June 1814 Stories


First Edition Published April 23, 2016
Second Edition Published June 15, 2017
Third Edition Published June 3, 2020
Copyright by Fred Blair

Additions and changes are in blue text.


Fort Willow


June 1, 1814

In York

Estimates of the number of residents in the Town of York were:
                                                1812               1813               1814

            Men                            234                 158                 189
            Women                      164                 149                 172
            Children                    305                 318                 330

And in York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke Townships:
                                                1812               1813               1814

            Men                            210                 161                 178
            Women                      155                 135                 156
            Children                    391                 380                 402[1]

On the Niagara Frontier

            Sometime during the month, the British began building a breastwork on the north side of the creek on the property of Nathan Caswell in Stamford Township.  His fields of oats and wheat were “opened up” to ease the movement of the horses and wagons used in the construction.[2]
            The breastwork was a wall of mounded earth as high as a man’s breast.  Soldiers could stand behind it and fire their muskets over the top.  The earth was probably dug out of Nathan’s grain fields, piled into the wagons, and then shovelled or dumped onto the long mound.

June 3, 1814

At York

            The only operating printing press in Upper Canada was in Kingston.  John Cameron was still looking for parts for his press in the Town of York.  His press had been destroyed by the Americans in May, 1813.[3]

June 4, 1814

            It was King George’s birthday.

            The 3rd York Militia had last made a Return on March 24, 1813.  On this date, the Return chart indicated that there were 9 companies with 12 to 111 men in each company.  Ensign James Chewett was at St. David’s and Ensign D’Arcy Boulton had gone to England.  There was a total of 412 men available to be mustered in the regiment.  Sixty of these men were officers.
            The 9 companies were commanded by John Endicott, Duncan Cameron, Ely Playter, Isaac Secor, John Wilson, John Scarlett, George Ridout, Thomas Matthews, and William Smith.
            Since March 24, 1813, 19 men had died, deserted, or moved out of the muster area.  Eighty-five men were exempted from service by their age, a certificate from the surgeon, or because they were Quakers, Menonists, or Tunkers.[4]
            The previous Return was made on March 24, 1813.  The next surviving Return was on December 25, 1814.

June 7, 1814

In Glengarry County

            Sergeant Daniel Cameron of the 1st Glengarry Militia suffered an accident and received a pension after the war for his disability.[5]

June 10, 1814

At York

            A subaltern, a sergeant, and rank and file were called out for three-months duty at York.  The 1st York Militia had 131 rank and file called out, the 2nd York, 91, the 3rd York, 91, and the 1st Durham, 37.[6]

            Ann Humberston applied for aid to the Loyal and Patriotic Society.  Her husband had been captured at York on June 27, 1813 and was believed to be still imprisoned in the United States.  She had six children to support and could not find labourers to work on her farm.  Her husband Thomas Humberston had been a lieutenant in the 3rd York Militia in 1812.[7]
            At the time that Thomas was captured, he was serving in the Incorporated Militia.  He had made his escape from prison in Philadelphia on April 20, 1814 but apparently had not made it home yet.[8] 
            Coincidentally, he was imprisoned in the same city where he was born in 1776.
           
June 19, 1814

In Kingston

            The Kingston Gazette published a notice from George Ham that his wife, the former Hester Hawley, had absconded from his bed and board on May 24th without provocation.  He warned the public that he would no longer pay her debts.[9]

On the Niagara Frontier

            Captain Peter Bowman’s Company of the 5th Lincoln Militia was employed falling timber at Burlington until the 28th.  The 11 militia privates were commanded by Sergeant Henry Hagle.[10]

June 20, 1814

            Lieutenant Colonel Richard Beasley of the 2nd York Militia reported the strength of his regiment at 754 men.  He also recorded the loss of a number of officers.  Major Titus G. Simons and Lieutenants John Applegarth and William Chisholm had transferred to the Incorporated Militia, Captain William Bates had been ill and absent for the past three years, Captain William Applegarth and Lieutenant Frederick S. Jarvis had transferred to the Commissariat Department, Captain William G. Hepburn and Ensign William Hepburn had moved to East Cornwall District, Captain William Thompson had moved to the Niagara District, Lieutenant Manuel Overfield had resigned in 1813, Ensign Hugh Rose had moved to Stamford in the Niagara District, and Ensign George Detlor had moved to York.[11]
            On March 4, 1813, the regimental muster had included 502 men.  Over the last 15 months its size had increased by 252 men.  Where did these extra men come from?  Was this the result of Upper Canadians fleeing from the west and the Niagara District?

            In Ancaster Township traitors had been eliminated and the farmers were prone to fire upon American scouting parties because of the way they had been treated in 1813.[12]

June 28, 1814

In Kingston

            The Kingston Gazette published a notice from Bryer Bull that his wife, Sarah Bull, had left his bed and board without provocation.  He forbade anyone from harboring her, from keeping her on their premises, or from trusting her.  People were also cautioned not to accept two $50.00 notes against Daniel Lyons or any other property that Sarah might offer them.[13]

June 30, 1814

In Prince Edward County

            John Young, of Ameliasburgh Township, reported that 2 men knocked on his door at about nine o’clock in the evening.  They said that they were taking 2 boat loads of supplies from Kingston to “Presquile” but had lost their way.  As the Yankee fleet was active on the lake, they offered to pay John to guide them to a safe harbour.  When he arrived at the at the dock on Lake Ontario, he discovered that boats were loaded with over two dozen men armed with swords and pistols.  He told them that he had forgotten his tobacco and had to go back to his house to get it.  The armed men ordered him into one of the boats where he met Lieutenant William Vaughan, an American pilot.  William told John that they did not need him to pilot the boats but wanted him to tell them where to find British stores and a boat being built by George Gibson Sr. for the British, which they intended to burn.  John told them that he did not know anything about British stores and that he believed Gibson was building the boat for himself.  The men sailed to within half a mile of Presquile where they saw the light of fires on the shore ahead.  They took the 2 boats to a small island to wait until the following evening.  John remained their prisoner.
            At about eleven o’clock at night on July 1st the boats arrived at Presquile where two men were sent ashore to check for British guards.  Finding none, the men came ashore and burnt the forty-foot long vessel Mr. Gibson had been building for the British and a storage building.  They told John that as he had been such a stubborn man and had not told them anything they wanted to know, they would take him back to America as a prisoner.  However, William Vaughan objected to this and John was put ashore about a mile from his home.[14]

In Ancaster Township

            On Benjamin Smith’s farm in Ancaster Township they began to plant corn and potatoes at the beginning of the month, bought a cow from Davis, visited the salt works, cut and hauled logs, burnt logs and picked brush, and ploughed, harried, and sowed fields.
            On the 4th Benjamin and his boys went to general militia training.  On the 7th, Benjamin went to court at “Hotail’s”.  On the 20th, Benjamin joined a detachment of the 5th Lincoln Militia.  On the 23rd Benjamin and Peter House went to Burlington and stayed overnight.  The following day Benjamin saw the 103rd Regiment on parade where 3 soldiers were whipped.  He crossed the lake to an area where 55 men cut down trees on the 25th.  They finished the cutting the following day which was a Sunday and Benjamin returned home.  On the 27th, he returned to Burlington to cut bushes.  On the 28th, they burnt the cut trees and Benjamin watched the artillery parade and exercise.[15]
            Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Bradt of the 5th Lincoln Militia commanded a detachment of 108 men serving from June 16th to July 24th.  Private Benjamin Smith of Ancaster Township joined them on June 20th and served until July 24th.  Although Peter House was with Benjamin on the 23rd, he was not serving in the same detachment.[16]

Sources:


[1] Edith G. First, editor, The Town of York 1793-1815:  A Collection of Documents of Early Toronto, Univ. of Toronto Press, 1962, pages not numbered.
[2] Collections Canada, War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1131, page 950.
[3] The Fife and Drum, The Newsletter of The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 18, Number 1, March, 2014, page 4.
[4] Collections Canada, War of 1812:  Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Payrolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 1051-1052.
[6] Collections Canada, War of 1812:  Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Payrolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 1053-1056.
[7] The Report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, with an appendix and a list of subscribers and benefactors, William Gray, Montreal, 1817, page 131, accessed on Dec. 14, 2018 at https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/4754
[8] L. Homfray Irving, Honorary Librarian, Officers of the British Forces in Canada during the War of 1812-15, Canadian Military Institute, Welland Tribune Print, 1908, online at http://ia600204.us.archive.org/19/items/officersbrit00irviri..., pages 67-69.
[9] Kingston Gazette, July 18, 1814, accessed June 12, 2016 at http://vitacollections.ca/digital-kingston/96888/page/2
[10] Collections Canada, War of 1812:  Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10386, page 1051
[11] Collections Canada, War of 1812:  Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Payrolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 1043-1044.
[12] William Kirby and Lorne Pierce, Annals of Niagara, Macmillan Co. of Canada, Toronto, 1927, page 244.
[13] Kingston Gazette, July 18, 1814, accessed June 12, 2016 at http://vitacollections.ca/digital-kingston/96888/page/2
[14] Collections Canada, War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1128, pages 340-357.
[15] Benjamin Smith’s Diary, Benjamin Smith Fonds F582, Ontario Archives, Toronto, Ontario.
[16] Collections Canada, War of 1812:  Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Payrolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10386, pages 915-919 & 1168-1171.

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