1st Edition Published June 30, 2015
2nd Edition Published June 11, 2016
3rd Edition Published February 7, 2018
4th Edition February 8, 2021
Copyright by Fred Blair
Additions and changes in this edition are blue text.
War of
1812 Canadian Stories
Introduction
Many
of the stories gathered here came from primary documents and family histories. A number of stories were also found in
histories of the war and Upper Canada.
There
is a Stories Selected Bibliography, a Stories Index, a section on How to Find
War Documents, and other resources in the right-hand column.
Upper
Canadian Life and Preparing for War
In 1793, the first in a succession of militia laws was passed and at
times all the males from 16 to 60 years of age were required to muster for
local militia duty at least once a year, preferably with a firearm, for
training. In 1807 the date was set as
June 4th, King George III’s birthday.
The muster was also used as an annual census.
The
men answered a roll call and after a few maneuvers were performed there was a
large meal provided. Officers supplied a
barrel of whiskey. The remainder of the
day involved wrestling, feats of strength, tall tales, and an occasional fight.[1]
Quakers,
Mennonites, and Tunkers, who objected to bearing arms, could claim an exemption
from this type of militia service, but they had to pay a fine of five pounds in
wartime.[2] They were still expected to muster and assist
in the King’s works, such as road maintenance, during the war.
However,
some men who were entitled to this religious exemption did serve in their local
militias. Exemptions were granted for a
number of other reasons. These included
men unfit for physical duty and men who were important to the maintenance of
the communities in other roles.
At
71 years old, Daniel Yake was entitled to an exemption because he was over 60
but he still reported for militia duty.
He arrived in the United States from Germany in 1785 and immigrated to
Upper Canada about 1804, when free land grants were available.[3]
Which
militia regiment did he serve in?
Other
men, particularly Loyalists, also reported for duty despite their age
exemptions. A number of men volunteered to defend
the Town of York on April 27, 1813, when the Americans invaded.
During
the war, militia privates received 6 pence (a half shilling) per day, meals,
and shelter. Lieutenant colonels
received 17 shillings, majors 16, captains 10 and 6 pence, adjutants, 8 and 6
pence, lieutenants and quarter masters 6 and 6 pence, ensigns 5 and 3 pence,
sergeant majors 2, and sergeants 1 and 4 pence.
An officer also received a horse allowance of 2 and 6 pence.
A labourer would have received 5 to 10
shillings per day and a man with a team could make 15.
Militia
officers had to pay a ten percent tax on their earnings.[4]
Failure
to muster for militia duty could result in a fine of up to 20 pounds. Some who could afford to pay the fine failed
to report for duty.[5] Some men hired substitutes to take their
place.
In
1811, beef was 5 to 6 pence per pound while butter was 6 pence, and cheese was 1
shilling. By 1814 demand had pushed the
prices up to 2 shillings, 6 shillings, and 4 shillings respectively. Martial law was enacted to reduce the prices
to prewar levels.[6]
In
1814, a York dollar was worth 5 shillings.
Wheat sold for 10 shillings a bushel, beef for seven and a half pence
per pound, butter for 15 pence per pound, and bread was 18 pence for a
four-pound loaf.[7]
There
were 4 different currencies exchanged in Upper Canada during the war. One pound of provincial or Halifax currency
was worth 18 British shillings, one pound and twelve shillings of New York currency,
or 4 American dollars.[8]
A
number of different forms of paper bills were issued during the war with
exchange rates dependent on their perceived value at different times. Bills issued by merchants were only accepted
locally and their value was dependent on the merchant’s ability to redeem
them. Bills issued by associations and
backed by precious metals on hand were more widely traded and more secure. British Army bills were introduced later to pay for military supplies
and were widely accepted.
In
1965, T. Roy Woodhouse wrote of life in the Dundas Valley in 1809. This area is now part of the City of
Hamilton, Ontario. He estimated the
population at about 100 people who were living in a farming community that
relied mostly on barter and store credit to purchase what they needed. The brothers, Richard and Samuel Hatt,
operated a store and mills on the river.
In summer the settlers lived on smoked or salted meat and vegetables
from their gardens. Fish, fowl, and game
were sometimes available as fresh meat.
Corn was ripe in late summer and farm animals were butchered in the fall
and winter. Stews, soups, and hard tack
appeared on the table throughout the year.
Flour was a cash crop and little was eaten at home. Pot ash and surplus wool could also be
sold. People gathered together for
religious meetings, funerals, the occasional wedding, and building, brush
burning, and corn shucking bees.[9]
From
Benjamin Smith’s diary entries, included throughout these stories, it appeared
that the men travelled about more than their wives and children. Benjamin frequently took grain to the Hatt’s mill
or still and sometimes returned home with spirits. Neighbours were often helping each other with
clearing land and farm work.
Some
events that affected the war occurred before the Americans declared war in
June. The British were aware that war
was probable and had begun to make preparations for the defence of the
provinces.
January 17, 1812
On the Niagara
Frontier
Joseph
Edwards had been appointed as a commissioner in the Niagara District the
previous June. He had not released
payment for road work completed in 1811 as he had not been able to inspect that
work yet. On this day, he wrote that a
continuous ditch on one side of the roads was an effective way of controlling
run-off and that some places required a bridge to be built to allow the water
to pass under the roads. He was
considering purchasing additional spades, wheelbarrows, and wood planks to
continue road improvements in the spring.
He
reported that roads in some places were little more than a pathway, not wider
than 10 feet, where farmers had found the easiest way to the local mills across
the neighbouring farms. These pathways
would sometimes be blocked by farmer’s fences.
Concession road allowances were not always in use and none had been
cleared to a width of 30 feet.[10]
February 3, 1812
In York
President
Isaac Brock presented his concerns for the defence of the province to the
Provincial Parliament. He wanted a
regular training system for the militia.
The Militia Act was amended and funds were made available to carry out
his proposals.[11]
February
24, 1812
Charles
Askin wrote to his father, John Askin Sr., that the Lower House had passed a
bill requiring each militia regiment to create 2 companies of 100 men who were
to train for 6 days each month until they were proficient in these
exercises. These companies were to be
known as flank companies.[12]
Men
selected for service in these companies were to be under 40-years old. Incentives for volunteers included exemptions
from statute labour, jury duty, and arrest for trial be civil courts. A flanker could avoid being sued for small
debts. If he was wounded, he was to
receive a pension of 9 pounds per year.
If he was killed, his widow and children would be entitled to an annual
pension of 5 pounds. Joseph Willcocks,
who would later desert to the Americans, opposed the formation of flank
companies.[13]
Veterans
were also promised land grants after the war but these were not available until
1820. Privates received 100-acres.
In
the Town of York, enlisting in a flank company, improved a young man’s social
standing.
The
2nd York Militia requested volunteers for their flank companies and
created them on June 4th. The
youngest private was 17 and the oldest was 47.
The average age of their 80 privates was 25. Men had to be fit and available for long-term
duty.[14]
February
25, 1812
A
proclamation was passed appointing commissioners for the prevention of
seditious conduct on the Niagara Frontier.
The appointees were all Justices of the Peace.[15]
March 2, 1812
The Annual Meeting in the Town of York
was held at Joseph B. Abbotts Tavern in the town. Officers for the town and York Township were
chosen and included assessors, a collector, overseers of highways in the old
and new town, a pound keeper, a town warden, and path masters for various
roads.
A census in the Town of
York of heads of households and the number of people living in each household
revealed a population of 703 men, women, and children.
Males over 16 234
Males under 16 183
Females over 16 164
Females under 16 122
York Township held 757 individuals.
Males under 16 192
Females over 16 155
Females under 16 200 [16]
Note
the ratio of men to women. In March,
1813, the number of males over 16 were fewer, possibly because they were away
serving in the militia.
April 2,
1812
Militia
flank companies were to be recruited from men of proven loyalty. They were to each have one captain, two
lieutenants, one sergeant, one drummer, and thirty-five rank and file.
April
14, 1812
The United States legislated a
non-exportation law. This was to keep
the ships safe in their American ports so that British ships could not capture
them if the United States was to declare war in the coming months. This law was preceded by a temporary embargo
on ships leaving American ports on April 4th.
The 1st Regiment of York
Militia was divided into two regiments, the 1st York and the 3rd
York.[17]
The 3rd
York was mustered from the Town of York and the Townships of York, Etobicoke,
Pickering, Whitby, and Scarborough. and the 3rd York from townships
to the north. The 2nd York was mustered from several more
distant western townships that would later become part of the counties of Peel,
Halton, and Wentworth. At the time, they
were all part of York County.
The Niagara Peninsula was known as
Lincoln County and 5 militia regiments were recruited from different townships
in that county.
The 3rd York Militia
began commissioning officers. Four of
the captains already had commissions dating back to the years 1799, 1809, and
1810. Lieutenant Colonel William Chewett
and Major William Allan were commissioned on this date with two other
officers. Most of the commissions were
made in April, May, and June. The last
commission of 1812 was made on October 21st.[18]
The
commissioning of officers in the Town of York created a need for officer’s
swords. Isaac
Coulombes, a Loyalist also known as Columbus, took on a contract to make 73
swords at his blacksmith shop on the west side of Sherbourne Street and just
north of Duke (no Adelaide). He had a
second contract for 24 halberds for the York Garrison. Isaac ran a variety of enterprises in his shop
and was much in demand. While he worked
on the military contracts, militia men were stationed at his shop door each day
to ensure that Isaac was not disturbed and that Isaac was only working on their
contracts. Isaac would have had an
exemption from his own militia service because his skills were needed to supply
military needs. The only record of his
militia service was for 20 days in November of 1814 at the end of the war in
Upper Canada.[19]
Halberds
had not been used for over 100 years. It
was more likely that he was making spontoons which were spears with a cross bar
at the base of the blade. They were used
by sergeants to maintain the men in line.
In Lower Canada
The Provincial Corps of Light Infantry, also known as
the Voltigeurs Canadiens, was commissioned on this date in Lower Canada under
the command of Major Charles-Michel d’Irumberry do Salaberry. The men were between the ages of 17 and 35
and at least 5 feet 3 inches tall.
Recruits received 4 pounds and a 50-acre land grant after their
discharge. This unit was disbanded in
1815 and Salaberry received a knighthood for his service in 1817.[20]
April 29, 1812
In York
Major
General Isaac Brock recommended that militia men each provide themselves with a
buttoned short dark coat and a round hat.[21]
They
were also required to bring a fire arm but some men did not. Suitable foot wear and seasonal clothing were
sometimes lacking as well.
Those men who did bring their own fire
arms required different kinds of ammunition and this created supply problems
for the British.
At Niagara
Domenic
Henry was the keeper of the lighthouse in Niagara on the shore of the river
where Fort Mississauga would later be built.
He and his wife, Mary, lived in a house near the lighthouse. At the time that war was declared, a number
of homes in the community were commandeered for the British officers. The Henry family retained possession of their
home because it was within reach of the cannons across the river at Fort
Niagara and the officers wisely chose not to live within range of the enemy
cannons. The Henrys allowed a number of
dispossessed families to store their furnishings in their home. Eventually the house became too full to live
in and Mary and her two daughters moved into the lighthouse.
Mary’s daughter,
Elizabeth, later recalled that families had regularly crossed the Niagara River
before the war to visit friends on the other side. Before a church had been built on the
American side, some people crossed over the river regularly to attend church in
the Town of Niagara.[22]
Mary Madden was born
in Ireland in 1770 and at age 20 married Dominic Henry, a gunner in the Royal
Artillery. Domenic was retired by 1803.[23]
Elizabeth wrote more
about her family’s experiences of the war when the American’s attacked and
captured Fort George on May 27, 1813.
April 30, 1812
In the Western
District
During the month, John Askin, a western merchant, was
stockpiling flour by buying up all he could get from his neighbours at 6
dollars per barrel. He could get seven
and a half dollars per barrel from the government. Once war began the price would go up as there
was a limited supply in the province. He
was confidant that if the American General Hull invaded from Detroit, that he
could sell it to the Americans as well.[24]
At the Grand River Tract
During
the spring, several letters from tribes south of the boarder were received by
the indigenous warriors settled in the Grand River Tract advising them to
remain neutral if war broke out.[25]
May 1, 1812
In Glengarry County
Money
and post-war land grants were offered to men who would join the newly formed
Glengarry Light Infantry Fencible Corps.
About four hundred recruits were training at Three Rivers in May. Although the corps was mostly Scotch, it
recruited from as far a field as Prince Edward Island. Recruits who joined after the war was
declared only received land grants if they signed up for three years or until
there was peace in Europe. About seven
hundred men were recruited.
Thomas
Armstrong and others who enlisted in May, deserted after receiving their
bounty. Thirty-six volunteers did not
report for duty and another thirty deserted after reporting for duty. Recruiters became less selective and the
ranks came to include the English, Irish, Canadians, Americans, Dutch, and
Africans.[26]
May 15, 1812
At York
Brock
ordered militia flank companies to train as often as lawfully permitted.[27]
May 19, 1812
Militia laws required
men to supply their own muskets but many did not own one. The British were forced to supply them. Between 1795 and 1812, 7000 British muskets
were reported lost. It was suspected
that the men were selling the weapons.
On this date, General Brock ordered that militia muskets were to be
stored at a regimental depot at the end of each day of service.[28]
This
prevented the men from taking the weapons home with them and facilitated the
transfer of muskets between militia companies in each regiment. However, weapons at times were still
misplaced. As other supplies, like great
coats and blankets, later became limited, the depot procedure was applied to
them as well.
In
June, Captain Abraham Nelles of the 4th Lincoln Militia reported that 7 of his
men had lost their muskets.[29]
May 28, 1812
On the Niagara
Frontier
Peter
Yockham, of Willoughby Township, was paid 15 shillings per day for 15 days to
transport baggage and ammunition by wagon from Decow’s house to the Head of the
Lake.[30]
In
June, the Americans would declare war.
The second chapter of this collection begins in that month.
Sources
[1] T. Roy Woodhouse, The
History of the Town of Dundas, Part 1, Dundas Historical Society, Dundas,
Ontario, 1965, online at www.ourroots.ca, page 17.
[2] Dorothy Duncan, Hoping
for the Best, Preparing for the Worst, Dundurn, Toronto, 2012, page 162.
[3] Dorothy Duncan, Hoping
for the Best, Preparing for the Worst, Dundurn, Toronto, 2012, page 167.
[4] <ref>Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and
Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 340-349</ref>
[5] Dorothy Duncan, Hoping
for the Best, Preparing for the Worst, Dundurn, Toronto, 2012, page 165.
[6] Robert Malcomson, Capital
in Flames, The American Attack on York, 1813, Robin Brass Studio, Montreal,
2008, pages 321 and 322
[7] Edith G. Firth, The
Town of York, 1793-1815, A Collection of Documents of Early Toronto, The
Champlain Society for the Government of Ontario, University of Toronto Press,
1962, pages 330-331.
[8] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, page 253.
[9] T. Roy Woodhouse, The
History of the Town of Dundas, Part 1, Dundas Historical Society, Dundas,
Ontario, 1965, online at www.ourroots.ca, page 19.
[10] E.A. Cruikshank,
Records of Niagara: A Collection of Contemporary Letters and Documents, 1812,
Niagara Historical Society, Niagara, Ontario, 1934, pages 10-11, accessed
online at www.ourroots.ca Nov. 24, 2011
[11] Brig. Gen. E.A.
Cruikshank, A Memoir of Colonel, the Honorable James Kerby, his Life in
Letters, Welland County Historical Papers and Records, Vol. 4, Welland, 1931,
pages 10-11, accessed Dec., 2011 at www.ourroots,ca
[12] E.A. Cruikshank,
Records of Niagara: A Collection of Contemporary Letters and Documents, 1812,
Niagara Historical Society, Niagara, Ontario, 1934, pages 16-17, accessed
online at www.ourroots.ca Nov. 24, 2011
[13] George Sheppard,
Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social
History of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press,
1994, page 43.
[14] Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and
Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 113-115
[15] E.A. Cruikshank,
Records of Niagara: A Collection of Contemporary Letters and Documents, 1812,
Niagara Historical Society, Niagara, Ontario, 1934, page 18, accessed online at
www.ourroots.ca Nov. 24, 2011
[16] Christine Mosser,
York, Upper Canada Minutes of Town Meetings and Lists of Inhabitants,
1793-1823, Metropolitan Toronto Library Board, Toronto, 1984, accessed June 23,
2020 at https://static.torontopubliclibrary.ca/da/pdfs/229901.pdf
[17] Thomas Ridout Family
Fonds, Ontario Archives, Microfilm MS537, Reel1
[18] Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and
Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 248-249
[19] Isaac Coulombes, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Coulombe-297, accessed Apr. 25,
2020.
[20] Today in History,
Forces of Lord Selkirk Facebook Group, Apr. 15, 2018.
[21] The Fife and Drum, The
Newsletter of The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 16, Number
1, March, 2012, page 5.
[22] Fred Habermehl, Ontario
Genealogical Society, Niagara Peninsula Branch, War of 1812 Commemorative
Committee, More Than a Mere Matter of Marching: A Bicentennial War of 1812
Project, St. Catherines, Ontario, 2013, pages 113-115.
[23] Canada.ca, Mary Henry, http://1812.gc.ca/eng/1317828221939/1317828660198#a1,
accessed September 12, 2015.
[24] George Sheppard,
Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social
History of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press,
1994, pages 136-137.
[25] John Norton and Carl
Benn, A Mohawk Memoir from the War of 1812, University of Toronto Press, Toronto,
2019, pages 78 & 80.
[26] George Sheppard,
Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social
History of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press,
1994, pages 44-45.
[27] George Sheppard,
Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social
History of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press,
1994, page 45.
[28] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social History of the War of 1812 in Upper
Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, pages 45-46.
[29] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, page 46.
I am excited to find this blog as it will help me understand the claims filed by my ancestors. I look forward to reading the stories he will tell.
ReplyDeleteFred, I find your research fascinating, and I thank you for all your help with my research of the Sniders of 1812.
ReplyDelete