First Edition Published April
16, 2016
Second Edition Published June 1,
2017
Third Edition Published May 4,
2020
Copyright by Fred Blair
Additions and changes are in
blue text.
May 1, 1814
In Kingston
During the month of May, the stone
windmill of James Russell Sr. of Kingston was taken down by the Royal Engineers
prior to building a heavy gun battery to defend the channel through the Upper
Gap into the Bay of Quinty. James later
claimed 250 Pounds Halifax for his loss.[1]
In Ancaster Township
Abner Everitt observed a group of
Indians going to where John Muma, of Ancaster Township, kept his hogs. Upon hearing the report of a gun-shot, he
went to see what had happened. When he
arrived at where the hogs were kept he found a hog that had been shot and hit
in the head with a tomahawk. The Indians
had disappeared.[2]
Abner and John both served as
privates in the 5th Lincoln Militia during the war, but John also
served in the 2nd York Militia.
Abner suffered losses to the Indians as well.
May 6, 1814
The British Captured Oswego, New
York
The British landed with the Glengarry Light Infantry on the left
flank and were met with round and grape shot.
They stormed the hill and captured the batteries.[3]
In 1812, James Richardson Jr. joined
the Provincial Marine and received a commission as a lieutenant. On May 6, 1814, he was wounded at the Capture
of Oswego. He was struck down on the
deck of his ship in the morning, was carried below, and remained there while
the battle raged. His mangled left arm
had been secured to prevent him bleeding to death. The surgeon was unable to attend him until
near evening and at that time amputated James’ arm at the shoulder.[4]
In 1817, he received a disability pension
of twenty pounds.[5]
May 13, 1814
In York
John Cameron of the Town of York,
the King’s Printer, began to rebuild his printing shop that had been destroyed
by the Americans while they held York in May of 1813. Replacing parts was a major problem.[6]
Was he related to Captain Duncan
Cameron?
May 14, 1814
The Americans Raided Port Dover
About 800 Americans landed at Port
Dover on the north shore of Lake Erie. They
were under the command of Colonel John Campbell who was retaliating for British
raids along the Niagara River but also wanted to disrupt British supply
lines. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Talbot
had ordered all the village men to fall back to Sovereign Mills where they
could await militia reinforcements before attacking the Americans. Amelia Harris recalled that many men had
wanted to engage the Americans before they came ashore. With no one left to defend the village the
Americans had 24 hours to burn everything of value.
Still unopposed the Americans
marched along the shore of the lake and left a path of destruction. Farm animals were shot where they stood.
Robert Nichol lost two houses, two
barns, a grist mill, stone outhouses, and his distillery. Total losses from the raid were estimated at 13
000 pounds.[7]
The Americans burnt the house,
kitchen, and barn of Wynant Williams of Woodhouse Township. In the fire, Wynant lost 4 barrels of flour,
a barrel of pork, his carpentry tools, and his household furniture.[8]
May 15, 1814
After the war, Ellis Dennis of
Woodhouse Township in the District of London made a war loss claim for the loss
of his house which was burnt by a party of Americans under the command of
Colonel Campbell. The claim was rejected
as Ellis Dennis had returned to the United States during the war and was
therefore not a British subject at the time that his home was burnt.[9]
Who else lost property at this time
in Woodhouse?
On the Niagara Frontier
Captain William H. Merritt had spent
the winter at Chisholm’s home at the Twelve Mile Creek until the middle of
May. He had ridden to the headquarters
at Roreback’s once a week during the winter and had attended dances at
Shipman’s and card parties at this father’s home.[10]
Which Chisholm’s home was this?
At York
Lieutenant Colonel William Chewett
of the 3rd York Militia submitted a report on the 32
non-commissioned officers and privates in his regiment who had surrendered to
the Americans at the Capture of York on April 28, 1813 or days later in order
to obtain paroles from them. These
paroles were not accepted by the British as legally binding as these men had
not been captured while bearing arms.
The men were from the companies of Captains John Denison, Samuel Ridout,
and David Thomson. Those in Captain
Thomson’s Company were reported to have surrendered out of fear. Those in Captain Ridout’s Company were
reported to have declared that they were in town on private business. It was believed that they had come seeking
paroles, to plunder His Majesty’s stores, or to receive plundered supplies from
the Americans. It was pointed out that
none of these men resided in areas occupied by the Americans.
On June 23, 1814, Deputy Adjutant
General Nathaniel Coffin ordered these men to be mustered for three months of
duty as a punishment for their disloyalty.[11]
Ensign Charles Denison declared that
10 of the men in Captain Denison’s Company were in the town to receive plunder
from the Americans.[12]
Private Philip Petrie of the Provincial
Artillery Drivers was wounded and received a disability pension after the war.[13]
Where did this occur?
May 16, 1814
In Norfolk County
American forces under the command of
Colonel Campbell were in Charlotteville, Norfolk County, north of Lake Erie,
where they destroyed the mills and property of Titus Finch, a Loyalist from New
York State and a Baptist minister. Among
Titus’ losses were a grist mill, a saw mill, a store house, his home, a frame
shed, a stable, pine, oak, and walnut planks and boards, a sleigh, and the
contents of the buildings.[14]
May 23, 1814
British Treason Trials Began
in Ancaster Township
The Court
was presided over by The Honourable Thomas Scott, The Honourable William Dummer
Powell, The Honourable William Campbell, and the Justices of the Court of the
King’s Bench, John Small, Richard Hatt, Samuel Hatt, and Thomas Dickson. The trials themselves began on June 6th
and continued until the 20th.
Sentences were read on the 21st. The charge against nineteen men was high
treason.
After
months of preparations, the Union Hotel in Ancaster was chosen as the trial
site. Jean Baptiste Rousseau had built
the hotel in 1808. As the hotel was
being used as a military hospital, it had to be temporarily vacated. The prisoners were manacled in the York gaol
and transported in lumber wagons to Ancaster.
Found not
guilty were Robert Loundsbury, Luther McNeal, Robert Throup, and Jesse Holly.
The fifteen men found guilty
were Isaiah Brink, Adam Chrysler, John Dunham, Samuel and Stephen Hartwell,
Noah Payne Hopkins, Cornelius Howey, John Johnson, Daton Lindsay, Garrrett Neill, Jacob Overholser, George
Peacock Jr., Isaac Pettit, Benjamin Simmons, and Aaron Stevens.
Some of these men had taken
part in raids in the London and Niagara Districts. John Dunham and Benjamin Simmons had taken
British subjects prisoner and shipped them to Buffalo. Noah Payne Hopkins acted as a commissariat to
the American army and gave them the King’s flour. Aaron Stevens confessed to spying for the
enemy.
A black hood was worn by the
judge as he sentenced the guilty men to be drawn on hurdles to the place of
execution, to be hanged by the neck but not until dead, to be cut down while
alive, to have their entrails taken out and burnt before their faces, to have
their heads cut off, to have their bodies divided into four quarters, and their
remains to be at the King’s disposal.
The execution of the sentence
was delayed to allow the convicted men time to appeal the court decision. Some Upper Canadians petitioned for the
release of some of the convicted.
Cornelius Howey was in a poor state of health and there was some concern
that he may not live until the execution date.
John Johnson was known to have tried to desert a raiding party but was
forcibly prevented and was also known to have released a wounded Loyalist. Jacob Overholser had taken prisoners and two
of them testified against him, Frederick Anger and Benjamin Clark. Isaac Pettit had joined some raiding parties
but later refused to take part.
The gallows had been built
near the British camp at Burlington Heights.
Thomas Merritt, the sheriff of the Niagara District, carried out the
executions on July 20, 1814. Eight of
the convicted men were hanged until dead and then were decapitated. They were Isiaiah Brink, Adam Chrysler, John
Dunham, Noah Payne Hopkins, Daton Lindsay, George Peacock Jr., Benjamin
Simmons, and Aaron Stevens.
As the gaol at York was
overcrowded, eight of the prisoners were transferred to the Midland
District. On July 31, 1814, they were
lodged in a small hut at Smith’s Creek (Port Hope). Sometime during the night Calvin Wood,
Cornelius Howey, and Samuel and Stephen Hartwell escaped. A reward of $100. was offered for their
return. Descriptions of the four men
were posted. Calvin Wood had a lame left
foot, Cornelius Howey was blind in one eye and had wound scars on his back and
chest. Stephen Hartwell eluded recapture
but the other three were recovered.
Typhus broke out in the
Kingston jail the following winter and Garret Neill, Jacob Overholser, and
Isaac Pettit all died between March 6th and 16th. Calvin Wood escaped from the same jail on
June 9th with two other prisoners.
The property of many of the
convicted and others accused of treason was confiscated by the Crown.[15]
May 26, 1814
In
Kingston
The
Kingston Navy Yard advertised in the Kingston Gazette that they would offer
good prices for knees of oak, elm, or spruce of various sizes for construction
at Point Frederick. Carpenters were also
required.
A second add submitted on May
13th requested 50 labourers.[16]
May 31, 1814
The Kingston
Navy Yard was looking for someone to repair the wharfs on Point Frederick.[17]
In
Ancaster Township
Most of
the entries for this month were still faded in Benjamin Smith’s diary. Fences were staked on the farm and stones
were picked up from the fields. Wood was
cut, fields were ploughed and sowed, the lines were surveyed at P. Gordon’s,
and a visit was made to the mill.
Benjamin and Nancy had a son
born on the 2nd. On the 9th, Benjamin
had a fever that lasted until 14th. On
the 11th, he wrote that the militia were working.[18]
Sources:
[1] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1126, pages 903-905.
[2] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1129, pages 1033-1036.
[3] Mary Agnes Fitzgibbon,
A Veteran of 1812, The Life of James Fitzgibbon, William Briggs, Toronto, 1894,
page 119.
[4] Kanen-Smith, Shirley
J., More Than a Mere Matter of Marching, Ontario Genealogical Society, Niagara
Peninsula Branch, 2013, pages 196-198.
[5] Poster of pensioners
wounded and disabled while in service, Ontario Archives, Ref. Code F 542, box
MU 2192.
[6] The Fife and Drum, The
Newsletter of The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 18, Number
1, March, 2014, page 4.
[7] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, page 107.
[8] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1133, page 716.
[9] Collections Canada, War
of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1126, pages 421-423.
[10] Capt. Wm. H. Merritt,
of the Provincial Light Dragoons, Journal of Events, Principally on the Detroit
and Niagara Frontiers, during the War of 1812, The Historical Society, B.N.A.,
St. Catharines, C.W., 1863, page 54.
[11] Collections Canada,
War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns,
Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 1134-1137.
[12] Collections Canada,
War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns,
Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 1140-1141.
[13] Pension Poster –
Casualties, January 1, 1817, Nelles Family Fonds, Ref. Code F 542,
box
MU 2192, Ontario Archives, Toronto.
[14] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1127, pages 193-203.
[15] Linda Corupe, U.E.,
Upper Canada Justice, Early Assize Court Records of Ontario, Vol. 2, 1810-1818,
transcribed and indexed 2008, pages 107-123 & 363-368.
[16] Kingston Gazette, July
18, 1814, accessed June 12, 2016 at http://vitacollections.ca/digital-kingston/96888/page/4
[17] Kingston Gazette, July
18, 1814, accessed June 12, 2016 at http://vitacollections.ca/digital-kingston/96888/page/4
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