History of the settlement of Upper Canada (Ontario,) with special reference to the Bay Quinté. William Canniff
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“Joseph, before the revolution, taught school. During the war, while on a marauding expedition, he was shot through the cheeks, fell from his horse, and was taken prisoner. He was committed to jail to await his trial, but escaped to New Jersey. A reward of $800 was offered for his apprehension, but without success. He resumed his former employment in New Jersey, and lived there, under an assumed name, nearly a year, but finally fled to Canada. Several years after the peace he returned to Pennsylvania, ‘a poor, degraded, broken-down old man,’ to claim a legacy of about £40, which he was allowed to recover, and to depart. In his youth he was distinguished for great physical activity.”
The only separate mention of Israel is, that “in February, 1783, he was in jail; that he appealed to the Council of Pennsylvania to be released, on account of his own sufferings and the destitute condition of his family, and that his petition was dismissed.”
“Stephen Jarvis, in 1782 was a lieutenant of cavalry in the South Carolina Royalists. He was in New Brunswick after the revolution, but went to Upper Canada, and died at Toronto, at the residence of the Rev. Dr. Phillips, 1840, aged eighty-four. During his service in the revolution he was in several actions.”
“William Jarvis, an officer of cavalry in the Queen’s Rangers. Wounded at the siege of Yorktown. At the peace he settled in Upper Canada, and became Secretary of that Province. He died at York in 1817. His widow, Hannah, a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Peters, of Hebron, Connecticut, died at Queenston, Upper Canada, 1845, aged eighty-three.”
“David Jones was a captain in the royal service, and is supposed to ‘have married the beautiful and good Jane McCrea, whose cruel death, in 1777, by the Indians, is universally known and lamented.’ According to Lossing, he lived in Canada to an old age, having never married. Jane McCrea was the daughter of the Rev. James McCrea, of New Jersey, loyalist.”
“Jonathan Jones, of New York, brother of Jane McCrea’s lover. Late in 1776 he assisted in raising a company in Canada, and joined the British, in garrison, at Crown Point. Later in the war he was a captain, and served under General Frazer.”
McDonald—There were a good many of this name who took part as combatants, of whom several settled in Canada.
Alexander McDonald was a major in a North Carolina regiment. “His wife was the celebrated Flora McDonald, who was so true and so devoted to the unfortunate Prince Charles Edward, the last Stuart, who sought the throne of England. They had emigrated to North Carolina, and when the rebellion broke out, he, with two sons, took up arms for the Crown.”
Those who settled in Canada were “Donald McDonald, of New York. He served under Sir John Johnson for seven years, and died at the Wolfe Island, Upper Canada, in 1839, aged 97.”
“Allan McDonald, of Tryon, New York,” was associated with Sir John Johnson in 1776. “He died at Three Rivers, Lower Canada, in 1822, quite aged.”
“John McGill.—In 1782 he was an officer of infantry in the Queen’s Rangers, and, at the close of the war, went to New Brunswick. He removed to Upper Canada, and became a person of note. He died at Toronto, in 1834, at the age of eighty-three. At the time of his decease he was a member of the Legislative Council of the Colony.”
“Donald McGillis resided, at the beginning of the revolution, on the Mohawk river, New York. Embracing the royal side in the contest, he formed one of a ‘determined band of young men’ who attacked a whig post and, in the face of a superior force, cut down the flag-staff, and tore in strips the stars and stripes attached to it. Subsequently, he joined a grenadier company, called the Royal Yorkers, and performed efficient service throughout the war. He settled in Canada at the peace; and, entering the British service again in 1812, was commissioned as a captain in the Colonial corps, by Sir Isaac Brock. He died at River Raisin, Canada, in 1844, aged eighty years.”
“Thomas Merrit, of New York, in 1782 was cornet of cavalry in the Queen’s Rangers. He settled in Upper Canada, and held the offices of Sheriff of the District of Niagara and Surveyor of the King’s Forests. He received half pay as a retired military officer. He died at St. Catharines, May, 1842, aged eighty-two.”
“Nathaniel Munday, in 1782 was an officer in the Queen’s Rangers. He was in New Brunswick after the revolution, and received half pay; but left that colony and, it is believed, went to Canada.”
“John Peters, of Hebron, Connecticut; born in 1740. A most devoted loyalist. He went to Canada finally, and raised a corps, called the Queen’s Loyal Rangers, of which Lord Dorchester gave him command, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.”
“Christopher Robinson, of Virginia, kinsman of Beverley. Entered William and Mary College with his cousin Robert; escaped with him to New York, and received a commission in the Loyal American regiment. Served at the South, and was wounded. At the peace he went to Nova Scotia, and received a grant of land at Wilmot. He soon removed to Canada, where Governor Simcoe gave him the appointment of Deputy Surveyor-General of Crown Lands. His salary, half pay, and an estate of two thousand acres, placed him in circumstances of comfort. He was the father of several children, some of whom were educated in the mother-country. He died in Canada. His widow, Esther, daughter of Rev. John Sayre, of New Brunswick, died in 1827. His son, Beverley Robinson, who was born in 1791, was appointed Attorney-General of Upper Canada in 1818; Chief Justice in 1829; created a Baronet in 1854; and died in 1863.”
“Singleton—A lieutenant in the ‘Royal Greens,’ was wounded in 1777, during the investment of Fort Stanwix.” Probably Captain Singleton, who settled in Thurlow, Upper Canada, was the same person.
“Finley Ross, of New York, was a follower of Sir John Johnson to Canada in 1776. After the revolution he served in Europe, and was at Minden and Jena. He settled at Charlotteburgh, Upper Canada, where he died, in 1830, aged ninety.”
“Allan McNab, a Lieutenant of cavalry in the Queen’s Rangers, under Colonel Simcoe. During the war he received thirteen wounds. He accompanied his commander to Upper Canada, then a dense, unpeopled wilderness, where he settled. He was appointed Sergeant-at-arms of the House of Assembly of that Province, and held the office many years. His son, the late Sir Allan McNab, was a gentleman who filled many important offices in Upper Canada.”
The Hamilton Spectator, speaking of the death of Sir A. N. McNab, says: “The Hon. Colonel Sir Allan Napier McNab, Bart., M.L.C., AD C., was born at Niagara in the year 1798, of Scotch extraction,”—his grandfather, Major Robert McNab, of the 22nd regiment, or Black Watch, was Royal Forester in Scotland, and resided on a small property called Dundurn, at the head of Loch Earn. His father entered the army in her Majesty’s 7th regiment, and was subsequently promoted to a dragoon regiment. He was attached to the staff of General Simcoe during the revolutionary war; after its close he accompanied General Simcoe to this country. When the Americans attacked Toronto, Sir Allan, then a boy at school, was one of a number of boys selected as able to carry a musket; and after the authorities surrendered the city, he retreated with the army to Kingston, when through the instrumentality of Sir Roger Sheaffe, a friend of his father’s, he was rated as mid-shipman on board Sir James Yeo’s ship, and accompanied the expeditions to Sackett’s Harbor, Genesee, and other places on the American side of the lake. Finding promotions rather slow, he left the navy and joined the 100th regiment under Colonel Murray, and was with them when they re-occupied the Niagara frontier. He crossed with the advanced guard at the storming and taking of Fort Niagara. For his conduct in this affair he was honored with an ensigncy in the 49th regiment. He was with General Ryall at Erie, and crossed the river with him when Black Rock and Buffalo were burned, in retaliation for the destruction of Niagara, a few months previous. After the termination of this campaign, Sir Allan joined his regiment in Montreal, and shortly after marched with them to the attack of Plattsburgh. On the morning of the attack he had the honor of commanding the advanced guard at the Saranac Bridge. At the reduction of the army in 1816 or 1817, he was placed on half-pay.
It is impossible at this time to give anything like a history of the disbanded soldiers who settled on the shores of the Bay and the St. Lawrence. There could not be allowed the space necessary to do justice to the character of each. But even if such were possible we are wanting