History of the settlement of Upper Canada (Ontario,) with special reference to the Bay Quinté. William Canniff
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him. But he failed to live peaceably with them. Eventually the disagreement resulted in a serious hostile engagement between the two branches, who fought with tomahawks and knives. But one person was killed, a chief of Captain John’s party, Powles Claus, who was stabbed in the abdomen. But subsequently Captain Isaac Hill became a worthy inhabitant. His house still standing, then considered large, was frequently open to the more festive, across the Bay in Sophiasburgh.
Out of the six hundred Indians, now living upon the Reserve, there is only one with pure Indian blood. His name is David Smart. It has been elsewhere stated, that the custom prevailed among the Mohawk nation, to maintain the number of the tribe, by taking captive a sufficient number to fill the vacancies caused by death of their people. The result was, that these captives marrying with Indians, they gradually underwent a change, and the original appearance of the Mohawk has lost its characteristic features. The circumstances of the Indians during the revolutionary war, and subsequently in settling in Canada, led to frequent unions between the white men of different nationalities and the Indian women. Therefore, at the present day there remains but little more than a trace of the primal Indian who lorded it, a hundred years ago, over no inconsiderable portion of the North American Continent.
When visiting the Indians, on our way, we met some eight or ten sleighs laden with them, returning from a funeral. We were much struck with the appearance of solid, farmer-like comfort which their horses and conveyances exhibited, as well as they themselves did in their half Canadian dress.
While drunkenness has prevailed among the older Indians, it is pleasing to know that the younger ones are far more regular in their habits. For this, much credit is due to the Christian oversight of their former and present pastors. They have 1800 acres of land. They number 630, and are increasing yearly.
The seal of the Mohawk Counsel may be seen with the Rev. Mr. Anderson. The armorial bearings consist of the wolf, the bear and the turtle. These animals, in the order here given, indicate, not tribes, nor families exactly, but rank. The wolf is the highest class, the bear next in rank, and the turtle the lowest grade.
CHAPTER IX.
Contents—Individuals—Anderson—Bethune—Burwell—Butler—Canliff—Claus—Coffin—Doune—Jarvis—Jones—McDonald—McGill—McGilles—Merrit—Munday—Peters—Robinson—Singleton—Ross—McNab—Allen—Allison—Ashley—Bell—Burritt—Casey—Carscallion—Church—Clark—Crawford—Dame—Daly—Diamond.
INDIVIDUAL COMBATANTS.
The immediately following notices of the combatants who settled in Upper Canada are extracted from Sabine.
“At the beginning of the revolution, Samuel Anderson, of New York, went to Canada. He soon entered the service of the Crown, and was a captain under Sir John Johnson. In 1783 he settled near Cornwall, in Upper Canada, and received half-pay. He held several civil offices: those of Magistrate, Judge of a district court, and associate Justice of the Court of King’s Bench, were among them. He continued to reside upon his estate near Cornwall, in Upper Canada, until his decease in 1836, at the age of one hundred and one. His property in New York was abandoned and lost.”
“Joseph Anderson, lieutenant in the King’s regiment, New York. At the peace he retired to Canada. He died near Cornwall, Canada West, in 1853, aged ninety. He drew half pay for a period of about seventy years. One of the last survivors of the United Empire Loyalists.”
“John Bethune, of North Carolina, chaplain in the Loyal Militia. Taken prisoner in the battle at Cross Creek in 1776. Confined in Halifax gaol, but ordered finally to Philadelphia. After his release, his continued loyalty reduced him to great distress. He was appointed chaplain to the 84th regiment, and restored to comfort. At the peace he settled in Upper Canada, and died at Williamstown in that colony, in 1815, in his sixty-fifth year.”
“James Burwell, of New Jersey, born at Rockaway, January 18, 1754. Our loyalist enlisted in his Majesty’s service in the year 1776, at the age of twenty-two, and served seven years, and was present at the battle of Yorktown, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered, and was there slightly wounded.”
“Came to Upper Canada in the year 1796, too late to obtain the King’s bounty of family land, but was placed on the United Empire list, and received two hundred acres for himself and each of his children. He removed to the Talbot settlement in the year 1810. He died in the County of Elgin, Canada, July, 1853, aged ninety-nine years and five months.”
“John Butler, of Tyron, now Montgomery county, New York. Before the war, Colonel Butler was in close official connection with Sir William, Sir John, and Colonel Guy Johnson, and followed their political fortunes. At the breaking out of hostilities he commanded a regiment of New York Militia, and entered at once into the military service of the Crown. During the war his wife was taken prisoner, and exchanged for the wife of the whig colonel, Campbell. Colonel John Butler was richly rewarded for his services. Succeeding (in part) to the agency of Indian affairs, long held by the Johnsons, he enjoyed, about the year 1796, a salary of £500 stg. per annum, and a pension, as a military officer, of £200 more. Previously, he had received a grant of 500 acres of land, and a similar provision for his children. His home, after the war, was in Upper Canada. He was attainted during the contest, and his property confiscated. He lived, before the revolution, in the present town of Mohawk.”
“Joseph Canliff, in 1781 a lieutenant in the first battalion New Jersey Volunteers.” This person is probably of the same lineage as the writer of this work, great confusion often existing with regard to the spelling of names in the early days of America.
“Daniel Claus. He married a daughter of Sir William Johnson, and served for a considerable time in the Indian Department of Canada, under his brother-in-law, Colonel Guy Johnson.”
“William Claus, Deputy Superintendent General of Indian affairs, was his son.”
Coffin—There were several of this name who took part in the war against the rebellion. Of these, the following are connected with Canadian history:
“Sir Thomas Aston Coffin, baronet, of Boston, son of William Coffin. He graduated at Harvard University in 1772. At one period of the rebellion he was private secretary to Sir Guy Carleton. In 1804 he was Secretary and Comptroller of Lower Canada.” Afterwards Commissary General in the British army.
“Nathaniel Coffin, of Boston. After the revolution he settled in Upper Canada.” Served in the war of 1812. “For a number of years was Adjutant-General of the Militia of Upper Canada. Died at Toronto in 1846, aged 80.”
“John Coffin: was Assistant Commissary General in the British army, and died at Quebec in 1837, aged 78.”
“Doane, of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Of this family there were five brothers, namely: Moses, Joseph, Israel, Abraham, Mahlon. They were men of fine figures and address, elegant horsemen, great runners and leapers, and excellent at stratagems and escapes. Their father was respectable, and possessed a good estate. The sons themselves, prior to the war, were men of reputation, and proposed to remain neutral: but, harassed personally, their property sold by the whigs because they would not submit to the exactions of the time, the above-mentioned determined to wage a predatory warfare upon their persecutors, and to live in the open air, as they best could do. This plan they executed, to the terror of the country around, acting as spies to the royal army, and robbing and plundering continually; yet they spared the weak, the poor and the peaceful. They aimed at public property and at public men. Generally, their expeditions were on horseback. Sometimes the five went together, at others separately, with accomplices. Whoever of them was apprehended broke jail; whoever of them was assailed escaped. In a word, such was their course, that a reward of £300 was offered for the head of each.
“Ultimately,