History of the settlement of Upper Canada (Ontario,) with special reference to the Bay Quinté. William Canniff
Читать онлайн книгу.
We propose, however, to insert the names of every one known to have been a loyal combatant, whether an officer or private, with such statements relative to his history as we possess. We shall not confine ourselves to this particular region of the Province, but include those who settled at Niagara, and in Lower Canada. And while we may not supply a complete account of any one, it is trusted that the instalment will not be unacceptable to the descendants of those to whom we refer. We shall arrange them alphabetically without reference to rank or station.
Captain Joseph Allen, formerly Captain Allen of New Jersey, held a commission in the British Army at New York for some time during the war. He owned extensive mill property, and was regarded as a very wealthy person. All his possessions were confiscated, and he in 1783, found his way, among other refugees, first to Sorel, where he stayed a winter, and finally to Upper Canada. His family consisted of two sons, John and Jonathan, and three daughters, Rachel, Ursula, and Elizabeth. Captain Allen was one of the first settlers in Adolphustown, and his descendants still live in the township, among whom are Parker Allen, Esq., J. D. Watson, Esq., and David McWherter, Esq. Captain Allen had extensive grants of land in Adolphustown, and in Marysburgh, and elsewhere; as well as his children. Jonathan Allen, succeeded his father upon the homestead, and was for many years an acceptable Justice of the Peace. His brother, Joseph Allen, moved to Marysburgh, and was a Captain of militia during the war of 1812. Captain Allen brought with him several slaves, “who followed his fortunes with peculiar attachment, even after their liberation.”
We have seen that the rebellion led to the divisions of families. It was so with the Allison family of Haverstraw, New York. There were seven brothers; two sided with the rebels. One Benjamin, being a boy, was at home, while the other four took part with loyalists. One settled in New Brunswick, probably the Edward Allison Sabine speaks of, who had been captain in De Lancey’s third battalion, and who received half-pay, and after whom Mount Allison is called.
Joseph Allison was living at Haverstraw, New York. He was for a time engaged in the navy yard at New York. At one time he and another entered the rebel camp, and after remaining a few days availed themselves of a dark night and carried off five excellent horses belonging to a troop of cavalry. They were pursued and barely escaped. Allison took these horses in return for the loss of his house and other property which the rebels had ruthlessly burned. He was at the battle of White Plains, and had narrow escapes, his comrade beside him was shot down, and his canteen belt cut in two by a ball. As he could not carry the canteen, h$1 $2 took time to empty that vessel of the rum which it contained.
His neighbors at Haverstraw were exceedingly vindictive against him. After several years, he visited there to see his aged mother, when a mob attempted to tar and feather him, and he had to hide in the woods all night. Allison came to Canada with Van Alstine, and drew lot 17, in Adolphustown. A strong, healthy and vigorous man, he contributed no little to the early settlement. Died upon his farm, aged eighty-eight. His wife’s name was Mary Richmond, of a well-known Quaker family. His descendants still occupy the old homestead, a most worthy family. Benjamin Allison, the youngest, came to Adolphustown in 1795.
William Ashley, sen., was born in the city of London, England, in the year 1749, and joined the army at an early age.
During the American Revolutionary war, he came out under General Howe, serving in all his campaigns until the close of the struggle. He had two brothers also in the army with him, one of whom returned to England, and the other settled somewhere in the United States, the exact locality not now being known. General J. M. Ashley, Republican member of Congress from Ohio, is, so far as can be ascertained, a descendant of this brother.
After the termination of the war, William Ashley came to Canada, and first settled in the township of Loborough, county of Frontenac, where he married Margaret Buck, the daughter of a U. E. L., and one of the first settlers in this part of Canada. He resided here until about 1790, when he removed to Kingston, where he followed the employment of a butcher, and was the first butcher in Kingston, a fact he often mentioned in his old age. He built a house of red cedar logs, cut from the spot, which continued to stand until 1858, when it was taken down and a small brick building, the “Victoria Hotel,” built on the site. When removed the logs were found in a perfectly sound condition, they having been covered with clapboards many years ago, which preserved them from the weather.
This house stood on Brock street, near the corner of Bagot street. At the time of its erection there were scarcely twenty residences in the place, and that part of the city now lying west of the City Hall was then covered with a dense forest of pine, cedar and ash. William Ashley lived to see this pass away and a flourishing city spring up. He died in 1835, leaving a family of ten children—Margaret, Mary, Elizabeth, William, John, James, Thomas, Henry, Adam and George: all of whom are now dead excepting Thomas, who resides near Toronto.
James also died in 1835, and Henry, who was the first gaoler in Picton, died in 1836, at the early age of thirty-one.
William Ashley, Jun., married Ann Gerollamy, daughter of an officer in the British army, serving through the Revolutionary War, and acting as Orderly in the war of 1812. He left Kingston in 1830, and resided until 1842 near the mouth of Black River, in the township of Marysburgh, and then returned, and continued to reside there, teaching, and filling various offices until his death, August 16, 1867.
The British Whig newspaper when recording his death, remarked, “Mr. Ashley was one of our oldest citizens, and has lived to witness many changes in his native place. He was born on the very spot where the British Whig office now stands.” The last sentence is a mistake, he was not born in the city, but in the township of Loborough; although the building containing the British Whig office still belongs to the ‘Ashley property’ on Bagot Street.
John Ashley was gaoler in Kingston for a number of years when the gaol stood near the site of the present Post Office, and filled public situations from the time he was nineteen years of age until his death in 1858. He was a prominent member of the County Council for nearly twenty years, and was Colonel of the militia at the time of his death.
Adam and George Ashley both died in 1847.
William Bell—We shall have occasion to speak of William Bell in different places in these pages. He was born August 12, 1758, in County of Tyrone, Ireland.
At the time of the Revolutionary War he was a sergeant in the 53rd regiment of the line. Some time after the close of the war, he succeeded in procuring his discharge from the service, at Lachine, and came to Cataraqui, sometime in 1789. He was on intimate terms with John Ferguson, and, we believe, related by marriage. It was at Ferguson’s solicitation that Bell came to the Bay. We have before us an old account book, by which we learn that Ferguson and Bell commenced trading on the front of Sidney in the latter part of 1789. They remained here in business until 1792. Subsequently Bell became school teacher to the Mohawks, and seems to have done business there in the way of trading, in 1799. In 1803 we find him settled in Thurlow. Ferguson, who was living at Kingston, had been appointed Colonel of the Hastings Militia, and Bell was selected by him to assist in organizing the body. He was commissioned captain in December 1798, Major in August 1800; and in 1809 Lieutenant-Colonel. Colonel Bell was well known as a public man in Thurlow. He was appointed to several offices—Magistrate, Coroner, and finally Colonel of the Hastings Battalion. As magistrate he took an active part in the doings of Thurlow and Belleville for many years. He was also an active person in connection with the agricultural societies, until a few years before his death, 1833. The papers left by Colonel Bell have been of great service to us. His wife’s name was Rachel Hare, who died 1853, aged eighty-one.
Colonel Stephen Burritt took part in the war against the rebels, being seven years in the army, in Roger’s Rangers. He settled upon the Rideau, the 9th of April, 1793. In the same year was born Colonel E. Burritt, who was the first child born of white parents north of the Rideau. This interesting fact was given to the writer by Colonel E. Burritt in 1867. Colonel Burritt is a cousin of the celebrated Learned Blacksmith.
Willet Casey was born in Rhode Island. His father was killed in battle during the war. At the close of the war he settled near Lake Champlain, upon what he supposed to be British territory, but finding such was not the case, and although he had made considerable clearing, he removed