tracks were plain. He followed the marks through the woods to a cave at the mouth of which the bloody snow and scattered tufts of wool were an indisputable evidence that the offender had been tracked to his den. The mouth of the cave was not much larger than the body of a man. To attack a ferocious wolf in such a place might well make a man shudder; but, nothing daunted, Mr. Buckner prepared to enter the den. He fastened a candle on the end of a long pole and shoved it into the cavern, and, taking his musket and a pitchfork, he crawled in on his hands and knees. The roof of the cave was higher on the inside, and he was enabled to stand almost upright. Carefully looking around in the awful silence, he saw a pair of glassy eyes gleaming in the shadow. His life depended on one shot. He aimed a little below the glittering eyeballs, and a howl of pain told him that his shot was effective. But a frantic leap of the maddened animal showed him also that the wolf was far from dead. He seized the pitchfork, and, though his coat was torn by the claws of the wolf as he sprung aside, he succeeded in impaling the animal at the first thrust, and a few stabs settled it forever. This story, and others as interesting, was told the writer by an old lady now nearly eighty years of age, living about two miles from Tilsonburg. She is the widow of Peter, one of the six sons of Mathias. Mrs. Boughner is an extraordinarily interesting old lady, with the marked conversational power of her family. The family is an extensive one, and well and favorably known throughout the section, Mr. Elias Boughner being on two occasions the standard-bearer for the Conservative party in North Norfolk. Though he missed election, the immense vote cast for him is an evidence of the regard and esteem with which his fellow citizens honor him.
CHAPTER LIX. WYCOFF.
IN the War of the Revolution families were frequently divided by the bitterest hatred. Many times did fathers recognize sons, or brothers in the opposing battle line. The Wycoff family, of Long Island, is an instance of this fratricidal division. One of the family, Major Hendrick Wycoff, was the trusted agent of Governor Clinton. On the British side Peter Wycoff fought as conscientiously and as bravely. Immediately after the close of the war, this Peter Wycoff removed to the Niagara District, settling in Lincoln County, near St. Catherines. About 1797 he returned to Long Island for some business purpose, and on his way back it is supposed was murdered, for he was not heard of again. His widow and two sons, John and Peter remained for some years at their home in Lincoln County. After some time the widow married John Clendenning, a miller, and the family removed to Long Point, settling near Port Ryerse. Mr. Clendenning was engaged by Mr. Ryerse to manage his mill. The two sons John and Peter Wycoff, enlisted for the war of 1812. John was killed on the Niagara frontier, but Peter returned safely home. He was given 200 acres in Woodhouse on the 17th December, 1816, and lived on his farm until his death, in 1881.
CHAPTER LX. HAVILAND.
DURING the war of the Revolution, John Haviland, of New York State, was a captain in the company commanded by Colonel James Delaney. At the close of the war, he joined the party which Mr. Grass was preparing to conduct to Upper Canada. They left New York in five small vessels, and sailed around the coast, arriving at Sorel, in Quebec, in October, 1788. There they built themselves shanties, and wintered. In May, 1784, they re-embarked in their boats and reached Cataraqui, Kingston, in July. Captain Haviland settled in Adolphustown. There he remained till 1803, when he removed to the Long Point Settlement, erecting his log cabin on lot 12 of the 1st concession of Townsend. Captain Haviland received a large grant of land from the Crown, as is proved by the following Order-in-Council, under date of 27th January,1809: John Haviland, of Townsend, Norfolk County, London District, gentleman, formerly a captain in Delaney's Regiment, 2,600 acres, to make up 3,000 acres, as captain, in King and Gwillimbury." This was in the northern part of York County, but Mr. Haviland preferred to live on the 600 acres in Townsend, where he had established his home. There are also the following grants registered: "Benjamin, son of John Haviland, yeoman, 200 acres in Townsend, 20th March, 1815. "John, son of John Haviland, yeoman, 200 acres in Townsend, 20th March, 1815. "Esther, wife of John Haviland, jun., and daughter of Peter Fairchild, 200 acres, 20th March, 1815. "Sarah, spinster, daughter of John Haviland, 200 acres in Townsend, 7th August, 1816; also lot 19, 5th concession, Zorra, 8th May, 1821. "Fanny, daughter of John Haviland, 200 acres in Townsend, 8th October, 1833. Captain Haviland enlisted for the war of 1812, and was slightly wounded in the Battle of Lundy's Lane. One of his grandsons, also a John Haviland, obtained a part of the old captain's farm, and so improved it that it is now a veritable farmer's paradise. The buildings are large, and display a quaint old-fashioned magnificence. The homestead is a great square brick house, with a balcony running completely around the second story. Everything is in keeping, and the impression given to the visiter is one of easy circumstances and solid comfort.
CHAPTER LXI. FAIRCHILD.
THE name of Peter Fairchild was inserted on the original list of U. E. Loyalists by a special Order-in-Council, dated 10th May, 1808. It is here stated that he joined the Royal Standard in 1777. It would seem by this that he did not come to Canada till quite late, probably about the year 1805. At any rate, it is certain that he was settled in Townsend by the year 1807, for we find mention of him in that year in the records of the township. His family received from the Government the following grants of land: "Rebecca, daughter of Peter Fairchild, a U. E. Loyalist, wife of Joseph Meril, 200 acres in Charlotteville, 28th May, 1811. "Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Fairchild, wife of J. Smith, 200 acres in Charlotteville, 21st June, 1811. "Benjamin, son of Peter Fairchild, 200 acres in Townsend, 7th August, 1816. Sarah, daughter of Peter Fairchild, spinster, 200 acres in Townsend, 8th October. 1833. The Fairchild and Haviland families were connected by the marriage of Benjamin Fairchild, - spoken of above, to Elizabeth, daughter of John Haviland of the same place.
CHAPTER LXII. WILSON.
JACOB and Joseph Wilson were brothers. On the outbreak of hostilities they each joined the British, and were enrolled in the New Jersey volunteers. Jacob was made a sergeant in one company. Joseph was a private in Barton's division. After the war they settled first in the Niagara District, but in the early years of the century removed to the Township of Windham. Their children received the following grants of land: "Philip, son of Jacob Wilson, two hundred acres, 23rd March, 1811, in Windham. "Mary, daughter of Joseph Wilson, wife of Michael Cairo, two hundred acres in Windham, 26th March, 1811. "Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Wilson, wife of John Van Atter, two hundred acres in Windham, 25th February, 1812."
CHAPTER LXIII SHAW.
DURING the war of American Independence, Michael Shaw was a private soldier in Butler's Rengers, and was one of the three hundred who attacked Fort Wyoming. He settled first in the Niagara District, and afterwards in the Township of Townsend. His two sons received grants as follows: Dennis, son of Michael Shaw of same place a U. E. Loyalist two hundred acres in Townsend 12th October 1810 Michael, jun., two hundred acres in Townsend 23rd December 1815. Nothing further concerning the family has been learned.
CHAPTER LXIV. DAVIS.
THOMAS DAVIS was a member of a North Carolina regiment. He settled after the war in the Township of Willoughby, County of Lincoln, of the Niagara District. Later, he removed to Woodhouse, in Norfolk County. His daughter, Fanny, was married to a son of Jacob Wilson, and received a grant of 200 acres in Charlotteville on the 2Oth. May, 1835. The writer has not learned anything further concerning the family.
CHAPTER LXV. GLOVER.
JACOB GLOVER was a merchant of Newtown, Connecticut. On the outbreak of the war he served as a sergeant in Lord Rawdon's command. In 1770 he was sent to Long Island in a boat in command of eight soldiers to capture Major-General Sillman. The American general was captured easily, for he was alone and comparatively defenceless. On returning to the mainland they found Colonel Simcoe, of the Queen's Rangers, waiting for them, who called out, "Have you got him ?" Answer "Yes." "Have you lost any men?" "No." "That is well," answered Simcoe, "Your Sillmans are not worth a man, nor your Washingtons."
CHAPTER LXVI. DOUGHARTY.
ANTHONY DOUGHARTY was one of the North Carolina Loyalists. To the best belief of the writer, he did not come to Canada till about 1810. He is mentioned on p. 6 of Folio II of the Loyalist Docket Books as "Of Townsend, lately deceased." This entry is under date 16th October, 1811, in connection with a grant of two hundred acres in Townsend to his daughter, Margaret, the wife of Nathaniel Root. Another daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of Alexander Tagert, was given two hundred acres in Townsend on the 16th March, 1817. No further information concerning the family has been obtained.
CHAPTER LXVII. GREEN.
REUBEN GREEN was a sergeant in the 1st battalion of New Jersey volunteers. He settled in Townsend in 1811, receiving from the Government a grant of 500 acres, on the 7th May of that year, as a military claimant. Two of his daughters also received grants of land: "Elizabeth, wife of John Dickson, daughter of Reuben Green, two hundred acres in Townsend, 23rd December, 1815." "Phoebe, wife of Jonathan Silverthorne, two hundred acres in Townsend, 23rd December, 1815." The writer has not obtained any further information concerning the family.
CONCLUSION.
SUCH is the story of the settlement of United Empire Loyalists in the Long Point District. It has been the aim of the writer to tell, in a simple and straightforward style, of those brave men who laid the foundation of a loyal British population in that part of Upper Canada. The material for the last forty chapters at least has been obtained from the descendants of these Loyalist settlers. Traditions as to the settlement of their ancesters are preserved in almost every family. It may be wondered that the literature as to the Loyalists is so scanty, but the reason is not hard to guess. They who are driven from their homes, who surrender their property and are forced to flee with what little baggage can be carried on the back of a horse or a cow, exiles from their native land, wanderers in a strange one, leave but few written memorials for the guidance of those who come in after days. Their papers are scattered and lost. Further, those who must devote their time and energy to the all-absorbing task of clearing away the forest and rearing new homes for their little ones in a land removed from even the vestiges of civilization, have but little time or inclination for writing history or recording events. Their feelings are often too bitter for tears or for words. Hence, except for the purely historical part, dealing with their enforced exile from the land of their birth, common to all the Loyalists who sought a refuge in Canada, we have had to depend upon tradition. It is to be hoped that the traditions embodied in these pages are not materially inaccurate. The method of comparison and examination of different individuals as to the settlement of a single person has been adopted so far as circumstances would permit. It is astonishing to find so much unanimity and consistency as to the tales and stories that are in these pages. Sons are yet alive whose fathers carved a home out of the wilderness almost a century since, and their evidence in many cases is unimpeachable. The writer has been oftentimes intensely stirred by the stories told by old men, now on the verge of the grave. If these chapters give to the mind of the reader an increased feeling of pride in the early settlers of this Province, the purpose of this treatise has been accomplished, and these pages, begun in a spirit of extreme timidity, and sent forth with many a misgiving as to their crudeness and imperfection, will not have been in vain. The Rev. Le Roy Hooker, of Detroit, expresses the issues which the Loyalists had to face, in a few beautiful lines:
"These be thy heroes, Canada! These men, who stood, when pressed, Not in the fevered pulse of strife, When foeman thrusts at foeman's life, But in that sterner test When wrong on sumptuous fare is fed, And right must toil for daily bread, And men must choose between. When wrong in lordly mansion lies, And right must shelter 'neath the skies, And men must choose between. When wrong is cheered on every side, And right is cursed and crucified, And men must choose between. And when you pray for Canada, Implore kind heaven, that like a leaven, The hero blood which then was given May quicken in her veins each day; So shall she win a spotless fame, And like the sun her honored name, Shall shine to latest years the same." THE END.