•M Hill
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
rt
^ix — >.
THE
AMERICAN LOYALISTS,
OR
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OP ADHERENTS TO THE BRITISH
CROWN IN
THE WAR, OF THE REVOLUTION.
THE
AMERICAN LOYALISTS,
OR
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF ADHERENTS TO THE BRITISH CROWN IN
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION;
ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED;
WITH A
PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ESSAY.
BY LORENZO SABINE.
BOSTON:
CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN.
MDCCCXLVII.
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by
CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN,
in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts,
BOSTON:
PRINTED BY THURSTON, TORRY AND CO.
31 Devonshire Street.
PREFACE.
OF the reasons which influenced, of the hopes and fears which
agitated, and of the miseries and rewards which awaited the Loyal
ists — or, as they were called in the politics of the time, the Tories —
of the American Revolution, but little is known. The most intelli
gent, the best informed among us, confess the deficiency of their
knowledge. The reason is obvious. Men who, like the Loyalists,
separate themselves from their friends and kindred, who are driven
from their homes, who surrender the hopes and expectations of life,
and who become outlaws, wanderers, and exiles, — such men, leave
few memorials behind them. Their papers are scattered and lost,
and their very names pass from human recollection.
Hence, the most thorough and pains-taking inquirers into their
history, have hardly been rewarded for the time and attention which
they have bestowed. Were there books materially to aid such labor
ers, greater success would have attended their researches. But the
third volume of Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, the Life of
Peter Van Shaack, the Journal and Letters of Samuel Curwen, and
Simcoe's Journal of The Operations of the Loyalist Corps called the
Queen's Rangers, comprise, I believe, all the published works, which
afford any considerable information of those of our countrymen who
adhered to the mother country in the momentous struggle which re
sulted in making us a free people.
My own pretensions are extremely limited. Yet, as my home,
from early manhood, has been on the eastern frontier of the Union,
13843336
IV PREFACE.
where the graves and the children of the Loyalists are around me in
every direction ; as I have enjoyed free and continual intercourse
with persons of Loyalist descent ; as I have had the use of family
papers, and of rare documents ; as I have devoted years to the sub
ject, and have made journeys to confer with the living, and pilgrim
ages to graveyards, in order to complete the records of the dead ; —
I may venture to say, that the BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, which are
contained in this volume, will add something to the stock of know
ledge obtained by previous gleaners in this interesting branch of our
revolutionary annals.
Still, I have to remark, that I have repeatedly been ready to
abandon the pursuit in despair. For, to weave into correct and con
tinuous narratives,* the occasional allusions of books and State-papers;
to join together fragmentary events and incidents ; to distinguish per
sons of the same surname or family name, when only that name is
mentioned ; and to reconcile the disagreements of various epistolary
and verbal communications ; has seemed, at times, utterly impossible.
There are some who can fully appreciate these, and other difficulties,
which beset the task, and who will readily understand why many of
the NOTICES are meagre, and why, too, it is possible for others to be
in one or more particulars inaccurate. Indeed, I may appeal to the
closest students of our history, as my best witnesses, to prove that
entire, correctness, and fullness of detail, in tracing the course, and
in ascertaining the fate, of the adherents of the Crown, are not now
within the power of the most careful and industrious.
Of several of the Loyalists who were high in office, of others who
were men of talents and acquirements, and of still others who were
of less consideration, I have been able, after long and extensive re
searches, to learn scarcely more than their names, or the single fact,
that for their political opinions or offences they were proscribed and
banished. But I have deemed it best to exclude no one, whether of
exalted or humble station, of whose attachment to the cause of the
mother country I have found satisfactory, or even reasonable evi
dence. In following out this plan, repetition of the same facts, as
applicable to different persons, has been unavoidable. That I have
sometimes erred, by including among the Tories a few who finally
became Whigs, is very probable. To change from one side to the
other, both during the controversy which preceded the shedding of
PREFACE. V
blood, and at various periods of the war, was not uncommon; and I
have been struck, in the course of my investigations, with the absence
of fixed principles, not only among people in the common walks of
life, but in many of the prominent personages of the day.
For the present, my efforts to supply the deficiencies, and remove
the imperfections of this work, as now submitted to the public, will
be incessant. I desire to learn, and to communicate to my country
men, all that can be ascertained of the losers in the revolutionary
strife. But whether journeys to remote places, and visits to distant
public archives, are to be undertaken, in search of additional ma
terials, to correct, improve, and enlarge these NOTICES, will depend
almost entirely upon the degree of favor which is extended to them
in their present form.
These brief explanations will suffice. The reader will find in the
Preliminary Remarks, or Historical Essay, that follows, a general
view of the state of parties, and of the thirteen Colonies, at the com
mencement of the struggle ; which, it is hoped, contains thoughts
not only new, but truthful and just to all persons to whom they relate.
It may be proper to state, that some parts of it are borrowed from
my own contributions to the North American Review.
In conclusion, I would acknowledge the benefit derived from refer
ence to the four publications mentioned in this Preface. To Curwen,
and the biographical and historical matter added to his Letters and
Journal by his diligent and accomplished editor, I am particularly
indebted. Nor should I neglect to render my thanks to the literary
friends who have cheered me with their sympathy and advice amid
the discouragements of my task ; and to the descendants of Loyal
ists, who have afforded essential aid by lending me family and other
papers.
EASTPORT, MAINE, MAY, 1847.
tix
l,J (/ j
yeut
PRELIMINARY REMARKS,
OR
HISTORICAL ESSAY.
SOME account of the Thirteen Colonies, and of the state of
Political Parties at the commencement of the Revolution, may
form a very proper Introduction to the Biographical Notices of
some of those, who, born and educated Colonists, preferred to
live and die in allegiance to the British Crown.
The thoughts and deductions, which I shall present, are
essentially my own, and I shall address the reader directly
and without reserve. Many things which are necessary to a
right understanding of the revolutionary controversy, have
been, as I conceive, wholly omitted, or only partially and
obscurely stated. It has been common, for example, to insist
that questions of "Taxation," that points of " Abstract Lib
erty," produced the momentous struggle, which resulted in
dismembering the British empire. To me, the documentary
history, the state-papers of the period, teach nothing more
clearly than this, namely, that almost every matter brought
into discussion was practical, and in some form or other re
lated to LABOR, to some branch of COMMON INDUSTRY. Our
fathers did indeed, in their appeals to the people, embody their
opposition to the Colonial System, or form of government, in
one expressive term — " Taxation" — " Taxation without
1
2 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
Representation." But whoever has examined the acts of
Parliament which were resisted, has found that nearly all of
them inhibited Labor. There were no less than twenty-nine
laws, which restricted and bound down Colonial industry.
Neither of these laws touched so much as the "south-west
side of a hair" of an " abstraction," and hardly one of them,
until the passage of the " Stamp Act," imposed a direct "Tax."
They were aimed at the North, and England lost the affection
of the mercantile and maritime classes of the northern Colo
nies, full a generation before she alienated the South. They
forbade the use of water-falls, the erecting of machinery, of
looms and spindles, and the working of wood and iron ; they
set the king's arrow upon trees that rotted in the forest; they
shut out markets for boards and fish, and seized sugar and
molasses, and the vessels in which these articles were carried ;
and they defined the limitless ocean as but a narrow pathway
to such of the lands that it embosoms as wore the British flag.
To me, then, the great object of the Revolution was to release
LABOR from these restrictions. .Free-laborers — inexcusable in
this — began with sacking houses, overturning public offices,
and emptying tar-barrels and pillow-cases upon the heads of
those who were employed to enforce these oppressive acts of
Parliament ; and when the skill and high intellect which were
enlisted in their cause, and which vainly strove to moderate
their excess, failed to obtain a peaceable redress of the wrongs
of which they complained, and were driven either to abandon
the end in view, or to combine and wield their strength, men
of all avocations rallied upon the field, and embarked upon
the sea, to retire from neither until the very framework of the
Colonial system was torn away, and every branch of indus
try could be pursued without fines, penalties, and imprison
ment.
Such are the opinions, at least, which I have formed on the
questions upon which, among the mass of the people, the con
test hinged ; which finally united persons of every employ
ment in life in an endeavor to get rid of prohibitions, that
remonstrance could not repeal, or even humanize. For a
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 3
higher or holier purpose than this, men have never expended
their money, or poured out their life-blood in battle !
Leaving here this course of general remark, I propose to
take a view of the revolutionary controversy, and of the state
of parties, in each Colony separately and in course. And first
in Massachusetts' Colony of Maine. Of the immense domains,
embracing almost the half of our continent, which, in 1620,
King James conferred upon those gentlemen of his court who,
in popular language, are known as the " Council of Plymouth,"
Maine formed a part. Among the most distinguished mem
bers of this Council was Sir Ferdinando Gorges ; to whom,
and to John Mason, the Council, two years after the date of
their own patent, conveyed all the lands and "fishings" be
tween the rivers Merrimack and Sagadahock. Subsequently,
and rapidly, other grants covered the same soil, and angry
and endless contentions followed. But Gorges, bent on leav
ing his name in our annals, obtained of Charles the First a
grant for himself, individually, of the territory between the
Piscataqua and Sagahadock, and thence from the sea one
hundred and twenty miles northward. These were the ancient
limits of the " Province of Maine." Having now a sort of
double title, Gorges might reasonably hope that his rights were
perfect, and that he might pursue his plans without interrup
tion. But Massachusetts, on the one hand, insisted that her
boundaries were narrowed by the grants to Mason and him
self ; while the Council, on the other, with inexcusable care
lessness or dishonesty, continued to alienate the very soil
which he held, both from themselves and their common
master. Thus he was harassed his life long, and went to his
grave old and worn out with perplexities and the political
sufferings and losses of a most troubled period. He was a
soldier, and a tried friend of the Stuarts in their times of need,
of which their reigns were full, and was plundered and
imprisoned in their wars.
Thus, then, Maine was not founded by a Puritan. But
after the death of Gorges, his son deemed his possessions in
America of little or no worth, and took no pains to retain
4 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
them, or to carry out his designs ; and his grandson, to whom
his rights descended, gave to Massachusetts a full assignment
and release for the insignificant consideration of twelve hun
dred and fifty pounds sterling • a sum less than one sixteenth
of the amount which had been actually expended. By this
purchase, however, Massachusetts acquired only a part of
Maine as now constituted. France made pretensions to all
that part lying east of the Penobscot, and the Duke of York
to the part between the Penobscot and the Kennebec : nor was
it until the reign of William and Mary, that disputes about
boundaries were merged, and the St. Croix and Piscataqua
became the acknowledged charter frontiers.
Soon after the bargain was made with Gorges' s heir, Massa
chusetts lost her own charter ; and it was not among the
least of the causes of Charles's anger against her, that she had
thwarted his design of procuring Maine for his natural son,
the Duke of Monmouth. The newly acquired Province was
thought valuable only for its forests of pine, and for the fish
eries of its coasts. But Massachusetts had objects beyond
cutting down trees and casting fishing lines. Her "presump
tion " in crossing the path of royalty has often been con
demned. But the citizens of Maine cannot too often commend
the indomitable spirit which she evinced in her struggle to
root out Gorges and the Cavaliers or Monarchists of his plant
ing, and to put in their place the humbler but purer Round
heads or Puritans of her own kindred. Had she faltered,
when dukes and lords signed parchments that conveyed away
soil which she claimed ; had she not sought to push her sove
reignty over men and territories not originally her own ; had
she not broken down French seigniories and English feoff-
doms, Maine, east of Gorges' eastern boundary, might have
continued a part of the British empire to this hour. This
opinion is given considerately, and not to round out a period.
And whoever will consult the diplomacy of 1783, will learn ^
that, even as it ioas^ the British Commissioners contended that
the Kennebec should divide the thirteen states from the colo
nies which had remained true to the crown.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 5
Yet fishing and lumbering continued to be the two great
branches of industry in Maine, until the Revolution. The new
charter, procured of William and Mary, confirmed Massachu
setts in her acquisitions east of the Piscataqua ; but it contained
several restrictions which bore hard upon both of these interests.
The most prominent I shall briefly notice, because they had a
direct influence in the formation of political parties. And
first, that instrument provided, that all pine trees, of the diam
eter of twenty-four inches at more than a foot from the ground,
on lands not granted to private persons, should be reserved for
masts for the royal navy ; and that, for cutting down any
such tree without special leave, the offender should forfeit one
hundred pounds sterling. This stipulation was the source of
ceaseless disquiet, and it introduced, to guard the forests from
depredation, an officer called the " Surveyor General of the
King's Woods." Between this functionary, who enjoyed a
high salary, considerable perquisites, and great power, and the
lumberers, there was no love. The officials of the day, who
were now of royal appointment, and not, as under the first
charter, elected by the people, generally ranged themselves on
the side of the surveyors, their deputies and menials ; while
the House of Representatives, as commonly, opposed their
doings, and countenanced the popular clamors against them.
Nor were the controversies, caused by the efforts of the sur
veyors to preserve spars for the royal navy, confined to the
halls of legislation in Massachusetts. For, besides these, and
the frequent quarrels in the woods and at the saw-mills, the
disputes between the parties were carried to the Board of Trade
in England. There seemed, indeed, in the judgment of several
of the colonial governors, no way for them to please their royal
master more, than by discoursing about the care which should
be exercised over the " mast- trees," and about the severity
with which the statute-book should provide against " tres
passers." In a word, prerogative and the popular sentiment
never agreed. Discussions about the forests of Maine, again
and again ended in wrangles. Friendships were broken up,
and enmities created for life. This is emphatically true of
1*
6 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
Shute's administration , when Cooke, the Counsellor of Saga-
dahock, and the champion of the " fierce democracy" — as
his father had been before him — involved the whole govern
ment of Massachusetts in disputes, which, in the end, drove
the Governor home to England. And so, subsequently, a
forged letter, probably written by " trespassers " or their friends
to Sir Charles Wager, first lord of the Admiralty, charging
Governor Belcher with conniving with depredators, though
seemingly aiding the king's surveyor, — that " Irish dog of a
Dunbar," — did its intended work. Shirley, Belcher's suc
cessor, when he pressed upon the House the necessity of
farther enactments to protect the masts and spars for the royal
navy, and to punish those who obstructed or annoyed the
royal agents, was tartly told in substance, by that body : " Our
laws are sufficient ; we have done our duty in passing them ;
let the crown officers do their duty in enforcing them." Hutch-
inson, for a like call upon the House, was in like manner
reminded, in terms hardly more civil, that there were already
charter and statute penalties for " trespassers," a surveyor
general and deputies, and courts of law; and that, provided
with these, he must look to the pines "twenty-four inches in
diameter, upwards of twelve inches from the ground," for
himself. The means for dealing with offenders, it must be
confessed, were ample ; the crown could try them in the Court
of Admiralty, where there was no jury : upon conviction for
a common trespass, a fine of £ 100 could be imposed ; and for
the additional misdeed of plundering the interdicted trees
under a painted or disguised face, twenty lashes could be laid
on the culprit's back ; while, more than all, convictions could
be had on probable guilt, unless the accused would, on oath,
declare his innocence.
But there was no such thing as executing these laws, when
it was the popular impression, that the woods were " the gifts
as well as the growth of nature ; " and that the king's right to
them was merely " nominal," at the most. The provision of
the charter was both unwise and unjust. To reserve to the
crown a thousand times as many trees as it could ever require,
HISTORICAL ESSAY. /
and to allow all to decay that were not actually used, was
absurd. Men of the most limited capacity saw and felt this ;
and to wean them from a power which insisted, in spite of all
remonstrance, in enforcing the absurdity, was an easy task.
And we can readily imagine, what indeed is true, that the
woodmen of Maine, when rid, by the Revolution, of the pres
ence of surveyor generals and their deputies, exulted as heart
ily as did the peasants of France, when the outbreak there
abolished forest laws somewhat dissimilar, but equally obnox
ious.
Again. The action of Parliament with regard to taxing
lumber, admitting it free, or even encouraging its exportation,
by bounties, was eagerly watched. The mother country pur
sued all of these courses at different times, and gave dissatis
faction, or created discontent, among the getters and dealers in
the article, as changes occurred in her policy ; just as she does
now, with those Colonial possessions which yet remain to her.
The " mast-ships" at the North, like the "tobacco-ships" at
the South, were the common, and oftentimes the only, means
for crossing the ocean ; and royal governors and other high
personages were occasionally compelled to embark in them.
In these clumsy, ill-shapen vessels, also went ladies and lovers
to visit friends in that distant land, which some Americans yet
call "home." Merchandise, fashions, and the last novel had
a slow voyage back; but men and maidens were models of
patience, and the arrival of the eleven weeks "mast-er" gave
as much joy when all was safe, as does the eleven days steamer
now. In port, while loading, the " mast-ships " were objects
of interest, and their decks and cabins the scenes of hilarity
and mirth. We read of illuminations, and firings of cannon,
of frolics and feasts.
The mast-trade was confined to England ; and the transpor
tation of spars thither, and of the sawed and shaved woods
required by the planter, to islands in the West Indies possessed
by the British crown, were about the only lawful modes of ex
porting lumber for a long period. By the statute book, the
" king's mark " was as much to be dreaded by the mariner and
8 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
the owner of the vessel, as by the " logger" and the "mill-
man." But the revenue officers caused less fear than the sur
veyors of the woods, until fleets and armies were employed to
aid them; when the interdicted trade with the French and
Spanish islands, which had been carried on by a sort of pre
scriptive right, was nearly, if not entirely, broken up. No
enactments of the mother country operated to keep down
Northern industry so effectually, poorly as they were obeyed,
as the navigation and trade laws ; and on none did they bear
more severely than on that portion of the people, whose position
or necessities left them no choice of employments. There
were some, nor were they few, who were obliged to plunder
the forests, and to work up trees into marketable shapes, or
starve. Included with these inhabitants of Maine, were those
who lived upon the coasts — the mariners, and the fishermen.
The interests of all these classes were identical ; and to them
the maritime policy of the government of England was cruel
in the extreme ; since it robbed unremitting toil of half of its
reward. Lumber and fish were inseparable companions in
every adventure to the islands in the Caribbean sea. Enter
prises to get either were hazardous, at the best ; and, as prac
tical men can readily perceive, all who engaged in obtaining
them, were obliged then, as they are now, to seek different
markets ; so that to shut some marts, when access to all, would
barely remunerate the adventurers, was, in effect, to close the
whole. These employments were, as they still are, among the
most difficult and severe in the whole round of human pur
suits ; and attempts to alleviate the burdens of parliamentary
legislation upon both were made in Massachusetts, long before
a whisper of discontent was elsewhere uttered in America.
The discussions in that Colony, in behalf of her citizens at
home and of those in Maine, who were engaged in getting and
transporting the products of the forest and of the sea, though
commenced without reference to separation from the mother
country, took fast hold of the public mind. When, then, Otis
at length spoke out, thousands who never heard or read his
reasonings, and might not have felt their force, if they had, were
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 9
ready, at the first call, to clear the woods, and docks, and ware
houses, and decks of vessels of the " swarms of officers " who
" harassed" them, and " eat out their substance."
The troubles which I have now enumerated, the disputes
which grew out of the question, whether, as the territories pur
chased of Gorges had never reverted to the crown, the sur
veyor general's duty did, in fact, require him to mark and
protect the mast-trees within its limits, and especially the
charter inhibition of grants east of the Kennebec without the
king's consent, kept out settlers, held titles in suspense, and
were sufficient not only to alienate the affections of the people
from the British crown, but to confine them to a narrow belt
of country.
Thus, as far down as 1719, no man of the Saxon race had
a habitation from Georgetown to Annapolis. Fifteen years
later, there were no more than nine thousand persons of Euro
pean origin between the Piscataqua and the St. Croix, and
thence northerly to the dividing and disputed " highlands,"
where royalty last contended for the soil of Maine. In truth,
not a grant was made beyond the Penobscot before the year
1762 ; and Machias, though the oldest town on the French
claim, was not alienated prior to 1770, and had no corporate
existence until after the close of the Revolution.
The general state of the Colony, as the controversy came to
a crisis, may be summed up thus. The whole number of in
habitants was about equal to the present population of the
cities of Portland and Bangor. The Supreme Court held one
term at Falmouth — now Portland — and one at York, annu
ally. There were ten representatives to the General Court,
none of whom lived east of Brunswick or the Androscoggin
river. The number of clergymen was thirty-four. The six
counsellors or barristers at law, were William Gushing, James
Sullivan, David Sewall, Theophilus Bradbury, Caleb Emery,
and David Wyer ; all of whom were Whigs, except the last.
Of incorporated towns, there were twenty-five. The only cus
tom-house was at Falmouth. The patronage of the crown
was confined to the officers of the revenue, to a corps of civil
10 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
functionaries by no means numerous, to a surveyor of the
king's forests and his deputies.
As may be supposed, the body of the people were Whigs.
Still, Maine had a considerable number of Loyalists or Tories.
To afford them a place of refuge and protection, was the prin
cipal object, as I have been led to conclude, of establishing a
military post at the mouth of the Penobscot. The descendants
of Loyalists who found shelter in the garrison at Castine, rep
resent that it was thronged with adherents of the crown and
their families ; and after the disgraceful discomfiture of Salton-
stall and Lovell, they were left in undisturbed quiet during the
remainder of the war. The names of all the Tories of Maine,
who were proscribed and banished under the act of Massachu
setts, as well as many others, will be found in their proper
connexions.
It has been a matter of some dispute, as to when, where, and
by whom, the great drama of the Revolution was opened upon
the sea, and it may not be amiss to state, that the honor belongs,
beyond all reasonable doubt, to the "loggers" and "sawyers"
of the ancient " Mechisses," now Machias, Maine. Soon after
the affair at Lexington, these prompt and hardy Whigs captured
in their own waters the king's armed schooner, the " Margra-
netto," mounting four guns and fourteen swivels. They were
themselves armed with such weapons as were within reach,
among which were tools of their calling. The action was
bloody ; and about twenty of their own and the vanquished
party were killed and wounded. They received the thanks
of the Provincial Congress, and commissions to cruise and cap
ture under their authority.
The patriotic spirit evinced by the same classes, may be fur
ther illustrated by the fact, that the inhabitants of some towns,
though destitute of money, voted quantities of shingles and
clap-boards in town-meeting, for the purchase of stocks of am
munition. And in conclusion, it may be remarked, that, as
Falmouth was the seat of the "mast- trade," so its destruction
in the autumn of 1775, grew out of matters directly connected
with its chief business.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 11
In passing from Maine to New Hampshire, we shall find the
general state of things very similar. The occupations of the
people of the two Colonies were much alike. New Hampshire,
though not an appendage of Massachusetts in 1775, had been
twice annexed to the mother of New England, and had thus
acquired much of her spirit. Collisions between the revenue
officers and the mariners and ship-owners of Portsmouth, and
between the guardians of the "king's woods" and the lumber
ers of the interior, had been frequent. Indeed the "loggers"
and "sawyers" had whipped the deputies of the surveyor
general so often and so severely, that the term, "swamp-law"
was quite as significant a phrase, as that of "lynch-law" of
our own time. Yet, as will appear, the Whigs had many and
powerful opponents in the Colony planted by Mason, the asso
ciate patentee of Gorges.
With regard to Massachusetts, it seems to have been taken
as granted, that because here the Revolution had its origin ;
that because the old Bay State furnished a large part of the
men and the means to carry it forward to a successful issue ;
and because, in a word, she fairly exhausted herself in the
struggle ; the people embraced the popular side, almost in a
mass. A more mistaken opinion than this has seldom pre
vailed.
The second charter, or that granted by William and Mary,
had several obnoxious provisions besides those which had pe
culiar reference to Maine, and its acceptance was violently
opposed. And Phips, the Earl of Bellamont, Shute, Burnet,
Belcher, Shirley, and Pownall, the several governors who were
appointed by the crown under one of these provisions, encount
ered embarrassments and difficulties, and some of them were
actually driven from the executive chair by the force of party
heats. In fact, the "old-charter," or "liberty-men," arrayed
on the one side, and the "new-charter," or "prerogative-men,"
on the other, kept up a continual warfare. When, then, in
the quarrel, which was commenced with Bernard, which was
continued with Hutchinson and Gage, his successors, and
which finally spread over the continent and severed the British
12 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
empire, the terms of "Whig" and "Tory" were employed,
they were not used to distinguish new parties, but were simply
epithets borrowed from the politics of the jnother country, and
did but take the place of the party names which had previously
existed, and under which, political leaders had long moved and
trained their followers. As the Revolutionary controversy
darkened, individuals of note did indeed change sides; but
though some of our writers have hardly mentioned that such
a state of things preceded the momentous conflict, the general
truth was as I have stated.
A few particulars will show the numbers and influence of
the royal party in Massachusetts. The "Protesters " — against
the Whigs — in Boston, were upwards of one hundred, and
among them were some of the most respectable persons in the
capital. On the departure of Governor Hutchinson for Eng
land, he was addressed by more than two hundred merchants,
lawyers, and other citizens of Boston, Salem, and Marblehead.
On the arrival of Gen. Gage, his successor, forty-eight persons
of Salem presented their dutiful respects; and when he retired
from the executive chair, he received the "Loyal Address from
gentlemen and principal inhabitants of Boston," as they
styled themselves, to the number of ninety-seven, and of
eighteen official personages and country gentlemen, who pos
sessed landed estates, and who had been driven from homes by
the violent proceedings against them. At Marshfield, the
"Associated Loyalists" consisted of about three hundred per
sons, who belonged to that town and the neighborhood,. At
Freetown and in the vicinity, many adherents of the crown
assembled and acted in a body against the Whigs, under the
direction of Col. Thomas Gilbert, a noted Loyalist of the county
of Bristol. Gage's "citizen's patrol," who wore badges dis
tinctive of loyalty, consisted of nearly three hundred. Briga
dier Gen. Ruggles, and the prominent men of Worcester,
Sandwich, and several other places, organized, in some form
or other, bodies of men more or less numerous, to oppose and
counteract the proceedings of the Whigs, of their respective
sections of the Colony.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 13
Our recollections of Charlestown are of an opposite and of a
most interesting nature. Thomas Danforth, a barrister at law,
was the only inhabitant of that town, who claimed or received
the royal protection. The course of the people of Nantucket,
on the other hand, is hardly to be passed without censure,
they took no part whatever for years, in the "unhappy war "-
as they termed the revolutionary struggle — but finally, and
towards its close, were allowed by Admiral Digby to pursue
their peculiar branch of industry unharmed by the king's
fleet. This arrangement was effected after a statement of
their condition and distresses, and the neutral position which
they had assumed and maintained. They may justly claim
in excuse, that their religious faith allowed of no participation
in deeds of hostility, and that, as professed non-combatants,
they could shed no blood. But this plea will not account
for, or in any way explain, the secrecy which they observed,
as to the permission which they obtained of the royal ad
miral to catch whales and dispose of oil and bone in British
ports.
As some further details of the state of parties in Massachu
setts will be given in another connexion, a brief notice of the
Loyalists who abandoned their homes and the country will
serve my present purpose. Of this description, upwards of
eleven hundred retired in a body with the royal army at the
evacuation of Boston. This number includes, of course,
women and children. Among the men, however, were many
persons of distinguished rank and consideration. Of members
of the council, commissioners, officers of the customs and other
officials, there were one hundred and two ; of clergymen, eigh
teen; of inhabitants of country towns, one hundred and five;
of merchants and other persons who resided in Boston, two
hundred and thirteen ; of farmers, mechanics and traders, three
hundred and eighty-two.
Washington spoke of these "Refugees" in terms of extreme
severity. In a letter to his brother John Augustine, dated at
Boston, March 31, 1776, and immediately after the evacuation,
he said: "All those who took upon themselves the style and
2
14 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
title of government-men in Boston, in short, all those who
have acted an unfriendly part in this great contest, have shipped
themselves off * * * * but under still greater disadvantages
than the King's troops, being obliged to man their own vessels,
as seamen enough could not be had for the King's transports,
and submit to every hardship that can be conceived. One or
two have done, what a great number ought to have done long
ago, committed suicide. By all accounts, there never existed
a more miserable set of beings, than these wretched creatures
now are. Taught to believe that the power of Great Britain
was superior to all opposition, and, if not, that foreign aid was
at hand, they were even higher and more insulting in their
opposition than the regulars. When the order issued, therefore,
for embarking the troops in Boston, no electric shock, no sud
den explosion of thunder, in a word, not the last trump could
have struck them with greater consternation. They were at
their wits' end, and, conscious of their black ingratitude, they
chose to commit themselves, in the manner I have above de
scribed, to the mercy of the waves at a tempestuous season,
rather than meet their offended countrymen."
Other emigrations preceded and succeeded this; but they
consisted principally of individuals, or small parties of intimate
friends, or families and their immediate connexions. But the
whole number who embarked at different ports of Massachu-
etts, pending the controversy, and during the war, were, as I
am inclined to believe, two thousand, at the lowest computation.
The names and the fate of a considerable proportion of them
will be found in these pages. Most of them took passage for
Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they endured great privations.
Many, however, subsequently, went to England, and there
passed the remainder of their lives. Of those who accompanied
Sir William Howe, in 1776, he thus wrote to Lord George Ger
main, in April of that year. "Many of the principal inhabi
tants of Boston under the protection of the army, having no
means of subsistence here [Halifax], apply to me to find them
a passage to Europe, which they cannot otherwise get than at
a most exorbitant rate. They have my assurance, that the
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 15
first transport that can be spared shall be given up for this
purpose. I am sorry to inform your Lordship, that there is an
absolute necessity of issuing provisions to the whole of them
# * * * from the King's stores, without any prospect of stop
ping it. It must be confessed, that many, having quitted the
whole of their property and estates, some of them very consid
erable in value, are real objects of his Majesty's most gracious
attention." *
It may be remarked, in conclusion, that Washington regarded
the property abandoned by the Loyalists in their flight, as
justly exposed to confiscation. He addressed the General
Court of Massachusetts on the subject, and transmitted a copy
of his letter to Congress, in order to ascertain the views of that
body as to its disposal, and "as to the appropriation of the
money arising from the sale of the same."
Rhode Island and Connecticut may be considered together.
There is but little to detain us in either. Both were governed
by charters like Massachusetts, and both were "pure democ
racies," since, says Chalmers, "the freemen exercised without
restraint every power deliberate and executive. Like Ragusa
and San Marino, in the old world, they offered an example to
the new, of two little republics embosomed within a great em
pire." In 1704, Mompesson, the Chief Justice of New York,
wrote to Lord Nottingham, that when he "was at Rhode Island,
they did in all things as if they were out of the dominions of
the crown." Of Connecticut, at the same period, Chalmers
remarks, that, " being inhabited by a people of the same prin
ciples though of a different religion, they acted the same poli
tical part as those of Rhode Island;" and he quotes from a
despatch of Lord Cornbury to the Board of Trade, the pithy
saying, that the inhabitants of these Colonies "hate every body
that owns any subjection to the Queen" [Anne].
The Revolution, which so essentially affected the governments
of most of the Colonies, produced no very perceptible alteration
in those of either Rhode Island or Connecticut. After Wan-
* See Sparks's Washington, Vol. 3d, pages 325, 327, and 343.
16 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
ton, the governor of the first, was deposed, the Whigs suc
ceeded to power without turmoil, and in the ordinary course of
legislative action. Trumbull, the governor of the latter, was
a sound Whig, and occupied the executive chair from 1769 to
83 The charters of both Colonies were admirably adapted
to their wants and condition, whether regarded as dependen
cies, or as free States : and while Connecticut continued with
out any other fundamental law until the year 1818, Rhode
Island has hardly recovered from the disquiets and ani
mosities, occasioned by the very recent adoption of a Consti
tution.
Yet, though less restrained by charter provisions than Mas
sachusetts, and though in theory "pure democracies," and
bearing "hate" towards all who, in queen Anne's time, ac
knowledged her authority, there was no greater unanimity of
sentiment on the questions which agitated the country in 1775,
than elsewhere in New England. Indeed, I feel assured that,
in Connecticut, the number of adherents of the crown was
greater, in proportion to the population, than in Maine, Massa
chusetts, or New Hampshire. This impression is warranted
by documentary evidence, and is fully sustained by facts,
which have been communicated to me by descendants of Loy
alists of that Colony. Several Episcopal clergymen, in speak
ing of the political sympathies of their flocks, confirm the
testimony derived from the above-named sources, while the
fact, that most of the sect founded by Robert Sandeman were
"friends of government," leaves me in no doubt as to the cor
rectness of the conclusion at which I have arrived. Many of
the Loyalists of Connecticut emigrated to New Brunswick at
the close of the war. Of a part, there are now no memorials,
but of others, and of another class, who did not leave the
country, I have been able to ascertain something.
In passing from New England, we are to speak of American
Colonists of different origin, and who lived under different
forms of the Colonial system or form of government. Thus,
New York had no charter, but was governed by royal instruc
tions, orders in council, and similar authority communicated
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 17
to the governors by the ministers " at home." The governor
and council were appointed by the king, but vacancies at the
council board were filled by the governor. The people elected
the popular branch, which consisted of twenty-seven members.
To say, that the political institutions of New York formed a
feudal aristocracy -, is to define them with tolerable accuracy.
The soil was held by a few. The masses were mere retainers
or tenants, as in the monarchies of Europe. Nor has this con
dition of society been entirely changed, since the "anti-rent"
dissensions of the present time arise from the vestige which
remains.
Such a state of things was calculated to give the king many
adherents. The fact agreed with the theory. In some coun
ties, a Whig was a man rarely met with. Documents are extant
to show, that in 1776, no less than twelve hundred and ninety-
three persons acknowledged allegiance, and professed them
selves to be dutiful and well affected subjects, in the single
county of Queens. In the county of Suffolk, as Gov. Tryon
wrote to Lord George Germain, nearly eight hundred of the
militia appeared in one body, and were sworn to be faithful to
the crown. At White Plains, in the county of West Chester,
there were one hundred and sixty -one "protesters" against
the proceedings of the Whigs. In Tryon county, the signers
of a " Loyal Declaration " were numerous ; while in the town
of Jamaica, sixty-two persons affixed their names to a similar
paper.
But details may be spared. One circumstance will prove
the preponderance of the royal party beyond all doubt. It is
this. Soon after the close of the Revolution, a bill passed the
House of Assembly, which prohibited persons who had been
in opposition from holding any office under the State.
This bill, on being sent to the other branch of the legislature,
was rejected, and on the ground principally, because, if al
lowed to become a law, no elections could be held in some
parts of the State, inasmuch as there were not a sufficient
number of Whigs, in certain sections, to preside at or conduct
the election meetings.
2*
18 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
While so large a proportion of the people of New York pre
ferred to continue their connexion with the mother country,
very many of them entered the military service of the crown,
and fought in defence of their principles. Whole battalions,
and even regiments, were raised by the great land-holders, and
continued organized and in pay throughout the struggle. In
fine, New York was undeniably the Loyalists' strong-hold, and
contained more of them than any other colony in all America.
I will not say that she devoted her resources of men and of
money to the cause of the army ; but I do say, that she with
held many of the one, and much of the other, from the cause
of the right. Massachusetts furnished 67,907 Whig soldiers
between the years 1775 and 1783; while New York supplied
but 17,781. In adjusting the war balances, after the peace,
Massachusetts, as was then ascertained, had overpaid her share
in the sum of 1,248,801 dollars of silver money; but New
York was deficient in the large amount of 2,074,846 dollars.
New Hampshire, though almost a wilderness, furnished 12,496
troops for the continental ranks, or quite three-quarters of the
number enlisted in the " Empire State."
These facts show the state of parties in this Colony in a
strong light. One other incident, which presents the wavering,
time-serving course that prevailed, even after Washington had
been appointed to the command of the army, and when, of
course, the whole country was committed to sustain him, will
suffice. On the 25th of June, 1775, a letter was received by
the New York Provincial Congress, which communicated in
telligence that the Commander-in-chief was on his way to
head-quarters at Cambridge, and would cross the Hudson and
visit the city. "News came at the same time," says Mr.
Sparks,* " that Governor Tryon was in the harbor, just arrived
from England, and would land that day. The Congress were
a good deal embarrassed to determine how to act on this occa
sion ; for though they had thrown off all allegiance to the
authority of their governor, they yet professed to maintain
* Sparks's Washington, Vol. 3, p. 8.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 19
loyalty to his person. They finally ordered a colonel so to
dispose of his militia companies, that they might be in a condi
tion to receive " either the Generals, or Governor Try on, which
ever should first arrive, and wait on both as well as circumstances
would allow" Events proved less perplexing than had been
apprehended, as General Washington arrived several hours
previous to the landing of Governor Tryon." That a Congress
of Whigs should have been so irresolute and timid, after the
blood of their brethren had been poured out at Lexington and
on Breed's Hill, is unaccountable. If such was their conduct,
what must have been the state of feeling among the Tories,
what the courage and confidence which animated them ? To
this question, the machinations of the adherents of the crown,
the next year, may afford, perhaps, a satisfactory answer. In
June of 1776, when Washington had advanced to New York
with his army, a conspiracy was formed against him, which
excited the most serious apprehensions, and which, but for a
timely discovery, might have changed the course of the revo
lutionary outbreak. It was ascertained, that Governor Tryon
was at the head of the plot, and that the mayor of the city was
his principal agent. Other persons of note were concerned in
the dark enterprise, and even some part of the Whig troops,
and of Washington's own body guard, were engaged in it.
The mayor, several citizens and soldiers, were seized and con
fined ; and Thomas Hickey, a member of the guard, was
executed " for mutiny, sedition, and treachery."
New Jersey, says Chalmers, was "a scion from New York,
and either prospered or withered, during every season, as the
stock flourished or declined." Again he says, that " planted
by Independents from New England, by Covenanters from
Scotland, by conspirators from England, such scenes of turbu
lence were exhibited * * * age after age, as acquired * * * the
characteristic appellation of ' The Revolutions.' ' Chalmers
was fond of strong and pointed expressions, and some of his
statements are to be received, therefore, with allowance. He
saw — as the students of our history well know — designs to
throw off allegiance, to " set up for independency," and to effect
20 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
" Revolutions," in the common quarrels between the Colonial
Assemblies and the Governors, and in the ordinary peti
tions to the mother country, for redress of real or supposed
wrongs.
New Jersey was indeed politically annexed to New York,
and the connexion was dissolved and renewed several times
prior to 1738. So, too, that part of it, which was originally
known as "East Jersey," was at one period assigned to Wil
liam Penn; while both " East and West Jersey" were subse
quently added to the jurisdiction of New England. In 1702,
the " Jersies" were united under one government, and received
the present name ; and from 1 738 to the Revolution, New Jer
sey had a separate Colonial government. William Franklin —
who, though the only son of the great philosopher, was a Loy
alist — was the last royal governor. The king's party formed
a considerable body, and three battalions were raised and placed
in the field, under the command of Cortlandt Skinner, the
attorney general of the Colony ; but yet, the great mass of the
people were undoubtedly Whigs. The losses of New Jersey,
in proportion to her population arid wealth, were greater, prob
ably, than in any other member of the Confederacy. Her
soldiers, who entered the service of Congress, gained enviable
renown ; and within her borders are some of the most memora
ble battle-grounds of the Revolution. It was in New Jersey,
that Washington made his best military movements, and dis
played his highest qualities of character ; it was there, that he
encountered his greatest distresses and difficulties, and earned
his most enduring laurels.
From the horrid warfare, which the Tories of New Jersey
countenanced, in which they participated, and which the royal
generals permitted, I turn in disgust. But yet, its general
character should be mentioned. Instead of using words of my
own, or the digested statements of our historians, I prefer the
record of contemporary witnesses ; and to guard myself against
unfairness, I quote from both Whig and Tory. Governor Liv
ingston, in his speech to the General Assembly, in 1777, thus
spoke: The Royalists "have plundered friends and foes;
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 21
effects, capable of division, they have divided ; such as were
not, they have destroyed. They have warred upon decrepid
old age, warred upon defenceless youth ; they have committed
hostilities against the professors of literature, and the ministers
of religion, against public records and private monuments,
books of improvement, and papers of curiosity ; and against
the arts and sciences. They have butchered the wounded,
asking for quarter, mangled the dead, weltering in their blood,
refused to the dead the rites of sepulchre, suffered prisoners to
perish for want of sustenance ; violated the chastity of women,
disfigured private dwellings of taste and elegance ; and, in the
rage of impiety and barbarism, profaned edifices dedicated to
Almighty God."
In more general terms, this dreadful detail is fully confirmed / \
by Joseph Galloway, the leading Loyalist of Pennsylvania,
who, at the first, was a Whig. In his reply to Sir William
Howe's "Observations," and after he retired to England, he
remarks, that; " All and more than I have said, in my letters
to a nobleman, respecting indiscriminate and excessive plunder,
is known to thousands within the British lines, and to a num
ber of gentlemen now in England ; and in respect to the rapes,
the fact alleged does not depend on the credit of newspapers ;
a solemn inquiry was made, and affidavits taken, by which it
appears, that no less than twenty-three were committed in one
neighborhood in New Jersey ; some of them on married women,
in presence of their helpless husbands, and others on daughters,
while the unhappy parents, with unavailing tears and cries,
could only deplore the savage brutality."
Deeds like these ; the merciless warfare of Sir John Johnson,
who ravaged extensive districts in New York, and who did not
spare the people in the neighborhood of his own former home ;
the burning of Danbury and Fairfield, and the sacking of
New Haven, by Tryon ; the destruction of New London, and
the massacre there, by the traitor Arnold ; the doings of that
incarnate devil, John Butler, at Wyoming and elsewhere; these,
and other similar enormities, which were the works, partially
or wholly, of our countrymen who adhered to the royal cause,
22 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
and who either entered the regular military service, or assem
bled in predatory bands, together with the sad fate of Jane
McCrea, who was the daughter of one Loyalist, and was to have
become the bride of another, and who was the victim of her
parent's and lover's Indian allies, speak of Tory guilt, and of
the horrors of civil war, in tones which will ring in the ears of
men for centuries to come.
We come now to the " proprietary government " of Penn
sylvania ; and a proprietary government in America was a
monarchy in miniature. Its outlines at first were these ; — all
legislative powers were vested in the governor and freemen of
the Colony in the colonial council, and a general assembly.
The governor had a treble vote in the council, which consisted
of seventy-two members, chosen by the people. The assembly
embraced all the freemen, but as the Colony increased, the
number was limited to five hundred.* This system was par
tially changed or modified from time to time, as circumstances
required ; and some years prior to the commencement of the
revolutionary controversy, a strong eifort was made to effect
an entire abolition of the "proprietary" form, and establish
another. Among the leaders of this movement was Franklin.
But though the measure failed, the disquiets which caused it
to be attempted, never ceased while Pennsylvania was governed
by deputies appointed by the proprietaries — who usually re
sided in England — and while the other obnoxious features of
the system existed.
The proprietary governors were not, generally, bad men,
but the rapacity of some of them was unbounded. Chalmers
quotes the remark as a shrewd saying, that "a dignitary of
this description had two masters ; one who gave him his com
mission, and one who gave him his pay ; and that he was,
therefore, on his good behavior to both." Several, I suspect,
cared very little for either of their two masters ; and he who
said, that they had three things to attend to, " First to fleece the
people for the king, then for themselves, and lastly for the pro-
* The reader will find some further particulars of the nature of the political
institutions of Pennsylvania, in the biographical notice of John Penn.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 23
prietaries their employers," told more truth, and had more wit,
than the person cited by our well-informed but much prejudiced
annalist.
It is perhaps true, that, as a body, the party of which
Franklin was a member, in these dissensions, was the Whig
party of the Revolution. Yet, there were exceptions ; and
some of his warmest personal and political friends were found
among the adherents of the crown ; while old opponents
ranged themselves by his side, and did good service during the
trying scenes which preceded deeds of hostility. For a time,
the course of Pennsylvania was extremely doubtful. Besides
the differences which existed elsewhere, the religious faith of
the people was opposed to the adoption of forcible means to
dissolve their connexion with the mother country. Hence,
as in New York, timidity and indecision were evinced among
the most prominent Whigs. To me, the line of conduct pur
sued by John Dickinson is a perfect riddle. His various, elo
quent, and able tracts and essays, and the important papers
and addresses, which came from his pen between the "Stamp-
act Congress" in 1765, and the close of the first Continental
Congress, in 1774, gave him a wide and just fame. But in
the Congress of 1776, he opposed the passage of the Declara
tion of Independence with great zeal; and as John Adams was
its " great pillar and support," and "its ablest advocate and
champion," so he, of all others, was the uncompromising an
tagonist of the lion-hearted patriot of the North. The voice
of Pennsylvania, was, however, in favor of the Declaration,
though uttered under circumstances highly painful ; since her
delegates were equally divided, and Morton, on whom the re
sponsibility of rejecting or adopting the measure was cast,
never, — it is confidentially said, — had a day's peace after
wards, and died the next year, in consequence of anxiety
of mind and depression of spirits, occasioned by the part
which he had taken. Dickinson and Morton are but exam
ples.
Other Whigs fell off entirely ; and joining the royal side,
became objects of dislike or contempt to the consistent and
24 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
faithful, not only of the party which they abandoned, but of
that to which they finally adhered. Of this description were
Galloway and Allen ; both of whom were members, and
Duche, the chaplain, of the Continental Congress. The sub
lime, the appropriate prayer framed by the latter, and uttered
by him in his official capacity, moved men's hearts as often as
he bent to repeat it, and it will move the hearts of all who read
it now. But events show, that his own spirit was not touched
by its fervent petitions to Almighty God, to sustain and redeem
his country. Not content merely to go back to the power,
which, in eloquent tones, he had exhorted his countrymen to
oppose, his memory is loaded with the infamy of an attempt
to sap the integrity of Washington.
I have been able to ascertain so little of a definite character,
of the political condition of Delaware and Maryland, at the
period to which these remarks relate, that I shall detain the
reader in neither, and we pass to the " Old Dominion." Vir
ginia, like New York, was a feudal aristocracy. But there, a
large proportion of the land-holders, unlike those of New
York, were Whigs, and, of course, favored the revolutionary
movement. Yet, it does not appear, that, upon the questions
of dissolving her relations with the mother country, she was as
ready as, from her early and firm opposition to the Stamp Act,
might be expected. Indeed, there is the highest possible evi
dence for believing, that Virginia broke her Colonial bonds
with hesitation. Early in March, 1776, Colonel Joseph Reed,-
of Pennsylvania, in a letter to Washington,* observed, that
there was "a strange reluctance in the minds of many, to cut
the knot which ties us to Great Britain, particularly in this
Colony and to the southward" In writing again on the 15th
of the same month, he was more explicit. "It is said," —
are his words, — " the Virginians are so alarmed with the
idea of independence, that they have sent Mr. Braxton on
purpose to turn the vote of that Colony, if any question on
that subject should come before Congress. Washington, in his
* Spark's Washington, Vol. 3, p. 347.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 25
reply to the letter of the 15th, admits, that the people of Vir
ginia, "from their form of government, and steady attachment
heretofore to royalty, will come reluctantly into the idea of in
dependence" but says, that " time and persecution bring many
wonderful things to pass," and that, by private letters which
he had lately received, he found Paine's celebrated essay,
called " Common Sense," (which recommended separation,)
was " working a powerful change there in the minds of many
men."
This correspondence, as will be seen, occurred but a little
more than three months previous to the time when Congress
actually declared the Thirteen Colonies to be free and indepen
dent States ; and the opinions of persons so well informed, so
intimate in friendship, and occupying so responsible public
stations, are to be regarded as decisive.
Again.* If the rule, which may be fairly applied to the free
States, be used to measure the patriotism of Virginia, her claims
to distinction will hardly be manifest. Thus, between 1775
and 1783, Connecticut, with a population far smaller, furnished
the Whig army of regulars with 32,039 men ; while the num
ber from Virginia, during the same period, was but 26,672.
She was likewise deficient in a small sum of her quota of
money. Yet Washington, Henry, the Lees, Jefferson, and
Bland, were, undoubtedly, the true exponents of her principles.
The Colonial history of North Carolina, as far as it is per
tinent to our purpose, may be related in a few words. It was
long united in the same government with South Carolina, and
was known as the "County of Albermarle; " but finally by
* The concession to Virginia indicated in the text, is not made of right,
inasmuch, as her ability to furnish a much larger number of troops was as
serted by Congress. For the years 1777, 1778, 1781, and 1782, the quotas
to be provided by Massachusetts and Virginia were precisely the same in the
number of battalions and men ; yet in these years, the former placed at the
disposal of the commander-in-chief, 22,981, while his native State, though
bound to enlist an equal number, actually enlisted but 13,403, or 9,578
less than Massachusetts. The difference would have formed a respectable
army.
3
26 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
its present name. It enjoyed a separate House of Assembly
as early as the year 1715, and was formed into an entirely
distinct Colony twelve years afterwards. As late down as the
reign of George the First, Chalmers avers, that " this wretched
province was continually branded as the general receptacle of
the fugitive, the smuggler, and the pirate ; as a community,
destitute of religion to meliorate the heart, or of laws to direct
the purpose of the will." In speaking of the state of society
in the succeeding reign, he indulges in similar strong expres
sions, all of which are to be qualified.
The institutions of North Carolina were decidedly monarch
ical from the first. Political or social disorder seems to have
prevailed, to some extent, throughout her colonial existence.
After the final overthrow of the Stuarts, many of the adherents
of the last of that name who sought the British throne, fled
for refuge to America, and settled within her borders. And it
was singular — was it not ? — that most of them were Loyalists,
that men who had become exiles for the part which they had
taken against the House of Brunswick, should here, and in
another civil war, espouse its cause, and, a second time the
losers, go a second time into banishment. Equally remarka
ble in the politics of this Colony, was the course of those who,
in 1771, rose in insurrection, and were known as "Regulators/'
These men complained of various oppressions, but especially
of those which attended the practice of law ; they appeared in
arms, and were determined to prostrate the government. Gov
ernor Try on totally defeated them, and left three hundred of
their number dead on the field. They were the earliest revo
lutionists in America — as far as hostile deeds were concerned
— and, it might be reasonably concluded, became Whigs. But
disappointing expectation, like the followers of the Pretender,
above mentioned, a large majority joined the royal party, and
enlisted under the king's banner.
North Carolina, then, originally monarchical, and adding to
her native Loyalists, the survivors of the large emigration
from Scotland, was nearly divided. Some of her leading
Whigs, as well as their descendants, have endeavored to prove,
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 27
that the popular party was much in the majority. Facts, as
it seems to me, hardly sustain them. The Whig regulars, for
the whole period of the war, were barely 7,263, or only 1,355
more than from Rhode Island, the smallest State in the confed
eracy. With a population considerably more than double to
that of New Hampshire, how did it happen, that the number
of continental troops furnished, was 5,233 less? But without
relying upon this test — as in fairness, perhaps. I should not,
when speaking of any slave State — what are the results ob
tained by an examination of separate counties? Tn Anson
county, Governor Martin had two hundred and twenty-seven
" Loyal Addresses; " in Guilford county, he had one hundred
and sixteen ; in Rowan and Surry, one hundred and ninety-
five ; and it is indisputably true, that the banks of the Cape
Fear river, the vallies of its remote sources, and the ter
ritory bordering on the Deep and Haw rivers, which em
brace the present counties of Moore, Orange, Chatham, Guil
ford, and Randolph, and then, as now, comprising the very
heart of North Carolina, were overrun with Tories. And, be
sides, in the county of Cumberland, the adherents of the crown
so far outnumbered the Whigs, as to ravage their estates with
impunity, and carry off their slaves and cattle, long before a
British " regular " set his feet on the soil, to aid or countenance
the lawless proceedings.
In another essential particular, how was it ? In the battle
of Moore's Creek, Colonel Caswell defeated a body of troops,
and made eight hundred and ninety-four prisoners, every man
of whom, officers and soldiers, were Loyalists. On no
other field of battle, as far as I have knowledge, was there
so large a capture of adherents to the crown, during the war,
if those who submitted at King's Mountain be excepted.
These facts show, then, not only the strength, but the deeply
hostile spirit of the royal party, and leave the conviction, that
their opponents could have been scarcely their superiors in
point of numbers.
Again. How was it with a portion of the Whigs ? There
is proof, that many were as unstable as the wind. If the sky
28 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
was bright, and a Whig victory had been obtained somewhere,
and if, above all, no king's troops were near, why, then, these
changing men were steadfast for the right; but if news of
reverses reached them, or the royal army came in their midst,
then they "supported," and, by their own account, "always
had supported, their lawful sovereign, his most gracious ma
jesty."
I would willingly do the Whigs of North Carolina no injus
tice ; on the other hand, I would relieve them from all impu
tations which cannot be sustained by ample and the most
unobjectionable testimony. It is in this spirit, that I dissent
from some of the declarations of Mr. Jefferson. That distin
guished man, in a written statement made a few years before
his decease, distinctly alleges, that William Hooper, one of
the delegates in Congress from that State in 1776, was a rank,
an out and out Tory. Mr. Hooper was bom in Massachusetts,
and was educated at Harvard University. His father, and
nearly all of his relatives, were, indeed, Loyalists. But he
was a student of James Otis, and imbibed his political senti
ments ; nor did he leave New England until after parties were
formed, and until after the "Stamp-Act" difficulties had
passed away. I have read several of his confidential letters
to his friends, while he was in Congress ; letters in which, if
he possessed the political sympathies attributed to him by Mr.
Jefferson, the inclinations of his mind would have been shown.
That he was a timid man, like Morton of Pennsylvania, is very
probable. Yet, I submit, that no defence is necessary. Hooper
signed the Declaration of Independence, and of all documents
to which a " Tory " would have affixed his name, that, cer
tainly, was among the very last.
It is grateful, now, to turn to the brighter side, and to bestow
words of praise. The original Whig party of North Carolina
embraced a large proportion of the wealth, virtue, and intelli
gence of the State. In the county of Bute, especially, the
king had no friends, except a few Scotch merchants, and
vagrant pedlers ; while the number of wavering Whigs was
so small, as that the county was nearly unanimous in favor
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 29
of the change which the leaders advocated, and put their for
tunes and lives at hazard to obtain. Nor should it be for
gotten, that in the county of Mecklenburgh a Declaration of
Independence was passed, more than a year before the more
celebrated instrument of the same name was adopted by the
Continental Congress at Philadelphia. As late as the year
1819, Mr. Jefferson made a labored argument, to prove that
no such document exists. But that such a paper was written,
considered, signed, and promulgated, is now as well established
as is any event in our history. It is known, moreover, that
Colonel Thomas Polk * originated the measure, and that the
Declaration itself was from the pen of Dr. Ephraim Brevard.
South Carolina, at first, and for about half a century, was
a proprietary government, and like Pennsylvania, therefore, a
sort of hereditary monarchy in miniature. In 1719, the people
abolished this form, took from the proprietors the power of
appointing governors, and erected a temporary republic. This
change was but for a moment; and two years after, a regal
government was established, which continued until the Revo
lution. As in all the Colonies, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and
Pennsylvania excepted, the governor was appointed by the
king. In other respects, the British constitution was the
model. In all the essential features, then, the institutions of
South 'Carolina were thoroughly monarchical, from the begin
ning to the end of her Colonial existence ; and the principal
object of the inhabitants, in 1719, seems to have been, rather
to transfer the power of appointing the governor from the pro
prietaries to the crown, than to obtain and exercise the right of
electing their executive for themselves. When, in 1775, the
government passed from Bull, the royal lieutenant-governor,
into Whig hands, a provisional constitution was adopted,
which was new modelled after the declaration of indepen
dence.
The public men of South Carolina of the present generation,
claim that her patriotic devotion in the revolution was inferior
* Col. Polk was. I think, the great uncle of the President of the United
States.
3*
30 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
to none, and was superior to most of the States of the Confed
eracy. As I examine the evidence, it was not so. The popula
tion, composed as it was of emigrants from Switzerland, Ger
many, France, Ireland, and the Northern Colonies of America,
and their descendants, was, of course, deficient in the necessary
degree of homogeneity or sameness of nature, to insure any
considerable unanimity of political sentiment. It is true,
however, that individual men took an early, a noble, and a
decided stand against the oppressive measures of the British
ministry. It is equally true, that South Carolina was the first
State of the thirteen, to form an independent constitution, and
that she overpaid her proportion of the expenditures of the
war, in the sum of 1,205,978 dollars. She sent some gallant
Whigs to the field, and several wise ones to the council. But
to use the apt sayings of e very-day life, " One swallow does
not make a summer," nor " One feather make a bed ; " and
so, a Laurens, father and son, a Middleton, a Rutledge, Ma
rion, Sumpter, and Pickens, do not prove that the Whig leaven
was diffused throughout the mass of her people.
The whole number of regulars enlisted for the Continental ser
vice from the beginning to the close of the struggle, was 231,959.
Of these, I have once remarked, 67,907 were from Massa
chusetts ; and I may now add, that every State, south of Penn
sylvania, provided but 59,493, or 8,414 less than this single
State; and that New England — now, I grieve to say, con
temned and reproached — equipped and maintained 118,350,
or above half of the number placed at the service of Con
gress during the war.* I would not press these facts to the
* The following table of the number of troops furnished by each State
during the Revolution, has been formed from the statements and statistics
contained in the Report of General Knox, secretary of war, to Congress, in
1790. The number of regulars, or of continentals, was derived by him from
the official returns deposited in the war office, and is, therefore, correct. It
will be seen, that one class of the militia is conjectural; the first column of
this kind of force is accurate, as stated in the Report, and the second
(in which, probably, there is not much but " conjecture ") shows the supposed
contributions of each State, in addition to the continentals, and the returned
HISTORICAL ESSAY.
31
injury of the Whigs of the South. The war, after the evacu
ation of Boston, I am aware, was transferred from New Eng
land to the Middle and Southern States; and these States,
accordingly, required bodies of troops to be kept at home to
protect themselves. But as it is to be presumed, that most of
such bodies composed a part of the regular force employed by
Congress, and were, therefore, included in the Continental
establishment and pay, the argument is, in no essential par
ticular, weakened by the admission, that the Whigs of the
South were of necessity employed in the defence of their own
fire-sides. For, were this the truth of the case, the numbers
in this service, as well as in other, would still appear, in mak
ing up the aggregate force, enlisted from time to time, in each
State. The exact question is, then, not where were the battle
grounds of the Revolution, but what was the proportion of
men, which each of the thirteen States supplied for the contest.
militia. A similar table was published in the New Hampshire Historical
Collections, Niles's Register, and American Almanac, which gives the regu
lar force at 231,791, the number of militia at 56,163, but omits the quotas
required of each State, and the conjectural militia. The continentals of that
table and the following nearly agree.
Quotas fixed
Aggregate
STATES.
and required Troops furnished by each State.
SO &
torce rur-
by Congress.
nished by
Estimated, or
each State,
Continentals.
,.... . conjectural,
Militia re- in addition to
including
turned. continentals
the conjec
and militia
tural
returned.
militia.
New Hampshire
10,194
12,496
2,093
3,700
18,289
Massachusetts
52,698
67,907
15,145
9,500
92,552
Rhode Island
5,694
5,908
4,284
1,500
11,692
Connecticut . . .
28,336 1 32,039
7,238 1 3,000
42,277
New York
15,734
17,781
3,866
8,750
30,397
New Jersey . . .
11,396
10,727
6,055
2,500
19,282
Pennsylvania . . .
40,416
25,608
7,357
2,000
34,965
Delaware ....
3,974
2,387
0,376 \ 1,000
3,763
Maryland ....
26,608
13,832
3,929
4,000
21,761
Virginia ....
48,522
26,672
4,429
21,880
52,981
North Carolina .
23,994
7,263
3,975
12,000
23,238
South Carolina . .
16,932
6,660
0,000
25,850
32,510
Georgia .... 3,974
2,679
0,000
9,900
12,579
288,472
231,959
58,747
105,580
396,286
32 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
In considering the political condition of Virginia and North
Carolina, it was admitted, that these States were not able to
provide troops according to their population, as compared with
the States destitute of a " peculiar institution." The same
admission is now made in behalf of South Carolina. Yet, did
6,660 Whig soldiers exhaust her resources of men ? Could
she furnish only 752 more than Rhode Island, the smallest
State in the Confederacy ; only one fifth of the number of
Connecticut ; only one half as many as New Hampshire, then
almost an unbroken wilderness ? She did not ; she could not
defend herself against her own Tories ; and it is hardly an
exaggeration to add, that more Whigs of New England were
sent to her aid, and now lie buried in her soil, than she sent
from it to every scene of strife from Lexington to Yorktown.
South Carolina, with a Northern army to assist her, could
not, or would not. even preserve her own capital. When news
reached Connecticut, that Gage had sent a force into the
country, and that blood had been shed, Putnam was at work
in his field ; leaving his plough in the furrow, he started for
Cambridge, without changing his garments. When Stark
heard the same tidings, he was sawing pine-logs, and without
a coat ; shutting down the gate of his mill, he commenced his
journey to Boston in his shirt-sleeves. The same spirit ani
mated the Whigs far and near, and the capital of New Eng
land was invested with fifteen thousand armed men.
How was it at Charleston ? That city was the great mart
of the South ; and, what Boston still is, the centre of the ex
port and import trade of a large population. In grandeur, in
splendor of buildings, in decorations, in equipages, in shipping
and commerce, Charleston was equal to any city in America.
But its citizens did not rally to save it, and Gen. Lincoln was
compelled to accept of terms of capitulation. He was much
censured for the act. Yet, whoever calmly examines the cir
cumstances, will be satisfied, I think, that the measure was
unavoidable; and that the inhabitants, as a body, preferred
to return to their allegiance to the British crown. The people,
on whom Congress and Gen. Lincoln depended to complete his
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 33
force, refused to enlist under the Whig banner ; but after the
surrender of the city, they flocked to the royal standard by
hundreds. In a word, so general was the defection, that per
sons who had enjoyed Lincoln's confidence joined the royal
side, and men who had participated in his councils bowed
their necks anew to the yoke of Colonial vassalage. Sir Henry
Clinton considered his triumph complete, and communicated
to the ministry the intelligence, that the whole State had yielded
submission to the royal arms, and had become again a part of
the empire. To the women of South Carolina, and to Marion,
Sumpter, and Pickens, the celebrated partisan chiefs, who kept
the field without the promise of men, money, or supplies, it
was owing, that Sir Henry's declaration did not* prove entirely
true for a time, and that the name and the spirit of liberty
did not become utterly extinct.
Again ; what was the nature of the conflict between the two
great parties in South Carolina? Did the Whigs and their
opponents meet in open and fair fight, and give and take the
courtesies, and observe the rules, of civilized warfare ? Alas,
no ! They murdered one another. I wish it were possible to
use a milder word ; but murder, is the only one that can be
employed to express the truth. Of this, however, the reader
shall judge. I shall refrain from a statement of my own, and
rely on the testimony of others.
Gen. Greene thus spoke of the hand to hand strifes, which I
stigmatize as murderous. "The animosity," said he, " bet ween
the Whigs and Tories, renders their situation truly deplorable.
The Whigs seem determined to extirpate the Tories, and the
Tories the Whigs. Some thousands have fallen in this way,
in this quarter, and the evil rages with more violence than ever.
If a stop cannot be soon put to these massacres, the country will
be depopulated in a few months more, as neither Whig nor
Tory can live"
It is scarcely necessary to say, that, after Washington, Greene
was the ablest man in commission, that his character was with
out blemish; or that, as he was on the spot, his declarations
are to pass unquestioned. Still, as the late Chief Justice
34 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
Marshall confirms his narration, though in more general terms,
an extract from the Life of Washington may serve to remove
all fear, that the Northern general was influenced by sectional
feeling. The people of the South, says the eminent jurist,
" felt all the miseries which are inflicted by war in its most
savage form. Being almost equally divided between the two
contending parties, reciprocal injuries had gradually sharpened
their resentments against each other, and had armed neighbor
against neighbor, until it became a war of extermination. As
the parties alternately triumphed, opportunities were alternately
given for the exercise of their vindictive passions."
It were a hard duty to determine, from an examination of
the details of the contest thus vividly portrayed, which party
was guilty of the greatest barbarities ; and I dismiss the sub
ject with the remark, that, whatever the guilt of the Tories,
the Whigs disgraced their cause and the American name.
Nor was it in South Carolina only, that deeds of shame were
done. There were those among the Whig officers who served
in other sections, — nor were they all of inferior rank, — who
took life without necessity, and for the sake, apparently, of
merely enjoying the death-scene of a trembling, shrieking Tory. '
Others, mayhap, there were, who
" Traded in the blood of innocence, and plead
Expedience as a warrant for the deed."
Georgia, the remaining Colony, was in its infancy, and
Oglethorpe, its founder, lived until after it became an indepen
dent State. The designs of himself and his associates in its
settlement, were highly benevolent and generous; and the
public purse contributed a considerable sum to aid their under
taking. By their charter, the king was to model the govern
ment at the end of twenty-one years; and accordingly, in 1752,
at the expiration of this period, a royal government was estab
lished similar to that in the Carolinas, which existed until the
Revolution. Georgia sent no delegates to the first Continen
tal Congress ; and that she was represented in the second, was
owing, I am led to conclude, principally to the zeal and ex
ertions of Lyman Hall, a native of Connecticut, who, having
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 35
graduated at Yale College, and fitted himself for the practice
of medicine, removed to Sunbury. His ardor in the Whig
cause exposed him to the indignation of his opponents, and
after the royal army penetrated Georgia, his property was
seized and confiscated. The Rev. Dr. Zubly, another of the
delegates, proved himself unworthy of confidence, and lost his
estate at the hands of his former friends and associates. To
form a party of "liberty- men" within the borders of Georgia,
to organize this party and commit it in favor of the "rebellion,"
which was fast hastening to " treason " and Revolution in
other parts of the continent, was attended with difficulty, and
required time and labor. But such a party finally existed and
acted ; and the AMERICAN CONFEDERACY was thus completed.
Though overrun by the king's troops, and governed by
military law during a considerable part of the war, Georgia
overpaid her quota of money in a small sum, and furnished
2,679 men for the Continental service. If, then, it be consid
ered, that her population was small, her resources limited, that
Sir James Wright, the last royal governor, was an able and
popular man, and rallied a considerable body of Loyalists, and
that, in the course of events, the Whigs were compelled to flee
into the neighboring States for safety ; her efforts and sacri
fices are entitled to commendation.*
From this rapid survey of the Thirteen Colonies, it has ap
peared that the adherents of the crown were more numerous
* Georgia was, however, regarded as highly loyal. One of the ablest and
best informed of the Loyalists, thus speaks : " Georgia had not only been
recovered out of the hands of the insurgents, in 1779, but the province was
put at the peace of the king by his Majesty's Commissioners, and the king's
civil government restored, and all the loyal inhabitants required by proclama
tion to return to their settlements, and an Assembly called, and actually sub
sisting, and all the civil officers in the exercise of their functions, when
orders came in 1782, to evacuate the country, and deliver it up to the rebels,
which was done accordingly, without any stipulation in favor of the attainted
Loyalists, or their confiscated properties, although the rebel force in that
country was so inconsiderable, that the Loyalists offered to the king's general
to preserve the province for his Majesty, if he would leave them a single egi
ment of foot, and the " Georgia Rangers," to assist them."
36 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
at the South, and in Pennsylvania and New York, than in
New England. Neither in the regulations of the crown, nor
in the enactments of parliament, had there been much either
to offend the feelings or check the industry of the planters and
agriculturists. Towards the Colonies that sold raw produce,
the policy of the mother country had been mild, perhaps lib
eral. They were the Round-heads, and not the Cavaliers,
who met her upon the ocean and in the work-shop ; hence,
it was to them that she showed the most odious features of
the Colonial system. But taunted, for a century and a half,
with the heresy of their faith, and impeded in all their enter
prises ever after the death of Cromwell, the people of the
North were driven to invoke the sympathy of their Colonial
brethren whose religion and pursuits had been the more fa
vored objects of her regard ; and when their joint appeals to
her justice and magnanimity failed to shake her purposes, then,
by the union of counsel, arms, and effort, all the Colonies
together broke from her dominion. If, therefore, the war of
the Revolution had its origin in a long course of aggression
upon the rights of the North, its successful issue was due in
some measure to the more meritorious, because more disinter
ested, exertions of the South. If, too, this course of aggression
gradually diffused a spirit of resistance throughout the coun
try, so that Episcopal and monarchical Virginia at last furnished
a commander for the Puritan and republican soldiers of Mas
sachusetts, the conclusion becomes irresistible, that the wrongs
which united men of so different characters and pursuits, were
far too deep and grave to be excused or extenuated.
We enter now upon a brief inquiry to show the divisions in
the different classes and avocations of Colonial society. And
first, those who held office. Nearly all the officials of all
grades adhered to the crown. This was to have been expect
ed. Men who lived in ease, who enjoyed all the considerations
and deference which rank and station invariably confer, and
especially in monarchies, and who, therefore, had nothing to
gain, but much to lose, by a change, viewed the dissensions
that arose between themselves and the people, in a light which
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 37
allowed their self-love and their self-interest to have full play.
" They were appointed and sworn to execute the laws, and in
obeying the instructions of the ministry at home to enforce
the statutes of the realm, they did but perform common acts
of duty." These were the arguments, and they were neither
the first nor the last persons in office who have reasoned in the
same manner, and who have kept their places at the expense
of their patriotism. Besides, they affected to believe, that the
Whig leaders were mere needy office-hunters, and that the con-/
tests between them were in some measure personal. The de
scendants of Loyalists, whose homes are across our northeastern
border, in conversations with citizens of the republic, continue
to repeat the tale. They have been answered, that, were the
charge true, our fathers were still the more patriotic of the two:
since, upon this issue, it would seem that theirs, who were the
fat and sleek possessors, would not give up the much coveted
stations to the lean and hungry expectants and claimants, even
to preserve the British empire from dismemberment. They
have been answered farther, that they derive no benefit from
the averment, even though Washington, and John Adams, and
Jay, were just objects of the world's scorn, and though every
associate they had were an Arnold in motive, and for the ob
vious reason, that separation from the mother country is still
to be triumphantly defended on the ground of absolute neces
sity. For, without a dissolution of the connexion, the Saxon
race in the New World could neither have developed the re
sources of the continent they occupied, nor have become great
and happy. It has been said, too, that if it be admitted that
the younger Otis actually did vow he would set Massachusetts
in flames though he should perish in the fire, because his father
was not appointed to a vacant and promised judgeship ; that,
as has been alleged, John Adams was at a loss which side to
take, and became a "rebel," because he was refused a com
mission in the peace ; that Samuel Adams was a defaulting
collector of taxes, and paid up his arrears of money, in abuse
of honest men ; that, as his enemies say, Hancock possessed
neither stability nor principle, and that wounded vanity caused
4
38 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
his opposition to the king's servants ; that Joseph Warren was
a broken man, and sought amid the turmoils of civil strife to
better his condition ; that Washington was soured because he
was not retained in the British army, in reward for his services
in the French war; that the Lees were all unsound men, and
that Richard Henry was disappointed in not receiving the
office of stamp distributor, which he solicited ; that Franklin
was vexed at the opposition to his great land-projects and plans
for settlements on the Ohio ; and that a large majority of the
prominent Whigs of every Colony were young men who had
their furtunes to make, and distinction to win ; that, if all this
be admitted, what then ? The argument is as two edged as
at the first, and though it be granted that one side of the blade
wounds the Whigs, the other still cuts deep the Tories. For,
upon this ground it ,may be asked, what claim to perpetuity
had the institutions which denied to a man like John Adams
the humble place of a justice of the peace; and to George
Washington, an opportunity to display his qualities of character
on the great field which the Being who made him intended for
him? And if the thought ever obtruded itself upon John Mar
shall, that by living and dying a Colonist, he should live and die
undistinguished and without leaving his name in his country's
annals, I know not that the emotion was blameable. The des
tiny marked out for him, was to found the jurisprudence of a
NATION ; and has the world been the loser because he ful
filled it?
The children of the Loyalists, though thus met, complain
because the offices at the close of the conflict passed from
the "old families" into the hands of "upstarts." It has been
replied to this, that, revolution or no revolution, it was high
time the persons stigmatized as " upstarts," had a share of
the royal patronage ; first, to break up the practice of bestow
ing upon the son, however unworthy or incompetent, the
place held by the father ; and secondly, to introduce faithful
ness and responsibility, and to dismiss arrogant and disobliging
incumbents.
The allegations thus noticed, are proved, as those who
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 39
make them sagely imagine, by the fact, that the Whigs, at the
peace, received the executive chairs of the several States,
the judgeships, the collectorships, the great law offices, and
other public situations, previously held by their opponents.
This argument is sufficient to disturb the gravity of a man
who never smiled in his life ; and yet it is sometimes soberly
urged by the intelligent and well informed, and enforced in
strong and impassioned tones.
But, it is time to inquire, what became of the office-holders
whom the Revolution expelled? Did they, did the adherents
of the crown, generally, evince an unconquerable aversion to
public employment, after their retirement or banishment from
the United States? The answer to these questions will be
found in these pages. It will be seen, that they not only filled
all the principal offices in the present British Colonies, but
that their places descended to, and are now occupied by their
sons, connexions, and relatives. In no point of view, then,
are the Loyalists entitled to become the accusers of the Whigs;
since it is the innocent only who can properly cast stones at
the offending or the faulty. Nor is it to be overlooked, that
offices under the British crown are, in many respects, of the
nature of life-estates or life annuities, since the practice which
prevailed in the " old thirteen," of perpetuating official dis
tinctions in families, still continues to a very great extent, since
the term " Family Compact," in Colonial politics, has refer
ence to this fact, and since, too, while places are not thus lost
and won at every turn of the political wheel as with us, the
salaries, fees, and emoluments are much greater than are paid
either under our State or national governments. Collectors of
the customs, judges of courts, treasurers, attornies and solici
tors general, in British America, for example, commonly
receive double the sums for their services, that are allowed to
officers of the same names and duties in the United States ;
and several Colonial chief-justices enjoy larger official incomes
than any member of our highest Federal Court. Instead,
therefore, of our being compelled to defend the Whigs against
the charge of undue or of improper love of office, the Loyal-
40 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
ists, and those of their descendants who repeat their fathers'
accusations, are to he turned upon in quiet good nature, and
to be put upon their own defence.
We pass to consider the course pursued by the commercial
class. The claims of the merchants and ship-owners have
never, as it seems to me, been fully or fairly stated. They
were undoubtedly the first persons in America, who set them
selves in array against the measures of the ministry. The
causes of their opposition have already incidentally appeared,
but some farther notice should now be taken of their efforts
to obtain the right of free navigation of the ocean. Nothing
in my judgment is clearer, than that the British Navigation
Act and the Laws of Trade, which were a part of the system
it was meant to enforce, contained the germs of the Revolution.
The Stamp Act, and other statutes of a kindred nature, have
been made, I think, to occupy too prominent a place among the
causes assigned for that event. The irritation which the du
ties on stamps excited in the planting Colonies, subsided as
soon as the law which imposed them was repealed; and I sub
mit, that, but for the policy which oppressed the commerce and
inhibited the use of the water-falls of New England, the
" dispute " between the mother and her children would have
been " left," as Washington breathed a wish that it might be,
" to posterity to determine."
While Cromwell lived, Colonial trade was free : but after his
death, the maritime interests of America soon felt the difference
between a Puritan and a Stuart. Measures were taken by
Charles, with all possible speed, to restrain and regulate the in
tercourse of the Colonies with countries not in subjection to
him, and even that with England herself. At the period when
his designs were to be executed, Massachusetts, foremost in
all marine enterprises, not only traversed the sea at will, but
had her own plan of revenue, and a collector of her customs,
and exacted fees of vessels arriving at her ports. The mer
chants of Boston had dealings with Spain, France, Portugal,
Holland, the Canaries, and even with Guinea and Madagascar,
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 41
and had accumulated considerable wealth.* The trade of
Connecticut, of Rhode Island, and the other Colonies, was small
and limited. But as a commercial spirit existed everywhere,
and as every Colony had some share in the traffic which was
to be checked, or, if possible, to be entirely broken up, none
were disposed to submit quietly to the measures which were
meant to effect either of these purposes. When, then, the
royal collectors of the customs came over from England, to
carry out the will of their sovereign, they were met with re
sistance from one end of the continent to the other.
Edward Randolph, who was commissioned to be the first
collector, surveyor and searcher of Massachusetts and of all
New England, landed at Boston in 1679. He was directed to
fix his own residence at that port, and to appoint at least one
deputy in the "Colonyes of Plymouth, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, the Province of Mayne, and New Hampshire." His
instructions were tediously minute, arid were arranged under
nineteen distinct heads. They were evidently framed by one
who was thoroughly acquainted with the course of Colonial
trade, and the offences for which, in executing them, he might
seize vessels and cargoes, were very numerous.-)- He was
* Josselyn, who was in Massachusetts at this period, says that some mer
chants were " damnable rich," and Dunton, who followed a few years after,
speaks of a lady who came over from England, " with the valuable venture
of her beautiful person, which went off at an extraordinary rate, she marry
ing a merchant in Salem worth nearly thirty thousand pound." Between
the visits of these quaint chroniclers, the commissioneis of Charles had come
on their inglorious errand, and had made a report of the extent of the trade
which was now by statute illicit, and in following which, the Colonists had ac
quired a knowledge of different parts of the woild, and bettered their own
condition.
f These instructions were dated from the " Custom-house, London, July
9, 1678," and affixed to them are the signatures of Ed. Bering, Ch. Cheyne,
and G. Downing, and they were probably framed by the latter. Sir George
Downing was a resident of Salem, Mass., for some time, and was a member
of the first class that graduated at Harvard University. It is supposed that
he devised the British Navigation Act, though St. John, another statesman
of Cromwell's time, is a rival claimant in the apprehension of Mr. Bancroft.
Sir George Downing was undoubtedly a man of talents, and possessed a con-
4*
42 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
furnished, also, with the several acts of Parliament which re
lated to the objects of his mission, and with such other doc
uments as were deemed necessary. Thus armed, he opened
his office * among the Roundheads of Boston. He was
a doomed man before his arrival. Determined upon success,
he made eight voyages to and from America in the nine years
which connect his name with our annals. But from the first
to the last of his career, he was treated with aversion and con
tempt. The merchants determined that he should not break
up their intercourse with places interdicted by the Navigation
Act, and the vessels which were seized by him and his depu
ties were rescued, and sent upon the voyages which their own
ers had designed them to make, though liable to re-seizure
upon their return to America. If he carried his complaints to
the Colonial courts, he obtained no redress, but on the other
hand, both he and his subordinates were fined for their official
zeal. In a word, after enduring every indignity, Randolph
himself was imprisoned. In a letter to Lord Clarendon, writ
ten from Boston in 1682, he says : "I humbly beseech your
Lordship, that I may have consideration for all my losses and
money laid out in prosecuting seizures here." The same year
he wrote to the Bishop of London: "I have a great fammyly
to mayntayne, have great losses and expences about his Ma
jesties service here." To a Mr. Povey, in 1687, he says : "I
am at £50 a year charge to keep an able clerke. and cannot
trolling influence, after his removal from America, in the councils of the Pro
tector. Yet, New England, at most, owes his memory nothing but silence.
Her strong men of the revolutionary era regarded it with utter detestation.
His name to them was identified with a measure, which, whether he designed
it so or not, wronged his native country, until she acquired strength to resist
and overturn it. He died in 1684, near the close of the reign of Charles the
Second.
* The custom-house, which Randolph occupied in Boston, stood on the
water's edge at the corner of Richmond and Ann streets. I suppose that
it was the first building erected for collecting the King's duties in America.
It was of wood, and was not taken down until October, 1846, when many
parts of the frame were found in a good state of preservation.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 43
get any fees settled sufficient to pay that charge." In a letter
dated from the " Gaol in Boston," to the governor of Barba-
does, he thus writes: " The country is poor, the exact execu
tion of the acts of trade hath much impoverished them ; all
the blame lyes upon me, who first attacked, and then overthrew
their charter, and was the officer to continue their Egyptian
servitude, by my office of collector" Again, and from his dun
geon, he implored Cooke, his old enemy, to take from his
apartment a wounded fellow-prisoner, whose sores had become
insupportably offensive.
Such was the treatment and the fate of the first emissary
of the British crown to New England, who was sent upon the
inglorious errand of restraining her commerce, and of contin
uing, by Randolph's own admission in the hour of his humili
ation, her " Egyptian servitude."
The collectors, who were appointed to the other parts of the
country, were received hardly more kindly. The " Assemblies "
of Virginia and Maryland recognised those sent to them as
"legal officers," but difficulties arose in both Colonies, though
neither of them possessed a considerable town or mart of trade.
In the former, earnest complaints were made against the Act
of Navigation, and the restraints imposed upon commerce
generally. In Bacon's harangues to the people, these topics
were not forgotten ; and one of the objects to be gained by
those who followed him into open rebellion was to " build ships,
and, like New England, to trade to any part of the world."
Towards the close of the century, seven collectors and naval
officers,* all of whom were members of Andres's council,
were stationed in different parts of the Colony, and, in form
* Ralph Wormley, secretary, collector, and naval officer of Rappahannock
River. Colonel Richard Lee, collector and naval officer of the upper district
of Potomac River. Colonel Christopher Wormley, collector and naval officer,
lower district of Potomac River. Colonel Edward Hill, collector and naval
officer of upper district of James River. Colonel Edmund Jennings, collector
and naval officer of York River. Colonel Daniel Park, collector and naval
officer of lower district of James River. Colonel Charles Scarborough, collector
and naval officer on the Eastern Shores.
44 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
at least, the Navigation Act and the kindred laws were after
wards observed. But though the declaration, that Virginia
had long acquiesced in the acts restrictive of her commerce,
occurs in her instructions to her delegates to the first Conti
nental Congress, I very much doubt, whether the submission
was more than nominal, or much as it was in other Colonies,
since there is evidence to show, that many of the king's reve
nue officers were themselves great traffickers, and were quite as
unscrupulous as others who bought, sold, and shipped com
modities.
So in Maryland, there was a strenuous opposition to the
establishment of a custom-house, and to the presence of a col
lector. In the controversy, mobs and riots, which succeeded
the attempt, Lord Baltimore became involved in great difficul
ties, by. which his chartered rights were endangered; and
Rousby, the collector, was killed. In North Carolina, the en
deavor of the king's officer to promote a more lawful trade,
and the dispute with a New England trader as to the entry of
a vessel at the custom-house, and the payment of duties, was
one of the causes of an insurrection, which resulted in depo
sing and imprisoning Miller, the collector. In South Carolina,
illicit traffic continued to be carried on, notwithstanding the
exertions of Muschamp, the royal officer of the customs ; and
great tumult and disorder were created by his attempts to sup
press it. In New York, Dyer, the Duke of York's collector,
was indicted for performing his official acts ; and the memo
rable rebellion a few years afterwards, promoted by Leisler, —
a wealthy merchant, who owned ships which he sent to Eu
rope, and who lost his life on the restoration of the lawful
government, for the part he had taken in subverting it, — orig
inated partly in the disputes that arose with the principal
officers of the revenue. In New Jersey, the collector was
thwarted by the people who formed the juries, when prosecu
tions were commenced against smugglers ; while the quarrels
between the officers of that Colony and New York, as to the
rights of entering and clearing vessels, added to the disturb
ances ; and the seizures and condemnations which followed
produced great commotion.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 45
Such was the result of the first effort to fasten upon the
Colonial merchants and ship-owners the Navigation Act and
Laws of Trade. After this signal failure, all further and se
rious endeavors to arrest the course or restrain the limits of
their maritime enterprises were discontinued for nearly a cen
tury. Collectors of the customs were, however, continued at
all the principal ports, but they seldom interfered to trouble
those who embarked in unlawful adventures, and such adven
tures were finally undertaken without fear, and almost with
out hazard. In truth, the commerce of America was prac
tically free. Some merchants " smuggled " whole cargoes
outright; others paid the king's duty on a part, gave "hush-
money" to the under-officers of the customs, and "run" the
balance.
Suddenly, and without warning, there came a change. The
year 1761 was filled with events of momentous consequence.
We find the merchants of the ports of New England, and es
pecially those of Boston and Salem, deeply exasperated by
the attempts of the revenue officers, under fresh and peremp
tory orders, to exact strict observance of the laws of naviga
tion and trade ; and, by a pretension set up under these in
structions, to enter and search places suspected of containing
smuggled goods. To submit to this pretension, was to surren
der the quiet of their homes and the order of their ware
houses to the underlings of the government, and the property
which they held to the rapacity of informers, whose gains
would be in proportion to their wickedness. Those, therefore,
of the two principal towns of Massachusetts, who were inter
ested in continuing the business which they had long pursued
without molestation, and under a sort of prescriptive right,
and in preserving their property from the grasp of pimps and
spies, determined to withstand the crown-officers, and to ap
peal to the tribunals for protection against their claims. James
Otis threw up an honorable and profitable station to become
their advocate, and by his plea in their behalf, he became also
the first champion of the Revolution.
From this period until the commencement of hostilities,
46 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
there was no season of quiet in either of the Colonies which
depended upon maritime pursuits ; and in Massachusetts, the
scenes of tumult, and wild commotion which occurred, were the
prelude of open war. The nine years which preceded the affray,
— absurdly called the "Boston Massacre," — were crowded
with acts, which show to what extent the quarrels had spread,
and what strength the popular wrath had attained. The re
vision of the "Sugar Act," and the exertions to carry out its
new provisions, aided, as the revenue officers now were, by
ships of war and an increase of their own corps, carried con
sternation to every fire-side in the North. In New Hampshire,
Maine, and Rhode Island, there were mobs and collisions, and
seizures and rescues of vessels and merchandise. In Massa
chusetts, were the seizure and rescue, and the re-seizure of some
molasses on the Taunton river ; the resolution to stop the im
portations of goods from England ; the bringing to of ships,
and the tumbling of cargoes overboard all along the coast;
the condemnation of one ship with her cargo of French wines,
and of another which had made an illegal voyage from Hol
land ; the suits in admiralty against the merchants who traded
to the French and Spanish West Indies, for the old offences of
compounding duties with the officers, for entering the molasses
of these islands as of the growth of Anquilla, and for smug
gling it outright ; the appeal of the ship-owners to the ministry
to be released from the harpies that robbed them of their goods,
and made prize of their vessels ; the landing of the cargo of
wines under the guard of men armed with bludgeons ; the
seizure of Hancock's goods and the vessel that brought them ;
the driving of the collector and comptroller of the customs on
board of a man-of-war, and within the walls of "Castle Wil
liam;" the dragging of the revenue-boat through the streets,
and the burning of it on the "Common;" the mobs that de
manded the resignation of one obnoxious officer, stripped, and
tarred and feathered another ; and that broke windows, demol
ished furniture, and destroyed buildings.
Another step in the controversy, and we stand beside the
" tea-ships." I have no space to discuss the question of the
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 47
" three-pence the pound duty on tea," but I must enter my
dissent from the common view of it. To me, it was not, as it
has been regarded, a question of "taxation" but essentially,
like all the others between the merchants and the crown, one
of commerce. The statements of Hutchinson, the debates in
Parliament, and the state-papers and the documents which I
have examined, all go to prove that the object of the mother
country was mainly to break up the contraband trade of the
Colonial merchants with Holland and her possessions, and to
give to her own East India Company the supply of the Colo
nial markets. The value of the tea consumed in America
was estimated at £300,000 annually. Nearly the whole quan
tity was "smuggled." Pennsylvania, New York, and Massa
chusetts, were the great marts. The risk of seizure for many
years was small ; and it is said, that, at one period, not one
chest in five hundred of that which was landed in Boston, fell
into the hands of the officers of the customs. Some of the
merchants of that town had become rich in the traffic, and a
considerable part of the large fortune which Hancock inherited
from his uncle,* was thus acquired.
The plan of the East India Company, backed by the minis
try, was shrewd, and, if it had been executed, would have
forced the merchants to abandon the contraband trade, and
have given the Company the business at which they grasped ;
since their tea was considered to be of better quality than
the smuggled, and if afforded at as low a price, would have
had the preference with consumers. The change of policy,
then, which encountered such fearful opposition, and which
reduced the duty from a shilling the pound payable in Eng
land, to " three-pence " payable in the ports to which it should
be exported from the Company's warehouses, allowed the
article to be sold in America nine-pence the pound cheaper
than it had been afforded under the old rate of duty, while, by
securing the market, it at the same time secured a revenue on
* Thomas Hancock's plan of smuggling, was to put his tea in molasses-
hogsheads, and thus " run " it, or import it without payment of duties.
48
whatever quantity might actually be entered at the Colonial
custom-houses. This, as I understand the plan, was the whole
of it; and it is pertinent to remark, that, if the "tax" had
really been its objectionable feature, it is singular that no
clamor was raised while the duty was four times " three-pence"
the pound. At that rate, Whig merchants, as well as others,
had made small importations from England, in order " to
cover" the larger and illicit importations from Holland and
her dependencies. It is equally pertinent to observe, that the
English merchants, who sent tea to parts of America where
the contraband trade was less extensively pursued, were as
hostile to a measure which threatened them with the loss of
their customers, as were their commercial brethren in the Colo
nies, who were to be sufferers from the same cause.
The "tea" which came charged with "three-pence" duty
payable on being landed, was disposed of in various ways.
As a punishment for the destruction of that sent to Boston,
that port was shut up, and its commerce thus struck down at
a blow. The cutting off the fisheries, which were then the
very life-blood of New England, soon followed the passage of
the " Boston Port Bill," and was the crowning act of the policy
which produced an appeal to arms. When the tidings that no
vessels could now enter or leave the harbor of the capital of
the North spread through the land, the cry that "Boston is
suffering in the cause which henceforth interests all America,"
rose spontaneously. Public meetings were held in all parts of
the country. People met in the open air, in churches, and
court-houses, to express their horror of the oppressors, and
their sympathy with the oppressed. I have examined the pro
ceedings of no less than sixty-seven of these meetings, of
which twenty-seven were held in Virginia, and all but one in
places south of New England. The day that the Port Bill
went into operation was one of gloom and sadness everywhere ;
and the predictions, on both sides of the Atlantic, that it would
produce a general confederation, and end in a general revolt,
were of rapid fulfilment.
In their opposition to the Navigation Act and Laws of
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 49
Trade, the merchants and ship-owners were entirely right.
Obedience to humane laws is due from every member of the
community. But the barbarous code of commercial law,
which disgraced the statute book of England for the exact
century which intervened between the introduction and expul
sion of her Colonial collectors and other officers of the cus
toms, was entitled to no respect whatever. Separation from
her would have followed as certainly in 1676, when the first
attempt was made to fix this code upon America, as in 1776,
when the experiment failed a second time, if there had been
at the one period, the same strength and concert, the same
deeply-seated irritation, and the same aid from the state of
English and European politics, as existed at the other. There
never was a moment, early or late, when the maritime Colo
nies would have submitted willingly to the requirements of
these statutes, or have submitted to them at all without the
use of force. And whoever carefully traces the course of
events, for the fifteen years immediately following the year
first above mentioned, will discover a most striking resem
blance to those which occurred between 1761 and the com
mencement of the war of the Revolution.
This commercial code was so stern and cruel, that an Amer
ican merchant was compelled to evade a law of the realm, in
order to give a sick neighbor an orange or cordial of European
origin, or else obtain them legally, loaded with the time, risk,
and expense of a voyage from the place of growth or manu
facture to England, and thence to his own warehouse. An
American ship-owner or ship-master, when wrecked on the
coast of Ireland, was not allowed to unlade his cargo on the
shore where his vessel was stranded, but was required to send
his merchandise to England, when, if originally destined for,
or wanted in, the Irish market, an English vessel might carry
it thither. At the North, a market for all the dried fish which
were caught was indispensable to the prosecution of the fish
eries. But the policy of the mother country provided penalties,
and the confiscation of vessel and cargo, for a sale of such
proportion of the annual " catch," as was unfit for her own
5
50 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
ports, or was not wanted in her own possessions in the Carib
bean sea, if carried to the islands which owned subjection to
France or Spain. These were some of the features of the
odious system which prevailed, 'and which was never abol
ished, until American vessels went out upon the ocean under
a new flag.
There can be but little wonder, therefore, that the great
body of the merchants of the Thirteen Colonies were Whigs ;
that fourteen,* or just one fourth, of the signers of the Decla
ration of Independence, and that several of the generals, and
other officers of the Continental army, were men bred to, or
engaged in, commerce, or the command of ships. No class of
the British subjects in America were so cruelly oppressed, no
class did more to emancipate their country. Yet it will be
found, that in every principal town there were merchants
who adhered to the crown. Many of these persons, however,
were natives of the British Isles, who had come to the Colonies
with the design of accumulating fortunes, and of returning, or
those whom the functionaries of the crown had been in the
habit of favoring with government contracts, those who had
been selected as the East India Company's agents or con
signees of tea, or those who had been elevated to seats in the
Colonial councils.
JT Our attention, now, will be directed to the professional
classes. It has often been asserted, that nearly all the clergy
were Whigs. The truth of this may admit of a doubt ; since
most of those of the Episcopal faith not only espoused the ad
verse side, but abandoned their flocks and the country. This
was especially the case in New England ; and Dr. Parker of
Trinity Church, Boston, and the Rev. Mr. McGilchrist of Salem,
were, I think, the only clergymen of that communion, who
stood by the people of their charge, and saved them from dis-
* John Hancock, John Langdon, Samuel Adams, William Whipple,
George Clymer, Stephen Hopkins, Francis Lewis, Philip Livingston, El-
bridge Gerry, Joseph Hewes, George Taylor, Roger Sherman, Button Gwin-
nett, and Robert Morris.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 51
persion. I need not say, that, at the period of the Revolution,
the clergy possessed vast influence. In the early settlement of
the country, as is well known, the duty of the ministers was
not confined to instructions in things spiritual, but embraced
matters of temporal concern, and on questions of pressing
public exigency, their counsel and advice were eagerly sought
and implicitly followed. This deference to their office and to
their real or supposed wisdom, though less general than at
former periods, had not ceased; and clergymen, both Whigs
and Tories, often made a recruiting house of the sanctuary.
Some of those of both parties disregarded the obligations of
Christian charity, and sacrificed their kindly affections as men,
in their earnest appeals from the pulpit. Generally, the min
ister and his people were of the same party; but there were
still some memorable divisions and quarrels, separations, and
dismissions.
The Sandemanians, though inconsiderable, both in numbers
and influence, were opposed to the popular movement, and
gave its friends no little trouble. At the North, the laymen
of the Episcopal faith were commonly, like their rectors, Loy
alists; but at the South it was different, and many of the most
distinguished Whigs of that section were zealous friends of
the established church.
Many Loyalist clergymen became chaplains of the corps
which were raised by the friends of the king in the different
Colonies. Most of those who thus took an active part in hos
tile deeds, and indeed nearly all of those who dissolved their
connexion with their parishes, were proscribed and banished.
When, after the war, the statutory prohibitions were either
modified or repealed, several of the exiles returned to their old
homes, or to other parts of the United States. But others, and
the larger proportion, remained abroad and finished their days
in banishment. At the close of the Revolution, the towns and
cities in New Brunswick, which are now so well known to
men of business or pleasure, were mere forests, and without a
single habitation. The first ministers of these places were
our expatriated countrymen. They lived in huts. They en-
52 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
dured privation and suffering. As the country around them
increased and prospered, their situation became comfortable,
and finally, entirely agreeable. Several of them had large
families. The sons of some were educated to their own pro
fession, and succeeding to, now occupy, their pulpits. So, too,
Loyalist clergymen settled in Nova Scotia and Upper Canada,
where, gathering members of their old flocks, they resumed
their clerical duties.
We pass to members of the bar. I incline to believe that a
majority of the lawyers were Whigs, and for several reasons.
First, because in the course of my researches I have found but
comparatively few who adhered to the crown ; secondly, be
cause of the well known fact, that a large part of the speakers
and advocates on the popular side were educated to the law ;
and thirdly, because one of the objects of the "Stamp Act"
was to drive from the profession those members of it who an
noyed the royal governors and other officials, and who, as a
member of the House of Commons said, were " mere petti
foggers." Besides, many gentlemen of the bar, on being re
tained by the merchants, became impressed with the enormities
of the commercial code, and in advocating the cause of clients
who claimed to continue their contraband trade on the ground
of usage and prescription, they were impelled to follow the
example of Otis, and to take the lofty stand that commerce
should be, and on principles of justice really was, as open
and as free to British subjects in the New World, as it was to
those in the Old.
Still the ministry had their partisans among the barristers
at law, and some of them were persons of great professional
eminence. In fact, the "giants of the law" in the Colonies
were nearly all Loyalists. As in the case of the clergy, many
of them were driven into exile. Several entered the military
service of the crown, and raised and commanded companies,
battalions, and even regiments. At the peace, a few returned
to their former abodes and pursuits ; but the greater number
passed the remainder of their lives either in England, or in
her present possessions in America. The anti-revolutionary
HTSTORICAL ESSAY. 53
bar of Massachusetts and New York, furnished the admiralty
and common law courts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia,
Canada, and the Bermudas, with many of their most distin
guished judges.
The physicians who adhered to the crown were numerous,
and the proportion of Whigs was less probably in the profes
sion of medicine than in either that of law or theology. But
unlike persons of the latter callings, most of the physicians re
mained in the country, and quietly pursued their business.
There seems to have been an understanding that, though pul
pits should be closed, and litigation be suspended, the sick
should not be deprived of their regular and freely chosen med
ical attendants. I have been susprised to find, from verbal
communications and from various other sources, that while the
" Tory doctors," were as zealous and as fearless in the expres
sion of their sentiments as "Tory ministers " and "Tory barris
ters," their persons and property were generally respected in
the towns and villages, where little or no regard was paid to
the bodies and estates of gentlemen of the robe and the sur
plice. Some, however, were less fortunate, and the dealings of
the " sons of liberty," were occasionally harsh and exceedingly
vexatious. A few of the Loyalist physicians were banished ;
others, and those chiefly who became surgeons in the army or
provincial corps, settled in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia,
where they resumed practice. Those who continued in service
until the close of the struggle or the dissolution of the corps to
which they were attached, were placed on the half-pay list,
and enjoyed the annuity allowed to retired surgeons during
life.
Of the thirty-seven newspapers which were published in
the Colonies, in April 1775, if the result of my inquiries be
correct, seven or eight were in the interest of the crown, and
twenty-three were devoted to the service of the Whigs. Of these
thirty-seven, however, one on each side had little or no part
in discussing the great questions at issue, as they were estab
lished only in the preceding month of January ; and of those
which did participate in these discussions, and maintain the
5*
54 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
right, no less than five went over to the Loyalists in the course
of the war. Of the number first named, two were printed in
German, and one in German and English ; and as another of
the thirty-seven was commenced in April, there were, in fact,
but thirty-one newspapers in the vernacular tongue, at the
close of 1 774 Up to the beginning of the strife, printing had
been confined to the capitals or principal towns ; but hostile
deeds, interfering with all employments, caused the removal of
some of the public journals to places more remote, and were
the means of interrupting, or wholly discontinuing the publi
cation of others. Those that existed at the period of which
we are speaking, were very unequally distributed ; thus Mary
land, Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia, taken together,
had but one more than Pennsylvania, and but three more than
Massachusetts. In New Hampshire, the " Gazette " was
alone; while Rhode Island had both a "Gazette" and a
" Mercury." Of the editors and proprietors who originally
opposed the right, or became converts to the wrong, several
sought refuge in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where they
established newspapers, and the first which were published
in these Colonies.
From what has now been said, it is evident that a very consid
erable proportion of the professional and editorial intelligence
and talents of the Thirteen Colonies was arrayed against the
popular movement. This volume contains notices of upwards
of one hundred and fifty persons who were educated at Har
vard college, or some other American or foreign institution of
learning ; and could the whole number of Loyalists who re
ceived College honors be ascertained, it would be found, pro
bably, that the list is far from being complete. It was alleged,
however, by a distinguished adherent of the crown in New
Jersey, that " most of the colleges had been the grand nurse
ries of the rebellion," and in a plan which he submitted for
the government of the Colonies after the suppression of the
revolt, he proposed to check their pernicious influence by in
troducing several reforms. But if, in connexion with the facts
above-named, it be considered, that in 1761 there were but six
HISTORICAL ESSAY.
colleges in America, and only nine at the commencement of
hostilities, we shall hardly find reason to believe, that the loyal
had cause to complain of them. It is said, on what appears
to be good authority, that as late as 1746 there were but fifteen
liberally educated persons in the whole Colony of New York.
The increase between that period and the Revolution could
not have been very considerable ; and of the number named,
several were alive in 1776, and belonged to the ministerial
party. But whatever was the relative strength of the two
parties in the single particular of graduates of colleges, the
Whigs far exceeded their opponents in effective writers. Among
the newspaper essayists in Massachusetts, on the royal side,
were Joseph Green, a wag and a wit ; Samuel Waterhouse,
an officer of the customs, who was stigmatized as the " most
notorious scribbler and libeller " of the time ; Lieutenant Gov
ernor Oliver ; Jonathan Sewall, and Daniel Leonard. The last
wrote a series of papers entitled " Massachusettensis," and had
John Adams for his antagonist, over the signature of "Nov-
Anglus." Mr. Adams attributed these papers to his friend
Sewali, but the fact that Leonard was the author is now well
established. None of these " government-men " were so effec
tive as popular writers as Samuel Adams, and his single pen
was probably a match for them all. Hutchinson was so an
noyed by his peculiar tact, and his power to agitate and move
the public mind as to declare, that of all persons known to
him, he was the most successful " in robbing men of their char
acters." But besides the two Adamses, James Otis was the
author of four political tracts, and Oxenbridge Thacher,
Chauncy, and Cooper, were continually transmitting their
thoughts in popular forms ; while Josiah Quincy junior, often
gave his countrymen the effusions of his rich, pure, and classical
mind, and his " Observations on the Boston Port Bill " is to
be regarded not only as a clear and cogent political essay,
but as a finished specimen of the literature of the period.
Among the Loyalists of New York who contributed to the
press, were the Rev. Samuel Chandler, the Rev. John Vardill,
and Isaac Wilkins. The opponent of the latter was the youth-
56 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
ful Hamilton.* In the South, I am disposed to conclude, that
the crown commanded no writer of ability except Daniel Du-
lany, the attorney-general of Maryland, who was in the field
against Charles Carroll. I know of no ministerial writer in
Virginia. Those on the Whig side were, it is believed, limited
to three, namely, Jefferson, Richard Bland, and Arthur Lee.
Some of the popular leaders in the planting Colonies conducted
an extensive correspondence, but others seem to have been
almost silent. It is somewhat remarkable, that the only
editor and best biographer of Washington, found, or has pre
served, but three letters in which the disputes that agitated the
country are incidentally mentioned, and but three others in
which the subjects in controversy are fully and explicitly dis
cussed. At the North it was essentially different, and the
letters of Massachusetts Whigs contain full and valuable ma
terials for history.
In concluding the topic, it may be remarked, that while the
number of the highest seminaries of learning was small, the
other means of disseminating knowledge were extremely lim
ited. It suited the views of the mother country to keep the
Colonial press shackled ; and it seems hardly credible, that the
accomplished Addison, when a minister of state, should have
directed the governors in America to allow of no publications,
and of no printing without license. For a considerable period
the most rigid censorship prevailed in the Colonies, and even
almanacs were subject to examination.* The result of this
* Hamilton's own sympathies were at first on the royal side, as he himself
admits in his reply to Wilkins ; and his biographer relates, that a visit to
Boston changed the current of his thoughts ; I may add, — the whole course
of his life.
* In 1719 it was deemed necessary to obtain a license from Governor Shute,
to publish a pamphlet upon the very harmless subject of providing Boston with
market-houses, of which the town was then destitute. The pulpit was, how
ever, free, and Dr. Colman preached a sermon the same year on " the reasons
for a market in Boston." Censorship of the newspapers, at this period, con
tinued to be enforced so rigidly, that four years after, matter intended for
publication in them was required to be examined by the Colonial Secretary.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 57
state of things was, that prior to the Revolution, most of the
books were imported from England. As in other respects,
however, the statute-book was sometimes disobeyed while this
system was in force, and works were published which bore the
the English imprint, and which closely resembled the English
copies used in the publication. In this fraudulent way, the
first American edition of the Bible was printed at Boston.
Besides, provision for educating the people was seldom made,
and reading and writing in some sections of the country were
" rare accomplishments." The germ of the system of free-
schools in New England, of schools to be ordained and con
tinually maintained by law, is to be sought as far back as the
year 1670, when the profits of the public-fishery at Cape Cod
were set apart for the purpose ; but in Virginia, it is believed,
that education was never a subject of legislation during the
whole course of her Colonial existence.
We are now to speak of the Loyalists who opposed the Whigs
in the field. Upon this topic, our writers of history have been
Though no particular officer may have been charged with the duty of super
vision later than the year 1730, a publisher was sent to prison in 1754, upon
suspicion of having printed remarks derogatory to some members of the
Colonial government.
It may not be without interest to show what was thought of the freedom of
the newspaper press thirty or forty years ago. In February, 1812, the attor
ney general and solicitor general of Massachusetts, state, in an official report
to Governor Gerry, that, in their judgment, there had appeared in the Boston
papers, since the preceding 1st of June, no less than two hundred and fifty-
three libellous articles, to wit : in The Scourge, ninety-nine ; The Centinel, fifty-
one ; The Repertory, thirty-four ; The Gazette, thirty-eight ; The Palladium,
eighteen ; The Messenger, one ; The Chronicle, eight ; and the Patriot,
nine ; while in The Yankee there had been none. The report gives the dates
of the papers, and divides the libellous matter into two kinds ; that in which
the truth could be, and that in which it could not be given in evidence to
justify the party accused. These law officers state, moreover, that their
examinations had not embraced complete files of all these prints ; and that
they had not included in their list calumnious publications against foreign
governments or distinguished foreigners, or libels of the editorial brethren
against each other. It appears that the inquiry was instituted at his Excel
lency's request.
58
OR
almost silent; and it is not impossible that some persons
have read books devoted exclusively to an account of the Rev
olution, without so much as imagining that a part, and a con
siderable part of the force employed to suppress the " rebellion,"
was composed of our own countrymen. The two wars be
tween England and France, which immediately preceded the
revolt of the Colonies, were caused principally by disputes
about rights of fishing, and by unsettled questions of maritime
and territorial jurisdiction in America ; and in these wars the
American people had taken a distinguished part. In fact, in
aiding to put down French pretensions, our fathers acquired
the skill necessary to the successful assertion of their own. A
large proportion of the officers who were engaged in the expe
ditions against Cape Breton, Quebec, and other places in the
possessions of France, espoused the popular side, and many of
them became prominent leaders. Thus, Gridley, who laid out
the works on Breed's Hill, and Prescott, who commanded the
troops that occupied them ; Montgomery, Gates, and St. Clair ;
James Clinton, Mercer, and John Stark ; Morgan, Israel and
Rufus Putnam, Gibson, Darke, Thomas, Spencer, Bull, Brad
ford, Zebulon Butler, and Campbell ; all of whom were gen
erals or colonels in the Revolution ; and Thornton, Walcott,
Livingston, and Williams, who became Signers of the Declar
ation of Independence, were engaged in one or both of these
wars.
But, on the other hand, several officers of merit, and some of
very considerable military talents, adhered to the royal side.
Of this description were General Ruggles, Colonels Saltonstall,
Gilbert, William Stark, (the brother of John), Peter Gilman,
Tyng, Hewlett, and Brewerton. Among other persons of con
sideration, were Sir John Johnson, Oliver De Lancey, Robert
Rogers, and Washington's friend Mackenzie.
It may not be possible to ascertain the number of the Loyalists
who took up arms, but from the best evidence which I have
been able to obtain, I conclude there were twenty thousand at
the lowest computation ; and unless their killed and wounded,
in the different battles and affrays in which they were engaged,
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 59
were unusually large, I have put their aggregate force far too
low. v Thus, in the fight at Bennington, or more properly Hoo-
suc, in the enterprise of Sullivan at Staten Island, in the ad
venture of Nelson in New Jersey, in the affray of Pickens with
a band of Tories who were on their way to the British camp in
Georgia, in the battle of King's Mountain, in four actions of
Colonel Washington, Marion, Lee, and Sumpter, the aggregate
of slain, wounded, or made prisoners, was upwards of twenty-
three hundred, or more than a ninth part of my estimate.
That, in the various conflicts of the illustrious commander-in-
chief, in those of Greene, Lincoln, and Gates, in the South, in
the recontres of Marion, Lee, and Sumpter, not mentioned above,
in the losses of Tryon, Simcoe, De Lancey, Johnson, and Ar
nold, in their various actions with the Whig forces, or hastily
assembled neighborhoods, in the strifes between Whigs and
Tories hand to hand, and in cases where neither had authorized
or commissioned leaders, another ninth part of twenty thousand
met with a similar fate is nearly certain. At the time of Corn-
wallis's surrender, a part of his army was composed of native
Americans, and his Lordship evinced great anxiety for their
protection. Failing to obtain special terms for them in the
articles of capitulation, he availed himself of the conceded
privilege of sending an armed ship northerly without molesta
tion, to convey away the most obnoxious among them. Bur-
goyne had been spared this trouble ; for, as his difficulties had
increased, and his dangers thickened, the Loyalists had aban
doned him to his fate.
Again. The estimated number of twenty thousand can be
shown to be moderate in a manner more direct, and perhaps
more satisfactory. Thus, in the South, Lord Dunmore drew
a considerable number to his standard, and Martin, governor
of North Carolina, succeeded in embodying a force of fifteen
hundred men. Nearly or quite nine hundred and fifty of Fer
guson's command at King's Mountain, and about thirteen hun
dred of Butler's force at Wyoming, were Tories. Besides
these corps, and besides Sir John Johnson's " Royal Greens,"
there were certainly twenty-nine or thirty regiments or battal-
60 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
ions regularly organized, officered, and paid.* The names of
these various corps, and the names of upwards of five hundred
officers who were attached to them, will be found in this vol
ume. If the body raised by Lord Dunmore be computed at
five hundred, and if each of the above regiments or battalions,
including the " Royal Greens," be supposed to have numbered
four hundred, the whole number will amount to more than
sixteen thousand. To the force thus ascertained with some
degree of accuracy, we have yet to add the predatory bands
which were almost innumerable in some sections of the coun
try, and during some periods of the conflict, and those who
entered the naval service, those who enlisted in privateers, and
those who in the Carolinas carried on the exterminating war
fare described by General Greene. With regard to the latter,
it may be remarked, that they must have formed a numerous
body, for if, as he says, "thousands" were slain, "thousands"
were of course engaged in the murderous conflicts.
And yet again. In an address of the Loyalists who were in
London in 1779, presented to the king, it is said that their
countrymen then in his Majesty's army, "exceeded in number
the troops enlisted [by Congress] to oppose them" exclusive of
those who were " in service in private ships of war." In a
* The King's Rangers ; the Royal Feasible Americans ; the Queen's
Rangers ; the New York Volunteers ; the King's American Regiment ;
the Prince of Wales's American Volunteers ; the Maryland Loyalists ;
De Lancey's Battalions ; the Second American Regiment ; the King's
Rangers Carolina ; the South Carolina Royalists ; the North Carolina High
land Regiment ; the King's American Dragoons ; the Loyal American Regi
ment ; the American Legion ; the New Jersey Volunteers ; the British
Legion ; the Loyal Foresters ; the Orange Rangers ; the Pennsylvania Loy
alists; the Guides and Pioneers; the North Carolina Volunteers; the
Georgia Loyalists; the West Chester Volunteers. These corps were all
commanded by colonels or lieutenant colonels, and as De Lancey's Battal
ions, and the New Jersey Volunteers consisted each of three battalions,
here were twenty-eight. To these, the Newport Associates, the Loyal
New Englanders, the Associated Loyalists, and Wentworth's Volunteers,
remain to be added. Still further, Col. Archibald Hamilton of New York
commanded at one period seventeen companies of Loyal Militia.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 61
similar document dated in 1782, and which was addressed to
the King and both houses of Parliament, the same declaration
is repeated, though in stronger terms, since the language is,
that " there are many more men in his Majesty's provincial
regiments than there are in the continental service." These last
addresses declare, moreover, that " the zeal" of the Loyalists
must he greater than that of the "rebels," for "the desultory
manner in which the war has been carried on by first taking
possession of Boston, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Portsmouth,
and Norfolk in Virginia, and Wilmington in North Carolina,
and then evacuating them," had ruined thousands, and in
volved others in the greatest wretchedness, and had rendered
enlistments tardy under " such " discouragements, and " very
unequal circumstances." That, down to 1779, the adherents
of the crown had not refused to serve in the field is distinctly
stated in the Address first quoted, and in these words : "If
any Colony or district, when covered or possessed by your Ma
jesty's troops, had been called upon to take arms, and had
refused, or if any attempts had been made to form the Loyalist
militia, * * * and it had been declined, we should not on
this occasion have presumed thus to Address your Majesty,"
&c. The descendants of Loyalist officers who entered the
military service early in the struggle, and continued in commis
sion until its close, entertain the general views expressed in
these extracts ; and the opinion that Americans in the pay of
the crown were quite as numerous as those who entered the
army of Congress, is very commonly held by persons with
whom I have conversed. Still, I doubt whether either the writ
ten or verbal statements are to be relied on implicitly, and for
the reason, that in the former I am sure there are exaggerations
on other subjects, and the latter rest on the assertions of men
who were equally ready to attribute the success of the Whigs
and their own ruin to the inefficiency and bad management of
Sir William Howe, and other royal generals.
At the peace, the Loyalist corps were disbanded. A few of
the officers were transferred to the regiilar army, and continued
in service for life ; but the great majority were less fortunate,
6
OR
and, while some of the highest rank went to England, others,
in departing into banishment, were compelled to seek for homes
in regions sparsely peopled, and, as many of them imagined,
hardly habitable.* To ascertain the fate of all of those whose
names and rank appear in this work, is not now, perhaps,
possible. Those who were attached to the corps raised at the
extreme South, were principally inhabitants of that section,
and it is known that a large proportion of them settled in the
Bahamas, Florida, and the British West Indies. Some of the
officers who belonged to the " Maryland Loyalists," and some
of the privates of that corps, embarked for Nova Scotia, but
were wrecked in the Bay of Fundy, and a part perished. My
information, therefore, of those who were in commission in
Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland, is extremely
limited. Of several of those of the "Pennsylvania Loyalists"
under command of the apostate Allen, I have been able to learn
a few particulars ; and of many who served in the different
regiments or battalions raised in New York and New Jersey,
under De Lancey, Robinson, and Skinner, I have obtained in
telligence of interest.
Of the three corps organized in New England, it is singular
to remark, that I have learned less than of most others. The
" Wentworth Volunteers " enlisted in New Hampshire, could
not, I suppose, have been a body of men of much efficiency.
If they performed any exploit other than that of carrying off
from Connecticut a "rebel" minister and his congregation,
* Some of the officers in departing for Nova Scotia remarked, that they
were "bound to a country where there was nine months winter, and three
months of cold weather every year." Some idea of the views entertained of
this Colony at the peace may be formed from an extract or two from a pam
phlet published in England in 1784. " It has a winter of almost insupporta
ble length and coldness " * * * * " there are but a few inconsiderable
spots fit to cultivate, and the land is covered with a cold spongy moss in place
of grass" * * * * "the land is so barren, that corn does not come up
well in it" * * * * "winter continues at least seven months in the
year" * * * * "the country is wrapt in the gloom of a perpetual fog "
* # * * a tne mountains run down to the sea-coast, and leave but here
and there a spot fit to inhabit." &c. &c.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 63
and the horses and pillions of the good dames who had gone
to meeting, history has not done them justice. The Rhode
Island troops, or " Newport Associators," consisted, possibly,
of three companies. The " Loyal New Englanders " were
commanded by Col. Wightman, but their numbers, and with
two exceptions, the names of the officers, have not been as
certained, after some research and personal inquiry.
The Loyalist officers at the close of the war, and when their
corps were disbanded, retired on half-pay. This stipend they
received during life, and they also received grants of land ac
cording to their rank. Such is the fact with regard to those
who settled in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and other parts
of British North America, and it is to be presumed that all
were treated alike. Many, too, held responsible and lucrative
civil offices, and some even administered the government of the
Colonies in which they resided. Nothing in their history is
more remarkable than their longevity. Several lived to enjoy
their half-pay upwards of half a century, and so common
among them were the ages of eighty-five, ninety, and even of
ninety-five years, that the saying, " Loyalist half -pay officers
never die" was often repeated. Their children assure inqui
rers, that, to those who were in the vigor -of life, the bounty of
the crown was rather injurious than beneficial, and that, while
it relieved the maimed, and the shattered in health, who were
comparatively few, it impaired the energy and diminished the
enterprise of the more numerous class, who, inhabitants of a
wilderness country, should have cleared the forests and made
themselves farms. Their descendants state, that, secure in a
sum annually, which would procure them food and clothing,
and which placed them beyond the fear of want, they were not
compelled to task their faculties to procure subsistence, and
that, saddened by their recollections of the past, they became
"morose," "sour," and "peevish."
In fact, the representations of persons of Loyalist lineage
afford satisfactory evidence, that, as a class, the half-pay offi
cers were unhappy men. The lands which were granted to
them were not settled or made productive, and but for the
64 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
recent timber-land mania, which attracted the speculators of
Maine and Massachusetts, large tracts would have remained
unexplored and valueless down to the present time. The im
pression that the revolutionary contest should have terminated
differently, was very common, and in many it was very strong.
That they, — " the loyal, the true," — should have been the
losers in the strife, and " the false and the rebellious" the win
ners ; and that the former should have been driven from the
country in which they were born, to commence life anew in un
broken forests, were circumstances over which they continually
brooded, and to which they were never reconciled. They insisted,
and those who have inherited their names and possessions, and
many of their prejudices and opinions, still insist, that both
Sir William Howe, and Sir Henry Clinton, his successor, could
and should have quelled " the Rebellion," and that the former,
especially, is wholly inexcusable. If, by their course of rea
soning, Sir William had occupied Dorchester heights, and the
high-lands of Charlestown, as a sagacious general would have
done, and as his force and park of artillery allowed him to do,
all the disasters to the royal arms which followed would have
been prevented.
These remarks are to be considered as general. Some of the
Loyalist officers, who settled in British America, bore their
deprivations with cheerfulness, and spared no efforts to improve
their fallen fortunes. To these, half-pay was of great benefit,
since it enabled them to erect buildings, and improve and
stock the lands which were granted to them; and the houses
which they built, in which they lived and died, and which are
now occupied by their descendants, contain every convenience
and comfort necessary for human enjoyment. Others of a
similar cast of character embarked in commercial pursuits,
and became men of property and even of wealth ; and still
others, who had been bred to the law, resumed practice, and
became able and distinguished advocates.
The reader will find that another class of Loyalists, who held
commissions under the crown, hovered upon our northern and
southern frontiers, and in the depth of their malignity and hos-
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 65
tility, incited the savage tribes to deeds of rapine and murder ;
and engaged in schemes and plots to deprive us of important
rights and territories. The conduct of McKee, Elliot, and
Girty, in Canada; of McGillivray, Panton, and Bowles, in
Florida ; and of Conolly, and his associates, in their endeavor
to raise a force to seize New Orleans, and to control the Missis
sippi, produced alarm in those who conducted our public af
fairs, and involved the settlers upon our borders in misery.
The examination, now completed, of the political condition
of the Colonies, of the state of parties, and of the divisions in
particular classes in society and avocations in life, leads to the
conclusion, that tthe number of our countrymen who wished
to continue their connexion with the mother country was very
large. In nearly every Loyalist letter or other paper which I
have examined, and in which the subject is mentioned, it is either
assumed or stated in terms, that the loyal were the majority ;
and this opinion, I am satisfied, was very generally entertained
by those who professed to have a knowledge of public senti
ment. That the adherents of the crown were mistaken, is
certain. But yet, in the Carolinas and Georgia, and possibly in
Pennsylvania, the two parties differed but little in point of
strength, while in New York, the Whigs were far weaker than
their opponents.^
It may be asked, why, when the Colonial System was so
odious, when it restrained the industry, and in so many other
respects, oppressed and wronged the Colonists, there was not
greater unanimity ; and why persons so respectable, and hith
erto universally esteemed, as were many of the " government-
men," were seemingly, or in fact, averse to breaking away
from British dominion ? These questions have been put
to Loyalists themselves. They have answered, that the
South was not originally directly interested in the measures
which excited so deep hostility at the North ; that at the forma
tion of parties throughout the Colonies generally, under their
last names, they were still regarded as the common organiza
tions of the ins and the outs, and as the continued strivings of
the one to retain, and of the other to gain patronage and place ;
6*
66
OR
and that the mass, in taking sides with or against the royal
governors, was stimulated by the hopes which politicians have
always been able to excite in their followers. It has been an
swered, too, that few foresaw the issue to which the quarrel
must come, and that the Whigs continually denied an intention
to do more than obtain a peaceable redress of grievances. It
has been said, also, that those who received the name of Tories
were not at first, nor indeed for some years, resisting a revolu
tion, but striving to preserve order, and an observance of the
rights of persons and property ; that many, who took sides at
the outset as mere conservators of the peace, were denounced
by those whose purposes they thwarted, and were finally com
pelled, in pure self-defence, to accept of royal protection, and
thus to become identified with the royal party ever after. Again,
it has been stated, that, had the naked question of Independ
ence been discussed from the beginning, and before minor, and
in many cases, local, events had shaped their course, many,
who were driven forth to live and die as aliens and outcasts,
would have terminated their career far differently ; that many
were opposed to war from religious principle ; that some thought
the people enjoyed privileges enough ; that others were influ
enced by their official connexions or aspirations ; that another
class, who seldom mingled in the affairs of active life, loved
retirement, and would, had the Whigs allowed them, have re
mained neutrals; that some were timid men; some were old men ;
and that tenants and dependents went with the landholders
without inquiry, and as a thing of course. All of these reasons,
and numerous others, have been assigned at different times,
and by different persons. But another cause quite as potent as
either of those which have been enumerated operated, it would
seem, upon thousands, namely, a dread of the strength and
resources of England, and the belief, that successful resistance
to her power was impossible ; that the Colonies had neither the
men nor the means to carry on war, and would be humbled
and reduced to submission with hardly an effort.
That motives and considerations, hopes and fears, like these,
had an influence in the formation of the last Colonial parties,
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 67
cannot be disputed, and the unprejudiced minds of this genera
tion should be frank enough to admit it. All, both Whigs and
Tories, were bom and had grown up under a monarchy ; and
the abstract question of renouncing it or of continuing it was
one on which men of undoubted patriotism differed widely.
Very many of the Whigs came into the final measure of sep
arating from the mother country with great reluctance, and
doubt and hesitation prevailed even in Congress. Besides, the
Whig leaders uniformly denied, that Independence was em
braced in their plans, and constantly affirmed, that their sole
object was to obtain concessions, and to continue the connexion
with England as hitherto ; and John Adams goes further than
this, for, says he, " there was not a moment during the revolu
tion, ivhen I would not have given everything I possessed for a
restoration to the state of things before the contest began, pro
vided we could have had a sufficient security for its continu
ance" If Mr. Adams be regarded as expressing the sentiments
of the Whigs, they were willing to remain Colonists, provided
they could have had their rights secured to them j while the
Tories were contented thus to continue, without such security.
Such, as it appears to me, was the only difference between the
two parties prior to hostilities, and many Whigs, like Mr.
Adams, would have been willing to rescind the declaration of
independence, and to forget the past, upon proper guarantees for
the future. This mode of stating the question, and of defining
the difference between the two parties — down to a certain pe
riod at least — cannot be objected to, unless the sincerity and
truthfulness of some of the most eminent men in our history
are directly impeached ; and if any are prepared to dispute their
veracity, it may still be asked, whether the Tories ought not to
be excused for believing them? What, then, has been said by
men, whom we most justly reverence ? Franklin's testimony,
a few days before the affair at Lexington, was, that he had
"more than once travelled almost from one end of the conti
nent to the other, and kept a variety of company, eating, drink
ing, and conversing with them freely, [and] never had heard
in any conversation from any person, drunk or sober, the least
68 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
expression of a wish for a separation, or a hint that such a
thing would be advantageous to America" Mr. Jay is quite
as explicit. "During the course of my life," said he, I' and
until the second petition of Congress, in 1775, I never did hear
an American of any class , or of any description, express a
wish for the Independence of the Colonies" " It has always
been, and still is my opinion and belief, that our country was
prompted and impelled to Independence by necessity, and not
by choice" Mr. Jefferson affirmed, "What, eastward of New
York, might have been the dispositions towards England be
fore the commencement of hostilities, I know not ; but before
that I never heard a whisper of a disposition to separate from
Great Britain ; and after that, its possibility was contemplated
with affliction by all" Washington, in 1774, fully sustains these
declarations, and in the " Fairfax County Resolves," it was
complained, that " malevolent falsehoods " were propagated by
the ministry to prejudice the mind of the king, "particularly
that there is an intention in the American Colonies to set up for
independent states." Mr. Madison was not in public life un
til May, 1776, but he says, that "It has always been my im
pression, that a re-establishment of the Colonial relations to
the parent country, as they were previous to the controversy, was
the real object of every class of the people, till the despair of
obtaining it," &c.*
I have to repeat, that the only way to dispose of testimony
like this, is to impeach the persons who have given it. With
the principles of men who, when it was ascertained that a
redress of grievances could not be obtained, preferred to remain
British subjects, I have neither communion nor sympathy;
and I may be pardoned for adding, that I have watched the
operations and tendencies of the Colonial System of govern
ment too long and too narrowly, modified as it now is, not to
entertain for it the heartiest dislike. Yet I would do the men
who were born under it, and were reconciled to it, justice ; and
* See Sparks's Washington, Vol. 2, p. 498, 500, and 501 ; the italics are
my own, except in the extract from the " Fairfax County Resolves."
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 69
if, as Mr. Jefferson says, a "possibility" of the necessity of a
separation of the two countries, " was contemplated with afflic
tion by all" and if the statements made by Franklin, Adams,
Jay, Madison and Washington, are to be considered as true
and as decisive, I renewedly ask, what other line of difference
existed between the Whigs and Tories, than what has been
mentioned, namely, the terms on which the connexion of the
Colonies with England should be continued.
My object in the attention bestowed on this point has been
to remove the erroneous impression which seems to prevail,
that the Whigs proposed and the Tories opposed Independence,
at the very commencement of the controversy. Instead of this,
we have seen, that quite fourteen years elapsed before the
question was made a party issue, and that even then, "neces
sity," and not "choice," caused a dismemberment of the em
pire. Since it has appeared, therefore, from the highest sources,
that the Whigs resolved finally upon Revolution, because they
were denied the rights of British subjects, and not because they
disliked monarchical institutions, and were disinclined to re
main Colonists ; the Tories may be relieved from the imputa
tion of being the only " monarchy-men " of the time.
We are now to survey, very briefly, the course pursued by
the Loyalists during the war. As I have preferred connexion
of subject to mere chronological order, some of the details be
longing to this branch of our inquiry have been given, in or
der to complete the topics already discussed.
[ Besides the Loyalists of New England who abandoned the
country at the evacuation of Boston, and of whom I have
spoken, there were similar emigrations in other parts of the
country at different periods and aspects of the war. After the
surrender of Burgoyne, especially, the number was very con
siderable. In time, a large part of the civil officers of the
several Colonial governments, many of those whose age or
infirmities, or principles, did not permit them to take part in
hostilities, as well as many of the clergy who had become
obnoxious, found their way to England. These various class
es, with their wives and children, formed at last a numerous
70 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
body ; and hundreds were destitute of the means of support.
The capitulation of Lord Cornwallis caused another large
emigration, and at the peace thousands were either partially
or entirely dependent, and without employment.
Several of those who went to England in the early part of
the struggle, received allowances from the government soon
after their arrival. Sanguine that every campaign would be the
last, the provision which was made for these and for others,
who, from time to time, joined them, and were added to the
list, was small, and in some instances too small to afford essen
tial relief. Towards the close of the year 1782, the number of
those to whom assistance was rendered, was three hundred and
fifteen, and the amount bestowed in regular pensions was
£40,280,* besides about £18,000, which were applied to par
ticular individuals under peculiar circumstances. Under the
expectation that the "rebellion" would soon be suppressed,
and that the emigrants would soon return to their own coun
try, the allowances were at first limited to three months, but
were finally converted into yearly and regular stipends ; and
as the sums to be given each were fixed oftentimes without
inquiry, (and probably by favor,) great inequality existed,
which it was found necessary to correct. A committee was
accordingly appointed to investigate the subject generally, and
to report upon the cases of persons who enjoyed pensions or
gratuities, and of those who claimed them. This committee
accordingly examined into the condition of the recipients and
of the applicants, and in the course of their inquiry, required
the production of papers and witnesses. The results at which
they arrived were, that of the three hundred and fifteen persons
who then composed the pension list, fifty-six who did not appear
before them received £5,595, the payment of which was sus
pended until farther inquiry ; that of the remaining two hun
dred and fifty-nine, who received £34,695 per annum, twenty-
* Curwen states, that the sum said to be paid the " Refugees " in England,
in 1782, was " near .£80,000." I follow the official report of the committee,
which gives the amount stated in the text.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. / L
five did not come within the description of Loyalists, or were
not entitled to consideration; and that ninety of those who were
objects of relief, and who received £16,885, were more favor
ably dealt with than others more needy, and therefore more
deserving of the royal bounty.
In accordance with the views of the committee, the allow
ances granted to several were wholly discontinued, while those
to others were diminished, and those of a third class increased.
The sum annually to be paid to the persons who were con
tinued on the list, under their corrections, was only £26,400.*
But the applications of four hundred and twenty-eight of the
new claimants were successful, and in June of 1783 the sum
of £43,245 per annum was distributed "among six hundred and
eighty-seven Loyalist pensioners.!
Among those who went to England was Samuel Curwen of
Salem, Massachusetts, who kept a Journal, which has been
published. The life which he led while a "Refugee," gives,
I suppose, a tolerably good idea of what was seen, heard, and
felt by those who, like himself, were not entirely destitute of
means. His Journal, for those who have not read it, may be
compressed thus : —
Visited Westminster Hall. Went to Vauxhall Gardens.
* Curwen, differing again with the official report, says that the amount of
pensions paid on the old list was " shrunk " by the " reform to £38,000."
His own was continued at £100, and Samuel Sewall's at the same. No
reduction was made in Thomas Danforth's, Samuel Porter's, Peter Johonnet's,
George Brindley's, or Edward Oxnard's. In the allowance to some other
Massachusetts Loyalists, changes were made ; thus, Lieutenant Governor Oli
ver's was reduced from £300 to £200; Harrison Gray's was wholly discon
tinued ; Lewis Gray's was reduced to £50 ;. David IngersolPs was reduced
from £200 to £100; Benjamin Gridley's from £150 to £100; and Sam
uel H. Sparhawk's from £150 to £80 ; but Samuel Fitch's was raised £20 ;
and Colonel Morrow's £50.
f Many Loyalists enjoyed pensions for years after the close of the war ;
and the widows and orphans of others were continued on the list for partial
allowances, as late, certainly, as 1788, when five hundred and fifty-seven per
sons were recipients of £26,526, and were either expatriated Americans or
the survivors of their families.
72
OR
Dined with a fellow-refugee. Saw the Lord Mayor in his
court. Dined with Governor Hutchinson, in company with
several Massachusetts refugees. Walked to Hyde Park. A
whole army of suiferers in the cause of loyalty are here, la
menting their own and their country's unhappy fate. " The
fires are not to be compared to our large American ones of oak
and walnut, nor near so comfortable; would that I were
away ! " Saw many curiosities brought from Egypt and the
Holy Land. Visited Hampton Court; saw there chairs of
state with rich canopies ; pictures of the reigning beauties of
the times of Charles the Second ; pictures of monks, friars,
nuns ; pictures of former kings and queens. Went to Windsor.
Heard news from America. Went to Governor Hutchmson's ;
he was alone, reading a new pamphlet, entitled " An Enquiry
whether Great Britain or America is most in Fault." Dined
with eleven New En glanders. Went to meeting of Disputation
Club. Bought Dr. Price on " Civil Liberty and the American
War." Visited Governor Hutchinson, who was again alone.
Went to Herald's office. Went to New England Coifee-house.
New England refugees form a Club. Went to Chapel Royal,
and saw the king and queen; Bishop of London preached.
Heard Dr. Price preach. Dinner, tea, and evening with sev
eral refugees. Attended funeral of fellow-refugee ; many have
died. At the New England Club dinner, twenty-five members
present. News of banishment and confiscation acts. Saw
procession of peers for trial of Duchess of Kingston. Went to
St. Paul's; Dr. Porteus preached; several high church digni
taries present. Saw Lord Mansfield in Court, his train borne
by a gentleman. Went to Bunyan's tomb. Heard Dr. Peters,
a Connecticut Loyalist, preach. News from America. Strive
hard for some petty clerkship ; application was unsuccessful ;
such offices openly bought and sold. Hopes and fears excited
by accounts from native land. Visited ancient ruins, supposed
to be either of Roman or Danish origin. Witnessed election
of a member of parliament. Discuss probability of war's
closing. Sigh to return to America. Fear to be reduced to
want : lament distressed and forlorn condition. Visited noble-
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 73
men's estates and castles. Heard of death of Washington.
Letter from a friend in America. Visited different colleges and
public gardens. Fears about losing pension, and horror of ut
ter poverty. Attended sessions of parliament; heard Fox,
Burke, and other great orators. Heard that Washington and
his army were captured. Heard Wesley preach to an immense
throng in the open air. Visited a fishing-town, and reminded
of fishing-towns in Massachusetts. Heard that Washington
is declared Dictator, like Cromwell. King implored to drive
Lord North from his service, and take Chatham, and men of
his sentiments, instead. Witnessed equipment of fleets and
armies to subdue America. Angry and mortified to hear Eng
lishmen talk of Americans as a sort of serfs. Wearied of
sights. Sick at heart, and tired of a sojourn among a people,
who, after all, are but foreigners. New refugees arrived to
recount their losses and sufferings. Fear of alliance with
France. Great excitement in England among the opposers of
the war. Continued and frequent deaths among the refugee
Loyalists. Pensions of several friends reduced. Fish dinner
at the Coffee-house. O, for a return to New England ! Anx
ious as to the result of the war. News of surrender of Corn-
wallis, and admission on all hands, that England can do no
more. All the Loyalists abroad deeply agitated as to their
future fate. Failure of British Commissioners to procure in the
treaty of peace any positive conditions for the Americans in
exile. Long to be away, but dare not go. Some refugees
venture directly to return to their homes ; others embark for
Nova Scotia and Canada, there to suffer anew. Know of
forty-five refugees from Massachusetts who have died in Eng
land ; among them, Hutchinson, the governor, and Flucker,
the secretary.
Such were some of the things which Curwen saw and heard,
such the hopes and fears which agitated him during his exile,
and the course of life of hundreds of others, we may very
properly conclude, was not dissimilar. Would that all the
opposers of the Revolution had passed their time as innocently !
Some of those who remained in the country, did in fact do so ;
7
74 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
since they were nominal Loyalists only, and lived quietly upon
their estates, or pursued their ordinary employments at their
usual homes, in the towns occupied by the royal forces.
The relentless warfare of Sir John Johnson, of Butler, Tryon,
and the apostate Arnold ; the enormities committed in New
Jersey ; and the murders perpetrated in South Carolina, have
been mentioned. Elsewhere, bands of Tories killed the un
armed and unoffending merely to glut their revenge ; others
contented themselves with the plundering of houses and the
robbery of persons on the highways ; another class, to aid in
the already rapid depreciation of the " continental-money,"
and to throw so much doubt upon it as to stop its circulation,
assisted to emit and pass immense sums of the counterfeit, so
well executed, as to be scarcely distinguishable from the genuine.
Whole families engaged in the infamous work of distressing
their former friends ; and in one instance, two sisters, who as
sumed male apparel, their two brothers, and their mother,
were apprehended and tried for their lives, and the sisters,
with one brother, were convicted. In another case, ten per
sons were found guilty, among whom was a father, aged
seventy, and his son, a youth j the boy was pardoned, but the
sinner of threescore and ten was executed.
Wherever there was defection, conspiracy, or treason, there
were to be seen the stealthy footsteps of some one or more Loy
alists. Thus, they were connected with a plot to seize, and as
was believed, to assassinate Washington ; and with a plan to
destroy Albany. An adherent of the king, and a relative of
Nathan Hale, recognised him while on his perilous service, and
betrayed him to an ignominious death without a trial. A Tory,
who had been in the employment of General Silliman, led the
band that took him prisoner. In the capture of General Wads-
worth, a Tory was the chief instrument. In the plot to attack
Falmouth from Castine, the British troops were to do all the
fighting, and the Tories all the mean and infamous work.
Those who hovered in the vicinity of Washington's camp at
Valley Forge — when his soldiers had neither food nor cloth
ing — to induce and aid desertions, were Americans. On the
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 75
revolt of the troops of Pennsylvania, another opportunity oc
curred for tampering with Whig integrity ; but the Tory emis
saries were delivered up by the men whom they were sent to
seduce, and were hung without ceremony or delay.
Before the last named event, however, the Loyalists had
played their last card ; I allude to the failure of the British
commissioners to effect reconciliation, which was decisive of
the final issue of the contest. While these commissioners were
about their master's work, both parties seem to have felt that
the important hour which was to determine their destiny had
come, and both used their pens and tongues to the utmost of
their ability. If the terms of accommodation were accepted,
the Whigs would be, at best, only pardoned rebels; while their
opponents, riding rough-shod over them, would enjoy all that
a grateful sovereign could bestow. The attempt, through the
wife of a Loyalist, to bribe a member of Congress, by the
offer of a fortune in money, and the best colonial office which
the king had at his disposal, to aid in uniting the Colonies to
the mother country again, proved of incalculable service in
recalling the doubting and irresolute Whigs to a sense of duty.
The story of the offer, and Reed's noble reply, were repeated
from mouth to mouth ; and from the hour that the circum
stances were known, the Whigs had won, and the Tories had
lost, the control of a future empire. Henceforth, forever, the
annals of America were to contain honorable mention of " rebel"
names, and the high office of ruling the western hemisphere
was to devolve upon "new families."
We pass to take a rapid view of the measures which were
adopted by the Whigs, to awe and to punish their adversaries.
I find some things to condemn. And first, the " Mobs." That
a cause as righteous as men were ever engaged in, lost many
friends by the fearful outbreaks of popular indignation, is not
to be doubted. The wise man of Israel said, "A brother
offended is harder to be won than a strong city." Those who
took upon themselves the sacred name of " Sons of Liberty,"
needlessly, and sometimes in their very wantonness, "offended,"
beyond all hope of recall, persons who hesitated and doubted,
OR
and who, for the moment, claimed to occupy the position of
"neutrals." The practice of "tarring and feathering," how
ever reprehensible, had, perhaps, but little influence in deter
mining the final course of men of these descriptions. This
form of punishment, though so frequent as to qualify the say
ing of the ancient, that man is a two-legged animal without
feathers, was borrowed from the Old World, where it has ex
isted since the Crusades ; and was confined, principally, to
obnoxious custom-house officers, pimps, and informers against
smuggled goods.
But wtiat " brother," upon whose vision the breaking up of
the Colonial System and the Sovereignty of America had not
dawned, and who saw — as even the Whigs themselves saw —
with the eyes only of a British subject, was won over to the
right by the arguments of mobbing, burning, and smoking?
Did the cause of America and of human freedom gain strength
by the deeds of the five hundred who mobbed sheriff Tyng,
or by the speed of the one hundred and sixty on horse-back
who pursued Commissioner Hallowell? Were the shouts of
an excited multitude, and the crash of broken glass and demol
ished furniture, fit requiems for the dying Ropes ? Were Whig
interests promoted because one thousand men shut up the
Courts of Law in Berkshire, and five thousand did the same
in Worcester, and mobs drove away the judges at Springfield,
Taunton, and Plymouth ? — because, in one place, a judge was
stopped, insulted and threatened ; in another, the whole bench
were hissed and hooted ; and in a third, were required to do
penance, hat in hand, in a procession of attornies and sheriffs ?
Did the driving of Ingersoll from his estate, of Edson from
his house, and the assault upon the home of Gilbert, and the
shivering of Se wall's windows, serve to wean them, or their
friends and connexions, from their royal master ? Did Ruggles,
when subsequent events threw his countrymen into his power,
forget that the creatures which grazed his pastures had been
painted, shorn, maimed, and poisoned ; that he had been pur
sued on the highway by day and night; that his dwelling
had been broken open, and he and his family had been driven
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 77
from it ? What Tory turned Whig, because Saltonstall was
mobbed, and Oliver plundered, and Leonard shot at in his own
house ? * Was the kingly arm actually weakened or strength
ened for harm, because thousands surrounded the mansions of
high functionaries, and forced them into resignation — or be
cause sheriffs were told, that they would perform their duties
at the hazard of their lives ? Which party gained by waylay
ing, and insulting at every corner, the " Rescinders," the "Pro
testers," and the "Addressers?" Which, by the burning of
the mills of Putnam ? Had widows and orphans no additional
griefs, because the probate courts were closed by the multitude,
and their officers were driven under cover of British guns ?
Did it serve a good end to endeavor to hinder Tories from
getting tenants, or to prevent persons who owed them, from
paying honest debts ? On whose cheek should have been the
blush of shame, when the habitation of the aged and feeble
Foster was sacked, and he had no shelter but the woods ? —
when Williams, as infirm as he, was seized at night, dragged
away for miles, and smoked in a room with fastened doors and
a closed chimney-top? What father, who doubted, wavered,
and doubted still, whether to join or fly, determined to abide
the issue in the land of his birth, because foul words were
spoken to his daughters, or because they were pelted when
riding, or moving in the innocent dance ? Is there cause for
wonder that some who still live, should yet say, of their own or
of their fathers' treatment, that "persecution made half of the
king's friends? " The good men of the period mourned these
and similar proceedings, and they may be lamented now. The
warfare waged against persons at their own homes and about
their lawful avocations is not to be justified; and the "Mobs"
of the Revolution are to be as severely and as unconditionally
condemned, as the "Mobs" of the present day.
The acts of legislative bodies for the punishment of the ad-
* These cases are selected from the many that are to be found in the docu
ments of the times, because the objects of displeasure were men of note, and,
before the troubles, were held in great respect.
7*
rO PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
herents of the crown were numerous. In Rhode Island, death
and confiscation of estate were the penalties provided by law
for any person who communicated with the ministry or their
agents, or who afforded supplies to the forces, or piloted the
armed ships of the king. Besides these general statutes, sev
eral acts were passed in that State, to confiscate and sequester
the property of certain persons who were designated by name.
In Connecticut, the offences of supplying the royal army or
navy, of giving them information, of enlisting or procuring
others to enlist in them, and of piloting or assisting naval ves
sels, were punished more mildly, and involved only the loss of
estate, and of personal liberty for a term not exceeding three
years. To speak, or write, or act against the doings of Con
gress, or the Assembly of Connecticut, was punishable by dis
qualification for office, imprisonment, and the disarming of the
offender. Here, too, was a law for seizing and confiscating the
estates of those who sought the royal protection, and absented
themselves from their homes or the country.
In Massachusetts, a person suspected of enmity to the Whig
cause could be arrested under a magistrate's warrant, and ban
ished, unless he would swear fealty to the friends of liberty ;
and the selectmen of towns could prefer charges of political
treachery in town-meeting, and the individual thus accused, if
convicted by a jury, could be sent into the enemy's jurisdiction.
Massachusetts also designated by name, and generally by oc
cupation and residence, three hundred and eight of her peo
ple, of whom seventeen had been inhabitants of Maine, who
had fled from their homes, and denounced against any one of
them who should return, apprehension, imprisonment, and
transportation to a place possessed by the British ; and for a
second voluntary return, without leave, death without benefit
of clergy. By another law, the property of twenty-nine per
sons, who were denominated " notorious conspirators," was
confiscated. Of these, fifteen had been appointed " mandamus
councillors," two had been governors, one lieutenant-governor,
one treasurer, one attorney-general, one chief justice, and four
commissioners of the customs.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 79
New Hampshire passed acts similar to these, under which
seventy-six of her former citizens were prohibited from coming
within her borders, and the estates of twenty-eight were de
clared to be forfeited.
Virginia passed a resolution to the effect, that persons of a
given description should be deemed and treated as aliens, and
that their property should be sold, and the proceeds go into the
public treasury for future disposal ; and also a law prohibiting
the migration of certain persons to that commonwealth, and
providing penalties for the violation of its provisions.
In New York, the county committees were authorized to ap
prehend, and decide upon the guilt of such inhabitants as were
supposed to hold correspondence with the enemy, or had com
mitted some other specified act ; and they might punish those
whom they adjudged to be guilty, with imprisonment for three
months, or banishment. There, too, persons opposed to liberty
and independence, were prohibited from practising law in the
courts ; and the effects of fifty-nine persons, of whom three
were women, and their rights of remainder and reversion, were
to pass by confiscation, from them, to the "people." So, also,
a parent, whose sons went off and adhered to the enemy, was
subjected to a tax of ninepence on the pound of the parent's
estate for each and every such son ; and, until a revision of the
law, Whigs were as liable to this tax as others.
In New Jersey, one act was passed to punish traitors and
disaffected persons ; another, for taking charge of and leasing
the real estates, and for forfeiting the personal estates of certain
fugitives and offenders ; and a third for forfeiting to, and vest
ing in the State the real property of the persons designated in
the second statute ; and a fourth, supplemental to the act first
mentioned.
In Pennsylvania, sixty-two persons, who were designated
by name, were required by the executive council to sur
render themselves to some judge of a court or justice of the
peace within a specified time, and abide trial for treason, or in
default of appearance, to stand attainted ; and by an act of a
subsequent time, the estates of thirty-six other persons, who
80 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
were also designated by name, and who had been previously
attainted of treason, were declared to be confiscated.
The act of Delaware provided, that the property, both real
and personal, of certain persons who were named, and who
were forty-six in number, should be forfeited to the State,
" subject nevertheless to the payment of the said offenders' just
debts," unless, as in Pennsylvania, they gave themselves up
to trial for the crime of treason in adhering to the royal cause.
Maryland seized, confiscated, and appropriated all property
of persons in allegiance to the British crown, and appointed
commissioners to carry out the terms of three statutes which
were passed to effect these purposes.
In North Carolina, the confiscation act embraced sixty-five
specified individuals, and four mercantile firms ; and by its
terms, not only included the " lands" of these persons and
commercial houses, but their " negroes and other personal
property."
The law of Georgia, which was enacted very near the close
of the struggle, declared certain persons to have been guilty
of treason against that State, and their estates to be forfeited
for their offences.
South Carolina surpassed all other members of the Con
federacy, Massachusetts excepted. The Loyalists of that
State, whose rights, persons, and property were affected by
legislation, were divided into four classes. The persons who
had offended the least, — who were forty-five in number, —
were allowed to retain their estates, but were amerced twelve
per cent, of their value. Soon after the fall of Charleston,
and when disaffection to the Whig cause was so general,
two hundred and ten persons, who styled themselves to be the
" principal inhabitants" of the city, signed an Address to Sir
Henry Clinton, in which they state that they have every in
ducement to return to their allegiance, and ardently hope to be
readmitted to the character and condition of British subjects.
These " Addressers " formed another class. Of these two hun
dred and ten, sixty-three were banished, and lost their property
by forfeiture, either for this offence, or the graver one of affix-
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 8t
ing their names to a petition to the royal general, to be armed
on the royal side. Another class, composed of the still larger
number of eighty persons, were also banished and divested of
their estates, for the crime of holding civil or military com
missions under the crown, after the conquest of South Carolina.
And the same penalties were inflicted upon thirteen others,
who, on the success of Lord Cornwallis, at Camden, presented
his lordship with their congratulations; and, still, fourteen
others were banished and deprived of their estates, because
they were obnoxious. Thus, then, the " Addressers," "Peti
tioners," " Congratulators," and "Obnoxious" Loyalists, who
were proscribed, and who suffered the loss of their property,
were one hundred and seventy in number ; and, if to these, we
add the forty-five who were fined twelve pounds in the hun
dred of the value of their estates, the aggregate will be two
hundred and fifteen.
Much of the legislation of the several States appears to have
proceeded from the recommendations made from time to time
by Congress, and that body passed several acts and resolutions
of its own. Thus, they subjected to martial law and to death
all who should furnish provisions and certain other articles to
the king's troops in New Jersey^ Pennsylvania, and Delaware ;
aoad they resolved, that all Loyalists taken in arms should be
sent to the States to which they belonged, there to be dealt
with as traitors.^)
The spirit and temper of some of the acts which I have
noticed, may be thought severe and unjust. It is observable,
that Rhode Island and Connecticut provided a difference of
punishment for the same class of offences; and that New
York imposed a tax upon the father for the delinquency of the
son. But these are matters which need not detain us. The
acts of proscription and banishment, of attainder and confisca
tion, are of far graver import. In discussing the expediency
and justice of the laws which drove or kept the Loyalists in
exile, as well as those which alienated their estates, two points
present themselves ; namely, whether the Whigs were right in
opposing the pretensions of England, and whether they did
82 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
more than others have done in civil wars, — wars which are
always the most bitter and unrelenting, — always the most ob
stinate and difficult to terminate ? The question suggested by
the first query, is no longer open to dispute, for, the mother
country has herself admitted, that she was wrong in her treat
ment of the thirteen Colonies. I have endeavored to show,
that the real issue between her and our fathers was, that she
restrained their industry, that she prevented them from open
ing the country and developing its resources. In what way,
then, has she conceded that Whigs of '76 were right? I
answer, by abandoning, one after another, the oppressive
measures which they resisted. Thus, the old Colonies were
required to give up their tea-trade with the Dutch, and buy
their tea wholly of the company who monopolized her own
market ; but she now alows Colonial merchants to get it in
China, or wherever else they will. The ship-owners of Boston,
Newport, New York, Philadelphia, and of the other ports of the
thirteen Colonies, were restricted to direct voyages to and from
the possessions of her crown ; but she now allows those of St.
John, Quebec, Halifax, and of all other places in her present
dependencies, free trade with all the world. The iron mines of
Pennsylvania and of other parts of America, in our fathers'
time, could not be opened and worked, and wool and cotton
could not be manufactured ; but now, the Colonists may forge,
and spin and weave, and make or import machinery, at their
pleasure. Washington was denied a commission in her army,
and preferments, generally, were withheld from the Colonists,
who, like him, shed their blood to extend her conquests and
maintain the honor of her flag; but now, British Americans
obtain high rank in each arm of her service. It was formerly
her policy to discourage interior settlements and enterprises for
facilitating intercourse and transportation; but she now en
courages both, by direct and frequent legislation, and guaran
tees payment of money borrowed by Colonists to open roads
and canals. Her mandates suppressed a currency of paper in
the dependencies which she lost ; but she now permits it in
those that remain to her, in every form and to any extent com-
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 83
patible witri safety. The Whigs, then, were right ; they shat
tered the Colonial System, and left it a mere wreck ; and the
descendants of the Loyalists are, with proud satisfaction be it
said, in the enjoyment of the benefits of their sacrifices and
labors. Nor is this all. The Whigs admitted that the power
of Parliament extended to the " Regulation of Commerce,"
that the maritime concerns of the empire should be under the
control of one supreme head ; every application of the principle
was complained of as a grievance, but yet they conceded the
principle itself. They set up a subtle distinction between
"internal and external taxation," but I confess that I have
never been able to understand it. To me there was not, as
they argued there was, a difference either in theory or fact,
between demanding postage on a letter,* and exacting a duty
on the " paper " on which it is written ; between the "stamp"
duty on a ship's manifest and clearance, and the impost duty
on "painters' colors " spread on her sides ; the " glass " of her
cabin- windows', and the "sugar" "molasses, "wine" and
" tea" stowed under her deck. But be this as it may, England
has made concessions in this particular, which the Whigs never
asked for, or even so much as imagined they could rightfully
claim. By the abandonment, therefore, of the policy which
caused the Revolution, and of a principle which did not enter
into the dispute, is it riot manifest that British statesmen, of
the last and the present reign, themselves admit the justice of
the demands made by our fathers upon their predecessors ?
If, now, the Whigs were in the right, they might do every
thing necessary to ensure success ; and we are thus brought to
* There was certainly legislation of Parliament on the subject of Colonial
post-offices and rates of postage, some time previous to the year 1710. In the
votes of the House of Commons of February 14th of that year, the different
rates from the several principal towns in America, are stated with great par
ticularity, and the space occupied by the details is equal to three octavo pages.
The legality of the postage " Tax," was, I believe, never disputed ; the
duty or " Tax " levied on the " Stamps," and the articles of merchandise
named in the text, on the contrary, was resisted, and forms the most prominent
point of the controversy.
84 PRELIMINARY REMARKS^ OR
the second point of inquiry. The question of the banishment
of the Loyalists, addresses itself to me in two forms, that of
the temporary, and that of the permanent exile of the men who
suffered it. Among these men were many persons of great
private worth, who, in adhering to the crown, were governed
by conscience and a stern regard to duty ; and the offences of
others consisted merely in a nominal attachment to the mother
country, or in a disinclination to witness, or participate in,- the
horrors of a civil war. Yet they were Loyalists, and it so hap
pened, that the best men of that party were of all others those
who could do the Whigs the greatest mischief, since, if they
remained at liberty, their character and moderation rendered
their counsel and advice of vast service to their own, and of
vast harm to the opposite party, amidst the doubts and fears
which prevailed, and had a direct tendency to prolong and
embitter the contest. It became necessary, therefore, to secure
them either by imprisonment, or by exile. The first course,
while requiring a considerable force to guard them, which the
Whigs could not spare, would have been far less merciful than
the other, and banishment, of consequence, was best for both
parties.* Again, a considerable proportion of those who were
proscribed, voluntarily abandoned the country, and were absent
from it at the passage of the banishment acts ; and this was
especially the case in Massachusetts. To prevent the return
of these persons was as necessary to accomplish the objects of
the struggle, as it was to secure those who remained at, or in
the neighborhood of their homes.
Still it may be wished that greater discrimination had been
exercised in selecting those who were deemed fit objects of
severity. Persons whose crimes against the country and
against humanity deserved death, escaped the banishment
* Many Loyalists were confined in private houses, some were sent to jails,
and others to " Simsbury Mines." But the prisons were hardly proper places
for the confinement of such people, hardly of criminals ; and it is believed,
that a large proportion of the persons whom it was deemed proper to arrest,
preferred banishment to the loss of liberty, even though they were sure to be
comfortably quartered in the families or houses of Whigs.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 85
acts of the States to which they belonged ; while on the
other hand, these acts embrace persons who, from the cir
cumstances of their condition, were utterly powerless, who
had done and could do no evil. It may be wished, also, that
those who were deemed fit objects of severity, had been allowed
the forms of trial. Courts of Admiralty were established for
condemning prizes, and men might reasonably claim that,
while their property was dealt with according to the estab
lished rules of society, their persons should not be more sum
marily disposed of. Means for the trial of Loyalists were
abundant. It is our boast, indeed, that, unlike the usual course
of things in civil war, civil government was maintained
throughout the whole period of our Revolution, with hardly
an interruption any where. This is a fact as honorable as it
is remarkable. Connecticut and Rhode Island pursued their
usual course under their old charters ; Georgia was overrun by
the king's troops, the people were dispersed, and the military
law was made paramount to the civil, or existed in its place ;
but the ten remaining States actually formed constitutions
during the struggle, most of them in the early part of it, and
so well adapted to their wants were these instruments, that
some of them have remained, without essential change, to the
present time. "I will maintain as long as I live," said Dupin,
the great French advocate, "that the condemnation of Mar
shal Ney was not just, for his defence was not free." Perhaps
posterity will entertain something of the same sentiment with
regard to the course pursued by our fathers in not allowing
their opponents an opportunity to appeal to the tribunals. In
this particular, Pennsylvania and Delaware, as it will be re
membered, adopted a mode less objectionable than that of
some other States, inasmuch as they " summoned" the per
sons against whom they proceeded, to appear and " surrender
themselves for trial."* Besides, it was common during the
* At least one of the Pennsylvania Loyalists went in under the proclamation,
and was acquitted. Chief Justice McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, presided at the trial. His course gave satisfaction to the "moderate
8
86 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
war, for the military commanders to order court-martials to
take cognizance of the offences, and to fix the punish
ment of Tories ; and a future generation may possibly ask,
why, when the sword was suspended arnid the turmoils of the
camp, to hear the defence of the accused, that weapon was so
wielded in the hands of civilians, as to " transform them into
persecutors, and into martyrs, those whom it smote."
At the peace, justice and good policy both required a general
amnesty, and the revocation of the acts of disability and ban
ishment, so that only those who had been, guilty of flagrant
crimes should be excluded from becoming citizens. Instead of
this, however, the State legislatures, generally, continued in a
course of hostile action, and treated the conscientious and pure,
and the unprincipled and corrupt, with the same indiscrimination
as they had done during the struggle. In some parts of the coun
try, there really appears to have been a determination to place
these misguided, but then humbled, men beyond the pale of
human sympathy. In one legislative body, a petition from the
banished, praying to be allowed to return to their homes, was
rejected without a division ; and a law was passed which denied
to such as had remained within the State, and to all others
who had opposed the Revolution, the privilege of voting at
elections, or of holding office. In another State, all who had
sought royal protection were declared to be aliens, and to be
incapable of claiming and holding property within it, and their
return was forbidden. Other legislatures refused to repeal such
of their laws as conflicted with the conditions of the treaty of
peace, and carried out the doctrines of the States alluded to
above, without material modification. But the temper of South
Carolina was far more moderate. Acting on the wise principle,
that " when the offenders are numerous, it is sometimes pru
dent to overlook their crime," she listened to the supplications
made to her by the fallen, and restored to their civil and polit
ical rights a large proportion of those who had suffered under
Whigs," but those who were denominated " violent Whigs," were much in
censed because he allowed a known Tory to escape.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 87
her banishment and confiscation laws. The course pursued
by New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia, was different.
These States were neither merciful nor just ; and it is even
true, that Whigs, whose gallantry in the field, whose prudence
in the cabinet, and whose exertions in diplomatic stations
abroad, had contributed essentially to the success of the con
flict, were regarded with enmity on account of their attempts
to produce a better state of feeling, and more humane legis
lation. Had these States adopted a different line of conduct,
their good example would not have been lost, probably, upon
others, smaller and of less influence ; and had Virginia, espe
cially, been honest enough to have permitted the payment of
debts which her people owed to British subjects before the war,
the first years of our freedom would not have been stained
with a breach of our public faith, and the long and angry con
troversy with Great Britain, which well-nigh involved us in a
second war with her, might not have occurred.
Eventually, popular indignation diminished ; the statute-
book was divested of its most objectionable enactments, and
numbers were permitted to occupy their old homes, and to
recover the whole or a part of their property ; but by far the
greater part of the Loyalists, who quitted the country at the
commencement of, or during the war, never returned. And of
the many thousands who abandoned the United States after
the peace, and while these enactments were in force, few, com
paratively, had the desire, or even the means, to revisit the
land from which they were expelled. Such persons and their
descendants form a very considerable proportion of the popu
lation of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Upper Canada.
It is to be equally regretted on grounds of policy, that the
majorities * in the State legislatures did not remember with
* I say majorities, because I am satisfied that in almost every State there
were minorities, more or less numerous, who desired the adoption of a mode
rate course. In New York it is certain, that the first political parties after
the peace were formed in consequence of the divisions which existed among the
Whigs, as to the lenity or severity which should be extended to their van
quished opponents.
88 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
Mr. Jefferson, that separation from England "was contemplated
with affliction by all" and that, like Mr. Adams, many sound
Whigs " would have given every thing they possessed for a
restoration to the state of things before the contest began, pro
vided they could have had a sufficient security for its continu
ance." Then they might have done at an early moment affer the
cessation of hostilities, what they actually did do in a few years
afterwards, namely, have allowed the banished Loyalists to re
turn from exile, and, excluding those against whom enormities
could have been proved, have conferred upon them, and upon
those who had remained to be driven away at the peace, the
rights of citizens. Most of them would have easily fallen into re
spect for the new state of things, old friendships and intimacies
would have been revived, and long before before this time all
would have mingled in one mass. The error of England in
perpetuating two distinct races in Lower Canada just begins to
be felt, and has now compelled a union of the two Colonies.
There, as in our own case, the conquerors and the vanquished
should have been made one. We acquired the southern pos
sessions of France in America forty years after she yielded
up to British arms her remaining territories in the North ; but
how different is the population of French origin in Louisiana
from that in British America ! To make republican Americans
of Frenchmen, — so to express the idea, — was a task far more
difficult than to unite under one form of government the entire
people of the thirteen States. And yet, while we failed to
accomplish the latter, how very nearly have we already per
fected the former.
As a matter of expediency, how unwise was it to perpetuate
the feelings of the opponents of the Revolution, and to keep
them a distinct class, for a time, and for harm yet unknown !
How ill judged the measures that caused them to settle the hith
erto neglected possessions of the British crown ! Nova Scotia
had been won and lost, and lost and won, in the struggles be
tween France and England ; and the blood of New England
had been poured out upon its soil like water. But when the
Loyalists sought refuge there, what was it ? Before the war,
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 89
the fisheries of its coast — for the prosecution of which Halifax
itself was founded — comprised, in public estimation, its chief
value ; and though Great Britain had quietly possessed it for
about seventy years, the emigration to it of the adherents of
the crown from the United States, in a single year, more than
doubled its population. Until hostile events brought Halifax
into notice, no civilized people were poorer than the inhabitants
of that Colony ; since, in 1775, the Assembly estimated that
twelve hundred pounds currency, a sum less than five thou
sand dollars, was the whole amount of money which they pos
sessed. By causing the expatriation, then, of many thousands
of our countrymen, among whom were the well educated, the
ambitious, and the well versed in politics, we became the
founders of two agricultural and commercial Colonies; for it
is to be remembered, that New Brunswick formed a part of
Nova Scotia until 1784, and that the necessity of the division
then made was of our own creation. In like manner we be
came the founders of Upper Canada. The Loyalists were the
first settlers of the territory thus denominated by the act of
1791 ; * and the principal object of the line of division of
Canada, as established by Mr. Pitt's act, was to place them,
as a body, by themselves, and to allow them to be governed by
laws more congenial than those which were deemed requisite
for the government of the French on the St. Lawrence. For
twenty years the country bordering on the Great Lakes was
decidedly American. Our expatriated countrymen were gen
erally poor, and some of them were actually without means to
provide for their common wants from day to day. The gov
ernment for which they had become exiles, was as liberal as
they could have asked. It gave them lands, tools, materials
for building, and the means of subsistence for two years ; and
* It was in a debate on this Bill, that Fox and Burke severed the ties of
friendship which had existed between them for a long period. The scene
was one of the most interesting that had ever occurred in the House of Com
mons. Fox, overcome by his emotions, wept aloud. Burke's previous course
with regard to the French Revolution had rendered a rupture at some time
probable, perhaps certain.
8*
90 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
to each of their children, as they became of age, two hun
dred acres of land. And besides this, of the offices created
by the organization of a new Colonial government, they were
the chief recipients. The ties of kindred, and suffering in a
common cause, created a strong bond of sympathy between
them, and for years they bore the appellation of " United Em
pire of Loyalists."
Should it be replied that these Colonies, without accessions
from the newly formed republic, would have risen to impor
tance ere this, — I answer, that I seriously doubt it ; because,
in the first place, of the thousands who annually come from
Europe to America, but a small proportion land on their shores,
and because the most of those who do, embark again for the
United States, notwithstanding the inducements held out by
the Colonial and home governments for them to settle on the
territories of the crown. But were it otherwise, the force of
the remark is in no degree diminished, for the obvious reason,
that had we pursued a wise course, people of our own stock
would not have become our rivals in ship-building, in the car
riage of our great staples, in the prosecution of the fisheries,
and in the production of wheat, and other bread stuffs. Nor
is this all. We should not have had the hatred, the influence,
and the talents of persons of Loyalist origin to contend against,
in the questions which have,* and which may yet come up
between us and England. It is to be observed, moreover, that
the operation of these causes has been, and will continue to be,
no slight obstacle in the way of adjusting such questions ; since
those who were born in our Union, and their children and kin
dred, have no inconsiderable share in determining Colonial
councils, in the shaping of remonstrances and representations
to the mother country. And whoever takes into view the fact,
that the sacrifices and sufferings of the fathers are well remem-
* The controversy respecting our Northeastern Boundary, and that with
regard to our Rights of Fishing in the bays and seas of British America, may
be mentioned as two.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 91
bered by the descendants, and that, under the monarchical
form, hereditary descent of official station is very common,
will agree with me in the belief, that evils from this source are*
far from being at an end, and that the past and the present
foreshadow the future.
Thus, as it seems to me, humanity to the adherents of the
crown, and prudent regard for our own interests, required a
general amnesty. As it was, we not only dealt harshly with
many, and unjustly with some, but doomed to misery others,
whose hearts and hopes had been as true as those of Wash
ington himself. Thus, in the divisions of families which every
where occurred, and which formed one of the most distressing
circumstances of the conflict, there were wives and daughters,
who, although bound to Loyalists by the holiest ties, had given
their sympathies to the right from the beginning; and who
now, in the triumph of the cause which had had their prayers,
went meekly — as woman ever meets a sorrowful lot — into
hopeless, interminable exile.
The position of the Whigs at the close of the Revolution
was, indeed, beset with difficulties ; but the error of those who
formed the majorities of the legislatures — for it is ever to be
remembered, that they were much divided on the subject of
the course which should be taken with the Loyalists — consisted
in the belief, that they were beset with dangers. Their "prin
ciples like torches shone upon their career," and the mistake
of those who merely erred in judgment, may be forgotten,
and the passion of the excited may be forgiven ; but yet the
effects of the conduct of both classes remain, to produce dis
quiets, and to disturb our relations with the British possessions
in this hemisphere. When, in the civil war between the Puri
tans and the Stuarts, the former gained the ascendency, and
when, at a later period, the Commonwealth was established,
Cromwell and his party wisely determined not to banish or
inflict disabilities on their opponents ; and so, too, at the
Restoration of the monarchy, so general was the amnesty act
in its provisions, that it was termed an act of oblivion to the
92 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
friends of Charles, and of grateful remembrance to his foes.*
The happy consequences which resulted from the conduct of
*both parties, and in both cases, were before the men of their
own political and religious sympathies, the Puritans of the
North, and the Cavaliers of the South, in America. And in
concluding the topic, I have again to express my regret, that
the example of history, added to impulses of mercy, and
motives of expediency, failed to erase from our statute books
acts, which, in ages to come, will be very likely to put us on
our defence.
The laws which divested the Loyalists of their estates,
demand a moment's examination. Keeping in view that the
Whigs were right in resisting the pretensions of the mother
country, and that of consequence they might very properly
use every necessary means to ensure success, we shall find no
difficulty in admitting, that the property of their opponents
could be rightfully appropriated to aid in the prosecution of
the war. They devoted their own fortunes, they importuned
most of the powers of Europe for loans, and they entailed
upon their posterity a large debt; and it would indeed be
strange, if they could not have made forced levies upon the
estates of those who refused not only to help them, but were
actually in arms, or otherwise employed against them, and on
the royal side. To emancipate the American continent wits a
great work; the Whigs felt and knew, what is now every where
conceded, that the work was both necessary and righteous, and
requiring, as its speedy accomplishment did. the labor of every
hand, and contributions from every purse, the throwing into the
treasury the jewels of women, and the holiday allowances of
children ; they are to stand justified for a resort to the seques
tration of the possessions of those who assisted in the vain
endeavor to subdue them, and to renew the bonds which had
* At the Restoration of Charles the Second, so general was the udtirsion
to that monarch, that historians pause to express wonder, and to inquire what
had become of the Cromwell or Common-wealth men, who had overturned
the monarchy.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 93
bound them. The property of those who held commissions in
the king's army and in the Loyalist corps, was the property of
enemies, and, as such, could be converted to public uses ; while
that of others, who made their election to accept of service in
civil capacities, is to be regarded in the same light. The " Ab
sentees." or those who retired from the country and lived
abroad in privacy, were a different class ; and it may be
doubted, whether the same rule was applicable to them, and
whether fines or amercements were not the more proper modes
of procedure against the estates which they abandoned in quit
ting the country. The Whigs assumed, however, that "every
government hath a right to command the personal services of
its own members, whenever the exigencies of the state shall
require, especially in times of impending or actual invasion,"
and, that "no member thereof can then withdraw himself from
the jurisdiction of the government, without justly incurring
the forfeiture of his property, rights, arid liberties, holden
under, and derived from that constitution of government, to
the support of which he hath refused his aid and assistance."
Tt is to be further urged in defence of the principle of con
fiscation, that in civil conflicts the right of one party to levy
upon the other, has been generally admitted ; that the practice
has frequently accorded with the theory ; and, what is still
more to the purpose, that the royal party, and king's generals,
exercised that right during the struggle. Thus, then, the seizure
and confiscation of property in the Revolution, was not the act
of one side merely, but of both.
But, as has been remarked, there was not with us, as
there commonly has been in similar outbreaks, a transition
period between the throwing off one government and the es
tablishment of another, and the regret that was expressed with
regard to the indiscriminate banishment of persons, is equally
applicable to the disposal of their estates; and I cannot but
feel, that inasmuch as the Whigs individually, and as a body,
were, when compared with other revolutionists, "without spot
or wrinkle, or any such thing," so they will be held to a stricter
accountability by those who shall hereafter speak of them ;
94 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
and that we shall be asked to show, for them, why, with tribu
nals established and open for the trial of prizes made upon the
sea, the fundamental rule of civilized society, that no person
shall be deprived of " property but by the judgment of his
peers," was violated; and why. without being " confronted by
witnesses," and without the verdict of a "jury," and decrees
of a court, any man in America, at any time, has been divested
of his lands.
In extenuation of the injustice of the seizure and forfeiture
of the estates of Loyalists who were designated by name, and
in special laws, it is to be observed, that such acts were dis
countenanced by some of the wisest and purest Whigs of the
time, who hung their heads in shame, and never ceased to
speak of the procedure in terms of severe reprobation. Mr.
Jay's disgust was unconquerable, and he never would purchase
any lands that had been forfeited under the confiscation act of
New York. In further palliation it may be said, that the
wrong was partially atoned for soon after the war, by the revi
sion of these laws, and that several estates in different States
were restored to their former owners, and that in South Caro
lina, especially, but few were finally retained. No man at the
South had greater reason to be inexorable than the celebrated
partisan officer, General Marion ; but, holding a seat in the
legislature of his native State, when applications were made
by the expatriated for the restoration of their alienated pos
sessions, he was one of the most liberal members of that body,
and generally spoke and voted in favor of granting their peti
tions.
The subject of restitution and compensation to the Loyalists,
was a source of great difficulty during the negotiations for
peace. The course of the matter may be learned better from
the negotiators themselves, than from any words of mine ; and I
therefore make some extracts from the Journal of Mr. Adams,*
who was one of them.
November 3d, 1782. " Dr. Franklin on Tuesday last, told
* Sparks's Diplomatic Correspondence, Vol. VI.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 95
me of Mr. Oswald's demand of payment of debts, and com
pensation to the Tories ; he said his answer had been, we had
not the power, nor had Congress. I told him I had no notion
of cheating any body. The question of paying debts, and
compensating, were two. I had made the same observation
that forenoon to Mr. Oswald and Mr. Strachey."
November 10. [Mr. Adams waited on Count Yergennes.]
" The Count asked me how we went on with the English. I
told him we divided on the Tories and the Penobscot. The
Count remarked, that the English wanted the country there
'for masts.' I told him I thought there were few masts there;
but that I fancied it was not masts, but Tories, that again
made the difficulty. Some of them claimed lands in the terri
tory, and others hoped for grants there."
November 11. "Mr. Whiteford, the secretary of Mr. Oswald,
came. We soon fell into politics. [Mr. Adams said] Suppose
a French minister foresees that the presence of the Tories in
America will keep up perpetually two parties, a French party
and an English party." "The French minister at Philadel
phia has made some representations to Congress in favor of
compensation to the Royalists. We are instructed against it,
or rather have no authority to do it ; and if Congress should
refer the matter to the several States, every one of them,
after a delay, probably of eighteen months, will determine
against it."
November 15. "Mr. Oswald came to visit me. He said,
if he were a member of Congress, he would say to the refugees,
Take your property ; we scorn to make any use of it in build
ing up our system. I replied, that we had no power, and
Congress no power; that if we sent the proposition of compen
sation to Congress, they would refer it to the States ; and that,
meantime, you must carry on the war six or nine months,
certainly, for this compensation, and consequently spend, in
the prosecution of it, six or nine times the sum necessary to
make the compensation ; for I presume this war costs, every
month, to Great Britain, a larger sum than would be necessary
to pay for the forfeited estates."
96 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
November 17. " Mr. Vaughan came to me ; he said Mr.
Fitzherbert had received a letter from Mr. Townshend, that
the compensation would be insisted on."
November 18. " Returned Mr. Oswald's visit. We went
over the old ground concerning the Tories. He began to use
arguments with me to relax. I told him he must not think of
that, but must bend all his thoughts to convince and persuade
his court to give it up ; that if the terms now before his court
were not accepted, the whole negotiation would be broken off."
November 25. " Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay, and myself, met at
Mr. Oswald's lodgings. Mr. Strachey told us, he had been to
London, and waited personally on every one of the king's cabi
net council, and had communicated the last propositions to them.
They, every one of them, unanimously condemned that respect
ing the Tories ; so that that unhappy affair stuck, as he fore
saw and foretold it would."
November 26. [Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Adams]
" in consultation upon the propositions made us yesterday by
Mr. Oswald. We agreed unanimously to answer him, that
we could not consent to the article respecting the refugees, as it
now stands. The rest of the day was spent in endless discus
sions about the Tories. Dr. Franklin is very stanch against
them ; more decided, a great deal, on this point, than Mr. Jay
or myself."
November 27. " Mr. Benjamin Vaughan came in, returned
from London, where he had seen Lord Shelburne. He says,
he finds the ministry much embarrassed with the Tories, and
exceedingly desirous of saving their honor and reputation in
this point ; that it is reputation more than money," foe.
November 29. " Met Mr. Fitzherbert, Mr. Oswald, Dr.
Franklin, Mr. Jay, Mr. Laurens, and Mr. Strachey, and spent
the whole day in discussions about the fishery and the Tories.
Mr. Fitzherbert, Mr. Oswald, and Mr. Strachey retired for some
time ; and, returning, Mr. Fitzherbert said, that Mr. Strachey
and himself had determined to advise Mr. Oswald to strike
with us according to the terms proposed as our ultimatum,
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 97
respecting the fishery and the Loyalists. We agreed to meet
to-morrow, to sign and seal the treaties." *
Besides the want of power in Congress to make the de
manded recompense to the Loyalists, as stated in these extracts,
there were other objections, and some quite as serious. First,
many of them, by their falsehoods, misrepresentations, and bad
counsels to the ministry, had undoubtedly done much to bring
on, and protract the war ; so that, in a good measure at least,
it was just to charge them with being the authors of their own
sufferings. In the second place, those of them who had borne
arms, and assisted to ravage and burn the towns on different
parts of the coast, or had plundered the defenceless families of
the interior settlements, should have made, rather than received,
compensation. Thirdly, to restore the identical property of
any had become nearly impossible, as it had been sold, and, in
many cases, divided among purchasers, and could only be
wrested by plenary means from the present possessors. Fourth
ly, the country was in no condition to pay those who had toiled
and bled for its emancipation, or even to make good a tithe of
the losses which they had suffered in consequence of the war;
much less was there the ability to adjust the accounts of ene
mies, whether domestic or foreign. And finally, each party,
taken as a whole, was bound, as in all warfare, to abide the
issue of the contest, without claim upon the other. The Loy
alists, as a body, looked upon the subjugation of the Whigs as
almost certain, to the last ; and their delegates in New York
even went so far as to entertain a plan for the government of
the Colonies, whenever their day of triumph should come.
If that day had arrived, how would the Whigs have fared at
their hands ? Would Falmouth, in Maine, which was burned
solely on account of troubles with the Tory merchant, Coulson;
would Wyoming, burned and desolated by the fiend Butler and
his band of Tories and Indians ; would New Haven, Fail-field,
* The full conversations occupy several pages of Mr. Adams's Journal.
In making these extracts, I have always given the substance of what was
said ; but I have sometimes compressed a passage, or changed a word.
9
98 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
Danbury, and New London, have been paid for? Would
the claims of thousands who expended their estates in the
cause of liberty, and who had no shelter for their heads, have
been allowed ? Pardoned rebels, had pardon been extended,
would scarcely have made terms to cover these, and other
losses, that could be easily enumerated ; and it seems clear,
therefore, that the whole matter, as a question of public policy,
was rightfully enough determined for the Loyalists, as it would
have been for the Whigs, under reversed circumstances. But
for all that, I cannot forget that some were wrongly deprived
of their property, and ought to have been considered.*
Grounds somewhat similar to those which I have assumed
induced Congress, very probably, to instruct their commission
ers to enter into no engagements respecting the Americans who
adhered to the crown, unless Great Britain would stipulate, on
her part, to make compensation for the property which had
been destroyed by persons in her service. With this injunction
the commissioners found it impracticable to comply, inasmuch
as they deemed it necessary to admit into the treaty a provi
sion to the effect, that Congress should recommend to the several
States to provide for the restitution of certain of the confiscated
estates ; that certain persons should be allowed a year to en
deavor to recover their estates ; that persons having rights in
confiscated lands should have the privilege of pursuing all
lawful means to regain them ; and that Congress should use
its recommendatory power to cause the States to revoke or
reconsider their confiscation laws. Congress unanimously
* Mr. Jay, in a letter to Governor Clinton, dated at Madrid, May 6, 1780,
says : " An English paper contains what they call, but I can hardly believe
to be, your confiscation act. If truly printed, New York is disgraced by
injustice too palpable to admit even of palliation. I feel for the honor of my
country, and therefore beg the favor of you to send me a true copy of it ;
that if the other be false, I may, by publishing yours, remove the prejudices
against you occasioned by the former." Contrary to Mr. Jay's belief, the
copy seen by him was authentic ; he never changed the opinion of it, here
expressed to Governor Clinton.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 99
assented to this arrangement, and unanimously issued the
recommendation to the States, which the treaty contemplated.*
These terms were very unsatisfactory to the persons inter
ested, and to a part of the British public ; and loud clamors
arose in Parliament and elsewhere. In the House of Commons,
* The Articles of the Treaty which relate to the Loyalists are the fourth,
fifth, and sixth.
Article fourth. "It is agreed, That Creditors on either side shall meet
with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money
of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted."
Article fifth. " It is agreed, That the Congress shall earnestly recommend
it to the Legislatures of the respective States, to provide for the Restitution of
all Estates, Rights, and Properties, which have been confiscated, belonging to
real British subjects ; and also of the Estates, Rights, and Properties of those
Persons, residents in Districts in Possession of his Majesty's Arms, and who
have not borne arms against the said United States ; and that Persons of any
other description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of
the Thirteen United States, and therein to remain Twelve Months unmolested
in their endeavors to obtain the Restitution of such of their Estates, Rights,
and Properties, as may have been confiscated ; and that Congress shall also
earnestly recommend to the several States, a Reconsideration and Revision of
all Acts or Laws regarding the Premises, so as to render the said Laws or
Acts perfectly consistent, not only with Justice and Equity, but with that
spirit of Conciliation, which, on the return of the blessings of Peace, should
universally prevail. And that the Congress shall also earnestly recommend to
the several States, that the Estates, Rights, and Properties of such last men
tioned Persons shall be restored to them, they refunding to any Persons who
may be now in possession, the bona fide price (where any has been given)
which such Persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said Lands,
Rights, or Properties, since the Confiscation. And it is agreed, That all Per
sons who have any Interests in Confiscated Lands, either by Debts, Marriage
Settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in prosecution
of their just Rights."
Article sixth. " That there shall be no future Confiscations made, nor
any Prosecutions commenced against any Person or Persons for or by reason
of the Part which he or they may have taken in the present War ; and that
no Person shall on that account suffer any future Loss or Damage, either
in his Person, Liberty, or Property; and that those who may be in confine
ment on such charges at the Time of the Ratification of the Treaty in Amer
ica, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the Prosecutions so commenced be
discontinued."
100 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
Mr. Wilberforce said, that " when he considered the case of
the Loyalists, he confessed he there felt himself conquered ;
there he saw his country humiliated ; he saw her at the feet
of America ; still he was induced to believe, that Congress
would religiously comply with the article, and that the Loyal
ists would obtain redress from America." Lord North (who
was more in opposition) said, that "never was the honor, the
principles, the policy of a nation, so grossly abused as in the
desertion of those men, who are now exposed to every punish
ment that desertion and poverty can inflict, because they were
not Rebels." Lord Mulgrave declared, that "the article re
specting the Loyalists, he could never regard but as a lasting
monument of national disgrace." Mr. Burke said, that " a vast
number of the Loyalists had been deluded by England, and
had risked everything, and that, to such men the nation owed
protection, and its honor was pledged for their security at all
hazards." Mr. Sheridan " execrated the treatment of those
unfortunate men, who, without the least notice taken of their
civil and religious rights, were handed over as subjects to a
power that would not fail to take vengeance on them for their
zeal and attachment to the religion and government of the
mother country; " and he denounced as a " crime," the cession
of the Americans who had adhered to the crown, "into the
hands of their enemies, and delivering them over to confisca
tion, tyranny, resentment, and oppression." Mr. Norton said,
that " he could not give his assent to the treaty on account of
the article which related to the Loyalists." Sir Peter Burrell
considered, that "the fate of these unhappy subjects claimed
the compassion of every human breast, for they had been
abandoned by the ministers, and were left at the mercy of a
Congress highly irritated against them." Sir Wilbraham
Bootle's " heart bled for the Loyalists ; they had fought and had
run every hazard for England, and at a moment when they
had a claim to the greatest protection, they had been deserted."
Mr. Macdonald "forbore to dwell upon the case of these men,
as an assembly of human beings could scarcely trust their
judgments, when so powerful an attack was made upon their
feelings."
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 101
In the House of Lords, the opposition was quite as violent.
Lord Walsingham said, that " he could neither think nor
speak of the dishonor of leaving these deserving people to
their fate, with patience." Lord Yiscount Townshend consid
ered, that " to desert men who had constantly adhered to loyalty
and attachment, was a circumstance of such cruelty as had
never before been heard of." Lord Stormont said, that " Britain
was bound in justice and honor, gratitude and affection, and
every tie, to provide for and protect them." Lord Sackville
regarded " the abandonment of the Loyalists, as a thing of so
atrocious a kind, that if it had not been already painted in all
its horrid colors, he should have attempted the ungracious task,
but never should have been able to describe the cruelty in lan
guage as strong and expressive as were his feelings ; " and
again, that " a peace founded on the sacrifice of these unhappy
subjects, must be accursed in the sight of God and man."
Lord Loughborough said, "that the fifth article of the treaty
had excited a general and just indignation," and that neither
" in ancient nor modern history had there been so shameful a
desertion of men who had sacrificed all to their duty, and to
their reliance upon British faith."
Such attacks as these did not, of course, pass without replies
in both Houses. The nature of the defence of the friends of
the ministry will sufficiently appear, by the remarks of the
minister himself. Lord Shelburne thus frankly admitted, that
the Loyalists were left without better provision being made for
them " from the unhappy necessity of public affairs, which in
duced the extremity of submitting the fate of their property to
the discretion of their enemies." And, he continued, "I have
but one answer to give the House; it is the answer I gave my
own bleeding heart. A. part must be wounded, that the whole
of the empire may not perish. If better terms could be had,
think yon, my Lord, that I would not have embraced them?
/ had but the alternative either to accept the terms proposed, or
continue the war" The Lord Chancellor parried the assaults
of the opposition with other- weapons. He declared, that the
stipulations of the treaty are " specific," and said he, " my
9*
102 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
own conscious honor will not allow me to doubt the good faith
of others, and my good wishes to the Loyalists will not let me
indiscreetly doubt the dispositions of Congress," since the un
derstanding is, that " all these unhappy men shall be provided
for," yet, if it were not so, " Parliament could take cognizance
of their case, and impart to each suffering individual that re
lief which reason, perhaps policy, certainly virtue and religion,
required."
It was not expected, probably, by the British government,
that the " recommendation " of Congress to the States would
produce any effect. In 1778, and after the evacuation of Phila
delphia, the request of Congress to the same, to repeal the
severe enactments against the adherents of the crown, and to
restore their confiscated property, had been disregarded, and a
similar desire at the conclusion of hostilities, though made for
different reasons, it could not have been supposed would be
more successful. Indeed, the idea, that the States would refuse
compliance, and that Parliament would be required to make
the Loyalists some compensation for their losses, seems to have
been entertained from the first. Lord Shelburne, in the speech
from which I have just quoted, remarked, that " wit/iout one
drop of blood spilt, and without one fifth of the expense of one
year's campaign, happiness and ease can be given to them in
as ample a 'manner as these blessings were ever in their enjoy
ment" He could have meant nothing less by this language
than that, by putting an end to the war, the empire saved both
life and treasure, even though the amount of money required
to place the Loyalists in " happiness and ease," should amount
to some millions ; and the Lord Chancellor, it may be observed,
hinted at compensation as the remedy, provided the " recom
mendation " of Congress should not result favorably. Besides,
during the negotiation of the treaty, it appears to have been
considered by the commissioners on both sides, that each party
to the contest must bear its own losses and provide for its own
sufferers.
But whatever were the expectations at Paris or in London, all
uncertainty was soon at an end. A number of Loyalists who
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 103
were in England, came to the United States to claim restitution
of their estates, but their applications were unheeded, and
some of them were imprisoned, and afterwards banished.
New York, among other resolutions on the subject, stated,
" that there can be no reason for restoring property which has
been confiscated or forfeited, the more especially, as no com
pensation is offered on the part of the king and his adherents,
for the damages sustained by this State and its citizens, from"
the wanton desolation of " a great part of this State by burn
ing, not only single houses and other buildings, but even whole
towns and villages, and in enterprizes which had nothing but
vengeance for their object," and in which, " great numbers of
the citizens of this State have, from affluent circumstances,
been reduced to poverty and distress." Elsewhere, a similar
spirit prevailed, and all hope of obtaining relief under the stip
ulations of the treaty was abandoned.
The claimants now applied to the government which they
had ruined themselves to serve, and many of them, who had
hitherto been " Refugees " in different parts of America, went
to England to state, and to recover payment for their losses.
They organized an agency, and appointed a committee com
posed of one delegate or agent from each of the thirteen States,
to enlighten the British public, and adopt measures of proced
ure in securing the attention and action of the ministry in their
behalf. In a tract,* printed by order of these agents, it is
maintained, that "it is an established rule, that all sacrifices
made by individuals, for the benefit or accommodation of others,
shall be equally sustained by all those who partake of it ;"
and numerous cases are cited from Puffendorf, Burlamaqui, and
Yattel, to show that the " sacrifices" of the Loyalists were
embraced in this principle. As a further ground of claim, it
is stated, that in the case of territory alienated or ceded away
by one sovereign power to another, the rule is still applicable,
for that in treatises of international law, it is held, "the State
* " The Case and Claim of the American Loyalists, impartially stated and
considered," published in 1783.
104 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
ought to indemnify the subject for the loss he has sustained
beyond his own proportion." And the course pursued at the
close of the civil war in Spain, when the States of Holland
obtained their independence, under the treaty of Utrecht, and at
various other periods, proved that the rights of persons similarly
situated had been respected and held inviolate. The conclusion
arrived at from the precedents found in history and diplomacy,
and in the statute-book of the realm, is, that, as the Loyalists
were as " perfectly subjects of the British State as any man in
London or Middlesex," they were entitled to the same protec
tion and relief. The claimants, said the writers of the tract,
had been " called on by their Sovereign, when surrounded by
tumult and rebellion, to defend the Supreme Rights of the
Nation, and to assist in suppressing a rebellion, which aimed
at their destruction. They have received from the highest au
thority the most solemn assurances of protection, and even
reward for their meritorious services ; " and that " His Majesty
and the two Houses of Parliament having thought it necessary,
as the price of peace, or to the interest and safety of the em
pire, or from some other motive of public convenience, to ratify
the Independence of America, without securing any restitution
whatever to the Loyalists ; they conceive that the Nation is
bound, as well by the fundamental laws of the Society, as by
the invariable and eternal principles of natural justice, to make
them a compensation."
At the opening of Parliament, the king, in his speech from
the throne, alluded to the " American sufferers" who, from
" motives of Loyalty to him, or attachment to the Mother Coun
try, had relinquished their properties or professions," and
trusted, he said, that " generous attention would be shown to
them." Both parties assented to the suggestion ; and a mo
tion was made early in the session for leave to bring in a Bill,
" For Appointing Commissioners to Enquire into the Circum
stances and former Fortunes of such Persons as are reduced to
Distress by the late unhappy Dissentions in America." Leave
was given ; but in fixing the details of the Bill, there was some
difficulty, and considerable debate. The measure was finally
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 105
made agreeable to all, and was adopted without opposition.
The act, as passed, created a Board of Commissioners who
were empowered to examine all persons presenting claims un
der oath, to send for hooks, papers and records ; and who were
directed to report all such as fraudulently claimed a greater
amount than they had lost, in order that they should be de
prived of all compensation whatever. The time for receiving
claims was limited to March 25th, 1784, but the act was to re
main in force two years. This time was, however, found far
too short, and the Board was continued in commission by re
newals of the act from time to time, and did not finish their
labors until 1789, when they made their twelfth and last
report; and Parliament finally disposed of the matter in 1790,
seven years after it first engaged its attention.
The first thing to be ascertained by the commissioners, was
the " Loyalty and conduct of the claimants." In their first
report, they divided them into six classes,* and very properly
placed the apostates from the Whigs in the last ; but no differ
ence was finally made on account of the time or circumstances
of adhering to the cause of the crown, and all, without refer
ence to differences in merit, who were able to establish losses,
shared alike.
The commissioners commenced their arduous duties " by
sending to the most respectable and intelligent " of the persons
interested, " who might be most able and willing to answer
such general inquiries as might tend to facilitate the investiga
tion of each particular claim." Most of those who appeared
before them were examined separately, viva voce, but some
gave their opinions and sentiments in writing. The claimants
* First class. Those who had rendered services to Great Britain.
Second class. Those who had borne arms for Great Britain.
Third class. Uniform Loyalists.
Fourth class. Loyal British subjects resident in Great Britain.
Fifth class. Loyalists who had taken oaths to the American States, but
afterwards joined the British.
Sixth class. Loyalists who had borne arms for the American States, but
afterwards joined the British navy or army.
106 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
were required, moreover, to state in proper form every species
of loss which they had suffered, and for which they thought
they had a right to receive compensation. In making up their
schedules agreeably to this rule, some sufferers claimed for
losses which others did not; and in adjusting the claims, the
disproportion between the sum asked for and the sum allowed,
was often very large. A few received their whole demands
without the deduction of a shilling, while others received
pounds only where they had demanded hundreds, and a third
class obtained nothing, having been excluded by inability to
prove their losses, or deprived of the sum which they could
prove, by attempts to obtain allowance for claims which the
commissioners reported upon as fraudulent, in accordance with
the provisions of the act. The rigid rules enforced, and which
it would seem applied to all claimants, created much murmur
ing. The mode pursued of examining the claimant and the
witnesses in his behalf, separately and apart, was branded with
severe epithets, and the commission was called an "Inquisi
tion." But it is hard to conceive, why such a manner of
eliciting truth should have been objected to; it was well calcu
lated to expose fraud, and the dishonest might therefore have
complained of it. Yet. with all the caution which it was pos
sible for the commissioners to exercise, false losses were pre
sented and allowed, and men who did not really suffer a single
penny, who were entirely destitute of property when the war
commenced, and to whom hostilities were actually beneficial,
by affording pay and employment, were placed in comfortable
circumstances ; and stories which show the plans and schemes
that were devised to baffle the rigid scrutiny of the board are
still repeated.
In the first renewal of the act by which the commission was
created, a clause was inserted which authorized the commis
sioners to send an agent to the United States, and John Anstey,
Esq., a barrister at law, was accordingly despatched; and
Colonel Thomas Dundas and Mr. Jeremy Pemberton, two mem
bers of the board, personally visited Canada and Nova Scotia,
" to inquire into the claims of such persons as could not, without
HTSTORICAL ESSAY. 107
great inconvenience, go over to Great Britain." The particu
lar duty assigned to Mr. Anstey, seems to have consisted in
obtaining information as to the confiscation, sale and value of
the landed estates, and the total loss of the property of the claim
ants, and he procured much valuable and authentic testimony,
not only to aid the honest and correct the mistaken, but also
to detect and confound the dishonest.
The 25th of March, 1784, it has been remarked, was the
latest period for presenting claims which was allowed, and on
or before that day, the number of claimants was two thousand
and sixty-three, and the property alleged to have been lost, was,
according to their schedules, the alarming sum of £ 7,046,278,
besides debts to the amount of £2,354,135. In July of
that year, though the commissioners state that they had been
very assiduous in the discharge of their trusts, they had been
able to examine and determine the cases of but a part of these
persons, and had awarded £201,750, for £534,705 claimed,
thus reducing the amount considerably more than half. The
second report, which was made in December of the same year,
shows that one hundred and twenty-eight additional cases had
been disposed of, and that for £ 693,257 claimed, the propor
tion of allowance was still smaller, or £ 150,935. Much the
same difference is to be seen in the succeeding one hundred
and twenty-two cases, which were disposed of in May and July
of 1785, and in which £253,613, were allowed for £898,196
claimed. In April, 1786, the fifth report announced that
one hundred and forty-two other claims of the amount of
£733,311, had been liquidated at £250*506. The commis
sioners proceeded with their investigations during the years
1786 and 1787; meantime, South Carolina had restored the
estates of several of her Loyalists, and caused the withdrawal
of the claims of their owners, except that, in instances of
alleged strip and waste, amercement, and similar losses, in
quiries were instituted to ascertain the value of what was
taken compared with that which was returned.
On the 5th of April, 1788, the commissioners in England
had heard and determined one thousand six hundred and eighty
108 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
claims (besides those withdrawn), and had liquidated the same
at £1,887,548. Perhaps no greater despatch was possible, but
the delay caused great complaint. The king, his ministers,
and Parliament, were addressed and petitioned,* either on the
general course pursued by the commissioners, or on some sub
ject connected with the Loyalist claims. Letters and commu
nications appeared in the newspapers, and the public attention
was again awakened by the publication of essays and tracts
which renewed the statements made in 1783, of the losses,
services, and sacrifices of the claimants. Two years previ
ously (1786), the agents of the Loyalists had invoked Parlia
ment to hasten the final action upon the claims of their con
stituents in a petition drawn up with care and ability. "It is
impossible to describe," are words which occur in this docu
ment, "the poignant distress under which many of these per
sons now labor ; and which must daily increase, should the
justice of Parliament be delayed until all the claims are liqui
dated and reported ; * * * ten years have elapsed since many
of them have been deprived of their fortunes, and with their
helpless families reduced from independent affluence to poverty
and want; some of them now languishing in British gaols,
others indebted to their creditors, who have lent them money
barely to support their existence ; and who, unless speedily re
lieved, must sink more than the value of their claims when
received, and be in a worse condition than if they had never
made them ; others have already sunk under the pressure and
severity of their misfortunes ; and others must, in all proba
bility, soon meet the* same melancholy fate, should the justice
due to them be longer postponed. But that, on the contrary,
should provision be now made for payment of those whose
claims have been settled and reported, it will not only relieve
* The reader will find the views of the Loyalists on the subject of their
claims, and their objection to the course pursued by the commissioners, in two
documents inserted in the biographical notice of Colonel James De Lancey,
who petitioned Parliament, and addressed Mr. Pitt in their behalf, and in op
position to the commissioners.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 109
them from their distress, but give a credit to the others whose
claims remain to be considered, and enable all of them to pro
vide for their wretched families, and become again useful
members of society." This vivid picture of the condition of
those who waited the tardy progress made in the final adjust
ment of their losses, is possibly highly colored. Mr. Pitt had
introduced and carried through, in 1785, a bill for the distribu
tion of £ 150,000 among the claimants, but as that sum, it was
held, was to be applied to a distinct class, namely, to those
who had lost " property," and to neither those who had lost
"life-estate " in property, nor to those who had lost " income,"
it is not improbable that many of these classes were at this
time greatly in want of the relief, which their agents so earn
estly implored the government to afford
T A tract * printed in 1788, which was attributed to Galloway,
file distinguished Loyalist of Pennsylvania, presses the claims
and merits of the sufferers with much point and vigor, and
rebukes the injustice of neglecting and deferring payment of
the compensation conceded on all hands to be due them, with
singular spirit and boldness, and states their situation in the
following forcible language. "It is well known," says the
writer, " that this delay of justice has produced the most mel
ancholy and shocking events. A number of the sufferers have
been driven by it into insanity, and become their own destroy
ers, leaving behind them their helpless widows and orphans to
subsist upon the cold charity of strangers. Others have been
sent to cultivate a wilderness for their subsistence without
having the means, and compelled through want to throw them
selves on the mercy of the American States, and the charity of
their former friends, to support the life which might have been
made comfortable by the money long since due by the British
Government ; and many others, with their families, are barely
subsisting upon a temporary allowance from Government,
a mere pittance when compared with the sum due to them."
* " The Claim of the American Loyalists reviewed and maintained upon
incontrovertible principles of law and justice."
10
110 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
The commissioners submitted their eleventh Report in April
of the year in which this statement was made, and Mr. Pitt, in
the month following, gave way to the pressing importunities of
the claimants, to allow their grievances to be discussed in Par
liament. Twelve years had elapsed since the property of most
of them had been alienated under the confiscation acts, and
five, since their title to recompense had been recognized by
the law under which their claims had been presented and dis
posed of.
The minister, meantime, by frequent conferences with the
commissioners, had made himself familiar with all the points
involved and requiring consideration, and in expressing his
views, raised three questions ; first, whether there should be
any deduction made from the value put upon the estates to be
paid for • secondly, if any, what the deduction should be ; and
thirdly, what compensation should be made to the Loyalists
who had lost their incomes by losing their offices and profes
sions. In his speech, Mr. Pitt laid down as the basis of his
plan, that, however strong might be the claims of either class,
neither should regard the relief to be extended, as due on prin
ciples " of right and strict justice." In proceeding with his
remarks, he proposed to pay all of six designated classes, who
consisted of thirteen hundred and sixty four persons, whose
liquidated losses did not exceed ten thousand pounds each, the
full amount reported by the commissioners ; while, increasing
the rate of discount with the increase of losses, he proposed a
deduction of ten per cent, on the losses (of persons of these six
classes) between ten and thirty-five thousand pounds, and of
fifteen per cent, on those between thirty-five and fifty thousand,
and of twenty per cent, on those upwards of fifty thousand ;
casting, however, these several rates of deduction only on the
differences between ten thousand pounds and the amounts lost
as reported by the commissioners.^
* This plan was objected to by the Loyalists, and their reasons were trans
mitted to Mr. Pitt, in a document of some length, which may be found entire
in the notice of Colonel James De Lancey.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. Ill
With regard to persons of another description, and whose
losses had been caused principally, if not entirely, by depriva
tion of official or professional income, he submitted a plan of
pensions. To those whose incomes had not exceeded four
hundred pounds, he considered pensions of fifty per cent, of
the incomes actually lost to be adequate ; to those whose emol
uments were ascertained to have been between four hundred
and fifteen hundred pounds, he thought two hundred pounds,
and forty per cent, of the amount lost exceeding four hundred,
would be sufficient ; while on incomes above fifteen hundred
pounds, he would make a still further deduction, and allow
two hundred pounds as in the other cases, and thirty per
cent, on the difference between four hundred pounds and the
real incomes.^
Having presented his reasons for the course which he re
commended, and agreed to some alterations in the rate of com
pensation to be made to proprietors of land in America who
resided in England, he moved, that " Provision should be
made accordingly." The house assented; and the commis
sioners were directed to issue certificates for sums to which the
claimants were respectively entitled. Payments were to be made
in debentures of the government, bearing three and a half per
cent, interest, which was nearly equal to money ; these deben
tures, Mr. Pitt suggested, should be redeemed by instalments,
and by means of a lottery.
After this adjustment, several additional claims were pre
sented, examined, and allowed ; and upon the settlement of the
whole matter, it appeared that the number of claimants in Eng
land, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada, was five
thousand and seventy-two, of whom nine hundred and fifty-four
withdrew, or failed to prosecute their claims ; that the amount
of losses, according to the schedules rendered, was £8,026,045,
* The number of these persons was two hundred and four; amount of in
come lost £80,000 ; pensions granted £25,785
112 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR
of which the sum of £3,292,455 was allowed.* From this
sum, the deductions which have been mentioned were about
£180,000; leaving for distribution nearly fifteen and a half
millions of dollars. The Loyalists, then, were well cared
for. Whatever were the miseries to individuals occasioned by
delay ; whatever the injury sustained by those who were unable
to procure sufficient evidence of their losses; and whatever
were the wrongs inflicted upon others by the errors in judgment
on the part of the commissioners; the Americans who took
the royal side, as a body, fared infinitely better than the great
body of the Whigs, whose services and sacrifices were quite as
great ; for, besides the allowance of fifteen and a half millions
of dollars in money, numbers received considerable annuities,
half-pay as military officers, large grants of land, and shared
with other subjects in the patronage of the crown. The re
wards of those who served under Congress, on the other hand,
were extremely limited ; and excepting those who filled the
public offices under the State, and after the adoption of the
constitution of the United States, under the national govern
ment, few who served in the field, or who suffered by the rav-
* The principal facts with regard to the compensation of the Loyalists are
derived from a " Historical View of the Commission," &c., by John Eard-
ley Wilmot, Esq., one of the Commissioners. In the aggregate amount
claimed, there seems some discrepancy. According to the summary of Mr.
Wilmot, made in March, 1790, " the claims preferred " were £ 10, 358 ,4 13 ;
whereas, in a table from which I take the statistics above, the amount is stated
at £8,026,045. Again, in March, 1790, it is said by Mr. Wilmot, that the
number of " claims preferred in England and Nova Scotia was three thousand
two hundred and twenty-five, of which were examined two thousand two
hundred and ninety-one, disallowed three hundred and forty-two, withdrawn
thirty-eight, not prosecuted five hundred and fifty-three ; " that the amount
of claims allowed was £3,033,091 ; whereas, in the table which I have fol
lowed as giving a later and final view, the claims examined are stated at four
thousand one hundred and eighteen, and the amount allowed at the sum in the
text ; from which it follows, that one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven
persons recovered only the difference between .£3,292,455 and £3,033,91,
or the small sum of £259,364.
HISTORICAL ESSAY. 113
ages of the king's troops, obtained considerable or adequate
recompense. In trnth, thousands were allowed to go down to
the grave in abject want and destitution.
All the topics necessary to introduce the reader to the Bio
graphical Notices of the Loyalists, have now been discussed to
as great an extent as the limits of the work will allow. It has
been my constant endeavor to speak of those who opposed the
Whigs, in the momentous conflict which made us an indepen
dent people, calmly and mildly. For,
" Mercy to him that shows it is the rule
And righteous limitation of its act,
By which Heaven moves in pardoning guilty man ;
And he that shows none, being ripe in years,
And conscious of the outrage he commits,
Shall seek it, and not find it, in his turn. ' '
There are those among my countrymen, who imagine that
they know quite all that can be said of the causes which sev
ered the British empire, and enough of those who were prom
inent actors in the struggle that preceded it, and who seek to
know no more of either. To such persons, and to others who.
equally conceited, are ready to do battle for every " Whig,"
and to denounce every "Tory," these pages will prove of no
possible value. But of a spirit wholly different are the search
ers after truth, and the close students of history. These
have ascertained, from the various sources open to them, that
all who called themselves Whigs were not necessarily and on
that account disinterested and virtuous, and the proper objects
of unlimited praise ; and that the Tories were not, to a man,
selfish and vicious, and deserving of unmeasured and indis
criminate reproach. Virtuous men, whatever their errors and
mistakes, are to be respected ; and with regard to others, it is
well to remember the beautiful sentiment of Goldsmith, that
" we should never strike an unnecessary blow at a victim over
whom Providence holds the scourge of its resentment."
While intending to be just, I have felt that I might also be
generous. The winners in the revolutionary strife are now
twenty millions of people; and, strong, rich, and prosper-
10*
114 PRELIMINARY REMARKS, OR HISTORICAL ESSAY.
ous, can afford to speak of the losers in terms of moderation.
Besides,
;' Can he be strenuous in his country's cause,
Who slights the charities for whose dear sake
That country, if at all, must be beloved ? "
I may be permitted to say, in conclusion, that the history of
individuals and of nations has been delightful to me from my
earliest youth ; that the annals of my own country have been as
diligently studied as circumstances would permit; and that,
of all men of whom I have obtained any knowledge, the Whigs
of the American Revolution have impressed me with the great
est respect and reverence, both on account of their personal
virtues, and the objects which they sought to accomplish for
themselves, their posterity, and mankind.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF
AMERICAN LOYALISTS
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ABERCROMBIE, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
ACHINCLOSS, ARCHIBALD. Was proscribed and banished under
the act of 1778.
ACHINCLOSS, THOMAS. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In
May, 1775, he wrote a Submission, which was published, and
in which he expressed his sorrow that " any part of his con
duct should have given uneasiness to any friends of America."
In 1778 he was among those who were proscribed and ban
ished.
ACHINSON, ALEXANDER. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Royal Fensible Americans.
ACKER, ABRAHAM. Of West Chester County, New York, and
a Protester at White Plains, April, 1775.
ACKERLY, OBADIAH. Of New York. In 1783 he abandoned
his home and property, and settled in New Brunswick. He
died at St. John in 1843, aged eighty-seven. Catharine, his
wife, died at the same city in 1830, at the age of seventy-two.
ACRIGG, RACHEL. She went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and the crown granted her a building lot in that
city.
ADAMS, DOCTOR . State of New York. In 1774, or
early in 1775, he was hoisted up and exposed upon " landlord
118
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Fay's sign-post, where was fixed a dead catamount." The
party who inflicted this punishment regretted that they had
not tied him and given him instead five hundred lashes.
His residence was at Arlington.
ADAMS, JABEZ. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Was a
member of the Loyalist Association at Reading, who were
pledged " to defend, maintain, and preserve, at the risk of their
lives and property, the prerogatives of the crown, and the privi
leges of the subject, from the attacks of any rebellious body of
men, any Committees of Inspection, of Correspondence," &c.
ADAMS, JAMES. Of Reading, Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Was a member of the Loyalist Association at Reading.
ADAMS, JOHN. Went from some part of the United States to
St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, was a grantee of that city,
and died there in 1820, aged forty-nine.
ADAMS, JOSEPH. Of Townsend, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
ADAMS, SAMUEL. Of South Carolina. An Addresser of Sir
Henry Clinton in 1780.
ADAIR, ROBERT. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
ADAMSON, GEORGE. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton after the surrender of
Charleston.
ADAMSON, JOHN. Of South Carolina. After the surrender of
Charleston, held a commission under the crown, and his estate
was confiscated.
ADDISON, A. Of Maryland. Went to England, and in 1779
became a member of the Loyalist Association formed in
London.
ADDISON, DANIEL DULANY. Of Maryland. Was a captain
in the Maryland Loyalists in 1782, and at the peace was a
major in the same corps; he went to England, and died in
London in 1808.
ADDISON, H. Of Maryland. In July, 1783, was one of the
fifty-five who petitioned, at New York, for lands in Nova
Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 119
AFFECK, THOMAS. Of Philadelphia. In 1777 he was ordered
to be sent prisoner to Virginia for disaffection to the Whig
cause.
AGLING, JOHN. Of Boston. A Protester against the Whigs
in 1774.
AGNEW, JOHN. He was rector of the Established Church,
parish of Suffolk, Virginia. On the 24th of March, 1775, the
Whig Committee of Nansemond County called him to an ac
count for the loyalty of his pulpit performances. He soon after
quitted that part of the country, and became chaplain of the
Queen's Rangers, a Loyalist corps. He finally settled in New
Brunswick, and died near Fredericton, the capital of that colony,
in 1812, aged eighty-five. He was taken prisoner with Stair
Agnew and others during the Revolution, and carried to
France. On the passage out, the ship encountered a severe
gale, and lay a wreck for twenty-four hours.
AGNEW, STAIR. Believed to have been a son of the Rever
end John Agnew. He was certainly from Virginia, and a
captain in the Queen's Rangers, and settled at Fredericton,
where he resided until his death, in 1821, at the age of sixty-
three. He enjoyed half-pay. While attached to the Ran
gers he was taken prisoner and carried to France, and was
not exchanged until near the close of the war. It seems, that
at the battle of the Brandywine he was severely wounded,
and while on his passage to Virginia for recovery was captured
by the French squadron. Franklin, minister to France, was
appealed to, to effect his release and that of others made
prisoners at the same time. Captain Agnew's letter from the
castle of St. Maloes, February 26th, 1782, details the circum
stances of his captivity, and contains some feeling allusions to
his " aged and beloved mother." He closes: "Oh, God! who
knows, perhaps she at this moment, from an independent
affluence, is reduced by the vicissitudes of the times to penury.
My heart, afflicted with the misfortunes of our family, can no
more " He was a member of the House of Assembly of
New Brunswick for thirty years, and a magistrate of York
County for a considerable period. His wife, Sophia Winifred,
died in that county, in ] 820, at the age of fifty-two.
120 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ALBERTSON. In 1776, Derrick, Daniel and Albert, of Queen's
County, New York, professed themselves to be loyal and well
aifected subjects. In 1783 a party of Whigs plundered the
house of Derrick Albertson at North Hempstead, and, among
other articles, carried off his wedding-shirt.
ALBRIGHT, JOHN. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
ALBUS, GEORGE. In 1782 he was an officer of cavalry in
the Queen's Rangers.
ALDEN, DOCTOR . One of the two Loyalists of Saco and
Biddeford, Maine. An armed party took him, placed him on
his knees upon a large cask, and with their guns presented to
his body, told him to recant his opinions, or suffer instant
death. He signed the required confession, and was released.
Subsequently he removed to Scarborough, in the same State.
ALDINGTON, JOHN. In 1782 he was a captain in the Guides
and Pioneers.
ALEXANDER, CHARLES. Of Norfolk, Virginia. In May, 1775,
the Whig Committee published him as inimical to America,
and recommended that all dealings with him should be discon
tinued.
ALEXANDER, JOHN. Of Craven, North Carolina. His pro
perty was confiscated in 1779.
ALEXANDER, ROBERT. Of Maryland. Went to England.
When, in 1783, it was ascertained that the State legislatures
refused to comply with the recommendation of Congress to
restore the confiscated estates of Loyalists, he was appointed
agent for those of Maryland, to present and prosecute their
claim for compensation of the British government. He was in
London in 1788, and on the 2d of July signed an Address to
the King.
ALLAIRE, ANTHONY. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Loyal American Regiment, and at the peace a captain in the
same corps. He settled in New Brunswick, and received half-
pay. He was one of the grantees of the city of St. John, but.
removing to the country, died in the parish of Douglas, in
1838, at the age of eighty-four.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 121
ALLEE, PRESTLY. Of Duck Creek, Delaware ; husbandman.
In 1778 he was required by law to appear and be tried for
treason, on or before August 1st, or suffer the loss of his pro
perty.
ALLEN, ADAM. He was an officer in the Queen's Rangers,
and, it is believed, a lieutenant. He went to St. John, New
Brunswick, at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that
city. He received half-pay. In 1798 he was in command of
a post at Grand Falls, on the river St. John, and wrote a piece
in verse descriptive of these Falls, which his son, Jacob Allen,
of Portland, New Brunswick, sent to the press in 1845. He
died in York County, New Brunswick, in 1823, aged sixty-
six.
ALLEN, ANDREW. Of Pennsylvania, son of Chief Justice
William Allen, and himself the successor of Judge Chew,
who succeeded his father. He, at first, was found among
the leading Whigs, and was a member of Congress, and
of the Committee of Safety. In 1776 he *put himself under
protection of General Howe, at Trenton, and during the war
went to England. He died at London in 1825, at the age of
eighty-five.
ALLEN, ISAAC. A lawyer of Trenton, New Jersey. He en
tered the military service of the crown, and in 1782 was lieu
tenant-colonel of the second battalion of New Jersey Volun
teers. He had property in Pennsylvania, and the executive
council of that State ordered, that, unless he should surrender
himself, and take his trial for treason within a specified time,
he should stand attainted. He went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
He rose to distinction -in New Brunswick, and among other
offices held a seat in the Council, and was a Judge of the Su
preme Court. His residence was at Fredericton, and he died
there about the year 1812. His sister Sarah died at the same
place in 1835, aged ninety-one.
ALLEN, JAMES. Of Philadelphia ; the remaining son of Chiel
Justice William Allen, and the only one of them who did not
join the royal army. He remained at home wholly inactive,
11
122 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
though his sympathies were supposed to be loyal. He was in
declining health in 1776, and died before the close of the
following year.
ALLEN, JOHN. Of Pennsylvania, a son of Chief Justice
William Allen. In 1776 he joined the British under General
Howe, at Trenton. Unlike his brother, he was an avowed
Loyalist from the first.
ALLEN, JOHN. State unknown. In 1782 was surgeon of
the King's Rangers, Carolina.
ALLEN, JOLLEY. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Went to Eng
land, and in 1779 was in London, arid one of the Loyalists
who addressed the King.
ALLEN. Of New York. Eleven persons of this name, of
Queen's County, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To
wit : Abraham, Daniel, David, Robert, Philip, Henry, John,
Philip, Darius, Baruch, Andrew.
ALLEN, WILLIAM. Of Pennsylvania, and son of Chief Justice
William Allen. He was a Whig, and accepted the commission
of lieutenant-colonel in the continental service, and served
under St. Clair. But in 1776 he abandoned the cause of his
country, and joined General Howe, with his brothers. In 1778
he raised a corps called the Pennsylvania Loyalists, and, with
the rank of lieutenant-colonel, was the commanding officer.
From the influence of his family, and from his own personal
standing, he expected to make rapid enlistments for this corps,
but was disappointed. In 1782, and near the close of the con
test, though still in service, the Pennsylvania Loyalists were of
but little consequence in point of numbers. Colonel Allen
was noted for wit, for good humor, and for affable and gen
tlemanly manners. The names of aH. the officers under his
command at the period last mentioned will be found in this
work.
ALLEN, WILLIAM. Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. On the
approach of the Revolution he went to England, and died Sep
tember, 1780. He was distinguished for his love of literature
and the arts • was a friend to Benjamin West when he needed
a patron, and assisted Franklin to establish a college at Phila-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 123
delphia. His father was an eminent merchant, and died in
1725. No person in Pennsylvania, probably, was richer than
Judge Allen, or possessed greater influence.
ALLEN, WILLIAM. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, and
was a grantee of that city.
ALLICOCK, CHARLES JOHN. In 1782 he was a lieutenant of
cavalry in the South Carolina Royalists.
ALLISON, EDWARD. Of Queen's County, New York. Ac
knowledged allegiance October, 1776. He entered the service,
and was a captain in De Lancey's third battalion. At the
peace he settled in New Brunswick, and received half-pay.
He died in that Colony.
ALLISON, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
ALMOND, WILLIAM and JOHN. Of Brandywine, Delaware.
Were required to surrender themselves on or before August
1st, 1778, and abide legal trial for treason, or suffer the loss of
their property, both real and personal.
ALSOP, RICHARD. Of Queen's County, New York. In Octo
ber, 1776, he acknowledged himself a loyal and well affected
subject. In April, 1779, the same name appears as an Addres
ser of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling.
ALSTON, GEORGE. Of Granville, North Carolina. His pro
perty was confiscated in 1779.
ALTHOUSE, JOHN. Of New York. In 1782 he was a cap
tain in the New York Volunteers. At the peace he went to St.
John, New Brunswick, and was one of the grantees of the city.
He died in New Brunswick.
ALTHOUSE, JOHN, Junior. In 1782 he was an ensign in the
New York Volunteers. It is believed that he is still (1845)
living.
ALWOOD, JOSEPH and SILAS. Went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783, and received grants of city lots.
AMBERMAN. Six persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Isaac, Isaac junior, John, Derrick, Nicholas, and Powel.
AMBERMAN, JOHN and ABRAHAM. Were signers of a Declara
tion at Jamaica in 1775.
124 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
AMBROSE, MICHAEL. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Prince of Wales American Volunteers. He went to New
Brunswick at the peace, and received half-pay. He died in
the parish of St. Martin in that Colony.
AMBROSE, ROBERT. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An
Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
AMORY, JOHN. Of Boston, Massachusetts. In 1760 was one
of the fifty-eight memorialists, who were the first men to array
themselves against the officers of the crown; but in 1778 he
was proscribed and banished. He went to England, but re
turned to the United States in 1783.
AMORY, THOMAS. In 1775 was an Addresser of Governor
Gage.
ANCRUM, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782. His property was confiscated.
ANDERSON, ABRAHAM. Of Delaware. A mariner ; was required
by the act of that State, in 1778, to surrender himself for trial
for treason on or before a certain day, or his property would
be forfeited.
ANDERSON, JAMES. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Was an
Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. In
1778 he was proscribed and banished. He was at New York
in July, 1783, and one of the fifty-five who petitioned for lands
in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard. At Boston, Mr. Ander
son was a merchant.
ANDERSON, JOHN. Of Thickety Creek, South Carolina. After
the surrender of Charleston in 1780, he accepted of employ
ment under the crown. In 1782 he was a lieutenant, and at
the peace a captain in the King's Rangers, Carolina. His
estate was confiscated.
ANDERSON, PETER. State unknown. Went to St. John, New
Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city ; he
died at Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1828, at the age of
ninety-five.
ANDERSON. SAMUEL. Of New York. At the commencement
of the Revolution he went to Canada. He soon entered the
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 125
service of the crown, and was a captain under Sir John Johnson.
In 1783 he settled near Cornwall, 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, until his decease in 1836, at the age
of one hundred and one. His property in New York was
abandoned and lost.
ANDERSON, WILLIAM. Of West Chester County, New York.
Was a Protester against the Whigs at White Plains in 1775.
He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and was
one of the grantees of that city.
ANDREWS, JOHN, D. D. Provost of the University of Penn
sylvania. He was born in Maryland in 1746, and educated
at Philadelphia. In 1767 he was ordained in London as an
Episcopal clergyman, and became a missionary ; and subse
quently a rector of Queen Ann's County, Maryland. " Not
partaking of the patriotic spirit of the times," he removed from
Maryland, and was absent several years. In 1785 he was
appointed to the charge of an Episcopal academy at Philadel
phia, and four years after received the professorship of moral
philosophy in the college of that city. In 1810 he succeeded
Doctor McDowell as provost. He died in 1813, aged sixty-
seven. Doctor Andrews was considered an eminent man.
ANDREWS, SAMUEL. An Episcopal clergyman of Connecticut.
His principles separated him from his flock, and he became the
first Rector of the Church of his communion at St Andrew,
New Brunswick. After a ministry of fifty-eight years, he
died at that place, September 26, 1818, aged eighty-two.
His wife Hannah died at St. Andrew, January 1st, 1816, at
the age of seventy-five.
ANNODS, BASSET. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Hali
fax with the British army.
ANSLEY, OZIAS. In 1782 he was an ensign in the first bat
talion of New Jersey Volunteers, and adjutant of the corps.
At the peace he settled in New Brunswick, and received half-
pay. He was a magistrate and a judge of the Common Pleas
11*
126 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
for several years. He died at Staten Island, New York, in
1828, aged eighty-five. His son, the Reverend Thomas Ansley,
an Episcopalian clergyman of Nova Scotia, died at St. Andrew,
New Brunswick, in 1831, aged about sixty-five. His grandson,
Daniel Ansley, Esq., resides at St. John.
ANSTNETHER, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was major of the Royal
Garrison Battalion.
APPLEBY, BENJAMIN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783, and was a grantee of that city.
APPLEEY, ELNATHAN and JOSEPH. Of West Chester County,
New York. Were Protesters against the Whigs at White
Plains in April, 1775.
APPLEBY, JOHN. Was a Cow-Boy ; settled in New Brunswick
at the peace, and died in that Colony about the year 1825.
Sarah, his widow, died in 1828.
APPLEBY, THOMAS. In October, 1776, signed a representation
and petition to Lord Richard and Sir William Howe, acknowl
edging allegiance.
APTHORP, CHARLES WARD. Of New York. Was a member
of the Council of the Colony, and was considered to be in
office in 1782 ; he had property in Massachusetts, which was
confiscated by an act of that State.
APTHORP, EAST. An Episcopal clergyman of Massachu
setts. He was born in 1733, and was educated in England.
In 1761 he was appointed a missionary at Cambridge, by the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ; and
during his labors there, was engaged in a warm theological
controversy with Doctor Mayhew. Retiring to England, he
died there in 1816, aged eighty-three years. His wife was a
niece of Governor Hutchinson, and a daughter of Judge Foster
Hutchinson. His only son was a clergyman. One daughter
married Doctor Gary ; one, Doctor Butler ; and a third, a son of
Doctor Poley : the husbands of the two first were heads of
colleges. Mr. Apthorp was a distinguished writer. In 1790
he lost his sight.
APTHORP, THOMAS and WILLIAM. Of Boston, Massachusetts.
Both merchants ; were proscribed and banished in 1778.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 127
ARDEN, DOCTOR CHARLES. Of Jamaica, New York. In 1775
he was a signer of a Declaration against the Whigs. In 1776
he was accused of further defection ; and one of his offences
consisted in persuading other adherents of the crown to have
no concern with a Congress or with Committess. Several wit
nesses were examined.
ARMSTRONG, ANDREW. In 1782 was an officer in the Queen's
Rangers.
ARMSTRONG, GEORGE. Was surgeon of the Second American
Regiment.
ARMSTRONG, SWIFT. Was an ensign in the same corps.
ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM. He entered the royal service, and was
a captain in a Loyalist corps. At the peace he retired on half-
pay, and, as is believed, settled in New York. In 1806 he
joined the celebrated Miranda in his expedition to effect the in
dependence of the province of Caraccas, and, in due time, of all
Spanish America. Captain Armstrong was known to possess
considerable military knowledge, method, industry and vigi
lance, and received a commission as colonel, and the command
of the First Regiment of Riflemen in the Columbian Army ;
and, as he had become familiar with the duties of the quarter
master's department, in the Revolution, he was created, also,
quartermaster-general, with two assistants. Under Miranda,
Colonel Armstrong was extremely unpopular, and was accused
of " obsequiousness to his superiors, and of superciliousness and
tyranny in his treatment of those in his power." He seems to
have been involved in many quarrels. While the Leander
was in the harbor of Jacquemel, (February, 1806,) he and
Captain Lewis, the ship's commander, had a warm controversy
regarding their rank and rights while associated on ship-board.
The steward's slovenly habits displeased the former, and he
gave the delinquent a "hearty rope's ending," which enraged
Lewis, and drew from him the declaration, that every person
in his vessel was subject to his authority, and should be punish
ed by no other. Armstrong insisted, on the other hand, that
he would chastise whomsoever he pleased. Both resorted to
great bitterness of speech in the war of words which ensued.
128 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Miranda took the side of the Colonel, and behaved worse than
even Lewis or Armstrong, and1, "before the storm was over,
appeared to be more fit for bedlam than for the command of an
army." Not long after this occurrence, the Bee, another of the
vessels attached to the expedition, ran foul of the flag-ship, and
caused considerable damage ; when Armstrong, seizing a trum
pet, called to the master of that vessel, and bade him never to
approach so near the Leander in future. Lewis, angry at the
interference of the quartermaster-general, rebuked him severe
ly for the act, and the quarrel between them was renewed.
In this instance, Miranda decided in favor of Lewis. The dis
like between the two officers, who took -so opposite views of
their right to supremacy, became settled and irreconcilable, and
a third quarrel soon occurred, in which the chief sustained
Armstrong; and Lewis, in the violence of his passion, resolved
to resign, and ordered his servant to collect his baggage and
prepare to leave the ship. A mediator was, however, found,
and the dispute apparently settled. At a subsequent time,
Miranda and the Captain became involved in a controversy,
and Armstrong endeavored to produce a reconciliation between
them; but he not only failed in this, but drew upon himself the
resentment of both. Lewis renewed his threat to resign, and
now actually threw up his commission. Besides these quar
rels, the Colonel had several others. The moment the Leander
cast anchor at Grenada, Lieutenant Dwyer quitted the ship.
During the passage, he had been in continual collision with
Armstrong, either on his own account, or in defence of his offi
cers and men, whom the lordly personage assailed with words
or violence. The notions of the Quartermaster-general of the
Columbian Army appear to have been not a little tyrannical
and arbitrary. It is related, that he kept three officers (on
very slight provocation) confined to the ship's forecastle up
wards of two weeks, and during this time refused them the
liberty of walking on the quarter-deck and of entering the
cabin.
Miranda required of his officers subscription to the following
oath. "I swear to be true and faithful to the free people of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 129
South America, independent of Spain, and to serve them
honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers
whatsoever, and to observe and obey the orders of the supreme
government of that country legally appointed ; and the orders
of the general and officers set over me by them." Some objec
tion was made to the form of this oath, which the General
obviated by assurances to the gentlemen who were citizens of
the United States, that they might annex to their signatures
the condition that they did not intend to cancel their allegiance
to their own country. After this difficulty was settled, Arm
strong read and explained the Articles of War of the United
States, and the alterations in form, not in substance or spirit,
which had been made to adapt them to the service in which
they were engaged. "Notice, gentlemen," said the Colonel,
" the object of the change is to suit the wording of the Articles
to the local names and situations of the country where they are
to take effect. Thus, for the Army of the United States, will
be substituted, the Army of South America ; and for the Presi
dent, or Congress of the United States, will be used, the
Supreme Authority of the free people of South America, or
something of this kind."
The Americans who had connected themselves with this en
terprise were generally persons of some ability, but it is under
stood that most, if not all of them, were in straitened circum
stances, and that some were extremely needy. Armstrong's
half-pay as a Loyalist officer might have prevented him from
being in a situation of destitution. His pay under Miranda
was fixed at ten dollars per day, to commence January 1, 1806,
which was the date of his commission of Colonel.
The common men, sailors and soldiers, were an ignorant
and undisciplined mob, and the quartermaster-general had
enough to do to keep them quiet. As in his intercourse with
the officers, his disputes with them were continual; hardly
a day passed without some one or more of them being
taken to task for misconduct, or placed in arrest and con
finement.
The failure of Miranda to pay his officers was a new
130 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
source of difficulty and contention, and was a principal cause
of bringing matters to a crisis. John Orford, a lieutenant of
engineers, was especially importunate, and in answer to his
second commmunication on the subject of arrearages due to
him, received the following letter : —
" Port of Spain, December 2d, 1806.
"SiR, — By order of General Miranda, I have to inform you,
that he received yours of the twenty-ninth ult.. the purport of
which he conceives to be highly improper, and contrary to
every military principle ; that in duty to himself, and for the
good of the service, he thinks it proper that you should be dis
missed from it, and you are hereby dismissed from it, and no
longer to be considered as an officer under his command.
"I am, Sir, yours,
WILLIAM ARMSTRONG,
Quartermaster-general. ' '
" Mr. JOHN OBFORD."
Other officers connected with this ill-starred attempt to re
volutionize South America, applied for dismissals, and the
defection became general. Armstrong, however, retired with
out notice or leave, and his chief accused him of desertion.
Departing in the sloop of war Hawk, for Dominica, the Quar
termaster-general of the Columbian Army took passage at
that island for London. Inferior officers, induced to believe
that the desertion of one so near Miranda's person gave them
full liberty to abandon him in the same informal manner, re
tired from his service without writing letters of resignation,
though some of them did observe that form in taking their
leave of him and his fortunes. Of Armstrong's career
after his arrival in England I have obtained no informa
tion.
ARNODE, JOHN. Of West Chester County, New York ; and a
Protester at White Plains, April, 1775. The name of Stephen
Arnode was affixed to the Protest also.
ARNOLD, BENEDICT. Of Connecticut; and a major-general
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 131
in the Whig army. He was descended from the Arnolds of
Rhode Island, an honorable family, who for a long period fig
ured in the public affairs of that Colony. He was bred an
apothecary, and from 1763 to 1767 was settled at New Haven,
as a druggist and bookseller. His career in the Revolution is
too well known to require notice here. I am inclined to be
lieve, that Arnold was a finished scoundrel from early man
hood to his grave. . Nor do I believe, that he had any real and
true hearted attachment to the Whig cause. He fought as a
mere adventurer, and took sides from a calculation of personal
gain, and chances of plunder and advancement. He was
brave, and among the bravest of men ; and had the additional
merit of inspiring troops with his own courageous spirit. These
were his chief merits.
The Loyalists seem to have known his character far better
than the Whigs, and to have supposed, that he favored them
long before his treason. There is proof of this, from various
sources. As early as 1778, it appears from the private corres
pondence of Galloway, the leading Loyalist of Pennsylvania,
that he was considered by the refugees as lenient, if not friendly
to them, and in this light was represented to the British min
istry. Thus, Charles Stewart, under date of December 17,
1778, wrote: "General Arnold is in Philadelphia. It is said
that he will be discharged, being thought a pert Tory. Certain
it is, that he associates mostly with these people, and is to be
married to Miss Shippen, daughter of Edward Shippen, Esq."
David Sproat, on the llth of January, 1779, said : "You will
also hear that General Arnold, commandant in Philadelphia,
has behaved with lenity to the Tories, and that he is on the
eve of marriage to one of Edward Shippen's daughters."
No honorable man would have formed a copartnership with
others for purchasing goods within the enemy's lines as he did,
and to the enormous amount of one hundred and forty thousand
dollars. And no honest man would have lived, could have
lived as he did, while at Philadelphia. His play, his balls,
his concerts, his banquets, were enough to have impaired the
fortune of an European noble. His house was the best in
132
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the city, and had been the mansion of Penn, the last royal
governor of Pennsylvania, and the descendant of the illustri
ous founder of the Colony. This dwelling he furnished mag
nificently, kept his coach and four, and a numerous retinue of
servants, and indulged in every kind of luxury, and ostenta
tious and vain profusion and display.
Among the many families who had kept up close inti
macy with the British officers while Howe held Philadel
phia, and who were known to be disaffected to the Whig
cause, was that of Edward Shippen. The Shippens were
of the first rank there, and are of distinction to this day.
The youngest daughter of Edward was under the age of
eighteen, was gay, beautiful, attractive, and ambitious. She
had been admired and flattered by Howe's officers, and was
a conspicuous personage at the gorgeous fete and festival
given by them on the occasion of Sir William's departure for
Europe. It is to be remembered, that her acquaintance with
the ill-fated Andre, was familiar, and that she corresponded
with him, after the British army had retired to New York
and before the treason. And this lady became the wife of a
Whig general ; of a general in the pay of a poor, distressed,
and exhausted country. The splendor, the equipage, the
military display of Arnold, captivated her, and their destiny
became one.
But Arnold should have the benefit of every circumstance
which, in the judgment of any, can lessen or palliate his guilt.
Beyond all doubt, then, Congress treated him unjustly. If his
case had never been submitted to that body, or if it had been
examined and disposed of by Washington, it is certainly
possible that his career might have terminated far less dis
honorably.
He was made a brigadier-general in the British service, and
received a large amount of gold to cover his alleged losses in
deserting the standard of his country. But his commission
was dyed with a gentleman's blood. His acquisition cost the
British army the life of one of its most accomplished officers.
In 1782 he commanded the American Legion. After Arnold
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 133
went to England, Mr. Van Shaack, a New York Loyalist, who
was also there, paid a visit to Westminster Abbey. " His
musings were interrupted by the entrance of a gentleman
accompanied by a lady. It was General Arnold, and the lady
was doubtless Mrs. Arnold. They passed to the cenotaph of
Major Andre, where they stood and conversed together. What
a spectacle ! The traitor Arnold in Westminster Abbey, at the
tomb of Andre, deliberately perusing the monumental inscrip
tion which will transmit to future ages the tale of his own
infamy. The scene, with the associations which naturally
crowded upon the mind, was calculated to excite various emo
tions in an American bosom ; and Mr. Van Shaack turned
from it with disgust."
From the conclusion of the war till his death, Arnold resided
chiefly in England ; but for awhile he was engaged in trade
and navigation at St. John, New Brunswick. He was disliked,
was unpopular, and even hated at St. John. Persons of that
city still relate instances of his perfidy and meanness ; some
who knew him are yet alive. George Gilbert, Esquire, (a son
of Bradford Gilbert, who was a Massachusetts Loyalist,) has
now (August, 1846) twelve chairs which are called the Trai
tor's Chairs, and which were carried from England to St. John
by Arnold. When he removed from New Brunswick he sold
them to the first Judge Chipman, who, after keeping them some
years, sold them to their present possessor. They are of a
French pattern, are large, and covered with blue figured dam
ask ; the wood- work is white, highly polished or enamelled,
and striped with gold.
General Arnold owned the first ship which was built in New
Brunswick. It is said that he obtained this vessel of the
builder, who was unable to procure the necessary sails and
rigging, and who unfortunately was in his power, by fraud.
He died in London in 1801, and Margaret, his widow, died
in the same city in 1804, at the early age of forty-three.
Of General Arnold's personal career, Mr. Sparks has left
nothing to be recorded, but I may state some additional partic
ulars of his family. When he removed from New Brunswick,
12
134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
he seems to have been the father of seven children. His first
wife bore him Benedict, Richard, and Henry. Benedict was
an officer of artillery in the British army, and, it is believed,
was compelled to quit the service ; he died young in the West
Indies. The children by his second marriage, were James
Robertson, Edward, George, and Sophia. James Robertson, I
conclude, was the only one of these four born in the United
States. At the time of the treason he was a child, and had
just reached West Point from Philadelphia, with his mother.
He entered the British army, and rose to the rank of colonel of
engineers. He was stationed at Bermuda from 1816 to 1818,
and from the last named year until 1823 was at Halifax, and
the commanding officer of engineers in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick. While thus in command he was at St. John, and
on going into the house built by his father in King street (which
is still standing), wept, as my informant states, like a child.
His wife was a Miss Goodrich of the Isle of Wight. He is a
small man, has eyes of remarkable sharpness, arid in features
bears a striking resemblance to his father. A gentleman who
has been in service with him, and is intimately acquainted with
him, speaks of him in terms of high commendation, and relates
that he expressed a desire to visit the United States. Since the
accession of Queen Victoria, he has been one of her Majesty's
aids-de-camp. In 1841 he was transferred from the engineer
corps, and is now (1846) a major-general, and a Knight of the
Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order.
Edward, some years ago, was in a banking-house in England.
George, in 1816, was an officer of dragoons. Sophia was an
infant when her parents departed from America, and her fate
is unknown to those to whom I am indebted for the informa
tion here given. It may be added, that the first General
Arnold's mother had six children, of whom he and his sister
Hannah alone lived to the years of maturity. This sister
adhered to her brother Benedict throughout his eventful and
guilty career, and was true to him in the darkest periods
of his history. She died at Montague in Upper Canada in
18U3, and was, as is uniformly stated, a lady of excellent
qualities of character.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 135
ARNOLD, HENRY. A son of General Arnold by his first mar
riage. He entered the king's service after his father's defection,
and was a lieutenant of cavalry in the American Legion. He
accompanied his father to St. John, and was employed in his
business. He slept in the warehouse near Lower Cove in
that city, and lodged there the night the building was burned.
He lived afterwards at Troy, New York, with his aunt Han
nah, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits. At a subsequent
period, he removed to Canada, where, in 1829, he was a man
of property. He received half-pay, and a grant of lands from
the British government.
ARNOLD, OLIVER. Of Conecticut. He was born in that
State, and graduated at Yale College. He went to St. John at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. Having
labored some years as an Episcopal missionary, he was in
ducted into office as rector of Sussex, New Brunswick, and
finished his course in that capacity in 1834, at the age of
seventy-nine. He was ardently attached to the Episcopal
church, and was regarded as an excellent man. In domestic
life he was peculiarly kind and affectionate.
ARNOLD, RICHARD. Brother of Henry. In 1782 he was
also a lieutenant of cavalry in the American Legion, com
manded by his father. In every particular his history, down
to the year 1829, is identical with that of his brother Henry,
and need not, therefore, be repeated. Persons are still living at
St. John, who resided there when General Arnold's store was
burned. The impression was, at the moment, and still is, that
the fire was caused by design, and for the purpose of defraud
ing a company in England, that had underwritten upon the
merchandise which it contained, to an amount far exceeding
its worth. These persons differ as to the fact, whether Arnold
himself was at St. John, or absent in England, at the time of
the fire ; and hence, the degree of blame which should be
attached to the two sons may be uncertain. That both Henry
and Richard slept in the store on the night of the conflagration,
and that neither could give a satisfactory account of its cause,
seems, however, to be certain.
136 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ARNOTT, HUGH. In 1782 he was surgeon of the American
Legion under Arnold.
ASEY, JAMES. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson in
1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year. In
July of 1774, a Boston Whig wrote to a friend at New York
as follows : " The Addressers of Mr. Hutchinson, and the
Protesters against our public measures, lead a devil of a life.
Inthe country the people will not grind their corn, and in
the town they refuse to purchase from, and sell to, them."
ASCOUGH, WILLIAM. Of West Chester County, New York,
and a Protester at White Plains.
ASH, RICHARD. Of Beaufort, South Carolina. After the sur
render of Charleston, he accepted of a commission under the
crown ; his estate was confiscated.
ASHLEY, JONATHAN. Minister of Westfield, and subsequently
of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Died in 1780. He was a warm
Loyalist, and difficulties occurred between him and his people
in consequence. An Ecclesiastical Council, convened in May,
1780, by mutual consent, to arrange the difference, dispersed
after a session of eleven days without arriving at any result ;
the death of Ashley, about three months after, closed the con
troversy. He expressed his particular sentiments freely and
boldly. The following anecdote is related as an instance
of his zeal : " When the provincial Congress of Massachusetts
issued the proclamation for the Annual Day of Thanksgiving,
they substituted the ejaculation, ' God save the people,' instead
of the former one, * God save the king.' He read the procla
mation from the pulpit, but when he had come to the close,
he raised himself above his ordinary height, and, with great
vehemence, subjoined, 'And God save the king,' I say, ' or
we are an undone people.' ' Mr. Ashley graduated at Yale
College in 1730. He was a man of strong mind, and was an
earnest and pungent preacher. At his decease, in 1780, he
was at the age of sixty-seven. Several of his sermons were
published.
ASHLEY, JOSEPH, Junior. Of Sunderland, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778. He went to Halifax
in 1776.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 137
ASKEW, LEONARD. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
ATKINS, CHARLES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1774
he was appointed a member of the Committee of Correspon
dence of that city. In 1780 he was an Addresser of Sir Henry
Clinton, and a Petitioner to be armed on the side of the crown.
He received a military commission, and in 1782 was an officer
in the Volunteers. He was banished, and his property was
confiscated. He went to England. In 1794, in a memorial
dated at London, he stated to the British Government, that
large debts due to him in America at the time of his banish
ment remained unpaid, and he desired relief.
ATKINS, DAVID. Laborer of Sandwich. Joined the royal
forces in Rhode Island in 1777, and was embraced in the
banishment act the next year.
ATKINS, GIBBS. Cabinet-maker of Boston, Massachusetts.
Went to Halifax in 1776, and in 1778 was proscribed and
banished.
ATKINSON, JOHN. Merchant of Boston, Massachusetts. Was
an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775, and
was proscribed under the act of 1778.
ATKINSON, THEODORE. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
He graduated at Harvard University in 1718, and in after life
rose to much distinction. He held, at various times, the offices
of Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Colonel of the militia,
Collector of the customs, Secretary of the Colony, and Judge
of the Superior Court ; and had a seat in the Council. In 1775
a committee of the Provincial Congress requested him to de
liver up all the records and papers in the secretary's office, which
he refused, as "against his oath and honor." On a second visit
the committee, without heeding his objections, took possession
of the documents of his office, except the volumes which con
tained the charter grants of lands, which were then in the
hands of Governor Wentworth. The missing books, Congress,
by resolution of July 7, 1775, voted that Mr. Atkinson should
be held accountable for to the people. In 1779 Mr. Atkinson
died at the advanced age of eighty-two. He bequeathed
12*
138 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
£200 sterling to the Episcopal Church of Portsmouth, the
interest of which he directed to be expended in bread and dis
tributed on Sundays, to the poor of the parish.
ATKINSON, HON. THEODORE, Junior. Of New Hampshire,
and son of the preceding. He graduated at Harvard Univer
sity in 1767. Entering upon political life, he became a mem
ber of the Council and Secretary of the Colony. He died at
Portsmouth, on Saturday, October 28, 1769, at the early age
of thirty-three, and his remains were deposited in the family
tomb, Queen's Chapel, with great pomp and circumstance.
On Saturday, November 11 — just two weeks after — his widow,
whose maiden name was Frances Deering Wentworth, was
married in the same chapel by the Reverend Arthur Browne,
to Governor John, afterwards Sir John Wentworth. She was
a Boston lady, very accomplished and gay; and, as Lady
Wentworth, had a diversified career. She was a cousin of
both husbands, and her earliest attachment was for Went
worth ; but while he was absent in England she married
Atkinson. There was much gossip at Portsmouth about the
three cousins at the revolutionary era, founded on the facts
here stated. And within a few years, a story relating to the
parties appeared in one of the magazines, which, extracted by
the newspaper press, went the rounds. The leading incidents
of the tale were both ridiculous and untrue.
ATKINSON, WILLIAM. In 1782 was an officer of infantry in
the Queen's Rangers.
AT WOOD, ISAAC. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
American Regiment.
AT WOOD, . Practitioner of physic and comb maker of
Christiana, Delaware. He was ordered to surrender himself
within a specified time in 1778, or suffer the loss of his estate.
AUCHMUTY, ROBERT. Brother of Samuel. He was a law
yer of Boston, and held the office of Judge of Admiralty, a
place which had been filled by his father. He possessed fine
powers as an advocate, and was associated with John Adams
in the defence of Captain Preston, on his trial for the Boston
Massacre in 1770. His letters to persons in England were
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 139
sent to America, with those of Governor Hutchinson, by Frank
lin in 1773, and created much commotion. He went to
England in 1776, and at one period was in very distressed
circumstances. He never returned to the United States.
AUCHMUTY, SAMUEL, D. D. His father was Robert Auch-
muty, an eminent lawyer and a judge of admiralty of Massa
chusetts. Samuel graduated at Harvard University in 1742.
He was Rector of Trinity Church, New York, and died
March 3d, 1777. His doctorate of divinity was derived from
Oxford, England. Trumbull calls him a "high-church clergy
man " and makes him the subject of remark in McFingal. In
April, 1775, Dr. Auchmuty wrote from New York to Captain
Montresor, chief engineer of General Gage's army at Boston,
that " we have lately been plagued with a rascally Whig mob
here, but they have effected nothing, only Sears, the King,
was rescued at the jail door" * * * "Our magistrates
have not the spirit of a louse," &c.
AUCHMUTY, LIEUTENANT GENERAL SIR SAMUEL. He was the
youngest son of the Reverend Doctor Samuel Auchmuty, and
was born in 1758. He was educated at Columbia College,
New York. In 1776 he joined Sir William Howe as an ensign
in the forty-fifth regiment. He died in 1822, aged sixty-four
years, and lieutenant general of the British army.
AUGUSTINE, FREDERICK. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
AUSTIN, NICHOLAS. Of New Hampshire. In 1774 he was
charged by the Whig Committee with procuring artificers, &c.
to go from New Hampshire to Boston to erect barracks for the
royal troops, and was obliged to get upon his knees and con
fess his fault.
AVERY, SAMUEL. Died at Horton, Nova Scotia, in 1836,
aged ninety-four years.
AYLWIN, THOMAS. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year.
AYMAR, FRANCIS. Descended from a family that fled to the
United States during the religious persecutions in France.
Was born in the city of New York in 1759, and died at St.
140 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Andrew, New Brunswick, October, 1843, aged eighty-four
years. He was one of the grantees of, and settled at St. John,
New Brunswick, in the autumn of IT 83, and continued his
residence there until 1807, when he returned to the United
States, and lived alternately at Eastport, Maine ; New York ;
and St. Andrew, up to the time of his decease. He was the
father of fifteen children, of whom the following survived him :
Daniel, William, John, Francis, Nancy, Mary, Betsey, Eleanor,
Sarah, and Phebe. John Ay mar, the father of Benjamin
Aymar, a distinguished merchant of New York, was his
brother.
AXTELL, WILLIAM. Of New York. He was a member of
the Council of the Colony, and was considered to be in office
in 1782. He was a man of wealth. His property was con
fiscated.
BABBIT, DANIEL. He died at Gagetown, New Brunswick, in
1830, at the age of eighty- seven.
BABCOCK, LUKE. Episcopal minister at Philipsburgh, New
York. In 1775 he was one of the Protesters at White Plains
against the Whigs. The Protest was signed by three hundred
and twelve persons ; the names of Frederick Phillips, Isaac
Wilkins, and Samuel Seabury, precede that of Mr. Babcock.
The form of this document is given in the notice of Mr.
Seabury.
BACHE, THEOPHILACT. Of New York. He was a determined
Loyalist. His brother Richard married Sarah, daughter of
Doctor Franklin, and was a Whig. The political sympathies
of Theophilact were, possibly, the same as Richard's at the
outset ; since he was associated with Jay and Lewis on the
Committee of Correspondence. At one period of the war his
place of residence was at Flatbush, Long Island. Extremely
obnoxious to some of the Whigs, in the course of events, a
daring attempt to carry him off was made in 1778, by a Cap
tain Marriner, an eccentric, witty, and ingenious partisan,
which resulted successfully. Marriner's plan embraced Sher-
brook. Axtell, and Mathews, three other Loyalists of rank
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 141
and consequence; but Bache and Sherbrook were the two
whom he actually captured, and they were placed in a boat
and conveyed to New Jersey. In 1782 Mr. Bache was Vice
President of the New York Chamber of Commerce. He died
in that city in 1807, aged seventy-eight. His kindness to
Whigs who were carried to New York and its vicinity as pris
oners, during the Revolution, is worthy of respecful mention.
BACKER, BENJAMIN, Senior. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
Was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; was banished
and lost his estate under the confiscation act in 1782. He died
soon after.
BACKER, JOHN, Junior. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Went
to Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778;
but was afterwards in the United States. He arrived at St.
John, New Brunswick, in the spring of 1783, in the ship
Union.
BACKER, THOMAS. State unknown. Arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, and the crown granted him a city
lot.
BACON, EDWARD. Member of the General Court from Barn-
stable, Massachusetts. He incurred the displeasure of the
Whigs in the neighborhood of Barnstable, and several mem
bers of the Legislature were instructed by their towns to move
for his expulsion.
BADDELY, THOMAS. In 1782 he was a captain in the Royal
Garrison Battalion.
BADGER, MOSES. An Episcopal clergyman. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1761. His wife was a daughter of
Judge Saltonstall of Massachusetts, and sister of Colonel Rich
ard and Leverett, the two Loyalist sons .t of that gentleman.
Mr. Badger went to Halifax in 1776, but was at New York at
or about the time of the death of Leverett, and wrote to the
family on the subject. At one period he was chaplain to De
Lancey's second battalion. After the Revolution, Mr. Badger
was Rector of King's Chapel, Providence, and died in that
city in 1792. It appears, that some years prior to the war he
was an Episcopal Missionary in New Hampshire, authorized
to labor throughout that Colony.
142
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BAILEY, JACOB. He graduated at Harvard University in 1755.
Principally through the instrumentality of the Plymouth pro
prietors in Maine, an Episcopal Church was erected at Pow-
nalborough, now Wiscasset, in that State, and for several years
Mr. Bailey was the officiating clergyman, as a missionary of
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Few around
him agreed with him in political sentiment, and as the revolu
tionary controversy darkened, he quitted the country, and went
to Annapolis, Nova Scotia, where he became the Rector of
St. Luke's Church, in which relation he continued until his
death in 1808, at the age of sixty-seven. During the last
twenty-six years of his life he was absent from his Church
only one Sunday. It may be remarked here, that nearly all
the Loyalists of Maine were Episcopalians, and that few of
other communions in that State adhered to the king.
BAILEY, OLIVER and JOSEPH. Went to St. John, New Bruns
wick in 1783, and were grantees of the city.
BAILEY, SAMUEL and JONATHAN. Of Fairfield County, Con
necticut. Were members of the Reading Association.
BAILEY, THOMAS. Of Pennsylvania. Was tried in 1778 on
a charge of supplying the king's army with provisions, found
guilty, and sentenced to confinement to hard labor for one
month.
BAILEY, WILLIAM. State unknown. In 1782 was captain-
lieutenant of the Loyal American Regiment ; he settled after
the war in New Brunswick, and received half-pay. He died
on the river St. John, near Fredericton, in 1532, at the ad
vanced age of ninety-seven.
BAILEY, ZACHARIAH. Died at Fredericton, New Brunswick,
in 1823, aged seventy-two.
BAIRD, WILLIAM. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was the grantee of a lot in that city.
BAIZLEY, JOHN. Of West Chester County, New York. Was
a Protester at White Plains.
BALDWEEN, JOHN. He served the king throughout the Revo
lution, and at its close sought refuge in Charlotte County, New
Brunswick. He was distinguished for bravery and for forti-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 143
tude in surmounting obstacles. He died at St. George, New
Brunswick, August, 1840, aged ninety-one years.
BALENTINE, ALEXANDER. He went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace. He was one of the grantees of that city.
BALL, ELIAS. Two of this name in South Carolina. One
lived at Wambaw, the other at Curmantee ; both held commis
sions under the crown after the fall of Charleston ; and both
lost their estates under the confiscation act.
BALL, . Captain of a militia company in the town
of Berne, New York. His command consisted of eighty-five
men ; of whom sixty- three joined him in going over to the
king at the commencement of hostilities. His ensign, Peter
Deitz, and the remainder of his men, were Whigs. Deitz was
commissioned captain, and his brother, William Deitz, lieuten
ant. Peter was killed in 1777, and William succeeded him in
command, and by his activity incurred the hate of the Tories,
when with his family they made him their prisoner, and tied
him to his gate-post to witness the death of his father arid
mother, his wife and children, who were successively brought
out and murdered before his eyes. The unhappy Deitz him
self was carried to Niagara, where he ultimately became a
victim of Tory cruelty.
BALLINGALL, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. He was in com
mission under the crown after the surrender of Charleston in
1780 ; his estate was confiscated.
BALMAINE, WILLIAM. He settled at Grand Lake, New Bruns
wick. While at St. John, in 1809, he fell from a window and
was killed. His age was seventy-two.
BANGS, SETH. Mariner of Hardwick, Massachusetts. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
BANISTER, THOMAS. A petitioner for lands in Nova Scotia,
in July, 1783. See Abijah Willard.
BANK, THOMAS. Of Pennsylvania. He was in London in
July, 1779.
BANKS, SETH. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of the
Association.
BANYER, GOLDSBROW. In 1782 he was Registrar of the
Court of Chancery of New York.
144
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BARBARIE, JOHN. In 1782 he was a captain in the second
battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He went to St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
He received half-pay. He was a colonel of the militia, and a
magistrate of the County of York. He died at Sussex Vale
in 1818, at the age of sixty-seven. His son, Andrew Barbaric,
Esq., is a member of the House of Assembly of New Bruns
wick.
BARBARIE, OLIVER. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Loyal American Regiment. He settled at St. John in 1783,
and was the grantee of a city lot. He died at Sussex Vale,
New Brunswick.
BARCAS, JAMES. Husbandman of Little Creek, Delaware.
He was required in 1778 to surrender himself, or to lose his
estate, both real and personal.
BARCAS, STEPHEN. Husbandman of Little Creek, Delaware.
By an act of 1778 his estate was to become absolutely forfeit,
unless he should surrender himself for trial on or before
August 1st of that year.
BARCLAY, ANDREW. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774.
BARCLAY, REVEREND DOCTOR HENRY. An Episcopal clergy
man of New York. He was a native of Albany, and graduated
at Yale College in 1734, and after taking orders in England,
was employed as a missionary to the Mohawk Indians. After
some years' labor in this capacity, he was appointed Rector of
Trinity Church in the city of New York. His death dissolved
the connexion in 1765. His daughter Nancy married Colonel
Beverley Robinson the younger, at Flushing, New York,
January 26th, 1778.
BARCLAY, THOMAS. Was the son of Henry Barclay, D. D.,
Rector of Trinity Church, New York, and was born in that
city, October 12th, 1753. He was a graduate of Columbia
College, and a student of law of John Jay. At the commence
ment of the Revolution he entered the British Army under Sir
William Howe, as a captain in the Loyal American Regiment,
and was promoted to a major by Sir Henry Clinton in 1777.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 145
He continued in active service until the peace. His estate in
New York was confiscated, and at the close of the contest
he fled with his family to Nova Scotia. Of the House of As
sembly of that Province he was for some time speaker ; and of
the militia, adjutant- general. From 1796 till 1828 he was
employed in civil stations under the British crown of great
trust and honor. He was successively a commissioner under
Jay's Treaty, the consul-general for the Northern and Eastern
States, and commissary for the care and exchange of prisoners.
At the conclusion of the war of 1812, between the United
States and Great Britain, he was appointed commissioner un
der the fourth and fifth Articles of the Treaty of Ghent, which
post he continued to hold until within two years of his decease.
In private life he was estimable. He was a sincere and devout
Christian of the communion of the Church of England. A
prominent trait in his character was kindness and charity to
the poor. His official conduct was the subject of frequent and
marked approbation of the sovereigns whom he served, and at
the close of his services he was rewarded with a pension of
£1200 per annum. His habits of industry and application
were extraordinary ; and he was never in bed at sunrise for
forty years. He died at New York in April, 1830, aged
seventy-seven years. His son, Colonel Delancy Barclay, an
aid-de-camp to George the Fourth, died in 1826; he had
repeatedly distinguished himself, particularly at Waterloo.
BARDSLEY, ABEL. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. He
arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, with his wife and one
child, in the ship Union, in 1783.
BARKER, ABIJAH. Whose place of residence is unknown,
arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and received the
grant of a city lot.
BARKER, WILLIAM and THOMAS. Of Westchester County;
New York. Were Protesters at White Plains in 1775, and the
latter, in 1782, was an ensign in the King's American Regi
ment.
BARLOW, NATHANIEL. Of Reading, Connecticut. Was a
member of the Association.
13
146 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
•
BARLOW, THOMAS. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783, and was a grantee of that city.
BARNARD, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Hali
fax with the British army.
EARNED, HENRY. Of Pennsylvania. He went to England,
and was in London in 1779.
BARNES, HENRY. Merchant of Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778. Henry Barnes Esq.,
a native of the United States, died in London in 1808, aged
eighty-four ; probably the same.
BARNHAM, COMFORT and ELIJAH. Of Fairfield County, Con
necticut. Were members of the Reading Association.
BARNHAM, NATHAN. Was an ensign in De Lancey's third
battalion.
BARNUM, NATHANIEL. He was an ensign in De Lancey's
third battalion.
BARRAGIN, LUKE. Of Jamaica, Long Island, New York. A
signer of the Declaration against the proceedings of the Whigs,
January, 1775.
BARRELL, COLBURN. Of Boston. In 1774 was a Protester
against the Whigs, and one of the Addressers of Hutchinson
the same year. He was at New York in 1783, and one of the
fifty-five petitioners for lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah
Willard. He was a Sandemanian.
BARRELL, WALTER. Was inspector-general of the customs;
and in his religious sentiments a follower of Robert Sande-
man ; he embarked at Boston with the British army in 1776,
for Halifax, and arrived in England in the summer of the
same year. In 1779 he was a member of the Loyalist Associ
ation formed in London ; his second daughter, Polly, died in
London in 1810.
BARRETT, JOSEPH. He died at Halifax in 1809, aged sixty-
one.
BARRICK, JAMES. Merchant of Boston. Went to Halifax in
1776, and in August of that year arrived in England ; in 1778
he was proscribed and banished. In 1779 he was in London
and addressed the king.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 147
BARRICK, JAMES, Junior. Was in London in July, 1779.
BARROW, SAMUEL. Of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. In
1778 it was ordered in Council that, failing to surrender him
self for trial for treason, he should stand attainted.
BARRY, ROBERT. At the close of the Revolution he embark
ed at New York for Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He became an
eminent merchant, established branch-houses in various parts
of the province, and his name is connected with the largest of
the early commercial enterprises of Nova Scotia. He was dis
tinguished for qualities which adorn the Christian character,
and throughout life was highly esteemed. His death occurred
at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, September, 1843, in the eighty-
fourth year of his age.
BARRY, W. He was a lieutenant in the Royal Foresters
under Conolly, and died on Long Island, New York, in 1781.
BARSON, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Address
er of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BARTELS, JOHN. Of Charleston. South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BARTLETT, RICHARD. Of New York. Was included in the
disfranchising law of that State of 1784, but in 1786 was
restored to his civil rights, on his taking the oath of abjuration
and allegiance.
BARTON, COLONEL - — . State unknown. Commanded a
body of Tories, and was captured on Staten Island in 1777,
with about forty of his men, and carried to New Jersey.
BARTON, DAVID. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Was an Ad
dresser of Gage in 1775.
BARTON, JAMES and HENRY. In 1782 were ensigns in the
first battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
BARTON, THOMAS. An Episcopal clergyman. He was a
native of Ireland, and educated at the University of Dublin.
In 1753 he married a sister of Mr. Rittenhouse, and was
ordained the next year in England. To Mr. Rittenhouse his
talents and learning were of great service. From 1755 to
1759 he was a missionary. In the French war he became
acquainted with Washington, while a chaplain to the troops.
143
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Subsequently, he was rector at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for
many years. An adherent of the crown, he refused to take a
required oath; and in 1778 retired to New York, where he
died in 1780, aged fifty years. The memoirs of Rittenhouse
were written by his son William Barton. Another son, Ben
jamin Smith Barton, doctor of medicine, was a distinguished
professor in the University of Pennsylvania, and succeeded
the celebrated Rush. Professor Barton was the first Ameri
can who published an elementary work on botany.
BARTRAM, JOHN. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A mem-
of the Association at Reading.
BARTRAM, PAUL. Of Reading. A member of the Associa
tion.
BATCHELDER, BREED. Of New Hampshire. His estate was
confiscated, and he was proscribed and banished.
BATES, WALTER. Of Stamford, Connecticut. In the spring
of 1783 he arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship
Union. He settled in King's County, and for many years was
its sheriff. He died at Kingston in that county in 1842, aged
eighty-two.
BATT, THOMAS. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Royal
Fensible Americans.
BATWELL, DANIEL. In 1782 he was chaplain of the third
battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers.
BAUM . He was tried by a court-martial, and executed
in Maine in 1780, by General Wads worth, who commanded
the eastern department between the Piscataqua and the St.
Croix. This act of severity gave the General himself great
pain, and was condemned by many Whigs, but it appears to
have been necessary, and to have checked the treacherous
intercourse of the eastern Tories with their British friends
who held Castine.
BAUMAN, JOHN. Of Tryon County, New York. In 1775 a
signer of a Declaration of loyalty.
BAXTER, SIMON. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished, and lost his estate under the confiscation act. He
fell into the hands of a party of Whigs during the war, and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 149
was condemned to die. When brought out for execution, he
broke and fled with the rope about his neck, and succeeded in
reaching Burgoyne's army. He went to New Brunswick at
the peace, and died at Norton, King's County, in 1804, aged
seventy-four. His widow Prudence died the same year, at
the age of seventy-three.
BAXTER, STEPHEN. Of Jamaica. Embarked for Nova Scotia
in June, 1783.
BAXTER, WILLIAM. Was proscribed and banished.
BAYARD, JOHN. Of New York ; as were also the five fol
lowing. In 1782 was lieutenant colonel commandant of the
King's Orange Rangers.
BAYARD, ROBERT. Was Judge of the Admiralty Court, and
considered to be in office in 1782. His estate was confis
cated.
BAYARD, SAMUEL. In 1774 was engaged in a controversy
with other proprietors of lands in New York, and in behalf of
himself and associates, submitted a memorial to the British
government, praying to be put in quiet possession of a part of
the tract called the Westenhook Patent. After General Lee
took command in the city in 1776, Mr. Bayard was made
prisoner, and placed under guard at the house of Nicholas
Bayard. He entered the service of the crown, and in 1782
was major of the King's Orange Rangers.
BAYARD, SAMUEL, Junior. Was deputy secretary of the
Colony previous to the Revolution, and was considered to be
in office in 1782.
BAYARD, SAMUEL VETCH. Served under the crown, and was
a military officer. He died in Wilmot, Nova Scotia, in 1832,
aged seventy-five.
BAYARD, WILLIAM. Was associated with Jay, Lewis, and
others, as a member of the Committee of Fifty of the city of
New York, and he appears to have been of Whig sympathies
at the beginning of the controversy. In 1773 Mr. Quincy,
of Massachusetts, on his return from the South, passed through
New York, and recorded in his journal, under the date of May
12th, "Spent the morning in writing and roving, and dined
13*
150 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
with Colonel William Bayard at his seat on the North River."
His property was confiscated.
BAYEUX, THOMAS. In 1782 he was an officer in the Super
intendent Department at New York.
BAYLEY, PHILIP. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1775
he signed and published a Submission, or Recantation, in
which he asked forgiveness for the past, and promised that
his future conduct should convince the public, that he would
risk his life and interest in defence of the liberties of the
country. In his case, as in several others, the written recan
tation was probably extorted from an unwilling mind to avert
some impending blow. Many recanters went into exile.
Bayley, in 1778, was proscribed and banished. The cap
tain lieutenant of the Royal Fensible Americans in 1782 was
Philip Bailey, and, possibly, the subject of this notice.
BAYLEY, RICHARD. An eminent physician of New York.
He was bom in Connecticut in 1745, and in 1769 and 1770
attended lectures and hospitals in London. In 1772 he com
menced practice in New York, and his attention was early
attracted to the croup, which professional men had treated
as putrid sore throat. His experiments resulted in the adop
tion of the present active treatment of the croup, and in an
entire change of remedies for that formidable disease. In
1776 he was in the British army under Howe, as a surgeon,
but incapable of enduring separation from his wife, he resign
ed just before her decease in 1777. For the remainder of his
life he was engaged in the duties of a professional kind. He
occupied the chairs of anatomy and surgery in Columbia
College, and published letters and essays on medical subjects.
He died in 1801, aged fifty-six. He is represented as a man
of high temper, strong in his attachments, and invincible in
his dislikes, and of honorable, chivalrous character.
BAYNTON, BENJAMIN. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Pennsylvania Loyalists.
BAZZEY, JAMES. Of North Carolina. He went to England.
In 1779 he was in London, and addressed the king.
BEACH, EZEKIEL. Of Mendham, New Jersey. In July, 1775,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 151
the Committee of Observation of that township published him
for his unfriendly conversation and conduct towards the Con
tinental Association, and recommended that all persons forbear
dealing and connexion with him.
BEACH, REVEREND JOHN. He graduated at Yale College in
1721, and for several years was a Congregational minister in
Connecticut; but finally became an Episcopalian. In 1732 he
went to England for ordination, and on his return, was em
ployed as an Episcopalian Missionary in Reading and New-
town, Connecticut. After the Declaration of Independence, he
continued to pray for the king, and to give other evidence of
his loyalty. His course gave great displeasure to the Whigs,
and he suffered at their hands. He died in March, 1782.
During his life, he was engaged in one or more religious con
troversies. Several of his compositions of this description,
and a number of sermons, were published. The following
extracts from two of his letters to the Society for the Propa
gation of the Gospel, whose missionary he was, contain
interesting information. The last, as will be seen, was dated
only a few months before his death.
" Newtown, May 5, 1772.
" As it is now forty years since I have had the advantage
of being the venerable Society's missionary in this place, I
suppose it will not be improper to give a brief account how I
have spent my time, and improved their charity. Every Sun
day I have performed divine service, and preached twice, at
Newtown and Reading alternately. And in these forty years
I have lost only two Sundays through sickness ; although in
all that time I have been afflicted with a constant colic,
which has not allowed me one day's ease or freedom from
pain. The distance between the churches at Newtown and
Reading is between eight and nine miles, and no very good
road, yet have I never failed one time to attend each place
according to custom, through the badness of the weather, but
have rode it in the severest rains and snow storms, even when
there has been no track, and my horse near mining down in
152 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
the snow banks, which has had this good effect on my parish
ioners, that they are ashamed to stay from church on account
of bad weather, so that they are remarkably forward to attend
the public worship. As to my labors without my parish, I
have formerly performed divine service in many towns where
the common-prayer had never been heard, nor the Scriptures
read in public ; and where now are flourishing congregations
of the Church of England, and in some places where there
never had been any public worship at all, or any sermon
preached by any preacher of any denomination.
" In my travelling to preach the Gospel, once was my life
remarkably preserved in passing a deep and rapid river. The
retrospect on my fatigues, as lying on straw, &c., gives me
pleasure, while I flatter myself that my labor has not been
quite in vain, for the Church of England people are increased
much more than twenty to one ; and what is infinitely more
pleasing, many of them are remarkable for piety and virtue ;
and the independents here are more knowing in matters of
religion than they who live at a great distance from our
church. We live in harmony and peace with each other, and
the rising generation of the independents seem to be entirely
free from every pique and prejudice against the church,
&c. &c.
"JOHN BEACH."
* " Newtown, October 31, 1781.
" It is a long time since I have done my duty in writing to
the venerable Society, not owing to my carelessness, but to the
impossibility of conveyance from here, and now do it spar
ingly. A narrative of my troubles I dare not now give. My
two congregations are growing ; that of Reading being com
monly about three hundred, and at Newtown about six hun
dred. I baptize about one hundred and thirty children in one
year, and lately two adults. Newtown and the Church of
England part of Reading are (I believe) the only parts of
New England that have refused to comply with the doings of
the Congress, and for that reason have been the butt of general
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 153
hatred ; but God has delivered us from entire destruction.
I am now in the eighty-second year of my age, yet do con
stantly alternately perform and preach at Newtown and Read
ing. I have been sixty years a public preacher, and, after
conviction, in the Church of England fifty years ; but had I
been sensible of my insufficiency, I should not have under
taken it. But now I rejoice in that I think I have done more
good towards men's eternal happiness than I should have
done in any other calling. I do most heartily thank the ven
erable Society for their liberal support, and beg that they will
accept of this, which is, I believe, my last bill, £ 325, which,
according to former custom, is due.
"At this age I cannot well hope for it, but I pray God I may
have an opportunity to explain myself with safety ; but must
conclude now with Job's expression — ' Have pity upon me,
have pity upon me, O ye my friends.' '
BEACH, LAZARUS. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
BEAMAN, THOMAS. Of Petersham, Massachusetts. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
BEAN, THOMAS. He went from New York to St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783, and of the latter city was a grantee.
He and Dowling were contractors for the building of Trinity
Church, St. John. He died at Portland, New Brunswick, in
1823, aged seventy-nine.
BEARD, ROBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished. In
1782 his property was confiscated.
BEARDSLEY, JOHN. In 1782 he was chaplain of the Loyal
American Regiment. He went to New Brunswick after the
war, and settled as an Episcopal clergyman at Maugerville,
where he died.
BEARSLEE, JESSE. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
BEAVAN, THOMAS W. W. In 1782 he was examiner in the
Court of Chancery of New York.
BECK, JOSEPH. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was grantee of a city lot.
154 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BECKWITH, NEHEMIAH. He settled at St. John, New Bruns
wick, but removed to Fredericton, where he died in 1815.
BECRAFT, . A Tory leader, cruel, and noted for deeds
of blood. He boasted to his associates, of having assisted to
massacre the family of a Mr. Vrooman, in Schoharie, New
York. The family, he said, were soon despatched, except a
boy of fourteen, who ran from the house, when he started in
pursuit, overtook him, and cut his throat, took his scalp, and
hung his body across the fence. After the peace, he had the
hardihood to return to Schoharie. He was seized, stripped
naked and bound to a tree, and whipped nearly to death by
ten men, some of whom had been his prisoners, and had
heard him recount this exploit. Thus beaten, he was dis
missed with a charge never to show himself in that country
again, an injunction which he carefully kept.
BEDLE. There were a number of Loyalists of this name
in New York. In 1776 Benajah, Joseph, David, Jacob, Syl-
vanus, Mordecai, and Jacomiah, of Queen's County, acknowl
edged allegiance. Five of the name went to St. John, New
Brunswick, at the peace, and were grantees of that city.
These were Paul, John, Joseph, Stephen, and William. Paul
and Joseph were merchants at St. John, as early as 1784, or
the next year after its settlement. John lived at Woodstock,
where he was a magistrate for forty years ; and after the
division of York County was a magistrate, a Judge of Com
mon Pleas, and Register of Wills and Deeds for the County of
Carl ton ; he died in 1838, aged eighty- three. Mary Cranston,
the widow of Paul Bedle, and born in Newport, Rhode
Island, died at St. John in 1842, at the age of eighty-three.
BEEBE, DOCTOR . He was tarred and feathered, and
otherwise roughly treated, by a mob styled the Sons of Lib
erty, at East Haddam, Connecticut, in the year 1774.
BEEBELL, ROBERT. Clerk of the Customs. He embarked
at Boston with the British army for Halifax, in 1776.
BELL, ANDREW. Residence unknown. In 1783 was a peti
tioner for lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
BELL, DANIEL and JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
Were Addressers of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. LdO
BELL, GEORGE. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778.
BELL, JAMES. Who, I suppose, had been lieutenant of a
Loyalist corps.
BELL. JOHN and JACOB. Went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and were grantees of that city.
BELL, ROBERT. Of Granville County, North Carolina. Lost
his estate under the confiscation act.
BELL, RICHARD. Surgeon of the Royal Garrison Battalion.
BELL, WILLIAM. Residence unknown. In 1782 was a lieu
tenant in the King's Orange Rangers.
BELLIN, ALLARD. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BELLINGER, EDWARD; Senior. Of South Carolina. In 1782
his estate was amerced twelve per cent.
BELTON, JONATHAN. Of South Carolina. After the surren
der of Charleston in 1780, he held a commission under the
crown. Estate confiscated.
BENEDICT, ELI. In 1782 was an ensign in the Guides and
Pioneers, commanded by Colonel Beverley Robinson.
BENEDICT, MICHAEL. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Was a member of the Reading Loyalist Association.
BENNET, or BENNETT. Fifteen persons of this name of
Queen's County, New York, acknowledged allegiance, Octo
ber, 1775. To wit : John, Jacob, William, John junior,
James, Cornelius, Nicholas, W., Jeromus, W., Garset, Jeromus
senior, George, John junior, John. — John, Cornelius, and
Isaac, of Jamaica, were signers of a Declaration in 1775.
BENNISON, GEORGE. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
BENTHAM, JAMES. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
BERGEN. Of those who signed a Declaration of loyalty in
1775, were several of this name; namely, Derrick Bergen,
Teunis Bergen, John Bergen, Jacob Bergen, Jacob Bergen
junior, and John Bergen junior ; all of Jamaica, Long Island,
New York. Five persons of this name of Queen's County,
156
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October 1776. To wit :
Jacob, Johannes, Teunis, Luke, Derrick. During the war,
some Whigs entered the house of Michael Bergen, at Gowan-
nus, New York, and though a party of the royal troops
were near, they made prisoner of a Hessian major, who
was Bergen's lodger.
BERNARD, SIR THOMAS, BARONET. He was the third son of
Sir Francis Bernard, Baronet, Governor of Massachusetts, and
graduated at Harvard University in 1767. He went to Eng
land, where he married a lady of fortune. On the death of
his brother, Sir John Bernard — who was a Whig — he suc
ceeded to the title. His time was much devoted to institutions
of benevolence in London ; and he wrote several essays with
a design to mitigate the sorrows, and improve the condition
of the humbler classes of English society. The University
of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws.
He died in England in 1818.
BERNARD, SIR JOHN. The brother of Sir Thomas — above
mentioned — remained in America ; and, as remarked, was a
Whig. Soon after the Revolution he was in abject poverty,
and the misfortunes of himself and his family seem to have
unsettled his mind. When, in 1769, Sir Francis was recalled
from the Government of Massachusetts, he possessed a consid
erable landed estate in Maine, of which the large island of
Mount Desert, Moose Island, (now Eastport) and some territory
on the main, formed a part. John, at or about the time of his
father's departure, had an agency for the settlement of these
and other lands ; and, probably, until the confiscation of his
father's property in 1778, was in comfortable circumstances.
His place of residence during the war appears to have been
at Bath, though he was sometimes at Machias. Not long
after the peace, he lived at Pleasant Point, a few miles from
Eastport, in a small hut built by himself, and with no com
panion but a dog. An unbroken wilderness was around him.
The only inhabitants at the head of the tide waters of the
St. Croix were a few workmen, preparing to erect a saw
mill. Robbinston and Perry were uninhabited. Eastport con-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 157
tained a single family. Yet, at the spot now occupied by the
remnant of the tribe of the Passamaquoddy's, he attempted
to make a farm. He had been bred in ease, had hardly done
a day's work in his life ; and yet he believed that he could
earn a competence by labor. He told those who saw him,
that " other young men went into the woods, and made them
selves farms, and got a good living, and he saw no reason
why he could not." But he cut down a few trees, became
discouraged, and departed. His abject condition in mind
and estate rendered him an object of deep commiseration ;
and his conduct during hostilities having entitled him to con
sideration, the legislature of Massachusetts restored to him
one half of the island of Mount Desert. Of his subsequent
history, while he continued in the United States, but little is
known to me. He came to Maine occasionally, and was
much about Boston. Later in life he held offices under the
British crown at Barbadoes and St. Vincent ; and was known
as Sir John Bernard, Baronet. He died in the West Indies
in 1809, when his brother Thomas — the subject of the pre
ceding sketch — succeeded to the title.
BERRIEN, ABRAHAM. Of Queen's County, New York.
Acknowledged allegiance October, 1776.
BERRY, EDWARD. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
BERRY, JOHN. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Was an Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and a Protester against the
Whigs the same year.
BERRY, THOMAS. Of Westchester County, New York. Was
a Protester at White Plains.
BERTRAM, ALEXANDER. Of Philadelphia.. His estate was
confiscated in 1779.
BETHELL, ROBERT. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
Orange Rangers.
BETHUNE, GEORGE. Of Boston. In 1774 he was an Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in May, and one of the Protesters
against the proceedings of the town meeting in June of that
year. The next year he had retired to Jamaica, New York,
14
158 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
where he was suspected of carrying on a correspondence with
the British forces, and was summoned to appear before the
committee with his papers. Mr. Bethune graduated at Har
vard University in 1740, and died in 1785.
BETTS, AZOR. A physician ; settled in Nova Scotia, and died
at Digby in that Colony in 1807. His widow, Gloriannah,
died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1815, aged sixty-nine.
BETTS, STEPHEN. Of Reading, Connecticut. Was a mem
ber of the Loyalist Association.
BETTS, THOMAS and RICHARD. Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged themselves loyal and well affected
subjects, October, 1776. In April, 1779, Thomas was an
Addresser of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling, while Richard
signed a Declaration against the Whigs as early as 1775.
BETTS, WILLIAM. In 1778 kept a tavern at Jamaica, New
York, sign of General Amherst. In 1779 he advertised
11 choice liquors, dinners on the shortest notice, and good
stabling." The same year Loyal Refugees were recruiting
at his house.
BETTS, CAPTAIN R. Of Queen's County, New York. In
1780 was an Addresser of Governor Robertson.
BETTYS, JOSEPH,.. A noted Tory. "Joe Bettys" was known
as a shrewd, intelligent, daring, and bad man. It is said, that
pity and mercy were emotions which he never felt, and that to
all the gentler impulses he was thoroughly insensible. At the
breaking out of the Revolution he lived at Ballston, New
York, and was a Whig. Entering the Whig service he per
formed feats of extraordinary valor in Arnold's battle with
Carlton on Lake Champlain, where he was taken prisoner
and carried to Canada. While a captive, he was unfortunately
seduced to attach himself to the interests of the crown, and
to accept the commission of ensign. Admirably fitted to act
as a messenger and spy, he undertook to perform the duties
of one or both as occasion should require, but was captured
by his former friends, tried, and condemned to the gallows.
Washington, however, spared his life on his promise of refor
mation, on the entreaties of his aged parents and the solicita-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 159
tions of influential Whigs. But Bettys returned directly
to the ranks of the enemy, and his subsequent career was
marked by almost every enormity that can disgrace a human
being. His very name struck terror, and a record of his
enterprises and crimes would fill a book. He burned the
dwellings of persons whom he hated, or took them off by
murder. Fatigue, distance, or danger, were no obstacles in
the accomplishment of his designs. He knew that he carried
his life in his hand. He scorned disguise or concealment.
He fell upon his victims at noon as well as at midnight.
Many plans were laid, many efforts made to seize him. At
last, in 1782, the Whigs were successful, and detected him
with a despatch to the commander of the British forces in
New York. He was taken to Albany and executed as a
spy and traitor. His death was deemed an event of no
small consequence, both because it put an end to his own
misdeeds, and because his fate was calculated to awe others
who were engaged in the same perilous employments.
BEVERADGE, DAVID. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
BIBBY, THOMAS. He was seized at Long Island, New York,
in 1775 ; sent to Massachusetts, arid confined within the limits
of the town of Lunenburgh.
BIDDLE, JOHN. Of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Was
collector of excise, and a deputy quartermaster of the Whig
army. He changed sides, and in 1779 his estate was con
fiscated. His office of collector of excise was worth, in 1775,
but £15.
BIGBY, JAMES. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
BIGG, JOHN. He died in New Brunswick in 1836, aged
seventy-eight.
BIGGS, PETER. Of Pennsylvania. Was in London in 1779.
BILES, SAMUEL. Sheriff of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
His estate was confiscated in 1779.
BILLOPP, CHRISTOPHER. Of New York. Was a gentleman
of character and property, and a member of the House of
160 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Assembly. He commanded a corps of Loyalists, or of loyal
militia, raised in the vicinity of New York city, and was
actively employed in military duty. He was taken prisoner
by the Whigs and confined in the jail at Burlington, New
Jersey. Mr. Boudinot, the commissary of prisoners, in the
warrant of commitment, directed that irons should be put on
his hands and feet, that he should be chained to the floor
of a close room, and that he should be fed on bread and
water, in retaliation for the cruel treatment of Leshier arid
Randal, two Whig officers who had fallen into the hands of
the royal troops. In 1782 Colonel Billopp was superintendent
of police of Staten Island, where he lived and where he had
an estate. His property, which was large, was confiscated
under the act of New York. At the old Billopp House, which
he erected, Lord Howe, as a commissioner of the mother
country, met Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge,
a Committee of Congress, in the hope of adjusting difficulties,
and of inducing the Colonies to return to their allegiance.
During the war, Lord Howe, General Kniphausen, Colonel
Simcoe, and other officers of rank in the royal service, were
frequent guests of Colonel Billopp, at this house. In 1783 he
was one of the fifty-five petitioners for lands in Nova Scotia.
See Abijah Willard. He went to New Brunswick soon after,
and for many years bore a prominent part in the administra
tion of its affairs. He was a member of the House of As
sembly, and of the Council, and on the death of Governor
Smythe, in 1823, he claimed the Presidency of the Government,
and issued his proclamation accordingly: but the Honorable
Ward Chipman was a competitor for the station, and was
sworn into office. Colonel Billopp died at St. John in 1827,
aged ninety. His wife Jane died at that city in 1802, aged
forty-eight. His daughter Louisa married John Wallace, Esq.,
Surveyor of the Customs. His daughter Mary, the wife of the
Reverend Archdeacon Willis, of Nova Scotia, died at Halifax
in 1834, at the age of forty-three. His daughter Jane, wife
of the Honorable William Black, of St. John, died in 1836.
His two sons settled in the city of New York, and were
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 161
merchants. They were partners, and in business at the time
of the yellow fever ; the one married, the other single. The
unmarried brother said to the other, — "It is unnecessary that
both should stay here. You have a family, and your life is
of more consequence than mine; go into the country until
the sickness subsides." The married brother retired from the
city accordingly, while the other remained and was a victim
of the fever. The survivor, whose name was Thomas, failed
in business some time after; joined the expedition of the
celebrated Miranda, and was appointed a captain; he was
taken prisoner by the Spaniards and executed.
BINGAY, ROBERT. He died at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, in
1830.
BINGHAM, CHARLES. In 1782 he was captain lieutenant of
the Second American Regiment.
BIRD, HENRY. An officer in the royal service, and who,
I conclude, belonged to New York. His diary fell into the
hands of Colonel Gansevoort.
BIRDSILL, BENJAMIN. Of New York. Went to New Bruns
wick in 1783, and settled in Queen's County. He died at
Gagetown in that county in 1834, at the age of ninety-one.
Descendants to the number of two hundred and two survived
him. Rachel, his widow, died at Gagetown in 1843, aged
ninety-seven.
BISHOP, JOHN. Died at Horton, Nova Scotia, in 1815, aged
eighty-six.
BLACK, DAVID. Merchant of Boston, Massachusetts. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
BLACK, JOHN. Of Boston. Embarked with the royal army
for Halifax in 1776.
BLACK, JOSEPH. Of South Carolina. Held office under the
crown after the surrender of Charleston, and lost his estate
under the confiscation act.
BLACKBURN. JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BLACKER, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was a captain in the Second
American Regiment.
14*
162 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BLACKWELL, JOHN, Junior. Laborer of Sandwich, Massa
chusetts. Was proscribed and banished in 1778. He had
joined the enemy at Rhode Island in the fall of 1777.
BLAIR, JAMES. Residence unknown. Went to St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, and received the grant of a city lot.
A Loyalist of the name of James Blair died at Halifax, Nova
Scotia, in 1833, aged seventy-five. He was barrack-master of
the garrison there, and an old officer.
BLAIR, JOHN. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Embarked with
the royal army for Halifax.
BLAIR, JOHN. Residence unknown. Was tried as a spy in
1778, and executed at Hartford, Connecticut. A large amount
of counterfeit continential money was found in his possession.
BLAIR, ROBERT. Merchant of Boston. Was proscribed and
banished.
BLAIR, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. Held a commission
under the crown after the capitulation of Charleston, and lost
his estate in consequence.
BLAIR, WILLIAM. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of Hutch-
inson, and a Protester against the Whigs.
BLAIR, CAPTAIN . Of Virginia. Joined Lord Dunmore.
Was a captain in the royal service ; was taken prisoner and
perished, it is supposed, on the passage to France.
BLAKE, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
BLAKENHAM, HENRY. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his es
tate was amerced twelve per cent.
BLAKSLEE, ABRAHAM. Of New Haven. Commanded a com
pany in the second regiment of the militia, and the House
of Assembly appointed a Committee, in 1775, to inquire into
charges against him of disaffection and contemptuous speak
ing.
BLAKSLEE, ASA. Removed to St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783, and died in that city in 1843, aged eighty-seven.
BLANE, THOMAS. A petitioner for lands in Nova Scotia,
July, 1783. See Abijah Willard.
BLEAU, URIAH. Was an ensign in the third battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers in 1782.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 163
BLEAU, WALDRON. Was a captain in the third battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers iii 1782.
BLISS, DANIEL. Of Concord, Massachusetts. Was a son
of Reverend Samuel Bliss of that town. He was born in
1740, graduated at Harvard University in 1760, and died at
Lincoln, near Fredericton, in the province of New Bruns
wick, in 1805, aged sixty- six years. He was one of the
barristers and attornies who were Addressers of Hutchinson
in 1774 ; and he was proscribed under the act of 1778 ; and
joining the British army, was appointed commissary. After
the Revolution, he settled in New Brunswick, and became
a member of the Council, and Chief Justice of the Inferior
Court of Common Pleas. His widow died in 1807, at the
age of sixty.
BLISS, JOHN MURRAY. Son of Daniel Bliss. He was a
native of Massachusetts, whence he removed at the com
mencement of hostilities. He did not settle in New Bruns
wick until 1786. Having practised law for several years,
and rilled several offices connected with his profession, and
having represented the County of York in the House of
Assembly, he was, in 1816, elevated to the bench and to
a seat in his Majesty's Council. In 1824, on the decease
of the Honorable Ward Chipman, who was President and
Commander-in-chief of the Colony, Judge Bliss succeeded
to the administration of the government, and continued in
office until the arrival of Sir Howard Douglas, a period of
nearly a year. At his death, he was senior justice of the
Supreme Court. He commanded universal confidence and
esteem. His manners were dignified, and his conduct open,
frank, and independent. He died at St. John, August, 1834,
aged sixty-three years. His daughter Jane died at Halifax
in 1826, and his daughter Sophia Isabella died at St. John
the same year.
BLISS, JONATHAN. Of Springfield, Massachusetts. Gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1763; and died at Frederic-
ton, New Brunswick, in 1822, at the age of eighty years.
His wife and the wife of Fisher Ames were sisters. He
164 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
was a member of the General Court of Massachusetts in
1768, and one of the seventeen Rescinders; and was pro
scribed under the act of 1778. In New Brunswick, he
was a personage of distinguished consideration, and at
tained, finally, to the rank of Chief Justice, and to the
Presidency of the Council.
BLISS, SAMUEL. Of Massachusetts. Was a brother of the
Honorable Daniel Bliss. He died at St. George, New Bruns
wick, in 1803.
BLISS, SAMUEL. Shopkeeper of Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
BLOOMER, JOSHUA. Episcopal clergyman of Jamaica, New
York. He graduated at King's College, New York, in
1761, and went to England for ordination in 1765. In
1769 he settled at Jamaica, where he continued until his
death, in 1790. Before taking orders, he was an officer in
the provincial service, and a merchant in New York. While
at Jamaica, he officiated, occasionally, at Newtown and
Flushing; and Domine Rubell, an itinerant Dutch minister,
whose loyalty induced him to pray heartily for the royal
family, occupied his pulpit.
BLOWERS, SAMPSON SALTER. Of Boston. Proscribed and
banished. He graduated at Harvard University in 1763.
The class of that year is celebrated for the numbers of
Loyalists and Judges of Courts. Mr. Blowers entered upon
the study of law with Hutchinson, then Judge of Probate, and
Lieutenant-governor. In 1770 he was associated with Messrs.
Adams and Quincy in behalf of the British soldiers who
were tried for their agency in the Boston Massacre, so
termed, in that year. In 1774 he went to England, and
returning, in 1778, found his name in the proscription act.
He was imprisoned, but being soon released, went to Hal
ifax, Nova Scotia, where he died in 1842, at the age of
one hundred years. In that Colony he was long a distin
guished character. In 1785 he was appointed Attorney-
general, and Speaker of the House of Assembly ; and in
1797 was created Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; hav-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 165
ing had for some years previous to his judicial elevation a
seat in his Majesty's Council. He retired from public life
in 1833. When ex-president Adams was in Nova Scotia,
in 1840, he paid Judge Blowers a visit. The Judge him
self, it is believed, never set foot on the land of his na
tivity, after he was driven from it. Sarah, his widow, died
at Halifax, July, 1845, in the eighty-eighth year of her age.
She, I think, was a daughter of Benjamin Kent, of Mas
sachusetts, who, at first a Whig, became a Loyalist and a
refugee. It is said, that of thirty-six hundred departed
graduates of Harvard, two only reached one hundred years.
These were both Loyalists, the subject of this notice having
been one, and Doctor Holyoke, of Salem, the other.
BLOXHAM, - — . In 1782 he was an ensign of the North
Carolina Independent Company, under Branson. „
BLUNDELL, ARCHIBALD and CHARLES. Were lieutenants in
the Royal Garrison Battalion.
BODEN, NICHOLAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BOGART, ISAAC. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
BOGGS, JAMES. Of Pennsylvania. He entered the service
of the crown, and was attached to the medical staff of the
royal army. In 1783 he went to Nova Scotia, and for
many years was surgeon of the forces at Halifax. He died
in that city in 1832, at the age of ninety-one.
BOGGS, JOHN. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace. He was one of the grantees of that city. In
1792 he was a magistrate of Queen's County.
BOISSEAU, JAMES. Of South Carolina. He held an office
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston in 1780.
Estate confiscated.
BOND, JOSEPH. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
BONKER, ABRAHAM. Of New York. In June, 1783, he was
preparing to embark for Nova Scotia.
BONNETT. ISAAC. He was born in New Rochelle, New
166 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
York. He abandoned his property in New York at the
close of the war, and removed to Annapolis Royal, Nova
Scotia, where he passed the remainder of his life. He died
in 1838, aged eighty-six, leaving a widow and five children.
BONSALL, RICHARD. He was a native of Wales, and a
brother of Sir Thomas Bonsall. He commenced the study
of medicine, but abandoned it. In consequence of a dis
agreement with Sir Thomas, he emigrated to New York
some years prior to the Revolution, where he remained until
the close of hostilities. In 1783 he went to St. John, and
was a grantee of that city. He died at St John in 1814,
aged seventy-two. His wife was a lady of the name of
Smith, of Long Island, New York. Six children survived
him; only one is now (1846) living.
BOOKHURT, JOHN. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was grantee of a city lot.
BOOKLESS, HENRY. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BOONE, SAMUEL. Of Rhode Island. Was passenger in the
ship Union. *
BOONE, THOMAS. Was in London in 1785, and a peti
tioner to the government for relief.
BOONE, WILLIAM. Of Rhode Island. Accompanied by his
wife and six children, arrived at St. John, New Brunswick,
in the spring of 1783, in the ship Union.
BOOTH, B. He appears to have been for a time secre
tary of the Loyal Refugees of the different Colonies. In
September, 1778, he issued a call for a meeting in the city
of New York. From the proceedings, it would seem that
about two thousand Loyalists, who then resided in New York
and on Long Island, were present.
BOORUM, AURY. Of Jamaica, Long Island, New York.
A signer of the Declaration in 1775. In 1776 he signed
an acknowledgment of allegiance. Previous to the Revolu
tion, he was a member of the House of Assembly.
BORLAND, JOHN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchin-
son in 1774.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 167
BORLAND, JOHN LINDALL. Of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Son of John Borland. Graduated at Harvard University
in 1772, entered the British army, and became lieutenant-
colonel. He died in England, November, 1825.
BOSSEAU, JAMES E. In 1782 he was an ensign of infan
try in the South Carolina Royalists.
BOSTWICK, DAVID and ISAAC. Arrived at St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783, and lots in that city were granted them
by the crown.
BOTSFORD, AMOS. Of Newtown, Connecticut. In 1775,
in a document remarkable for its guarded form of expres
sion, though drawn up in opposition to a paper which
disapproved of the proceedings of the Continental Congress,
he made known his determination to be compliant with
the measures of that body. But, subsequently, adhering to
the side of the crown, he removed to New Brunswick after
the conclusion of hostilities, and devoted himself to the
profession of the law. In 1784 he was elected a member
of the House of Assembly, and was uniformly returned from
the County of Westmoreland, at every election, during his
life. He was Speaker of the House of Assembly as early
as 1792. He died at St. John in 1812, at the age of
sixty-nine ; and was the senior barrister at law in the
Colony. His son, the Honorable William Botsford, who
was appointed Judge of Vice-admiralty of New Brunswick
in 1803, and for a long period subsequently was a member
of the Council, and a Judge of the Supreme Court, has
lately retired from his judicial duties.
BOUCHER, JONATHAN. Episcopal clergyman of Virginia.
He was rector, first of Hanover, and then of St. Mary.
Governor Eden gave him also the rectory of St. Anne, An
napolis, and of Queen Anne. He was an unshaken and
uncompromising Loyalist. In 1775, resolving to quit the
country, he preached a farewell sermon, in which he de
clared that as long as he lived, he would say with Zadok,
the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, "God save the king."
Arriving in England, he was appointed vicar of Epsom,
168 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and there he spent the remainder of his life. He died in
1804, aged sixty-seven. He was regarded as one of the best
preachers of his time. While in Virginia, the son of Mrs.
Washington, by her first marriage, was his pupil. During
the last fourteen years of his life, Boucher was employed
in making a glossary of provincial and archreological words,
and in 1831 his manuscripts were purchased of his family
by the proprietors of Webster's Dictionary. In 1799 were
published fifteen discourses preached in America, between the
years 1763 and 1775, on the causes and consequences of
the American Revolution, which were dedicated to his old
friend, Washington.
BOUCHOMEAU, CHARLES. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BOUMAN, ARCHIBALD. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage
in 1775.
BOURK, WILLIAM. Of North Carolina. In March, 1776,
he was charged with being inimical to the liberties of
America; and on a hearing before the Council, John Strange,
a witness against him, swore, in the course of his testi-
timony, that Bourk said, " General Gage deserved to be
d d because he had not let the guards out at Bunker
Hill, and it would have settled the dispute at that time.''
This, and other particulars, Bourk acknowledged; when it
was resolved to commit him to close jail until further orders.
BOURN, EDWARD, ELISHA, LEMUEL, and WILLIAM. Of Sand
wich, Massachusetts. Were proscribed and banished. Lem
uel joined the royal forces at Rhode Island.
BOURNE, SHEARJASHUB. Of Scituate, Massachusetts. He
graduated at Harvard University in 1743. In 1774 he was
among the barristers and attornies at law, who were Ad
dressers of Governor Hutchinson on his departure. He died
at Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1781.
BOUTINEAU, JAMES. Of Boston. Attorney at law. Was
appointed Mandamus Counsellor in 1774, and was one of
the ten who took the oath of office. He was included in
the conspiracy act of 1779, and his estate was confiscated
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 169
under its provisions. In 1772 his son-in-law, John Robin
son, a commissioner of the customs, was found guilty of
a most violent assault on James Otis, for which the jury
assessed two thousand pounds sterling damages. Boutineau
appeared as attorney for Robinson, and in his name signed
a submission asking the pardon of Otis, who, thereupon,
executed a free release for the two thousand pounds. Otis
never recovered from the effect of this assault, and, shat
tered in health and reason, soon retired from public life.
Boutineau' s fate is unknown, but he was in England in
1777. Though a banished Loyalist, he was one of the
fifty-eight memorialists of Boston, who, in 1760, were the
first men in America to array themselves against the offi
cers of the crown.
BOWDEN, CHARLES. Of New York. Officiated in 1775 as
one of the chaplains of the Provincial Congress; at a later
period he became chaplain of De Lancey's First Battalion.
BOWDEN, JOHN. In 1783 was a petitioner for lands in
Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
BOWDEN, THOMAS. In 1782 was major in De Lancey's
Second Battalion, and at the peace went to England.
BOWEN, ANSEL and FRANCIS. Residence unknown. Went
to St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and received grants
of lots in that city.
BOWEN, HENRY. Of Tryon County, (now Montgomery
County), New York, was a neighbor arid adherent of the
Johnsons, and accompanied Sir John to Canada, and, subse
quently, appearing in arms on the side of the crown, belonged
to a party who desolated the country inhabited by his former
friends and associates. William Bowen, of the same family,
was engaged in the same enterprise. The Bowens of this
region were from New England, and emigrated to New
York about the year 1728.
BOWEN, JEREMIAH. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
BOWEN, JOHN. Residence unknown. In 1782 was a cap
tain in the Prince of Wales American Volunteers.
15
170
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BOWEN, JOHN. Of Princeton, Massachusetts. Went to Hal
ifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished two years after.
BOWEN, NATHAN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Was
an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
BOWEN, PETER. Of Tripe's Hill, New York. In 1775
refused to sign the Whig Association.
BOWER, PATRICK and SAMUEL. Addressers of Sir Henry
Clinton in 1780.
BOWER, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BOWERS, ARCHIBALD. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for
Halifax with the British army.
BOWES, WILLIAM. Merchant of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. He went to Halifax in 1776.
BOWLES, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS. Of Maryland. In 1791 he
was among the Creeks, with whom he possessed great in
fluence ; and styled himself General William Augustus Bowles.
On the 18th of May, 1792, James Seagrove, Esquire, our
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in "a talk " with the kings,
chiefs, head men and warriors of the Creek nation, said of
him: "This Bowles is an American of low, mean extraction,
born in Maryland ; he was obliged, on account of his villany,
to fly from home and follow the British army, where he was
despised and treated as a bad man and a coward. Finding
he could not live there, he returned to America ; but being
too lazy to work at his trade for a living, he renewed his
bad acts, for which he was compelled to fly from his native
country, or be hanged." Bowles had assumed to act among
the Indians under authority of the British government, but
on inquiry by the President, the ministry promptly and ex
plicitly denied that they had afforded him countenance, as
sistance, or protection. At the time of Seagrove' s "talk," it
would appear, that Bowles had absented himself from the
Creek country ; but in 1801 he was again in mischief there, or
in its vicinity, and means were taken by our government to
counteract his plans and plots. A gentleman connected with
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 171
Indian Affairs, saw a portrait of this creature suspended in
the house of a Chief, under which was written, " General
Bowles, commander-in-chief of the Creek and Cherokee na
tions." He saw also a number of engraved dinner cards,
which Bowles had received while in England, styling him,
"Commander-in-chief of the Creek nation."
He was undoubtedly a bold and wicked man. At one
time the Spanish government offered a reward of six thou
sand dollars for his apprehension, on account of his pernicious
influence over the Florida Indians. He was accordingly
seized, and sent prisoner to Madrid, and thence to Manilla.
Obtaining leave to go to Europe, he repaired to the Creek
country, where he commenced his mischievous course anew.
In 1804 he fell into the hands of the Spaniards a second
time. He was then sent to the Moro Castle, Havana, where
he died in December of 1805. While among the Creeks he
married an Indian woman.
BOWLS, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Mary
land Loyalists.
BOURA, PETER. An early settler at St. John, New Bruns
wick. In 1795 he was a member of the Loyal Artillery of
that city. He died in 1804 while on the homeward passage
from Jamaica, at the age of forty-nine. He was a shipmaster.
BOYD, GEORGE. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A mem
ber of the Council under the Royal government of that Pro
vince. On approach of the troubles of the Revolution he
abandoned the country, and was included in the proscription
act of New Hampshire of 1778. He died in 1787, on his
return from England to America.
BOYD, COLONEL . Of Carolina. He commanded a corps
of Tories, who were robbers rather than soldiers. What they
could not consume, nor carry off, they burned. Advancing
to join the royal army near the river Savannah, Boyd en
countered Colonel Pickens at the head of a strong detachment
of Carolina Whigs, and was defeated. The battle raged with
great fury ; neighbor fought against neighbor, and both par
ties evinced much rancor. Boyd himself was left dead upon
172 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the field ; and of the prisoners, the Whigs condemned seventy
to suffer death, but executed only five. This affair occurred
in 1779, and repressed the ardor of the Loyalists in that re
gion, who previously were embodying themselves in consid
erable numbers.
BOYLSTON, WARD NICHOLAS. Of Boston. He was born in
that town in 1749. He went to England in 1775, at the close
of a tour to some parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa ; and
was a member of the Loyalist Association formed in London
in 1779. He continued in England until the year 1800,
when he returned to the place of his nativity, and estab
lished his residence there. He died in 1828, aged seventy-
eight.
BOYNE, DANIEL. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BOURDET, or BURDET, OLIVER. He went to St. John, New
Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
BRACE, JAMES. In 1782 he was major of the Royal Fensi-
ble Americans.
BRADBY, ENOCH. Of North Carolina. He was takeli pris
oner by the Whigs under Caswell, in 1776, and imprisoned.
BRADFORD, WILLIAMS. Graduated at Harvard University in
1760. He removed from the United States, and held an office
under the crown at the Bahamas.
BRADISH, EBENEZER. A lawyer of Worcester, Massachusetts.
He graduated at Harvard University in 1769. In 1774 he
was one of the barristers and attorneys who were Addressers
of Hutchinson. He died in 1818.
BRADISH, . Of West Cambridge, Massachusetts. He
kept a public house in that town, which was the place of re
sort for the adherents of the crown, as was the tavern of
Cooper for the Whigs.
BRADLEY, WILLIAM. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading.
BRAGAW. In 1776 Peter, John, and Isaac, acknowledged
allegiance. In 1779 John and Andrew were Addressers of
Lieutenant Colonel Sterling; all of Queen's County, New
York.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 173
BRANDEN, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Hali
fax with the British army.
BRANNAN, CHARLES. He was in the king's service during
the war, and at its close went to St. John, New Brunswick.
He removed from that city to Fredericton in 1785, and con
tinued there until his decease in 1828, at the age of eighty-
one.
BRANSON, ELI. In 1782 he was captain of the North Caro
lina Independent Company.
BRANTON, HENRY. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BRATEN, THOMAS. Of Charlotte County, New York. He
was a constable ; and in 1775 some Whigs declared that
" they would have him, if he could be found above ground."
BRATTLE, THOMAS. Of Massachusetts. He was born at
Cambridge in 1742, and was graduated at Harvard University
in 1760, and received the degree of A. M. at Yale and at
Nassau. His family connexions were among the most respect
able of New England. In 1775 he went to England, and
was included in the proscription and banishment act of 1778.
While abroad, he travelled over various parts of Great Britain,
and made a tour through Holland and France; and was
noticed by personages of distinction. Returning to London,
he zealously and successfully labored to ameliorate the condi
tion of his countrymen, who had been captured, and were in
prison. In 1779 he came to America, and landed at Rhode
Island. In 1784 the enactments against him in Massachusetts
were repealed, and he took possession of his patrimony. He
was a gentleman of liberality, humanity, and science; of
public spirit, and of large and noble views of men and things.
He died in February, 1801.
The late Governor James Sullivan, who knew him well,
thus wrote: — " Major Brattle exercised a deep reverence to
the principles of government, and was a cheerful subject of
the laws. He respected men of science as the richest orna
ment of their country. If he had ambition, it was to excel
in acts of hospitality, benevolence, and charity. The dazzling
15*
174 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
splendor of heroes, and the achievements of political intrigues,
passed unnoticed before him; but the character of the man
of benevolence filled his heart with emotions of sympathy."
* # * "In his death, the sick, the poor, and the distressed,
have lost a liberal benefactor ; politeness an ornament ; and
philanthropy one of its most discreet and generous support
ers."
BRATTLE, WILLIAM. Of Massachusetts. A man of more
eminent talents, and of greater eccentricities, has seldom lived.
He graduated at Harvard University in 1722 ; and, subse
quently, was representative from Cambridge; and for many
years a member of the Council. He seems to have been of
every profession, and to have been eminent in all. As a
clergyman, his preaching was acceptable. As a physician, he
was celebrated, and had an extensive practice. As a lawyer,
he had an abundance of clients ; while his military aptitudes
secured the rank of major-general of the militia, an office in
his time of very considerable importance and high honor.
He loved good living. He possessed the happy faculty of
pleasing the officers of government, and the people. An Ad
dresser of Gage, and approving of his plans, he at length
forfeited the good will of the Whigs, and went into exile.
Accompanying the British troops at the evacuation of Bos
ton, he went to Halifax, and died there in 1776, a few months
after his arrival. His father was Reverend William Brattle
of Cambridge. His first wife was a daughter of Governor
Saltonstall. His son, Thomas Brattle of Cambridge, died in
1801.
BREMNER, JOHN. Of Queen's County, New York. In 1776
he signed a profession of loyalty and allegiance. A person
of this name died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1807, aged
fifty-four.
BRENTON. Many descendants of William Brenton of Bos
ton, who removed to Rhode Island, and was governor of that
Colony, were Loyalists. Among them were Benjamin and
Jahiel, who were "contractors" for the royal forces, and whose
estates were confiscated under the act of Rhode Island, in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 175
1780. William Brenton, another of the family, who was an
absentee or exile during the war, was allowed, by a law of
1783, to visit and remain with his friends one week, but was
then required to depart and not to return. Of the Rhode
Island Brentons, it is further known, that one of the name of
Jahiel, who was born at Newport, was an admiral in the
British navy, and that a second member of * the family re
ceived the order of knighthood, about the year 1810. The
name is distinguished in Nova Scotia. In 1799 James Bren
ton was sworn in as a member of the Council, and the next
year was appointed Judge of Vice-admiralty; and in 1809,
Edward Brenton was commissioned surrogate of the Colony.
BREWER, DANIEL. Of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
BREWERTON, GEORGE. Of New York. Commanded a New
York Regiment in the French war ; and in the Revolution,
the second battalion of De Lancey's corps ; he died in 1779.
BREWERTON, GEORGE and JAMES. Were ensigns in the second
battalion of De Lancey's corps. Went to St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783, and were grantees of city lots : both re
ceived half-pay.
BREYNTON, JOHN. In 1782 he was chaplain of the Royal
Fensible Americans.
BRICKERHOFF. Fourteen persons of this name of Queen's
County, New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
To wit: Abraham, Jores, Isaac, Abraham junior, Elbert,
Teunis, George, Teunis junior, George, George the third,
Daniel, . Teunis, Al, Hendrick. In April, 1779, Hendrick
Brickerhoff, George, George junior, George, and Abraham,
were Addressers of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling. In 1783
Abraham Brickerhoff went to St. John, New Brunswick, and
was one of the grantees of that city.
BRIDGEN, EDWARD. Of North Carolina. An estate confis
cated during the war, was restored to him by act of Novem
ber, 1785.
BRIDGEWATER, JOHN. In 1782 he was a captain in the
Prince of Wales American Volunteers.
176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BRIDGHAM, EBENEZER. Merchant of Boston. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. He went to Halifax in 1776.
In 1782 he was deputy inspector-general of the Loyalist
forces. In 1783 he went to St. John, New Brunswick, and
was a grantee of that city.
BRIDGHAM, JAMES. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Prince
of Wales American Volunteers.
BRINCKLE, JOHN. Shallopman of Dover, Delaware. In 1778
he was required by law to be tried for treason, or lose his
estate.
BRINLEY, GEORGE. Merchant of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775 ; was proscribed
and banished in 1778. He was in England in 1783, at which
time he was deputy commissary-general. In 1799 he was ap
pointed commissary-general of his Majesty's forces in British
America. His son Thomas, lieutenant-colonel in the army,
and quartermaster-general of the British troops in the West
Indies, died in 1805 on one of the islands of his station.
BRINLEY, NATHANIEL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage
in 1775. A gentleman of this name died at Tyngsborough,
Massachusetts, in 1814, aged eighty-one.
BRINLEY, THOMA.S. Merchant of Boston. Graduated at
Harvard University in 1744. His name appears among the
one hundred and twenty-four merchants and others, who ad
dressed Hutchinson at Boston, in 1774; and among the ninety-
seven gentlemen and principal inhabitants of that town, who
addressed Gage in October of the following year. He was
proscribed under the act of 1778, and is supposed to have died
in banishment, — having gone from Boston to Halifax in 1776,
and to England the same year.
BRISBANE, JAMES. Of South Carolina. A Congratulator of
Cornwallis on his victory at Camden in 1780. In 1782 his
estate was confiscated. He was banished.
BRITTAIN, BAILEY. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Second
American Regiment.
BRITTAIN, JAMES. Of New Jersey. He wished to take no
part in the Revolutionary controversy, but having become ob-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 177
noxious, his house was surrounded by a party of about thirty,
who robbed and plundered him at pleasure. He escaped to
the woods, where his wife fed him for nearly a month.
Emerging from his hiding place, he joined Skinner with sev
enty men, whom he had engaged to bear arms against the
rebels. He was in a number of battles. In one, he was
taken prisoner, and doomed to suffer death. The day be
fore that appoiuted for his execution, he broke from prison,
swam the Delaware, and joined his corps. In 1782 he was
an ensign in the first battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, and
at the peace, a lieutenant. In 1783 he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, in the ship Duke of Richmond, and was the
grantee of a city lot. He received half-pay. He was a
colonel of New Brunswick militia, and, at his decease, the
oldest magistrate of King's County. He died at Greenwich
in that county in 1838, at the age of eighty-seven. Ten
children survived him. His widow, Eleanor, died at Green
wich in 1846, aged ninety-four. His daughter Eleanor is the
wife of Walker Tisdale, Esquire, of St. John.
BRITTAIN, JOSEPH. Of New Jersey. Brother of James.
He was an ensign in the New Jersey Volunteers, and was
taken prisoner with James, doomed to the same fate, and
made his escape at the same time. He went to St. John in
the ship Duke of Richmond in 1780, and died in 1830, at the
age of seventy-two, in King's County. He received half-pay.
BRITTAIN, WILLIAM. Of New Jersey. Brother of James
and Joseph. He was in the king's service, but not in commis
sion. He shared in the captivity, and in the escape of James
and Joseph. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city. He died in New
Brunswick about the year 1811.
BRITTENNY, JOHN. In 1783 he removed to New Brunswick,
and settled in King's County, where he continued to reside
until his decease, a period of upwards of sixty-three years.
He died at Greenwich in that county in 1846, in the ninety-
fifth year of his age.
BROCKENBOROUGH, AUSTIN. Of Virginia. The Whig Com-
178
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
mittee of King George's County, after an attempt to reclaim
him from error, published him in April, 1775, as an enemy
to American liberty. Of this Committee John Washington
was a member.
BROCKINGTON, JOHN, Junior. Of South Carolina. He held
a place under the crown after the surrender of Charleston in
17SO. Estate confiscated.
BROOKS, JOHN. Of New Hampshire. In 1778 was pro
scribed and banished.
BROOKS, JOHN. Of New York. Went to England, and was
a member of the Loyalist Association formed in London, in
1779.
BROOKS, CAPTAIN . Commanded a party of plunderers.
On one occasion, early in 1783, while on an expedition in the
Delaware, a Methodist preacher fell into his hands, and was
required to preach or to be whipped to death. The minister
declining to give a sermon to such hearers, was tied up and
received nearly one hundred lashes. On his promise never to
serve the rebels more, he was allowed to depart, much ex
hausted and lacerated.
BROOMER, JOSHUA. Of Massachusetts. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778.
BROTHERS, JOSEPH. He died at Carlton, New Brunswick, in
1836, aged seventy-two.
BROWN, DANIEL. Of Maine. Emigrated in early youth from
Scotland to Castine, and in the Revolution took an active-
part in the royal cause. At the peace he removed to New
Brunswick, where he passed the remainder of his days. He
died at St. Stephen, March, 1835, aged ninety-one, and left
upwards of two hundred descendants. His memory was
good, and the events of his life were impressed upon its
tablets to the last. His daughter Catharine died a few days
after him, aged fifty-five.
BROWN, DANIEL and BOSTWICK. Residence unknown. Went
to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and were grantees
of the city.
BROWN, ELIJAH. Of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Was con-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 179
fined for disaffection, and subsequently sent prisoner to Vir
ginia.
BROWN, HENRY B. Residence unknown. Settled in New
Brunswick. Was registrar of deeds and wills for the County
of Charlotte, and died there.
BROWN, HUGH and MALCOLM. Of South Carolina. Held
commissions under the crown in 1780, and lost their estates
under the confiscation act.
BROWN, ISAAC. Residence unknown. Was chaplain of the
New York Volunteers.
BROWN, ISAAC, JOSIAH, and THOMAS. Of Westchester
County, New York. Were Protesters against the Whigs in
1775.
BROWN, JACOB. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
BROWN, JAMES CALDWELL. Residence unknown. Was a
lieutenant in the King's Rangers Carolina.
BROWN, JOHN. Of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Was sent
by Congress to the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, in
1777, to answer for his political offences.
BROWN, JOHN. Of Virginia. Was a merchant of Norfolk.
On the 6th of March, 1775, the Whig Committee held him
up as an object of just indignation, for wilfully violating
the Continential Association, and in April following, it was
resolved, "That we will not hereafter transact any business,
or have any connexion with the said Brown."
BROWN, JONATHAN. Residence unknown. An ensign in the
Guides and Pioneers.
BROWN, LEMUEL. Residence unknown. Joined the royal
troops in Rhode Island in the fall of 1777.
BROWN, MELTIAH. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. Was com
mitted to jail in 1778 for disaffection to the Whig cause.
BROWN, ROGER and ARCHIBALD. Of Charleston, South Caro
lina. Were Addressers of Sir Henry Clinton the same year,
and the latter was banished, and was deprived of his pro
perty.
BROWN, THOMAS. Of Augusta, Georgia. Was an early
180 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
victim of a mob, and was tarred and feathered, soon after the
division and array of parties in the Southern Colonies. He
entered the royal service, and commanded, as lieutenant-
colonel, a corps called the King's Rangers Carolina. At the
peace, he retired, it is believed, to Florida, and thence to the
Bahamas. He was known during hostilities as a sanguinary
and active partisan officer, and his conduct is open to severe
censure.
BROWN, THOMAS. Residence unknown. Embarked at Bos
ton for Halifax with the British army in 1776.
BROWN, WILLIAM. Residence unknown. In 1782 was a
captain in the Royal Garrison Battalion.
BROWN, WILLIAM. Residence unknown. Ensign in the
Royal Garrison Battalion.
BROWN, ZACHARIAH. Residence unknown. A lieutenant in
De Lancey's Third Battalion, retired to the same Colony,
received half-pay, and died in the County of Sunbury in
1817, aged seventy-eight.
BROWNE, ARTHUR. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. An
Episcopal clergyman. Was educated at Trinity College,
Dublin. He was ordained by the Bishop of London, and
assumed the charge of a society at Providence, Rhode Island.
In 1736 he removed to Portsmouth, and became the first
minister of the Episcopal church of that town, and continued
his connexion until his decease. He died at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, in 1773, aged seventy-three.
BROWNE, EBENEZER. In 1782 he was a captain in the
Guides and Pioneers.
BROWNE, MARMADUKE. Son of Arthur. He was rector of
Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island, and died there about
the year 1771. His son Arthur, who died in 1805, was doctor
of laws, and King's professor of Greek in Trinity College,
Dublin, and a very eminent man.
BROWNE, WILLIAM. Of Salem, Massachusetts. Was a
grandson of governor Burnet, a great grandson of Bishop
Burnet, and a connexion of Winthrop, the first resident gov
ernor of Massachusetts; and graduated at Harvard Univer-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 181
sity, in 1755. A member of the General Court in 1768, he
was one of the seventeen Rescinders. He was a Colonel of
the Essex County militia ; one of the ten Mandamus Counsel
lors who were sworn in, and a Judge of the Supreme Court.
He was an Addresser of Gage in 1774; was included in the
banishment act of 1778 ; and in the conspiracy act of the year
following. He was the owner of immense landed estates,
which were confiscated. Prior to the revolutionary troubles,
he enjoyed great popularity, and strong inducements were
held out to him to join the Whigs. After leaving Massachu
setts, he was appointed Governor of the Bermudas. He died
in England, February, 1802, at the age of sixty-five years.
BROWNELL, JEREMIAH. He died in Westmoreland County,
New Brunswick, in 1835, aged eighty-eight.
BROWNELL, JOSHUA. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
BROWNRIG, JOHN STUDHOLME. Went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace. He was grantee of a city lot.
BRUCE, DAVID. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished. In
1782 his property was confiscated.
BRUCE, JAMES. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Was proscribed
and banished. This gentleman, I conclude, commanded the
ship Eleanor ; and if so, he, like Hall, of the Dartmouth, and
Coflin, of the Beaver, is connected with the celebrated tea
controversy. The Eleanor, Captain James Bruce, arrived
in Boston, December 1st, 1773, with a part of the tea sent
over by the East India Company, which, after several days
of fruitless negotiation, was thrown into the harbor, at
Griffin's Wharf.
BRUNDAGE. Four persons of thisjiame settled at St. John,
New Brunswick, at the close of the war, of whom, Joshua,
Andrew, and Daniel were grantees of that city. The other,
Jeremiah, died at St. John in 1816, at the age of fifty-six;
and his widow, Elizabeth, died at the same place, in 1831,
aged fifty-eight.
BRUSH, . Of Cumberland County, New York. A
16
182 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
member of the House of Assembly. In February, 1775, he
delivered a set-speech against the proposition of Mr. Thomas,
to elect delegates to the Second Continential Congress, which
was published. He was answered by Messrs. Schuyler and
Clinton, who spoke several times. Mr. Brush's name is found
continually among the "Nays" on Whig measures, and with
the members of the ministerial party ; and he is mentioned
in McFingal.
BRYAN, SAMUEL. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
BRYANT, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BRYANT, SETH. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
BRYMER, ALEXANDER. Merchant of Boston. An Addresser
of Gage in 1775. Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
In 1782 a gentleman of this name, and supposed to be the
same, was sworn in as a member of His Majesty's Council.
He died at Halifax in 1809.
BUBLER, JOSEPH. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
BUCHANAN, GILBERT. Of Maryland. He was in London in
1779, and addressed the King, July 6th, of that year.
BUCHANAN, WILLIAM. Innkeeper of Wilmington, Delaware.
A statute of 1778 declared, that his property should become
forfeit to the State, if he failed to surrender himself within
a certain day.
BUCKINGHAM, ELIAS. Of South Carolina. He held a com
mission under the crown after the surrender of Charleston
by General Lincoln in 1780. Estate confiscated.
BUCKLE, THOMAS, Senior. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was ban
ished, and his property was confiscated. His son Thomas
offended in the same manner, and his person and property
were disposed of in the same way.
BUCKLEY, THOMAS. He went to St. John, New Brunswick
j
at the peace. He was one of the grantees of that city.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 183
BUDD, ELISHA. In 1782 he was an ensign in the King's
American Regiment.
BUDD, JONATHAN. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
BUDE, JOSEPH. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
BUFFINGTON, JACOB. He settled in Charlotte County, New
Brunswick, and was a surveyor of lands. His surveys were
very accurate. He returned to the United States.
BULKLEY, GERSHAM. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading.
BULKLEY, PETER. Was also a member of the Association
at Reading.
BULL, CAPTAIN . Of New York. He was in the ser
vice of the crown, and his name appears in the interview be
tween the celebrated Mohawk, Brant, and the Whig General
Herkimer, at Unadilla, New York, in 1777. When the Indian
chief met the Whig, he was accompanied by Bull, a son of
Sir William Johnson by Brandt's sister Mary, or Molly, and
about forty warriors. During the meeting, Herkimer de
manded the surrender of several Tories, which Brant pe
remptorily refused. This was the last conference held with
the hostile Mohawks.
BULL, GEORGE. He was born in the city of New York. In
17 82 he was a lieutenant of cavalry in the American Legion
under Arnold. He retired on half-pay at the peace, and
settled in New Brunswick. He died at Woodstock in 1838,
at the age of eighty-six.
Bull, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. His father, Honorable
William Bull, was Lieutenant-governor of that Colony, and
died in 1755, aged seventy-two. The subject of this notice
was a native of South Carolina, and is supposed to have been
the first American who obtained a degree in medicine. He
was a pupil of Boerhaave. Returning to this country after
completing his studies, he rose to distinction in literature,
medical science, and politics. In 1751 he was a member of
the Council; in 1763 Speaker of the House of Delegates;
184 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and in 1764 Lieutenant-governor of South Carolina. In the
last office he continued many years, and was commander-
in-chief of the Colony. He accompanied the British troops to
England in 1782, and, continuing there, died in London, July
4, 1791, aged eighty-one.
BULYEA, ABRAHAM. He settled in New Brunswick in 1783 ;
and died in King's County in that Colony in 1833, aged sev
enty-seven.
BULYEA, JOHN. In 1795 he was a member of the Loyal
Artillery of St. John, New Brunswick. Sarah, his widow,
died in King's County, New Brunswick, in 1843, aged nine
ty-nine, leaving six children, fifty-five grand-children, and
fifty-seven great grand-children.
BUMPUS, THOMAS. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
BUNNEL, ISAAC. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
BUNTING, ROLAND. He died at Loch Lomond, New Bruns
wick, in 1839, at the great age of one hundred years.
BURCH, WILLIAM. Commissioner of the Customs, Boston.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778 ; and included in the
conspiracy act of 1779.
BURD, JOHN. Butcher, of Philadelphia. In 1778 the
Council of Pennsylvania ordered, that failing to surrender
himself to some Judge of a Court, or to a Justice of the
Peace, prior to December 15th, to abide a legal trial for trea
son, he should stand attainted.
BURDEN, THOMAS. Of Massachusetts. He arrived at St.
John, New Brunswick, with his wife and seven children, in
1783, in the ship Union.
BURDEN, WILLIAM. Of Massachusetts. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778.
BURGE, DAVID. Blacksmith of Solebnry, Pennsylvania. In
1778 the Council ordered, that he appear and abide a trial for
treason, or that he stand attainted.
BURGES, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 185
BURKE, John. Of the Manor of Moorland, Pennsylvania.
In 1778 the Council ordered him to surrender and abide a
legal trial for treason, or to stand attainted.
BURKETT, JOHN. Waterman, of Philadelphia. In 1778 the
Council of Pennsylvania ordered, that unless he appeared and
was tried for treason, he should stand attainted.
BURLING, JOSEPH. Of Jamaica, Long Island, New York.
A signer of the Declaration in 1775.
BURLOCK, WIDOW HESTER. Of Norwalk, Connecticut. She
arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, with one child, in the
ship Union, in the spring of 1783.
BURN, PATRICK. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
BURNET, MATHIAS. Of Jamaica, New York. He was born
in New Jersey, and graduated at Princeton College, in 1769.
He was settled at Jamaica in 1775, and continued with his
people during the war. After the peace, and in 1785, he was
compelled, by the force of party spirit, to dissolve the connex
ion. It is said that he was the only Presbyterian minister of
Queen's County who was reputed to be a friend to government.
His wife was an Episcopalian, and, removing to Norwalk,
Connecticut, he took charge of a church of that communion.
He died at Norwalk in 1806.
BURNHAM, CHARLES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BURNS, GEORGE. In 1782 he was a captain in the Royal
Fensible Americans.
BURR, ABEL, ABEL Junior, JONATHAN, and JOSEPH. Of Fair-
field County, Connecticut. Were members of the Reading
Loyalist Association.
BURR, HUDSON. Hatter, of Philadelphia. Was required
by a proclamation of the executive Council in 1778, to
surrender himself for trial for treason, or stand attainted.
BURRIS, SAMUEL. A Whig soldier. In 1778 he was tried
on a charge of attempting to desert to the royal side. He
confessed his guilt, and was sentenced to receive one hundred
lashes.
16*
186 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BURROUGHS, JOHN. He was at Halifax in July, 1776, a
Loyalist Refugee.
BURROUGHS, JOHN, Junior. Of Boston. A Protester against
the Whigs in 1774.
BURROWS, WILLIAM. Of Little Creek, Delaware. In 1773
it was declared by law, that his estate would become forfeit
to the State, on his failing to appear and take his trial for
treason, on or before the first of August of that year.
BURT, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1 780. He was banished in
1782. His property was confiscated.
BURTIS. Seven persons of this name of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To
wit: Elias, John, John, Carman, John, James, John. Two
others of the name of Burtis, and probably of the same
family, went to St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and
were grantees of the city. These were William, who died
at St. John in 1835, at the age of seventy-five ; and Thomas,
whose fate has not been ascertained.
BURTON, WILLIAM. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774, and one of the Addressers of Hutchinson the
same year. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished.
BURWELL, WILLIAM. Of Newtown, Connecticut. In 1775
he acted as the clerk, or secretary, of a public meeting that
passed several votes in opposition to the Whigs.
BURY, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Address
er of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
BUSH, DAVID. Of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
BUSSING, PETER, Junior. Of Westchester County, New York.
A Protester at White Plains. His father's name is to be
found on the Protest, but was placed there without au
thority.
BUSKIRK, HENRY. Of New York. He removed to Nova
Scotia in 1783, and was many years a magistrate of King's
County. He died at Aylesford, Nova Scotia, in 1841.
BUSTIN, THOMAS. Of Virginia. He joined the royal army
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 187
at New York after the commencement of hostilities ; and at
the peace removed to St. John, New Brunswick, where he
lived until his decease, some years since, at the age of ninety-
Seven children survived him.
BUTLER, Captain - — . He was a Tory leader, whose
crimes and ferocity were well known in the region of the Pe-
dee. During a period of Whig ascendency in that part of
South Carolina, he went into General Marion's camp at Birch's
Mills, and submitting himself, claimed the protection which
the Whig officer had granted to some other Loyalists who
had preceded him. Against this, some of Marion's officers,
whose friends had suffered at Butler's hands, protested. But
Marion took the humbled Butler to his own tent, and declared
that he would protect him at the hazard of his own life. The
officers, still determined to indulge their hate, sent their com
mander an offensive message to the effect, that "Butler should
be dragged to death from his tent," and that, "to defend such
a wretch was an insult to humanity." Marion was not to be
intimidated; and though the meeting among his followers
threatened to be formidable, he succeeded in conveying Butler
under a strong guard to a place of safety.
BUTLER, GILLAM. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished. He went to Halifax with the British troops.
BUTLER, JAMES. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Halifax
with the British army.
BUTLER, JOHN. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New
York. I know of no men of the Revolution so entirely infa
mous as the Butlers, — father and son. Before the war, Colonel
Butler was in close official connexion 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. The deeds of rapine, of murder, of hellish hue,
which were perpetrated by Butler's corps, cannot be related
here. It is sufficient, for the purpose of these Notes, to say,
1S8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
that he commanded the sixteen hundred incarnate fiends who
desolated Wyoming. I feel quite willing to allow, that his
tory has recorded barbarities which were not committed. But
though Butler did not permit or directly authorize women to
be driven into the forest where they became mothers, and
where their infants were eaten by wild beasts, and though cap
tive officers may not have been held upon fires with pitch
forks until they were burned to death ; sufficient remains
undoubted, to stamp his conduct with the deepest, darkest,
most damning guilt. The human mind can hardly frame an
argument, which shall clear the fame of Butler from obloquy
and reproach. To admit even as a solved question, that the
Loyalists were in the right, and that they were bound by the
clearest rules of duty, to bear arms in defence of lawful and
existing institutions, and to put down the rebellion, will do
Butler no good. For, whatever the force of such a plea in
the minds of those who urge it, he was still bound to observe
the laws of civilized warfare.
That he, and he alone, will be regarded by posterity as the
real and responsible actor in the business and slaughter at
Wyoming, may be considered, perhaps, as certain. The
chieftain Brant, was, for a time, held accountable, but the
better information of later years transfers the guilt from the
savage to the man of Saxon blood. There was nothing for
which the Mohawk's family labored more earnestly than to
show, that their renowned head was not implicated in this
bloody tragedy, and that the accounts of historians, and the
enormities recounted in Campbell's verse, as far as they relate
to him, are untrue. It has been said very commonly, that
the Colonel Butler, who was of the Whig force at Wyoming,
and Colonel John, were kinsmen; but this, too, has been con
tradicted. The late Edward D. Griffin, — a youth, a writer
and a poet of rare promise, — and a grandson of the former,
denied the relationship.
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 sal-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 189
ary of £500 sterling per annum, and a pension as a military
officer of £ 200 more. Previously, he had received a grant of
five hundred 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, by the act of New York,
and his property confiscated. Colonel Butler lived before the
Revolution in the present town of Mohawk. His dwelling
was of one story, with two windows in front, and a door in
the centre. It was standing in 1842, and was then owned
and occupied by Mr. Wilson. The site is pleasant and com
manding, and overlooks the valley of the Mohawk.
BUTLER, JOSIAH. He died at St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1812, aged fifty.
BUTLER, WALTER N. Son of Colonel John Butler. Entered
the British service, and became a major. His name is con
nected with some of the most infamous transactions of the
Revolution. While a lieutenant under St. Leger, he was
taken prisoner at the house of a Loyalist who lived near
Fort Dayton, and was put upon his trial as a spy, convicted
and received sentence of death. But at the intercession of
several American officers who had known him while a student
at law in Albany, his life was spared by a reprieve. The
friends of the Butler family, in consequence of his alleged ill-
health, induced his removal from rigorous confinement to a
private house under guard, and he soon escaped, and joined
his father. It is believed, that he took mortal offence at his
treatment while the prisoner of the Whigs, and that he re-
entered the service of the crown, burning with resentment and
thirsting for revenge. His subsequent career was short, bold,
cruel, and bloody. He was killed in battle in 1781, and his
remains were left to decay without even the rudest rites of
sepulture. It is represented that his disposition was so vin
dictive and his passions so strong, that British officers of rank
and humanity viewed him with horror. The late Doctor
Dwight — a careful writer — relates, that at Cherry Valley
he ordered a woman and child to be slain in bed, and that
the more merciful Brant interposed and said: "What! kill
190 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
a woman and child ! No ! That child is not an enemy to
the king, nor a friend to the Congress. Long before he will
be big enough to do any mischief, the dispute will be set
tled."
BYINGTON, JOHN, Junior. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut.
A member of the Reading Association.
BYLES, MATHER, D. D. Of Boston. He was born in Boston
in 1706, graduated at Harvard University in 1725, and was
ordained the first pastor of the Hollis Street Church in 1733.
On his mother's side, he was descended from Richard Mather
and John Cotton. He continued to live happily with his
parish until the Revolution, when, in 1776, the connexion was
dissolved, and never renewed. In 1777 he was denounced in
town-meeting, and having been by a subsequent trial pro
nounced guilty of attachment to the royal cause, was sen
tenced to confinement, and to be sent with his family to
England. This doom of banishment was never enforced, and
he was permitted to remain in Boston. He died in 1788,
aged eighty-two years. He was a scholar, and Pope, Lans-
downe, and Watts, were his correspondents. His witticisms
would fill many pages ; some of his finest sayings have been
preserved. In his pulpit, he avoided politics, and on being
asked the reason, replied: "I have thrown up four breast
works, behind which I have entrenched myself, neither of
which can be enforced. In the first place, I do not understand
politics; in the second place, you all do, every man and
mother's son of you ; in the third place, you have politics all
the week, pray let one day in seven be devoted to religion ;
in the fourth place, I am engaged in work of infinitely greater
importance ; give me any subject to preach on of more conse
quence than the truth I bring to you, and I will preach on it
the next Sabbath." On another occasion, when under sen
tence of the Whigs to remain in his own house under guard,
he persuaded the sentinel to go on an errand for him, promising
to perform sentinel's duty himself, and to the great amusement
of all, gravely marched before his own door with a musket
on his shoulder, until his keeper returned. This was after
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 191
his trial, and alluding to the circumstance, that he had been
kept prisoner, that his guard had been removed, and replaced
again; he said, that "he had been guarded, re-guarded, and
disregarded" Near his house, in wet weather, was a very bad
slough. It happened that two of the selectmen who had the
care of the streets, driving in a chaise, stuck fast in this hole,
and were obliged to get out in the mud to extricate their
vehicle. Doctor Byles came out, and making them a respectful
bow, said: "Gentlemen, I have often complained to you of
this nuisance without any attention being paid to it, and I am
very glad to see you stirring in this matter now." On the
celebrated dark day in 1780, a lady who lived near the Doctor,
sent her young son with her compliments, to know if he could
account for the uncommon appearance. His answer was :
" My dear, you will give my compliments to your mamma, and
tell her that I am as much in the dark as she is." He paid his
addresses unsuccessfully to a lady, who afterwards married a
gentleman of the name of Q,uincy ; the Doctor on meeting
her said : " So, madam, it appears that you prefer a Quincy
to Byles." " Yes, for if there had been anything worse than
biles, God would have afflicted Job with them."
Doctor Byles's wit created many a laugh, and many an
enemy. In person he was tall and commanding. His voice
was strong and harmonious, and his delivery graceful. His
first wife was a niece of Governor Belcher, the second, a
daughter of Lieutenant Governor Tailer. His two daughters
lived and died in the old family house at the corner of Nassau
and Tremont streets. One of them deceased in 1835, the
other in 1837. They were stout, unchanging Loyalists to the
last hour of their existence. Their thread of life was spun
out more than half a century after the royal government had
ceased in these States ; yet they retained their love of, and
strict adherence to, monarch and monarchies, and refused to
acknowledge that the Revolution had transferred their alle
giance to new rulers. They were repeatedly offered a great
price for their dwelling, but would not sell it, nor would they
permit improvements or alterations. They possessed old-
192 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
fashioned silver-plate which they never used, and would not
dispose of. They worshipped in Trinity Church — under which
their bodies now lie — and wore on Sunday dresses almost as
old as themselves. Among their furniture was a pair of bel
lows two centuries old ; a table on which Franklin drank tea
on his last visit to Boston ; a chair which more than a hundred
years before the government of England had sent as a pre
sent to their grandfather, Lieutenant Governor Tailer. They
shewed to visiters commissions to their grandfather, signed by
Queen Anne, and three of the Georges ; and the envelope of a
letter from Pope to their father. They had moss, gathered
from the birthplace of the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey. They
talked of their walks arm in arm on Boston Common with
General Howe and Lord Percy, while the British army occu
pied Boston. They told of his Lordship's ordering his band
to play under their windows for their gratification.
In the progress of the improvements in Boston, a part of their
dwelling was removed. This had a fatal influence upon the
elder sister; she mourned over the sacrilege, and, it is thought,
died its victim. " That," said the survivor, " that is one of
the consequences of living in a republic. Had we been living
under a king, he would have cared nothing about our little
property, and we could have enjoyed it in our own way as
long as we lived. But," continued she, " there is one comfort,
that not a creature in the States will be any better for what
we shall leave behind us." She was true to her promise, for
the Byles' estate passed to relatives in the Colonies. One of
these ladies of a by-gone age, wrote to William the Fourth on
his accession to the throne. They had known the " sailor-
king" during the Revolution, and now assured him, that the
family of Doctor Byles always had been, and would continue
to be, loyal to their rightful sovereign of England.
BYLES, MATHER, Junior, D. D. Of Boston. An Episcopal
clergyman. Son of Mather Byles, D. D. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1751, and became a minister in New
London, Connecticut. Dismissed in 1768, he was inducted
into office as the rector of Christ Church, Boston, the same
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 193
year. Of Christ Church he was the third in succession, and
continued to discharge his ministerial duties until 1775, when
the force of events compelled him to abandon his flock. In
1776 he went to Halifax. In 1778 he was proscribed and
banished. He settled at St. John, New Brunswick, after the
war, and was rector of the city, and chaplain of New Bruns
wick. He died at St. John in 1814. His daughter Anna mar
ried Thomas Deisbrisay, lieutenant-colonel of artillery in the
British army in 1799. His daughter Elizabeth married Will
iam Scovil, Esquire, of St. John, and died in 1808, at the age
of forty-one. His son Belcher died in England in 1815, aged
thirty-five.
CABLE. Loyalists of this name were numerous in Queen's
County, New York. In 1778 Jabez Cable, accompanied by
John, Jonathan, and Jared, belonged to a party that had an
affray with some Whigs who landed on Long Island. In
1783 several of the Cables removed to New Brunswick.
Jabez, David, John, Denbo, and Daniel, are remembered.
Jabez, David, and Denbo were grantees of lots in the city
of St. John. Daniel died at St. John in 1818, and John in
1827.
CABOT, WILLIAM. Of Salem, Massachusetts. An Addresser
of Gage in 1774. He was in England in 1776.
CAGNEY, WILLIAM. Was a cornet of cavalry in the American
Legion.
CALDWELL, CAPTAIN . Was killed in Pennsylvania in
1780, by a Whig captain, McMahon, whom he and an In
dian had taken prisoner.
CALDWELL, WILLIAM. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading.
CALEF, JOHN. A physician and surgeon. He died at St.
Andrew, New Brunswick, in 1812, aged eighty-seven.
CALEF, ROBERT. Son of John Calef. Died at Norfolk,
Virginia, in 1801, at the age of forty-one.
CALLAGAN, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
17
194
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CALLAHAN, CHARLES. Mariner of Pownalborough, now Wis-
casset, Maine ; was proscribed and banished in 1778.
CALLAHAN, NICHOLAS. Went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
CALP, PHILIP. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 he was tried for
attempting to carry flour to a post occupied by the royal forces,
and was sentenced to receive fifty lashes, and to be employed
on the public works during the time the British remained in
Pennsylvania, unless he would enter the Whig service for
the war. The lashes were disapproved by the Commander-
in-chief, and were not inflicted.
CAMERON, DONALD. Of North Carolina. Was in arms
against the Whigs at an early moment. In 1776 he was
a lieutenant, and was taken prisoner by Colonel Caswell, and
confined in jail. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
Rangers Carolina.
CAMERON, ARCHIBALD. Of North Carolina. Was a lieuten
ant in the King's Rangers Carolina.
CAMERON, WILLIAM. Cooper, of Charleston, South Carolina.
Was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was
banished in 1782, and his property was confiscated.
CAMERON, ALLEN. Residence unknown. Was a lieutenant
of cavalry in the British Legion.
CAMERON, DANIEL. Residence unknown. Was a lieutenant
in De Lancey's Second Battalion, and adjutant of the corps.
CAMERON, JAMES and DUNCAN. Residence unknown. Went
to St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and were grantees of
city lots.
CAMP, ABIATHAR, ABIATHAR Junior, and ELDAD. Loyalists
of Connecticut. Settled at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783, and received grants of city lots. Abiathar was one of
the fifty-five petitioners for lands in Nova Scotia. He died
in New Brunswick, in 1841, aged eighty-four. He appears
to have been a Recanter, but, like most of this class, finally
became an exile. October 2d, 1775, he wrote and subscribed
the following : —
"I, Abiathar Camp, of New Haven, in the County of New
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 195
Haven, in the Colony of Connecticut, although I well knew
that it was the opinion of a number of the inhabitants of said
town, that vessels ought not to clear out under the Restrain
ing Act, which opinion they had, for my satisfaction, ex
pressed by a vote when I was present ; and although I had
assured that I would not clear out my vessel under said
Restraining Act, did, nevertheless, cause my vessel to be
cleared out agreeable to said Restraining Act ; and did, after
I knew that the Committee of Inspection had given it as
their opinion, that it was most advisable that vessels should
not clear out under said Restraining Act, send my vessel off
to sea with such clearance, for which I am heartily sorry ;
and now publicly ask the forgiveness of all the friends of
America, and hope that they will restore me to charity.
And I do now most solemnly assure the public, though I
own that I have by my said conduct given them too much
reason to question my veracity, that I will strictly comply
with the directions, and fully lend my utmost assistance to
carry into execution all such measures as the Continential
Congress have or may advise to.
"ABIATHAR CAMP."
CAMPBELL, ALEXANDER. Of South Carolina. Was a captain
of cavalry in the South Carolina Royalists.
CAMPBELL, ALEXANDER and DUNCAN. Of Granville County,
North Carolina. Were attainted in 1779 ; and the former
in 1772 was a lieutenant in the North Carolina Volunteers.
CAMPBELL, COLIN. Settled at St. John, New Brunswick, at
the close of the war, and devoted himself to the profession
of the law. He died in New Brunswick. His widow, who
was a daughter of Bishop Seabury, died at New York in
1804.
CAMPBELL, COLIN. At the close of the Revolution, he re
moved from New York to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, where he
lived forty years. At one time, he was collector of the Cus
toms at St. Andrew, New Brunswick. He died in the County
of Annapolis, Nova Scotia, in 1834, aged eighty-three.
196
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CAMPBELL, COLIN. Residence unknown. Was an ensign
in De Lancey's Second Battalion, and quartermaster of the
corps, and subsequently a lieutenant ; and his son, Colin
Campbell, Esquire, was Sheriff of Charlotte County, New
Brunswick.
CAMPBELL, DONALD. Of North Carolina. Was an ensign
in the North Carolina Volunteers.
CAMPBELL, DONALD. Residence unknown. Was a captain
in the third battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
CAMPBELL, DONALD and JAMES. Of North Carolina. Were
lieutenants in the North Carolina Volunteers.
CAMPBELL, DUGALD. Residence unknown. Was a lieuten
ant in the King's American Regiment.
CAMPBELL, FARQUARD. Of North Carolina. Was a gentle^
man of wealth, education, and influence, and regarded as a
" flaming Whig." Was elected a member of the Provincial
Congress, took his seat, and evinced much zeal in the popular
cause. When, however, Governor Martin abandoned his
palace and retreated, first to Fort Johnston, and thence to an
armed ship of the crown, it was ascertained that he visited
Campbell at his residence. And this circumstance gave rise
to a suspicion of his fidelity. Soon after, the Governor asked
Congress to give his coach and horses safe conduct to Camp
bell's house in the County of Cumberland. The President of
Congress submitted the request to that body, when Mr. Camp
bell rose in his place, and expressed his surprise that such
a proposal should have been made without his knowledge and
consent, and implored that his Excellency's property might
not thus be disposed of. On this positive disclaimer, a reso
lution was passed, which not only acquitted him of all impro
per connexion with the Governor, but asserted his devotion
to the Whig interests. But his character never recovered
from the shock, and the belief that he continued a secret
correspondence with the retreating representative of royalty,
was commonly entertained by his associates. Yet his votes,
his services on committees, and his course in debate, remained
unchanged. After the Declaration of Independence, his part
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 197
became too difficult to act, and his double dealing could no
longer be concealed. In the fall of 1776 he was seized at his
own house while entertaining a party of Loyalists, and borne
off for trial. His name next appears in the revolutionary an
nals of North Carolina, in the banishment and confiscation act.
CAMPBELL, GEORGE. Residence unknown. Was lieutenant-
colonel in the King's American Regiment.
CAMPBELL, JOHN. Residence unknown. Was a major of
the Second American Regiment.
CAMPBELL, JOHN. Of Pennsylvania. Was tried in 1778 on
the charge of supplying the royal troops with provisions,
and found guilty. For this offence he was sentenced to be
confined at hard work for one month. At a later time in
the same year, he was ordered by proclamation to appear
and take his trial for treason within a specified day, on pain
of being attainted.
CAMPBELL, JOHN. Of North Carolina. Was a captain in
the Tory force that encountered Colonel Caswell in 1776,
and was slain.
CAMPBELL, MCCARTIN. Of South Carolina. His estate was
amerced twelve per cent, of its value in 1782.
CAMPBELL, PATRICK. Residence unknown. Was a captain
in the second battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
CAMPBELL, PETER. Of Trenton, New Jersey. He entered
the military service of the crown, and at the peace was a
captain in the New Jersey Volunteers. He had property in
Pennsylvania, and was directed by the executive council of
that State to surrender himself for trial within a specified
time, or stand attainted of treason. He settled in New Bruns
wick, and received half-pay. He died at Maugerville in that
Colony in 1822, and was buried at Fredericton.
CAMPBELL, WALTER. Residence unknown. In 1782 was a
captain in De Lancey's Second Battalion, and at the close of
the war settled in New Brunswick, received half-pay, and died
at Musquash, New Brunswick.
CAMPBELL, WILLIAM. Of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1775
the committee of that town appointed to watch and deal with
17*
198 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the disaffected, resolved to send him to the Provincial Congress
at Watertown, to be disposed of as that body, or the Com
mander-in-chief at Cambridge, should think proper; "it being
judged highly improper that he should tarry any longer " at
Worcester. He was at Boston in 1776, and embarked with
the royal army at the evacuation. In 1783 he was at New
York, and one of the fifty petitioners for lands in Nova Scotia.
See Abijah Willard. He went to Halifax in the last men
tioned year, where he remained in 1786, when he removed to
St. John, New Brunswick. He was mayor of St. John twenty
years, and died in that city in 1823, aged eighty-two. Eliza
beth, his widow, died in 1824, at the age of eighty-four.
Agnes, his only daughter, died at St. John in 1840, aged
seventy-eight.
CAMPBELL, WILLIAM. Of North Carolina. Lost his estate
under the confiscation act in 1*779.
CAMPBELL, WILLIAM. Of Pennsylvania. Failing to appear
and be tried for treason, was to be attainted, by an order of
the Council of October 30, 1778.
CANBY, JOSEPH. Of Pennsylvania. He went to St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
He commenced business as a merchant. In 1795 he was a
member of the company of Loyal Artillery. He was killed
by falling from a wharf in 1814, at the age of fifty-seven.
CANE, BARNEY. He boasted of having killed upon Diamond
Island, Lake George, a gentleman named Hopkins, who was
there with a number of others on an excursion of pleasure.
"Several were killed by our party," said Cane, "among
whom was one woman who had a sucking child, which was
not hurt. This we put to the breast of its dead mother, and
so we left it. Hopkins was only wounded, but, with the butt
of my gun, and the third blow, I laid him dead."
CANER, HENRY, D. D. He graduated at Yale College in
1724, and in 1727 went to England for ordination. For some
years, subsequently, his ministry was confined to Norwalk
and Fairfield, Connecticut; but in 1747 he was inducted into
office as rector of the First Episcopal Church, (King's Chapel)
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 199
Boston. The troubles of the Revolution drove him from his
flock in 1776, in which year he was at Halifax. He went to
England, and resided there until his death, in 1792, aged nine
ty-two. He was proscribed and banished, under the stat
ute of Massachusetts in 1778. His talents were good, his
manners agreeable, and he was highly esteemed by his people.
The Society of King's Chapel was formed in 1686. The
church was of wood. In 1749 the corner stone of the present
edifice was laid by Governor Shirley. The site was formerly
owned, or a part of it, by Johnson, the founder of Boston, and
his residence was in front of it ; and at his request his remains
were deposited in the burial ground attached to it. Beneath
the church are vaults or tombs, and in them lie the mortal
remains of many distinguished men.
CANFIELD, . Of Northampton, Massachusetts. He was
a Whig, and a soldier in the first New Hampshire regiment,
but deserted and joined the Rangers. While on a plundering
excursion in 1782 he was captured, tried for his life, and sen
tenced to be executed at Saratoga on the 6th of June of that
year.
CAPE, BRIAN. Of South Carolina. An officer under the
crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confiscated.
CAPEN, HOPESTILL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutch-
inson in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year. He was a Sandemanian.
CAPERS, GABRIEL. Of South Carolina. An officer under
the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confis
cated. Probably a Whig at first ; as in 1775 he was a mem
ber of the Provincial Congress, and was placed upon an
important standing committee of that body. His wife, and
his daughter Catharine, (wife of Hugh Patterson, Esquire,)
died at Charleston in 1808.
CARD, ELIJAH. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city.
GARDEN, JOHN. In 1782 he was major of the Prince of
Wales American Volunteers.
CARLE, THOMAS. Of Duchess County, New York. He
200 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, accompanied by his
wife and six children, in 1783, in the ship Union.
CARLISLE, ABRAHAM. Of Philadelphia. When the royal
troops took possession of that city, he received a commission
from Sir William Howe, to watch and guard its entrances,
and to grant passports. For this offence he was tried for his
life in 1778, and having been found guilty of an overt act of
aiding and assisting the enemy, was executed. Thomas
McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and
at that time Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, presided at the
trial. In 1779, and after his death, the estate of Carlisle was
confiscated.
CARMAN, RICHARD. Of New York. Went to St. John, New
Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
Sarah, his widow, died in the county of York, New Bruns
wick, in 1835, aged seventy-one. Several persons of the
name of Carman, of Queen's County, New York, acknowl
edged allegiance to Lord Richard and Sir William Howe in
1776.
CARMICHAEL, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
CARNE, SAMUEL. Of South Carolina. A Congratulator of
Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780. In 1782 his
estate was confiscated, and he was banished.
CARFENTER, COLES, JACOB, ISAAC, JAMES, JOHN, JOSEPH, JOSHUA,
and NEHEMIAH. Of Queen's County, New York. Acknow
ledged allegiance, October, 1776. Nehemiah signed a Decla
ration of loyalty in 1775. In 1778 the house of Jacob was
entered and robbed by a party from Connecticut. Their
leader was one Carehart, who pretended to be a friend of
government, and who was treated with the greatest hospi
tality and kindness by Carpenter and others whom he plun
dered.
CARPENTER, THOMAS. Was an ensign in De Lancey's Third
Battalion, and an adjutant of the corps. He went to St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was one of the grantees
of that city. He received half-pay.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 201
CARPENTER, WILLET. Settled in New Brunswick in 1783,
and died at St. John in 1833, aged seventy-seven.
CARR, PARCIFER. Of the Unadilla Settlement, New York.
Was on terms of intimacy with Brant. In 1778 the chief
tain wrote to him for provisions, men, guns, and ammunition,
and said: "I mean now to fight the cruel rebels as well
as I can."
CARRINGTON, ABRAHAM. Of Milford, Connecticut. Accom
panied by his wife, he went to St. John, New Brunswick, in
the ship Union, in 1783.
CARSON, ARCHIBALD. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
CARSON, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. Went to England;
was in London in 1779, and addressed the king.
CARTELYOU, AARON. Of New York. Announced his inten
tion of removing to Nova Scotia, July, 1783, and was one
0f the fifty-five petitioners for grants of land in that Colony.
See Abijah Willard.
CARTELYOU, SIMON. Of New Utrecht, New York. Was
seized by the eccentric Whig partisan, Captain Marriner, and
carried prisoner to New Jersey, because he had been uncivil
to some Whigs who were prisoners. But Marriner carried off,
also, his tankard, and several other articles, without a pre
tence, and without excuse.
CARVER, CALEB and MELZER. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Were proscribed and banished in 1778. The latter embarked
at Boston with the royal army for Halifax, in 1776.
CARY, NATHANIEL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchin-
son in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year. Ir^l775 an Addresser of Gage.
CASCIS, DANIEL. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading.
CASE, ELISHA. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
CASEY, JAMES. Of South Carolina. An officer under the
crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confiscated.
CASSELS, JAMES. Of Georgetown, South Carolina. An officer
202 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
CASWELL, JOSEPH. Of Massachusetts. In 1783 he went to
St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, accompanied by
his wife and four children.
CATER, STEPHEN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
CAVERLY, PETER. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of the
Declaration in 1775.
CAZNEAU, ANDREW. Of Boston. His name is found among
the Addressers of Hutchinson in 1774, and among those of
Gage in 1776, and in the banishment and proscription act
of 1778. He was educated to the bar; was a barrister
of law and a Judge of Admiralty ; and a gentleman of
character, talents, and virtue. In 1775 he went to England,
but not remaining long there, took up his residence in Ber
muda, where he held an honorable post under the crown.
He returned to Boston in 1788, and passed the remainder of
his days in his native land. His wife was Hannah, the
daughter of John Hammock, Esquire, merchant of Boston, by
whom he received a fortune of eighty thousand dollars. An
only daughter survived him. In 1790 she married Thomas
Brewer, Esquire, a merchant of Boston, who, as is supposed,
perished about the year 1812; while on a voyage from the
Cape of Good Hope to Sumatra. The property of Mr. Caz-
neau escaped the confiscation act, and was inherited by Mrs.
Brewer. That lady has been the mother of eleven children,
seven of whom survive. A venerable relic of the "old school''
of manners, respected and beloved, she still survives at East-
port, Maine, at the age of seventy-four years.
CAZNEAU, WILLIAM. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchin
son in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year. In 1775 an Addresser of Gage.
CECIL, LEONARD. Of Maryland. Went to England. In
July, 1779, he was in London, and met with other Loyalists
at the Crown and Anchor Tavern.
CEELY, JOHN. Petty officer of the Customs. He went with
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 203
the British Army to Halifax, at the evacuation of Boston
in 1776.
CHACE, AMMI and LEVI. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Were proscribed and banished in 1778.
CHACE, SHADE ACH. Of Massachusetts. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778. In 1782 he was an ensign in De Lancey's
Third Battalion. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. He
received half-pay. His death occurred in New Brunswick
about the year 1829.
CHADWAL, SAMUEL. Petty officer of the Customs. Embark
ed at Boston for Halifax with the British army in 1776.
CHALMERS, GEORGE. Of Maryland. Was a native of Scot
land, and was born in 1742. After receiving an education at
King's College, Aberdeen, and after studying law at Edin
burgh, he emigrated to Maryland, and entered upon the prac
tice of his profession. The revolutionary troubles caused his
return to England, where he was soon appointed to office.
For many years he filled the station of chief clerk of the
Committee of the Privy Council. He died in England in
1825, aged eighty-two. He possessed rare opportunities for
the examination of State-papers, which he diligently improv
ed. His historical works were numerous, are highly esteemed,
and generally cited by annalists. His Political Annals of the
United Colonies appeared in 1780 ; his Estimate of the
Strength of Great Britain, in 1782 ; his Opinions on subjects
of Law and Policy, arising from American Independence, in
1784 ; his Opinions of Lawyers on English Jurisprudence, in
1814; and his Life of Mary Queen of Scots, in 1822. He
published other works. In 1845, his Introduction to the
History of the Revolt of the British Colonies was issued at
Boston. Its publication was commenced in England during
the Revolution, but was abandoned, and the part printed
suppressed. As Mr. Chalmers had access to the highest
sources of information, as he possessed remarkable indus
try, and a very commendable degree of truthfulness, the In
troduction is to be regarded as a valuable addition to our
204 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
books of history. It embraces a political view of all the
Colonies, and of the whole period between the early settle
ments in Virginia and the close of the reign of George the
Second. But the author's dislike to New England was un
conquerable, and is sometimes manifested at the expense
of truth and propriety. His opening passage is singular,
and thus: "Whether the famous achievements of Colum
bus introduced the greatest good or evil by discovering a
new world to the old, has in every succeeding age offered a
subject for disputation." Perhaps were he now alive he might
so far yield his prejudices as to admit, that the " good of the
achievement " greatly predominates over the " evil." He was
a stout, and it is readily conceded, an honest Loyalist. But
since he would have kept the new world in a state of vassal
age to the old, and would have had our country to remain
as it was when he wrote of it, there need be no better refuta
tion of his political errors, than can be found in contrasting
his own account of our condition as Colonies with our present
wealth, power, and prosperity.
CHALMERS, GILBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished.
In 1782 his property was confiscated.
CHALMERS, ISAAC. In 1782 he was surgeon's mate of the
North Carolina Volunteers.
CHALMERS, JAMES. Of Maryland. He was a gentleman of
consideration in his neighborhood, and raised and commanded
a corps called the Maryland Loyalists, with the rank of lieu
tenant-colonel. Though more successful than Colonel Clifton,
he does not appear to have completed his quota of recruits.
His corps was in service in 1782, but was very deficient in
numbers.
CHALONER, NIAYON. Settled in New Brunswick, and was
register of deeds and wills for King's County. He died at
Kingston in that County in 1835.
CHALONER, WALTER. Of Rhode Island, and Sheriff of the
County of Newport. He was at New York in 1782, a deputy
commissary of prisoners. In 1783 he was one of the fifty-five
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
205
petitioners for lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the close of the con
test, and was a grantee of that city. He died at St. John in
1796. Ann, his widow, died in 1803. Elizabeth, his daugh
ter, in 1814, and John, his son, in 1827.
CHALTERTON, MICHAEL. Of Westchester County, New York.
A Protester, (fee.
CHANDLER, COLONEL . Of Cumberland County, New
York. Was Chief Justice of the County Court. During the
difficulties between the Whigs and Loyalists in Cumberland
in 1775, which ended in bloodshed, as is related in the notice
of W. Patterson, Esquire, he appears to have conducted with
prudence, and to have used his exertions to prevent the melan
choly consequences which resulted from the unwise proceed
ings of other adherents of the crown.
CHANDLER, GARDNER. Trader, of Hardwick, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
CHANDLER, JOHN. Of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1 774
he was driven from his seat and family, and sought pro
tection at Boston. In 1776 he accompanied the royal army
to Halifax. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. The
late President D wight spoke of Mr. Chandler and his family
as distinguished for talents and virtue.
CHANDLER, JOSHUA. Of New Haven, Connecticut. In 1775
he was a member of the House of Assembly. In August, 1782,
he addressed to Governor William Franklin a letter in behalf
of the Loyalists of that State. The Honorable Joshua Upham,
Judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick, married his
daughter. Mr. Chandler removed to Nova Scotia at the close
of the war, and perished in crossing the Bay of Fundy.
William, son of Joshua, conducted the royal forces to New
Haven in 1779.
CHANDLER, NATHANIEL. Died at Portland, New Brunswick,
in 1816.
CHANDLER, NATHANIEL. Of Worcester, Massachusetts. Son
of Colonel John Chandler. Graduated at Harvard University
in 1768 ; and commenced the practice of the law. He was one
18
206 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
^
of the eighteen country gentlemen who addressed Gage on his
departure in 1775. In 1776 he went to Halifax. In 1778 he
was proscribed and banished. Entering the British service,
he led a corps of volunteers. Returning after the Revolution,
he died at Worcester, in 1801, aged fifty-one years.
CHANDLER, RUFUS. A lawyer, of Worcester. Son of Colonel
John Chandler. Was born at Worcester in 1747, and graduated
at Harvard University in 1766. He was one of the barristers
and attornies who were Addressers of Hutchinson in 1774.
In 1776 he went to Halifax. In 1778 he was proscribed and
banished. He died in London, October, 1823, aged seventy-
six years.
CHANDLER, SAMUEL, D. D. An Episcopal clergyman of
New York. He was one of the earliest in that city to declare
his opposition to the course of the Whigs, when the difficulties
between the colonies and the mother country approached to a
crisis ; and was regarded as one of the leaders of the loyal
party. In McFingal he is alluded to as "a high church and
Tory writer." He went to England in 1775.
* CHANDLER, WILLIAM. Was a captain in the North Carolina
Volunteers.
CHANDLER, WILLIAM. Son of Colonel John Chandler of
Worcester, Massachusetts. Graduated at Harvard University
in 1772, and died July, 1793, at Worcester, aged forty years.
He was one of the eighteen country gentlemen who were
driven from their homes to Boston, and who addressed Gage
on his departure in 1775. In 1776 he went to Halifax. He
was proscribed under the act of 1778, but returned to Massa
chusetts after the close of the Revolution.
CHAPMAN, ABRAHAM, Junior. Was a lieutenant of cavalry
in the British Legion.
CHAPMAN, JOHN. Was a magistrate in New Brunswick,
and died at Dorchester, in that Colony, in 1833, aged seventy-
two.
CHAPMAN, SAMUEL. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 he was re
quired by proclamation to surrender himself and abide a trial,
on the charge of treason. This he failed to do, but falling
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 207
into the hands of the Whigs at a subsequent period, he was
tried for his offences in 1781. Much to the disappointment of
the " violent Whigs," he was acquitted. The Samuel Chap
man who, in 1782, was a lieutenant of cavalry in the British
Legion, (a Loyalist corps), may have been the same.
CHAPMAN, THOMAS. Was in the military service of the
crown, and in 1782 a captain in the King's American Regi
ment.
CHEW, BENJAMIN. Of Pennsylvania. Was Recorder of Phil
adelphia, Register of Wills, and Attorney General, and, finally,
Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. His course was doubtful in
the early part of the controversy, and he was claimed by both
parties. In 1774 Washington dined with him. In 1776 his
opposition to the Whigs was fixed, and he retired to private
life. In 1777 he refused to sign a parole, and was sent pris
oner to Fredericksburgh, Virginia. After the Revolution,
in 1790, he was appointed President of the High Court of
Errors and Appeals, and held the office until the tribunal was
abolished in 1806. He died in 1810, aged eighty-seven. His
father, the Honorable Samuel Chew, was of the religion of the
Friends, and a judge and physician.
CHEW, JOSEPH. Of New London, Connecticut. Was a
commissary in the royal service, and in 1777 he was taken
prisoner by a party of Whigs at Sag Harbor.
CHEW, JOSEPH. A magistrate of Tryon, now Montgomery,
County. New York. Signed a Declaration of loyalty in 1775.
In 1792 he was in Canada, an officer under Sir John John
son, and in correspondence with Brant, in relation to pend
ing difficulties with the United States.
CHEW, WILLIAM. He was a lieutenant in a corps of Loy
alists. He settled in New Brunswick at the close of the war?
and received half-pay. He died at Fredericton in 1812, aged
sixty-four.
CHICK, JOHN and JOHANNES. Of Long Island, New York.
Arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, in the spring of 1783,
in the ship Union ; the latter accompanied by his wife and
two children.
208 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
^
CHIPMAN, GEORGE. Who held the office of Sheriff of the
same County for twenty-nine years, died at Kentville, Nova
Scotia, in 1838, aged sixty-four.
CHIPMAN, JOHN. He died in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, in
1836, aged ninety-one. He held the office of custos rotu-
lorum, for the County of King's.
CHIPMAN, WARD. Of Massachusetts. He was born in
1754, and graduated at Harvard University in 1770. In
1775 he was driven from his habitation to Boston, and was
one of the eighteen country gentlemen who that year were
Addressers of Gage. He left Boston at the evacuation in
1776, and went to Halifax, and thence to England, where
he was allowed a pension. Relinquishing his stipend in less
than a year, he returned to his native country, and joined
the king's troops at New York. During the remainder of
the war, he was employed in the military department and
Court of Admiralty. In 1782 he held the office of Deputy
Muster Master General of the Loyalist forces. In 1783 he
was one of the fifty-five, who petitioned for extensive grants
of lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard. Removing
to New Brunswick, he attained the highest honors. He was a
member of the House of Assembly, Advocate General, Solicitor
General, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, member of the
Council, and President and Commander-in-chief of the Colony.
He died at Fredericton, the capital, in 1824. His remains
were taken to St. John, where a tablet recites his public ser
vices. The wife of the Honorable William Gray, of Boston,
was his sister. His son, and only child, the Honorable Ward
Chipman, graduated at Harvard University in 1805, and is
now Chief Justice of New Brunswick ; he resides at St. John,
possesses a large estate, and has no children.
CHIPMAN, WILLIAM ALLEN. Died at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia,
in 1845, aged eighty-nine. He lived with his wife sixty-eight
years; she and numerous descendants survived him.
CHISHOLM, ALEXANDER and W. Of South Carolina. Were
amerced twelve per cent, of the value of their estates in
1782. Another Alexander was a lieutenant in the Royal
Garrison Battalion the same year.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 209
f
CHRISTIE, CN. Of Maryland. He adhered to the royal
army, and his estate was confiscated. But the act did not
apply to his debts ; since, after the Revolution, he recovered
of Colonel Richard Graves of that State upwards of £1200
sterling for a debt due him before the war.
CHRISTIE, JAMES, Junior. Merchant, of Baltimore. In July,
1775, the Committee of that city published him " as an enemy
to his country," for sentiments contained in a letter written
by him to Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Christie of the British
army, which letter had been intercepted and laid before them.
Regarding " his crime of a dangerous and atrocious nature,"
the Committee determined to consult their delegates at the
Continental Congress, and meantime to keep a guard at his
house to prevent his escape ; he to pay the expense thereof,
"each man five shillings for each twenty-four hours, and
the officers seven shillings and sixpence." This Committee
was large, and on this occasion thirty-four members were
present; the vote against Christie was unanimous. He had
recently lost his wife, and was at this time sick and con
fined to his bed.
CHRISTIE, THOMAS. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
CHRYSTAL, JOHN. Was surgeon of the Pennsylvania Loy
alists.
CHUBB, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. Went to St. John, New
Bruswickj at the peace, and was a grantee of that city. In
1795 he was a member of the Loyal Artillery Company.
He died in 1822, aged sixty-nine. His son, Henry Chubb,
Esquire, is the proprietor of the St. John Courier.
CHURCH, DOCTOR BENJAMIN. Of Massachusetts. Proscribed
and banished. He was equally distinguished as a scholar,
physician, poet and politician, and among the Whigs he stood
as prominent, and was as active and as popular, as either War
ren, Hancock, or Samuel Adams. He was educated at Har
vard University, and graduated in 1754. About 1768 he built
an elegant house at Raynham, which occasioned pecuniary
embarrassments, and it has been conjectured that his diffi-
18*
210 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
culties from this source caused his defection from the Whig
cause. However this may be, he was regarded as a traitor,
having been suspected of communicating intelligence to Gov
ernor Gage, and of receiving a reward in money therefor.
His crime was subsequently proved, Washington presiding,
when he was convicted of holding a criminal correspondence
with the enemy. After his trial by a court martial, he was
examined before the Provincial Congress, of which body he
was a member, and though he made an ingenious and able
defence, was expelled. In 1776 he was allowed to depart
the country; and embarked for the West Indies. He was
never heard of after, and doubtless he and all with him
perished.
CLAREY, DANIEL. Of Ninety-Six, South Carolina. An officer
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
CLARK, BENJAMIN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchin-
son in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year.
CLARK, JAMES. Of Edisto, South Carolina. His estate was
amerced in 1782.
CLARK, JAMES. Of Rhode Island. Went to St. John, New
Brunswick, at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that
city. He died at St. John in 1820, aged ninety. His son
James died at the same place in 1803, at the age of forty-one.
CLARK, JOHN. This gentleman is now living (August, 1846,)
at St. John, New Brunswick. He arrived at that city on
the twenty-ninth of June, 1783, at which time only two log
huts had been erected on its site. He received the same year
the grant of the lot on which he has since resided. The
government gave him, and every other grantee, five hundred
feet of very ordinary boards towards covering their buildings.
City lots sold in 1783 from two to twenty dollars. He
bought one for the price of executing the deed of conveyance,
and "a treat." Mr. Clark was clerk of Trinity Church up
wards of thirty years.
CLARK, JOHN and ISAAC. Of Boston. Physicians. Were
proscribed and banished in 1778.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 211
CLARK, JONATHAN. Of Boston. A son of Richard Clark.
Went to England, but came to Canada after the Revolution.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
CLARK, JOSEPH. A Physician, of Stratford, Connecticut. In
1776 he fled to the British army. His wife and children,
whom he left at home, were sent to New York, where he
joined them. He went to New Brunswick, accompanied by
his family, consisting of nine persons, in 1783. and* resumed
the practice of medicine. He settled at Maugerville on the
river St. John, and was a Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas for the County of Sunbury.. In 1799 he visited his
friends in the United States. He was a physician in business
for quite half a century. He died at Maugerville in 1813,
aged seventy-nine, and his widow, Isabella Elisabeth, died
the same year, at the age of seventy-one.
CLARK, JOSEPH. Of Stratford, Connecticut. Son of Doctor
Joseph Clark. He accompanied the family to New Brunswick,
and became a resident of the Colony. He died in New York,
while on a visit to some friends, in 1828, at the age of sixty-
five.
CLARK, NEHEMIAH. During the Revolution he was a sur
geon in the king's service. He went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
He received half-pay. He died at Douglas, New Brunswick,
in 1825, aged eighty-six.
CLARK, SAMUEL. Of New Jersey. In 1780 he was detected
in conducting an illicit trade with the royal forces, and com
mitted to prison. A Loyalist of this name was the grantee
of a lot in the city of St. John, in 1783, and died in 1804.
CLARK. WILLIAM. Of Danvers, Massachusetts. Son of Rev
erend Peter Clark. Graduated at Harvard University in
1759, and was Episcopal minister of Quincy for several years.
He went to England, obtained a pension, and died November,
1815.
CLARKE, ALEXANDER. Died at Waterborough, New Bruns
wick, in 1825, aged eighty-two. For several years, he was
master armorer in the ordnance department at St. John.
212 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CLARKE, ISAAC. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
CLARKE, ISAAC WINSLOW. Of Boston. He became Commis
sary General of Lower Canada, and died in that Colony in
1822, after he had embarked for England. His daughter
Susan married Charles Richard Ogden, Esq., Solicitor-General
of Lower Canada, in 1829.
CLARK!, JAMES. Residence unknown. A petitioner for
lands in Nova Scotia, July, 1783. See Abijah Willard.
CLARKE, JOHN. Died at Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1825,
aged eighty-four.
CLARKE, RICHARD. Merchant of Boston. He was a gradu
ate of Harvard University. His name is found among the
Addressers of Gage; and in the statute of proscription and
banishment. He and his sons were consignees of a part of
the tea destroyed in Boston by the celebrated tea-party. .The
Whigs treated him with much severity, and his son Isaac,
while at Plymouth for the collection of some debts, was as
saulted by a mob, and fled at midnight. He went to England
in 1775, and died there in 1795. The present Lord Chancel
lor Lyndhurst is a grandson.
CLARKE, RICHARD SAMUEL. The tablet which covers his re
mains, records that he was minister of New Milford, Connect
icut, nineteen years, of Gagetown, New Brunswick, twenty-
five years, and of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, thirteen
years ; in all, an Episcopal clergyman for fifty-seven years.
He was the first Rector of the Church at St. Stephen, and the
oldest Missionary in the present British Colonies. He was
much beloved by the people of his charge, and his memory is
still cherished. He died at St. Stephen, October, 6, 1824,
aged eighty-seven. His wife Rebecca died at the same place,
May 7, 1816, aged sixty-nine. His only surviving daughter
Mary Ann, who was born in Connecticut before his removal,
and who was never married, died at Gagetown. New Bruns
wick, February, 1844, at the age of seventy-three, highly and
deservedly lamented.
CLARKE, WILLIAM. He was born at North Kingston, Rhode
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 213
Island. He entered the service of the crown, and was a cap
tain in Colonel Whiteman's regiment of Loyal New En gland
ers. He settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and was an
alderman of St. John. He died in that city in 1804.
CLARRY, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
CLAUS, DANIEL. He married a daughter of Sir William
Johnson, and served for a considerable time in the Indian de
partment of Canada, under his brother-in-law, Colonel Guy
Johnson. Brant, the celebrated Mohawk chief, entertained
towards him sentiments of decided personal hostility. His
wife died in Canada in 1801. William Claus, Esq., Deputy
Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, was his son ; and
Brant, in the name of the Five Nations, made a speech of con
dolence on the death of Mrs. Claus, on the 24th of February
of that year. William, deeply affected at the loss of his
mother, was not able to reply, although he met the Chiefs in
Council ; but he afterwards transmitted a written answer.
CLAYTON, SAMUEL. In 1782 he was a cornet of cavalry in
the Queen's Rangers.
CLEMENT, CAPTAIN JOSEPH. Of Boston. He held a com
mission in the royal service during the war, and at the peace
settled in New Brunswick. His wife, Mary, died at St. John
in 1812.
CLEMENTS, PETER. He entered the service of the crown,
and at the close of the war was a captain in the King's
American Regiment. In 1783 he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city. He received half-
pay. He removed to the County of York, and was a magis
trate. He died at his residence on the river St. John near
Fredericton, in 1833, at the age of ninety-four. His daughter,
Clarissa, died in 1814, aged thirty-two. His daughter, Abi
gail Julia, is the wife of Charles R. Hatheway, Esquire, of
St. Andrew, New Brunswick.
CLEMINGS, JANE. A "woman of loyal principles." In 1778
she was taken well laden with "hard-money," vermilion, and
other articles for the Indians on her way from Albany to the
savage tribes of New York.
214 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CLIFTON, - — . A gentleman of the Catholic faith, who
resided either in Delaware, or Maryland. He was authorized
to raise a command of Loyalists, with the rank of colonel.
His success does not appear to have been great, in inducing
his countrymen to hear arms on the side of the crown, though
he was a prominent member of his religious communion.
CLINCH, PETER. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the Royal
Fensible Americans, and adjutant of the corps. He settled in
New Brunswick, and received half-pay. He died in the
County of Charlotte, New Brunswick.
CLITHERELL, DOCTOR JAMES. Of South Carolina. A Con-
gratulator of Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780.
In 1782 his estate was confiscated. He was banished.
CLOPPER, GARRETT. In 1782 he was an ensign in the New
York Volunteers, and quartermaster of the corps. He went
to St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and was the grantee of
a city lot. He received half-pay, was Sergeant-at-arms of the
House of Assembly, and a magistrate of York County. He
died in New Brunswick.
CLOPPER, JAMES. He was a lieutenant in a corps of Loyal
ists, and at the close of the contest settled in New Brunswick
and enjoyed half-pay, and was a magistrate of the County of
York. He died at Fredericton in 1823, aged sixty-seven.
CLOSS, ABRAHAM. Was an ensign in the Guides and Pio
neers.
CLOW, CHENEY. Husbandman, of Little Creek, Delaware.
In 1778 he was required to surrender himself, or to suffer the
forfeiture of his estate, both real and personal.
CLOWES. There were several Loyalists of this name in New
York. Gerardus Clowes was a captain, and Samuel and John
were lieutenants in De Lancey's Third Battalion, and, with
Timothy, went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace,
and were grantees of that city. The three who were officers
received half-pay. Samuel, John, and Timothy lived for
some time in New Brunswick, but their fate has not been
ascertained. Gerardus was a major of militia arid a magis
trate, and resided in the County of Sunbury ; he was killed in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 215
1798 by a fall from his horse. In 1781 a person of the name
of Samuel Clowes, who had been an Addresser of Governor
Robertson, was appointed clerk and surrogate of Queen's
County, New York.
COBB, NICHOLAS. Laborer, of Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
COCHRAN, JAMES. Of New Hampshire. His father in his
youth, and about the year 1730, lived in the vicinity of the
present town of Belfast, Maine. His family subsequently re
moved to Londonderry, New Hampshire. He went to St.
John, New Brunswick, where he closed his life in 1794, aged
eighty-four years.
COCHRAN, CAPTAIN JOHN. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Son of James Cochran. Was proscribed and banished. The
Portsmouth Journal, from which paper I derive the following,
states that the account is published on the authority of his
daughter, who (November, 1845,) is still living in that town.
Captain Cochran led a sea-faring life in his younger days, and
sailed out of Portsmouth a number of years, as a ship-master,
with brilliant success. A short period before the war of the
Revolution broke out, he was appointed to the command of the
fort in Portsmouth harbor. The day after the battle of Lex
ington, he and his family were made prisoners of war by a
company of volunteers under the command of John Sullivan,
afterwards the distinguished Major General Sullivan of the
Revolution, President of New Hampshire, &c. Captain Coch
ran and his family were generously liberated on parole of
honor.
Not far from this time, Governor J. Went worth took refuge
in the fort, and Captain Cochran attended him to Boston. In
his absence, the only occupants of the fort were Mrs. Cochran,
a man and a maid servant, and four children. At this time
all vessels passing out of the harbor had to show their pass at
the fort. An English man-of-war one day came down the
river, bound out. Mrs. Cochran directed the man to hail the
ship. No respect was paid to him. Mrs. Cochran then directed
him to discharge one of the cannon. The terrified man said,
216 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
" Ma'am I have but one eye, and can't see the touch-hole."
Taking the match, the heroic lady applied it herself; the
frigate immediately hove to, and showing that all was right,
was permitted to proceed. For this discharge of duty to his
Majesty's government she received a handsome reward.
It was thought by some of the enemies of Governor Went-
worth that he was still secreted at the fort, after he had left for
Boston. A party one day entered the house in the fort, (the
same house recently occupied by Captain Dimmick,) and asked
permission of Mrs. Cochran to search the rooms for the Gov
ernor. After looking up stairs in vain, they asked for a light
to examine the cellar. " O yes," said a little daughter of
Mrs. Cochran, " I will light you." She held the candle until
they were in a part of the cellar from which she well knew
they could not retreat without striking their heads against low
beams, when the roguish girl blew the light out. As she
anticipated, they began to bruise themselves, and they swore
pretty roundly. The miss from the stairs in an elevated tone
cried out, "Have you got him?" This arch inquiry only
served to divide their curses between the impediments to their
progress and the "little tory."
Captain John Cochran (who was a cousin, and not the
father, as has been stated, of Lord Admiral Cochran) imme
diately joined the British in Boston ; and, as it was believed,
being influenced by the double motive of gratitude towards a
government that had generously noticed and promoted him to
offices of honor, trust, and emolument, and for the sake of
retaining a valuable stipend from the crown, remained with
the British army during the war. It is due to his honor to
state, however, that he was never known to take an active
part in the conflict. At the close of the war, he returned to
St. John, New Brunswick, lived in the style of a gentleman
the remainder of his days, and died at the age of fifty-five.
Among the papers of the Cochran family, we find the fol
lowing letter written from England, by Governor J. Went-
worth, at the close of the war, to Captain John Cochran. It
held out no very strong inducements for Loyalists to take
refuge in England.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 217
" Hammersmith, May 6, 1783.
"My DEAR SIR, — I received your kind letter by Captain
Dawson, and render you many thanks ; be assured there is
scarce any object so near to me as your welfare, which I
should rejoice to promote. As to my advice, at this distance
from the scene of action, it can only be conjectural. How
ever, as you ask it, I can only say, that you will find it
expedient to remove to, and settle in Nova Scotia. The
Commander-in-chief will most certainly cause your pay to be
issued there ; nor do I conceive there is any probability of its
being reduced, especially as Captain Fen ton's is suppressed
here, among other reasons, as it is said, because you were
paid in America and resident there. As to your coming here,
or any other Loyalist, that can get clams and potatoes in
America, they most certainly would regret making bad worse.
It would be needless for me to enter into reasons, the fact is so,
and you will do well to avoid it. It is the advice all our
friends will be wise to follow ; hard as it is, they that are fools
enough to try, will find it harder here. I hope this will find
you and your family in good health. We are all well. Charles
is grown a stout boy ; we are obliged for your kind inquiries
about him. My destination is quite uncertain ; like an old
flapped hat thrown off the top of an house, I am tum
bling over and over in the air, and God only knows where
I shall finally alight and settle to rest. It would give me
great pleasure, if it so happens as to afford me any means to
add to the comfort of those I esteem and regard. Be assured,
my dear Sir. in that description you would have my early
attention. Pray present Mrs. W.'s and my compliments to
your family ; old Mrs. W. also begs to join us. Benning has
been nearly four years a captain, and not being able to estab
lish his rank as he expected, has sold out, and is now in the
country ; so that we are all seeking something to do.
"Adieu, my dear friend, and always believe me to be, with
great regard, your faithful and obedient servant,
" J. WENT WORTH."
19
218
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
COCK. Loyalists of this name were numerous in Queen's
County, New York. In 1776 Gabriel, Clark, Penn, John,
Daniel, Daniel junior, Levi, Benjamin, Elijah, Peter, and
Thomas, professed themselves loyal and well affected subjects.
Of these, the house of Clark was robbed of a considerable
amount in money, and of goods to the value of £400, in 1779.
Others of the name were quite as unfortunate. Thus, a party
of rebels from Connecticut plundered the dwelling of William
Cock of goods to the amount of £140, in 1778 ; and Abraham
Cock, master of the schooner Five Brothers, was captured
early in 1779.
CODNER, JAMES. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Second
American Regiment. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783,' and was a grantee of that city, and a magistrate of
the county. He died at St. John in 1821, aged sixty-seven.
CODNER, WILLIAM. Book-keeper of Boston. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778. He went to Halifax in 1776.
COFFERE, LEWIS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
COFFIELD, THOMAS. At the termination of the war he was a
lieutenant in the North Carolina Regiment. As he was pre
paring to leave New York, the following advertisement ap
peared in Rivington's paper of September 10, 1783.
" Whereas Martha, 'wife of Thomas Coffield, lieutenant in
the North Carolina Regiment, is concealed from him, (sup
posed by her mother, Melissa Carman of Hempstead,) to keep
her from going with her loving husband to Nova Scotia, or
St. Augustine, the public are cautioned," &c.
The " loving" and bereaved lieutenant arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, before the close of 1783, and received the
grant of a city lot.
COFFIN, JOHN. Of Boston. He was a son of Nathaniel Coffin,
Cashier of the Customs, and a brother of Admiral Sir Isaac
Coffin, of the Royal Navy. A warm and decided Loyalist, he
volunteered to accompany the royal army in the battle of
Breed's or Bunker's Hill, and soon after obtained a commis
sion. He rose to the rank of captain in the Orange Rangers in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 219
a short time, and effecting an exchange into the New York
Volunteers, went with that corps to Georgia, in 1778. At the
battle of Savannah, at that of Hobkerk's Hill, and in the ac
tion of Cross Creek, near Charleston, and on various other
occasions, his conduct won the admiration of his superiors.
At the battle of Eutaw Springs, which he opened on the part
of the king's troops, he was a brevet major, and his gallantry
and good judgment attracted the notice and remark of General
Greene, who commanded the Whig forces. He retired to New
Brunswick at the close of the contest, with the rank of major,
and received half-pay. In the war of 1812, he raised and
commanded a regiment, which was disbanded in 1815. He
served in several civil offices ; was a member of the House
of Assembly, Chief Magistrate of King's County, and a mem
ber of the Council. Of the latter dignity he was deprived,
in 1828, in consequence of his not having attended the ses
sions of the Council for several previous years. Had his place
not been thus vacated, the government of the Colony would
have devolved upon him as senior Councillor, during the
absence of Sir Howard Douglas. He died at his seat, King's
County, New Brunswick, in 1838, at the age of eighty-seven.
At the time of his decease he held the rank of lieutenant
general, and enjoyed the emoluments of a half-pay officer of
that grade. His widow died at Bath, England, in 1839, aged
seventy-four. His daughter, Mary Aston, the wife of Charles
Richard Ogden, Esquire, Solicitor-General of Lower Canada,
died at Montreal in 1827. His daughter Caroline married the
Honorable C. W. Grant, seigneur of the Barony of Langueull,
Lower Canada.
Though of great sensitiveness, the personal controversies of
General Coffin were not numerous. But he had a public
dispute with a high functionary of New Brunswick, which
was long and bitter. In his dealings he was exact ; yet to
the poor he dispensed liberally in charity, and for persons in
his neighborhood devised useful and profitable employment.
His own habits were extremely active and industrious. He
was fond of talking with citizens of the United States of
220 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the Revolution, and of the prominent Whigs of his native
State. " Samuel Adams used to tell me," said he, "'Coffin,
you must not leave us ; we shall have warm work, and want
you.' ' The battle of Breed's Hill was regarded by General
Coffin as the event which controlled every thing that fol
lowed. "You could not have succeeded without it," he fre
quently said to his American friends, " for, something was
indispensable in the then state of parties, to fix men some
where, and to show the planters at the south, that northern
people were really in earnest, and could and would — fight.
That, that did the business for you." While the British
claimed and held Eastport, General Coffin seldom visited it.
He would sail round Moose Island — as he ever continued
to call that town — in his sloop Liberty, examine the move
ments on shore through his spyglass, and, after gratifying his
curiosity, return to St. John. After the surrender to the
United States, in 1818, he came to Moose Island frequently.
Notwithstanding his choice of sides in the Revolution, he
never lost his interest in the "old thirteen," and he remem
bered that he was " Boston born," from first to last. " I
would give more for one pork-barrel made in Massachusetts,"
was one of his many sayings, " than for all that have been
made in New Brunswick since its settlement. Why, sir, I
have now some of the former which are thirty years old, but
I can hardly make the Province barrels last through one
season." In his person, General Coffin was tall and spare.
Until well advanced in years, he was remarkably erect. His
countenance indicated a quick and sensitive nature. His
manners were easy, social, and polite. His conversation was
animated and interesting, frank, and without reserve.
COFFIN, JOHN. Of Boston. Was Assistant Commissary
General in the British army, and died at Quebec in 1837,
aged seventy-eight.
COFFIN, NATHANIEL. Of Boston. Graduated at Harvard
University in 1744. At the period of the Revolution he
was cashier of the Customs at Boston. In 1774 he was an
Addresser of Hutchinson, and in 1775 of Gage. He went
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 221
to Halifax at the evacuation in 1776, and in July of that
year embarked in the ship Aston Hall for England. He died
in England before the peace. Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, who,
it is believed, entered the British navy previous to the revo
lutionary controversy, was his son.
COFFIN, NATHANIEL, Junior. Of Boston. Son of Nathaniel,
the Cashier. Was an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and
a Protester against the Whigs the same year. He was at
New York in 1783, and one of the fifty-five petitioners for
lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard. At a subsequent
period he was appointed Collector of the Customs at the
island of St. Kitt's, and filled that station for thirty-four years.
He died in London in 1831, aged eighty-three.
COFFIN, NATHANIEL. Of Boston. After the Revolution he
settled in Upper Canada. In the war of 1812 he served
against the United States. For a number of years he was
adjutant-general of the militia of Upper Canada. He died at
Toronto in 1846, aged eighty.
COFFIN, THOMAS ASTON. Of Boston. Son of William Cof
fin. Graduated at Harvard University in 1772, and died in
London, May, 1810, aged fifty-six years. He was private
secretary to General Carl ton, and subsequently commissary
general in the British service. Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, and
Lieutenant-general John Coffin, were his cousins.
COFFIN. Besides the above, five others of Boston adhered
to the crown. William, the third, was a Protester against
the Whigs in 1774. William, Junior, was an Addresser of
Gage in 1775, and accompanied the royal army to Halifax in
1776. William, Esquire, was an Addresser of Hutchinson in
1774, went to Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and ban
ished in 1778. I suppose he returned to Boston ; Mary, the
widow of William Coffin, Esquire, died in that town in 1803,
aged seventy-six. John, a distiller, was also an Addresser
of Hutchinson, and was included in the banishment act.
Jonathan Parry, went to England, was in London in 1779,
and addressed the king.
222 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
COGGESWELL, JAMES. In 1782 he was an officer in the
Superintendent Department established at New York.
GOLDEN, ALEXANDER. Of New York. Son of Lieutenant
Governor Golden. He was postmaster, and successor of his
father in the office of Surveyor-general. He died in 1774,
aged fifty- eight.
GOLDEN, CADWALLADER. Of New York. He was in Scotland,
and came to America in 1708, and was a successful practi
tioner of medicine for some years. In 1718, Governor Hun
ter having become his friend, he settled in the city of New
York, and was the first Surveyor-general of the Colony.
Besides this office, he filled that of Master in Chancery ; and,
on the arrival of Governor Burnet, in 1720, he was made a
member of the King's Council. Succeeding to the Presidency
of the Council, he administered the government in 1760.
Having previous to the last mentioned time purchased a tract
of land in the vicinity of Newburgh, on the Hudson, he re
tired there with his family about the year 1755. In 1761 he
was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New York, and held
the commission during the remainder of his life, and was
repeatedly at the head of affairs in consequence of the death
or absence of several of the governors. While administering
the government, the stamped paper came out, and was placed
under his care. A multitude of several thousand persons un
der leaders, who were afterwards conspicuous Whigs, assem
bled, and determined that he should give up the paper to be
destroyed. Unless he complied with their wishes, the massa
cre of himself and adherents was threatened ; but he exhibited
great firmness, and prevented them from accomplishing their
design. Yet the mob burned his effigy, and destroyed his
carriages in his sight. Governor Tryon relieved him from
active political duty in 1775, and he retired to Long Island,
where he had a seat, and where he died the following year,
at the age of eighty-eight. He was hospitable and social,
and gave his friends a cordial welcome. The political
troubles of his county caused him pain and anguish. These
troubles he long predicted. In science, Mr. Golden was high-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 223
ly distinguished. Botany and astronomy were favorite pur
suits.
GOLDEN, DAVID. Of New York. Son of Cadwallader Golden.
His estate was confiscated. The farm at Spring Hill, Flush
ing, Long Island, which was devised to him by his father,
is now the property of the Honorable Benjamin W. Strong.
He went to England at the close of the war, and died there
July 10, 1784. He was fond of retirement, was much de
voted to scientific pursuits, and maintained a correspondence
with the learned of his time, both in Europe and in Amer
ica. His wife, who died in August, 1785, was Ann, daughter
of John Willet, Esquire, of Flushing. His son, Cadwallader
D. Golden, of New York, (a lad in the Revolution,) was a
lawyer of great eminence, and one of the earliest and most
efficient promoters, in connexion with De Witt Clinton, of
the Erie Canal, and other works of extensive improvement.
He died at Jersey City, February 7th, 1834, universally
lamented.
GOLDEN, JOHN. In 1782 he was a captain in the First
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
GOLDEN, THOMAS. Was a captain in the Pennsylvania
Loyalists.
COLE, DAVID. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city.
COLE, EBENEZER. Of New York. Was a magistrate of the
County of Albany. Early in 1775 he apprehended an attack
upon his dwelling by the rioters or rebels of the neighbor
hood, and kept armed men ready to repel them.
COLES. Eight persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To
wit: Albert, Benjamin, Daniel, Jarvis, Jordan, Joseph, W.,
Nathaniel. In 1779 Albert was carried prisoner to Connec
ticut by a party of Whigs, who took him from his house
on Long Island.
COLLET, JOHN. In 1782 he was a captain in the Prince
of Wales American Volunteers.
COLLIER, ISAAC. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
224 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
New York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration of loyalty.
I suppose his house was plundered and destroyed by a band
of Whigs in 1778.
COLLIM, JOHN. A magistrate of Tryon, now Montgomery.
County, New York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration of firm
adherence to the crown, and abhorrence of Whig proceedings.
COLLINS, DAVIS. An early settler of St. David, New Bruns
wick. Died at Tower Hill, August, 1837. His death was
caused by the falling of a tree.
COLLINS, THOMAS. Of North Carolina. A major in the
Loyalist force, defeated by Colonel Caswell in 1776. Was
taken prisoner and confined.
COLLUM, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
COLSTON, JOHN. Stocking weaver, of Philadelphia. In
1778 the Council ordered that he appear and be tried for
treason, or stand attainted.
COLVILLE, JOHN. He settled at St. John in 1783, and re
ceived the grant of a city lot, and commenced business as
a merchant. In 1795 he commanded the company of Loyal
Artillery.
COLWELL, EDMOND, HERVEY, ROBERT, THOMAS, and TILLOT.
Of Queen's County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance,
October, 1776.
COLYER, AB. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of the
Declaration in 1775.
COMB. DENNIS. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city.
COMELY, JOSEPH. Of the Manor of Moorland, Pennsyl
vania. It was ordered by the Council in 1778, that, failing
to appear and be tried for treason, he should stand attainted.
COMELY, ROBERT. Of Pennsylvania. Arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, in the spring of 1783. in the ship Union. He
died at Lancaster, New Brunswick, in 1838, aged eighty-three.
COMMANDER, THOMAS. Of South Carolina. An officer under
the crown, after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confis
cated.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
COMPTON, WILLIAM. Went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
COMPTON, WILLIAM. He died at St. Martin's, New Bruns
wick, in 1804.
CONKAY, ISRAEL. Of Rutland, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
CONNER, ABRAHAM. Husbandman, of Duck Creek, Dela
ware. His estate, both real and personal, was to be forfeited
to the State, on his failing to appear and abide his trial for
treason, on or before August 1st, of that year.
CONNER, CONSTANT. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Royal Fensible Americans. He went to Nova Scotia after
the war, where he fought a duel and killed his antagonist.
He died at Halifax.
CONNER, ISAAC. Cooper, of Newcastle, Delaware. Required
to appear and abide his trial for treason, or in failure thereof,
to forfeit both real and personal estate.
CONOLLY, JOHN. He was born in Lancaster County, Penn
sylvania, and was bred a physician. Before the Revolution
he lived at or near Pittsburg, and was in correspondence
with Washington on matters of business. In 1770 Washing
ton, on his tour to Ohio, invited Doctor Conolly to dine with
him, and said he was " a very sensible, intelligent man." His
difficulties with the authorities of Pennsylvania, in 1774, oc
cupy considerable space in the records of the Council of that
Colony. In the course of these difficulties, and while he was
at the head of an armed party, he was seized and imprisoned.
It appears that he claimed lands under Virginia, at the falls
of the Ohio, which, it was contended by Pennsylvania, Lord
Dunmore, the Governor of the former Colony, had no right to
grant. But he and John Campbell advertised their intention
of laying out a town there, and invited settlers. They set
forth the beauties and advantages of the location in glowing
terms, and said, that " we may with certainty affirm, that it
(the proposed town) will, in a short time, be equalled by few
inland places on the American continent."
As the controversy ripened to war, Conolly became active
226 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
on the side of the crown, and in 1775 was employed by Lord
Dunmore, who authorized him to raise and command a regi
ment of Loyalists and Indians, to be enlisted in the western
country and Canada, and to be called the Loyal Foresters.
While on his way to execute this design, he was taken pris
oner. His papers having been sent to Congress, it was deter
mined to retain his person. He wrote to Washington several
times, but the Commander-in-chief declined to interfere, and
he remained a captive till near the close of the contest. The
Loyal Foresters were in service in 1782, and probably later.
Always, as it would seem, moving in some doubtful enter-
terprise, we hear of Colonel Conolly soon after the peace, and
about the year 1788, at Detroit. At this time he and other
disaffected persons held conferences with some of the promi
nent citizens of the West as to the seizure of New Orleans,
and the control of the navigation of the Mississippi by force.
The precise plan, and the degree of support which it received,
are not, perhaps, known. But the attention of Washington
was attracted to the subject, and measures were taken to detect
and counteract the plot.
CONROY, WILLIAM, Junior. Was a lieutenant in the Prince
of Wales American Volunteers.
COOK, ABIEL. Of Little Compton, Rhode Island. He was
denounced as " an enemy to his country, and the liberties of
America" in 1775, for selling sheep to go on board of the
Swan, British ship of war at Newport. The Whigs took
the sheep at Forkland Ferry, and voted to send them as
a present to the army at Cambridge. Cook confessed the
sale, and avowed his intention of repeating the act every
opportunity.
COOK, GEORGE and JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
Were Addressers of Sir Henry Clinton; and the former a
Petitioner to be armed on the side of the crown. Both were
banished two years after, and lost their estates.
COOK, JACOB and JORDAN. In 1783 went to St. John, and
were grantees of that city.
COOK, ROBERT. Embarked in 1776 at Boston for Halifax
with the British army.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 227
COOK, THOMAS IVIE. In 1782 was an officer of cavalry in
the Queen's Rangers.
COOKE, SAMUEL. Of Connecticut. He removed to New
Brunswick, was the first rector of the Episcopal Church at
Fredericton, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
He remained at Fredericton until his decease. Lydia, his
fifth daughter, died there in 1846, aged seventy-six.
COOLEY, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Halifax
with the British army.
COOMBE, THOMAS. Of Philadelphia. In 1777 he was con
fined in that city for disaffection to the Whigs, and ordered to
be sent prisoner to Virginia. In 1775 a person of the name of
Thomas Coombe was collector of the duties on the tonnage of
vessels.
COOMBS, ABIJAH. Settled in St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783, and received a grant of a city lot.
COOMBS, GILBERT. Of Jamaica, New York. Signed a De
claration in 1775.
COOMBS, JOHN. Was a lieutenant in the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers. He settled in New Brunswick in
1783, received half-pay, and died in that Colony in 1827, at
the age of seventy-four.
COOMBS, MICHAEL. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Was a
merchant of that town; and during the Revolution was in
England. After the peace he returned, and died at Marble-
head.
COOMBS, NATHANIEL. Was an ensign in the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers.
COONE, JACOB, JEREMIAH, and PETER. Of Westchester Coun
ty, New York. Were Protesters against the Whigs in 1775.
COOPER, MYLES, D. D. He was educated at Oxford, Eng
land, and coming to America in 1762, was elected President of
King's College, New York, the year following. His political
opinions rendered his resignation of that office necessary as
the revolutionary storm darkened, and in 1775 he retired to
England. He died at Edinburgh in 1785, aged about fifty,
having previously lived there, and officiated as an Episcopal
223
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
clergyman. He was a gentleman of literary distinction, and
published several works. Four lines of an epitaph written by
himself are : —
" Here lies a priest of English blood,
Who, living, liked whate'er was good ;
Good company, good wine, good name,
Yet never hunted after fame."
The son of Mrs. Washington, by her first marriage, was a
pupil of Doctor Cooper at King's College ; and Washington,
after Mr. Custis left the institution, late in 1773, expressed the
conviction, that he had been under the care of " a gentleman
capable of instructing him in every branch of knowledge."
Young Custis, it appears, abandoned his studies, and married
against Washington's wish, though with the approbation of
his mother and most of the family friends.
COOPER, RICHARD. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Third
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
COOPER, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. He went to England.
In 1779 he was in London, and signed an Address to the king.
COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON. Of Boston. An eminent painter,
and father of Lyndhurst, late the Lord Chancellor of England.
He was born in Boston in 1738, and going to England early
in the controversy, rose to eminent fame in his profession.
The works from his pencil in this country, previous to his de
parture, are held in much repute. His name is to be found
among the Addressers of Hutchinson. He died in England,
September 25th, 1815. His wife was a daughter of Richard
Clarke, Esquire, a consignee of the Boston tea ; and the wife
of the late Gardner Greene, Esquire, of that city, was his
daughter. His mother was of the Old Plymouth Colony fami
ly of Winslows, of whom two were governors.
CORAM, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
CORBET, EDWARD. Of South Carolina. He was in London
in July, 1779.
CORBETT, THOMAS. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
229
COREE, GIDEON. Of Rhode Island. He arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, in the ship Union.
CORNELL, SAMUEL. Of Newbern. A member of the Coun
cil of North Carolina. In 1775 he was present in Council,
and concurred in the opinion, that Whig meetings were ob
jects of the highest detestation, and gave his advice to Gov
ernor Martin to issue his proclamation to inhibit and forbid
them. Before the Declaration of Independence he went to
Europe, but left his family at Newbern. During the war he
returned to New York, and went to Newbern in a flag of
truce, but was forbidden to land, unless he would take an oath
of allegiance to the State under its Whig rulers. This he re
fused to do. While on board of the vessel in the harbor, he
conveyed his estate to his children by several deeds of gift,
and duly proved and registered the conveyances. Having
thus arranged his affairs, he removed his family, by permission
of the executive of the State, to New York. Subsequently
this property was confiscated and sold. A Mr. Single ton ''be
came the purchaser of a part of it, and the portion which Mr.
Cornell had given to one of his daughters. This lady claimed
to hold under her father's deed, and instituted a suit to eject
Singleton ; but on a hearing and trial, the confiscation act was
held to be valid, and judgment was given against her. This
case, of course, determined that all the deeds of gift were void.
The conveyances were made, it will be recollected, prior to
the passage of the confiscation act of North Carolina.
CORNELL. Thirteen persons of this name of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Gilbert, Oliver, Charles, Samuel, Mott, Samuel, Charles, Caleb,
Baruch, Comfort, Sylvester, William, and Thomas.
CORNELL, CAPTAIN CHARLES. Was an Addresser of Governor
Robertson in 1780.
CORNISH, BENJAMIN. Of Queen's County, New York. Was
an Addresser of Colonel Sterling.
CORNISH, JOHN. Was quartermaster of the King's Rangers,
Carolina.
20
230
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CORNWALL, or CORNELL, BENJAMIN and ELIJAH. Of Queen's
County, New York. Were in arms against the Whigs. Dur
ing the war, the house of Cornelius Cornwall was robbed of
money.
CORNWALL, DANIEL. Residence unknown. Was a lieutenant
of cavalry in the South Carolina Royalists.
CORNWALL, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester in 1775.
CORNWALL, THOMAS. Residence unknown. Was a captain
in the King's American Regiment.
CORNWALL, WILLIAM. Of Jamaica, New York. Was a loyal
Declarator.
CORNWALL. Nine persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance to Lord Richard and
General William Howe, in a Representation and Petition,
October, 1776. To wit : Charles, James, Obadiah, Cornelius,
John, W., George, Daniel, and Stephen, Junior.
COSKEL, THOMAS. A Whig soldier. In 1778 he was tried
on a charge of attempting to desert to the royal side ; and,
confessing his guilt, was sentenced to receive one hundred
lashes.
COSSTELL, CHARLES M. Of South Carolina. Was an Assis
tant Judge of the Supreme Court of the Colony. He went
to England.
GOTTEN, JAMES. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
COTTON, JOHN. Of Boston. He graduated at Harvard
University in 1747, and became Deputy Secretary of Massa
chusetts. In 1774 he was a Protester against the proceed
ings of the Whigs in town meeting of June of that year.
COUCH, STEPHEN. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading.
COUGLE, JAMES. Of Pennsylvania. Was a captain in the
First Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He went to New
Brunswick at the close of the contest, and died at Sussex
Vale in 1819, aged seventy-three.
COULBOURNE, CHARLES. Was a lieutenant in the Loyal
American Regiment, and quartermaster of the corps.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 231
COULSON, JOHN. Of Anson County, North Carolina. A
person of considerable influence. In August, 1775, his con
duct became the subject of inquiry in the Provincial Con
gress, and a numerous committee was appointed to report
upon his offences. To submit and confess, or go to prison,
was Coul son's only course, and he accordingly made a full
and penitent acknowledgment for his past guilt, and ample
promises for the future.
COULSON, THOMAS. Merchant and ship-owner, of Falmouth,
now Portland, Maine. The difficulties with him caused the
burning of that town by the miscreant Mowatt, in 1775. It
appears, that, contrary to the agreement of the Association
as to importation of merchandise, a ship arrived at Falmouth
with the sails and rigging for a ship which he was fitting
for sea. These articles, it was determined by the Whigs,
should be returned to England, together with some goods
brought in the same vessel. Coulson resolved otherwise. A
quarrel ensued, which continued for several weeks. The
Canseau sloop of war arrived for the protection of him
self and property, and mobs and tumults, and conflagration,
were the final results.
COURTNEY, THOMAS. Tailor, of Boston. An Addresser of
Gage in 1775. Was proscribed and banished in 1778. He
went to Halifax in 1776.
COURTONGUE, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
COVERT, ABRAHAM. He died at Maugerville, New Bruns
wick, in 1824, aged seventy-nine. His widow, Phebe, died
at the same place in 1838, at the age of eighty-seven.
COVERT. Five persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To
wit: Isaac, Johannes, Teunis, Teunis junior, and Walter.
Tennis, and Teunis junior, signed a Declaration in 1775, as
did Richard Covert, of the same county.
COWPER, BASIL. Of South Carolina. A Congratulator of
Cornwallis on his victory at Camden in 1780. In 1782 his
estate was confiscated, and he was banished.
232 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
COWPER. A clergyman of this name, of South Carolina,
refused to take an oath prescribed by the Whigs at the com
mencement of the war, and abandoned the country.
Cox, DANIEL. Of New Jersey. Was a member of His
Majesty's Council in New Jersey. Through his agency,
principally, it is believed that the Board of Refugees, con
sisting of delegates from the Loyalists of the Colonies, was
established at New York in 1779. Of this board, he was
the president; and Christopher Sower, an highly influential
Loyalist of Pennsylvania, in a letter of December 5th, 1779,
wrote as follows: "The Deputies of the Refugees from the
different provinces meet once a week. Daniel Cox, Esquire,
was appointed to the chair, to deprive him of the opportunity
of speaking, as he has the gift of saying little with many
words."
Cox, EDWARD. Merchant, of Boston. Was an Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and was proscribed and banished
in 1778.
Cox, FRANCIS. Of Salem, Massachusetts. Was a lieuten
ant in the regiment commanded by Colonel Mansfield, and
deserted from the camp at Cambridge, in June, 1775, and
left the service. General Ward submitted to the Provincial
Congress, the propriety of making him a public example, for,
besides his own desertion, he incited his men to follow his
example.
Cox, GEORGE. Residence unknown. In 1782 was a lieu
tenant in the King's American Regiment.
Cox, JOHN. Of Falmouth, Maine. Was the son of John
Cox, of that town, and married Sarah Proctor in 1739, and
by her and two other wives had a family of twenty chil
dren. He was a shipmaster. During the war he abandoned
the country and settled in Nova Scotia, where he died.
Cox, LEMUEL. Of Boston, Massachusetts. Near the close
of the year 1775, he was in prison at Ipswich for his attach
ment to the cause of the crown. Mr. Felt, in his very in
teresting work, the "Annals of Salem," supposes this Lemuel
Cox to have been the chief architect of Essex Bridge in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 233
1788, and who, subsequently, constructed bridges in England
and Ireland. "In 1796," says Mr. Felt, "he had a grant of
1000 acres of land in Maine from our Legislature, for being
the first inventor of a machine to cut card-wire, the first
projector of a powder-mill in Massachusetts, the first sugges-
tor of employing prisoners on Castle Island, to make nails,
and for various other discoveries in mechanical arts."
COY, AMASA. Of Connecticut. He went to New Bruns
wick in 1783. He died at Fredericton in 1838, aged eighty-
one.
COZENS, DANIEL. Was a captain in the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers.
CRABB, JOHN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
CRAIG, GEORGE. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
CRAIG, JAMES. Of Oakham, Massachusetts. Was proscrib
ed and banished. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1782, and received a grant of land ; as did also Robert
Craig.
CRANE, JONATHAN. Settled in Nova Scotia, and was a ma
gistrate. His widow, Rebecca, died in Horton, Nova Scotia,
in 1841, aged eighty-eight.
CRANNELL, BARTHOLOMEW. Of New York. He was a pub
lic notary in the city, in 1782. The year following he
announced his intention of removing to Nova Scotia, and
was one of the fifty-five petitioners for lands in that Colony.
He arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, before the close
of 1783, and received the grant of a city lot. He com
menced business as a merchant. In 1785 he was Clerk of
the Common Council.
CRAWFORD, JOHN, JOHN Junior, and WILLIAM. Settled at St.
John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and received grants of city
lots from the crown.
CREIGHTON, JAMES. In 1782 he was secretary of the police
department of Long Island, New York.
20*
234 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CROMWELL, JOSIAH. He died at Portland, New Brunswick,
in 1803.
CRONIN, JEREMIAH. Of South Carolina. He went to Eng
land, and in July, 1779, signed an Address to the king.
CROOKSHANK, GEORGE. He died at St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1797, aged sixty-five.
CROWELL, JOSEPH. Was a captain in the First Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers. He settled in New Brunswick,
received half-pay, and died at Carlton in that Colony.
CROWFOOT, DAVID. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member
of the Association.
CROSS, WILLIAM. He went from New York to Nova Scotia,
at the close of the war, and died at Annapolis Royal, in 1834,
aged eighty-three.
CROSSING, WILLIAM. Of Rhode Island. A noted marauder
and robber. He plundered women of their jewelry and fancy
articles of dress.
CUDNEY, HEZEKIAH. Of Westchester, County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
CRUGER, JOHN. Of New York. In 1775 he was Speaker
of the House of Assembly, and during the recess that year,
with thirteen other members of the ministerial party, address
ed a letter to General Gage on the alarming state of public
affairs. This communication is dated May 5th, on which
day two members of the Council of New York sailed for
England. When, in 1769, he was elected to the Assembly,
the success of his party was deemed a victory of the Epis
copalians over the Presbyterians.
CRUGER, JOHN HARRIS. Of New York. He was a member
of the Council of the Colony, and considered to be in office
in 1782. At that time, he was Lieutenant Colonel of De
Lancey's First Battalion. His property was confiscated. At
the peace he went to England. His wife was De Lancey's
daughter.
CULLEN, WALTER. Was surgeon of the Royal Fensible
Americans.
CUMMINGS, JOHN. A merchant, of Philadelphia. Was de-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 235
tected in November, 1780, in prosecuting an illicit trade with
the royal forces, and committed to prison.
CUMMINGS, THOMAS and SAMUEL. Of New Hampshire. Were
proscribed and banished in 1778, and the property of the
latter was forfeited.
CUNLIFF, JOSEPH. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the First
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
CUNNABEL, EDWARD G. He died at Union Point, New
Brunswick, in 1838, aged seventy-six.
CUNNARD, ROBERT. He died at Portland, New Brunswick,
in 1818, aged sixty-nine.
CUNNINGHAM, ANDREW. Of the District of Ninety-Six, South
Carolina. He held a commission under the crown, and lost
his estate under the confiscation act.
CUNNINGHAM, ARCHIBALD. Shopkeeper, of Boston. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
CUNNINGHAM, DAVID. Brother of General Robert Cunning
ham. Before the Revolution, he was Deputy Surveyor of the
District of Ninety-Six. During the war, he accepted the place
of Commissary of the royal army at Charleston. He was
allowed to continue in the State at the peace, and became a
planter in Ninety-Six.
CUNNINGHAM, JOHN. Of South Carolina. Was also a brother
of General Robert Cunningham. He was a planter ; but in
the course of the war, removing with his brothers to Charles
ton, was a Commissary in the British army. In 1782 his pro
perty was confiscated. He was permitted to reside in the
State at the conclusion of hostilities ; and embarking in com
mercial pursuits, accumulated a large fortune.
CUNNINGHAM, JOHN. Residence unknown. Was an ensign
in the Loyal American Regiment, and adjutant of the corps.
He settled in New Brunswick, received half-pay, and died at
Fredericton.
CUNNINGHAM, PATRICK. Of South Carolina. Brother of Gen
eral Robert Cunningham. In 1769, he was appointed Deputy
Surveyor General of the Colony. After attempting to effect the
release of his brother Robert in 1776, and the temporary ac-
236 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
commodation of affairs that year, Patrick removed to Charles
ton. In 1780 he received the commission of Colonel, and the
command of a regiment. His estate was confiscated in 1782.
At the conclusion of the contest, he joined Robert in a request
to be allowed to remain in the State. The application was
not successful, and he went to Florida. In 1785, a second
petition to be restored to his rights in South Carolina was
more favorably received ; and the Legislature, amercing his
estate twelve per cent., and imposing some personal disabili
ties for a term of years, annulled the previous act of banish
ment and confiscation. He was elected a member of the
Legislature, but his position was an unpleasant one, and
after serving for a short time he retired. He died in 1794.
CUNNINGHAM, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. One of the
most prominent Loyalists of the whole South. In 1769, he
settled in the district of Ninety-Six, and was soon commis
sioned a Judge. He incurred the displeasure of the Whigs
in 1775, when he disapproved of their proceedings in sus
taining the cause of Massachusetts, and in the adoption of
the non-importation act. In the course of that year he
was seized and imprisoned at Charleston. His brother
Patrick assembled a body of friends in order to effect his
release. The Whigs despatched Major Williamson with a
force to prevent the accomplishment of this object, but Cun
ningham's party being superior, he was compelled to retreat.
A truce or treaty was finally arranged, and both Whigs and
Loyalists dispersed. In July of 1776, Robert Cunningham
was allowed his freedom without conditions, and removed to
Charleston. In 1780 he was created a Brigadier General,
and placed in command of a garrison in South Carolina ; but
in 1781 was at the head of a force in the field, and en
countered Sumpter. His estate was confiscated in 1782.
After the peace, he petitioned to be allowed to continue in
South Carolina. His request was refused, and he removed to
Nassau, New Providence. The British government made him
a liberal allowance for his losses, and gave him an annuity.
He died in 1813, aged seventy-four years. It is not unlikely
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 237
that his sympathies were with the Whigs at an early period of
the controversy. In 1775 the Provincial Congress placed him
upon the committee of the Colony, to carry out the Conti
nental Association.
CUNNINGHAM, THOMAS. Residence unknown. Was a lieu
tenant in De Lancey's First Battalion, and adjutant of the
corps. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace,
and was one of the grantees of that city.
CUNNINGHAM, WALTER. Of North Carolina. Lost his pro
perty in 1779, under the confiscation act. In 1782 there was an
ensign of this name in the Second American Regiment, and
probably the same.
CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. Was known
as " Bloody Bill; " and there seems no little evidence to show
that he well deserved the appellation. At the commencement
of the controversy he was inclined to be a Whig, and indeed
accepted a military commission, and served in the campaign
of 1776. Changing sides, he became an officer and a major
in the service of the crown, and was engaged in many desper
ate exploits, and hand to hand fights. In 1782 his property
was confiscated. He retreated to Florida at the peace.
CUPLE, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
CURRIE, Ross. Was a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Loy
alists, and adjutant of the corps. He settled in New Bruns
wick, received half-pay, and devoted himself to the profession
of the law. He died in New Brunswick.
CURRY, DAVID, JOSHUA, and RICHARD. Who, it is believed,
belonged to New York, settled at St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783, and received grants of land in that city.
CURRY, GRIFFIN. Was a Protester in 1775.
CURRY, JOHN. He settled in New Brunswick after the war,
and as early as 1792 was senior Justice of the Court of Com
mon Pleas for the County of Charlotte. He died in that
County. His son, Cadwallader Curry, Esquire, was for some
years a merchant at Eastport, Maine, and subsequently at
Campo Bello, New Brunswick.
238 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CURRY, NIEL. In 1782 was quartermaster of the North
Carolina Volunteers.
CURTIS, CHARLES. Of Scituate, Massachusetts. Graduated
at Harvard University in 1765. He was one of the eighteen
country gentlemen who were driven into Boston, and who
were Addressers of Gage on his departure, in October, 1775.
He was proscribed under the act of 1778. His death occurred
at New York previous to 1832.
CURTIS, JOHN and JAREL. Of Queen's County, New York.
Acknowledged allegiance October, 1776.
CURTIS, JOHN. Was an Addresser of Lieutenant-colonel
Sterling of the Forty-second Regiment, April, 1779.
CURWEN, SAMUEL. Of Massachusetts. Graduated at Har
vard University in 1735. He was in the commission of the
peace for thirty years, and at the breaking out of the Revo
lution, a Judge of Admiralty. He went to England in 1775,
remained there until 1784, when he returned to Salem, where
he passed the remainder of his days, dying in 1802, at the age
of eighty-six years. While in exile, he kept a Journal, which
has lately been published, and is an interesting book ; its
editor, the accomplished George A. Ward, Esquire, of New
York, has enriched it with several notices of his relative's
fellow Loyalists, and thus added greatly to its value. No
work extant contains so much information of the unhappy
exiles while abroad.
CUSHMAN ELKANAH. Petty officer of the Customs. In 1776
he embarked at Boston for Halifax, with the British army.
CUTHBERT, JAMES. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
CUTIS, SOLOMON. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading.
CUTLER, EBENEZER. Of Northborough. Massachusetts. In
May, 1775, the Northborough Committee of Correspondence
made charges against him, and sent him, with the evidence of
his misconduct, to General Ward at Cambridge. His case
was submitted to Congress, when it appeared that he had
spoken "many things disrespectful of the Continental and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 239
Provincial Congresses," that he had " acted against their re
solves," had said that " he would assist Gage," had called
such as signed the town-covenant or non-consumption agree
ment, " damned fools," &c., &c. A resolve to commit him to
prison was refused a passage, and a resolve that he be allowed
to join the British troops at Boston, was also lost. But sub
sequently he was allowed to go into that town "without his
effects." Cutler had formerly lived at Groton. In 1777 he
accompanied the British army to Halifax. In 1778 he was
proscribed and banished. He settled in Nova Scotia, and was
protonotary of the County of Annapolis. He died at Anna
polis Royal, in 1831, quite aged. Mary, his widow, died at
the same place in 1839.
CUTLER, ZACCHEUS. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished, and lost his estate under the confiscation act.
Two persons of the name of Thomas Cutler were proscribed
and banished in 1778 ; one by the act of New Hampshire, the
other by that of Massachusetts. The Thomas of the latter
belonged to Hatfield. There died at Gaysborough, Nova
Scotia, in 183?, Thomas Cutler, Esquire, at the age of eighty-
five, who was a Loyalist, and who was, undoubtedly, one of
them.
CUTTING, LEONARD. An Episcopal clergyman, of New York.
He graduated at Oxford, England, in 1754, and shortly after
was appointed a tutor and a professor in King's College, New
York. In 1766 he was settled as minister of St. George's
Church, Hempstead, New York. In 1776 he signed an
acknowledgment of allegiance, and professed himself a loyal
and well affected subject. While at Hempstead, he preached
occasionally at Huntington and Oyster Bay. He also taught
a classical school of high repute, and educated several young
men who became eminent. In 1.784 his pastoral relation at
Hempstead was dissolved. I suppose he died prior to 1803,
as in that year the decease of his widow occurred at Phil
adelphia.
CUYLER, ABRAHAM C. Of Albany, New York. He was
authorized to raise a battalion of six hundred men for the
240 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
royal service, and in November, 1779, was recruiting Loya.
Refugees at Betts's tavern, Jamaica, New York. He was
attainted, and his property confiscated. In 1781 he went to
England. He returned to America, and died in Lower Can
ada in 1810. His son, Cornelius, a major in the British ser
vice, died at Montreal in 1807.
DABNEY or DAUBENY, DOCTOR . Of Salem, Massachu
setts. He went to England near the close of 1777, and died
before the peace. I conclude that he and Nathaniel Dabney,
who was an Addresser of Hutchinson, but a Recanter ; and
Nathaniel Daubney, who was an Addresser of Gage, were one
and the same.
DALGLISH, ANDREW. Of Salem, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Gage in 1774. He went to England.
DALZALL, EDWARD. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
DANA, SAMUEL. He graduated at Harvard University in
1755, and was ordained minister of Groton, Massachusetts, in
1761. His real or supposed political opinions involved him in
difficulties with his people, and in May, 1775, he made a
written confession, which, at the moment, was held to be satis
factory. In the hope that all trouble might terminate, the
Whig committee of Groton, (of whom Colonel Prescott, who
shortly after commanded the American force at Breed's Hill,
was one,) published a card to the effect, that Mr. Dana had
fully atoned for his offences. The good will of his parishion
ers was, however, alienated, and separation was the conse
quence. For several years after dissolving his connexion at
Groton, he had no steady employment, but finally commenced,
and continued, the practice of law. He died in 1798.
DANFORTH, SAMUEL. Of Massachusetts. He was a son of
Reverend John Danforth of Dorchester, and was educated at
Harvard University. For several years he was President of
the Council ; was a Judge of a Court ; and in 1774, a Manda-
damus Councillor. He died in 1777, aged eighty-one. He
was distinguished for his love of natural philosophy and
chemistry.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 241
DANFORTH, SAMUEL. Physician, of Boston. He was born
in Massachusetts in 1740, and graduated at Harvard Univer
sity in 1758. He pursued his medical studies with Doctor
Rand, and commenced practice at Newport ; but finally set
tled in Boston. For his political principles he incurred the
displeasure of the Whigs, and received harsh treatment at
their hands. From 1795 to 1798 he was President of the
Medical Society. He excelled in medicine, but not in surgery.
He continued in full practice until he was nearly fourscore
years. After about four years' confinement to his house, he
died at Boston in 1827, aged eighty-seven. The family from
which he was descended, occupy a distinguished place in the
annals of New England. He was a son of Honorable Samuel
Danforth aforenamed.
DANFORTH, THOMAS. Counsellor at Law, Charlestown, Mas
sachusetts. Son of Honorable Samuel Danforth. He was
a graduate of Harvard University ; an Addresser of Hutch-
in son ; and was proscribed and banished. He was the only
lawyer at Charlestown, and the only inhabitant of that town
who sought protection from the parent country at the com
mencement of serious opposition. He went to Halifax in
1776. He died in London in 1825.
DANIEL, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DARINGTON, JOHN. He emigrated to New Brunswick at the
peace, and died in that Colony. Joanna, his widow, died in
Portland, New Brunswick, in 1840, at the age of ninety-five.
DAVENPORT, Captain . He was a Whig, and held a
military commission under Congress, but " was found wholly
destitute of honor and principle. '; His connexions were re
spectable, and he possessed the air and manners of a man of
the world. He remained at New York after the retreat of
Washington from Long Island, and until the city was occu
pied by the British troops ; and thus became a voluntary cap
tive, if not a deserter.
DAVIDS, WILLIAM, Esquire. Of Westchester County, New
21
242 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
York. A Protester at White Plains, April, 1775. The name
of David Davids is to be found on the same paper.
DAVIDSON, HAMILTON. He died in York County, New Bruns
wick, in 1841, aged ninety-two.
DAVIDSON, JOHN. Of New Hampshire. In 1778 he was
proscribed and banished. In 1782 a Loyalist of this name
was a lieutenant in the King's American Dragoons.
DAVIE, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DAVIS, BENJAMIN. Merchant, of Boston. Was an Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778. He was at New York in July, 1783,
and a petitioner for a grant of lands in Nova Scotia. In his
religious faith Mr. Davis was a Sandemanian.
DAVIS, CAPTAIN . Of Brimfield. Massachusetts. Was
tarred and feathered for his obnoxious acts and sentiments,
by a mob at Union, Connecticut, in 1774.
DAVIS, JAMES. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Was a
member of the Reading Association.
DAVIS, JOHN. Of Massachusetts. In 1775 was sent under
guard by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts to Wash
ington's camp at Cambridge, charged with desertion from Fos
ter's company of Artillery, and with joining the royal forces.
He had been seized at Long Island, and sent to Massachusetts.
DAVIS, JOHN. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New
York. Was a loyal Declarator in 1775 ; as was also D. Davis,
an attorney at law.
DAVIS, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, and also a Petitioner
to be armed on the side of the crown. He was banished in
1782, and his property was confiscated. He probably went to
England. John Davis, an attainted Loyalist was in London
in 179J, and represented to the British Government that he
had been unable to recover several large debts due to him at
the time of his banishment. It may be remarked here, that
though the sums of money due to Loyalists proscribed, were
now included in the confiscation acts, the courts of some of
the States were slow to coerce the debtors.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 243
DAVIS, DOCTOR LEWIS. Residence unknown. Was surgeon
in the King's Rangers. Towards the close of 1782 he was at
the Island of St. John, Gulf of St. Lawrence, where, it appears,
he designed to settle.
DAVIS, H. Residence unknown. Was a lieutenant of cav
alry in the British Legion in 1782.
DAWKINS, GEORGE. Of South Carolina. In 1782 he was a
captain of cavalry in the South Carolina Royalists. His estate
was confiscated.
DAWSON, DAVID. Of Chester County, Pennsylvania. He
joined the royal army in Philadelphia, and went with it to
New York, and was employed in passing counterfeit conti
nental money. He was detected in 1780, and executed.
DAWSON, GEORGE. In 1782 was a captain in the King's
Orange Rangers.
DAWSON, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DAY, ABRAHAM, HENDRICK, JOHN, and WILLIAM. Went to
St. John, New Brunswick, at the close of the Revolution, and
were grantees of that city.
DAYLEY, JOHN and FRANCIS. Embarked with the royal army
at Boston for Halifax in 1776.
DEALEY, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. He and
Locklan Martin were tarred and feathered, and driven in a
cart through the streets of that city in June, 1775 ; and Dea-
ley was, besides, compelled to leave the country, and go to
England. The Secret Committee of Charleston, at that time,
was composed of distinguished men, one of whom was subse
quently in nomination for the highest honors, and there is
evidence that they countenanced, if they did not actually di
rect the procedure.
DEAN, JACOB. Of New York. Was a loyal Declarator in
1775. He became an inhabitant of New Brunswick, and died
at St. John in 1818, aged eighty.
DEANE, HONORABLE SILAS. Of Connecticut. Graduated at
Yale College in 1758. He played a distinguished part among
the Whigs in the early part of the contest, but his political
244 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
sun went down in gloom, sorrow, and destitution. He may
have been wronged. A member of the first Continental Con
gress in 1774, and the first diplomatic agent to France, a
brilliant career was before him. But while abroad, his engage
ments and contracts embarrassed Congress, and he was re
called. Called to an account for his pecuniary transactions,
he did not dispel suspicion of having misapplied the public
funds intrusted to his care. The delegates of Connecticut in
Congress appear to have distrusted his integrity from the first.
In turn, he accused Arthur and William Lee, who were
abroad in public trusts, as well as their brothers in Congress,
of conducting a secret correspondence with England. In
1784 he attempted to retrieve his fame, by an address to the
country, but failed. He now went to England. Mr. Jay,
who was in Europe, had been his friend, and wished to aid
him, and would have done so, had he been able to remove
the accusations that had blighted his hopes and injured his
character. But Mr. Jay had heard that he was on terms of
familiarity with Arnold, and " every American who gives his
hand to that man," he wrote to Deane, " in my opinion pollutes
it." Silas Deane died in England in 1789, in extreme want
and misery. I have said that he may have been wronged.
He may have been careless in his accounts, but not dishonest ;
he may have been incapable, not corrupt. In 1842 his long
disputed claims were adjusted by Congress, and a large sum
was found to be due to his heirs, under the principles recog
nized by the government, and applicable to all claimants;
hence the doubt, whether he received entire justice at the
hands of his associates ; a man driven to despair is to be
judged mercifully.
DE BECK, JOHN DUDWICK. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in
the New York Volunteers.
DEBLOIS, GEORGE. Of Salem, Massachusetts. An Addresser
of Gage in 1774. He went to England.
DEBLOIS, GILBERT. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. He went to Hali
fax in 1776. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. In
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 245
1779 he was in London, and addressed the king. A person of
this name died in Boston in 1803, probably the same.
DEBLOIS, ISAAC. He was in the service of the king, and a
lieutenant. In 1784 a lot in the city of St. John, New Bruns
wick, was granted him by the crown.
DEBLOIS, LEWIS. Merchant, of Boston. He was an Ad
dresser of Gage in 1775, and in 1776 was at Halifax. In 1778
he was proscribed and banished. He was in London in 1779,
and in 1784 still in England. At a later period he was a
merchant in St. John, New Brunswick, and in 1795 a member
of the company of Loyal Artillery. He died at St. John in
1802. His daughter, Elizabeth Cranston, is the wife of
James White, Esquire, the present (1846) sheriff of the Coun
ty of St. John.
DECROW, THOMAS. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
DEFOREST, EPHRAIM. Of Reading, Connecticut. He was a
member of the Loyalist Association at Reading. In the spring
of 1783, accompanied by his wife and three children, he went
to St. John, New Brunswick.
DEIGHTON, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DELAHOWE, JOHN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
DE LANCEY, JAMES. Of New York. He was elected a
member of the House of Assembly of New York in 1769,
and his success in obtaining a seat was regarded as a triumph
of the Episcopalians over the Presbyterians. When the Loyal
ists commenced the organization of military corps, he accepted
of a commission, and commanded a battalion or regiment.
He was taken prisoner and confined in the jail at Hartford,
Connecticut; and while there received the following letter
from Mr. Jay, who was an old friend.
" SIR, — Notwithstanding the opposition of our sentiments
and conduct relative to the present contest, the friendship
which subsisted between us is not forgotten; nor will the good
21*
246 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
offices formerly done by yourself and family cease to excite
my gratitude. How far your situation may be comfortable
and easy, I know not ; it is my wish, and it shall be my en
deavor, that it be as much so as may be consistent with the
interest of the great cause to which I have devoted everything
I hold dear in this world. I have taken the liberty of request
ing Mr. Samuel Broome immediately to advance you one hun
dred dollars on my account. Your not having heard from me
sooner was unavoidable. A line by the first opportunity will
oblige me. Be explicit, and avail yourself without hesitation
of the friendship which was entertained as well as professed
for you by
"Your obedient and humble servant,
"JOHN JAY."
" Poughkeepsie, January 2d, 1778."
Colonel De Lancey was attainted, and lost his estate under
the confiscation act. He went to England at the close of the
war, and at the formation of the Loyalist agency for prosecu
ting claims for compensation, was appointed agent for New
York, and became vice president of the board. His own
losses were large and difficult of adjustment, and occupied the
attention of the commissioners for some days. Excepting Sir
William Pepperell, Colonel De Lancey appears to have been
the most active member of the agency ; and as two papers on
the subject of the Loyalists claims which bear his signature
contain much information, and cannot but interest the reader,
I insert them entire. Both were written in 1778. The first
is a petition to Parliament, and
" Humbly sheweth, — That, in pursuance of four several
acts of Parliament, passed in the years 1783, 1785, 1786, and
1787, for appointing Commissioners to inquire into the losses
and services of all such persons who have suffered in their
rights, properties, and professions, during the late unhappy
dissensions in America, in consequence of their loyalty to his
Majesty, and attachment to the British government, the said
Commissioners have proceeded in the said Inquiry, and made
several Reports thereon to the Lords Commissioners of his
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 247
Majesty's Treasury, as directed by the said Acts, statements
whereof, up to the fifth day of April, 1788, have, by order,
been laid before your Honorable House.
"That, by the Statement made up to the 25th day of
December, 1787, the gross sum of £7,067,858, appears to have
been claimed for the loss of property only, by two thousand
nine hundred and ninety-four Claimants, of which number not
more than twelve have been reported to be fraudulent, seven
rejected for want of Loyalty, and only two hundred and fifty
disallowed for want of sufficient proof, out of seventeen hun
dred and twenty-four which they had examined and reported
upon, whose Claims had amounted to £ 6,572,896, as appears
by their statement up to the 5th day of April, 1788, but to
whom they had allowed no more than £1,887,548, in full
compensation thereof, which is not equal to one third of the
amount of the said Claims. And that several of the Claim
ants have represented to your Petitioners, that the sums al
lowed them as Compensation have been much less than they
conceived to be the value of their property thus lost; and
which, in their opinion, had been substantiated by the evi
dence produced before the said Commissioners. And that they
apprehend the deductions which have been made were in con
sequence of some general principles or rules adopted by the
Commissioners in the investigation of the Claims of the Loy
alists with which they are unacquainted, and which they
conceive may possibly have been founded on mis-information
or mistake.
" Your Petitioners trust, that the Commissioners of Amer
ican Claims cannot possibly have any objection to disclose, in
the present stage of the inquiry, the principles and the rules
which they have formed for their direction in the liquidation
of Claims on the justice and liberality of Parliament to the
amount of many millions, and in an inquiry so interesting to
the public, and the individuals affected by their decision.
" Your Petitioners therefore pray your Honorable House,
that the Commissioners of American Claims be ordered to lay
before the House the General Rules and Principles which they
248 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
have formed for their inquiry, and under which they have
acted in the liquidation of the Claims of the Loyalists.
"!AS. DE LANCEY,
"Agent of the Committee."
The second is a letter to Mr. Pitt,* the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and contains the reasons of the Loyalists, why no
discrimination or deduction ought to be made from the sums
found due them by the Commissioners.
11 SIR, — We have the honor of submitting to your consid
eration sundry reasons against any deductions being made
from the sums found due to the American Loyalists ; demon
strating, that after they shall have received the full amount,
the losses they have sustained will greatly exceed those of
their fellow subjects in consequence of the war. Persuaded
as we are of your upright and liberal intentions towards them,
we natter ourselves that those reasons have convinced your
judgment of the injustice upon which any deductions what
ever must be founded. But as you were pleased to intimate
to our Committee a possibility that Parliament might, in the
final payment, proceed on the distinction which has been made
between the Loyalists who had borne arms, and those who
have not ; we beg leave to lay before you the following addi
tional reasons, not only against such deduction, but against
any discrimination whatever in the compensation to be made
for loss of property.
"The distinction was made by Parliament in an early stage
of the inquiry, when no certain idea could be formed of the
whole amount of the losses, for the purpose of affording relief
to those who wanted it. But we cannot suppose that Parlia
ment intended, at the time, to adopt it in the final administra
tion of justice, for the following reasons : —
"1. It is a distinction which never has been, nor ever can
be rationally made ; because it is impossible to ascertain the
numerous and various degrees of Loyalty produced by an infi
nite variety of acts, during a long continued rebellion ; and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 249
equally so to apportion, upon any principle of law or equity,
the sums which the Loyalists ought to receive in consequence
thereof. Besides, were this possible, it would be fundamentally
unjust, because the Loyalist whose person has been attainted,
and whose property has been confiscated, in consequence of
one act of Loyalty, has evidently suffered on the public ac
count as much c injury and damage '* as he who has suffered
in consequence of ten thousand, and of course is equally an
object of public protection, and full compensation ; although
the other must be allowed to have a stronger claim to gratitude
and reward from Government for his services. Hence it is,
that there is no instance to be found in the Journals of Parlia
ment, of any such discrimination. But, on the contrary, it
appears from every case of a similar nature, that the uniform
usage of Parliament has been to make full compensation to
subjects who have suffered in consequence of their fidelity to
the State ; even where that fidelity has been shown by a dis
charge of the least of their political duties, without making
any discrimination or deduction from the sum found due. To
this we will add, that there never has been any point of law,
or principle of justice, more solemnly settled than what we
here contend for. In the case of Daniel Campbell, who had
suffered in his property by a mob, on account only of his
voting for the malt-tax, all the branches of the Legislature
concurred in declaring, ( That as the losses and damages he
had sustained, were on account of the concern he had, or was
supposed to have had, in promoting the act for laying a duty
on malt, it is just and reasonable that the said damages and
losses should be made good and repaid, clear of all deductions.'
Does it not then follow, beyond all possibility of doubt, in the
case where the subject has lost his property on account of his
fidelity to the State, and ultimately by an act of the State
itself, manifestly done for its own security and preservation.
that he ought to receive equal compensation with the sub
ject who has suffered for giving a vote for an Act of Parlia
ment?
"2. Upon a little consideration of his Majesty's Proclama-
250 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
tion, and the resolutions of the two Houses of Parliament, it
will further appear, that any such discrimination or deduction
will be evidently inconsistent with, and derogatory to, because
a manifest failure in the performances of, the royal and parlia
mentary assurances held out by them to the Loyalists. For
by those assurances, the Royal Faith, and the Honor of Parli
ament, stand most solemnly pledged for the £ protection ' of,
and for making ' ample and full compensation ' to, every Loy
alist, indiscriminately who had been ' aiding and assisting in
suppressing the rebellion,' or ' who, on account of a desire
manifested to assist in carrying into execution any Acts of
the British Legislature, has suffered any injury or damage '
whatever.
" 3. In pursuance of his Majesty's Proclamation, and the
resolutions of the two Houses of Parliament, a Commission
has been instituted for Inquiring into Losses and Services of
those who had c suffered in consequence of their Loyalty to his
Majesty, and their attachment to the British Government, and
their obedience to his Majesty's Proclamation,' &c., &c. And
the Loyalists whose losses have been inquired into, and liqui
dated under that Commission, are clearly included in the de- ,
scription of, and are identically the persons who (by the
express words of his Majesty's Proclamation, and the resolu
tions of the two Houses) are declared to be £ entitled ' to the
1 protection of the laws,' and to full and ' ample compensa
tion.'
" 4. Neither his Majesty's Proclamation, nor the resolutions
of the two Houses, nor the Statute of Inquiry, nor any one
Precedent to be found in the Journals of Parliament, allude
to, or even mention, the degree of Loyalty requisite to entitle
the subject to the ' Protection and Compensation ' declared to
be due, and solemnly promised by his Majesty and the two
Houses ; but as the evident principles of policy, reason, justice,
and law required, all of them unite in constituting and estab
lishing ' the having suffered any injury or damage in conse
quence of Loyalty,' the criterion and express condition upon
which the c title ' to protection, and ' ample and full compen-
t
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 251
sation' shall be completely vested; and as every Loyalist,
whose loss had been inquired into and reported, has complied
with that condition, his right or ' title ' to the full amount of
the sum found due, is unequivocally established upon the said
Proclamation and Resolutions. We therefore .most humbly
trust, that Parliament will not deviate from all former Prece
dents, and from the principles of reason and justice so sol
emnly established, by making any deduction whatever from
the sums found due to subjects, who have suffered so much,
and such long continued loss and distress on the public ac
count, and for the public advantage ; sums, in the complete
and liberal discharge of which, the sacred faith of Majesty,
the inviolable honor of Parliament, the irreproachable char
acter of the Nation, and the momentous security of the State,
are so evidently concerned.
" We could, Sir, offer to your consideration other arguments
on the subject ; but, confiding in your upright sense of public
justice, and the benevolence of your feelings for the virtuous
and distressed, we will conclude with requesting that you will
favor our Committee with the promised interview, by which
alone the anxiety of our minds on the occasion can be re
lieved.
" I have the honor to be, by the direction, and on behalf, of
the Agents for the American Loyalists, with great respect,
" Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
"JAMES DE LANCEY,
" Vice President."
" Right Honorable William Pitt, &c."
These papers produced no effect, except as is stated in the
preliminary remarks to this work, no discrimination was finally
made between Loyalists of different degrees of loyalty, merit,
and grades of service. In this respect all were treated alike ;
but the commissioners were not required to revise their pro
ceedings, as was asked for in the address to Parliament ; nor
was Mr. Pitt induced to change his purpose of making certain
rates of reduction on the sums reported to be due to claimants
252 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
by the commissioners, as was solicited in the communication to
him. The petition and the letter are, however, valuable doc
uments, and able and authorized statements of the views of
adherents of the crown, who were interested in the matters to
which they relate.
Indeed, the claimants appear to have acquiesced in the deci
sion of the minister ; and the board of agents, after Mr. Pitt's
plan was confirmed by an act of Parliament, presented an
Address to the King. Colonel De Lancey affixed his signature
to this address, and with his associates had an audience of his
Majesty, and " had the honor to kiss his Majesty's hand."
Colonel De Lancey finally fixed his residence in Nova
Scotia, and in 1794 was sworn in as a member of the Council
of that Colony. He died at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, about the
year 1809. Martha, his widow, died at the same place in
1837, at the age of seventy-three.
DE LANCEY, JAMES. Of New York. He was an officer
in Oliver De Lancey 's Second Battalion. James De Lancey,
Esquire, Collector of his Majesty's Customs, died at Crooked
Island, New Providence, in 1808, and was perhaps the
same.
DE LANCEY, OLIVER. Of New York. His father, who was
a French refugee, was a gentleman of wealth, and of the first
rank. His career for some years may be considered in con
nexion with that of his brother James, who was Chief Justice
and Lieutenant Governor of that Colony. James was a man
of talents, of learning, of great vivacity, and of popular man
ners; but if the writers of the time are to be followed, he
was also an unprincipled demagogue, who opposed the gov
ernors whom he could not rule, and who, for unworthy pur
poses of his own, kept the public mind in continual agitation.
He was at the head of affairs and administered the govern
ment after the removal of Clinton and the death of Osborn,
and a second time, as the successor of Hardy. He died in
1760. His daughter married the celebrated Sir William Dra
per. The party opposed to his advancement, in denouncing
his ambitious projects, did not spare Oliver, the subject of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 253
this notice. On some occasions, Oliver seems to have promoted
his brother's designs, at the expense of propriety and deco
rum. But yet Oliver De Lancey, at the period of the French
war, occupied a commanding position, and perhaps he did
not overrate his personal influence when he said, that if in
the expedition against Crown Point, he " should accept the
command of the New York regiment, he could in ten days
raise the whole " quota of troops allotted to that Colony.
This standing he maintained after his brother's death, and
until the Revolution. At the commencement of the contro
versy he may not have been a zealous adherent of the crown.
Some of the Whigs insisted, indeed, that he heartily approv
ed of the course of the ministry, and a letter appeared in
a newspaper in England, in 1775, which, if genuine, au
thorized the opinion. But this letter he publicly averred to
be an infamous and a malicious forgery. Nor did he stop
there, for he submitted, as he declared upon his honor, the
whole of his correspondence with his friends in England,
from the earliest moment of the dispute, to Mr. Jay, who,
finding nothing objectionable, so stated in a card which was
published. But whatever was his course before the question
of separation from the mother country was discussed, he
opposed the dismemberment of the empire, and put his life
and property at stake to prevent it. In 1776 he was appoint
ed a brigadier-general in the royal service. Skinner, of New
Jersey ; Brown, a former governor of the Bahamas ; Arnold,
the apostate; and Cunningham, of South Carolina, were of
the same grade, but their commissions were of later dates.
General De Lancey was, therefore, the senior Loyalist offi
cer in commission during the contest. His command con
sisted of three battalions, known as De Lancey's Battalions.
In his orders for enlistments, he promised to any well re
commended characters, who should engage a company of
seventy men, the disposal of the commissions of captain,
lieutenant, and ensign. The common soldiers, he said,
would be "in British pay." Yet his success in filling up
his battalions was not flattering. Of the fifteen hundred
22
254 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
men required, only five hundred and ninety-seven were em
bodied in the spring of 1777, and but seven hundred and seven
a year later.
Previous to the Revolution, General De Lancey was a mem
ber of the Council, and was considered to be in office in 1782,
though a constitution was formed in New York in 1777, and
a government organized under it. By this government he was
attainted of treason, and his large property confiscated. He
went to England at the close of the war, and was a member
of Parliament, but did not long survive. He died in 1785,
aged sixty-eight. I suppose that Van Shaack alludes to his
decease in the following passage. " Our old friend has at last
taken his departure from Beverley, which he said should hold
his bones; he went off without pain or struggle, his body
wasted to a skeleton, his mind the same. The family most
of them collected in town [London]. There will scarcely be
a village in England without some American dust in it, I
believe, by the time we are all at rest."
DE LANCEY, OLIVER, Junior. Of New York. Son of Oli
ver De Lancey. While most of the Loyalists who entered the
military service were attached to Provincial corps, and were of
course liable to be dismissed at the close of the war, De Lan
cey appears to have obtained a commission in the British
army as early as 1776, at which period he was a captain of
horse. At a subsequent day he was major of the Seventeenth
Regiment of Dragoons, and after the death of Andre, adjutant
general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He continued in
the army, and at his decease, within a few years, was barrack-
master general of the British empire. His treatment of Gen
eral Nathaniel Woodhull, an estimable Whig of New York,
who became his prisoner in 1776, should never be forgotten.
There seems no room to doubt, that, when that unfortunate gen
tleman surrendered his sword to De Lancey, he stipulated for,
and was promised, protection ; but that his Loyalist country
man basely struck him, and permitted his men to cut and hack
him at pleasure. And it is no less certain that the General,
maimed and wounded, was denied proper care, attention, and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 255
accommodation, and that he perished in consequence of the
barbarities of his captors.
DE LANCEY, STEPHEN. He entered the military service of
the king, and in 1782 was lieutenant-colonel of the First Bat
talion of New Jersey Volunteers. At the peace he left the
country ; and subsequently was Chief Justice of the Bahamas.
His wife was a daughter of Reverend Henry Barclay, rector
of Trinity Church, New York. A son was aid to Wellington,
and was killed at Waterloo.
DE LANCEY, WARREN. Of New York. In 1780 he was
commissioned a cornet of dragoons.
BELONG, JAMES. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 the Council
ordered that he surrender for trial, or stand attainted.
DELUE, JACOB. He died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1825, aged sixty-five.
DELYON, ISAAC. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate was
amerced twelve per cent.
DE MAYERN, PHILIP. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
Orange Rangers.
DEMENT, . Was a Whig officer of Colonel Magaw's
command, who deserted to the enemy under Howe, a short
time before the affair of Fort Washington.
DEMILE, JOHN. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick.
DEMOTT, ABRAHAM, JOHN, MICHAEL, and SAMUEL. Of Queen's
County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance October, 1776.
Michael was subsequently in the military service of the
crown.
DENHOLM, GEORGE. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DENNIS, JOHN, Junior. Of Richland, Pennsylvania. In
Council, in 1778, it was ordered, that failing to surrender and
be tried for treason, he stand attainted.
DENNIS, RICHARD. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 17SO. He was banished
in 1782, and his property was confiscated.
DENTON. In 1775 Joseph Denton, of Brook-haven, New
York, assisted Major Benjamin Floyd in procuring signatures
256 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
to a paper expressive of a determination to support the royal
authority. In 1776 Thomas, Amos junior, Joseph, Samuel,
Isaac, and Amos Denton, of Queen's County, professed them
selves to Lord Richard and General William Howe, loyal and
well affected subjects. In 1780, James Denton of that County
was in arms against the Whigs. The name of Joseph Denton
is found among the Addressers of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling.
DEONEZZAU, ADAM. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for
Halifax with the British army.
DE PEYSTER, ABRAHAM. Of New York. He entered the
king's service, and was a captain in the New York Volun
teers. He was second in command at the battle of King's
Mountain, in 1780, and after the fall of Ferguson, hoisted a
flag as a signal of surrender. The firing immediately ceased,
and the royal troops laying down their arms, the most of
which were loaded, submitted to the conquerors at discretion.
It seems not to be generally understood, that nearly the whole
of Ferguson's force was composed of Loyalists; but such is
the fact. He went into action with eleven hundred and
twenty-five men, of whom only one hundred and sixty-two
were regulars. Of the Loyalists, no less than two hundred
and six were killed, one hundred and twenty-eight wounded,
and six hundred and twenty-nine taken prisoners. The loss
of regulars, was eighteen slain, and one hundred and three
wounded and captured. Captain De Peyster was paid off the
morning of the battle. Among the coin which he received
was a doubloon, which he put in a pocket of his vest. While
on the field, a bullet struck the gold and stopped, and his
life was thus saved. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. He
received half-pay. He Avas treasurer of New Brunswick,
and a colonel in the militia. He died in that Colony pre
vious to 1799, as in that year leave was given to sell a part
of his estate in the hands of his administrator.
DE PEYSTER, FREDERICK. Of New York. He was a cap
tain in the New York Volunteers in 1782. In 1784 he was
at St. John, New Brunswick, and received the grant of a city
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 257
lot. In 1792 he was a magistrate in the County of York.
He returned to the United States. A gentleman of this name
was a student of Peter Van Shaack in early life, was much
esteemed by him, and "one of his principal correspondents
in his old age." This Mr. De Peyster — and possibly the
same — was living in New York in 1S28.
DERICKSON, CAPTAIN JACOB. Of Brandywine, Delaware. In
1778 he was required by law to surrender himself within a
specified time, or suffer the confiscation of his estate.
DE ROSSET, LEWIS H. A member of the Council of North
Carolina. He was present in Council, April 2, 1775, and
gave his assent to the issuing of a Proclamation to forbid the
meeting of a Whig Convention at Newbern on the following
day. This Convention was for the purpose of electing Dele
gates to the Continental Congress. He was in communication
with Governor Martin, after the royal authority had ceased,
and his Excellency had abandoned the palace.
DEVEAUX, ANDREW, Junior. Of South Carolina. An officer
of the crown after the surrender of Charleston in 1780. Es
tate confiscated.
DEVEAUX, JACOB. Of South Carolina. Was a Congratulator
of Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780. In 1782
his estate was confiscated. He was banished.
DE VEBER, GABRIEL. Of New York. He entered the mili
tary service of the crown, and in 1782 was lieutenant-colonel
of the Prince of Wales's American Volunteers. He settled
in New Brunswick at the close of the war, and was a grantee
of the city of St. John. He received half-pay. In 1792 he
was Sheriff of the County of Sunbury, and colonel in the
militia. He died in that County. Margaret his wife, third
daughter of Doctor Nathaniel Hubbard, of Stamford, Con
necticut, died in King's County in 1813.
DE VEBER, GABRIEL. Junior. Of New York. Son of Gabriel
De Veber. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in De Lancey's Third
Battalion. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at -the
peace, was a grantee of that city, and received half-pay. He
died in New Brunswick.
22*
258 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
DEVOE, FREDERICK and JAMES. In 1783 arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, and lands were granted to them ; the latter
died at Hampton, New Brunswick, in 1833, aged seventy-
nine.
DEVOE, LEVI. Was a Protester in 1775.
DEWSENBURGH, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York.
Protester, &c.
DIBBLEE, FREDERICK. He was born at Stamford, Connecticut,
and graduated at King's College, New York. After the Revo
lution, he settled in New Brunswick, and became rector of
the Episcopal Church at Woodstock. He died at that place
in 1826, aged seventy- three. Nancy, his widow, died at the
same place in 1838, at the age of eighty- three.
DIBBLEE, FYLER. Attorney at Law, Stamford, Connecticut.
In 1775 he was captain of the first military company of
Stamford, and a person of consideration. He early incurred
the displeasure of the Whigs, and the Assembly of Connecticut
appointed commissioners to inquire into his conduct. In 1778
he and sixteen other Loyalists were taken prisoners on Long
Island, New York, by a party of Whigs who landed there from
boats. His property in Connecticut was confiscated. In 1783
he was a deputy agent for the transportation of Loyalists
from New York to Nova Scotia, and in April of that year,
sailed from Huntington Bay in the ship Union for St. John,
New Brunswick, and arrived in May. He was accompanied
by his wife, five children, and two servants. In 1784 he
received the grant of two city lots. Some years after he com
mitted suicide. Various reasons have been assigned for the
melancholy termination of his life.
DIBBLEE, RALPH. Died at Kingston, New Brunswick, in
1799.
DIBBLEE, WALTER. Of Stamford, Connecticut. He arrived
at St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in 1783.
The crown granted him a city lot in 1734. He died at Sus
sex Vale, New Brunswick, in 1817, aged fifty- three.
DIBBLEE, WILLIAM. Of Stamford, Connecticut. In the spring
of 1783 he arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship
Union.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
DICK, JOHN. A Loyalist of the emigration from the United
States of the year 1783. He died at St. George, New Bruns
wick, in 1839. aged ninety-five years.
DICKENSON, WILLIAM. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of
Gage in 1775. Francis embarked at Boston for Halifax with
the royal army in 1776. Nathaniel, of Deerfield, and Roger,
of Hatfield, Massachusetts, were proscribed and banished in
1778. Besides these of the same name, Turtullus, was a
major in the royal service ; was at St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1784, and received a grant of land. Samuel, went to New
Brunswick also, was a grantee of land, and in 1792, a magis
trate in Queen's County.
DICKSON, ROBERT. Settled in Nova Scotia. Was a member
of the House of Assembly, and magistrate of the District 'of
Colchester. He died in 1835.
DICKSON, WILLIAM. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of Hutch-
inson in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year.
DICKSON, W. Of New York. He commanded a company
in the New York Volunteers. In 1780 he was drowned at
Long Island while bathing. His body was found and in
terred.
DINGEE, SOLOMON. He died at Gagetown, New Brunswick,
in 1836, aged eighty.
DINGWELL, ARTHUR. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. In
1795 he was a member of the Loyal Artillery of St. John.
DITMARS, ABRAHAM, Douw, GARRET, ISAAC, and JOHN. Of
Queen's County, New York. Were signers of a Representa
tion and Petition to Lord Richard and General William Howe,
acknowledging allegiance, October, 1776. Isaac signed a
Declaration of Loyalty in 1775, and Douw Ditmars, junior,
did the same. In 1777, Douw was appointed a trustee to pro
vide fuel and other articles for the hospital on Long Island.
Some of the Ditmars of Queen's County went to Nova Scotia
at the peace. John J. Ditmars died in that Colony in 1829,
aged ninety-seven.
260 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Drx, JONATHAN. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
DIXON, CHARLES. He became an inhabitant of New Bruns
wick at the peace, or perhaps a little earlier, and continued a
resident of the Colony until his death, in 1817, at the age of
eighty-nine.
DIXON, JOSEPH. He died at Hampton, King's County, New
Brunswick, in 1812, aged ninety-two.
DOBBS, EDWARD BRICE. Of North Carolina. In 1777 his
property was confiscated.
DOGGIT, JOHN. Of Middleborough, Massachusetts. He went
to New Brunswick, and died on the Island of Grand Menan,
Bay of Fundy, in 1830, aged seventy.
DOLSTON, ISAAC, ISAAC Junior, and MATTHEW. Of Wyoming,
Pennsylvania. Were severally required to surrender them
selves for trial on a charge of treason to the State, within a
specified time in 1778, or stand attainted.
DONALDSON, SAMUEL. He was at New York in July, 1783,
and was one of the fifty-five who petitioned for grants of lands
in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
DONAVAN, JAMES, Junior. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
Was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. In 1782,
J. Donaven, and probably the same, was a lieutenant of in
fantry in the British Legion.
DORLAN, or DORLAND. Benjamin, Benjamin junior, David,
Elias the third, John, Joseph, Samuel, and Thomas, of Queen's
County, New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
In 1780 Joseph Dorian, of that County, was in the military
service of the crown.
DOUGHERTY, EDWARD. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for
Halifax. A Loyalist of this name died in extreme poverty
on the river St. John, New Brunswick, where he had lived
many years, about the year 1808.
DOUGHTY. Two of this name were attached to De Lancey's
Third Battalion in 1782 ; Charles, as surgeon, and Bartholo
mew, as a captain.
DOUGHTY, SAMUEL. Of Jamaica, New York. Was a signer
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 261
of the Declaration of loyalty, January, 1775. His son Sam
uel, and a John Doughty, of Jamaica, signed the same.
DOUGHTY, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
DOUGLAS, BENJAMIN. In 1782 he was an ensign in the
King's Rangers, Carolina.
DOUNIE, JOHN. Of Camden, South Carolina. Was in com
mission under the crown after the surrender of Charleston.
Estate confiscated.
DOUNING, BENJAMIN. Of Westchester County, New York.
A Protester at White Plains.
DOUNS, ARCHIBALD, or ARTHUR. Of Charleston, South Caro
lina. An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was
banished. In 1782 his property was confiscated.
DOWLING, SAMUEL, Was one of the grantees of the city of
St. John, New Brunswick.
DOXSTADER, JOHN. A Tory leader. On an incursion to
Currietown, he and his Indian associates took nine prisoners,
who, in an affair at a place called Ourlagh, New York, the
day succeeding their capture, were bound to standing trees,
tomahawked and scalped. The bodies of these unfortunate
men were hastily buried by friends. But one of them, Jacob
Diefendorff, was alive, and was afterwards found on the out
side of his own grave ; he recovered and lived to relate the
story. In 1780, on one of his incursions in New York, Dox-
stader carried away a horse belonging to a Whig ; but com
ing to the same region, from Canada, after the war, he was
arrested by the owner, and compelled to pay the value of the
animal.
DOYLE, JOHN. In 1782 was a captain in the Second Ameri
can Regiment.
DRAKE, JOHN. Innkeeper, of Newcastle, Delaware. Was
required in 1778 to surrender himself, or to submit to the for
feiture of his property.
DRAKE, JEREMIAH. Settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and
died at St. John in 1846, aged eighty.
DRAKE, FRANCIS. Died at Q,ueensbury, New Brunswick, in
262 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
1836, aged eighty-one. He was in the service of the crown
for some years.
DRAKE, URIAH. Of New York. Went to St. John, New
Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
He died at Carlton, New Brunswick, in 1832, at the age of
seventy.
DRAPER, RICHARD. Printer and proprietor of the Massachu
setts Gazette, and Boston News Letter. He was the appren
tice, silent partner, and successor of his father, John Draper.
He was early appointed printer to the Governor and Council,
which employment he retained during life. His paper was
devoted to the government, and in the controversy between
Great Britain and the Colonies, gave strong support to the
royal cause, and had some able contributors. He was a man
of feeble health ; and was remarkable for the delicacy of his
mind, and gentleness of his manners. No stain rested upon
his character. He was attentive to his affairs, and was es
teemed the best compiler of news of his day. He died June
6th, 1774, aged forty-seven years ; without children.
DRAPER, MARGARET. Wife of Richard Draper, of Boston.
With the aid of John Howe, continued the publication of the
Massachusetts Gazette, and Boston News Letter from the time
of her husband's death in 1774, until the evacuation of Bos
ton in 1776 ; and her paper was the only one that was pub
lished during the siege of that town. She accompanied the
British army to Halifax, and proceeding to England, lived
there for the remainder of her days. Her death occurred, it
is believed, about the opening of the present century. The
British Government allowed her a pension. Trumbull, in his
McFingal, calls her " mother Draper.'7
DREDDEN, W. Of New York. An officer in a band of
marauders.
DREW, JOHN, ISAAC, and PETER. Of Fairfield County, Con
necticut. Were members of the Reading Association.
DREW, JOSEPH. A grantee of the city of St. John, New
Brunswick ; he died there in 1808.
DRINKER, HENRY. Of Philadelphia. In 1777, charged with
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 263
disaffection to the Whigs, he was confined in that city, and
sent to Virginia.
DRUMMOND, ALEXANDER. In 1782 he was surgeon of the
King's American Regiment.
DRUMMOND, JAMES. Was one of the grantees of the city of
St. John in 1783.
DRUMMOND, ROBERT. Was major of the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers in 1782.
DRY, WILLIAM. Of North Carolina. He was collector of
the customs, and a member of the Royal Council. When Mr.
Quincy of Massachusetts was on his southern tour in 1773,
he was his guest, and recorded in his journal, that " Colonel
Dry's mansion is justly called the house of universal hospital
ity." At this time, it is probable, from circumstances related
by Mr. Quincy, that Mr. Dry was inclined to the popular side.
But, by the records of the Royal Council, it appears, that April
12, 1775, he li took again the oath appointed to be taken by
Privy Counsellors." The Board at this meeting dismissed
from a commission of the Peace Colonel John Harvey, one of
the most zealous Whigs in North Carolina, and with the con
sent of all the members present. Yet I find that, after the
adoption of the Constitution in 1776, Colonel Dry was elected
a member of the new, or Whig Council. But a man who
changed so often was not a Whig.
Du Bois, PETER. Of New York. His property was con
fiscated. I suppose that Colonel Dubois, who commanded a
corps of Loyalists, and was in service under Sir John Johnson,
was the same.
DUCHE, JACOB, D. D. An Episcopal minister of Philadelphia.
He was born in that city, and graduated at the college there
in 1757. He entered the ministry, and after the first Conti
nental Congress assembled, in 1774, officiated as chaplain on
the 7th of September, and was thanked by a vote of that body,
" for the excellent prayer which he composed and delivered"
on the occasion. At this time he was assistant rector of two
churches, but on the death of Reverend Doctor Richard Peters,
an Episcopal minister of Philadelphia, in 1775, was appointed
264 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
his successor. In 1776 he was elected chaplain to Congress,
with a salary. The following is the form of prayer, which
he made use of after Independence was declared.
" O Lord ! our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of
kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all
the dwellers on earth, and reignest with power supreme and
uncontrolled over all kingdoms, empires and governments.
Look down in mercy, we beseech thee, on these our American
States, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor,
and thrown themselves on thy gracious protection, desiring to
be henceforth dependent only on thee ; to thee have they ap
pealed for the righteousness of their cause ; to thee do they
now look up for that countenance and support, which thou
alone canst give : take them, therefore, heavenly Father,
under thy nurturing care ; give them wisdom in council, and
valor in the field ; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel
adversaries ; convince them of the unrighteousness of their
cause, and if they still persist in their sanguinary purposes,
O ! let the voice of thine own unerring justice, sounding in
their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from
their unnerved hands in the day of battle. Be thou present,
O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable
assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest
foundation, that the scene of blood may be speedily closed,
that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored,
and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish
amongst thy people ; preserve the health of their bodies and
the vigor of their minds ; shower down on them, and the
millions they represent, such temporal blessings, as thou seest
expedient for them in this world, and crown them with ever
lasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the
name, and through the merits of Jesus Christ, thy Son and
our Saviour. Amen."
He officiated as chaplain about three months, when he aban
doned the Whigs, and resigned. In October, 1777, he wrote
an extraordinary letter to Washington, which was delivered
by Mrs. Ferguson, and which the Commander-in-chief trans-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 265
mitted to Congress. The objects of this communication were,
to cast a general odium on the Whig cause, to induce Wash
ington to apostatize, and resign his command of the army, or,
at the head of it, to force Congress immediately to desist from
hostilities, and to rescind the Declaration of Independence. If
this is not done, said Duche, "You have an infallible resource
still left ; negotiate for America at the head of your army"
In the course of this letter, he represents Congress in a most
despicable view ; as consisting of weak, obscure persons, not
fit associates for Washington ; and he speaks of the members
from New England, especially, with great indelicacy. The
army, in his estimation, both officers and men, were possessed
neither of courage nor principle, and were taken from the low
est of the people.
Various motives were assigned for his apostasy ; some be
lieved that it was occasioned by the gloomy aspect of affairs ;
others supposed that it arose from a change in his sentiments
respecting the justice of the Whig cause. But whatever was
the reason, the aspersions contained in his letter admit of no
excuse ; he degraded his profession, and loaded his name and
memory with infamy. After quitting Philadelphia, Doctor
Duche went to England, and became chaplain to an asylum
for orphans. He was a man of brilliant talents, an impressive
orator, had a fine poetical taste, and figured as a preacher
even in London. He was banished, and his estate was con
fiscated. In April, 1783, he solicited Washington's influence
to effect a repeal of the act that kept him in banishment from
his native country, "from the arms of a dear aged father, and
the embraces of a numerous circle of valuable and long-loved
friends. Washington replied, that his feelings as an individual
were favorable, but that his case must continue to rest with
the authorities of Pennsylvania. In 1790, the laws of that
State having allowed the refugee loyalists to return, Doctor
Duche came back to Philadelphia in shattered health. He
died in 1798, aged about sixty years. One account states that
his decease occurred in 1794. His wife was a sister of Francis
Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His
23
266
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
daughter Sophia married John Henry, a person whose real or
supposed connexion with our politics about the time of the
war of 1812, caused considerable sensation. He published
several sermons before his defection, and two volumes in Lon
don, in 1780.
DUCKINFIELD, SIR NATHANIEL, Baronet. Of North Carolina. A
member of the Council. In 1779 his property was confiscated.
DUDLEY, CHARLES. Collector of the Customs, Newport, Rhode
Island. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Halifax with the
British army.
DUELLY, WILLIAM. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for
Halifax with the British army.
DUFFUS, CHARLES. He died at St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1818, at the age of seventy.
DUKER, HENRY. Was a grantee of the city of St. John,
New Brunswick.
DULANEY, WALTER. In 1782 he was major of the Maryland
Loyalists.
DULANY, DANIEL. Of Maryland. Early in the controversy,
he and Charles Carroll engaged in a warm newspaper discus
sion, which attracted much interest. Dulany wrote over the
signature of Antilore, and his Whig antagonist adopted that
of the First Citizen. Dulany was an eminent lawyer, and
was considered one of the most distinguished men of his
time. Before the Revolution he held the offices of Secretary
and Attorney-general of Maryland, and was a member of the
Council. Few memorials remain of him, but he is ever men
tioned in terms of the highest respect. Mr. Q,uincy, of Massa
chusetts, while on his journey to the South in 1773, spoke of
spending " three hours with the celebrated Daniel Dulany."
He died soon after the commencement of hostilities.
DULANY, LLOYD. Of Annapolis, Maryland. On the 27th
of May, 1774, the Whigs of that city passed the following
Resolution.
" That it is the opinion of this meeting that the gentlemen
of the law of this Province bring no suit for the recovery of
any debt due from any inhabitant of this Province to any in-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 267
habitant of Great Britain, 'until the said Act [Boston Port Bill]
be repealed."
Three days after, Mr. Dulany's name appeared at the head
of the following Protest.
" Dissentient. 1. Because we are impressed with a full con
viction, that this resolution is founded in treachery and rash
ness, inasmuch as it is big with bankruptcy and ruin to those
inhabitants of Great Britain, who, relying with unlimited secu
rity on our good faith and integrity, have made us masters of
their fortunes; condemning them unheard, for not having in
terposed their influence with Parliament in favor of the town
of Boston, without duly weighing the force with which that
influence would probably have operated, or whether in their
conduct they were actuated by wisdom and policy, or by cor
ruption and avarice.
U2. Because, whilst the inhabitants of Great Britain are
partially despoiled of every legal remedy to recover what is
justly due to them, no provision is made to prevent us from
being harassed by the prosecution of internal suits, but our
fortunes and persons are left at the mercy of domestic credi
tors, without a possibility of extricating ourselves unless by a
general convulsion ; an event, in the contemplation of sober
reason, replete with horror.
"3. Because our credit as a commercial people will expire
under the wound ; for what confidence can possibly be re
posed in those who shall have exhibited the most avowed and
most striking proof that they are not to be bound by obliga
tions as sacred as human invention can suggest."
Mr. Dulany became a refugee Loyalist. He went to Eng
land ; in 1779 he was in London, and addressed the king.
DUMARESQUE, PHILIP. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. In 1776 he
was at Halifax. Two years later he was proscribed and
banished.
DUMONT, PETER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DUNBAR, DANIEL. Of Halifax, Massachusetts. Was an offi-
268
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
cer in the militia, and in 1774 a mob demanded of him the
surrender of the colors of his company. He refused, when
the multitude broke into his house, took him out, forced him
to get upon a rail, where he was held and tossed up and down
until he was exhausted. He was then dragged and beaten,
and gave up the standard to save his life. In 1776 he went to
Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the royal army. In 1778 he was
proscribed and banished.
DUNBAR, GEORGE. Residence unknown. In 1782 was a
captain in De Lancey's Second Battalion.
DUNBAR, JESSE. Of Halifax, Massachusetts. Bought some
fat cattle of a Mandamus Councillor in 1774, and drove them
to Plymouth for sale. The Whigs soon learned with whom
Dunbar had presumed to deal, and after he had slaughtered,
skinned, and hung up one of the beasts, commenced punishing
him for the offence. That punishment was cruel in the ex
treme. His tormentors, it appears, put the dead ox in a cart,
and fixed Dunbar in his belly, carted him four miles, and re
quired him to pay one dollar for the ride. He then was deliv
ered over to a Kingston mob, who carted him four other miles,
and exacted another dollar. A Duxbury mob then took him,
and after beating him in the face with the creature's tripe, and
endeavoring to cover his person with it, carried him to Coun
cillor Thomas's house, and compelled him to pay a further
sum of money. Flinging his beef into the road, they now left
him to recover and return as he could.
DUNBAR, JOSEPH, Senior. Of Jamaica, New York. Was a
signer of the Declaration of loyalty in 1775.
DUNCAN. ALEXANDER. Embarked at Boston for Halifax in
1776.
DUNCAN, JAMES. Blacksmith, of Charleston, South Carolina.
Was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; was ban
ished, and his property was confiscated in 1782.
DUNCAN, WILLIAM. Was chaplain of the North Carolina
Volunteers.
DUNHAM. Captain Asher Dunham, and Daniel Dunham,
were among the Loyalists who went to St. John, New Bruns-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
wick, in 1783, and both received grants of city lots. John
Dunham, who emigrated the same year, and who was a cap
tain in the militia of New Brunswick, died at Carl ton in 1829,
aged eighty-one.
DUNLAP, ALEXANDER. Of Queen's County, New York. Was
in arms against the rebels, and in 1780 belonged to the party
under lieutenant McKain.
DUNLAP, JOHN. Of North Carolina. Lost his property by
confiscation in 1779.
DUNLAP, CHARLES and ST. JOHN. Were officers of infantry
in the Queen's Rangers.
DUNN, JOHN, Esquire. Of New York. He left the United
States at the termination of hostilities, and was one of the
founders of St. Andrew, New Brunswick, and through life
contributed to its improvement and prosperity. For many
years he held the honorable and lucrative post of Comptroller
of His Majesty's Customs at that port. He died at St. An
drew, April 14, 1829, aged seventy-six. His wife, Elizabeth,
survived until January, 1835, and at her decease was seventy-
three. He was a man proverbially kind, liberal, and hospit
able.
DUNN, JOSEPH. Was adjutant of the Royal Garrison Bat
talion, and held a commission of ensign.
DUNN, SELLICK. Was a grantee of the city of St. John, New
Brunswick.
DUNNING, . Of North Carolina. In 1776 he was an
ensign in a corps of Loyalists, was in arms against the Whigs
of that State, and was captured and imprisoned.
DUNNING, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DUPONT, GIDEON, Junior. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was ban
ished. In 1782 his property was confiscated.
DURFEE, JOSEPH. Of Rhode Island. In 1777 he was com
missioned a lieutenant in the Loyal Newport Associators.
DURLING, GARRET. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of
a Declaration of loyalty in 1775.
23*
270 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
DURST, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DURYE, RULIFF. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of a
Declaration of loyalty in 1775.
DUTARQUE, LEWIS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
DWIGHT, TIMOTHY. Was surgeon's mate of the King's
American Dragoons.
DWYER, EDWARD. Petty officer of the Customs. In 1776
he embarked at Boston for Halifax with the British army.
DYER, HENRY. Was a grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick.
DYKERMAN, ABRAHAM. Of New Haven, Connecticut. Ar
rived at St. John, New Brunswick, in the spring of 1783, in
the ship Union. Garret Dykerman arrived the same year,
and was a grantee of that city.
EAGAR, JOHN. Of Rutland, Massachusetts. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
EAGAR, JAMES. Of Northborough, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
EARLE, EDWARD. Was a captain in the Third Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers. Settled in New Brunswick ; re
ceived half-pay ; and died at Grand Lake, in that Colony.
EARLE, JUSTUS. Was a lieutenant in the Third Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers. Settled in the Colony of New
Brunswick.
EARLE, PHILIP. Went to New Brunswick. He was a gran
tee of the city of St. John.
EASTERBROOKS, JAMES. He was an early settler of New
Brunswick, and was a magistrate and member of the House
of Assembly for many years. He died at Sackville, New
Brunswick, in 1842, at the age of eighty-five.
EUDIS, WILLIAM. Of Maryland. Was in London in 1779,
and was a Loyalist Addresser of the king.
EDDY, CHARLES. Of Philadelphia. In 1777 he was appre
hended and ordered to be sent to Virginia, as a prisoner. He
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
271
went to England, subsequently, and was in London in July,
1779.
EDMISTON, WILLIAM. Of Maryland. Went to England,
and was there previous to July, 1779.
EDSON, JOSIAH. Of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He was
a noted politician of the time, and was known by the two
most odious appellations which prevailed ; namely, as a Re-
scinder, and a Mandamus Councillor. Hutchinson speaks
of him in 1771, when he was a member of the House of
Representatives, as one of the several gentlemen of that body,
who, in common times, would have had great weight, but
who, then, discouraged by the great superiority 'of the num
bers against them, were inactive. In 1774, Mr. Edson was
driven from his house by a mob, and was compelled to reside
in Boston, under protection of the British troops ; and at the
evacuation in 1776, he accompanied the army to Halifax.
He went from Halifax to New York, and died in that city,
or on Long Island, not long after his arrival. He was a
graduate of Harvard University, a colonel in the militia, a
deacon of the church, and a respectable, virtuous man. He
is alluded to in McFingal, as " That old simplicity of Ed-
son."
EDWARDS, JAMES. In 1782 he was a captain of infantry in
the British Legion.
EDWARDS, JOSEPH, Junior. Of Fairfield County, Connecti
cut. Was a member of the Reading Association.
EDWARDS, MORGAN. A Baptist clergyman. He was born
in Wales in 1722, and came to America in 1761. He was
at first pastor of a church in Philadelphia, and, subsequently,
labored in various places, either as lecturer or preacher. Op
posed to the Revolution, he gave up the ministry during the
war. He was an eccentric man, and among his acts was
the preaching of his own funeral sermon. He lived a quarter
of a century after the solemn farce, dying in 1795, aged
seventy-two. He published many sermons, and left nume
rous manuscripts.
EDWARDS, SAMUEL. Pilot, of Delaware. He was required
272
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
to surrender and abide a trial for treason, or lose his property
by forfeiture.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was surgeon's mate of the
Loyal American Regiment.
EFFA, CASPER. He went to St John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
EGAN, DANIEL. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the Georgia
Loyalists.
EGBERT, ANTHONY. Was a grantee of the city of St. John,
New Brunswick, and, subsequently, city surveyor.
ELDRIDGE, JOSHUA. Mariner, of Falmouth, now Portland,
Maine. Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
ELDRIF, LUKE. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of a
Declaration against the proceedings of the Whigs, January,
1775.
ELINSTONE, DAVID. Was a grantee of the city of St. John,
New Brunswick.
ELLIOT, ANDREW. Of New York. He was Collector of the
Customs for the port of New York, from about the year 1764
until the Revolution, and performed his official duties in a
manner highly satisfactory. His first difficulty with the peo
ple of a serious nature occurred in 1774, when he seized
some fire-arms, and was threatened with a visit from the
" Mohawks and river Indians," or, in other words, with a coat
of tar and feathers. After the royal army took possession of
New York, he continued to perform his duties of collector,
and during the war held various important offices. In 1782
he was not only at the head of the Customs, but was Lieu
tenant Governor, Receiver General of Quit-rents, Superintend
ent General of Police, and Chief of the Superintendent De
partment, established by Sir William Howe in 1777. And
when, in 1780, Sir Henry Clinton made his last effort to save
Andre, Mr. Elliot was one of the three eminent persons who
were sent to confer with Washington. Mr. Elliot's estate in
New York was confiscated ; and the Executive Council of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
273
Pennsylvania, to reach property possessed by him in that
State, ordered by proclamation, that on his failing to appear
within a specified time, to take his trial on the charge of
treason, he should stand attainted.
ELLIOT, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
ELLIOT, CAPTAIN . Noted for his revengeful disposition
and infamous deeds. In the documents of the time, McKee,
Elliot, and Simon Girty, are mentioned together, and as form
ing a sort of triumvirate. The three were imprisoned by the
Whigs at Pittsburgh, but made their escape, and in 1778
traversed the country to enlist the savages against the rebels.
The effects of their councils were long felt and deplored.
After the Revolution, and during the Indian troubles of Wash
ington's administration, Elliot's hostile feelings towards the
country which he had abandoned, were sufficiently manifest
to deserve marked and emphatic consideration, and universal
and lasting detestation. He was dismissed from the British
Colonial service about the year 1801, without trial, but
whether for misconduct, is unknown to the writer.
ELLIS, ABIEL. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. Was impris
oned for disaffection to the Whig cause in 1778; and Ephraim,
Junior, of the same town, was proscribed and banished.
ELLIS, DANIEL. Was an ensign in the King's Rangers,
Carolina.
ELLIS, DAVID. Was adjutant of the King's Rangers, Caro
lina.
ELLIS, EDMUND. Of South Carolina. Lost his property un
der the confiscation act of that State in 1782.
ELLISON, ABRAHAM. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774.
ELLWOOD, JOHN. Of Bristol, County of Bucks, Pennsylvania.
His estate was confiscated in 1779.
ELMS, THOMAS. Was a grantee of the city of St. John,
New Brunswick.
ELSE, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. Held an office under
the crown after the surrender of Charleston, was banished, and
274 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
lost his estate. Thomas, was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clin
ton, and met a similar fate in person and property.
ELTON, PETER. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Halifax
with the British army.
EMERSON, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Halifax
with the British army.
EMERSON, THOMAS. A physician. He died at Fredericton.
New Brunswick, in 1843, aged eighty-one.
EMMENS, HENDRICKS, Senior. Of Jamaica, New York. A
signer of a Declaration in 1775. His son Hendricks signed
the same.
ENGLISH, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
EPHRAIM, HENRY. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
ERVING, GEORGE. A merchant, of Boston. He was one of
the fifty-eight memorialists who were the first men in America
to array themselves against the officers of the crown. He
was an Addresser of Governor llutchinson in 1774; was pro
scribed under the act of 1778 ; and his estate was confiscated
under the conspiracy act of the year 1779. He went to Hali
fax at the evacuatj^n, and thence to England. He died in
London in 1806, at the age of seventy. His wife was a
daughter of the Honorable Isaac Roy all, of Medford.
ERVING, JOHN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage in 1775.
ERVING, JOHN, Junior. Of Boston. He graduated at Har
vard University in 1747. In 1760 he signed the Boston Me
morial, and was thus one of the fifty-eight who were the first
men in America to array themselves against the officers of the
crown. But in 1774 he was an Addresser of Hutch inson, and
the same year was appointed a Mandamus Councillor. In
1776 he fled to Halifax, and went thence to England. In
1778 he was proscribed and banished ; and in 1779 his pro
perty was confiscated under the conspiracy act. He died in
England in 1816, aged eighty-nine years. His wife was a
daughter of Governor Shirley. The wife of Governor Bow-
doin was his sister.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 275
EUSTACE, STEPHEN. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
King's American Regiment.
EUSTACE, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished
in 1782, and his property was confiscated.
EVERITT, BENJAMIN, DANIEL, JAMES, and NICHOLAS. Of Queen's
County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
James signed a Declaration of loyalty previously, and in 1775
settled in Nova Scotia, and died in Digby in 1799.
EVERITT, GEORGE. Was a quartermaster in the king's ser
vice. Went to New Brunswick in 1783 ; and died at Fred
eric ton in 1829, aged seventy.
EVANS, EDMUND. In 1782 was a lieutenant in De Lancey's
Third Battalion.
EVANS, JOHN and WILLIAM. Carpenters, of Philadelphia.
Were ordered to surrender themselves, or stand attainted;
while by another act the property of Joel, a merchant of that
city, was confiscated.
FAGEN, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
FAIRCHILD, JAMES M. He went to New Brunswick in 1783,
and died at St. John in 1807.
FAIRFAX, BRYAN. Of Virginia. He was the third son of
the Honorable Colonel William Fairfax. His wife was a
daughter of Wilson Carey, of Virginia, and his residence was
at Towlston Hall in Fairfax County, though for some years,
during the latter part of his life, he was an Episcopal clergy
man at Alexandria. An affectionate intercourse existed be
tween him and Washington throughout life ; both were of too
elevated a cast to allow political differences of opinion to alien
ate and separate them. In 1774 Washington expressed an
earnest wish that he should stand as a candidate for the
House of Burgesses, but he declined. He was opposed to
strong measures, and in favor of redress by remonstrances and
petitions. "There are scarce any at Alexandria," he wrote,
"of my opinion; and though the few I have elsewhere con-
276 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
versed with on the subject are so, yet from them I could learn
that many thought otherwise ; so that I believe I should at
this time give general dissatisfaction, arid therefore it would be
more proper to decline, even upon this account, as well as
because it would necessarily lead me into great expenses,
which my circumstances will not allow." Washington in
reply, remarked, that he would heartily join in his political
sentiments " so far as relates to a humble and dutiful petition
to the throne, provided there was the most distant hope of
success. But," said he, "have we not tried this already?
Have we not addressed the Lords, and remonstrated to the
Commons ? And to what end ? Did they deign to look at our
petitions? " &c.
Prior to July 18, 1774, Mr. Fairfax attended several meet
ings of the Whigs of Fairfax County, but at that time with
drew from them. The immediate cause of withdrawal seems
to have been his disapprobation of some of the resolutions
prepared by a committee, and submitted to a general meeting
of the inhabitants of the County. Washington was chairman
of both the committee and the meeting, and Fairfax addressed
to him a communication expressing his views and objections,
which he desired might be publicly read. Yet the two friends
did not relinquish their correspondence upon the great ques
tions which agitated the country; and the letters of Washing
ton to this gentleman contain the fullest and most satisfactory
exposition of his sentiments that Mr. Sparks has preserved.
On the death of Robert Fairfax (in 1791), who was the seventh
Lord Fairfax, Bryan Fairfax succeeded to the title, and was
the eighth and last Baron of the name. Benevolence and
kindness were marked traits in his character, and he was uni
versally respected and beloved. Washington bequeathed to
him an elegant Bible in three volumes folio. Lord Bryan died
at Mount Eagle, near Cameron, in 1802, aged seventy-five,
after a long illness, which he bore with resignation.
FAIRFAX, GEORGE WILLIAM. Of Virginia. He was the great
grandson of Thomas, the fourth Lord Fairfax. His father
was the Honorable Colonel William Fairfax, who was Lieu-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 277
tenant of the County of Fairfax, Collector of the Customs of
South Potomac, member and President of the King's Council
in Virginia. He was educated in England, but was the early
companion of Washington, and his associate as surveyor of
lands. On the death of his father in 1757, he succeeded to his
estate. He married a daughter of Colonel Carey, of Hamp
ton, became a member of the Council, and lived at Belvoir.
Some property in Yorkshire descended to him in 1773, and he
went to England ; and in consequence of the political difficul
ties which followed, did not return to America. He fixed his
residence at Bath, where he died in 1787, aged sixty-three.
During the war he evinced much kindness to American pris
oners who were carried to England. A part of his Virginia
estate was confiscated, by which his income was much re
duced. Washington esteemed him highly, and they were ever
friends. The illustrious Commander-in-chief was named an
executor of his will, but declined fulfilling the trust in conse
quence of his public engagements. Mr. Fairfax left no chil
dren. He bequeathed his American property to Ferdinando,
the second son of his only surviving brother.
FAIRFAX, LORD THOMAS. He was the son of Thomas, the
fifth Lord Fairfax, and of Catharine, daughter of Lord Cul-
peper, and was born in England in 1691. He was educated
at Oxford, and was regarded as a good scholar. Succeeding to
the title and to the family estate in Virginia, he came over to
that Colony about the year 1739. After residing there a year,
he returned to England ; but desirous of improving and indu
cing rapid settlements on his land, and pleased with America,
he determined to make Virginia the place of his permanent
abode. He accordingly closed his affairs in England, and came
a second time to his estate in 1745. He lived several years with
William Fairfax, at Belvoir, but at length fixed his residence
a few miles from Winchester, on the western side of the Blue
Ridge, where he laid out a farm, and put it under high culti
vation. His mansion house was called Green way Court, and
he lived in a style of liberal hospitality. He was fond of
hunting, and indulged in the diversion nearly to excess. He
24
278
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
was kind to the poor, and allowed them a large part of the
surplus produce of the land under his immediate management,
and afforded them the use of other parts of his estate on terms
almost nominal. Indulgent to all who held lands under
him, and to all around him, faithful in the discharge of his
private duties, and in the performance of several honorable
public trusts, he lived respected and beloved by men of all
parties. Though a frank and open Loyalist, he was never
insulted or molested by the Whigs. When he heard of the
surrender of Cornwallis, it is related that he said to the ser
vant ; " Come, Joe I carry me to bed, for it is high time for me
to die." Nor did he long survive this event. He died at
Greenway Court in 1782, in the ninety-second year of his age,
much lamented. His literary attainments were highly respect
able, and it is said that in his youth he was a contributor to
the Spectator. His remains were deposited under the com
munion-table of the Episcopal Church at Winchester, but were
removed in 1833, to provide a place for the erection of a pile of
buildings on the site of the church.
Lord Fairfax was the friend and patron of Washington's
early life, and though he died before the mother country ac
knowledged the independence of the thirteen Colonies, he
saw that the widow's son who surveyed his lands, was des
tined under Providence to be the great instrument to dismem
ber the British empire.
His barony and his immense domain in Virginia, between
the rivers Potomac and Rappahannock, consisting, as ap
pears by parliamentary papers, of five million, two hundred
and eighty -two thousand acres, descended to his only surviving
brother, Robert Fairfax, who was the seventh Lord Fairfax,
and who died at Leeds Castle, England, in 1791. But as this
domain was in possession of Lord Thomas during the revolu
tionary controversy, it was confiscated. Lord Robert, how
ever, (claiming in behalf of himself, of Frances Martin,
his widowed sister, of Denny Fairfax, a clergyman, of Philip
and Thomas Martin, his nephews, and three Misses Martin,
his nieces), applied to the British government for compen-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 279
sation, under the provision made to Loyalist sufferers, and
stated the value of the estate at £98,000. The commissioners
made a special report upon this claim, but do not appear
to have come to a final decision with regard to it ; and
after their labors were closed, it was among the few cases
which were referred to Parliament for settlement. It was con
sidered by a committee of that body, who, as the commission
ers had done, reduced it to £60,000. Lord Robert's life inter
est therein, they find by the established rules of computation,
at £13,758. The value of the life interest Mr. Pitt recom
mended to be paid, but at this time (1792) advised no compen
sation to those who possessed the reversionary interest. But it
is believed, that at a subsequent period, an allowance was
made to nearly or quite the sum originally claimed.
His estate was one of the largest and most valuable in
America at the Revolution. It was granted May 8, 1681, by
Charles the Second to Thomas Lord Culpeper, the grandfather
of Lord Thomas, and Lord Robert Fairfax, on a " rent of
£6. 13. 4 payable as therein mentioned." At Lord Culpeper's
death it became the property of his daughter, the Right Hon
orable Catharine, Lady Fairfax, who, by her will of April 21,
1719, devised the whole in trust thus : " Upon trust in the
first place by mortgage, a sale of sufficient part of the estates
thereby devised, to raise a sufficient sum for discharging all
her debts, legacies, and funeral expenses; and after such mort
gage sale and disposition ; " as follows, namely, —
" To the use of her eldest son, Thomas Lord Fairfax, and
his assigns for life. Remainder to the first and other sons of
said Thomas Fairfax, in tail male. Remainder to her second
son, Henry Culpeper Fairfax, and his assigns, for life. Re
mainder to the first and other sons of said Henry Culpeper
Fairfax, in tail male. Remainder to her third son, Robert
Fairfax, and his assigns, for life. Remainder to trustees to pre
serve contingent remainders. Remainder to the first and other
sons of said Robert Fairfax, in tail male. Remainder to the
daughters of the said testatrix, as tenants in common, in tail.
Remainder to the right heirs of the said testatrix, in fee."
280 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Such was the tenure of the Fairfax estate in Virginia. The
magnitude of the property, and the circumstances of the case,
caused an unusual degree of investigation in Parliament, and
Lord Robert's memorial for relief was the subject of a separate
and elaborate report. His individual loss, if computed at the
value of his life interest, was less than that of several of the
Loyalists whose property was confiscated ; though we have
seen that the government gave him, without hesitation, nearly
seventy thousand dollars, after reducing his valuation more
than a quarter part. A considerable portion of this estate had
been granted prior to the Revolution, upon the quit-rent
system, and thus a part of its value had been transferred to
others. Still the reversionary interest on the decease of Lord
Robert, which the committee of Parliament fixed at a sum
equal to a quarter of a million of dollars, was by no means
extravagant, even if the worth of lands at that period be alone
considered.
FAIRLEE, JAMES. In July 1783 he was one of the fifty-five
Loyalists who petitioned for grant of lands in Nova Scotia.
See Abijah Willard.
FALES, DAVID. Of Dedham, Massachusetts. In 1763 he
removed to Maine, upon the Waldo Patent, and within the
limits of the present town of Thomaston ; where he practised
as a physician, taught school, and surveyed lands. He was
also employed by Mr. Flucker, the secretary of Massachusetts,
and son-in-law of General Waldo, as agent of lands embraced
in the Patent.
FAIRWEATHER, BENJAMIN, JEDEDIAH, and THOMAS. Settled in
New Brunswick in 1783, and received grants of lands.
Thomas died at Norton in that Colony in 1825, at the age of
seventy-seven, and Elizabeth, his widow, at the same place,
in 1846, aged seventy-nine. Jedediah died at Norton in 1831,
at the age of ninety -six.
FALL, THOMAS. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Halifax
with the British army.
FANNING, BARCLAY. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
King's American Regiment.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 281
FANNING, DAVID. He was an officer under the crown during
the war, and at its close settled in New Brunswick. He lived
some years in Queen's County, and was a member of the
House of Assembly ; but in 1799 removed to Nova Scotia,
where he was a colonel in the militia. He died at Digby,
Nova Scotia, in 1825.
FANNING, HONORABLE EDMUND. Of North Carolina. He was
a personage of considerable note in that Colony ; and respect
able men aver, that he was remarkable "for all the vices that
degrade the most abandoned and profligate minion." Among
the public offices which he held, was that of Recorder of Deeds
for the County of Orange ; and it is alleged, that to his abuses
in this capacity, the war or rebellion of the Regulators in
Governor Tryon's administration is, in a good measure, to be
attributed. The averment is, that by his vicious character,
" nearly all the estates in Orange were loaded with doubts as
to their titles, with exorbitant fees for recording new and
unnecessary deeds, and high taxes to support a government
which supported his wickedness." This charge rests on very
high authority ; and during the war of the Regulators against
the royal government, neither the person nor property of Fan
ning were respected. His losses were presented to the Assem
bly by Governor Martin, the successor of Tryon, but that
body not only peremptorily refused to consider the subject, but
administered a rebuke to the Governor, for thus trifling " with
the dignity of the House.' ' It is not impossible that his un
popularity was greater than his offences deserved; since neither
the members of the Assembly, nor the people at large, were,
at this juncture, in a frame of mind to do exact justice to op
ponents.
Fanning joined Governor Tryon, who was his father-in-law,
in New York, where he was his secretary. In 1777 he raised
a corps of four hundred and sixty Loyalists, which bore the
name of the Associated Refugees, or King's American Regi
ment, and of which he had command. To aid in the organi
zation of this body, £500 was subscribed at Staten Island,
£310 in King's County, £219 in the town of Jamaica, and
24*
282 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
£2000 in the city of New York. In 1779 the property of
Colonel Fanning in North Carolina was confiscated. In 1782
he was in office as Surveyor-general of New York. He went
to Nova Scotia near the close of the war, and September 23d3
1783, was sworn in as Councillor and Lieutenant Governor of
that Colony. About the year 1786 he was appointed Lieuten
ant Governor of Prince Edward's Island ; and having served
nearly nineteen years, was succeeded in 1805 by Des Barres,
who is celebrated for his charts of parts of the American
coast.
FANNING, JOHN. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
FANNING, . A notorious marauder, of considerable tal
ents, but brutal, reckless, and sanguinary. When Marion, the
celebrated Whig partisan, admitted to terms Major Gainey,
and a band of Loyalists of Carolina under his command, Fan
ning was specially named as excluded from the benefits of the
arrangement. But both he and his wife reached Charleston,
South Carolina, which was in possession of the royal troops,
in safety. Previous to his flight, however, he made a fruitless
attempt to reanimate the friends of the crown with whom he
possessed influence. He was a most determined enemy of
the Whigs and their cause.
FANUEIL, BENJAMIN. Merchant, of Boston. One of the con
signees of the tea which was destroyed there in 1773. Went
to Halifax in 1776, and thence to England.
FARDO, JOHN GEORGE. Of South Carolina. He held a royal
commission after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confis
cated.
FARNSWORTH, DANIEL. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished. His estate was confiscated.
FARNSWORTH, DAVID. In 1778 he was tried as a spy, con
victed of the offence, and executed at Hartford, Connecticut,
on the 10th of November. A large amount of counterfeit con
tinental money was found in his possession.
FARR&R, WILLIAM. Of Virginia. Went to England, and
was a Loyalist Addresser of the king in 1779.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 283
FARROW, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
FELLING, NICHOLAS. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. In 1775 a signer of a Declaration of loyalty.
Jacob Felling, of that County, was also a signer.
FENTON, JOHN. Of New Hampshire. He was a captain in
the British army, but disposing of his commission, settled in
New Hampshire, where he became a colonel in the militia,
clerk in the Court of Common Pleas, and Judge of Probate
for the County of Grafton. In 1775 he was also a member of
the House of Assembly for the town of Plymouth, and was
expelled. Enraged at the indignity, and at the measures of
the Whigs generally, he gave vent to his passions, and fell
into the hands of the people, who pursued him to the residence
of Governor Wentworth \vith a field piece, which they threat
ened to discharge unless he was delivered up. Fenton surren
dered, and was sent to the Committee of Safety at Exeter for
trial. " Upon a full hearing of sundry compaints against "
him in Provincial Congress, it was voted, that he was " an
enemy to the liberties of America," and that he should "be
confined in the jail at Exeter," and "be supported like a
gentleman, at the expense of the Colony, until further orders."
By a subsequent vote it was ordered, that his place of confine
ment should be at the Whig camp ; but he was finally allowed
to escape, and to go to England. He was proscribed and ban
ished under the act of 1778.
FENWICKE, EDWARD. Of South Carolina. Was a Congratu-
lator of Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780. In
1782 his estate was confiscated, and he was banished. He
was opposed to the measures of the ministry in 1774, since
he was in London that year, and joined Franklin, Lee, and
other patriots then in England, in a remonstrance against the
passage of the Bill for the Government of Massachusetts
Bay.
FENWICKE, THOMAS. Of South Carolina. Held a commis
sion under the crown after the fall of Charleston, was ban
ished, and lost his estate.
284 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
FERGUSON, HENRY. Residence unknown. In 1782 was an
ensign in De Lancey's Second Battalion.
FERGUSON, HENRY. Held a commission under the crown in
South Carolina, and lost his estate.
FERGUSON, HENRY HUGH. Of Pennsylvania. During the war
he was made a commissary of prisoners. His wife was
Elizabeth, a daughter of Doctor Graeme, the Colonial Col
lector of Philadelphia, and grand-daughter of Sir William
Keith, one of the proprietary Governors of Pennsylvania;
and her name is connected with one of the most memorable
incidents of the Revolution. In 1778, after the British Com
missioners arrived in America, and had entered upon their
duty of attempting to effect a reconciliation between the
mother country and the Colonies, Governor Johnstone, who
was one of them, became acquainted with Mrs. Ferguson,
and engaged her to offer General Joseph Reed of Pennsylvania
a bribe. The answer of the Whig was this: "I am not
worth purchasing, but such as I am, the King of Great
Britain is not rich enough to do it." The offer to the General
was £10,000 sterling, and any office in the Colonies in his
majesty's gift. The estate of Mr. Ferguson was confiscated.
FERGUSON, JOHN. Belonged to a northern State ; settled at
St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783 ; received a grant of land
in that city, and became a merchant.
FERRIS, CALEB and JOSHUA. Of Westchester County, New
York. Were Protesters against Whig Congresses and Com
mittees, in 1775 ; the latter settled at St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783, and was a grantee of that city ; and George,
and Peter, were the same.
FERRIS, JOSEPH. Of Stamford, Connecticut. He raised a
company, joined Colonel Butler, and was a captain in the
Rangers. During the war he was taken prisoner by a brother-
in-law who was a Whig, but escaped from captivity. After
the peace he went to Newfoundland, but removed to New
Brunswick, where he settled. He was fond of visits to the
States and to the scenes of his youth ; and sometimes met
those whom he had opposed in skirmishes and battles. He
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 285
lived at Eastport, Maine, after it was captured by the British
forces in the war of 1812, but returned to New Brunswick on
its being surrendered to the United States. He died at Indian
Island, New Brunswick, in 1836, aged ninety-two. He en
joyed half-pay from the close of the Revolution until his
decease, a period of fifty-three years.
FEWTRELL, JOHN. Of South Carolina. He was a Judge of
the Superior Court; and was permitted to depart from the
State.
FIELD, NEHEMIAH. A pilot, of Delaware. Was required, by
the act of 1778, to surrender himself to some Judge or Justice
of the Peace, and be tried for his treason and offences, or
surfer the loss of his property.
FIELD WILLIAM. Of Westchester County, New York. Was
a Protester in 1775.
FIELD, WILLIAM, and JOHN, Junior. Of Guilford, North Caro
lina ; and Joseph, of some other section of the State, lost their
estates under the confiscation act in 1779.
FIELD. Ten persons of this name of Queen's County, New
York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Philip, Benjamin, Gilbert, Benjamin, Robert, Jacob, Whit,
David or Daniel, Joseph, James.
FIELDS, DANIEL, GILBERT, and GEORGE. Of Wyoming, Penn
sylvania. Were required in 1778, by proclamation of the
Executive Council, to surrender themselves, or stand attainted
of treason.
FINCH, HENRY. He died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1814.
FINDLEY, HUGH. He and John Foxcroft were the two Post
masters-general of the thirteen Colonies, and were continued
at the head of that department until 1782, certainly, and
probably until the peace.
FINNEY, FRANCIS. Laborer, of Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed arid banished in 1778.
FISH. Eight persons of this name of Queen's County, New
York, acknowledged allegiance in October, 1776. To wit :
Samuel, Lorance, Jesse, Ambrose, Jonathan, John, Jonathan,
Samuel.
286 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
FISHER, JABEZ MAUD. Of Pennsylvania. Went to England,
and was a Loyalist Addresser of the king in 1779.
FISHER, COLONEL JOHN. Of Orangeburgh, South Carolina.
Held a commission under the crown ; was banished, and lost
his estate under the act of 1782.
FISHER, JOHN. Naval-officer, at Portsmouth, New Hamp
shire. Salary, derivable from fees, £200 per annum. Was pro
scribed by the act of New Hampshire of 1778. It is believed,
that this is the gentleman who was in the Customs at Salem ;
who was brother-in-law of Sir John Wentworth, the last royal
governor of New Hampshire ; and who, on going to England,
was employed as secretary to Lord George Germaine.
FISHER, JOHN. Cabinet-maker, of Charleston, South Caro
lina. Was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; was
banished, and lost his estate under the act of 1782.
FISHER, JOHN. Residence unknown. Was at St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783, and received a grant of land.
FISHER, MIARS, SAMUEL, and THOMAS. Of Philadelphia. Were
apprehended in that city in 1777, and confined ; but were sent,
subsequently, prisoners to Virginia.
FISHER, TURNER. Of Boston. Son of Wilfred Fisher. He
accompanied the British troops from Boston to Halifax, and,
entering the royal navy, became a sailing-master. After the
Revolution, he married Esther, the daughter of Ezekiel Foster,
of Machias, Maine, and settled in New Brunswick. He was
in Boston about the time of the war of 1812, but his subse
quent fate is unknown to his family. His son, Wilfred Fisher,
Esquire, is a highly respectable merchant and magistrate of
the island of Grand Menan, New Brunswick. His wife died
in November, 1844, at the age of eighty-eight years, at the
residence of her son.
FISHER, WILFRED. Of Boston. At the evacuation of that
town, he accompanied the British troops to Halifax, where he
received an appointment which attached him to a corps of
light-horse. He died at Halifax before the close of the war.
He was proscribed and banished under the act of 1778, and
his estate in Boston was confiscated. His son Wilfred was a
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
287
Whig, and a ship-master. Captured hy the British, he was
carried to New York, and died there a prisoner, during the
Revolution.
FITCH, SAMUEL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774. In 1776 he went to Halifax. In 1778 he was pro
scribed and banished. He held the office of Solicitor or
Counsellor at Law to the Board of Commissioners ; and, like
most of his official associates, was included in the conspiracy
act of 1779. He went to England, was a Loyalist Addresser
of the king in 1779, and was abroad in 1783.
FITCH, THOMAS. Of Connecticut. He graduated at Yale
College in 1721, and devoted himself to the profession of the
law. He held the offices of Councillor, Judge of the Superior
Court, and Lieutenant Governor; and in 1754 was elected
Governor. These various stations he filled with unsurpassed
integrity and wisdom. His legal knowledge is said to have
equalled, and perhaps exceeded, that of any other lawyer of
Connecticut during the period of her Colonial history. In
1765 he took the oath of office prescribed in the Stamp Act,
and was driven into retirement in consequence the next year ;
having occupied the Executive chair for the whole period
between 1754 and 1766. His successor was the Honorable
William Pitkin.
Copy of Inscription on the Monument of Governor Fitch, at
Norwalk, Connecticut. " The Hon'ble Thomas Fitch, Esq.,
Gov. of the Colony of Connecticut. Eminent and distin
guished among mortals for great abilities, large acquirements,
and a virtuous character : a clear, strong, sedate mind : an
accurate extensive acquaintance with law, and civil govern-
ernment : a happy talent of presiding : close application, and
strict fidelity in the discharge of important truths : no less than
for his employments, by the voice of the people, in the chief
offices of state, and at the head of the colony/ Having served
his generation, by the will of God, fell asleep, July 18, Ann.
Domini, 1774, in the 75th year of his age."
FITZPATRICK, NATHANIEL. Was an officer of infantry in the
Queen's Rangers.
288 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
FITZSIMMONS, PETER. Went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
FJTZSIMONS, CHRISTOPHER. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780; was banished,
and his property was confiscated in 1782.
FLEMING, JOHN. In 1775 he was seized at Long Island,
New York, sent to Massachusetts, and confined within the
limits of the town of Sutton.
FLEMING, JOHN. Printer, of Boston. Was proscribed and
banished by the act of 1778. He was copartner with Mien.
Some of the books which they printed had a false imprint,
and were palmed off as London editions, because Mien said,
that books thus published met with a better sale. In 1767
they commenced the Boston Chronicle, a paper which, in the
second year of its publication, espoused the royal cause, and
became extremely abusive of numbers of the most respectable
Whigs of Boston. To avoid the effects of popular resent
ment, Mien thought fit to leave the country. The Chronicle
was the first paper published twice a week in New England;
and was suspended in 1770. Fleming found it prudent to
retire from Boston in 1773, and embarked for England in that
year with his family. He came to the United States more
than once, subsequent to 1790. as the agent of a commercial
house in Europe. His residence was in France for some
years, and he died there.
FLETCHALL, THOMAS. Of South Carolina. He was a Colonel,
and at the head of a considerable force of Loyalists in that
State, during the difficulties with the Cunninghams in 1775 ;
and signed the truce or treaty which was agreed upon be
tween the Whigs and their opponents. After the surrender of
Charleston, he was in commission under the crown. In 1782
his estate was confiscated. He appears to have been a person
of much consideration in South Carolina, previous to the
Revolution ; and to have been regarded as of rather doubtful,
or undecided politics, though the Whigs made him a member
of an important standing Committee, raised with the design of
carrying out the views of the Continental Congress.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 289
FLETCHER, DUNCAN. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Loyal American Regiment.
FLEWELLING, ABEL and MORRIS. Of New York. Settled in
New Brunswick at the peace, and were grantees of lands in
St. John. Abel became a magistrate, and died at Maugerville
in 1814, aged sixty-eight. For James Flewelling, see Richard
Smith.
FLINT, JOHN. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New
York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration of loyalty.
FLOYD, BENJAMIN. Of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New
York. In 1775 he circulated a paper for signatures, to sup
port the royal authority, in opposition to the proceedings of the
Whigs, and obtained the names of about one hundred persons.
He was a major in the New York militia.
FLOYD, MATTHEW. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
FLOYD, RICHARD. In 1782 was quartermaster of De Lan-
cey's Third Battalion.
FLOYD, RICHARD. Of New York. He was the eldest son of
Honorable Richard Floyd, a colonel of New York militia, a
Judge of the Common Pleas, and a gentleman of wealth and
reputation. His wife was Arrabella, a daughter of Judge David
Jones, of Queen's County, New York. His children were
Elizabeth, Anne, and David Richard. The latter, in pursu
ance of the will of Judge Jones, and by legal authority,
adopted the name of Jones ; he died in 1826, leaving two
sons, to wit: Brigadier General Thomas Floyd Jones, and
Major General Henry Floyd Jones. Mr. Floyd's estate was
confiscated; and abandoning the country, he died at St. John.
New Brunswick. His family was one of the most ancient in
New York, and is distinguished in its annals. Descended
from the same ancestor was the Whig General William Floyd,
who signed the Declaration of Independence. The Floyds
were of Welsh origin, and the first of the name emigrated in
1654, and settled at Brookhaven, Long Island, where many of
his descendants continued until the Revolution.
25
290 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
FLUCKER, THOMAS. Secretary of Massachusetts. He was a
Mandamus Councillor, was banished, and his estate confis
cated. He went to England, and died there suddenly early in
1783. His wife was a daughter of General Waldo, proprietor
of the Waldo Patent in Maine. His daughter married the
Whig chief of artillery, General Henry Knox, and inherited a
considerable share of her grandfather's domain on the Penob-
scot river and bay.
FLUCKER, THOMAS, Junior. Of Massachusetts. Son of
Thomas Flucker. He graduated at Harvard University in
1773, and in the Revolution was an officer in the British
service.
FLYNN, THOMAS. Was a lieutenant in the Second American
Regiment.
FOISSIN, ELIAS. Of South Carolina. Held a royal commis
sion after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confiscated.
FOLKER, JOHN. Was quartermaster of the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers.
FOLLIOT, GEORGE. Of New York. He was elected a mem
ber of the Provincial Congress for the City and County of
New York, in 1775, but declined serving, and the vacancy
was filled in June of that year. He was also appointed a
member of the committee of one hundred, but refused to act.
For his adherence to the crown, his estate was confiscated.
FONDA, JOHN. Of Try on, now Montgomery, County, New
York. In 1775 a signer of a Declaration of loyalty.
FORBES, GILBERT. Gunsmith, of Broadway, New York.
In 1776 he was arrested and put in irons, on the charge of
being concerned in the Plot of certain adherents of the crown
to murder a number of Whig officers, to blow up the maga
zine, &c. When told that he had Jbut a short time to live, he
asked to be carried before Congress, and said he would confess
all he knew.
FORD, JOHN. Of New Jersey. Compelled to leave his resi
dence to avoid the Whigs who molested him, he fled to the
royal forces on Staten Island, where he remained some years.
In 1783 Sir Guy Carleton commissioned him to take charge of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 291
a company of Loyalists, who were emigrating from New York
to Nova Scotia. He settled at St. John, New Brunswick, and
received the grant of a city lot ; but removed to Hampton, and
became one of the best farmers in that Colony. He died at
Hampton in 1823, aged seventy-seven.
FOREMAN, ALEXANDER. Tailor, of Delaware. In 1778 it
was declared by law, that his property would be forfeited to
the State unless he surrendered himself for trial for treason, on
or before August 1st of that year.
FORREST, JAMES. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774. In 1776 he went to Halifax. He was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
FORRESTER, GEORGE PEABODY. Died at Hampton, King's
County, New Brunswick, in 1840, aged eighty-three years.
FORRESTER, JOHN. Was a grantee of the city of St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783.
FORRESTER, JOSEPH, At the peace, was one of the grantees
of St. John, New Brunswick. In 1795 he was a member of
the Loyal Artillery of that city. He died while at Boston in
1804, aged forty-six.
FOSKIE, BRIAN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
FOSTER, EDWARD, and EDWARD, Junior. Of Boston. Black
smiths. Went to Halifax in 1776, and in 1778 both were pro
scribed and banished. The senior Edward was an Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and in his religious faith a Sandema-
nian. The father and son died in Union, Maine. There is a
tradition that, while the royal army occupied Boston, one or
both of them assisted to make a quantity of horse shoes with
three erect prongs, which were distributed all over the "Neck,"
for the purpose of wounding cavalry, should the rebels venture
to make an attack.
FOSTER, JOHN. Residence unknown. A soldier in Colonel
Malcolm's Regiment; deserted to the royal side, and was tried
for the offence in 1778. The common punishment for this
crime was death, but as Foster was a young man, he was
only sentenced to receive one hundred lashes on his bare back.
292 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
FOSTER, FREDERICK. Residence unknown. Settled in New
Brunswick, and died on the island of Grand Menan in 1834,
aged seventy-four.
FOSTER, THOMAS. Of Queen's County, New York. Ac
knowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
FOSTER, THOMAS, Esquire. Of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
He represented that town in the General Court several years ;
and in 1765 instructions were furnished him to govern his
course on the exciting questions of the time. Aside from his
political preferences, he was esteemed by his townsmen for his
attention and fidelity to the municipal and civil concerns in
trusted to his care. His father, Deacon John Foster, was also
a representative from Plymouth, and pursued an independent
line of conduct in that relation, never accepting of executive
favors. His son Thomas was a graduate of Harvard Univer
sity, and instructed a school at Plymouth. His grandson
Thomas, was an officer of a bank at Charleston, South Caro
lina, and died there in 1808, aged fifty-eight. Branches of
this family settled in Middleborough and Kingston, Massa
chusetts, and in Norfolk, Virginia. Mr. Foster accompanied
the British army to Halifax in 1776, on the evacuation of
Boston.
FOTHERINGHAM, ALEXANDER. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in
the North Carolina Volunteers.
FOWLE, JOHN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Address
er of Hutchinson in 1774. Jacob Fowle, of that town, was
the same.
FOUGHT, GEORGE. Of New York. He went to New Bruns
wick in 1783, and died at St. John in 1823, aged eighty-three.
FOUNTAIN, JOHN. Died at Deer Island, New Brunswick, in
1829, aged eighty -five.
FOUNTAIN, STEPHEN. Of Stamford, Connecticut. He ar
rived at St. John, New Brunswick, with his wife, in 1783, in
the ship Union.
FOULTS, CHRISTIAN. Of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
His estate was confiscated in 1779 ; he is styled Colonel in the
statute.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 293
FOWLE, ROBERT. Served an apprenticeship with his uncle,
Daniel Fowle, of Portsmouth, and "became his partner in the
publication of the New Hampshire Gazette, the only news
paper in New Hampshire at the commencement of the Revolu
tion. As the nephew was a Loyalist, and the uncle a Whig,
their connexion terminated in 1774; when Robert established
himself as a printer at Exeter. The new paper currency, which
he printed, having been counterfeited soon after, suspicion
rested on him as a participant in the crime; and his flight to
the British lines in New York, and thence abroad, served to
confirm the impression. Some years after the peace he re
turned to the United States, married the widow of his younger
brother, and lived in New Hampshire until his decease. His
father was John Fowle, first a silent partner of Rogers and
Fowle, of Boston, and subsequently an Episcopal clergyman at
Norwalk, Connecticut. The firm of Rogers and Fowle printed
the first edition of the New Testament in the English lan
guage which was published in this country. Robert, the
subject of this notice, received, witft other refugees, a pension
from the British government.
FOWLE, ROBERT L. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished, and his estate was confiscated.
FOWLER, CALEB. Of New York. In 1782 he was an ensign
in the Loyal American Regiment. He settled in New Bruns
wick ; received half-pay, and died on the river St. John.
FOWLER, CALEB. Of Westchester County, New York. He
was one of the Loyalist Protesters at White Plains, April,
1775, who denounced Whig Congresses and Committees, and
who pledged themselves "at the hazard of their lives and
properties, to support the King and Constitution." He entered
the royal service, and was a captain in the Loyal American
Regiment. At the peace he retired to New Brunswick on half-
pay. He died near Fredericton.
FOWLER. Besides the above, were George, of Westchester
County, New York, who signed a Declaration of loyalty in
1775 ; and John, Thomas, and David, of the same County,
who acknowledged allegiance in 1776 ; and John, of Massa-
25*
294 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
chusetts, who, accompanied by his wife and two children,
arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in the
spring of 1783. Of those whose places of residence are un
known, were William, who was a captain, arid Gilbert, who
was an ensign in the Loyal American Regiment ; Gabriel,
who settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and died in that Col
ony in 1832, at the age of seventy-five ; Daniel, who boasted
of being a firm Loyalist, who settled in the same, and died in
King's County in 1813, aged sixty-five ; Henry, who died in
King's County in 1843, at the age of eighty-seven; and James,
who also settled in New Brunswick at the peace, and was a
grantee of a lot in the city of St. John.
FOXCROFT, JOHN. One of the two Postmasters-general of
the crown in the thirteen Colonies ; and was nominally in
office in the year 1782, and probably until the close of the
contest. After Galloway retired to England, he became a
correspondent.
FRANKLIN, WILLIAM. The only son of Doctor Franklin, and
the last royal governor of New Jersey. He was born about
the year 1731. He served as Postmaster of Philadelphia, and
as clerk of the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania. In the
French war he was a captain, and gained praise for his con
duct at Ticonderoga. About the close of the war he went to
England with his father, and visiting Scotland, became ac
quainted with the celebrated Earl of Bute, who recommended
him to Lord Fairfax. The latter, without the solicitation of
himself or his father, gave him the appointment of Governor
of New Jersey in 1763. For a time, Governor Franklin en
joyed considerable popularity. His first dispute with the
Assembly appears to have been caused by his course in rela
tion to the removal of the treasurer of the Colony, who was a
defaulter. It is supposed that he was a thorough monarchist
from settled principle, and that he viewed the sentiments and
conduct of his father with the most determined disapprobation ;
and it is certain, that no adherent of the crown in America
was more firm and zealous in his measures to prevent concert
and union among the Whigs.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 295
Some extracts from his letters to Lord Dartmouth, in 1774,
will show the state of feeling in New Jersey, and his own
opinions upon the condition of public affairs. On the 31st of
May, he said: "Since my last I have received two circular
despatches from Mr. Pownall, dated March 10th and April
6th, enclosing copies of his Majesty's message to both Houses
of Parliament relative to the late disturbances in America
respecting the port of Boston. The latter has been published
in the usual manner, though the people in that Colony are not
concerned in carrying on any commerce with the Province of
Massachusetts Bay. It is difficult as yet to foresee what will
be the consequence of the Boston Port Act. It seems as if the
merchants of Philadelphia and New York, at their late meet
ings, were inclined to assist or co-operate with those of Boston,
in some degree, but not to carry matters so far as to enter into
a general non-importation and exportation agreement, as was
proposed to them by the town of Boston. However, I believe
it may be depended upon, that many of the merchants, on
the supposition that a non-importation agreement (so far as
respects from Great Britain) will be certainly entered into by
next autumn, have ordered a much greater quantity of goods
than common to be sent out by the next fall ships from Eng
land. A Congress of members of the several Houses of
Assembly has been proposed in order to agree upon some
measures on the present occasion ; but whether this expedient
will take place, is yet uncertain. The Virginia Assembly,
some time ago, appointed a Committee of Correspondence to
correspond with all the other Assemblies on the Continent,
which example has been followed by every other House of
Representatives. I was in hopes that the Assembly of this
Province would riot have gone into the measure; for though
they met on the 10th of November, yet they avoided taking
the matter into consideration, though frequently urged by
some of the members, until the 8th of February, and then I
believe they would not have gone into it, but that the Assem
bly of New York had just before resolved to appoint such a
Committee, and they did not choose to appear singular."
296 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
On the llth of June, 1774, the Whigs of Essex County
met in Convention, and adopted various resolutions expressive
of their sentiments on the alarming state of affairs, which gave
Governor Franklin much uneasiness. Seven days after, in
transmitting Lord Dartmouth a copy of these resolutions, he
remarked, that the meeting in that County " was occasioned
it seems by an advertisement, requesting the attendance of the
inhabitants on that day, and published in one of the New
York papers, and signed by two gentlemen of the law, who
reside in that County. I have likewise had an application
made to me by some of the members of the House of Repre
sentatives, to call a meeting of the General Assembly in August
next, with which I have not, nor shall not comply, as there is
no public business of the Province which can make such a
meeting necessary. It seems now determined by several of
the leading men, in most, if not all the Counties of this Pro
vince, to endeavor to follow the example of the freeholders in
Essex. Meetings of this nature there are no means of pre
venting, where the chief part of the inhabitants incline to
attend them. I as yet doubt, however, whether they will
agree to the general non-importation from Great Britain, which
has been recommended."
In January, 1775, Governor Franklin met the Assembly.
A considerable part of his speech is devoted to the controversy
between the Colonies and the mother country, and to warn
ings to the members against imitating the example of those
whose course of conduct was likely to involve the country in
afflictive calamities. "It is not for me to decide," said he,
"on the particular merits of the dispute, nor do I mean to cen
sure those who conceive themselves aggrieved, for aiming at a
redress of their grievances ; it is a duty they owe themselves,
their country, and their posterity." But in the manner of
seeking redress, he adds, there are "two roads, one evidently
leading to peace, happiness, and a restoration of the public
tranquillity, the other inevitably conducting you to anarchy,
misery, and all the horrors of civil war." He concluded his
speech thus: "But it is, says one of the wisest of men, a
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
297
most infallible symptom of the dangerous state of liberty,
when the chief men of a free country show a greater regard to
popularity than to their own judgment."
The Representatives made a caustic reply, which drew from
Franklin the following : —
"Gentlemen: — Were I to give such an answer to your
Address as the peculiar nature of it seems to require, I should
be necessarily led into the explanation and discussion of sev
eral matters and transactions, which, from the regard I bear to
you and the people of this Colony, I would far rather have
buried in oblivion. It is, besides, in vain to argue on the sub
ject, as you have, with a most uncommon and unnecessary
precipitation, given your entire approbation to that destructive
mode of proceeding which I so earnestly warned you against.
Whether, after such a resolution, the Petition you mention can
be reasonably expected to produce any good effect ; and
whether you or I have best consulted the true interests of the
people on this important occasion, I shall leave others to de
termine. You may be assured, however, that the advice
which I gave you was totally uninfluenced by any sinister
motive whatever. It came from a heart sincerely devoted to
my native country, whose welfare and happiness depend, as I
conceive, upon a plan of conduct very different from what has
been hitherto adopted."
The Governor and the Assembly parted in bad temper. An
attempt was made to reduce his Excellency's salary from
£1200 to £1000, and in appropriating £60 for the payment of
the rent of his house, the condition that he should reside either
at Perth, Amboy or Burlington was annexed to the grant. His
situation was unhappy. All intercourse between himself and
his father had now been suspended for more than a year ; and
he was involved in a helpless quarrel with the delegates and
the people of New Jersey.
On the 13th of February he prorogued the Assembly. In a
letter to Lord Dartmouth, dated on the first of that month,
which was published in the Parliamentary Register, it was
alleged that he said: " At the opening of the session, I had
298 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
some hopes of prevailing on the House of Representatives not
to approve of the proceedings of the General Congress held at
Philadelphia, for which purpose a paragraph of my Speech
was particularly calculated; but the Delegates from this Pro
vince took the alarm, and used their utmost endeavors with
the members to persuade them to give their approbation to
those proceedings, as otherwise one grand end the Congress
had in view would be entirely frustrated ; namely, the pre
serving an appearance of unanimity throughout the Colonies,
without which, they said, their measures could not have that
weight and efficacy with the Government and people of Great
Britain, as was intended. The scheme, however, met with
some opposition in the House, every member proposing to
defer the consideration of it to a future time, or to give their
approbation to only some parts of the proceedings of the Con
gress ; but by the artful management of those who espoused
the measure, it was carried through precipitately the very
morning it was proposed, as your Lordship will see by a copy
of their Resolutions now enclosed, which were all previously
prepared for the purpose."
This letter, as above quoted, was laid before the House of
Commons on the third of March, by Lord North : and when
the Assembly of New Jersey met in the following month of
May, a message was sent to the Governor requesting him to
inform that body whether it was genuine, or whether it con
tained the substance of any letter which he had written rela
tive to the measures adopted at the last session of the Assem
bly. In his answer, he explicitly denies its authenticity, and
that no similar sentiments had been uttered by him in any
communication to the king's ministers. But his message of
reply is bitter and uncompromising throughout. " It has been
my unhappiness almost every session during the existence of the
present Assembly," — is the opening remark, — " that a major
ity of the members of the House have suffered themselves to
be persuaded to seize on every opportunity of arraigning my
conduct, or fomenting some dispute, let the occasion be ever so
trifling, or let me be ever so careful to avoid giving any just
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
299
cause of offence. This, too, has been done with such an
eagerness in the promoters of it, as can only be accounted for
on a supposition that they are either actuated by unmanly
private resentment, or by a conviction that their whole polit
ical consequence depends upon a contention with their Gov
ernor." He concludes this ill-natured document with saying,
that those who knew him best would do him the justice "to
allow that no office of honor in the power of the Crown to
bestow would ever influence him to forget or neglect the duty
he owed his country, nor the most furious rage of the most
intemperate zealots induce him to swerve from the duty he
owed his Majesty."
The Assembly was prorogued on the 20th of May, (and on
the day of transmitting this answer), to meet on the 20th of
June following; but affairs had now reached a crisis, and
Governor Franklin never communicated with that body again.
Three days after the prorogation, the first Provincial Congress
of New Jersey commenced their session at Trenton, and the
royal government soon ceased to be respected, and to exist. A
constitution was adopted in July, 1776, and William Living
ston, a member of the first Continental Congress, became
Franklin's successor.
The deposed representative of royalty was declared to be an
enemy to his country, and ordered to be sent a prisoner to
Connecticut. He was accordingly placed in the custody of a
a guard commanded by a captain, who had orders to deliver
him to Governor Trumbull. The officer in charge halted at
Hackensack, and was rebuked by Washington for his delay.
The Commander-in-chief was of the opinion, from circum
stances communicated to him, that the fallen Governor de
signed to effect his escape ; that his refusal to sign the parole
proposed by the Whig Convention of New Jersey, and a
letter to Mrs. Franklin which had been intercepted, afforded
sufficient reasons for the exercise of great watchfulness and
care.
It appears that he was indulged in selecting the place of his
confinement, and that he made choice of Connecticut. He
300
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
was conveyed to East Windsor, and quartered in the house of
Captain Ebenezer Grant,* In 1777 he requested liberty to
visit his wife, who was a few miles distant and sick. In reply,
he received the following letter.
" Head Quarters, July 25th, 1777.
" Sir, — I have this moment received yours of the 22d inst.
hy express. I heartily sympathize with you in your distressing
situation; but, however strong my inclination to comply with
your request, it is by no means in my power to supersede a
positive Resolution of Congress, under which your present
confinement took place. I have enclosed your letter to them ;
and shall be happy, if it may be found consistent with pro
priety, to concur with your wishes in a matter of so delicate
and interesting a nature. I sincerely hope a speedy restora
tion of Mrs. Franklin's health may relieve you from the
anxiety her present declining condition must naturally give
you.
" I am, with due respect,
" Sir, your most obedient servant,
"G. WASHINGTON."
Congress declined to allow the Governor to visit his wife,
and he continued at East Windsor. This lady was born in
the West Indies ; it is said that she was much affected by the
severity of Doctor Franklin to her husband while he was a
prisoner. She died in 1778, in her forty-ninth year, and it is
inscribed on the monumental tablet erected to her memory in
St. Paul's Church, New York, that, " Compelled to part from
the husband she loved, and at length despairing of the sooth
ing hope of his speedy return, she sunk under accumulated
distresses," &c.
In 1778, after the arrival in America of Sir Henry Clinton,
an exchange was effected, and Governor Franklin was re-
* This building is still (1844) standing; it is near the Theological Semi
nary.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 301
leased. Little seems to be known of his proceedings during
the remainder of the war. He served for a short period as
President of the Board of Loyalists which was organized in
New York ; but soon went to England.
The adherents of the crown were greatly alarmed at the
distinction made between themselves and other subjects, in the
articles of capitulation of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and Frank
lin wrote to Lord George Germaine, who was then secretary for
the American department, on the subject. His Lordship, in
answer, stated that " the alarm taken by the loyal Refugees is
not to be wondered at," and that, by command of his Majesty,
he had directed Sir Henry Clinton to make the strongest assu
rances for their " welfare and safety."
In West's picture of the "Reception of the American Loyal
ists by Great Britain, in the year 1783 " ; Governor Franklin
and Sir William Pepperell are the prominent personages repre
sented, and are placed at the head of the group of figures ;
the first (in the words of the description or explanation) is a
" son of Doctor Benjamin Franklin, who having his Majesty's
commission of Governor of New Jersey, preserved his fidelity
and loyalty to his Sovereign from the commencement to the
conclusion of the contest, notwithstanding powerful incite
ments to the contrary." *
In 1784, the father and son, after an estrangement of ten
years, became reconciled to one another. The son appears to
have made the first overture. Doctor Franklin, in acknowl
edging the receipt of his letter, says in reply, on the 16th of
August of that year; "I am glad to find that you desire to
revive the affectionate intercourse that formerly existed be
tween us. It will be very agreeable to me ; indeed nothing
has ever hurt me so much, and affected me with such keen
sensations, as to find myself deserted in my old age by my
only son ; and not only deserted, but to find him taking up
arms against me in a cause wherein my good fame, fortune,
* For the remainder of the description of this picture, see notice of Sir
William Pepperell.
26
302 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and life, were all at stake. You conceived, you say, that
your duty to your king and regard for your country required
this. I ought not to blame you for differing in sentiment with
me in public affairs. We are all men, subject to errors. Our
opinions are not in our power ; they are formed and governed
much by circumstances, that are often as inexplicable as
they are irresistible. Your situation was such, that few
would have censured your remaining neuter, though there are
natural duties which precede political ones, and cannot be ex
tinguished by them. This is a disagreeable subject ; I drop it.
And we will endeavor, as you propose, mutually to forget
what has happened relating to it, as well as we can."
The Doctor, I conclude, was never able to forget, entirely,
the alienation which had happened between them. Since in
his Will, which is dated June 23, 1789, nearly five years after
this letter, and a few months previous to his own decease, he
thus remembers his son William, late Governor of the Jerseys.
"I give and devise all the lands I hold or have a right to in
the Province of Nova Scotia, to hold to him, his heirs and
assigns forever. I also give to him all my books and papers
which he has in his possession, and all debts standing against
him on my account-books, willing that no payment for, nor
restitution of, the same be required of him by my executors.
The part he acted against me in the late war, which is of
public notoriety, will account for my leaving him no more of
an estate he endeavored to deprive me of."
Though the part he acted against his father was of pub
lic notoriety, rumors reached the ears of the commission
ers of Loyalist claims, that the disagreement between the
Doctor and his son had been collusive, and was more politic
than sincere ; and the Governor was accordingly required to
exhibit proofs of his loyalty and uniform attachment to the
royal cause. The commissioners themselves, probably, enter
tained no doubts on the subject, but examined the charge to
satisfy the public, and to relieve the accused from what they
believed to be an unfounded imputation.
Among the witnesses who testified in his favor was Sir
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 303
Henry Clinton. He made a schedule of his losses, which were
by no means considerable. Indeed, Governor Franklin must
have been poor. His personal estate was valued at only
£1,800, which sum the commissioners allowed him. He had
several shares in back lands and grants, but as he was in
debted to his father, and had conveyed to him all his real
property in New York and New Jersey, the loss of his office
and its emoluments, and the £1,800 above mentioned, com
prised the principal items in his account, and for which he
claimed compensation.
The commissioners were, however, impressed with the
hardship of his case, and made a special report, in which
they recommended an allowance of £300 per annum in addi
tion to £500 yearly pension previously granted to him, as
being half the value of his salary and fees in America.
Governor Franklin continued in England during the re
mainder of his life. He enjoyed a pension, and it is believed,
of the amount of £800 per annum. He died in November,
1813, at the age of about eighty- two years. Some years after
the death of his first wife, he married a lady who was born
in Ireland. His son, William Temple Franklin, who edited
the works of Doctor Franklin, died at Paris, in May, 1823.
FRAZER, FRANCIS. Residence unknown. Was a captain in
the Guides and Pioneers.
FRAZER, JAMES. A physician, of South Carolina. Held a
commission under the crown, and lost his estate under the
confiscation act of 17b2. A Doctor James Frazer died at
Charleston, in 1803, — probably the same.
FRAZER, JOHN. Of New York. Was born in Scotland, emi
grated to New York some years prior to the Revolution ; went
to Nova Scotia at the peace, and died at Shelburne in 1840,
aged eighty-eight.
FRAZER, JOHN. Residence unknown. Surgeon of the King's
Orange Rangers.
FRAZER, LEWIS. Residence unknown. Settled in New
Brunswick in 1783, and died in King's County in 1835, aged
seventy-two ; Mary Harkley Frazer, his widow, who was
304 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
born in Charleston, South Carolina, died at St. John, New
Brunswick, 1836, at the age of seventy-three.
FRAZER, THOMAS. Of South Carolina. Was a major of the
South Carolina Loyalists.
FREEMAN, LEWIS. Was a cornet in the King's American
Dragoons.
FREER, JOHN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate was
amerced twelve per cent.
FRENCH, JAMES. Of New York. He accepted a commission
in De Lancey's First Battalion, and in 1782 was a captain.
He went to St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, was the
grantee of a city lot, and received half-pay. He settled in
the County of York, and was a magistrate for several years.
He died in that County in 1820, at the age of seventy-five.
FRENCH, JOSEPH. Of Jamaica, New York. He was elected
to the Provincial Congress in 1775, but declined to take his
seat on the ground that the majority of the freeholders of
that town were opposed to being represented in that body.
In 1777, Jamaica contributed £219 to a corps of Loyalists
raised in New York at the instance of Governor Tryon,
which sum passed through the hands of Mr. French. In
1780 he was an Addresser of Governor Robertson.
FRENCH, THOMAS. Of New York. In 1782 he was a cap
tain in De Lancey's First Battalion.
FRENCH, . A Loyalist in arms, and of some note. He
was killed in the battle of Bennington.
FREY, BARENT. Of New York. He was an officer in the
royal service, and was engaged with Brant, and a band of
Indians and Tories, in devastating the country on the Mo
hawk.
FREY, HENDRICK. Of New York. He served the crown
during the war, and was a major. After the peace he returned
to his native State. In 1797 he and Brant met at Canajoharie,
where, at a tavern, " they had a merry time of it during the
live long night. Many of their adventures were recounted,
among which was a duel that had been fought by Frey, to
whom Brant acted as second." The meeting of the Chief and
the Major, is described as "like that of two brothers."
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 305
FREY, PHILIP R. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. He entered the military service of the king, and
was an ensign in the eighth regiment. He was engaged
in the battle of Wyoming. He died at Palestine, Montgomery
(formerly Tryon) County, in 1723. His son, Samuel C. Frey,
settled in Upper Canada, and communicated particulars of
the sanguinary scenes at Wyoriiing, for Colonel Stone's use in
writing his Life of Brant. The testimony of the Freys is,
that Brant was not present with Butler at Wyoming, and this,
according to the son, the father steadily maintained through
life.
FRIDAY, DAVID. Of South Carolina. Estate confiscated.
FRINK, NATHAN. He was born at Pomfret, Connecticut. He
entered the British military service, and was a captain of
cavalry in the American Legion, and aid-de-camp to Arnold
after his treason, and was engaged in the burning of New
London. At the peace he went to St. John, New Brunswick,
where he remained several years, but removed to St. Andrew,
and finally to St. Stephen, in the same Colony. He died at
the latter place, December 4, 1817, aged sixty years. His
wife, Hester, died at St. Stephen, February 22, 182-1, at the
age of sixty-five. His sister Alida married Schuyler, the
oldest son of General Israel Putnam. Seven children survived
him. His son James is a magistrate and ship-owner of St.
Stephen, and married Martha G. Prescott, a niece of Roger
Sherman. Captain Frink was educated for the bar. In New
Brunswick he was a merchant and ship-owner; and a magis
trate of Charlotte County for about thirty years. He received
half-pay as an officer. His family connexions in the United
States are highly respectable. It is believed, that his political
sympathies were originally adverse to the royal cause, and
that less intolerance on the part of his Whig neighbors and
friends, would have produced a different line of conduct on
his part.
FRISBY, JAMES. Was a captain in the Maryland Loyalists.
FRYE, PETER. Of Salem, Massachusetts. Graduated at
Harvard University in 1744. He was representative to the
26*
306 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
General Court, and being a member in 1768, was a Rescinder.
He was also a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Register
of Probate, and Colonel of militia in the County of Essex.
His name appears among the Salem Addressers of Gage, June,
1774. He died in England, February, 1820, aged ninety-
seven years. The first husband of his daughter Love, was
Doctor Peter Oliver, a Massachusetts Loyalist ; and her
second was Admiral Sir John Knight of the British navy.
Lady Knight died at her seat near London in 1839.
FULLER, GEORGE. Of South Carolina. Estate confiscated.
FULTON, JAMES. Of New Hampshire. In 1778 he was pro
scribed and banished. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
American Dragoons. James Fulton, Esquire, a magistrate in
the County of Halifax, died in Nova Scotia in 1826.
FURLONG, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was a lieutenant of infantry
in the American Legion.
FURMAN, JOSEPH. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of a
Declaration against the Whigs, January, 1775.
FURNER, EDWARD. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. It was
ordered in Council in 1778, that he surrender himself for trial
or stand attainted. Morris Furner, of Wyoming, was included
in the same proclamation.
FYFFE, CHARLES. A physician, of South Carolina. He was
in office under the crown after the fall of Charleston in 1780.
Estate confiscated.
GABEL, JOHN. Was one of the first of the Loyalists who
settled in New Brunswick, and died at St. John in 1816, aged
eighty-four.
GAILLARD, JOHN and THEODORE. Of South Carolina. Were
both members of the Provincial Congress in 1775, and were
then, it is to be presumed, Whigs. But in 1780 they held
commissions under the crown, and lost their estates under the
confiscation act of 1782.
GAINE, HUGH. Printer and Bookseller, of New York ; and
publisher of the New York Mercury. Died April 25, 1807,
aged eighty-one years. His political creed seems to have con-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 307
sisted of but one article, and that — to keep with the strongest
party. At first he was a Whig, and when, in 1776, the Brit
ish troops were about to take possession of New York, he
retreated with his press to Newark ; but, in the belief that the
Whigs would be subdued and the Revolution suppressed, he
soon after privately withdrew from Newark, and returned to
New York, where he printed under the protection of the king's
army, and devoted the Mercury to the support of the royal
cause. At the conclusion of the war, he petitioned the legis
lature of the State for liberty to remain in the city, which was
granted ; but he discontinued the publication of his paper,
and turned his attention to the printing and selling of books.
He occupied a stand in Hanover square more than forty years,
and by close application to business, regularity and punctual
ity, he acquired a handsome estate. As a citizen, he was
moral and highly respectable. As a politician, his unstable
course excited several poetical essays from a wit of the time ;
among them, is a versification of his petition to the new gov
ernment already alluded to, of some three hundred and fifty
lines. The writer's manner may be judged of by the follow
ing extract. After relating the evils of his sojourn at Newark,
Gaine is made to speak thus of his return to New York, and
taking part with the Loyalists.
" As matters have gone, it was plainly a blunder,
But then I expected the Whigs must knock under,
And I always adhere to the sword that is longest,
And stick to the party that 's like to be strongest :
That you have succeeded is merely a chance,
I never once dreamt of the conduct of France ! —
If alliance with her you were promised — at least
You ought to have showed me your star in the East,
Not let me go off uninformed as a beast.
When your army I saw without stockings or shoes,
Or victuals or money — to pay them their dues,
Excepting your wretched congressional paper,
That stunk in my nose like the snuff of a taper," &c.
GALBREATH, JAMES. Was a captain in De Lancey's First
Battalion.
308 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
GALE, SAMUEL. Of New York. In 1775 he was a member
of the House of Assembly, and joined Cruger and others, in
the recess that year, in a letter to General Gage at Boston.
He is alluded to in McFingal.
GALE, . Clerk of the Court of Cumberland County,
New York. During the difficulties between the Whigs and
Loyalists of Cumberland in 1775, — as particularly related in
the notice of W. Patterson, Esquire, — he does not appear to
have conducted with wisdom or decorum. According to the
account of the affair drawn up by the Whig Committee, he
drew a pistol upon the multitude, who asked for a parley, and
exclaimed, "d — n the parley with such d d rascals as
you are" ; and holding up his weapon, added, "I will hold no
parley with such d d rascals, but this." Collision soon
followed, and human life was taken.
GALLISON, JOHN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
GALLOP, ANTILL. Embarked at Boston for Halifax, with the
British army, in 1776.
GALLOPP, WILLIAM. He settled in Charlotte County, New
Brunswick, and was a magistrate. He died in that County
about the year 1806.
GALLOWAY, JOSEPH. He was a son of Peter Galloway, and
was born in Maryland about the year 1730. His family was re
spectable, and of good estate, and his education was probably the
best that could be obtained in the Middle Colonies. He went
early in life to Philadelphia, commenced the practice of the
law, became eminent in his profession, and held many impor
tant trusts. He married the daughter of the Honorable Law
rence Growdon, who was for a long period Speaker of the
Assembly of Pennsylvania, by which connexion he enjoyed a
considerable fortune. In 1764 Mr. Galloway was a member of
the Assembly, and on the question of a change of the govern
ment from the proprietary to the royal form, as in some other
Colonies, made an able speech in answer to the celebrated
Dickinson, who opposed the petition. Both speeches were
published. Galloway continued in the Assembly for some
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 309
years, and attained the Speakers chair of that body. In 1774
he was elected a member of the Whig Congress of the Conti
nent, and took his seat, and was an active participant in its
leading recommendations and measures. On the 28th of Sep
tember he submitted to Congress the following motion and
Plan.
" Resolved, That this Congress will apply to his Majesty for
a redress of grievances, under which his faithful subjects in
America labor, and assure him that the Colonies hold in ab
horrence the idea of being considered independent communi
ties on the British Government, and most ardently desire the
establishment of a political union, not only among themselves,
but with the mother state, upon those principles of safety and
freedom which are essential in the constitution of all free Gov
ernments, and particularly that of the British Legislature.
And as the Colonies from their local circumstances cannot be
represented in the Parliament of Great Britain, they will hum
bly propose to his Majesty, and his two Houses of Parliament,
the following Plan, under which the strength of the whole
Empire may be drawn together on any emergency; the inter
ests of both countries advanced ; and the rights and liberties
of America secured.
" A plan for a proposed Union between Great Britain and
the Colonies of New Hampshire, the Massachusetts Bay,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl
vania, Maryland, the three lower Counties on the Delaware,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
"That a British and American Legislature, for regulating
the administration of the general affairs of America, be pro
posed and established in America, including all the said Col
onies ; within and under which Government each Colony
shall retain its present Constitution and powers of regulating
and governing its own internal police in all cases whatever.
" That the said Government be administered by a President
General to be appointed by the King, and a Grand Council, to
be chosen by the Representatives of the people of the several
Colonies in their respective Assemblies, once in every three
years.
310 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
"That the several Assemblies shall choose members for the
Grand Council in the following proportions, viz : [the
Colonies are recited, but number of members are left blank.]
"Who shall meet at the City of * * * * * for the first
time, being called by the President General, as soon as con
veniently may be after his appointment.
" That there shall be a new election of members for the
Grand Council every three years; and on the death, removal,
or resignation of any Member, his place shall be supplied by
a new choice at the next sitting of the Assembly of the Colony
he represented.
"That the Grand Council shall meet once in every year if
they shall think it necessary, and oftener, if occasions shall
require, at such time and place as they shall adjourn to at
the last preceding meeting, or as they shall be called to meet
at, by the President General on any emergency.
" That the Grand Council shall have power to choose their
Speaker, and shall hold and exercise all the rights, liberties,
and privileges as are held and exercised by and in the House
of Commons of Great Britain.
" That the President General shall hold his office during the
pleasure of the King, and his assent shall be requisite to all
Acts of the Grand Council, and it shall be his office and duty
to cause them to be carried into execution.
" That the President General, by and with the advice and
consent of the Grand Council, shall hold and exercise all the
Legislative rights, powers, and authorities, necessary for reg
ulating and administering all the general police and affairs of
the Colonies, in which Great Britain and the Colonies, or
any of them, the Colonies in general, or more than one Colony,
are in any manner concerned, as well civil and criminal as
commercial.
" That the said President General and Grand Council be
an inferior and distinct branch of the British Legislature,
united and incorporated with it for the aforesaid general pur
poses ; and that any of the said general resolutions may origi
nate, and be formed and digested, either in the Parliament of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 311
Great Britain, or in the said Grand Council ; and being pre
pared, transmitted to the other for their approbation or dissent;
and that the assent of both shall be requisite to the validity of
all such general Acts and Statutes.
" That in time of war, all Bills for granting aids to the
Crown, prepared by the Grand Council, and approved by the
President General, shall be valid and passed into a law with
out the assent of the British Parliament."
No disposition seems to have been made of this Plan. On
the 20th of October, Congress adopted the celebrated measure
of " Non-Importation, Non-Consumption, and Non-Exporta
tion," and ordered that the several members subscribe their
names to it. The signature of Mr. Galloway is among them ;
and his name is to be found, also, to the Address to the Inhab
itants of the Province of Quebec. Near the close of the ses
sion he was appointed, with Mr. Adams and others, to revise
the minutes of Congress.
No man in Pennsylvania, at this time, was more in favor
with the popular party. In the attack upon the proprietary
rights, he had been regarded the leader ; and with Franklin,*
he was on terms of intimacy and confidence. His disaffection
or disinclination to continue in the public councils soon became
manifest. By the proceedings of the House of Assembly of
Pennsylvania, on the 12th of May, 1775, it appears, that
" Joseph Galloway, Esquire, having repeatedly moved in
Assembly to be excused from serving as a Deputy in the Con
tinental Congress, the House this day took his motion in con
sideration, and do hereby agree to excuse him from that ser
vice." In 1776 he abandoned the Whigs, and became one of
the most virulent and proscriptive Loyalists of the time. His
former friends often felt the force of his powers, and the evil
effects of his influence with the agents of the crown, both in
America and England. He joined the royal army in New
York soon after his defection, and continued there until June
* A will executed by Franklin, some years prior to 1784, was left in his
care.
312 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of 1778. His only daughter accompanied him to England.
In 1779 he was examined before the House of Commons as to
the state of affairs in the revolted Colonies, and did not spare
the king's generals. Between this time and the peace, his pen
was almost constantly employed on subjects connected with
the war, and its management on the part of officers of the
crown. In addition to an extensive correspondence with Loy
alists who continued in America, he published observations on
the conduct of Sir William Howe ; a letter to Howe on his
naval conduct ; letters to a nobleman on the conduct of the
war in the Middle Colonies ; reply to the observations of Gen
eral Howe ; cool thoughts on the consequences of American
Independence; candid examination of the claims of Great
Britain and her Colonies; and reflections on the American
rebellion.
His estate, which he valued at £40,000, was confiscated by
Pennsylvania, in pursuance of his proscription and attainder.
A large part of his property was derived from his wife, and a
considerable proportion of it was restored finally to his daugh
ter, and is still possessed by his descendants. When the agency
for the prosecuting the claims of the Loyalists to compensa
tion was formed, Mr. Galloway was appointed a member of
the board for Pennsylvania and Delaware. But his own pre
tensions to consideration were disputed. The circumstance,
that he had been a Whig and a member of the first Continen
tal Congress, occasioned a jealousy among the adherents of
the crown, who had never changed sides, and the Commis
sioners made a minute investigation into his conduct. They
examined numerous witnesses, among whom were General
Gage, Lord Cornwallis, and Sir William Howe; and they
found and reported him to be " an active though not an
early Loyalist," and of course entitled to compensation. A
tract attributed to him, on the subject of the Loyalist Claims
for Losses, was published in 1788; from which, as the reader
will remember, some extracts appear in the preliminary re
marks of this volume. He died in England, September, 1803,
at the age of seventy-three years.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 313
His path was filled with vexations and troubles. He was a
politician by nature ; and he had many qualities indispensable
to success in political life. For some years prior to the Revo
lution, he was the secret or open mover of many of the public
issues that arose. In the alienation of friends he was unfortu
nate. In 1766 he connected himself with Goddard and Whar-
ton. in publishing a newspaper called the Pennsylvania Chron
icle. By the terms of the arrangement, he and Wharton were
to furnish a share of the necessary capital, and Goddard was to
print and manage the concern. And it is a singular fact con
nected with this matter, that the articles of copartnership
provided for the admission of Franklin as a partner, should he
choose to join them on his coming home from England, where
he was then absent. But the philosopher never availed him
self of the opportunity; the three partners quarrelled, separated
on the worst possible terms3 and Goddard and Galloway filled
the public prints with the vilest> mutual abuse. The difficulty
reached the ears of Franklin, and he thus wrote to his son
William from London. "I cast my eye over Goddard's piece
against our friend, Mr. Galloway, and then lit my fire with it.
I think such feeble, malicious attacks cannot hurt him." The
events of a few years produced strange changes in the relations
of the several parties here spoken of, and show the effects of
civil war in a most striking manner. Galloway, as has been
said, turned Loyalist, and Franklin renounced him ; while
Goddard, who made the "feeble and malicious attacks," was
appointed to the second office in the Continental Post-office
department, when Franklin was placed at its head. While,
again, Goddard, soured and disaffected, on the retirement of
Franklin from that service, because he was not named to
succeed him, incurred the displeasure of the Whigs, and was
the object of hate, and the victim of mobs. And yet again ;
Franklin's only son, the royal governor of New Jersey, also
became a Loyalist; which entirely alienated his father, so
that there was no intercourse between them for ten years.
Galloway, after deserting the Whigs, was the mark at which
many writers levelled their wit and their anger. Trumbull
27
314 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
says of him, that " he began by being a flaming patriot, but
being disgusted at his own want of influence, and the greater
popularity of others, he turned Tory, wrote against the meas
ures of Congress, and absconded," and, that "just before his
escape, a trunk was put on board a vessel in the Delaware, to
be delivered to" him, which, on opening, "he found contained
only, as Shakspeare says,
" A halter gratis, and leave to hang himself."
Trumbull, in his McFingal, still further discourses thus : —
" Did you not, in as vile and shallow way,
Fright our poor Philadelphian, Galloway,
Your Congress, when the loyal ribald
Belied, berated and bescribbled ?
What ropes and halters did you send,
Terrific emblems of his end,
Till, lest he 'd hang in more than effigy,
Fled in a fog the trembling refugee ? "
The unhappy Loyalist deserved all that was said of him ;
since it seems improbable that he changed sides from convic
tion, and from justifiable motives. A man of so great aptitude
for the administration of affairs, of so mature judgment, of
so much political experience, of so penetrating sagacity, of
powers of mind that led his fellows in masses, can hardly
stand excused, upon the most charitable view of his conduct
that is possible.
GALWAY, WILLIAM. Of Conway, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
GAMBLE, DAVID. Belonged to the Eighth Pennsylvania Reg
iment, but deserted. In 1778 he was tried for this offence, and
for having in his possession counterfeit continental money;
and was sentenced to suffer death.
GAMBLE, JAMES, Of North Carolina. Lost his estate in
1779, under the confiscation act.
GAMBLE, DOCTOR . Went to St. John, New Brunswick,
and received the grant of a city lot.
GARDEN, ALEXANDER. Of South Carolina. A Congratulator
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 315
of Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780. In 1782 his
estate was confiscated. He was banished. Doctor Garden
fitted himself for professional pursuits at Edinburgh. He
acquired a fortune. He was much devoted to the study of
natural history, and was a valuable writer in that branch of
science, especially in botany. He went to England in 1783,
and died in London in 1791, at the age of sixty- three years.
He was doctor of medicine and of divinity, and a fellow of
the Royal Society.
GARDEN, BENJAMIN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent. In 1775, Colonel Benjamin
Garden was a member of the Provincial Congress.
GARDEN, WILLIAM. He received employment under the
crown, after the Revolution ; and at the time of his decease
was assistant deputy commissary general of the garrison at
Fredericton, New Brunswick. He sank under the pressure of
sickness and trouble ; and closed his life in the County of
York, New Brunswick, in 1812, aged sixty-three.
GARDINER, ALEXANDER. Was wharf officer at Staten Island,
in the Superintendent Department established at New York
by Sir William Howe.
GARDINER, GEORGE. A magistrate of the County of Albany.
Early in 1775 he stated the difficulties of exercising his offi
cial duties, and claimed of the government of the Colony pro
tection from the apprehended misdeeds of the rioters of that
section.
GARDINER, GEORGE, HENRY, and JACOB. Residence unknown.
Were grantees of the city of St. John, New Brunswick.
GARDINER, SAMUEL. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. Was a loyal Declarator in 1775.
GARDINER, SYLVESTER. He was born in Rhode Island in
1717, and having fitted himself for the practice of medicine in
England and France, entered upon, and pursued a successful
professional career in Boston. He acquired great wealth, and
purchased extensive tracts of land in Maine. A Loyalist and
a Refugee, he abandoned his native country with the small
sum of £400. His landed estate, consisting of about one him-
316 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
dred thousand acres, was confiscated, but finally restored to his
heirs. He was an Addresser of both Hutchinson and Gage.
In 1776 he went to Halifax with the British army. His name
is to be found in the proscription and banishment act of 1778.
He returned to the United States after the war, and died at
Newport, Rhode Island, August 8, 1786, aged sixty-eight.
Previous to his decease, some progress was made in settling
his domain on the Kennebec. Prior to the Revolution, he built
a mill on the Cobesseconte at Gardiner, and at a period some
years later, he erected an Episcopal church in the same town,
which was burned by the maniac, McCausland. Gardiner, at
this time, is one of the most flourishing towns in Maine;
but when Robert H. Gardiner, Esquire, came into possession
in 1803, there were not above six hundred and fifty people
within its limits.
GARDNER, GEORGE. Of Rhode Island. He settled at St.
John, New Brunswick, and was an alderman of that city.
GARDNER, HENRY. Of Salem, Massachusetts. An Address
er of Gage on his arrival in 1774. He died at Maiden in 1817,
aged seventy-one.
GARNETT, SAMUEL. Of Massachusetts. Was in London in
1779, and addressed the king. Of the Massachusetts family,
I conclude, were Patrick, who was an ensign in the Prince of
Wales American Volunteers ; and Joseph, who settled in New
Brunswick, was Master in Chancery, and Deputy Surrogate,
and died in St. Andrew in 1801,
GARRISON, JOHN. He became an inhabitant of New Bruns
wick, at the peace, and was a member of the House of As
sembly for several years. His end was sad. He died on the
river St. John in 1810. Joseph Garrison died at Deer Island,
New Brunswick, in 1819, aged fifty.
GARVEY, PATRICK. An assistant apothecary in the Whig
service. He was suspected of conducting an illicit trade with
the royal forces, and in 1780 was detected at Philadelphia,
and committed to prison.
GAWASON, ABRAHAM, Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. In 1775 a signer of a Declaration of loyalty.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 317
GAY, MARTIN. Founder, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775; was proscribed
and banished in 1778. He went to Halifax in 1776. I sup
pose he returned ; a gentleman of this name died at Boston
in 1809, aged eighty-two. Mr. Gay was the son of Reverend
Doctor Ebenezer Gay, of Hingham, Massachusetts, who died
in 1787, aged ninety.
GAY, SAMUEL. Of Massachusetts. Son of Martin Gay.
He was born in Boston, and graduated at Harvard University
in 1775. Soon after the commencement of the Revolution, he
abandoned his native country. He settled in New Brunswick,
where he held several important public stations. He was a
member of the first House of Assembly organized in the Colony,
and represented the County of Westmoreland several years.
He was also a magistrate of that County, and Chief Justice of
the Court of Common Pleas. He died at Fort Cumberland,
New Brunswick, (where his father had a grant of land from
the crown,) January 21, 1847, in the ninety-third year of his
age. The late Honorable Ebenezer Gay of Hingham, Massa
chusetts, was his brother.
GAYNOR, JAMES and PETER. Were grantees of St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783. James was a member of the Loyal
Artillery in 1795, and died at St. John in 1823, at the age of
seventy- two.
GEAKE, SAMUEL. A Whig who was taken prisoner by the
British, corrupted, and induced to act as a spy. After enter
ing the service of the enemy, he enlisted among his former
friends, the better to accomplish his purpose of betraying
them. His designs were ascertained, and he was arrested
in 1778, tried and condemned to die. He confessed his crime,
but Washington spared his life, because the court martial that
tried him was irregularly constituted, and because his tes
timony was deemed important against Hammell, formerly
brigade-major to General James Clinton, who had also entered
into treasonable designs with the British. Geake, according
to his confession, was to receive a commission of lieutenant in
27*
318 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
a corps that Hammell was to command, as soon as it could be
raised from deserters from the American army.
GEAUBEAU, ANTHONY. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
GEUDES, CHARLES. Died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1807,
aged fifty-six.
GEIGER, JACOB. Of South Carolina. In commission under
the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confis
cated.
GEROW, ANDREW. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
GERRISH, MOSES. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at Har
vard University in 1762. In the Revolution, he was attached
to the commissary department of the royal army. After the
peace, he and Thomas Ross, and one Jones, obtained License
of Occupation of the island of Grand Menan, New Brunswick,
and its dependencies, and on condition of procuring forty set
tlers, a schoolmaster, and a minister, within seven years from
the date of the License, were to receive a grant of the whole
from the British crown. They commenced the settlement of
the island, and sold several lots in anticipation of their own
title, but failed to fulfil the conditions, and did not obtain the
expected grant. Jones returned to the United States, but
Gerrish and Ross continued at Grand Menan. Gerrish was
an able man. A gentleman who knew him long and inti
mately remarks, that "he would spread more good sense on
a sheet of paper than any person of my acquaintance." His
powers were not, however, devoted to any regular pursuit.
He never acquired any considerable property, "yet always
seemed to have enough." He " did nothing, yet was always
about something." He was a magistrate at Grand Menan for
many years, and until his decease in 1830, at the age of
eighty years.
GEYER, FREDERIC WILLIAM. Merchant, of Boston. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
GIBB, THOMAS. In 1782 he was surgeon of the New York
Volunteers.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 319
GIBBENS, EDWARD. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 the Council
ordered, that unless he appeared and took his trial for treason,
he should stand attainted.
GIBBS, JOHN W. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 17SO. Was banished in 1782,
and his property was confiscated.
GIBBS, ZACHARIAH. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
under the crown. Estate confiscated.
GIDNEY. Lieutenant Isaac Gidney, and John, Caleb, Jona
than, Joshua, James, Isaac, Bartholomew, Jacob, Solomon,
and Joseph, were Protesters at White Plains, and inhabitants
of Westchester County, New York.
GILBERT, BRADFORD. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. Brother
of Thomas Gilbert, Junior. In 1778 he was proscribed and
banished. He settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and re
ceived the grant of a lot in the city of St. John. In 1795 he
was a member of the St. John Loyal Artillery, and in 1803 an
alderman of the city. He died at St. John in 1814, aged
sixty-eight.
GILBERT, FRANCIS. He was naval officer of New Brunswick,
and died at St. John in 1821, aged eighty-two.
GILBERT, PEREZ. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. Brother
of Bradford Gilbert. He was proscribed and banished. He
settled in New Brunswick with his father and brothers ; and
died in that Colony.
GILBERT, SA.MUEL. Of Berkley, Massachusetts. He was a
brother of Colonel Thomas Gilbert, and went with him to
Halifax in 1776. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished.
He lived in New Brunswick for a time after the Revolution,
but finally returned to the United States.
GILBERT, THOMAS, Junior. Of Berkley, Massachusetts. Son
of Francis Gilbert. He fled to Boston in 1775, and joined
his father ; but it is believed did not accompany him to Hali
fax. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. During the
war he continued with the royal troops, and was active in
his endeavors to suppress the popular movement. He settled
in New Brunswick after the war, and died on the river
St. John.
320 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
GILBERT, THOMAS. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. His an
cestor was an early settler in Taunton. John Gilbert, as is
supposed, came from Devonshire, England, at an age some
what advanced, and lived first, with his family, at Dorchester.
He died previous to 1654, but Winnifred, his widow, was then
living. He, with Henry Andrews, were the two first Repre
sentatives from Taunton to the General Court at Plymouth in
1639. His sons, Thomas and John, removed with him to
Taunton, and were among the first proprietors of that town.
Of Thomas, Governor Winthrop gravely records, that,
"8th mo. August 18, 1636: Thomas Gilbert brought be
fore us; he was drunk at Serjeant Baulson's, and the Con
stable being sent for he struck him. He was kept in prison
all night, and the next day his father John Gilbert, and his
brother John Gilbert of Dorchester, undertook in £40 that
John Gilbert the younger would appear at Court to answer
for him, and perform the order of the Court, &c. The reason
was, that he was to go to England presently, and not known
to have been in any way disordered, and was his father's
oldest son, who was a grave, honest gentleman, (fee. They
did undertake, also, that he should acknowledge his fault
openly to the constable, &c."
Thomas went to England as he intended, and never re
turned, but died there in 1676. His wife, Jane, who was a
daughter of Hugh Rossiter, and his children, remained at
Taunton. His marriage is supposed to have been the first
that occurred in that town. The name of his oldest son was
Thomas, who was the immediate ancestor of Thomas Gilbert,
the Loyalist, who is the subject of this notice, and who, on
his mother's side, was descended from Governor William Brad
ford, the second chief magistrate of Plymouth Colony. In
1745, the Thomas, of whom we are now to speak, was a
captain at the memorable siege and reduction of Louisburg,
under Sir William Pepperell. In the French war of 1755, he
was a lieutenant-colonel in the Massachusetts forces under
Brigadier General Ruggles. He was engaged in the attempt
against Crown Point ; and after the fall of Colonel Ephraim
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 321
Williams, in the battle with the French under Baron Dieskau
at Lake George, he succeeded to the command of the regi
ment.
In the Revolutionary controversy he took an early and de
cided stand in behalf of the crown. At this time he was a
member of the House of Representatives, a Justice of the
Quorum, and a Colonel in the militia. In 1774 a large body
of the people proceeded to Freetown, to desire him not to
accept of the office of sheriff under the new laws, and to in
form him, that if he acted under the commission which it was
reported he had received, he " must abide by the consequen
ces." Soon after he was at Dartmouth; and a party of about
a hundred assaulted the house in which he was a lodger; but
with the help of the family he prevented their entrance. In
the autumn of 1774 the commotions in Bristol County had
become so great, that an armed force was deemed requisite by
General Gage, to keep the people in subjection to the king's
authority; and at his request, Colonel Gilbert raised and com
manded a body of three hundred Loyalists. In March, 1775,
he wrote the following letter to the Honorable James Wallace,
Esquire, commander of His Majesty's ship Rose, Newport,
which was intercepted, and which appears to have been
the second addressed by him to that officer.
" Honorable Sir : — Since writing the lines on the 21st by
Mr. Phillips, many insults and threats are, and have been
made against those soldiers which have taken our arms and
train, and exercise in the King's name ; and on Monday next
the Captains muster at the south part of the Town, when we
have great reason to fear thousands of the rebels will attack
them, and take our lives, or the King's arms, or perhaps both.
I, Sir, ask the favor of one of His Majesty's Tenders, or some
other vessel of force might be at or near Bowers', in order if
any of our people should be obliged to retreat, they may be
taken on board. Nothing but the last extremity will oblige
them to quit the ground.
"I am your obedient humble servant,
" THOMAS GILBERT."
322
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
These proceedings attracted immediate attention, and pro
duced great indignation. In April, 1775, the Congress of
Massachusetts unanimously declared, that " Colonel Thomas
Gilbert is an inveterate enemy to his country, to reason, to
justice, and the common rights of mankind," and, that " who
ever had knowingly espoused his cause, or taken up arms for
its support, does, in common with himself, deserve to be
instantly cut off from the benefit of commerce with, or counte
nance of, any friend of virtue, America, or the human race/'
These words are explicit enough ; and contain as full and as
comprehensive denunciation, as can be found in the records
of any deliberative body during the controversy. And Con
gress, in further speaking of him, use the term — "Gilbert
and his banditti."
A few days after the passage of these resolutions of bitter
censure, Colonel Gilbert fled to the Rose, which vessel was
still at Newport, Rhode Island, and thence to Boston. On the
4th of May, 1775, he wrote to his sons, from Boston, thus : —
"On the 27th of April, I left the ship, took passage on
board a packet sloop on the first instant, in health arrived
here, where I expect to stay till the rebels are subdued, which
I believe will not be long first, as the ships and troops are
daily expected. My greatest fears are, you will be seduced
or compelled to take arms with the deluded people. Dear
sons, if these wicked sinners, the rebels, entice you, believe
them not, but die by the sword rather than be hanged as
rebels, which will certainly be you fate sooner or later if you
join them, or be killed in battle, and will be no more than you
deserve. I wish you in Boston, and all the friends to govern
ment. The rebels have proclaimed that those friends may
have liberty, and come in ; but as all their declarations have
hitherto proved, I fear, false, this may be so. Let Ruggles
know his father wants him here. You may come by water
from Newport. If here, the King will give you provisions
and pay you wages ; but by experience you know neither
your persons nor estates are safe in the country, for as soon as
you have raised anything, they [the rebels] will rob you of it,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 323
as they are more savage and cruel than heathens, or any other
creatures, and, it is generally thought, than devils. You will
put yourselves out of their power as soon as possible. This
is from your affectionate father,
" THOMAS GILBERT."
In 1776 Colonel Gilbert accompanied the royal army to
Halifax ; and in 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He
continued with the king's troops during the war, " often em
ployed, and constantly rendering every service in his power,
for the suppression of the Rebellion." In 1783 he went to
Nova Scotia, and on the 16th of November of that year he
was at Conway, in the County of Annapolis, and a petiti-
tioner to Governor Parr for a grant of lands. At a subsequent
period, he settled in New Brunswick, and died on the river
St. John, near the year 1796, aged about eighty-two. On
retiring from service at the close of the French war, Colonel
Gilbert declined to receive half-pay. He held no commission
in the Revolution, and was consequently entitled to no allow
ance as a disbanded officer ; but he received compensation as
a Loyalist for his losses.
GILBOURNE, EDWARD. In 1782 he was an ensign in the
Second American Regiment.
GILL, THOMAS. Of Delaware. Died in York County, New
Brunswick, in 1833, aged seventy-seven. Mary, his widow, a
native of Newport, Rhode Island, died in the same County,
1837, at the age of eighty-one.
GILLIES, ARCHIBALD. Died at Carlton, New Brunswick, in
1821, aged sixty-six.
GILLISPIE, HUGH. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the Second
American Regiment.
GILLSNOEZ, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
GILMAN, PETER. Of Oilman ton, New Hampshire. He was
son of Major John Gilman, and was born in 1704. He com
manded a regiment in the French war ; was Speaker of the
Assembly ; and member of the Council of New Hampshire.
324
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
He remained in the country, and died in 1788, aged eighty-
four. Colonel Oilman's regiment was employed in scout duty ;
his men, alert, and accustomed to savage warfare, rendered
great service, and his own merits are entitled to the most re
spectful mention.
GILMORE, JOSEPH. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city.
GILMOUR, ROBERT. He was banished and attainted, and
his estate was confiscated. In 1794 he represented to the
British government, that, at the time of his banishment, debts
were due to him in America, which he had been unable to
recover. I suppose this person to have belonged to New
Hampshire, and the same who was proscribed by act of that
State in 1778.
GILPIN, THOMAS. Of Philadelphia. In 1777 he was confined
in that city for being inimical to the Whig cause, and ordered
to Virginia a prisoner.
GIRTY, SIMON. He figures in the difficulties of Doctor Con-
oily and his party, with the authorities of Pennsylvania, in
1774. Girty's career was entirely infamous. He was an early
prisoner of the Whigs at Pittsburgh, but escaped. In 1778 he
went through the Indian country to Detroit, with McKee and
Elliot, proclaiming to the savages that the rebels were deter
mined to destroy them, and that " their only chance of safety
was to espouse the cause of the crown and fight." In 1782
Colonel Crawford was captured by the Indians and perished at
the stake, after suffering the most horrible and excruciating
tortures, which Girty saw with much satisfaction. The same
year his instigations caused the removal of the Moravian
missionaries, who were quietly and usefully laboring among
the Wyandots. He personally engaged in driving away these
self-denying ministers, treated them with great harshness on
the march, and subsequently procured their arrest. At the
defeat of St. Clair in 1791, Girty was present on the British
side ; and saw and knew General Butler, who lay upon the
field writhing from the agony of his wounds. The traitor
told a savage warrior that the wounded man was a high
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 325
officer ; whereupon the Indian buried his tomahawk in But
ler's head, whose scalp was immediately torn off, and whose
heart was taken out and divided into as many pieces as there
were tribes engaged in the battle.
In 1793 Commissioners on the part of the United States
attempted to negotiate with the Confederated Nations for an
adjustment of our difficulties with the Indians, when Girty
acted as interpreter. His conduct was exceedingly insolent:
and it is related, that he was not only false in his duty as an
interpreter, but that he run a quill or long feather through the
cartilage of his nose cross-wise, to show his contempt for the
American gentlemen present. The failure of the negotiation,
it is supposed, was in a good measure owing to the evil influ
ence of Girty and other Loyalists.
GLEN, JOHN. Of South Carolina. A Congratulator of Corn-
wallis on his success at Camden, in 1780. In 1782 his estate
was confiscated, and he was banished.
GLEN, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, and also a Petitioner
to be armed on the side of the crown. He was banished,
and in 1782 his property was confiscated. He went to Eng
land.
GLOVER, HENRY. Of Newtown, Connecticut. In 1775 he
was Chairman of a public meeting that passed several votes in
opposition to the Whigs.
GLOVER, JONATHAN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An
Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
GLOVER, . Of Newtown, New York. In 1779, under
the direction of Sir Henry Clinton, he and eight other Loyalists
crossed Long Island Sound in a boat, for the purpose of cap
turing Major General Silliman, who had been appointed to com
mand on the opposite shore of Connecticut. Glover had been
employed by the General, and was familiar with his house.
The party approached his dwelling at night, and awoke him
self and family by a violent assault upon the door. Silliman
attempted to fire, but his musket only flashed ; when the as
sailants broke through a window and seized him, and bore him
28
326 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
off. On approaching the Long Island shore, Colonel Simcoe,
of the Loyalist corps of Queen's Rangers, was in waiting, and
exclaimed, " Have you got him? " He was answered, " Yes."
"Have you lost any men?" "No." "That is well," said
Simcoe, "your Sillimans are not worth a man, nor your
Washingtons."
GODDARD, WILLIAM. Son of Giles Goddard, Postmaster of
New London, Connecticut ; had a checkered career. He was
bred a printer, and established the first printing press at Prov
idence, Rhode Island, in 1762 ; and soon after, commenced
the publication of a newspaper. Not meeting with sufficient
encouragement, he went to New York, and connected himself
with John Holt in publishing the New York Gazette and Post
Boy. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, in 1766, he removed
to Philadelphia, and became the partner of Galloway and
Wharton, in a paper called the Pennsylvania Chronicle. These
gentlemen were, in the end, both Loyalists. It would seem
that the firm expected that Franklin, who was then in Eng
land, would take an interest in the concern ; and provision
was made in the articles of copartnership accordingly. The
Chronicle was ably conducted. Galloway was an eminent
lawyer, a writer of great vigor ; and, as was supposed, a
friend of the popular cause. In 1770, after many disputes, the
partners, — who, in the meantime, had admitted Benjamin
Towne as a member of their establishment, — came to an open
rupture ; and having dissolved their connexion, filled the pub
lic prints, handbills, and pamphlets, with the ebullitions of
their animosity. Unable to meet the demands against the
firm, Goddard, in great embarrassment, left Philadelphia in
1773, and went to Baltimore, in quest of more lucrative busi
ness, and greater tranquillity of life. Here he started another
newspaper; but the plan of setting up a line of post-riders
from New Hampshire to Georgia, in opposition to the Post-
Office establishment of the crown, soon engaged the attention
of leading minds ; and Goddard, intrusting his printing affairs
to the care of his sister, journeyed throughout the Colonies, to
promote the adoption of the measure. He was eminently sue-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 327
cessful, as the Whigs entered into the scheme with great readi
ness, and cheerfully subscribed the necessary funds. Goddard
was appointed surveyor of the roads and comptroller of the
offices, on the organization of the department ; and on the
retirement of Franklin, who was placed at its head, expected
to succeed him as Postmaster General. To his great disap
pointment, Bache, son-in-law to Franklin, received the place ;
and Goddard resigned his situation in disgust. It was sup
posed, that now, he not only suffered his ardor in the Whig
cause to abate, but that he actually abandoned his political
principles. He resumed his residence in Baltimore, where his
paper, the Maryland Journal, had been, and was still continued,
by and in the name of his sister ; but in which it was known
that he had an interest, and over which, it was believed, that
he maintained the entire control. Early in 1777, two articles,
one of which was signed "Tom Tell Truth," and the other,
" Caveto," appeared in the Journal, and excited the indigna
tion of the Baltimore Whig Club, who, on the 4th of March,
resolved,
" That William Goddard do leave this town by twelve
o'clock to-morrow morning, and the County in three days,"
&c. He immediately claimed the protection of the Assembly,
then in session at Annapolis ; and though that body formally
and severely rebuked the Club, there was no resisting the pop
ular impulse against him, and before the quarrel, thus com
menced, was ended, he was mobbed on several occasions, and
was otherwise insulted and ill-treated. This was especially
the case in 1779, when the publication in the Journal of certain
Queries, excited the ire of the Whig Club anew ; and caused a
great ferment. He was variously employed until 1784, when
he appeared as the proper proprietor of the Journal. In 1787
he became involved in a bitter controversy with the publisher
of a rival print, in which he displayed eminent ability. In
1792 he sold his press, and bidding adieu to the cares and tur
moils of party and political strifes, retired to a farm in Johnston,
Rhode Island. He subsequently changed his abode to Provi
dence, where he continued to reside until his decease in 1817,
aged seventy-seven years.
328 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Goddard was a man of fine talents, and as the manager of
a press, had, it is said, few or no superiors. General Charles
Lee continued his friend, and bequeathed him a po'rtion of his
extensive landed estate in Virginia. Lee, it will be remem
bered, failed in the execution of his orders at the battle of
Monmouth, was disgraced, and spent the remainder of his
days in retirement. He was the writer of the Queries which
caused Goddard's trouble with the Whig Club in 1779.
GOLDING, ISAAC. Residence unknown. Was a grantee of
St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
GOLDING, JOSEPH and WILLIAM. Of Jamaica, New York.
Were loyal Declarators in 1775.
GOLDING, PALMER. Of Worcester, Massachusetts. A true
friend to government, and a captain in the militia. Early in
1775, he was returning from a visit to a friend, who was sus
pected of desertion from the Whigs, and of being a Tory, and
whose political course he was supposed to influence, when he
was knocked down, and much bruised and wounded.
GOLDING, STEPHEN. Residence unknown. Settled in New
Brunswick in 1783; and died at Long Island, Hampstead,
Queen's County, of that Province, in June, 1845, at the age of
eighty-three years. For the thirty years previous to his de
cease, he held a commission of the peace for Queen's County.
For fifty-five years he was an officer in the Provincial militia,
and retired with the rank of major. He was a consistent mem
ber of the Church of England. His descendants are numer
ous, — namely, eleven children, seventy-one grandchildren,
and seventy-four great-grandchildren.
GOLDING, ZENUS. Residence unknown. Died at French Vil
lage, New Brunswick, in 1814, aged fifty-six.
GOLDSBURY, SAMUEL. Of Wrentham, Massachusetts. Went
to Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
GOLDSMITH, HENRY. He settled in New Brunswick, and was
Collector of the Customs for the port of St. Andrew.
GOLDTKWAITE, EzEKiEL. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the
same year. He was Register of Deeds for the County of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 329
Suffolk. The Reverend John Bacon, who was minister of the
Old South, and whose son, Ezekiel, was a member of Congress
before the war of 1812, married his daughter. Though Mr.
Goldthwaite became an Addresser, he was one of the fifty-
eight Boston memorialists who, in 1760, arrayed themselves
against the crown officers, and set the ball of the Revolution
in motion.
GOLDTHWAITE, JOSEPH. Of Boston. Brother of Philip Gold
thwaite. Was an Addresser of Hutchinson ; connected with
the quartermaster's department of the royal army in Boston
in 1775 ; proscribed and banished in 1778.
GOLDTHWAITE, M. B. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of both
Hutchinson and Gage.
GOLDTHWAITE, PHILIP. Of Maine. He was one of the two
persons of Saco and Biddeford, Maine, who was dealt with
by the Whigs of that section for their loyal principles. He
was an officer of the Customs, and lived at Winter Harbor.
As soon as the war commenced, he placed himself under Brit
ish protection at Boston.
GOOD, DAVID. Went to New Brunswick in 1783, and died
at King's-clear, County of York, 1842, aged ninety-five. His
widow, with whom he lived sixty years, survives, (1845) as
do one hundred and eleven descendants.
GOODALE, NATHAN. Of Salem, Massachusetts. In 1774 he
was an Addresser of Hutchinson, but signed a recantation.
The same year, however, he was an Addresser of Gage. Early
in 1775 he secured a retreat at Nan tucket.
GORDON, ALEXANDER. A physician, of Norfolk, Virginia. In
February, 1775, the Whig Committee of Observation held him
up for public censure, for the importation of medicines, con
trary to the Continental Association. This Committee was
composed of thirteen persons, and they were unanimous in
their opinion of the Doctor's delinquency. He went to Eng
land, and was a Loyalist Addresser of the king, July. 1779.
GORDON, CHARLES. Attorney at law, of St. George, Delaware.
He was required to surrender himself for trial for treason on
or before August 1, 1778, or to lose his estate.
28*
330 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
GORDON, CHARLES. Attorney at law, of Cecil County, Mary
land. In 1775, the Whig Committee of that County, at a
meeting at Elk Ferry, " Resolved, That he lies under the im
putation of being an enemy to this country, and as such we
will have no dealings or communication with him, nor permit
him to transact any business with us, or for us, either in a
public or private capacity, which shall be commenced after
the date hereof," &c. Mr. Gordon "had treated with great
disrespect, and maliciously aspersed the Continental Congress,
the Provincial Congress, and the Committee of this County ;
and had, at various times, and by sundry ways, vilified their
proceedings." A newspaper controversy ensued, in which the
delinquent admitted that his politics were not quite agreeable
to his accusers, &c.
GORDON, GEORGE. Of Danbury, Connecticut. Arrived at
St. John, New Brunswick, with his wife, in the spring of 1 783,
in the ship Union.
GORDON, HARRY. Of Pennsylvania. Was summoned by
proclamation to appear before November 1, 1781, else he
would be attainted; and failing to do so, his estate was
seized by the commissioners of forfeitures, and most of it sold.
These proceedings were against Henry Gordon ; and, by an
act of January, 1783, the misnomer was corrected, and the
Executive Council of that State, under that law, sold the re
mainder of his estate in 1790.
GORDON, JAMES. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
GORDON, THOMAS K. Of South Carolina. Was Chief Jus
tice of the Colony under the royal government; he was
allowed to leave the country.
GORE, JOHN, Esquire. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of
Gage. He went to Halifax at the evacuation, and thence to
England, but returned to Boston. His son, Honorable Christo
pher Gore, was long one of the most conspicuous public char
acters of Massachusetts, and a gentleman of eminent worth
and talents. The name of John Gore is found among the list
of the proscribed and banished in 1778.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 331
GORHAM, DAVID. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at Har
vard University in 1733. In 1774 he was one of the barristers
and attornies of Massachusetts who addressed Hutchinson.
GORHAM, JOSEPH. Was lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Fen-
sible Americans ; at the peace he went to England.
GORHAM, JOHN and JOSEPH A. Were ensigns in the Royal
Fensible Americans.
GORHAM, NATHANIEL and JOHN. Were grantees of the city of
St. John, New Brunswick.
GORNLEY, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
GORT, WILLIAM. Of New York. In 1780, he and James
Plateau, another Loyalist, hired the house of Garret Putnam3
a Whig, who, receiving orders to repair to Fort Hunter, took
his family with him. Two days after Putnam's departure, a
party of Sir John Johnson's Royal Greens came to the settle
ment (now embraced in the town of Mohawk), and supposing
the house was still occupied by Whigs, entered it at night, and
murdered and scalped two men. In the morning, the dead
bodies of Gort and Plateau revealed to them that they had
murdered two friends.
GORUM, NATHANIEL. Went to New Brunswick in 1783. He
died at Kingston. King's County, in that Colony, February 9,
1846, aged ninety-four years. Numerous offspring of children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, survive.
GOUCHER, JOSEPH. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
GOULD, JOHN. Of Massachusetts. Went to England, and
was a Loyalist Addresser of the king in 1779.
GRAHAM, JOHN. Of Ulster County, New York. In 1775, a
number of his Majesty's loyal subjects met at his house and
erected a Royal Standard, on a mast seventy-five feet high,
with the following inscription.
" In testimony of our unshaken loyalty and incorruptible
fidelity to the best of Kings ; of our inviolable affection and
attachment to our parent State, and the British Constitution ;
of our abhorrence of, and aversion to, a Republican Govern-
332 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ment ; of our detestation of all treasonable associations,
unlawful combinations, seditious meetings, tumultuous assem
blies, and execrable mobs ; and of all measures that have a
tendency to alienate the affections of the people from their
rightful Sovereign, or lessen their regard for our most excellent
Constitution ; and to make known to all men, that we are
ready, when properly called upon, at the hazard of our lives
and of every thing dear to us, to defend the King, support the
magistrates in the execution of the laws, and maintain the
just rights and constitutional liberties of freeborn Englishmen,
this Standard, by the name of the King's Standard, was
erected, by a number of his Majesty's loyal and faithful sub
jects in Ulster County, on the 10th day of February, in the
15th year of the reign of our most excellent sovereign, George
the Third, whom God long preserve."
GRAHAM, JOHN. Of Georgia. Lieutenant Governor of that
Colony. He went to England. After the death of Sir James
Wright, he and William Knox were appointed joint agents of
the Georgia Loyalists for prosecuting their claims for losses.
He was in London as late as 1788.
GRANT, ALEXANDER. An ensign in the King's American
Regiment.
GRANT, DANIEL. Was a native of Gillespie, Sutherland,
Scotland, and emigrated to the United States previous to the
Revolution. At the peace of 1783 he removed with other
Loyalists to St. Andrew, New Brunswick, where he continued
to reside, and where he reared a numerous family. He died
January, 1834, aged eighty-two years.
GRANT, GEORGE. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton.
GRANT, JAMES. Of Salem, Massachusetts. Was an Ad
dresser of Gage in 1774. Went to Halifax, but returned, and
was at Boston in January, 1776 ; at which time he had been
promised a commission in the royal army. There was a
major James Grant, of the King's American Regiment, who
died previous to October 15, 1783, and who may have been
the subject of this notice.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 333
GRANT, JOHN. Of Jamaica, New York. A loyal Declarator
in 1775.
GRANT, JOHN. A captain in the Royal Garrison Battalion.
GRANT, ROBERT. An ensign in De Lancey's Second Battalion.
GRAVES, JOHN. Of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1775 he
was sent to the jail at Northampton, on the charge of holding
improper intercourse with General Gage at Boston. In 1778
he was proscribed and banished.
GRAVES, JOHN. Of Providence, Rhode Island. He was the
vicar of Clapham, Yorkshire, England, and in 1754 came to
Providence, to succeed the Reverend John Checkley, an Epis
copal clergyman, who died the previous year ; and as the
Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts. In 1770 Mr. Graves wrote to the Society,
that " the face of public affairs here is melancholy. Altar
against altar in the church, and such open, bold attacks
upon the state, as, I believe, the English annals do not
furnish us with the like since the reign of King Charles I."
These were signs of the coming storm. In September,
1776, he wrote : u Since independency has been proclaimed
here, my two churches have been shut up ; still I go on to
baptize their children, visit their sick, bury their dead, and
frequent their respective houses with the same freedom as
usual ; and add, with gratitude, that their benefactions to me
since the above period have been great, and far beyond what
I have ever experienced from them before, founded upon their
commiserating sense that the necessary means of supporting my
large family — a wife and seven children — were now entirely
cut off." In 1782 Mr. Graves was expelled from the parsonage
and glebe, because he refused to open his church in conformity
with the principles of independency. He soon after resigned
his ministry, after a labor of twenty-six years. His fate, after
dissolving his relations with the Episcopal church at Provi
dence, is unknown.
GRAY, ANDREW and JOHN. Of Boston. Embarked for Hali
fax with the royal army in 1776. Joseph Gray, of that town,
died at Halifax in 1803.
334 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
GRAY, BENJAMIN DINGLEY. Of Yirginia. Was one of the Non-
Associators, or a person who refused to join the Continental
Association, and was posted by the Whig Committee in March,
1775, accordingly. On seeing his name in the list he said,
" that he looked upon this Committee as a pack of damned
rascals for advertising him as they had done," &c. Subse
quently, the Committee denounced his conduct by a resolution
in which they declare, that he should " be looked upon as
inimical to the liberties of America," and that "no person
ought to have commercial intercourse with him."
GRAY, HARRISON. Receiver General, of Massachusetts. He
was an Addresser of Hutchinson, was a Mandamus Councillor,
was proscribed and banished, and was among those whose es
tates were confiscated by statute. At the evacuation of Boston,
he accompanied the British troops to Halifax ; thence he went
to England, and died there. In abandoning home, country,
and friends, he parted with his only daughter, the first wife of
S. A. Otis, father of the Honorable Harrison Gray Otis. In
McFingal it is said, —
" What puritan could ever pray
In godlier tones, than Treasurer Gray,
Or at town-meetings speechifying,
Could utter more melodious whine,
And shut his eyes, and vent his moan,
Like owl afflicted in the sun."
Mr. Gray was an exemplary gentleman in every relation,
and among the Loyalists there was hardly one more deserving
of respect and kind remembrance. Trumbull's muse, there
fore, was not honored by such sentiments.
GRAY, HARRISON, Junior. Of Boston. Was proscribed and
banished. He was a son of Harrison Gray, and his clerk in
the Treasury-office.
GRAY, JAMES, of Reading, and JAMES, Junior, of Fairfield
County, Connecticut. Were members of the Reading Associa
tion.
GRAY, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 335
GRAY, LEWIS. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of Gage in
1775 ; was proscribed and banished in 1778 ; and was in
England in 1783.
GRAY, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. Held a royal commis
sion after the fall of Charleston. Estate confiscated.
GRAY, THOMAS. Of Boston. Was a Protester against the
Whigs, and an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
GRAY, WILLIAM. Of Westchester County, New York. Was
a Protester in 1775 ; settled in New Brunswick at the peace ;
was a magistrate of King's County, and died in 1824, aged
ninety-six. Justus Gray also settled in the same Colony in
1783, and died there in 1843.
GRAY. Residence unknown. Four were in the military
service, namely, Robert, who was a captain in the King's
American Regiment, and probably belonged to New York;
William, who was a captain in the New York Volunteers,
and, as I suppose, lived in Westchester County; Gregory,
who was surgeon's mate, and George, who was a cornet
of cavalry in the British Legion, were, possibly, from the
South.
GREEN, FRANCIS. Merchant, of Boston. Graduated at Har
vard University in 1760. He was an Addresser of Hutchinson
and of Gage, and was proscribed and banished. At the begin
ning of the war he went to England, but returned in 1799,
and resided in Medford until his death, April, 1809, aged sixty-
seven. He was a gentlemen of some literary acquirements ;
and having two children who were deaf and dumb, published
several papers on the subject of imparting speech to persons
thus afflicted.
GREEN, JAMES. Of North Carolina. A mariner; lost his
estate under the confiscation act in 1779.
GREEN, JOSEPH. Of Boston. A wit, a poet, and a merchant.
He was appointed Mandamus Councillor, but, it is believed,
did not take the oath of office. His name is found among the
Addressers of Hutchinson. He went to England, and died
there in 1780, aged seventy-four. He published several of his
performances, which were mostly humorous ; of these may be
336 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
mentioned, the burlesque on a psalm of his fellow wit, Doctor
Byles, ridicule of free-masons, and lamentation on Mr. Old
Tenor — paper money. Mr. Green graduated at Harvard Uni
versity in 1726, at the age of twenty ; having been born at
Boston in 1706. He was proscribed and banished. Though
the gentleman was found, finally, among the adherents of the
crown, and became an exile, he was one of the fifty-eight
Boston memorialists in 1760 ; and in 1764 was a member of a
committee with Samuel Adams, to report instructions to the
Boston representatives. This report is very — Whiggish.
GREEN, RICHARD, SAMUEL, and MORRIS. Of Queen's County,
New York. Acknowledged themselves to be loyal and well
affected subjects in 1776. Morris Green subsequently bore
arms.
GREEN, T^HOMAS. Of Pennsylvania. Was ordered by pro
clamation to appear and be tried, or to stand attainted. A
Loyalist of the name of Thomas Green, died in New Bruns
wick previous to the year 1805 ; his widow married Clayton
Tilton of Musquash, New Brunswick.
GREEN. In Boston, were Benjamin, an Addresser of Hutch-
inson in 1774 ; Benjamin Green, Esquire, died in Boston, in
1807, aged sixty. Richard, an Addresser of Gage in 1775 ;
Richard Green, Esquire, died in Boston in 1817, aged eighty-
seven. David, an Addresser of Hutchinson, went to England,
and was proscribed and banished in 1778. Besides these,
Daniel, of Massachusetts, was taken prisoner in the affair at
Lexington, sent to the jail at Concord, and ordered to be con
fined until the further order of the Provincial Congress ; and
Hammond Green, an officer of the customs, who embarked
at Boston for Halifax with the royal troops in 1776.
GREENE, BENJAMIN. Was a Protester in 1774. Rufus, Jere
miah, and Benjamin, junior, all of Boston, were Protesters,
and Addressers of Hutchinson the same year.
GREENE, JOSEPH. Major of De Lancey's First Battalion. At
the peace he went to Ireland.
GREENLAW, CHARLES. Of Castine, Maine. Brother of Eben-
ezer Greenlaw. He accompanied Jonathan and Ebenezer to
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 337
St. Andrew, where he settled, and died in 1811, aged about
sixty-eight.
GREENLAW, EBENEZER. Of Castine, Maine. Brother of
Charles Greenlaw. He removed to St. Andrew, New Bruns
wick, at the peace, where he died about the year 1810, aged
seventy.
GREENLAW, JOHN. Shopkeeper, of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774; was proscribed and banished in 1778.
GREENLAW, JONATHAN. Of Castine, Maine. Brother of
Charles Greenlaw. At the evacuation of Castine by the royal
forces in 1783, he removed to St. Andrew, New Brunswick,
where he died in 1818, aged eighty. His sons, six in number,
were Whigs. His son William, the only one who entered the
service, was a soldier under Washington, and at the peace
settled at Deer Isle, Maine, where he died in 1838, aged eighty-
seven ; his son, Jonathan Babbage Greenlaw, is a shipmaster,
and resides at Eastport, Maine.
GREENLAW, WILLIAM. Of St. George's River, Maine. Brother
of Charles Greenlaw. He remained on his farm during the
war, and continuing in the country after the close of the strife,
died at St. George in 1828.
GREECART, JOHN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage in
1775.
GREENLEAF, STEPHEN. Of Boston. Was Sheriff of Suffolk
County. He was a Protester against the Whigs in 1774, and
one of the ninety-seven gentlemen and principal inhabitants
of the capital who addressed Gage on his departure in 1775.
He died in 1795.
GREENOOCK, JOHN, and JOHN, Junior. Of Queen's County,
New York. Acknowledged allegiance October, 1776.
GREENOUGH, MOSES. Went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
GREENWOOD, JOHN. Cooper, of Newcastle, Delaware. Was
ordered to surrender himself for trial in 1778, or submit to
the forfeiture of his property.
GREENWOOD, NATHANIEL. Of Boston. Was a Protester and
Addresser in 1774.
29
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
GREENwood, SAMUEL. Of Boston. A Sandemanian. Was
a Protester in 1774 ; accompanied the royal army to Halifax
in 1776 ; remained in Nova Scotia, and died at Halifax ; his
son, Samuel, died at the same place in 1832, aged fifty-seven.
GREENWOOD, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; was also a Petitioner
to be armed on the side of the crown ; was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated.
GREGG, FREDERICK. Of New Hanover, North Carolina. In
1779 his property was confiscated.
GREGORY, BENJAMIN. Of South Carolina. In commission
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
GREGORY, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. An assistant
Judge of the Superior Court under the royal government;
was allowed to depart the country. The only native Ameri
can on the bench, at the commencement of the Revolution,
was William Henry Drayton, who was a Whig; he made
the last circuit with Gregory and his other associates, in the
spring of 1775.
GREISWOLD, JOSEPH. Merchant, of Pennsylvania. In 1780 he
was detected in keeping up an illicit trade with the royal
forces, and committed to prison in Philadelphia.
GRIDLEY, BENJAMIN. A lawyer, of Boston. Graduated at
Harvard University in 1751. He was among the barristers
and attornies who addressed Hutchinson in 1774, and one of
the Addressers of Gage in 1775. He went to Halifax in 1776.
In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He was in England
at the close of the Revolution.
GRIDLEY, JEREMY. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1725, and becoming, subsequently, a
distinguished lawyer, was appointed attorney-general. W^hen
the officers of the customs applied for the celebrated Writs of
Assistance, James Otis, his former student, who held a place
under the crown, was applied to by these officers, to defend
the legality of the measure, but he declined the service, and
resigned his commission. Mr. Gridley undertook the duty, and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 339
was met by Otis on the other side. Mr. Gridley died in 1767.
Besides his high legal station, he was colonel of militia, and
grand master of free masons. He was a man of fine talents,
of distinguished learning and virtue. His brother, Richard,
was a major general in the army of the Revolution, and
laid out the fortification on Breed's Hill, the night before the
battle of June 17, 1775.
GRIERSON, GEORGE. Of Warsaw, South Carolina. In com
mission under the crown after the surrender of Charleston.
Estate confiscated.
GRIERSON, JAMES. Was a native of the Highlands of Scot
land, and emigrated to America before the Revolution. He
served in the royal army, and at the peace settled in New
Brunswick, where he died in 1846, at the great age of one
hundred and five years. He was a pensioner of the British
government more than sixty years.
GRIFFIN, SILAS. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Was a
member of the Reading Association.
GRIFFIN. Benjamin, a captain, and William, of Westchester
County, New York, were Protesters in 1775 ; and James, the
same year, was seized at Long Island, sent to Massachusetts,
and confined to the limits of the town of Rutland. In 1776,
Edmund embarked at Boston for Halifax with the royal
army.
GRIFFITHS, BENJAMIN P. Was a lieutenant in De Lancey's
Second Battalion.
GRISON, EDMUND. Embarked for Halifax with the British
army in 1776.
GRISWOLD, SETH. Settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and
died at Queensbury, York County, in 1838, aged eighty-one
years.
GROZART, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston for Halifax
with the British army.
GRYMES, . Of Virginia. He was a gentleman of rank
and education, and entering the military service of the king,
was second major of Simcoe's corps of Loyalists, called the
Queen's Rangers. He appears to have resigned his commis-
340 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
sion about the close of 177S. He had won the confidence of
his commander, and of the corps, by extricating them from a
very disadvantageous situation, by a decisive and bold exer
tion at Brandywine. John R. Grymes, a Virginia Loyalist,
went to England, remained there as late as the year 1788,
and probably later, and was agent for prosecuting the claims
of the adherents of the crown in that State.
GUERARD, DAVID. Of South Carolina. Estate confiscated.
GUEST, WILLIAM. Of Tiger River, South Carolina. In
commission of the crown after the surrender of Charleston.
Estate confiscated.
GUILDART, FRANCIS. Was a captain of cavalry in the British
Legion.
GUILLAUDEAU, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
GYER. Five of this name, of Reading, Connecticut, were
members of the Reading Association. To wit : John, Joseph,
Darling, Thaddeus, and Nathaniel.
HABERSHAM, JAMES. Of Savannah, Georgia. He was the
acting Governor of Georgia in 1771, during the temporary
absence of Sir James Wright. In April, 1775, he wrote to a
friend in London thus : — " The fiery patriots in Charleston
have stopped all dealings with us, and will not suffer any
goods to be landed there from Great Britain ; and I suppose
the Northern Provinces will follow their example. The people
on this Continent are generally almost in a state of madness
and desperation ; and should not conciliatory measures take
place on your side, I know not what may be the consequences.
I fear an open rebellion against the Parent State, and conse
quently amongst ourselves. Some of the inflammatory resolu
tions and measures taken and published in the Northern Colo
nies, I think too plainly portend this. However, I must and
do, upon every occasion, declare that I would not choose to
live here any longer than we are in a state of proper subordin
ation to, and under the protection of, Great Britain ; although
I cannot altogether approve of the steps she has lately taken,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 341
and do most cordially wish that a permanent line of govern
ment was drawn and pursued by the mother and her children ;
and may God give your Senators wisdom to do it, and heal
the breach ; otherwise, I cannot think of the event but with
horror and grief. Father against son, and son against father,
and the nearest relations and friends combating with each
other ! I may perhaps say the truth, cutting each other's
throats. Dreadful to think of, much worse to experience.
But I will have done with this disagreeable subject," &c.
HACKETT, - — . Weaver, of Newcastle, Delaware; the
statute of 1778 declared that his property should become for
feit, unless he surrendered himself before a certain day.
HADDEN, JOE, Junior. Of Westchester County, New York.
A Protester at White Plains.
HAGGERTY, PATRICK. In 1752 he was a lieutenant in the
First Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
HAIGHT, BENJAMIN. At the peace he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city.
HAINS. Among the Westchester County Protesters, were
James Hains, Gilbert, Alexander, and Joseph Hains, Junior.
HAIT, ISRAEL. Of Nor walk, Connecticut. With his wife
and six children he went to St. John, New Brunswick, in the
spring of 1783, in the ship Union, Consett Wilson, master.
HAIT, JAMES. Of Connecticut. At the peace he went to
St. John, New Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city. In
1784 he was one of the two vendue masters of the district of
the river St. John. He removed from New Brunswick about
the year 1799, and died at Newfield, Connecticut, in 1804.
HALE, SAMUEL, Junior. Of New Hampshire. He was pro
scribed and banished. He embarked at Boston for Halifax in
1776, with the British army.
HALFERSON, JAMES. In 1776 he embarked at Boston with
the British army for Halifax.
HALL, LUKE, and ADAM 3d. Both of Mansfield, Massa
chusetts. Were proscribed and banished; Luke had aban
doned the country in 1776.
29*
342 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
HALL, CAPTAIN JOSHUA, and JOHN. Of Reading, Connecti
cut, were members of the Association.
HALL, EBENEZER. Of Fairfield, Connecticut. Was de
nounced in March, 1775, by the Whig Committee of Inspection,
who declared, that " all connections, commerce, and dealings
ought to be withdrawn from him," for violating the Association
of the Continental Congress.
HALL, JAMES. Of Boston. His name is connected with one
of the most memorable incidents of the revolutionary contro
versy. Tn 1773 he was in command of the ship Dartmouth,
owned by Francis Rotch, and arrived at Boston on the 28th of
November, with one hundred and twelve chests of the cele
brated Tea, which was thrown overboard in the following
month of December. The next year he was an Addresser of
Hutchinson, and in 1778 was proscribed and banished. The
morning after Hall's arrival in 1773, the following notice
appeared.
"FRIENDS, BRETHREN, COUNTRYMEN.
" That worst of all plagues, the detested TEA, shipped for
this port by the East India Company, is now arrived in this
harbor. The hour of destruction, or manly opposition to the
machinations of Tyranny, stares you in the face. Every
friend to his country, to himself, and to posterity, is now called
upon to meet at Faneuil Hall at nine o'clock this day, (at
which time the bells will ring), to make a united and success
ful resistance to this last, worst, and most destructive measure
of administration."
" Boston, November 29, 1779."
Bruce, in the Eleanor, and Coffin, in the Beaver, came into
port soon after ; and the rebels disguised as Indians threw the
cargoes of the three vessels, consisting of two hundred and
forty whole, and one hundred half chests, into the harbor.
HALL, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York. Was a
Protester at White Plains in 1775. Richard Hall, Collector of
the Customs at Digby, Nova Scotia, who died in 1803 ; and
Nathaniel Hall, Collector of the Customs at Nassau, New
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 343
Providence, who died in 1807, were, I conclude, members of
Loyalist families.
HALLET, DANIEL. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in De Lan-
cey's Second Battalion. At the peace he went to St. John,
New Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city. He received
half-pay. He died in the County of York, New Brunswick,
1827, aged seventy-six.
HALLET, SAMUEL. In 1782 he was a captain in De Lancey's
Second Battalion. He retired on half-pay in 1783. He set
tled at St. John, New Brunswick, and in 1784 received the
grant of a city lot. In 1792 he was a member of the vestry
of the Episcopal Church. He died at St. John previous to
1804; Elizabeth, his widow, died that year, at the age of
sixty-nine.
HALLET, SAMUEL, Junior. Went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783, and was a grantee of that city.
HALLET, or HALLETT. Eight persons of this name, of
Queen's County, New York, acknowledged allegiance, Octo
ber, 1776. To wit : Thomas, Jacob junior, George, Richard,
W., James, W., David. In 1778 the house of Joseph Hallet,
of that County, was robbed of money and other valuables.
HALLOWELL, BENJAMIN. A Commissioner of the Customs, at
Boston; was proscribed and banished in 1778 ; and included
in the conspiracy act of 1779. While passing through Cam
bridge in his chaise, in 1774, he was pursued toward Boston,
by about one hundred and sixty men on horseback at full
gallop. The place of his residence was Medford. He went to
Halifax with the British army. In July, 1776, he embarked
in the ship Aston Hall for England. At the peace he returned
to America, and lived in Canada. His daughter, the widow
of Chief Justice Emsly, resides at Toronto. The office held
by Mr. Hallo well at Boston was extremely unpopular ; and
often brought him and his associates into collision with ship
owners, masters, and seamen. The township of Manchester,
Nova Scotia, (or a large part of it), was a grant to Mr. Hallo-
well ; and after the Revolution, a number of Loyalists went
there and settled.
344 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
HALLOWELL, ROBERT. Of Boston. Was proscribed and ban
ished in 1778. He appeared as as Addresser of Gage in 1775.
It is stated in the Annals of Portsmouth, that Robert was col
lector at that place, and exchanged offices with Meserve, the
comptroller at Boston. In some documents, Benjamin is de
nominated a comptroller ; while in the conspiracy act, he is
called late commissioner of the customs. As it is believed
that these offices were distinct, and were held by different
individuals, there is an apparent difficulty in discriminating
between the two gentlemen. He accompanied the British
troops to Halifax at the evacuation of Boston, and in July,
1776, was waiting at the former place to embark for England
in the ship Princess Royal. His sister, Sarah, wife of Samuel
Vaughan, Esquire, of London, died in England in 1809; and
his sister Anne, widow of General Gould, died at Bristol,
England, in 1812.
HALSEY, ELISHA. At the peace he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city..
HALSTEAD, EZEKIEL and PHILEMON. Of Westchester County,
New York. Were Protesters at White Plains.
HAMBLETON, WILLIAM. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut.
A member of the Association at Reading.
HAMILTON, ARCHIBALD. Of Queen's County, New York.
In June, 1776, he declared upon his honor that he would not
" directly or indirectly oppose or contravene the measures of
the Continental Congress, or of the Congress of " New York.
He, however, became an active friend of the crown, and Aid-
de-camp to General Robertson, and commandant of the militia
of Queen's County, with the pay of the army. In December,
1780, his house at Flushing, New York, was burned to the
ground, together with the " elegant furniture, stock of provi
sions, various sorts of wines, spirits intended for the regale
of his numerous friends, the military and other gentlemen of
the neighborhood." His command consisted of seventeen
companies. His name heads the address to General Robert
son, when he succeeded Tryon, as Governor of New York, in
1780.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 345
HAMILTON, JOHN. Of South Carolina. Accepted military
employment under the crown, and became lieutenant-colonel
of the North Carolina Volunteers. In 1779 his property was
confiscated. In 1794 his agent at London, in behalf of the
firm of which he was a member, presented a memorial to the
British government on the subject of debts due in America at
the time of his banishment, which had not been recovered,
and prayed for relief. Of others of the same name in North
Carolina, William and Thomas were captains ; James was a
lieutenant, and Robert was an ensign, in the North Carolina
Volunteers. Archibald, of Halifax County, held no commis
sion, but his property was confiscated in 1779.
HAMILTON, PAUL, Senior. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. Was banished
in 1782, and his property confiscated.
HAMILTON, WILLIAM. Of Pennsylvania. He was proprietor
of the principal part of the site of the city of Lancaster in
that State. This land escaped confiscation, and ground-rents,
to a considerable extent, are yet claimed and collected under
his title. The Courts have acknowledged the validity of the
call upon occupants for the rents, but there exists much un
willingness to pay them, and efforts have been made to avoid,
or to commute them. The original proprietor of Lancaster was,
I suppose, James Hamilton, Esquire. Witham Marshe was
there in 1744, with the commissioners of various Colonies, who
were sent to form a treaty with the Six Nations, and recorded
in his journal, that this gentleman "made a ball and opened
it, by dancing two minuets with two of the ladies here, which
last danced wilder time than any Indians."
HAMM, ANDREW. Died in Westfield, New Brunswick, 1816,
aged sixty-two.
HAMMELL, . An officer of the American service, and
brigade-major to General James Clinton. He was taken
prisoner by Sir Henry Clinton, and entered into treasonable
designs against his former friends. By the confession of
Geake, a confederate who was arrested, he was promised, for
his defection to the Whigs, the office of Colonel of a new Irish
346 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
regiment, to be raised from deserters from the American army,
and such others as could be enlisted.
HAMMEL, JOHN. In 1782 he was surgeon of the Third Bat
talion of New Jersey Volunteers.
HAMPTON, ABNER. At the peace he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city.
HANCOCK, THOMAS. Bookseller, and subsequently a mer
chant, of Boston. Was the son of the Reverend John Han
cock, of Lexington, Massachusetts. Relinquishing his busi
ness of binding and selling books, he turned his attention to
merchandise, generally, and became one of the principal com
mercial characters of New England. He acquired a large
fortune, and having no children, bequeathed the greater part
of his estate to his nephew, John Hancock, who occupies
a conspicuous rank among the Whigs of the Revolution.
Among his other bequests, was that of £1000, for the purpose
of founding a professorship of Hebrew and other oriental
languages at Harvard University. He was a member of the
House of Representatives, and of the Council of Massachu
setts. While going into the Council-chamber, on the 1st of
August, 1764, he was seized with apoplexy, and died the
same day, aged sixty-two years. He had the character of
benevolence, and of liberal religious and political sentiments.
He was always on the side of government ; and though his
death occurred early in the controversy, party lines were as
well defined in Massachusetts, in his time, as afterwards.
Hutchinson sets the sum which he left his nephew at more
than £50,000 sterling; besides the reversion of £20,000 after
the decease of his widow. From the same authority, it would
seem, that a considerable proportion of his property was ac
quired in the Dutch tea trade, which, under the British navi
gation laws, was illicit ; and from supplying the officers of the
army, ordinance, and navy.
HAND, JOHN. Of New Jersey. He arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, with his wife and two children, in the ship
Union, in the spring of 1783.
HANDLY, ELIJAH. Of Queen's County, New York. He was
in the military service of the crown in 1780.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 347
HANFORD, THOMAS. Of Connecticut. At the peace he went
to St. John, New Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city.
He commenced business, and became an eminent merchant.
In 1795 he was a member of the Loyal Artillery. He died at
St. John in 1826, aged seventy-three. Ann, his widow, sur
vived several years, and died at the age of seventy-eight.
HANKINSON, REUBEN. Was an ensign in the First Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers.
HANNAHAM, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
HAPPIE, GEORGE. Of Duchess County, New York. He ar
rived at St. John, New Brunswick, with his wife, in the spring
of 1783, in the ship Union.
HARBURN, JESSE. Of Pennsylvania. He was tried in 1778
on a charge of supplying the enemy with provisions, and
found guilty. He was sentenced to be confined, but to be kept
at hard labor by day, for one month.
HARDENBROOK, ABEL A. He went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
HARDIN, GEORGE. An ensign in the Pennsylvania Loyal
ists.
HARDING, WILLIAM. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783, and was a grantee of that city. He died there in 1818,
aged seventy-three.
HARDROFF, HENRY. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
HARDY, ELIAS. He settled at St. John, New Brunswick, and
devoted himself to the profession of the law. While at the
bar, General Arnold sued Hoyt, his former partner, for slander,
and for saying that the Traitor burned his warehouse, in
order to defraud the company that had underwritten upon the
property ; and Mr. Hardy was retained as Hoyt's counsel.
Arnold's side of the case was managed by the first Ward
Chipman, and Jonathan Bliss, both of whom were subse
quently on the Bench of New Brunswick. The jury returned
a verdict of two shillings and sixpence damages. A gentleman
who heard the trial, assures me, that the public at the time, and
348 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
that Arnold's own counsel, entertained no doubt of his guilt.
In 1792, Mr. Hardy was a member of the House of Assembly.
He died at St. John soon after, as papers which relate to the
administration of his estate bear the date of 1799.
HARE, EDWARD. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. Was banished, and in
1782 his property was confiscated.
HARE, MICHAEL. Of Bedford, County, Pennsylvania. Unless
he should surrender, and take his trial for treason, it was or
dered in Council, October 30, 1778, that he stand attainted.
Jacob Hare, of Bedford County, was included in the same
proclamation.
HARE, LIEUTENANT . Of New York. Entered the ser
vice of the crown, and was engaged in the bloody border
affrays with Brant and the Johnsons. In 1779 he was seized
by the Whigs, tried by a court-martial, convicted and hanged.
General Schuyler said, "in executing Hare, we have rid the
State of the greatest villain in it." General Clinton remarked,
that his death gave entire satisfaction to all the inhabitants in
the region where his infamous deeds were committed.
HARLESTON, JOHN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
HARPER, JAMES. Of Queen's County, New York. Acknowl
edged allegiance, October, 1776. The name of James Harper
appears on an Address to Lieutenant Colonel Sterling of the
Forty-second Regiment, April, 1779.
HARPER, THOMAS. He was banished and attainted, and his
estate was confiscated. In a memorial dated at London in
1794, he represented to the British government, that debts due
to him in America, at the time of his banishment, were still
unpaid, and he desired relief. That proscribed Loyalists could
recover sums of money owing to them, appears to have been
conceded both in England and America, and several decisions
of Courts in the United States affirmed the opinion.
HARRIS, ABEL. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Second
American Regiment.
HARRIS, JOSEPH. A runaway mulatto slave, belonging to
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 349
Mr. Henry King of Hampton, Virginia. In 1775 he gave in
formation against a smuggling schooner, which was seized in
Cherry-stone Creek, and on being threatened with death, was
recommended to Captain Squew, of his Majesty's ship Otter,
by Captain Montague, of the Fowey, as a pilot. Montague
said he had always appeared very sober and prudent, and
that he was a freeman. Harris, it seems, had been a pilot in
the waters of Virginia, but was driven from the employment
after giving intelligence against the illicit trader.
HARRIS, MASSY. Of Rhode Island. He arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, in the spring of 1783, in the ship Union.
HARRIS, SAMUEL. Died at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, in 1834,
aged seventy-two.
HARRIS, WILLIAM. Of Pennsylvania. Was at the Crown
and Anchor tavern, London, July 6, 1779.
HARRISON, CHARLES. He was a captain in the Second Bat
talion of New Jersey Volunteers. At the peace he went to
St. John, New Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city.
He received half-pay. He was lieutenant-colonel in the militia
of New Brunswick. His fate is unknown. The late General
William Henry Harrison, President of the United States, was
a relative.
HARRISON, JOHN and S. Of South Carolina. Were captains
in the South Carolina Royalists. The estate of Nathaniel Har
rison was confiscated.
HARRISON, JAMES. Was a lieutenant in the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers. He went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, and was a grantee of that city in 1783.
HARRISON, . He was Collector of the Customs at Boston
in 1768, and after the seizure of Hancock's sloop in that year,
was roughly treated by the mob, and pelted with stones. The
windows of his house, which was adjacent to the Common,
were also broken ; and a large pleasure boat belonging to him
was dragged through the streets and burned near his residence,
amidst loud shouts and huzzas. Peter Harrison, Esquire, was
Collector of the port of New Haven, Connecticut, and died
before June, 1775.
30
350 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
HART, BENJAMIN. Of New Hampshire. Was a prisoner,
and examined by the Provincial Congress in 1775 ; proscribed
and banished in 1778.
HART. Among the Protesters of Westchester County, at
White Plains, were Joseph, Monmouth, and James Hart.
HARTLEY, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. James Hartley of that
city was also an Addresser.
HARTSHORN, DAVIDSON. He went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783, and was a grantee of that city.
HARTWELL, EDWARD. He was a member of the General
Court of Massachusetts in 1771 ; and Hutchinson speaks of
him as one of those on the ministerial side, who, in common
times, would have had great weight.
HARVEY, ALEXANDER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
HASELL, JAMES. A member of his Majesty's Council of
North Carolina. In March of 1775 he was present in Council,
and advised Governor Martin to issue his Proclamation against
the Whig Convention to Assemble at Newbern on the follow
ing 3d of April. " The Board," says the record, " conceiving
the highest detestation of such proceedings, were unanimous in
advising his Excellency to inhibit such illegal meetings."
While Governor Martin was absent at New York, for the ben
efit of his health, Mr. Hasell, as President of the Council,
administered the government ; but with less energy and popu
larity than the Governor. He was also appointed to act as
Chief Justice during the absence of Judge Howard.
HASKINS, JOHN. Of Boston. A Protester against the Whigs
in 1774.
HASTINGS, JOSEPH STACY. Of New Hampshire. He gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1762, and was ordained at
North Hampton in 1767. After a few years he embraced
Sandemanianism, and resigned his ministerial office in 1774.
He went to Halifax, but returned to Boston, where he kept a
grocery store. He died in 1807, while on a journey to Ver
mont.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 351
HATCH, CHRISTOPHER. Of Boston. In 1778 he was pro
scribed and banished. He accepted a commission under the
crown, and was a captain in the Loyal American Regiment.
He was wounded and commended for his gallantry. At
the peace he retired on half-pay, (about £80 per annum.)
He was a grantee of the city of St. John, New Brunswick,
but soon after going to New Brunswick, established himself as
a merchant near the frontier, and finally, at St. Andrew,
Charlotte County. He was a magistrate, and colonel in the
militia. He died at St. Andrew, 1819, aged seventy. Elizabeth,
his widow, died at the same place, 1830, at the age of seventy-
five. His son, the Honorable Harris Hatch, of St. Andrew, is
a gentleman of consideration ; holding the offices of member
of her Majesty's Council; Commissioner of Bankruptcies;
Surrogate ; Registrar of Deeds; Member of the Board of Edu
cation ; Lieutenant-colonel in the militia ; and Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas.
HATCH, HA WES. Of Boston. Brother of Christopher Hatch.
He went to Halifax with the royal army in 1776. In 1778
he was proscribed and banished. He entered the King's ser
vice ; and in 1782 was a captain in De Lancey's Second Bat
talion. He retired on half-pay at the close of the war, and
was a grantee of the city of St. John. For some years after
the Revolution he lived at and in the vicinity of Eastport,
Maine. He finally returned to Massachusetts, where he died.
HATCH, NATHANIEL. Of Dorchester, Massachusetts. He
graduated at Harvard University in 1742 ; and, subsequently,
held the office of Clerk of the Courts. In 1776 he accompanied
the British troops to Halifax, at the evacuation of Boston. In
1778 he was proscribed and banished, and in 1779 was included
in the conspiracy act, by which his estate was confiscated.
He died soon after the war.
HATCHELL, PHILIP. In 1782 he was surgeon of the Loyal
American Regiment.
HATFIELD, DAVID. Of New York. He went to St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, and was one of the founders of the
city. He used to relate, that in 1784 he sold a city lot and a
352 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
log-house for four dollars ; that some lots the same year sold
for only one dollar ; others for a jug of rum ; and that the
highest sum paid for choice money in King street was but
twenty dollars. Mr. Hatfield established himself in business,
and for half a century was a principal merchant. He died at
St. John in 1843, aged eighty. Ann, his widow, died in 1845,
at the age of seventy-seven. Recounting, on one occasion, to a
gentleman of Maine, the sufferings and difficulties of himself
and his companions in exile on their first arrival at St. John,
he was asked by his American friend why he went there. He
straightened himself up, and with emotion, that brought tears
to his eyes, replied, " for my loyalty, sir ! " and in a moment
added ; " Sir, my principles are as dear to me, as yours can be
to you."
HATFIELD, ABRAHAM. Of Westchester County, New York.
The Loyalists who adopted the Protest against Whig Con
gresses and Committees, and pledged their lives and properties
to support the king and constitution, April, 1775, met at his
house. An Abraham Hatfield was a grantee of land at St.
John, New Brunswick, in 1783; probably the same.
HATFIELD, CORNELIUS. Was a captain in the royal service,
and engaged in predatory excursions.
HATFIELD, DANIEL. In 1783 was a grantee of St. John, New
Brunswick.
HATFIELD, GILBERT. Of Westchester County, New York.
Was a Protester at the house of Abraham Hatfield in 1775.
HATFIELD, ISAAC. Of New York. He was lieutenant-col
onel and commandant of the Loyal Westchester Volunteers.
At the peace he went to St. John, New Brunswick, and was a
grantee of that city. He subsequently settled in Digby, Nova
Scotia, and lived there thirty-six years, until his decease.
He died in 1822, aged seventy-four.
HA.TFIELD, JOHN SMITH. Of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He
joined the royal forces at or in the vicinity of New York in
1778, and by his course of conduct, subsequently involved
himself in much misery. One infamous act is well authenti
cated. A Tory, sent out as a spy by the British, was taken
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 353
within the American lines, regularly tried by a court-martial,
found guilty, and executed. This act Hatfield and some other
Tories determined to revenge, by retaliating upon one Ball,
who, contrary to law, was in the habit of secretly supplying
the British camp at Staten Island with provisions. The first
time that Ball went over to that Island, after the execution of
the spy, (of which it does not appear that he had any knowl
edge), he was seized by Hatfield, against the express orders of
the British commanding officer, and carried beyond the British
lines, where Hatfield hung him with his own hands. The
British officer sent a message to the Whig commander in the
vicinity, disavowing the deed, and declaring that those alone
who had perpetrated the act ought to suffer for it.
Some time after the war, about the year 1788, Hatfield
returned to New Jersey, where the murder of Ball was com
mitted, and was arrested and imprisoned. A witness at the
examination testified, that he heard Hatfield say, that " he had
hanged Ball, and wished he had many more rebels, as he would
repeat the deed with pleasure;" and he testified also, that
Hatfield had showed him the tree on which he suspended Ball,
and the place where he buried his victim. While Hatfield
was in jail at Newark, his debaucheries were excessive, and
nearly cost him his life. He was put upon his trial at the reg
ular term of the Court of Bergen County, New Jersey, but no
witnesses appeared against him, and he was released from
prison on bail, when he immediately fled, and never returned
to the State. This case formed a subject of inquiry and com
ment, in the correspondence between Mr. Jefferson, Secretary
of State, and Mr. Hammond, the British Minister, in 1792 ;
the latter adducing the proceedings against Hatfield as one of
the alleged infractions of the treaty of peace.
HATFIELD, SAMUEL. Husbandman, of Murderkill, Delaware.
He was required to submit himself for trial for treason on or
before August 1st of the year 1778, on pain of forfeiting his
estate.
HATHAWAY, EBENEZER, Junior. Of Freetown, Massachu
setts. He was proscribed and banished. Entering the royal
30*
354 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
service, he was a captain ; but disagreeing with his colonel,
resigned his commission on the promise of a majority in a new
corps, but in this he was disappointed. After ascertaining that
he was not likely to receive employment on the land, he fitted
out and commanded a privateer. While thus engaged he was
captured, and with his officers and crew confined in Simsbury
Mines. He had been extremely active in annoying the Whigs,
and having excited their deepest enmity, was tried for his life,
but escaped conviction. His most celebrated feats consisted in
carrying off Committee-men, and he frequently went thirty
miles in boisterous weather to capture one ; and he used to
say, that "he would willingly run any risk, and incur any
fatigue, to make these busy and troublesome creatures his
prisoners." He endured much for the cause of the crown, but
was unable to obtain pecuniary recompense, and in conse
quence of his resignation, did not receive a pension. His
hardships and wounds, during the war, ruined his health. He
died on the river St. John, New Brunswick, about the year
1811, aged sixty-three. Seven sons survived him; namely,
Ebenezer, Warren, Calvin Luther, Charles Reed, James Gilbert,
Cushi, and Thomas Gilbert. His wife was of Whig princi
ples, and remained true to them throughout her life ; though
compelled by the course of events to follow him into hopeless
and interminable exile. One of her sons, a gentleman of
wealth who resides in New Brunswick, has related to me the
following interesting incident. "My father," said he, "was
the son of a Tory captain ; my mother, the daughter of a
Whig major ; and the two families were thus divided, even to
some of the collateral branches. The political discussions
were, of consequence, frequent and warm. On the birth of
one of my brothers, it was insisted on the one side, that he
should receive a Whig, and on the other, a Tory, name. Nei
ther party would yield, and after many disputes, my father
proposed to take the Bible, and give the child the first proper
name he should see on opening it. This was assented to ; the
name happened to be Cushi, and Cushi was my brother called
during his life."
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 355
HATHAWAY, LUTHER. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. Brother
of Ebenezer Hathaway. In 1778 he was proscribed and ban
ished. He was in the royal service as lieutenant of a corps
called the Loyal New En glanders. He settled in Nova Scotia,
and died at Cornwallis in 1833.
HATHAWAY, SHADRACH and CALVIN. Of Freetown, Massa
chusetts. Were proscribed and banished in 1778. They both
died in exile ; the former during the war on Long Island,
New York.
HATTON, JAMES. In 1782 he was surgeon of the South
Carolina Royalists.
HATTON, JOHN. Was a lieutenant in the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers.
HAUXHURST, HENRY, SIMON, JOHN, SAMUEL, and W. Of Queen's
County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance October, 1776.
HAVILAND, JOSEPH. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
HAVILAND, ARCHELAUS and ISAAC. Residence unknown. Went
to St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and were grantees of
that city.
HAWLEY, SAMUEL. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
HAWSE, PRINCE. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
HAWSER, FREDERICK. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783, and was a grantee of that city.
HAY, JOHN. Of Massachusetts. Died at St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1812, at the age of forty-three.
HAYES, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
HAYES, JOHN. Was seized at Long Island, New York, in
1775, sent to Massachusetts, and confined within the limits of
the town of Lunenburgh.
HAYTER, WILLIAM. At the peace he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city.
HAYTER, WILLIAM. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1817, aged eighty-eight years.
356 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
HAZEN, JOHN. Removed from Massachusetts to New Bruns
wick in 1775. He became a magistrate, and died in the Coun
ty of Sunbury in 1828, aged seventy-three.
HEAD, EDMUND. He was banished, and attainted, and his
estate was confiscated. In 1794 he applied to the British gov
ernment, in a petition dated at London, to interpose for the
recovery of some large debts due to him in America at the
time of his banishment.
HEATH, WILLIAM. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with the
British army, for Halifax.
HEDDEN, ISAAC. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the First
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He retired on half-pay,
and settled in New Brunswick, where he was clerk of the
House of Assembly. He died in that Colony.
HEDDON, ZOPHER. At the peace he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city.
HELMER, . Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New
York. He accompanied Sir John Johnson to Canada, when
the Baronet violated his parole and fled ; and was one of the
party who, in 1778, returned to Johnstown for the purpose oi
securing some of Sir John's valuable effects. While bearing
off the iron-chest, he injured his ankle, and was compelled to
go to his father's house, where he remained concealed. But
in the spring of 1779 he was arrested as a spy, tried, and
sentenced to death, chiefly on his own admissions to the
Court.
HENCKSMAN, OBADIAH and JOHN. Of Jamaica, New York.
Were signers of the Declaration against the proceedings of the
Whigs, January, 1775.
HENDERSON, HUGH. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778. He was a petitioner for a grant of
land in Nova Scotia, July, 1783. See Abijah Willard.
HENDERSON, JAMES. Trader, of Boston. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778; he had abandoned the country in 1776,
with the royal army.
HENDERSON, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. His estate was con
fiscated in 1779.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 357
HENDERSON, THOMAS. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Loyal American Regiment. He went to New Brunswick at
the peace, and in 1803 lived at the island of Campo-Bello,
where he was an officer of the Customs. He removed to St.
Andrew, New Brunswick, and died there, 1828, aged seventy-
seven.
HENDRICKS, CONRADT. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783.
HENDRICKSON. Ten persons of this name of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance October, 1776. To wit :
Daniel, William, Barnadus, Aaron, John, Stephen, Abraham,
Albert, Harman, Hendrick. John Hendrickson, of Duchess
County, New York, with his wife, arrived at St. John, New
Brunswick, in the ship Union, in 1783.
HENDRIX, OBED. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
HENEY, JOSIAH. Was born near Portland, Maine, in 1754,
and died at Deer Island, New Brunswick, in 1836, aged
eighty-two years. He went to Halifax in the Revolution, and
married at Windsor; but returned to Maine, and resided for
some time at Castine. Changing his abode again, he lived at
the place where he deceased, about forty years. His sons,
Josiah, Archibald, and Henry, are now (July, 1844) residents
of Deer Island.
HENLEY, JAMES. Of Maryland. In 1782 he was an ensign
in the Maryland Loyalists, and adjutant of the corps. He
retired at the peace, when he was a lieutenant, on half-pay.
He was a grantee of the city of St. John. His widow, Ruhe-
mah, died at Fredericton, 1841, aged ninety-one.
HEPBURN, JAMES. Of North Carolina. He was attached to
a corps of Loyalists as secretary, and in 1776 was taken
prisoner and confined. He was in New York in 1782, and a
notary public.
HERKIMER, JOHN JOOST. Of New York. His property was
confiscated.
HERRING, PETER. Of the city of New York. In July, 1775,
the Committee of Safety sent him under guard to Connecticut,
358 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
there to be confined in close jail at the Continental charge,
until he should be released by the Continental Congress, for
aiding one Lundin, a prisoner to the Whigs, to escape on
board his Majesty's ship the Asia.
HESTER, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked with the British army
at Boston for Halifax.
HEWLET, CHARLES. In 1782 he was a captain in De Lan-
cey's Third Battalion.
HEWLETT, RICHARD. Of Hempstead, New York. He was a
captain in the French war, and assisted in the capture of Fort
Frontenac. In the Revolutionary strife, he took an early and
active part on the side of the king. In 1775 he told a dis
tinguished Whig, that he had mustered his command a few
days previously, when, "had your battalion appeared, we
should have warmed their sides." Before the close of that
year, he received from the Asia ship of war, a great quantity
of ammunition, some small-arms, and a cannon. In March,
1776, his course had rendered him very obnoxious to the
Whigs; and General Lee directed, that "Richard Hewlett is
to have no conditions offered to him, but is to be secured with
out ceremony." He accepted a commission when De Lancey's
corps was raised, and was lieutenant-colonel of the third of
De Lancey's Battalions. At the close of the war he retired
on half-pay, and settled in New Brunswick. He was a
grantee of the city of St. John, and its mayor. He died on
the river St. John, near Gagetown, in 1789.
HEWLETT, THOMAS. Of New York. He was a captain in the
New York Volunteers, and in 1780 was killed at Hanging
Rock.
HEWLETT. Ten persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit:
Richard, John, W., James, Joseph, Samuel, John senior, Dan
iel junior, Stephen, Daniel senior. In 1779 a party of Whigs
carried off Justice Hewlett from Oyster Bay, in that County.
Richard Hewlett was robbed in 1783. John was an Addresser
of Governor Robertson in 1780.
HEWS, LIEUTENANT DONALD. Of North Carolina. He was
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 359
taken prisoner in 1776 by the Whigs under Gas well, and sent
to jail.
HEYDEN, S. A captain in the King's Rangers. In Novem
ber, 1782, he had retired to the Island of St. John, Gulf of St.
Lawrence, where he invited other Loyalists to follow him.
HIBBEN, ANDREW. Of South Carolina. In commission
under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
HICKEY, PATRICK. In 1775 he was sent prisoner from Long
Island, New York, to Massachusetts, and confined within the
limits of the town of Brookfield.
HICKEY, THOMAS. In 1776 a plot of the disaffected to the
Whig cause extended to Washington's own camp, and part
of his guard were engaged in it. Hickey was one of the
number. He was tried, and having been convicted by the
unanimous opinion of a court-martial, was executed on the
28th of June of that year.
HICKS, CHARLES. Of Long Island. Was an Addresser of
Governor Robertson in 1780 ; he commanded a company of
Loyal Militia, and a party of Whigs having captured a
schooner in Jamaica Bay, in August of that year, he assem
bled his company, arid with a few volunteers in two boats,
went in quest of them. He offered the rebels good quarters,
provided they would surrender ; this they refused, and a smart
action ensued, in which the Whigs were overcome. They
accordingly accepted the terms at first rejected, and became
prisoners. Twenty-eight thus fell into Hicks's hands, of whom
one was a clergyman.
HICKS, GILBERT. Of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Lost his
estate under the confiscation act of that State, in 1779.
HICKS, JOHN. Printer, of Boston. Was born in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
His father was a Whig, and lost his life in the affair of Lex
ington. John, it was supposed, was a Whig also; but in 1773,
he and Nathaniel Mills bought the Massachusetts Gazette and
Post Boy, of Green and Russell ; and devoted it to the support
of the measures of the ministry. His paper was conducted
360 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
with much ability, spirit, and vigor. Among the writers for it
were persons of great political knowledge and judgment. It
was believed at the time, that officers of the British army were
likewise contributors to its columns. Hicks went to Halifax in
1776, and continued with the royal troops at different posts
throughout the war, supporting, professionally, the side which
he last espoused ; and on the evacuation of New York, went
again to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he remained a few years,
and then returned to Boston. Having acquired considerable
property by his business during the Revolution, he purchased
an estate at Newton, Massachusetts, on which he resided until
his death.
7
HICKS, JOHN, and ROBERT. Residence unknown. Were
grantees of the city of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
HICKS, JONATHAN. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1770 ; and fitted himself for the prac
tice of medicine. In 1773 or 1774 he was at Gardinerston,
(now Gardiner, Maine,) where he "expressed himself highly
against Whig Committees, calling them rebels, and using other
opprobrious language against the people who appeared for lib
erty." He was afterwards at Plymouth, Massachusetts, and
continued the same course of conduct, and "at certain times
appeared very high, and once drew his sword or spear upon
certain persons." The evening after the battle of Lexington,
he left Plymouth, and took shelter with a detachment of the
royal troops at Mansfield ; and finally retired to Boston.
Soon after, General Gage despatched the sloop Polly to Nova
Scotia for supplies, and he embarked ; designing, as he said,
to remain at Halifax, "if he could find business, in order to
be out of the noise." On the passage, the Polly was captured,
and Hicks was sent prisoner to the Provincial Congress. That
body ordered a Committee to investigate his case in June,
1775 ; and as Hicks himself owned that his conduct had, on
the whole, been that of a person " whom the people for liberty
call a Tory," he was sent under guard to Concord, and com
mitted to jail. He entered the royal service, subsequently,
and was a surgeon. He died at Demarara in 1826.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 361
HICKS, THOMAS. Was elected to the Provincial Congress of
New York in 1775, from the town of Hempstead, Queen's
County, but declined taking his seat.
HICKS, WHITHEAD. Was mayor of the city of New York,
during a part of the war.
HICKS. Nine persons of this name, of Queen's County, New
York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Edward, Thomas, Benjamin, Charles, V., Thomas, Charles
junior, Charles, and George. In 1781, Thomas Hicks, of
Flushing in that County, was robbed of law-books and other
property.
HIEL, JOHN. Of Virginia. Went to England, and was in
London in 1779 ; a Loyalist Addresser of the King.
HIGBIE, or HIGBEE. Nathaniel, Henry, Samuel, Thomas,
and Moses, of Queen's County, New York, acknowledged
allegiance, October, 1776. Henry and Nathaniel signed a
Declaration of loyalty in 1775. Jonas, probably of the
some County, was a grantee of St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783.
HILL, DAVID. Merchant, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire.
In 1775 he was published in the Essex Gazette, by the Com
mittee of that town. He made a statement of the matters
complained of by the Whigs, to which the Committee rejoined.
In the rejoinder, it is said, that a quantity of his goods were
burnt at New York during the Stamp Act troubles, as a pun
ishment for his offences; that the people of New Ipswich
" had unanimously agreed not to use tea," but that Hill had
still brought that hated article there for sale ; and, that his
proceedings had been condemned in a full town meeting,
which had been called at his own request.
HILL, EZEKIEL. Of Reading, Connecticut. Was a member
of the Loyalist Association.
HILL, JOHN. Of New York. In 1782 he was an inspector
in the Superintendent Department established at New York,
and was stationed at Brooklyn. A Loyalist of this name died
in York County, New Brunswick, in 1804.
HILL, JOSHUA. Of Delaware. A member of the General
31
362 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Assembly. In 1778 it was enacted, that unless he should sur
render, himself for trial for treason on or before August 1st, his
property would be absolutely forfeited to the State.
HILL, PATRICK. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. In 1778 he
was ordered to surrender himself for trial, or to stand at
tainted.
HILL, THOMAS. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. It is stated
that he was engaged in the Massacre in 1778, and that with
his own hands he killed his mother and several other relatives ;
but, like the story of similar deeds by the Terrys, the relation
is of doubtful truth.
HILL, WILLIAM. Of Massachusetts. Embarked at Boston
for Halifax with the royal troops in 1776.
HILT, WILLIAM. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1822,
aged seventy.
HINCHMAN, THOMAS, OBADIAH, and JOHN. Of Queen's County,
New York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
HINDS, PATRICK. Of South Carolina. A Congratulator of
Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780. In 1782 his
estate was confiscated, and he was banished.
HINKLY, RICHARD. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
HINSTON, JOHN. Of Boston. Was proscribed and banished
in 1778.
HIRLEIGH, TIMOTHY. Of Middletown, Connecticut. He
had property in Massachusetts, which by an act of that State
was confiscated.
HIRONS, RICHARD. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year.
HITCHCOCK, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
HOEG, NATHAN. Of New York. In June, 1783, he was
preparing to embark for Nova Scotia.
HOGG, JOHN. Of North Carolina. One of the last official
acts of Governor Martin was to commission this gentleman as
a magistrate, for the County of Orange. The Whigs at this
time (1775) had so far obtained the ascendency in the public
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 363
councils, as to cause his Excellency to dissolve the Assembly ;
and no new House was elected during the remaining period of
his administration.
HOLCOMB, JEREMIAH. Of Hackinsack, New Jersey. He
went to St. John, New Brunswick, with his wife and two
children, in the ship Union, in 1783.
HOLLAND, JOHN. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished. A Loyalist of this name was sheriff of the County
of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1792.
HOLLAND, JOHN WENTWORTH. In 17S2 he was an ensign in
the Prince of Wales' s American Volunteers.
HOLLAND, RICHARD. Of Massachusetts. He was proscribed
and banished. In 1782 he was an ensign of infantry in the
Queen's Rangers. At the peace he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city. He settled subse
quently on the coast, at Dipper Harbor, where he now (1843)
lives, and receives half-pay.
HOLLAND, STEPHEN. Of Londonderry, New Hamphire. He
was a colonel in the militia, a member of the House of Assem
bly, and a man of note. In 1775 he appeared at a town-meet
ing, and made a written declaration that the charges against
him as being an enemy to his country, &c. were false ; and
concluded with saying, that " he was ready to assist his coun
trymen in the glorious cause of liberty, at the risk of his life
and fortune." But in 1778 his estate was confiscated, and he
was proscribed and banished. In 1782 there was a captain
Stephen Holland in the Prince of Wales' s American Volun
teers.
HOLLAND, . A surveyor. By a communication laid
before the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in July, 1775,
it appears that he had loaned to Alexander Shepard, junior,
(who also was a surveyor) a plan or survey of Maine, which
Shepard disliked to return, fearing that it might be used in a
manner prejudicial to the Whig cause, as Holland was an
adherent of the crown, and then in New Jersey. Congress
considered the matter, and by resolve, recommended to Shepard
to retain Holland's plan, and another which he himself had
364 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
made by order of the king's surveyor general, until leave
should be granted for other disposition of them. There were
a number of surveyors of the name of Holland, at the revolu
tionary period. Major Samuel Holland was the royal survey
or general; this gentleman's eldest and only surviving son,
John Frederick Holland, Esquire, who was barrack-master,
and ordnance storekeeper, at Prince Edward's Island, died at
Charlottetown, in that Colony, in 1845, at an old age. Major
Holland's plans were used by Des Barres, in compiling his
celebrated charts of the American coast. It may be added,
that a Loyalist of the name of Samuel Holland was proscribed
and banished under the act of New Hampshire.
HOLMES, ABSALOM. Residence unknown. Went to St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, and was a grantee of that city.
HOLMES, BENJAMIN M. Distiller, of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775 ; went to Halifax
in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
HOLMES, JAMES. Of South Carolina. An estate belonging
to him, which had been confiscated by the law of that State,
during the war, was, by an act of August 15, 1783, vested in
certain persons in trust, for the benefit of a public school. Mr.
Holmes, after the surrender of Charleston, (1780) had accept
ed a commission under the crown.
HOLMES, JOEL. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Ar> Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. Was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated.
HOLT, MOSES. Was a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Loyal
ists, and quartermaster of the corps.
HOLYOKE, EDWARD AUGUSTUS. Of Salem, Massachusetts.
Son of President Holyoke, of Harvard University ; was born
August 13, 1728, and graduated in 1746. His first wife was
a daughter of Colonel Benjamin Pickman, of Salem ; his
second, of Nathaniel Viall, of Boston. He was an Addresser
of Hutchinson, on his departure, and of Gage, on his arrival;
and for addressing the first, became a Recanter. He committed
himself no more, and was allowed to remain in the country
without molestation. He died at Salem, March 31, 1829. aged
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 365
one hundred years; having practised medicine for seventy-
nine years. On the day he was a century old, his professional
brethren of Boston and Salem, to the number of about fifty,
gave him a public dinner.
HOMER, JOSEPH. In 1776 he accompanied the royal army
from Boston to Halifax ; and immediately fixing his abode in
Barrington, Nova Scotia, lived there ever after. He held the
offices of Collector of his Majesty's Customs, and of Collector
of Colonial Duties ; and was a magistrate. He died in 1837, at
the age of eighty-one.
HOOGLAND. Elbert, Cornelius, Teunis, William, and Corne
lius junior, of Queen's County, New York, acknowledged
allegiance, October, 1776. Captain B. Hoogland, of that
County, was an Addresser of Governor Robertson in 1780.
HOOPER, JACOB. Embarked at Boston for Halifax, with the
British army, in 1776.
HOOPER, JOSEPH. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Was a
graduate of Harvard University. In 1774 he was an Ad
dresser of Hutchinson, and in 1775 abandoned home for Eng
land, where he resided. A refugee in England; he was a
manufacturer of paper ; and died there, in 1812. Several per
sons of Marblehead of the name of Hooper were Addressers of
Hutchinson. To wit : Robert, Robert junior, Robert the third,
and Sweet. Robert Hooper, Esquire, died in that town, in
1814, aged seventy- two.
HOOPER, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
HOOPER, WILLIAM. Of Boston. He was settled first as a
Congregational minister of the West Church ; but succeeded
Mr. Davenport as rector of Trinity Church in 1747. A num
ber of Congregational clergymen became Episcopalians about
the same time. He was a man of eloquence and talents. He
died in 1767. The Reverend Doctor Walter was his suc
cessor. His son, William, graduated at Harvard University
in 1760, studied law with James Otis, emigrated to North
Carolina about the time of the Stamp Act troubles, and became
a member of Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of
31*
366 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Independence. Mr. Jefferson has left behind him the recorded
opinion, distinctly and pointedly expressed, that in the Con
gress of 1776 he was a rank Tory. Possibly it was so; but
most men — very likely — will regard William Hooper the
younger, as of a very different political school. The fact, that
he was a signer, affords very questionable proof of his attach
ment to the British crown, at the least. And some persons —
not improbably — will be ready to ask, " If the signers of the
Declaration of Independence were Tories, where shall we
look for the Whigs?"
HOPTON, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was also a Peti
tioner to be armed on the side of the crown. He was ban
ished. In 1782 his property was confiscated. Prior to the
Revolution he was a merchant. At the evacuation of Charles
ton he left the country. The British government made him a
partial allowance for his losses. He died in 1831.
HORN, HENRY. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with the
British army, for Halifax.
HORNER, WILLIAM. Of Virginia. Was in London, July, of
1779, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern.
HORSEMANDER, DANIEL. Of New York. He was recorder of
the city; and, subsequently, President of the Council, and
Chief Justice of the Colony. In 1773, at which time he held
the last named office, he was appointed a commissioner under
the great seal of England, to inquire into the affair of burning
the king's ship Gaspee, by a party of Whigs of Rhode Island,
the previous year. In 1776, he, with Oliver De Lancey, and
nine hundred and forty-six others of the city and county of
New York, were Addressers of Lord Howe ; and on the same
day (October 16,) he addressed Governor Try on in behalf of
the same persons. He died in 1778, and was buried in
Trinity church-yard. His history of the Negro Plot, or New
York Conspiracy, was republished in 1810. Of the conspira
tors of whom this publication treats, fourteen were burnt, and
eighteen were hanged. Judge Horsemander was engaged in
the public affairs of New York for a period of thirty years.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 367
HORSFIELD, THOMAS. In July, 1783, he was at New York,
and one of the fifty-five petitioners. See Abijah Willard. He
went to St. John, New Brunswick, soon after, and was one of
the grantees of that city. In New Brunswick he was a mag
istrate. He died at St. John, 1819, aged seventy-nine. Ann,
his wife, died in 1815, at the age of seventy-two. Mr. Hors-
field left a large and valuable estate. His son James was also
a Loyalist, accompanied him to New Brunswick, and received
a grant of land.
HORTON, JONATHAN P. A magistrate, of Westchester County,
New York. A Protester at White Plains.
HORTON, NATHAN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
HORRY, DANIEL. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent. In 1774, after the port of
Boston was shut by act of Parliament, Daniel Horry was a
member of the committee of the city of Charleston, to receive
donations for the sufferers in that town.
HOUGH, BENJAMIN. A magistrate of the New Hampshire
Grants, now Vermont. He was seized, beaten, stripped of his
property, driven from his family, and compelled to take refuge
in New York. Furnished with a document of which the
following is a copy, he began his sad journey.
" Sunderland, 30 Jan. 1775.
" This may certify the inhabitants of New Hampshire
Grants, that Benjamin Hough has this day received a full
punishment for his crimes committed heretofore against this
country, and our inhabitants are ordered to give him, the said
Hough, a free and unmolested passage toward the city of
New York, or to the westward of our Grants, he behaving as
becometh. Given under hands the day and date aforesaid."
" ETHAN ALLEN.
«SETH WARNER."
When Ethan Allen was both judge and executive officer,
there can be no doubt of the sufficiency of punishment.
368 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Hough, it seems, was tied to a tree and received two hundred
lashes, and he was told that if he returned from his banish
ment, he should receive five hundred lashes more. Among
the grave offences charged against him was, that he had in
formed the Governor of New York, of the mobbing and injury
of Benjamin Spencer, Esquire, a gentleman of his own politi
cal sentiments.
HOUGHTON, NAHUM. Of Massachusetts. The Committee of
Lancaster published him July 17, 1775, as being " an un
wearied pedlar of that baneful herb, Tea," and as otherwise
odious; and they cautioned "all friends to the community to
entirely shun his company, and have no manner of dealings
or connections with him, except acts of common humanity."
HOUSE, JOSEPH. Of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Went to
Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
HOUSEAL, MICHAEL. In 1782 he was a captain of infantry
in the American Legion under Arnold.
HOUSSACKER, COLONEL . He was originally a Whig, and
was commissioned a major in Wayne's command ; but went
over to the enemy. It is said of him, that he was " a soldier
of fortune, and a true mercenary."
HOUSTON, JAMES. Of North Carolina. On the passage of
the Stamp Act, he was appointed Stamp Master of that
Colony. On the arrival of the ship with the Stamped Paper,
he was an inmate of Governor Tryon's house. A large mob
repaired to the Governor's residence, and demanded that
Houston should come to the door; but Tryon "refused to
allow the claims of such a body to an audience," and persisted
in his course, until the threat of the multitude to fire his
dwelling was on the point of being executed. Houston was
led out finally, and conducted to the market place, where he
took an oath never to perform the duties of his office.
HOUSTOUN, SIR PATRICK. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his
estate was amerced twelve per cent.
HOWARD, JOHN. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
Orange Rangers. For some part of the contest, he was under
command of Tarleton, and had much difficulty with that
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 369
officer. He and Colonel Beverley Robinson were intimate. He
settled in New Brunswick, and was a magistrate many years.
He died at Hampton, 1824, aged eighty-two.
HOWARD, MARTIN. Of North Carolina. He removed to that
Colony from Rhode Island. During the Stamp Act excite
ment, in 1765, his house at Newport was destroyed, and his
person injured. He fled to North Carolina, where he was
appointed a member of the Council, and Chief Justice. His
reputation does not appear to have been good ; nor does it
seem, that the calm and moderate respected him; while from
others, he sometimes received abuse, and even bodily harm.
Careful pens speak of his profligate character, and of his cor
rupt and wicked designs ; and aver, that the members of the
Assembly hated him.
In the great riot at Hillsborough in 1770, Judge Howard
was driven from the Bench, but the mob respected his asso
ciate, Judge Moore. In 1774 Howard's judicial functions
ceased in consequence of the tumults and disorders of the
times ; and the suspension from office of one who "was noto
riously destitute not only of the common virtues of humanity,
but of all sympathy whatever with the community in which
he lived," was a matter of much joy. In 1775 he was pres
ent in Council, and expressed the highest detestation of un
lawful meetings, and advised Governor Martin to inhibit and
forbid the assembling of the Whig Convention appointed at
Newbern. In July, 1777, he embarked with his family for
a northern port, and thence, I suppose, went to England in
1778. A person of this name died in exile during the Revolu
tion, and from the manner in which several persons of New
England mentioned his decease, I incline to believe that
he was the subject of this notice. The circumstance that
Judge Howard's name does not appear in the banishment and
confiscation act of North Carolina in 1779, favors this sup
position ; since, one so exceptionable, if then alive, could
hardly have escaped.
HOWE, CALEB. In 1782 he was an officer of infantry in the
Queen's Rangers.
370 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
HOWE, JOHN. Of Boston. He was proscribed and banished.
He was a native of that town, and at the Revolutionary era
conducted, in connexion with Mrs. Draper, the Massachusetts
Gazette and Boston News Letter. Leaving Boston at the
evacuation in 1776, he went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where
he established a newspaper, and was king's printer. He was
much respected and beloved, and died at Halifax, 1835, in
his eighty-second year, greatly lamented. His widow, Mary,
deceased at the same city in 1837, aged seventy-four. His
family are distinguished. William Howe, assistant commis
sary general, who died at Halifax, January, 1843, aged fifty-
seven ; John Howe, queen's printer, and deputy postmaster-
general, who died at the same place the same year ; and David
Howe, who published a paper at St. Andrew, New Brunswick,
some twenty years ago, were his sons. Of the same relation,
is the Honorable Joseph Howe, late of his Majesty's Council,
and Collector of Excise at Halifax ; a politician of ready and
able powers, and the present leader of the Liberal party of
Nova Scotia. John Howe, Esquire, the deputy postmaster-
general of New Brunswick, is a grandson.
HOWELL, ROBERT. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of
the Declaration in 1775.
HOVENDON, MOORE. Was a lieutenant of cavalry in the Brit
ish Legion.
HOVENDON, RICHARD. Was a captain of cavalry in the Brit
ish Legion.
HOYT, ISRAEL. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Died in
Kingston, in King's County, New Brunswick, in 1803, aged
sixty-one.
HOYT, JAMES. Of Fairfield, County, Connecticut. Was a
member of the Association in 1775 ; went to St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783, and became a merchant. He was a mem
ber of the Loyal Artillery in 1795, and died in King's County,
New Brunswick, in 1803.
HOYT, JOSEPH. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Settled
at St. John, but returned to the United States about the year
1800.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 371
HOYT, MONSON. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the Prince
of Wales' s American Volunteers, and quartermaster of the
corps. He retired on half-pay ; settled in New Brunswick ;
engaged in commercial business, and was a partner with Gen
eral Arnold at St. John. He publicly accused Arnold of his
burning his warehouse ; and was sued by the Traitor for defa
mation. The jury gave damages of two shillings and sixpence
New Brunswick currency (just fifty cents). The fate of Lieu
tenant Hoyt is doubtful.
HOYT, STEPHEN. In 1782 he was a captain in the Prince of
Wales's American Volunteers. He retired on half-pay, and
settled in New Brunswick.
HUBBARD, DANIEL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year. In
1775 he was an Addresser of Gage.
HUBBARD, ISAAC. He settled in New Brunswick, and at his
decease, was the senior magistrate of the County of Sunbury.
He died at Burton, 1834, aged eighty-six.
HUBBARD, NATHANIEL. Went to St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783, and was a grantee of that city. He removed to the
parish of Burton, County of Sunbury, where he was a magis
trate, and where he died in 1824, aged seventy-eight.
HUBBARD, WILLIAM. At the peace he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city. He settled in
Sunbury County, and was Register of Deeds and Wills ;
Deputy Surrogate ; member of the House of Assembly ; and
Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He died in that
County in 1813.
HUBBEL, NATHAN. I suppose he belonged to Connecticut.
At the peace, a large part of the town of Guysborough, Nova
Scotia, was granted to him and two hundred and seventy-
eight others, who, during the war, had been connected with
the civil department of the royal army and navy.
HUBERT, MICHAEL. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
HUCK, CHRISTIAN. A lawyer, of Philadelphia. He aban
doned that city and went within the British lines at New
372 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
York. In the course of the war, he joined Tarleton at the
South, and was a captain of dragoons. He was killed in an
affray with a party he was sent to disperse. The captain
was "notorious for his cruelties and violence."
HUGGEFORD, PETER. Of Wcstchester County, New York.
A Protester at White Plains.
HUGGEFORD, WILLIAM L. Was a lieutenant in the Loyal
American Regiment.
HUGHES, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. On the death of James
Nevin, Esquire, Collector of the Customs at Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, in 1769, he succeeded to the office. In common
with officers of the Customs of other ports, he encountered
difficulties in executing the duties of his station ; and property
which he seized, was rescued by disguised men armed with
clubs. He returned to Philadelphia in 1772.
HUGHES, PETER. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year.
HUGHES, SAMUEL. Of Boston. He was one of the fifty-
eight Boston memorialists in 1760, but followed the royal
army to Halifax in 1776. In 1778 he was proscribed and
banished. In 1784, administration was granted John Hazen,
Esquire, on the estate of a Loyalist of this name, who died
on the river St. John, New Brunswick.
HUGHES, URIAH, Junior. Of the township of Buckingham,
Pennsylvania. In 1778, the Council ordered, that failing to
appear and be tried for treason, he should stand attainted.
HULL, SETH. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of the
Association.
HULTON, HENRY. Of Boston. Was proscribed and banished
in 1778 ; and included in the conspiracy act of 1779. He was
one of the four commissioners of the Customs; all of whom
suffered banishment and confiscation of estate. He accom
panied the British army to Halifax, and embarked for Eng
land with his family, in July, 1776, in the ship Aston Hall.
HUMBERT, STEPHEN. He was born in New Jersey. During
the war he was in the city of New York. At the peace he
went to St. John, New Brunswick, and was a grantee of that
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 373
city. He has been a member of the Assembly, alderman of
St. John, and captain in the militia. In the war of 1812 he
was in commission in the preventive service. He now (1846)
resides at St. John, and is attached to the Colonial treasury
department.
HUME, JOHN. Attorney-general, of Georgia. He left America
during or at the close of the war.
HUME, JOHN. Died in King's County, New Brunswick, in
the year 1805.
HUME, JOSEPH. Of Georgia. Was in England, July, 1779.
HUMPHREYS, JAMES, Junior. Was the son of a conveyancer,
and was educated at the college in Philadelphia. He com
menced the study of medicine, but disliking the profession,
learned the art of printing; and in January of 1775, com
menced the publication of a newspaper called the Pennsyl
vania Ledger, which, it was said, was under the influence of
the friends of the British government. He was, in conse
quence, in the hands of the people several times ; but he had
good friends among the Whigs, of whom the celebrated Ritten-
house was one. Discontinuing his paper, he retired from
Philadelphia to the country, where he remained until the
British army approached the city, when he returned to it, and
continued under royal protection there, and at New York,
throughout the war. After the peace he went to England,
thence to Shelburne, Nova Scotia ; but returned to Philadel
phia in 1797, opened a printing house, and was engaged in
book printing until his death in February, 1810.
HUMPHRIES, NICHOLAS. He was an ensign in the New York
Volunteers.
HUMPHRIES, NICHOLAS. A physician. He was a surgeon in
the New Jersey Volunteers ; settled in New Brunswick, and
died at Sugar Island in the year 1822.
HUNKIN, MATTHIAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
HUNLOCK, THOMAS. In 1782 he was a captain in the Second
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He retired on half-pay,
32
374 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and was in New Brunswick after the war ; but left the
Colony, and — it is believed — returned to the United States.
HUNT, BENJAMIN. Residence unknown. In 1782 he was a
lieutenant of cavalry in the British Legion.
HUNT, COSBY. Of New York. In 1782 he was a lieutenant
in the New York Volunteers, and adjutant of the corps. He
settled in New Brunswick, and received half-pay. He was
drowned in the river St. John previous to the year 1805.
HUNT, ISAAC. Of Philadelphia. A mob seized him and
carted him through the streets. He escaped ill usage by com
mending the multitude for their forbearance and civility. In
an hour or two he was returned unharmed to his dwelling.
He soon after went to the West Indies, where he took church
orders. Subsequently he removed to England, and was tutor
in the family of the Duke of Chandos. His wife was Mary,
daughter of Stephen She well, merchant of Philadelphia, whose
sister was the wife of Benjamin West. Mr. Hunt was the
father of Leigh Hunt, one of the most eminent of the literary
men of England at the present time.
HUNT, JAMES. Residence unknown. In 1782 he was a
lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Battalion.
HUNT, JOHN, the 3d. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of
Gage in 1775.
HUNT, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. In 1777 he was ordered
to be sent prisoner to Virginia, for disaffection to the Whig
cause.
HUNT, JOHN. Residence unknown. (Probably one of the
above,) was a lieutenant under Colonel Robinson in the
Guides and Pioneers.
HUNT. John, Esquire, Phineas, Enoch, Benjamin, and El-
nathan ; all of Westchester County, New York. Were Pro
testers at White Plains.
HUNTER, JOHN. Of Virginia. Went to England previous to
July, 1779.
HUNTER, WILLIAM. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774. In 1775 he was an Addresser of Gage.
HUNTER, WILLIAM. Of Virginia. His father, whose name
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 375
was William, was a native of Virginia, and was a printer at
Williamsburg, to the house of Burgesses ; and having a rela
tive who was pay-master to the king's troops in America,
obtained the appointment of deputy postmaster-general for
the Colonies under Franklin, which office he held until his
death, in 1761. The subject of this notice attained to his
majority about the time the Revolution commenced, and being
a Loyalist, attached himself to the British standard, and
eventually left the country.
HUNTINGTON, MINER. A magistrate ; died at Yarmouth,
Nova Scotia, in 1839, aged seventy-six.
HUNTY, LAURENCE DE LA. Was a captain in the Royal Gar
rison Battalion.
KURD, NATHANIEL. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774.
HURLSTON, RICHARD. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with
the British army, for Halifax.
HUSBAND, ANDREW. Was an ensign in the Guides and
Pioneers.
HUSTICE, JOHN, TIMOTHY, and JABEZ. Were grantees of St.
John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
HUTCHINGS. Samuel, Thomas, William, and Jonathan, of
Queen's County, New York, acknowledged allegiance, Octo
ber, 1776. John Hutchins, of the same County, signed a
Declaration of loyalty in 1775.
HUTCHTNS, WILLIAM. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774.
HUTCHINSON, EDWARD. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage
in 1775.
HUTCHINSON, ELIAKIM. Of Boston. He graduated at Har
vard University in 1730 ; and became a member of the Coun
cil, and the Judge of a Court. He died in 1775.
HUTCHINSON, ELISHA. Of Massachusetts. Brother and com
mercial partner of Thomas Hutchinson, junior. He graduated
at Harvard University in 1762. He was proscribed and ban
ished. He died in England in 1824, aged eighty. His wife
Mary, who was the eldest daughter of Colonel George Watson,
376 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of Plymouth, Massachusetts, died at Birmingham, England,
in 1803.
HUTCHINSON, FOSTER. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1743. Raised to the bench of the
Supreme Court, he was one of the last of the royal Judges of
that Colony. His name appears among the Mandamus Coun
cillors, among those who were proscribed and banished, and
among those whose estates were confiscated. He went to
Halifax in 1776. Governor Hutchinson was his brother. He
died in Nova Scotia in 1799. His son Foster, an assistant
Judge of the Supreme Court of that Colony, died in 1815 ; and
his daughter Abigail deceased at Halifax, July, 1843, aged
seventy-four.
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS. Of Massachusetts. His father was
Honorable Thomas Hutchinson. a merchant, and member of
the Council, who died in 1739. The subject of this notice
was born in 1711, and graduated at Harvard University in
1727, and applied himself to commerce. Unsuccessful as a
merchant, he devoted himself to politics, and rose to the high
est distinction, having been a member of the House of Repre
sentatives, and Speaker of that body ; Judge of Probate ;
member of the Council ; Lieutenant Governor ; Judge of the
Supreme Court; and Governor. The regularity of his life,
his sympathy for the distressed, his affability, his integrity, his
industry, his talents for business and the administration of
affairs, his fluency and grace as a public speaker, his com
mand of temper and courteousness under provocation ; united
to form a rare man, and to give him a rare influence. A Judge
of the highest Judicial Court, a member of the Council, and
Lieutenant Governor at the same time, — he seems to have per
formed the duties of these incompatible offices, to the satisfac
tion of the community. And the fact, that unlike most of the
crown officers, he was a native of Massachusetts, and not of
the Episcopal communion, added to his popularity.
The Revolution produced a fearful change of sentiment, and
he became an exile ; was attainted, and lost his property by
confiscation. His political ruin gave him inconceivable an-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 377
guish, and prematurely closed his life. There were tales,
indeed, that his death was produced by his own act ; but this
is not probable. After his retirement to England, a baronetcy
was offered him, but he declined it. He died in 1780, aged
sixty-nine, and was buried at Croydon, England. It may not
be possible to form a correct opinion of the character and mo
tives of action of Governor Hutchinson. But I cannot think,
that his contemporaries among the Whigs did him exact jus
tice. The spontaneous and universal respect in which he was
held by all parties, previous to the revolutionary controversy,
the long, faithful, and highly valuable services which he ren
dered his native Colony, surely entitled him to honorable men
tion then, and to our regard now. Had he lived at any other
period, his claim to be included among the worthies of Massa
chusetts, would not, probably, be doubted. It is to be deeply
lamented, that, being the son of a merchant, himself bred a
merchant, and his own sons merchants, he did not see, or
would not see, that if the navigation acts and laws of trade
were enforced, the commerce of the Colonies would be ruined
at a blow. His position enabled him to have prevented the
enforcement of the hated measures of commercial restriction,
and he is hardly to be held excused for using his influence on
the adverse side. As a historian, no man was more familiar
with the opposition to these laws when Randolph and Andros,
a century before, attempted to fasten them upon New England ;
and he knew, that all that a single Colony could do, to shake off
the royal authority, was done by Massachusetts, in the time of
these hated emissaries of the British crown. Could he have
thought that the opposition of his countrymen would be less,
in his own time, when they were required to sacrifice an ex
tensive and rich commerce, — a commerce unlawful by the
statute book, but yet permitted, for a long course of years, by
the officers of the Customs ? It does not appear probable.
And yet, how is his pertinacious adherence to the measures of
the ministry to be accounted for ? Did he think the measures
just? The Whigs of his generation almost unanimously
believed, that he knew that the servants of the king were in
32*
378 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the wrong, but that his ambition, and full confidence that he
espoused the winning side, caused his assent to, and support
of, their acts. It may be so. His private virtues, his historical
labors, his high station, his commanding influence, his sorrows,
have an interest which none who are acquainted with his life
can fail to feel. There is no Loyalist of the Revolution whose
character I have studied so much, nor for whom my sympa
thies have been oftener moved. But I have never been able to
satisfy myself, whether he owed his fall to the love of place
and power, or to the convictions of his conscience. The third
volume of his history of Massachusetts, which embraces his
own career, is, if the circumstances under which it was writ
ten are considered, a work of singular moderation and fairness;
and its statements are to be received, probably, with quite as
much respect as the records of any gentleman who writes of
his own times, his own deeds, and his own enemies. I can
never cease to regret that Governor Hutchinson countenanced
the revival of the long obsolete statutory provisions, affecting
the navigation and maritime interests of his country. I forget,
in his melancholy end, all else.
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS, Junior. Of Massachusetts. Son of
Governor Hutchinson. He was a merchant of Boston, and a
third part of the tea destroyed there, was consigned to him and
his brother Elisha. He was a Mandamus Councillor, and an
Addresser of Gage; and was proscribed and banished. He
went to England, and died there in 1811, aged eighty-one.
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS. Of New Britain, Pennsylvania. Was
ordered by the Council, in 1778, to surrender himself, or to
stand attainted. Marmaduke and Isaac Hutchinson, of New
Britain, were included in the same proclamation.
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. A person of this
name was member of a committee of the Provincial Congress
in 1775.
HUTCHINSON, WILLIAM. Of Massachusetts. He graduated
at Harvard University in 1762. In 1775 he went to England,
and subsequently held an office in the Bahamas. He died in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 379
1791 in Europe. A son, it is believed, of Honorable Foster
Hutchinson.
HUTCHINSON, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was captain lieutenant
of the First Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He retired on
half-pay, and lived in New Brunswick ; but removed to Upper
Canada, where he died.
HUTTON, WILLIAM. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1799, aged forty-two.
HYATT, LIEUTENANT THOMAS. Of Westchester County, New
York. A Protester at White Plains.
HYBART, JOHN. A lieutenant of the King's Rangers, Car
olina.
HYSLOP, JOHN. A lieutenant in the Third Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers, and adjutant of the corps.
HYSON, MICHAEL. Of Pennsylvania. He went to Nova
Scotia during hostilities. He married when upwards of a
hundred years old. He died at' Ship Harbor, Nova Scotia, in
1833, aged one hundred and three. His third wife survived
him, as also numerous descendants of the second, third, and
fourth generations from him.
IMLAY, WILLIAM. Of New York. In 1777 he was in Penn
sylvania, and was sent prisoner to Virginia by the Whig au
thorities.
INGERSOLL, DAVID. Of Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
His name appears among the barristers and attorn ies who ad
dressed Hutchinson in 1774. He was proscribed and banished
in 1778. He was in England in 1779, and in 1783. During the
troubles which preceded the shedding of blood, he was seized
by a mob, carried to Connecticut, and imprisoned; while on
a second outbreak of the popular displeasure against him, his
house was assailed, he was driven from it, and his enclosures
were laid waste.
INGERSOLL, JARED. Of Connecticut. He was born in Mil-
ford, Connecticut, in 1722. In 1742 he graduated at Yale
College. He settled in New Haven, and engaged in the prac
tice of the law. In 1757 he was agent of the Colony in Eng-
380 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
land. In 1765 he received the appointment of Stamp-distrib
utor for his native Colony, and arrived at Boston on his way
to enter upon the duties of the office. While at Boston, many
attentions were paid to him; and on his departure, Mr Oliver,
who had received the same appointment for Massachusetts,
accompanied him out of town. This act occasioned murmur
ing among the people ; an inflammatory article appeared in the
next Boston Gazette ; labels were posted on the Liberty Tree ;
and, finally, a mob destroyed Oliver's building designed for his
stamp-office.
In Connecticut, matters reached the same extremity; and it
was threatened before his arrival there, that he should be hung
on the first tree after he entered the Colony. Though this
threat was not executed, effigies of his person were made in
several places, tried in form, and condemned to be burned.
Mr. Ingersoll formally resigned his office at New Haven in
August, 1765 : but his resignation was not deemed satisfactory
to the people of another section ; and a large body set out for
that town with a determination to compel a more explicit de
claration of his intentions. They met him at Weathersfield,
where they obtained the required satisfaction; and extorted
from him the cry three times, " Liberty and Property." Hun
dreds then escorted him to Hartford. About the year 1770 he
was commissioned Judge of Vice Admiralty for the Colonies
of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
Virginia, and removed to Philadelphia. The Revolution sus
pended his official functions, and he returned to Connecticut.
He died at New Haven, 1781, at the age of fifty-nine. His
son Jared, a gentleman of distinguished worth and talents,
held various public stations, and was a candidate for the Vice-
presidency of the United States in 1812.
INGLEBY. THOMAS. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1813, aged fifty-four. Eliza, his wife, died at the same place,
1811, at the age of fifty-seven.
INGLIS, ALEXANDER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; also a Petitioner to be
armed on the side of the crown. He was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 381
INGLIS, CHARLES, D. D. Of New York. He was rector of
Trinity Church, New York, from 1777 to 1783. After Gallo
way, the great Pennsylvania Loyalist, went to England, Doc
tor Inglis was a correspondent, and his letters evince no little
harshness towards the fomenters of the rebellion. He went to
Nova Scotia at the peace, and was appointed Lord Bishop of
that Colony. In 1809 he became a member of the Council.
He was the first Protestant Bishop of any British Colonial
possession in either hemisphere. He died in 1816, aged eighty-
two, in the fifty-eighth year of his ministry, and the twenty-
ninth of his consecration. His name, and that of his wife
Margaret, occurs in the confiscation act of New York. Anne,
his daughter, married the Reverend George Pidgeon, and died
at Halifax in 1^27, aged fifty-one. His son, the Right Rever
end Lord John Inglis, is now (184 1) Bishop of Nova Scotia,
and a member of the Council ; having received both honors in
1825. Within his diocese, Lord John Inglis, in 1826, con
firmed four thousand three hundred and sixty-seven persons,
and consecrated forty-four churches.
INGRAM, JAMES. Of Virginia. Went to England, and was
in London. July, 1779.
INMAN, GEORGE. Of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1772; and became an officer in
the British army. He died in 1789.
INMAN, JOHN. Of Boston. A Protester against the Whigs in
1774. In 1775 he was an Addresser of Gage. In 1776 he
accompanied the royal army to Halifax.
INMAN, RALPH. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage in 1775.
IRELAND, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with the
British army, for Halifax.
IRELAND, JOHN. Of Long Island, New York. In 1777 he
was taken in arms at Lloyd's Neck, and retained a prisoner ;
but in the spring of 1778 he was allowed to return home to
procure clothing and other necessaries, on condition that he
should deliver himself to his captors in thirty days.
IRVING, ALEXANDER. Of South Carolina. Went to England
previous to July, 1779.
382 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
IRVING, GEORGE. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1771, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year.
IVES, DAVID. Of Rhode Island. I suppose he was a cap
tain in a corps called the Associated Loyalists. At the peace
he went to St. John, New Brunswick, and was a grantee of
that city.
IVES, JOHN. Of Rhode Island. Went to New Brunswick,
and was appointed master carpenter of ordnance. He died at
St. John in 1804, aged fifty-six.
JACKSON, PETER. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Was a
member of the Association at Reading.
JACKSON. Nineteen persons of this name of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit:
Richard, Thomas, Samuel, Thomas, Jacob, David, Robert,
John junior, Robert junior, Parmenas, John, Benjamin, Rich
ard junior, Obadiah, John, Robert, Samuel the 3d, Isaac, and
Townsend. In 1780, Reuben Jackson of Queen's County was
in arms against the Whigs.
JACKSON, DAVID. Of North Carolina. A captain in a Loyal
ist corps ; was taken prisoner by Colonel Caswell in 1776.
JACKSON, HENRY and WILLIAM. Residence unknown. Henry
was a lieutenant in De Lancey's Third Battalion ; and William
was adjutant of the King's Orange Rangers. Both probably
belonged to Queen's County, New York.
JACKSON, RICHARD. Of Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
Of this man, there is a singular but well-authenticated story.
Having adhered to the crown from a conviction of duty, he
felt bound to aid his sovereign in suppressing the rebellion,
by all means in his power. When, therefore, the news reached
him, in 1777, that Colonel Baum was advancing with a body
of troops towards Bennington, he prepared to join him. In
the battle of Hoosac — erroneously called the battle of Ben
nington — he was taken prisoner, and sent to Great Barring-
ton, then the shire town of Berkshire ; and by General Fellows,
the sheriff, committed to prison. The county jail was in so
ruinous a condition, that Jackson could easily escape; but of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 383
this he had no intention. He felt that he had acted right, and
determined to abide the consequences. After quietly remain
ing in jail a few days, he told General Fellows, that he was
losing his time, earned nothing, and wished permission to go
out to work in the day time, and promised to return at evening
and be confined for the night. His great simplicity and hon
esty of character, led the sheriff to confide in his word. Jack
son accordingly went out to labor almost every week-day, for
some months. In May of 1778, he was to be tried at Spring
field for high treason, and General Fellows made the necessary
preparations to conduct him to that town in person. But
Jackson said, "he could go alone quite as well," and thus
save the sheriff both inconvenience and expense. Again,
General Fellows confided in his integrity ; and he commenced
his journey. In the woods of Tyringham, he met the Hon
orable T. Edwards, who asked him the object of his travel.
Jackson answered, that he "was going to Springfield, to be
tried for his life." To Springfield he did go, was tried for his
life, found guilty, and condemned to die. Application was,
however, made to the executive authority of the State to par
don him. But it was reasoned by the members of the Board,
that the facts against Jackson were clear and incontestable,
that his crime was unquestionably high treason, and that, if
he were pardoned, all others who might commit the same
crime ought to meet with the same clemency. But Mr. Ed
wards, who was a member of the Board, told the story of
meeting Jackson, with great particularity, yet without embel
lishment. The simple truth moved the hearts of his associ
ates, and their feelings, as men, prevailed against reasons of
State policy. Jackson was pardoned, and returned to his
family.
JACKSON, WILLIAM. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775 ; was proscribed and
banished in 1778. He went to England, where he died in
1810, at the age of seventy-nine.
JAFFREY, GEORGE. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Grad
uated at Harvard University in 1736. He became a merchant.
384 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
In 1744 he was appointed Clerk of the Superior Court of New
Hampshire, and held that office twenty-two years. In 1 766
he was admitted one of his Majesty's Council ; and soon after,
received the post of Treasurer of the Province. He possessed
a large estate, and was one of the original purchasers of Ma
son's patent. He was molested on account of his political
opinions several times. When removed by the Whigs from the
office of Treasurer, he paid over to his successor £1516.4.8,
being the exact balance of public monies in his hands.
Though opposed for his attachment to the crown, he left be
hind him an unsullied reputation for strict integrity, punc
tuality iu his dealings, and correctness of manners. He died
at Portsmouth in 1802, aged eighty-six years.
JAMES, EDWARD. Was a lieutenant in the King's Orange
Rangers.
JAMES, JACOB. Was a captain of cavalry in the British Le
gion.
JARVIS, MUNSON. Of Connecticut. He was born in Nor-
walk, in 1742. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783, and was a grantee of that city. In 1792 he was a
member of the vestry of the Episcopal church. At a later
time, he was a member of the House of Assembly. He died
at St. John, 1825, at the age of eighty-three. His son, the
Honorable Edward James Jar vis, was formerly a member of
the Council of New Brunswick, and is the present Chief Jus
tice of the Colony of Prince Edward's Island.
JARVIS, ROBERT. Mariner, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. He went to Hal
ifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778. He
was in London, July, 1779, a Loyalist Addresser.
JARVIS, STEPHEN. In 1782 he 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 Reverend Doctor Phillips, 1840,
aged eighty -four. During his service in the Revolution he
was in several actions.
JARVIS, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was an officer of cavalry in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 385
the Queen's Rangers. At the peace he settled in Upper Can
ada, and became Secretary of the Colony. His widow, Han
nah, a daughter of Reverend Doctor Peters, of Hebron, Con
necticut, died at Queenston, Upper Canada, 1845, aged eighty-
three.
JARVIS. Besides the above, John, of Boston, was a Protester
in 1774. Nathaniel, and Samuel (residence unknown) were
grantees of St. John, New Brunswick, 1783; and John, settled
in that colony the same year, and died in Portland, New
Brunswick, 1845, aged ninety-three.
JAUNCEY, JAMES. Of New York. He, like Low and Sher-
brook, was an associate with Jay, on the Committee of Cor
respondence of Fifty, and probably, at the outset, was inclined
to take the side of the Whigs. His property was confiscated.
In 1775 he was a member of the House of Assembly, and one
of the fourteen of that body who, in the recess, addressed
General Gage, at Boston, on the subject of "the unhappy
contest." At this period he held under the crown the office of
Master of the Rolls.
JAYNE, WILLIAM, Junior. Of Queen's County, New York.
In July, 1780, he was captured by a party of Whigs, and car
ried to Connecticut. A Whig of the name of William Phillips
had been taken prisoner at Smithtown previously ; and the
object in seizing Jayne appears to have been to exchange him
for Phillips.
JEFFREY, PATRICK. Of Boston. Went to England. Mary,
his wife, died in Bath, England, in 1808.
JEFFRIES, JOHN. Of Boston. Proscribed and banished. He
was born at Boston in 1744, and graduated at Harvard Uni
versity in 1763 ; and having pursued his medical studies with
Doctor Lloyd, of that town, and attended the medical schools
of England, commenced practice. From 1771 to 1774 he was
surgeon of a British ship of the line in Boston harbor. After
the battle of Bunker's Hill, he assisted in dressing the wounded
of the royal army. At the evacuation he embarked with the
troops and went to Halifax, and was appointed chief of the
surgical staff of Nova Scotia. In 1779 he went to England,
33
386 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and returning to America, held a high professional employ
ment to the British forces at Charleston and New York. In
1780 he resigned, and going to England again, commenced
practice in London. In 1785, he crossed the British Channel
in a balloon. Returning once more to his native land, he re
sumed his professional career at Boston, and died there,
September, 1819, aged seventy-five.
JENKINS, JOHN. In 1782 he was chaplain of the South Caro
lina Royalists.
JENKINS, JOHN. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the Second
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He settled in New
Brunswick in 1783, and was a grantee of the city of St. John.
He received half-pay.
JENKINS, JOSEPH. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent. In the act he is styled Colonel.
JENKINS, S. H. Was banished and attainted, and his estate
confiscated. In 1794, he represented to the British govern
ment, in a memorial dated at London, that at the time of his
banishment, several large debts were due to him in America,
which were still unpaid, though the debtors were rich.
JENKINS, SAMUEL HUNT. Of Georgia. Went to England,
and was in London in 1779.
JENKINSON, DANIEL. Died at Kingston, New Brunswick, in
1827, aged seventy-three.
JENNINGS, JOHN. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. In 1778 he
was arrested and imprisoned for his disaffection to the popular
cause. A Loyalist of this name died at Grand Lake, New
Brunswick, in 1839, at the great age of one hundred and
three years.
JENNINGS, THOMAS. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was grantee of a city lot. He died there in
the year 1805.
JENNINGS, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
JEROW, DANIEL. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
JERVICE, CHARLES. Of Philadelphia. He was ordered to be
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 387
sent prisoner to Virginia in 1777, for being inimical to the
Whig cause.
JEWETT, JOHN. An ensign in the Third Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
JOHNSON, GUY. He married a daughter of Sir William John
son, and at the death of the Baronet succeeded him as Super
intendent of the Indian Department. He was well versed in
the business of that office, having long held the place of deputy
under his father-in-law. His own assistant or deputy, was
Colonel Daniel Glaus, who also married a daughter of Sir
William. His residence was in Tryon County, near the Ba
ronial Hall. Colonel Johnson's intemperate zeal for his royal
master, caused the first affray in that County. In the early
part of 1775, about three hundred Whigs assembled at the
house of John Veeder, in Caughnawaga, for the purpose of
deliberating upon the public concerns, and the setting up of a
Liberty-pole. Their proceedings were interrupted by the ar
rival of Sir John Johnson, Colonel Claus, Colonel John Butler,
and Colonel Johnson, with a large number of their retainers,
well armed. Colonel Johnson mounted a high stoop and ad
dressed the people. In the course of his remarks he became
so abusive, that Jacob Sammons interrupted him, and pro
nounced him a liar and a villain. Johnson thereupon seized
Sammons by the throat, and called him a d— d villain in re
turn. A scuffle ensued, in which Sammons was severely
injured. The Whigs present, the members of three families
excepted, fled, and left Sammons to fight with the enraged
Loyalists as he best could. The following correspondence will
throw light on the proceedings at the time, and on the course
of Colonel Johnson. He wrote from Guy Park to the magis
trates of Schenectady and Albany, May, 1775, thus :
" Gentlemen : — As the peace and happiness of the country
are objects that every good man should have at heart, I think
it highly necessary to acquaint you, that for a few days I
have been put to the great trouble and expense of fortifying
my house, and keeping a large body of men for the defence of
my person ; and have received repeated accounts that either
388 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the New Englanders, or some persons in or about the city of
Albany, or town of Schenectady, are coming up, to a consid
erable number, to seize and imprison me, on a ridiculous and
malicious report that I intend to make the Indians destroy the
inhabitants, or to that effect. The absurdity of this appre
hension may easily be seen by men of sense ; but as many
credulous and ignorant persons may be led astray and inclined
to believe it, and as they have already sent down accounts,
examinations, &c., from busy people here, that I can fully
prove to be totally devoid of all foundation, it is become the
duty of all those who have authority or influence, to disabuse
the public, and prevent consequences which I foresee with
very great concern, and most cordially wish may be timely
prevented. Any differences in political ideas can never justify
such extravagant opinions; and I little imagined that they
should have gained belief amongst any order of people who
know my character, station, and the large property I have in
the country, and the duties of my office, which are to preserve
tranquillity amongst the Indians, hear their grievances, &c.,
and prevent them from falling upon the trade and frontiers.
These last were greatly threatened by the Indians, on account
of the disturbances last year between the Virginians and
Shawanese ; during which, my endeavors prevented the Six
Nations from taking a part that would have sensibly affected
the public. And I appointed last Fall, that the Six Nations
should come to me this month, in order to receive, amongst
other things, final satisfaction concerning the lands said to be
invaded by the Virginians, who have now sent me their
answer. In the discharge of this duty I likewise essentially
serve the public. But should I neglect myself, and be tamely
kmade prisoner, it is clear to all who know anything of Indians,
they will not sit still and see their Council fire extinguished,
and Superintendent driven from his duty, but will come upon
the frontiers, in revenge, with a power sufficient to commit
horrid devastation. It is therefore become as necessary to the
public, as to myself, that my person should be defended. But
as the measures I am necessitated to make for that purpose
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 389
may occasion the propagation of additional falsehoods, and
may at last appear to the Indians in a light that is not for the
benefit of the public, I should heartily wish, gentlemen, that
you could take such measures for removing these apprehen
sions, as may enable me to discharge my duties (which do not
interfere with the public) without the protection of armed men
and the apprehension of insult. And as the public are much
interested in this, I must beg to have your answer as soon as
possible.
" I am, gentlemen, your humble servant,
"G. JOHNSON."
To this letter Colonel Johnson received two answers : one
from the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of Albany, ad
dressed to the Committee for Palatine district, Tryon County ;
and the other, from the Albany Committee, and addressed to
himself. Both were much of the same tenor. The last is
dated " Committee Chamber, May 23, 1775," and was in these
terms.
" Sir : — Several letters have been handed to us, addressed to
the magistrates of Schenectady and mayor and corporation of
Albany, some of which you requested to be communicated to
us, whereby we, with great concern, observe you are much
alarmed with apprehensions of evil intentions against your
family, and self in particular, from a body of New England-
ers, or people from those parts, so as to put you. under the
necessity of fortifying yourself for safety. From what cause
these terrible ideas have sprung, we are entirely ignorant. If
any real ones, you must be better acquainted with them than
we are; however, we do assure you that the first and last
knowledge of such designs have come to us from you, and of
course must have originated somewhere near you. We are
not ignorant of the importance of your office as Superintendent,
and have been perfectly easy with respect to any suspicions
of the Indians taking a part in the present dispute between
Great Britain and her Colonies, knowing them to be a people
of too much sagacity to engage with the whole Continent in a
33*
390 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
controversy that they cannot profit by, and which would
throw them into endless war and misery. As long as they are
peaceable, they need not be under apprehensions of hostilities
commencing against them.
" We have been some time ago informed that there was to
be a Congress at your house of the Indians, and hope such
methods may be taken then as will give them a just sense of
the nature of the present disturbances, and that they may
govern themselves by such a line of conduct, as will appease
the minds of such persons in your County as may be uneasy
on their account. The information we have from time to time
received, very lately from travellers passing by your house,
has given us some pain, as we find the communication betwixt
this and your County in a manner stopped, insomuch that no
person is permitted to pass without undergoing a strict exami
nation. These proceedings will, if not speedily stopped, raise
the resentment of the people, we fear, and cause them to
undertake such acts as will not be in the power of any au
thority to restrain. We would, therefore, be glad, and permit
us to recommend it seriously to your attention, that you would
leave the communication free, and disperse your guards, and
not interfere with the meetings of the people, intended solely
to concert measures for the preservation of their liberties, in
conjunction with the other counties of this and the rest of His
Majesty's Colonies."
Five days previous to the date of this reply, Colonel John
son had said, in a communication to the Whig Committee of
Schenectady, that he had " taken precaution to give a very
hot and disagreeable reception to any persons that shall at
tempt to invade his retreat" ; yet that, "at the same time he
had no intention to disturb those who chose to permit him the
honest exercise of his reason and the duties of his office."
Meantime, the Tryon County Committee and the Colonel be
came involved in difficulty, and the former, in denouncing his
proceedings, used the following among other equally severe
expressions. " Colonel Johnson's conduct in raising fortifica
tions round his house, keeping a number of Indians and armed
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 391
men constantly about him, and stopping and searching travel
lers upon the king's highway, and stopping our communication
with Albany, is very alarming to this County, and is highly
arbitrary, illegal, oppressive, and unwarrantable ; and con
firms us in our fears, that his design is to keep us in awe, and
oblige us to submit to a state of slavery " ; and abhorring that
state, they resolved " to defend their freedom with their lives
and fortunes." On the 2d of June, 1775, the Committee of
Tryon County, in a long letter, begged him to use his "en
deavors to dissuade the Indians from interfering in the dispute
with the Mother Country and the Colonies." " We cannot
think," they continue, " that, as you and your family possess
very large estates in this County, you are unfavorable to
American freedom, although you may differ with us in the
mode of obtaining redress." His course was watched with
much anxiety. It was well known that the Johnsons could
induce the Six Nations to remain neutral, or to take part with
the crown, at their pleasure. The Reverend Doctor Wheelock
wrote to the New Hampshire Provincial Congress, from Dart
mouth College, June 28th, that he had "seen a man direct
from Albany, and late from Mount Johnson," who informed
him that Colonel Johnson had " received presents to the
amount of three thousand pounds from the King, to be dis
posed of to engage the Indians within his jurisdiction against
the Colonies ; and that all his endeavors for that purpose had
been fruitless. Not one of the Indians would receive the
presents."
We next find the subject of this notice in collision with the
Provincial Congress of New York. In his reply to a letter
from that body, dated July 8th, he says : — " As to the endea
vors you speak of, to reconcile the unhappy differences between
the Parent State and these Colonies, be assured I ardently wish
to see them. As yet, I am sorry to say, I have not been able
to discover any attempt of that kind, but that of the Assem
bly's, the only true legal representatives of the people; and as
to the individuals who you say officiously interrupt, in my
quarter, the mode and measures you think necessary for these
392 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
salutary purposes, I am really a stranger to them. If you
mean myself, you must have been grossly imposed on. I once,
indeed, went with reluctance, at the request of several of the
principal inhabitants, to one of the people's meetings, which I
found had been called by an itinerant New England leather-
dresser, and conducted by others, if possible, more contempti
ble. I had, therefore, little inclination to revisit such men, or
attend to their absurdities." In conclusion, and in allusion to
the fears that his influence would be used to excite the Indians
to hostilities, he remarks ; "I trust I shall Always manifest more
humanity than to promote the destruction of the innocent
inhabitants of a Colony to which I have been always warmly
attached, a declaration that must appear perfectly suitable to
the character of a man of honor and principle, who can on no
account neglect those duties that are consistent therewith,
however they may differ from sentiments now adopted in so
many parts of America."
Notwithstanding the many and the explicit assurances of
Colonel Johnson, Brant, the acknowledged chief of the Six
Nations, joined the royal standard; and whatever were the
Colonel's own purposes and intentions, the force of circum
stances or his own inclination induced him to retire to Canada,
and thence to repair to scenes of savage warfare ; and his
name appears in the bloody exploits of the Mohawk chieftain,
and the miscreant Butler. That, at the time he was in com
munication with the Committees of Albany, Schenectady, and
Tryon County, and with the Provincial Congress of New
York, he was also in communication with Brant, seems cer
tain. The chief who signed himself " secretary to Guy John
son," wrote the Oneidas in the Mohawk tongue, thus : " Writ
ten at Guy Johnson's, May, 1775. This is your letter, you
great ones or sachems. Guy Johnson says he will be glad if
you get this intelligence, you Oneidas, how it goes with him
now, and he is now more certain of the intention of the Boston
people. Guy Johnson is in great fear of being taken prisoner
by the Bostonians. We Mohawks are obliged to watch him
constantly," &c. This letter was found in an Indian path,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 393
and was lost, as was supposed, by the person to whom it had
been entrusted. It is certain, too, that Johnson, Brant, and
the Butlers, — father and son, — fled to Canada together.
Colonel Johnson in 1780 was about forty years of age; and is
described "as being a short, pursy man, of stern countenance
and haughty demeanor, — dressed in a British uniform, pow
dered locks, ano^a cocked hat." His mansion, — Guy Park,—
is still (1840) standing. It is of stone, and situated about a
mile from the village of Amsterdam, on the north bank of the
Mohawk. The Western Railroad passes a few rods north, and
in front of it. His estate was confiscated. In 1784 he was in
England, a petitioner for relief.
JOHNSON, SIR JOHN. Knight and baronet, was the son of
Sir William Johnson, to whose estates and title he succeeded,
and to whose office of major general in the militia of New
York he was appointed in November of 1774. The father, we
have seen, was removed from the difficulties which attended an
elevated position in society at the revolutionary era, before the
commencement of hostilities ; and a brief notice of the career of
the son will show, that these difficulties were neither few nor
easily surmounted. The office of general superintendent of
Indian affairs, on the death of Sir William, passed into the
hands of Colonel Guy Johnson, (who married a daughter of
Sir William Johnson,) but in other respects, the new baronet
was the heir, not only of his parent's fortune and honors, but
of his cares, perplexities and perils. Of the early life of Sir
John, not much appears to be known ; he, however, served
under his father, and acquired considerable military experi
ence. He was not as popular as Sir William, being less social
and less acquainted with human nature ; and failed to secure
in so pre-eminent a degree the affections of the retainers of
Johnson-Hall, and of the Indian tribes. Yet he took means to
secure the favor of the latter. On the 25th July, 1775, he
wrote to Mr. Alexander White, of New York, from Johnson-
Hall, thus:-
"Dear Sir: — The bearers will deliver you some provi
sions and clothes, and Mr. Clement will give you a paper
394 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
containing a ten pound note, which I received from Mrs. White
this morning. The Indians having desired some cash from me
to expend when they come among the inhabitants of Canada,
which I have not to give them, I must beg you to supply
them, and charge it to Colonel Johnson," &c.
His official relations and supposed political sympathies
caused a strict watch to be kept upon his movements, and
early in 1776 a Whig force of some hundreds under command
of General Schuyler, was despatched to Tryon County, to
counteract his reported designs, to disarm the Loyalists said to
be embodied there, and to obtain satisfactory assurances for
the future good conduct of the baronet and his friends and de
pendents. The General executed these delicate and responsi
ble duties in a manner highly satisfactory to Congress, and
received a vote of thanks. Reluctant to proceed to extremi
ties, he opened a correspondence with Sir John, and proposed
an arrangement by which the shedding of blood would be
spared, and the objects of his mission be accomplished. After
some modification of the original terms, an accommodation
was effected by which Sir John stipulated to a pacific line of
conduct, and to remain within certain prescribed limits* on his
parole of honor. For some unexplained reason, this agreement
was soon violated, and the Whigs attempted to secure the bar
onet's person. Sir John, learning of this intention, hastily
secured his most valuable effects, and fled to the woods with
about seven hundred followers, determined to proceed to Can
ada. After enduring almost every imaginable hardship and
deprivation, he and the principal part of his associates arrived
at Montreal.
He was soon commissioned a colonel, and raised two battal
ions of Loyalists, who bore the designation of the Royal
Greens. From the time of organizing this corps, he became one
of the most active, arid one of the bitterest foes that the Whigs
encountered during the contest ; so true is it, as was said by the
wise man of Israel, that " A brother offended is harder to be
won than a strong city ; and their contentions are like the bars
of a castle." Sir John was in several regular and fairly
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 395
conducted battles. He invested Fort Stanwix in 1777, and de
feated the brave General Herkimer, and in 1780 was himself de
feated by General Yan Rensselaer at Fox's mills. In predatory
enterprises, the Royal Greens enjoy an infamous celebrity.
They committed quite every enormity known in savage war
fare. Their own former neighbors and friends on the Mohawk
were objects of their sweetest revenge, and suffered even more
at their hands than strangers ; and the chieftain Brant, though
he be compelled to bear the worst, and all of the charges
which have been made against him and his warriors, will not
answer to posterity for any darker or more damning deeds
than those which the Royal Greens perpetrated. Upon one
occasion, their colonel was thus addressed by Mr. Sammons,
an aged and respectable Whig. "See what you have done,
Sir John. You have taken myself and my sons prison
ers, burnt my dwelling to ashes, and left the helpless mem
bers of my family with no covering but the heavens above,
and no prospect but desolation around them. Did we treat
you in this manner when you were in the power of the Tryon
County Committee? Do you remember when we were con
sulted by General Schuyler, and you agreed to surrender your
arms ? Do you not remember that you then agreed to re
main neutral, and that upon that condition General Schuyler
left you at liberty on your parole ? These conditions you
violated. You went off to Canada ; enrolled yourself in the
service of the king ; raised a regiment of the disaffected, who
abandoned their country with you j and you have now re
turned to wage a cruel war against us, by burning our dwell
ings, and robbing us of our property. I was your friend in
the Committee of Safety," continued the bold Whig, "and
exerted myself to save your person from injury. And how
am I requited ? Your Indians have murdered and scalped old
Mr. Fonda at the age of eighty years ; a man who, I have
heard your father say, was like a father to him when he set
tled in Johnstown and Kingsborough. You cannot be suc
cessful, Sir John, in such a warfare, and you will never enjoy
your property more."
396 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
In the flight of the baronet from the Hall in 1776, Lady
Johnson and the family papers, plate, and bible, were left
behind. An incident with regard to each will show the state
and necessities of the times. Her Ladyship, — who was Mary
Watts, of the city of New York, daughter of Honorable John
Watts, a member of the Council of the Colony, and sister of
the late venerable John Watts, who died in September, 1836, —
was removed to Albany, where it was designed by the local
Whig authorities, that she should be detained as a kind of
hostage for the good conduct of her husband. She solicited
the Commander-in-chief to release her, but Washington de
clined to interfere. Lady Johnson possessed much beauty,
understanding, and vivacity. Her playful humor exhilarated
the whole household. The papers were buried in an iron
chest, and in 1778 General Haldimand, at the request of Sir
John, sent a party of men to carry them away. On taking
them up, they were found to be mouldy, rotten, and illegible,
in consequence of the dampness which had been admitted
through the open joints of the chest. To recover the silver,
the baronet in 1780 went to Johnstown himself. It was found
where a faithful slave had buried it, and was transferred to
the knapsacks of about forty soldiers, who took it to Montreal.
The devotion of the slave is worthy of remembrance. He
had long lived with Sir John's father, who was so much at
tached to him, that he caused him to be baptized by his own
name of William. When the estate was confiscated by the
Provincial Congress of New York, William formed a part of
it, and was sold, but finally, by a re-purchase or otherwise,
returned to the baronet's family. While he remained with his
purchaser, who was a Whig, he never gave the least hint as
to the valuables of Sir John, though he had secreted them all.
The family bible was sold with the furniture by auction at
Fort Hunter. John Taylor, late Lieutenant Governor of New
York, was the purchaser of the sacred volume, and on discov
ering that it contained the family record, he wrote a civil note
to Sir John, offering to restore it. Some time afterward, a
messenger from the baronet called for the bible, but did his
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 397
errand in a manner rude and offensive. " I have come," said
he, " for Sir William's bible, and there are the four guineas
which it cost." On being asked what word Sir John had sent,
he replied, " to pay four guineas, and take the book."
Soon after the close of the contest, Sir John Johnson went
to England, but returned in 1785, and established his residence
in Canada. He was appointed superintendent general and
inspector general of Indian affairs in British North America,
and retained that office until his decease; and for several
years he was also a member of the legislative Council of
Canada. To compensate him for his losses, the British gov
ernment made him several grants of lands. He died of old
age, at the residence of Mrs. Bowes, his daughter, Montreal,
in 1830, aged eighty-eight; and was succeeded by his son,
Sir Adam Gordon Johnson.
It is thought that he was a conscientious Loyalist ; and this
may be allowed. He lived in a style of luxury and splendor,
which few country gentlemen in America possessed the means
to support. His domains were as large and as fair as those of
any Colonist of his time, the estate of Lord Fairfax only ex-
cepted ; and no American hazarded more, probably, in the
cause of the crown. Faithfulness to duty is never a crime ;
and if he sacrificed his home, his fortune, and his country,
for his principles, he deserves admiration. But all approba
tion of his course during the revolutionary struggle must end
here. The conduct of the Whigs towards him may have
been harsh, and, in the beginning, too harsh for his offences.
There may be room to doubt, whether, prior to the arrange
ment with General 'Schuyler, he did more than any zealous
loyal gentleman would consider he was bound to do, to put
down the disloyal proceedings in his neighborhood, and at his
very door. The charges found against him in the documents
of the day, may, in some particulars, be false, or highly col
ored. And, to allow to him all the points of defence which
can be claimed or urged, it may be conceded, that the Loyal
ists had as much at stake as the Whigs, and that the one
party had the same right to appear in arms as the other. And
34
398 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
it may be admitted in his behalf, that though Sir John pledged
himself to remain neutral upon his parole of honor ; yet, tha" t
as the friend of existing institutions, he might freely break his
faith with Rebels. But there still remains unanswered, the
very grave question, whether, as a civilized man, he was not
bound to observe the rules of civilized warfare. The Baronet's
fame, even though the Loyalists' course of reasoning be fol
lowed throughout, can never be redeemed from the blight
which rests upon it. His eldest son, Colonel William Johnson,
inspecting field officer of the militia of Canada, and Lieu
tenant Colonel of His Majesty's twenty-eighth regiment of
foot, died at Montreal in 1812, aged thirty-seven.
JOHNSON, JOHN. Of Pennsylvania. Went to England, and
was in London in 1779.
JOHNSON, MARTIN. Of Jamaica, New York. Was a loyal
Declarator in 1775.
JOHNSON, MARTIN. Of Queen's County, New York. In
1776 he signed an acknowledgment of allegiance.
JOHNSON, NATHANIEL. Residence unknown. Died at Sussex,
King's County, New Brunswick, in 1830, aged eighty-eight
years.
JOHNSON, ROBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton, and a Petitioner to be armed,
in 1780 ; was banished and lost his estate in 1782.
JOHNSON, SAMUEL. Of Pennsylvania. Resided at York, and
prior to the Revolution, was Prothonotary and Clerk of the
Quarter Sessions of the County. He was twice married ; his
second wife was a lady from Maryland. His office of Protho
notary was conferred by the Governor, and in 1775 was worth
£150.
JOHNSON, SAMUEL and WILLIAM. Of Queen's County, New
York. In 1780, were in arms on the side of the crown.
JOHNSON, SIR WILLIAM, BARONET. A major-general of the
militia of New York, Superintendent-general of Indian Affairs,
&c. Was born in Ireland, about the year 1714 His uncle,
Sir Peter Warren, a naval officer of distinguished merit, mar
ried a lady of New York, and purchased a considerable tract
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 399
of country in the interior of that Colony, and induced him to
come to America to take charge of his affairs, when at about the
age of twenty. Johnson established his residence on the Mo
hawk, and applying himself to the study of the Indian charac
ter and language, soon acquired an ascendency over the native
tribes, that has never, probably, been surpassed. His rise in
affairs was rapid. In 1755 he was placed in command of
the Colonial forces of New York, destined to operate against the
French, and for his services was created a Baronet, and received
a grant of £5000 in money. But his right to rewards so munifi
cent has been severely, and perhaps not improperly disputed,
since his success at the battle of Lake George, which was his
principal claim to the royal regard, was mainly due to the exer
tions and good conduct of the brave General Lyman, of Con
necticut, after he was wounded. In 1759, and in 1760, Sir Wil
liam's military operations were highly beneficial to the crown
and he retired at the close of the French war, in much favor.
He had been able to organize an Indian force of one thousand
men, a greater number than had ever before been seen in arms
at one time in the cause of England. Sir William possessed
talents as an orator, and deeply impressed the Indians with
his powers ; and his shrewdness in treating and dealing with
them, is said to have been remarkable. Allen relates, that on
his receiving from England some finely laced clothes, the
Mohawk Chief, Hendrick, became possessed with the desire of
equalling the Baronet in the splendor of his apparel, and with
a demure face pretended to have dreamed that Sir William
had presented him with a suit of the decorated garments. As
the solemn hint could not be mistaken or avoided, the Indian
monarch was gratified, and went away highly pleased with
the success of his device. But, alas for Hendrick's short
sighted sagacity, for in a few days Sir William, in turn, had a
dream, to the effect that the Chief had given him several
thousand acres of land. " The land is yours," said Hendrick,
"but now, Sir William, I never dream with you again; you
dream too hard for me."
The Baronet's seat was Johnson Hall, Johnstown, Tryon
400 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
County, New York, about twenty-four miles from Schenec-
tady, on the Mohawk river. He died there suddenly, July 11,
1774, aged sixty years. Owing to his influence, and that of
his family and connexions, there were more Loyalists, proba
bly, in the valley of the Mohawk, the population considered,
than in any other section of the northern Colonies.
As the revolutionary troubles progressed, the unhappiness
of Sir William is represented to have been very great. And
it is said, that no inconsiderable part of his sorrow arose from
the contest within his own bosom, between his love of liberty
and sympathy with the oppressions of the people, on the one
hand, and the duty which he owed the sovereign whom he
had long served, and whose rewards had been princely, on the
other. It has been asserted, even, that his distress of mind
became insupportable, and that he died by his own hand.
The tradition is, that on the day of his decease he received de
spatches which showed that civil war was inevitable and near;
while another version is, that these despatches required of him
the use of his influence with the Indian tribes to secure their
services to the crown in the event of blows. That the em
ployments, and news, of the last day of his life, deeply excited
him, there is sufficient proof; but, as his system was predis
posed to apoplexy, and as he was seized with a fit and lin
gered some hours, it is very uncertain whether he committed
suicide. Some weight, however, appears to have been given
to his declaration in the spring of 1774, and soon after his
return from England, in substance, that he " should never live
to see the Colonies and the mother country in a state of open
war" That this declaration was made with a view to self-
destruction, is possible, yet a man who had so much at stake,
was far more likely to have spoken it as expressive of his
strong hope of the final accommodation of the difficulties
which existed.
Sir William was uncommonly tall and well made. His
countenance was fine, but melancholy ; and he possessed a
remarkable command of 'it, under the most exciting circum
stances. Johnson Hall is still (1842) standing, and is
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 401
occupied by Mr. Wells. In Sir William's time it was sur
rounded by a stone breast- work. The hall itself is of wood,
but the wings are of stone. The two daughters of Sir William
Johnson were educated almost in solitude, and in the following
singular manner. Their mother died when they were young,
and bequeathed them to the care of a friend, who was the
widow of an officer killed in battle. She retired from the
world, and devoted herself to her fair pupils ; to whom she
taught the nicest and most ingenious kinds of needle- work,
and reading and writing. In the morning, the two girls rose
early, read their Bible, fed their birds, tended their flowers,
and breakfasted. Later in the day, they employed themselves
with their needles, and in reading. After dinner, in summer,
they regularly took a long walk, and in the winter they rode
a distance upon a sledge. Thus uniformly passed their lives,
year after year ; and at the age of sixteen, they had read no
books except the Scriptures, their prayer-book, some romances,
and Rollin's Ancient History ; nor had they ever seen a lady,
except their mother and her friend. Their dress was quite as
uniform as their habits of life. And though they continually
made articles of ornament, according to the fashion of the day,
they wore none of them, but summer and winter, and without
the least change, appeared in wrappers of the finest chintz,
and green-silk petticoats. Their hair, which was long and
beautiful, they tied behind with a simple riband. In summer,
they covered their heads with a large calash ; in winter, long
scarlet mantles completely enveloped their persons. Sir
William did not live with them, but visited their apartment
daily. One married Colonel Guy Johnson, the other Colonel
Daniel Glaus. Their manners soon became polished, they
soon acquired the habits of society, and made excellent wives.
JOHNSON, UZAEL. Of New Jersey. Was surgeon of the First
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
JOHNSON, . Of Georgia. A stanch government man ;
held a military commission in the royal service.
JOHNSTON, ALEXANDER and JOHN. Of Charleston, South Caro
lina. Were Addressers of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
34*
402 'BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
JOHNSTON, CHARLES. Of South Carolina. Was a Congratu-
lator of Lord Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780.
Banished and estate confiscated in 1782.
JOHNSTON, or JOHNSTONE, JOHN. Of Jamaica, New York.
Was a loyal Declarator in 1775. In 1782, the surgeon of
De Lancey's Second Battalion was John Johnston.
JOHNSTON, LEWIS. Residence unknown. Was banished and
attainted, and his estate confiscated. In 1794 he represented
to the British government, by his attorney, John Irvine,
Esquire, that, at the time of his banishment, several large
debts were due to him in America, which he had not been able
to recover. It appears to have been conceded that the confis
cation acts did not embrace sums of money owing to proscribed
Loyalists, though many of them found great difficulty in en
forcing payment.
JOHNSTON, THOMAS and JOHN. Residence unknown. Thomas
died at Frederickton, New Brunswick, in 1799 ; and John, in
the county of Westmoreland, New Brunswick, in 1803.
JOHNSTON, WILLIAM. Of Georgia. Was an ensign in the
Georgia Loyalists, and adjutant of the corps.
JOHNSTON, WILLIAM M. and ALEXANDER. Residence unknown.
William M. was a captain, and Alexander a lieutenant, in the
New York Volunteers.
JOHONNET, PETER. Distiller, of Boston. An Addresser of
Gage in 1775; was proscribed and banished in 1778. He
went to Halifax in 1776, thence to England, and was a Loy
alist Addresser of the king in 1779. He died at London in
1809.
JOICE, ISAAC. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
JONES, CALEB. He served under the crown, and in 1782 was
a captain in the Maryland Loyalists. He went to St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
He received half-pay. Elisabeth, his wife, died at St. John in
1812, aged sixty-eight.
JONES, ISAAC. Of Weston, Massachusetts. Innholder and
trader. In January, 1775, the Whig Convention of Worcester
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 403
County denounced him in the following terms. " Resolved,
That it be earnestly recommended to all the inhabitants of
this County, not to have any commercial connections with
Isaac Jones, but to shun his house and person, and to treat
him with the contempt he deserves ; and should any persons
in this County be so lost to a sense of their duty, after this
recommendation, as to have any commercial connections with
the said Tories, we do advise the inhabitants of this County
to treat such persons with the utmost neglect." He died at
Weston in 1813, at the age of eighty-five.
JONES, JOSIAH. Physician, of Weston, Massachusetts. He
joined the British army at Boston soon after the battle of Lex
ington in 1775, and was sent by General Gage, in the sloop
Polly, to Nova Scotia, to procure hay and other articles for the
use of the troops. On the passage he was made prisoner, and
sent by the Committee of Arundel, Maine, to the Provincial
Congress ; and after due investigation of his case by a com
mittee of that body, he was committed to jail at Concord.
Obtaining release after some months imprisonment, he again
joined the royal forces, and received an appointment in the
commissary department. In 1752 he went to Annapolis,
Nova Scotia, where he settled. He made a voyage to Eng
land to obtain half-pay, and was successful. He was senior
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of An
napolis many years. He died in 1825 at Annapolis, aged
eighty ; and Margaret Jude. his widow, died at Digby, Nova
Scotia, in 1828, at the age of eighty-four. Four children sur
vived him, namely, Stephen, who resides in Canada ; Charlotte,
the wife of Doctor Thomas White, of Westport, Nova Scotia ;
Charles, a merchant of Halifax ; and Edward, a merchant of
Westport. His property in Massachusetts was confiscated.
Doctor Jones was a man of good powers, and of a cultivated
mind. His family retain the impression that he was educated
at Harvard University, but his name does not appear on the
catalogue of graduates.
JONES, SAMUEL. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
404 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
JONES, SIMEON. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the King's
American Dragoons. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and received the grant of a city lot in 1784. He
removed to Nova Scotia, and died at Weymouth in 1823, at
the age of seventy-two. He received half-pay. A Loyalist
of this name, who was Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas
of the County of Cheshire, was proscribed and banished in
New Hampshire, in 1778.
JONES, STEPHEN. He accepted a commission under the
crown, and was an officer in the King's American Dragoons.
He settled in Nova Scotia at the close of the contest, and at
his decease, was the oldest magistrate of the County of An
napolis. His father was Colonel Elisha Jones, and he was
the last survivor of fourteen sons. He died at Weymouth in
1830, aged seventy-six.
JONES, THOMAS. Of New York. By his marriage of a
daughter of Lieutenant Governor James De Lancey, and a
sister of the wife of the celebrated Sir William Draper, he
became connected also with the families of Sir Peter Warren
of the British navy, and of Sir William Johnson of New
York. At the Revolutionary era, he was a Judge of the
Supreme Court, and in consequence of his adherence to the
royal cause, lost his estate under the confiscation act. In
1779, in retaliation for the capture of General Silliman by
Glover and others, a party of Whigs determined to seize upon
Judge Jones at his seat on Long Island. Twenty-five volun
teered for the purpose under command of Captain Daniel
Hawley, of Newficld (now Bridgeport), Connecticut. Hawley
and his associates crossed the Sound on the night of Novem
ber 4th, and reached Judge Jones's house — a distance of fifty-
two miles — on the evening of the 6th. There was a ball,
and the music and dancing prevented an alarm. The Judge
was standing in his entry when the assailants opened the
door, and was taken prisoner and borne off. A party of royal
soldiers was near, and Jones in passing, hemmed very loud to
attract their attention. Hawley told him not to repeat the
sound, but he disobeyed, and was threatened with death,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 405
unless he desisted from further endeavors to induce the sol
diers to come to his rescue. Though six of the Whigs were
captured by a troop of horse, the remainder of the party car
ried their prisoner safely to Connecticut. The lady of General
Silliman invited the Judge to breakfast, and he not only
accepted of her hospitality for the morning, but continued her
guest for several days. But he remained gloomy, distant, and
reserved. In May, 1780, the object of his seizure was accom
plished ; the British commander having, at that tinre, con
sented to give up General Silliman and his son, in exchange
for the Judge and a Mr. Hewlett, — the Whigs, however,
throwing in as a sort of make-weight, one Washburn, a Tory
of infamous character. Judge Jones retired to England, and
there passed the remainder of his life, and, as it is believed, in
retirement.
JONES. Loyalists of this name were numerous ; in addition
to the above, some were as follows : —
JONES. David, tavern-keeper and constable, of Philadel
phia ; Jesse, of Bensalem, County of Bucks ; Jonathan, and
Edward, of Hilston, were severally ordered, in 1778, to sur
render themselves for trial, or stand attainted of treason.
Abel, of Pennsylvania, was tried in 1778 for supplying the
royal forces with money, for trading with them, and for buy
ing and passing counterfeit and continental money. He was
found guilty, and sentenced to receive one hundred lashes on
his bare back, to be sent to some public place in Pennsylvania,
and to be kept at hard labor during the war.
JONES, DAVID. Of Connecticut. Suffered much at the hands
of the Sons of Liberty, in 1775; and the Reverend Doctor Peters
of Hebron, in a letter to his mother, recommended that he
u should draught a narrative of his woes," to be sent to him
at Boston. This, as I suppose, was the David Jones who
entered the royal service, and was a captain. If so, he was
to have married the beautiful Jane McCrea, whose cruel death
in 1777, by the Indians whom he sent to convey her to the
British camp, is universally known and lamented. Captain
Jones survived her but a few years, and is supposed to have
died of grief for her loss.
406 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
JONES, ELISHA. Of Pittsneld, Massachusetts. Was committed
to the jail at Northampton in 1775, on the charge of holding
improper communications with General Gage at Boston ; and
in 1778 was proscribed and banished. Ephraim and Jonas,
of East Hoosuck, were also included in the banishment act.
JONES, JOSEPH. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
JONES, OWEN, Junior. Of Philadelphia. In 1777 he was
apprehended and ordered to Virginia, as a prisoner of the
Whigs. In 1775, a person who was styled Owen Jones,
Esquire, was Provincial Treasurer, with a salary of £300:
JONES, . Of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Was executed by
General Putnam in 1779, at a place called Gallows Hill. The
scene is described as shocking. " The man on whom the duty
of hangman devolved left the camp, and on the day of execu
tion could not be found. A couple of boys, about the age of
twelve years, were ordered by General Putnam to perform the
duties of the absconding hangman. The gallows was about
twenty feet from the ground. Jones was compelled to ascend
the ladder, and the rope around his neck was attached to the
cross beam. General Putnam then ordered Jones to jump from
the ladder. i No, General Putnam,' said Jones, ' I am inno
cent of the crime laid to my charge ; I shall not do it.' Put
nam then ordered the boys before mentioned to turn the ladder
over. These boys were deeply affected with the trying scene ;
they cried and sobbed loudly, and earnestly entreated to be
excused from doing anything on this distressing occasion.
Putnam, drawing his sword, ordered them forward, and com
pelled them at the sword's point to obey his orders."
JONES. Seven in Queen's County, New York, acknowledged
allegiance, October, 1776. To wit : Nicholas, Peter, Samuel,
William, David, John, and Walter. Nicholas Jones had sign
ed a Declaration of loyalty the year before.
JONES. Residence unknown. A Captain Jones commanded
a small Tory Privateer, and was a man of violence and cruelty.
Laurence Jones was an ensign in the New York Volunteers;
and William, a lieutenant in the King's Rangers, Carolina.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 407
Samuel, a lieutenant in the king's service, (and probably of
Westchester County, New York) ; and Naaham, were grantees
of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783 ; and last, Edward Jones,
who settled in New Brunswick at the peace, died at Spoon
Island in that Colony, 1831, aged eighty-eight.
JORDAN, JOHN, FRANCIS, and JAMES. Removed to New
Brunswick in 1783. John and Francis were grantees of St.
John. James died in that city in 1846, aged eighty-five
years.
JOSTLIN, ANDREW. Of Rhode Island. Arrived at St, John,
New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in 1783.
JOUETTE or JEWETT, ZENOPHON. Of New Jersey. In 1782
he was an ensign in the First Battalion of New Jersey Volun
teers. He settled in New Brunswick, and received half-pay.
In 1792 he held the office of sheriff of York County. He
relinquished the post during the war of 1812, and was at
tached to a regiment raised in that Colony. He was gentle
man usher of the black rod to the Council many years. He
died at St. John in 1843.
JOY, JOHN. House- wright, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. In 1776 he went
to Halifax, and was proscribed and banished in 1778. In
1779 he was in England.
JUDD. Samuel Judd, and his son Samuel ; Jonathan Judd,
and William Judd, of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Mem
bers of the Reading Association.
JUDSON, CHAPMAN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was grantee of a city lot. He received an
appointment in the ordnance department. He died at St.
John in 1817, at the age of sixty-six.
JUDSON, JOSEPH. Of Delaware. Was proscribed by statute
in 1778.
JULIN, G. Of South Carolina. Estate confiscated.
KANE, BARNARD. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading. He entered the ser
vice of the crown, and was a captain in the New York Vol
unteers.
408 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
KANE, JOHN. Of New York. His property was confiscated.
KEAN, WILLIAM. Of Pennsylvania. He was adjutant of the
Pennsylvania Loyalists, and settled in New Brunswick after
the corps was disbanded. Ann, his widow, died at St. John
in 1820, aged sixty-four.
KEARNEY, FRANCIS. In 1782 he was major of the Pennsyl
vania Loyalists under Allen.
KEARNEY, MICHAEL. In 1782 he was searcher in the Super
intendent Department, established at New York in 1777 by
Sir William Howe.
KEARSLEY, Doctor • . Of Philadelphia. A man of ardent
feelings ; his zealous attachment to the royal cause, and his
impetuous temper, made him obnoxious to those whose acts
he opposed. He was seized at his own house, tarred and
feathered, and carted through the streets to the tune of the
Rogue's March.
KEECH, ROBERT. Of New York. Died in Dorchester, New
Brunswick, in 1842, at the age of eighty-three.
KEED, ISAAC. Of Westchester County, New York. A Pro
tester at White Plains.
KEEFE, DANIEL. At the peace he was grantee of the city of
St. John, New Brunswick.
KELLOCK, ALEXANDER. In 1782 he was surgeon of the
Queen's Rangers.
KELLOGG, EZRA. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A mem
ber of the Association at Reading.
KELLY. Waldron Kelly was a captain in the Royal Garri
son Battalion. John Kelley died at St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1827, at the age of eighty-one. William Kelly died at the
same place the previous year, aged seventy-four. John was
blind for sixteen years.
KEMPE, JOHN TABOR. Of New York. He was Attorney-
general of the Colony, and considered to be in office in 1782.
His property was confiscated. The wife of Francis Lewis, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence, having fallen into
the hands of the enemy, and the wife of Mr. Kempe having
become a prisoner of the Whigs, an exchange was effected
towards the close of 1776.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 409
KENAN, FELIX. Of North Carolina. A man of whom it
was pithily said — " he had not the independence to be a Tory,
or the honesty to be a Whig." Thousands, in different parts
of the country, were as like him as possible.
KENDELE, ANTHONY. In 1782 he was an officer in the Super
intendent Department established at New York.
KENDRICK, THOMAS. He died on the Island of Campo Bello.
New Brunswick, in 1821, aged seventy-two.
KENEN, L. A captain of cavalry in the South Carolina
Royalists.
KENNARD, JOSEPH. Of Plumstead, Pennsylvania. Ordered
in 1778 in Council, that he surrender and be tried for treason,
or that he stand attainted.
KENNEDY, DENNIS. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains, April, 1775. '; A Captain Kennedy
and wife, of New York, went to England, and were there in
1785.
KENNEDY, PATRICK. Accepted a commission under the
crown, and in 1782 was a captain in the Maryland Loyalists.
He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and was
a grantee of that city. He received half-pay.
KENNEDY, WILLIAM. Died at St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1814, aged fifty-one.
KENNEY, WILLIAM. At the peace he was a grantee of the
city of St. John, New Brunswick.
KENNISON, JUDE. Of New Hampshire.' Was proscribed and
banished.
KENT, BENJAMIN. Of Massachusetts. Graduated at Harvard
University in 1727. He was minister at Marlborough for a
short time ; but entered upon the profession of the law, and
established himself at Boston. He was a Whig, it appears,
for awhile, and his name is to be found among those of Sam
uel Adams, Gushing, Warren, Hancock, and other prominent
leaders of the patriot band. A Refugee ; he died at Halifax,
Nova Scotia, in 1788, at an advanced age. He was eccentric,
and a wit. His conduct as a clergyman is said to have been
35
if *
/VW jv+Si.. x. Jl+-f)t
410 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
unclerical and humorous. Elisabeth, his widow, died at Hali
fax in 1802.
KENT, STEPHEN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, was a grantee of that city, and died there in 1828, aged
eighty.
KERR, CCORGE. In 1782 he was a captain in De Lancey's
First Battalion.
KERR, JAMES. He accepted a commission under the crown,
and was a captain in the Queen's Rangers. The corps was
disbanded at the close of the war, when he retired on half-
pay. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, and was a
grantee of that city ; but removed to King's County, Nova
Scotia, where he settled, and was a colonel in the militia.
Colonel Kerr died at Amherst, Nova Scotia, in 1830, at the age
of seventy-six. Eliza, his widow, died at Corn wall is, Nova
Scotia, 1840, aged seventy-four. Three sons and a daughter
preceded him, but twelve children survived him.
KERR, JOHN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate was
amerced twelve per cent.
KETCHAM, ISAAC. Of New York. Died in King's County,
New Brunswick, in 1820, aged sixty-four. His widow died
in 1821, at the age of fifty-four.
KEY, PHILIP BARTON. In 1782 he was a captain in the
Maryland Loyalists.
KING, EDWARD. A Sandemanian, of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs.
Embarked for Halifax with the king's army in 1776. Samuel,
also of Boston, accompanied him, and died at Halifax in 1822.
at the age of seventy-one.
KING, JOSEPH. Of Path Valley, Pennsylvania. Was or
dered by the Executive Council to surrender himself for trial,
or stand attainted.
KING, COLONEL RICHARD. Of South Carolina. Held an office
under the crown after the fall of Charleston, but died before
the peace. His estate in the possession of his heirs was con
fiscated.
KING. Residence unknown. James, in 1782, was a captain
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 411
in the Second American Regiment. Daniel settled in St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, but removed from that city in 1803.
William, clerk in the royal engineer department, died at Fred-
ericton, New Brunswick, in 1804. And John died at the
same place, 1814, aged forty-five.
KINGSBY, ZEPH. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; also a Petitioner to be
armed on the side of the crown. He was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated.
KINLOCK, CLELAND. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
KIPP, SAMUEL. Of New York. A captain in De Lancey's
Loyal Refugee Cavalry. In charging a body of Whigs, in
1781, he was wounded by a bayonet, and his horse was killed.
KIPP, THOMAS. Of Queen's County, New York. Acknow
ledged allegiance October, 1776.
KIRBY, DANIEL and THOMAS. Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
KIRKHAM, HUGH. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
KIRKLAND, MOSES. Of South Carolina. A man "whose
vanity and ambition had not been sufficiently gratified by his
countrymen." Early in the contest he was employed by Stu
art, the Indian Agent of the British authorities with the Chero-
kees and Creeks, to concert measures with General Gage for
an attack on the Southern States. The plan appears to have
been, for the royal forces to operate by sea, and the savages by
land. Kirkland was captured on his voyage to Boston, his
papers were seized, and the plot fully discovered. After the
surrender of Charleston, in 1780, he held a royal commission.
In 1782 his estate was confiscated. Kirkland, at the outset,
was considered to be a Whig, and his disaffection is said to
have arisen from his being " overlooked by the Provincial
Congress in the military appointments." He changed sides in
the affair with the Cunninghams, July, 1775. At the time of
his desertion he commanded a troop of Rangers, who followed
him to a man, and by his influence others in the Whig service
412 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
joined the royal party. A short time before his defection,
Kirkland was placed upon an important standing committee
raised by the Provincial Congress to act throughout the Colony.
KISSAM. Five persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Joseph, John, Daniel the 3d, D. W., and Daniel. In 1780,
Daniel Kissam, Esquire, of that County, was an Addresser of
Lieutenant Colonel Sterling. The same year, Major Kissam
was an Addresser of Governor Robertson. In 1781, the Major
and his younger brother, Benjamin T. Kissam, were made
prisoners at the house of Justice Kissam, North Hempstead,
by a party of Whigs. Daniel Kissam was a member of the
Committee of Correspondence in 1774, and of the House of
Assembly in 1775 ; and one of the fourteen who in the latter
year addressed General Gage at Boston, on the subject of the
unhappy contest. In 1779, the property of Daniel Kissam
the elder was confiscated.
KITCHEN, THOMAS. Settled in New Brunswick in 1783. In
1799 he was murdered.
KITCHING, JAMES. Of Georgia. Was in England in 1779.
KNAP. Moses Knap, of Fairfield County, Connecticut ; and
Andrew, Jonathan, and David, of Reading ; were members of
the Reading Association.
KNAP, LIEUTENANT DANIEL. Of Westchester County. New
York. A Protester at White Plains.
KNEFFIN, JAMES. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
KNIGHT, SAMUEL. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
KNIGHT, THOMAS. Shop-keeper, of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774. Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
KNOWLES, ISRAEL. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. He was
imprisoned for his offences, real or alleged, in February, 1778.
KNOWLES, S. Of Rhode Island. His estate was confiscated
previous to the peace, and by the act of October, 1783, he was
banished from the State, on pain of death if he returned.
KNOX, T. A petitioner for lands in Nova Scotia, July, 1783.
See Abijah Willard.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 413
KNOX, WILLIAM. Of Georgia. Went to England. After the
death of Sir James Wright, he was joint agent with Graham,
of the Georgia Loyalists, for prosecuting their claims to com
pensation for losses. He was in London in 1788.
KNOX, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was Secretary of New York.
KNUTTING, JOSEPH. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
KNUTTON, JOHN. Tallow-chandler, of Boston. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. John Knutton, a Loyalist, died
at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1827, aged eighty-five ; and
his widow Margaret at the same place, in 1829, at the age of
seventy-two. They settled there in 1783, and he was a
grantee of the city.
KNUTTON, WILLIAM. Of Boston. A Protester in 1774. In
1783 he was at St. John, New Brunswick, and received a
grant of land in that city.
KOLLOCK, SIMON. He entered the king's service, and in 1782
was a captain in the Loyal American Regiment. He settled
in Nova Scotia. His wife, Ann Catharine, died in 1845, at
the advanced age of ninety-seven. Simon Kollock, Junior, of
Sussex County, Delaware, was proscribed under the act of
1778; perhaps the same.
LACY, STEPHEN. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
LAENSBERRY, LIEUTENANT W. Of Westchester County, New
York. He was one of the Protesters at White Plains, April,
1775, against Whig Congresses and Committees.
LAFFEN, MICHAEL. A lieutenant in De Lancey's Third Bat
talion.
LAFFERTY, BRYAN. Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions,
Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New York. In 1775 he
signed a loyal Declaration and expressed his abhorrence of the
conduct of the Whigs.
LAMB, WALTER. Of North Carolina. In December, 1775,
he was brought before the Council by a zealous Whig, who
prayed that he might receive condign punishment. But the
35* '
414 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
judgment of the Council was, that the Whig should keep
Lamb, and produce him for trial before the Committee of
Safety for the District of Halifax.
LAMBDEN, THOMAS. Of Worcester County, Maryland. The
Committee of that County published him as an enemy to his
country, June, 1775. It appears that he was Crier of the
Court. The proof against him was, that he had declared,
"all those who took up arms, or exercised agreeably to the
Resolves of the Provincial Convention at Annapolis, were
rebels," and that, in conversation relative to a quantity of salt
which the Committee at Baltimore had thrown into the water,
he had said, " the Committee were a parcel of d d rascals,
and would not be easy until some of them were hanged up.7'
LAMBERSON, or LAMBERTSON. Of the Lambersons of Jamaica,
New York, John and his son John, Teunis, Waters, Cornelius,
Matthias, and Nicholas junior, signed a Declaration of loyalty
in 1775. In October, 1775, Waters, David, Simon, and John,
all of Queen's County, signed an acknowledgment of allegiance
addressed to Lord Richard and General William Howe. John
Lamberson was appointed a trustee, in 1777, to provide neces
saries for the use of the hospital and guard house at Jamaica,
New York.
LAMBERT, GEORGE. Was a lieutenant in the Third Battalion
of New Jersey Yolunteers.
LAMBERT, PETER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LAMBTON, RICHARD. Deputy auditor general, of South Caro
lina. His estate was confiscated.
LANCASTER, JOHN. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779. He went to England, and was in London
in July of that year.
LANCE, LAMBERT. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
LANE, EPHRAIM. Of Fairfield, Connecticut. He arrived at
St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in the spring of
1783.
LARGIN, MICHAEL. Was a lieutenant of cavalry in the Brit
ish Legion, and adjutant of the corps.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 415
•
LASKY, ROBERT, Senior. Died in King's Comity, New
Brunswick, 1803, aged sixty-eight.
LATHAM, JOSEPH and SAMUEL Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
LATTEU, GARRET. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of a
Declaration in 1775.
LATUFF, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LAUCKS, ADAM. A magistrate of Tryon, now Montgomery,
County, New York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration of loyal
attachment to the crown, and expressed his abhorrence of
Whig proceedings.
LAUGHTON, HENRY. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774. He went to Halifax in 1776, and was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
LAWE, ROBERT. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
Rangers, Carolina.
LAWLER, WILLIAM DIGBY. In 1782 he was adjutant of the
Queen's Rangers.
LAWLESS, JOHN. Of Massachusetts. Went to England. In
1771) he was a Loyalist Addresser of the king.
LAWRENCE, JOHN. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the First
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He went to Upper Can
ada, and died there about the year 1820.
LAWRENCE. The following, of Queen's County, New York,
signed a Representation and Petition to Lord Richard and
General William Howe, acknowledging allegiance, October,
1776, namely : — Abraham, Leonard, John, Silas, William
junior, Caleb, Stephen, Somerset, Robert, Jordan, Joseph,
Stephen junior, Daniel, Isaac, Thomas, Clarke, Joseph, Ja
cobus, Obadiah, Abraham. In April, 1779, Joseph and
Thomas Lawrence were Addressers of Lieutenant Colonel
Sterling, of the Forty-Second Regiment. A Colonel Law
rence commanded a corps of Loyalists ; and in 1777 was sur
prised at his own house, on Staten Island, and with several
officers, and about eighty privates, captured, and carried to
New Jersey. At this time he had just completed embodying
416 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
•
a force. There was also a Captain Lawrence of New York,
who commanded a party of marauders. Richard Lawrence,
who was bom on Staten Island, settled in New Brunswick in
1783, and died at St. John, 1846, after a long and severe ill
ness, at the age of eighty-two.
LAWSON, LAWRENCE. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
LAWTON, ISAAC. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. He died
there, 1810, aged eighty.
LAWTON, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. Settled in New Bruns
wick in 1783, and died at St. John in 1846, aged eighty-nine,
leaving a large circle of relatives and friends.
LAWTON, THOMAS. Of Rhode Island. Was a grantee of St.
John, New Brunswick, and died there in 1803.
LAWTON, WILLIAM. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
LAYNE, JOHN. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of the
Association.
LAYTON, JAMES. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
LAYTON, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LAZARUS, SAMUEL. Embarked at Boston with the British
army, for Halifax, in 1776.
LEAKE, ROBERT. Of New York. His property was confis
cated.
LEAVENS, JOSEPH. He was an early settler of Canada, an
emigrant from New York, and, as I suppose, a Loyalist. He
was long a preacher of the Society of Friends, and was highly
beloved. He died at Hallowell, Canada West, May, 1844,
aged ninety-two.
LECHMERE, RICHARD. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutch-
inson in 1774 ; was appointed Mandamus Councillor, but did
not qualify ; was proscribed and banished in 1778, and in
cluded in the conspiracy act of 1779. He went to Halifax in
1776, and thence to England.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 417
LEDDLE, HENRY. Book-keeper, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774. He went to Halifax in 1776, and was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
LEE, JOSEPH. Of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Judge of
Common Pleas for the County of Middlesex, and Mandamus
Councillor ; died at Cambridge. December, 1802, at the age of
ninety-three years. Though a Loyalist, he was not warm in
his political sentiments, and escaped particular notice from the
Sons of Liberty. Of the thirty-six gentlemen appointed to the
Council, by mandamus, only ten were sworn in; of whom
Mr. Lee was one ; but he found it prudent to resign the office.
He was a graduate of Harvard University, and a member of
the class of 1729.
LEE, JOSEPH and JOHN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Were Addressers of Hutchinson in 1774. Henry, of Boston,
was a Protester against the Whigs the same year.
LEE, ENOS, JOHN, WILLIAM, NATHANIEL, and SILAS. Of Fair-
field County, Connecticut. Were members of the Reading
Association.
LEE, JOSEPH and GEORGE. Of New Jersey. Joseph was a
captain, and George an ensign, in the Second Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
LEE, NEHEMIAH. Residence unknown. Died at St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1804. Joseph Lee, a Loyalist, and pro
bably from New Jersey, was a magistrate, County of York,
New Brunswick, in 1792.
LEE, RICHARD. Of Maryland. Went to England. He was
in London, July, 1779.
LEE, SAMUEL. He entered the military service, and was an
officer. After the Revolution he retired to New Brunswick,
received half-pay, and filled several public stations. He died
at or near Fredericton. Sarah, his widow, died at Roxbury,
Massachusetts, in 1831.
LEESH, GEORGE. Of Boston. A Protester against the Whigs
in 1774.
LEFFERTS, JOSEPH and ISAAC. Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
418 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
LEGGE, BENJAMIN. Of South Carolina. Held an office un
der the crown after the fall of Charleston. He was banished,
and lost his estate under the confiscation act.
LEGGE, EDWARD, Junior. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
Was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton. Was banished, and
lost his estate under the confiscation act.
LEGGE, EDWARD, Senior. Of South Carolina. Was fined
twelve per cent, of the value of his property in 1782.
LEGGETT, JOHN. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
LEGGETT, JOHN. Of North Carolina. In 1779 his property
was confiscated. In 1782 he was a captain in the North Car
olina Volunteers.
LEIGH, SIR EGERTON, Baronet. Of South Carolina. He
was Attorney-general, Surveyor-general, and a member of
the Council of that Colony. Before the Revolution, he was
created a baronet. His father was a Chief Justice of South
Carolina. His second wife was the daughter of Henry Lau-
rens, a distinguished Whig, who was President of Congress,
commissioner to Holland, and a commissioner with Franklin,
Adams, and Jay, for negotiating a peace at Paris.
LENTHWAIT, WILLIAM. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, 1783.
LEONARD, DANIEL. Of Taunton, Massachusetts. Gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1760, and died in London, June,
1829, aged eighty-nine years. He was bred to the law. He
became a member of the General Court, and a political writer
of merit. In 1774 he was one of the barristers and attornies
who were Addressers of Hutchinson, and the same year was
appointed a Mandamus Councillor, but was not sworn into
office. Bullets were fired into his house by a mob, and he
took refuge in Boston. In 1776 he accompanied the British
army to Halifax. He was included in the banishment act of
1778, and in the conspiracy act of ] 779. After leaving America,
he was Chief Justice of the Bermudas. A series of papers
signed " Massachusettensis," which John Adams, as " Novan-
glus," answered, were for a long time attributed to Jonathan
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 419
Sewall. but it is now well ascertained that they were written
by Mr. Leonard. " Massachusettensis" bear dates between
December, 1774, and April, 1775 ; " Novanglus," between
January and April, 1775. Both were reprinted in 1819, with,
a preface by Mr. Adams, and some other letters.
LEONARD, GEORGE. Of Massachusetts. He settled in New
Brunswick in 1783, and was much employed in public affairs.
The year of his arrival, he was appointed one of the agents of
government to locate lands granted to Loyalists, and was soon
after made a member of the Council of the Colony, and com
missioned as a colonel in the militia. He died at Sussex Vale
in 1826, at an old age. Sarah, his consort, preceded him a
year, aged eighty-one. His daughter Caroline married R.
M. Jarvis, Esquire, in 1805 ; and his daughter Maria married
Lieutenant Gustavus R. H. M. Rochfort, of the Royal Navy,
in 1814. His son, Colonel Richard Leonard, of the 104th
Regiment of the British Army, and sheriff of the District of
Niagara, died at Lundly's Lane, Upper Canada, in 1833.
LEONARD, GEORGE, Junior. Son of George Leonard. He
was a grantee of the city of St. John, New Brunswick, and
removed there with his father in 1783. He was bred to the
law, and devoted himself to his profession. He died at Sus
sex Vale in 1818.
LEONARD, GEORGE. A miller, of Boston. Was an Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. He went to
Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
LEONARD, GEORGE. Of New York. He entered the royal
army, and was a sergeant. He emigrated to New Brunswick
at the peace, and died at Deer Island in that Colony in 1829,
aged seventy-two. His descendants are numerous.
LEONARD, JEREMIAH. Of Massachusetts. Was a member of
the General Court in 1773, and was one of the four who voted
against the resolves of Mr. Adams, which declared that an
union of the Colonies was necessary to resist the systematic
attempts of the ministry to invade their rights and liberties.
LEONARD, SAMUEL. Was a captain in the First Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers ; and John Leonard was an ensign in
the Second Battalion of the same corps.
420
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
LEONARD, THOMAS. Of Freehold, Monmouth County, New-
Jersey. In April, 1775, the Whig Committee of Inspection
averred, that " every friend to true freedom ought immediately
to break off all connexion and dealings with him, and treat him
as a foe to the rights of America." He settled in St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, and was a grantee of the city.
LESSENCE, ISAAC. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LEVERICH. In 1776, John and W. professed loyalty and
allegiance. In 1779, John and Samuel were Addressers of
Lieutenant Colonel Sterling. All of Queen's County, New
York.
LEWIS, CAPTAIN . He commanded a band of Loyalists.
Towards the close of the war, he and Colonel Peter Horry, of
Marion's corps, met in deadly conflict. Lewis was armed
with a musket, while the Whig officer's only weapon was a
small sword. When in the act of firing at Horry, Lewis was
shot from the woods by a boy of the name of Gwin, and fell
dead from his horse.
LEWIS, CURTIS. Of Chester County, Pennsylvania. His
estate was confiscated in 1779.
LEWIS, JOHN. An officer of the Customs, at Boston. Em
barked with the royal army for Halifax in 1776.
LEWIS, THOMAS. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Was an
Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
LEWIS, WAITSTILL. Residence unknown. Died at Yarmouth,
Nova Scotia, in 1838, aged eighty-three.
LEWIS, WILLIAM. Residence unknown. Was a grantee of
St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
LEYDICK, GODFREY. He went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. In
1792 he was sergeant at arms of the House of Assembly.
LEYDICKER, SAMUEL. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, 1783.
LIBER, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LIGHTFOOT, RICHARD. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, 1783. He became a merchant.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 421
LIGHTLY, WILLIAM. Probably an inhabitant of Connecticut.
In 1775 he was employed by Joshua Winslow, Esquire, a dis
tinguished Loyalist of Boston, to proceed in the Brigantine
Nancy from Stonington to New York, — and thence, as was
supposed, to Boston, — with a cargo of molasses. The Pro
vincial Congress of Massachusetts addressed Governor Trtim-
bull of Connecticut on the subject, and suggested the propriety
of detaining both vessel and merchandise, " rather than to
suifer them to fall into the hands of General Gage, when they
would be improved to the support of our enemies." At this
time (July 12, 1775) Lightly had been seized, was then in
custody, and ordered to be committed to jail at Concord, Mas
sachusetts. From a letter of Governor Trumbull to Washing
ton, at a subsequent period, it appears that the vessel and
molasses were removed to Norwich, and placed in the care of
the Committee of Inspection and Correspondence. This inci
dent, besides introducing the name of Lightly, will serve to
show the manner of disposing of the property of Loyalists.
LIGHTON, JOHN. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, 1822,
aged seventy.
LILLIE, THEOPHILUS. Merchant, of Boston. He was one of
those denounced as Importers, contrary to the non-importation
agreement, made by two hundred and eleven merchants and
traders in 1768, and renewed by the principal part of that
number in 1 770. On the 22d of February, of the last named
year, some persons erected near his store a large wooden head,
fixed on a pole, on which the faces of several Importers were
carved. One Richardson, who was regarded as an Informer,
endeavored to persuade some countrymen with teams to run
the post down, but they, understanding the nature of the
pageantry, declined. Richardson foolishly attempted to pos
sess himself of the teams, when a crowd of boys pelted him,
and drove him into his house. A multitude gathered, noise,
angry words, and the throwing of stones followed ; and Rich
ardson, finally, discharged one musket from his door, and
another from his window. Christopher Snider, a boy of eleven,
received a mortal wound in his breast, and was the first mar-
36
422
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
tyr of liberty. He was buried on the 26th ; four or five hun
dred schoolboys, in couples, preceding his remains ; six of his
playfellows supporting his pall; his relatives, about thirteen
hundred of the inhabitants, and thirty chariots and chaises,
following in procession. From this imposing funeral until
March 5th, Boston was in a state of commotion, and on the
evening of that day occurred the affray between the people
and the soldiers, which is known as the Boston Massacre.
Liilie was an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774 ; and went to
Halifax in 1776, at the evacuation.
LINDALL, HENRY. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage in 1775.
LINDER, JOHN, Senior. Of South Carolina. Estate confis
cated.
LINDER, JOHN, Junior. Of South Carolina. In commission
under the crown, after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
LINDSEY, CHARLES STEWART. In 1782 he was captain of in
fantry in the South Carolina Royalists.
LINDSEY, ROBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; also a Petitioner to be
armed on the side of the crown. He was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated.
LINKLETTER, ALEXANDER. Embarked at Boston, with the
British army, for Halifax in 1776.
LINN, JOHN. He was a native of Maryland, but emigrated
to New Jersey about sixty years prior to his death, and died
at Belvedere in that State, June 28, 1841, aged one hundred
and eight years. He remembered the boyhood of Washing
ton ; but in consequence of his political attachments, was not
fond of speaking of the events of the Revolution. He was a
carpenter, and, when a young man, assisted in building a log
Court House near the site of the city of Washington.
LINT, or LENT, JACOBUS, ABRAHAM, and DANIEL. Of Queen's
County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance October, 1776.
The names of Jacob and Abraham Lent appear on an Address
to Lieutenant Colonel Sterling of the Forty-second Regiment,
April, 1779.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 423
LIPPINCOTT, RICHARD. A captain in the service of the crown.
He murdered the Whig captain Joshua Huddy, and obtained
an infamous and general notoriety for the deed, both in Amer
ica and Europe. In March, 1782, the Whigs had made a
Tory prisoner, of the name of Philip White, and while con
veying him to camp, he attempted to escape ; though warned
to stop, he continued to run, until he was cut down. Soon
after, Lippincott was sent by the Board of Loyalists at New
York to Middleton-point, or Sandy Hook, with Huddy and
two other prisoners, where he was directed to exchange them.
Orrhis return, he reported that he had exchanged the two as
he was ordered, and that " Huddy had been exchanged for
Philip White; " when in fact he had hung Huddy in retalia
tion, and of his own authority, on a tree on the Jersey shore.
Washington immediately demanded of Sir Henry Clinton that
Lippincott should be surrendered, but the Board of Loyalists
interposed, and the demand was refused. Washington then
determined to retaliate on a prisoner in his possession, and se
lected by lot, captain Asgill, of the guards, the heir and hope
of an ancient family of England, and fixed the time for his
execution. Asgill's mother, on learning the condition of her
son, implored Vergennes, the French minister, to interfere to
save him. Her pathetic appeal was published, and excited
sympathy throughout England and France. The unfortunate
youth was finally released by order of Congress, and lived to
become Sir Charles Asgill, and a general in the British army ;
he died in 1823, aged seventy. The fate of Lippincott is un
known ; but after Washington had failed in his application to
Clinton, Captain Hyler, a famed partisan leader in nautical
adventures, projected an enterprise to capture him. On inquiry,
Hyler ascertained that Lippincott resided in a well-known
house in Broad Street, New York, and in disguise, proceeded
to the city in the night, and leaving his boat at Whitehall in
charge of his men, went directly to the miscreant's abode, but
he was absent, "and gone to a cock-pit." Hyler, not to be
foiled entirely, went on board of a sloop at anchor off the Bat
tery, cut her cables, hoisted her sails, and by day-light, had
424 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
carried her to Elizabethtown, and landed her cargo, which
consisted of forty hogsheads of rum.
LISTER, BENJAMIN. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in De Lan-
cey's Second Battalion. He settled in New Brunswick at the
close of the war, and in 1784 a lot was granted to him in the
city of St. John. In the winter of 1803, while travelling in
a sleigh on the ice, he broke through and was drowned. He
received half-pay.
LISTER, THOMAS. He entered the military service of the
crown, and in 1782 was a captain in De Lancey's Third Bat*
talion. At the peace he settled in New Brunswick, and was
a major in the militia. After a residence of some years in
that Colony, he returned to the United States. He received
half-pay.
LITHGOW, ROBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LITTLE, JAMES. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 the Council
ordered, that failing to appear and be tried for treason, he
should stand attainted.
LITTLE, STEPHEN. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished by act of 1778.
LITTLE, . Of Massachusetts, and probably of Pitts-
field. In 1775 his conduct drew upon him the indignation of
the Whigs, and when a hue and cry was raised against him,
he fled to New York for safety.
LIVERMORE, JONATHAN. Of New Hampshire. He was born
in Northborough, Massachusetts, in 1739, and graduated at
Harvard University in 1760. In 1763 he was ordained at
Wilton. In 1777 he was dismissed from his people, in conse
quence of political differences. He died at Wilton in 1809, in
his eightieth year.
LIVINGSTON, HENRY. In 1782 he was a lieutenant of cavalry
in the South Carolina Royalists.
LIVINGSTON. Of New York. In the divisions of families, some
of this name adhered to the crown. John, junior, was seized
by the Whig Committee of Jamaica in 1776, and sent prisoner
to the city. Congress required that he should ask pardon of
the Committee, which he refused, when he was sent to jail.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 425
LIVINGSTON, GILBERT. Was a captain in Arnold's American
Legion.
LIVINGSTON, JOHN W. Entered the service, and in 1782 was
a captain in the King's American Regiment.
LIVINGSTON, PHILIP J. He gave notice in 1780 to " those
who have petitioned for houses and lands of persons in rebel
lion," to call on him at Hell Gate, " and receive answers to
their petitions." The object was, to relieve the loyal subjects
driven from their possessions, by dividing among them the
property of the rebels, in small lots, and in proportion to the
number of claimants from the destitute refugee families. In
1783 he was a petitioner for lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah
Willard.
LIVIUS, PETER. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A mem
ber of the Council under the royal government ; was pro
scribed by the act of 1778, and died in England in 1795,
aged, it is supposed, about sixty-eight years. Of the members
of the Council of New Hampshire, in 1772, seven were rela
tives of the Governor. Having been left out of commission
as a Justice of the Common Pleas, on the division of the
province into Counties, when new appointments were made,
and dissenting from the views of the Council as to the dispo
sition of reserved lands in grants made by a former governor,
Livius went to England, and exhibited to the lords of trade,
several and serious charges against the administration of which
he was a member. These charges were rigidly investigated,
but were finally dismissed. Livius appears, however, to have
gained much popularity among those in New Hampshire who
were opposed to the governor, and who desired his removal ;
and was appointed, by their influence, Chief Justice of the
Province. But as it was thought that the appointment, under
the circumstances, was likely to produce discord, he was trans
ferred to a more lucrative office in the province of Quebec.
Livius was of foreign extraction, and, as would seem, a gen
tleman of strong feelings. He wrote to General John Sullivan
from Canada, to induce him to abandon the Whig cause.
The letter was published. Mr. Livius possessed a handsome
36*
426 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
fortune. He was educated abroad, but received an honorary
degree from Harvard University in 1767.
LLOYD, HENRY. Of Boston. Agent of the contractors for
supplying the royal army ; was an Addresser of Gage in 1775.
In 1776 he went to Halifax, and was proscribed and banished
in 1778.
LLOYD, HENRY. Of New York. Brother of James Lloyd.
He was born August 6, 1709. He was attainted, and in the
act is denominated, " Henry Lloyd, the elder, late of Massa
chusetts Bay." Some time after the confiscation of his estate,
his brother John purchased it of the commissioners of forfeit
ures. The Lloyds were ancient and extensive land owners,
the manor of Queen's Village; Long Island, having been in
possession of the family as early as 1679.
LLOYD, JAMES. Of Boston. He was born on Long Island
in 1728 ; was educated in Connecticut ; studied medicine for
a time in Boston ; attended the London hospitals two years ;
and, returning to Boston in 1752, obtained an extensive prac
tice. A moderate Loyalist, he remained in that town while
occupied by the British troops, zealously devoted to his profes
sion. In 1789 he went to England in order to obtain compen
sation for losses incurred in the Revolution, but would not
consent to become a British subject, nor express an intention
to become such, and was unsuccessful. He was an Episcopa
lian, and worshipped at Trinity Church. Of a noble mind,
he dispensed charity with a liberal hand, and professionally,
was extremely kind to those who were unable to pay for his
services. He died in 1810, aged eighty- two. He was an
Addresser of Gage in 1775, but seems not to have been mo
lested. His son, Honorable James Lloyd, was Senator to Con
gress from Massachusetts.
LLOYD, SAMUEL. Clerk of the Customs. Embarked at Bos
ton with the British army in 1776, for Halifax.
LOCKLIN, MARTIN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. In June,
1775, he was tarred and feathered, and carted through the
streets of that city. It is believed that he and Dealey, who
was his companion in this punishment, were the first victims
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 427
to tar and feathers in South Carolina. The Secret Committee
of Charleston was at this time composed of the most distin
guished Whigs, and they must — from the circumstances —
have permitted, if they did not directly authorize, the outrage.
LOCOOK, AARON. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. Was banished in 1782,
and his property was confiscated. He was a member of the
Provincial Congress in 1775, when his sympathies, very pro
bably, were with the Whigs.
LODER, JACOB. Died at Sheffield, New Brunswick, 1817,
aged seventy-one years.
LOFLAND, DORMAND. Sheriff of the County of Sussex, Del
aware. Unless he should surrender himself on or before the
1st of August, 1778, and abide a legal trial for treason, it was
enacted by a law of that year, that his estate would be for
feited.
LONGFELLOW, SAMUEL. Mariner, of Palmouth, now Portland,
Maine. Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
LONGWORTH, ISAAC. One of the fifty-five Loyalists who
petitioned for lands in Nova Scotia in July, 1783. See Abijah
Willard.
LOOSEE, NICHOLAS. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of a
Declaration in 1775*
LOOSLEY, CHARLES. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
LORD, CHARLES. He was at Halifax in July, 1776, a Loy
alist Refugee.
LORING, JOSHUA. Of Massachusetts. He was proscribed
and banished. He was in the king's service during some part
of the war, and a commissary of prisoners. The writers of
the time charge him with cruelties to the unfortunate Whigs,
of whom he had the care, that are beyond all example in civ
ilized countries. But it may not be easy to fix upon his
exact responsibility; yet a humane man could never have
been so unconditionally odious. He died in England in 1782.
LORING, JOSHUA, Junior. Merchant, of Dorchester, Massa
chusetts. An Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage
428 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
in 1775. In 1776 he went to Halifax, and was proscribed and
banished in 1778.
LORRAIN, WILLIAM. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. He died
there in 1803.
LOSEE, SIMON. Of Long Island, New York. He arrived
at St. John, New Brunswick, with his wife, in the ship Union,
in 1783.
LOTT. Signers of the Declaration at Jamaica, New York,
in 1775, were Abraham, Stephen, Johannes, and Jacob. Ste
phen, Johannes H., Jacob, and Abraham, of Queen's County,
acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. The loyalty of the
Lotts occasioned them no little trouble. In August, 1781,
some Whigs, in a whale boat, went to the residence of Colonel
Abraham Lott, from New Jersey, and robbed him of about
six thousand pounds, and carried off two slaves. The same
or another, and a similar lawless and inexcusable act, is re
lated as follows. The noted Captain Hyler surprised Colonel
Lott in his house at night, and himself and two of his negroes
were taken prisoners to New Brunswick. The Colonel had
been treasurer of New York, and a contractor for supplying
the ships of war, and was known to be rich ; and plunder was
the object of his Whig captors. They found some silver in a
cupboard, and in the course of their search, two bags which
they supposed contained guineas. After their departure, and
while going up the Raritan, they agreed to divide their booty;
but to their disappointment the bags were found to contain
only half-pennies, which belonged to the church at Flatlands.
Determined, however, to make the best of the exploit, Colonel
Lott was compelled to ransom his slaves, when he was himself
released, and permitted to return home. During the same
year, the house of Captain Lott, of Flatbush, was robbed of
a considerable sum in specie, by a party from New Jersey.
LOUGHBOROUGH, JOHN. Of the manor of Moorland, Penn
sylvania. The Council in 1778 ordered, that unless he surren
dered himself and submitted to be tried for treason, he should
stand attainted.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 429
LOVE, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LOVEBURY, JONATHAN. Of New York. In June of 1783 he
was preparing to embark for Nova Scotia.
LOVELACE, THOMAS. In 1781 he was found within the
American lines with a British commission in his possession ;
and by order of General Stark, who had established his head
quarters at Saratoga, was brought before a court-martial, tried,
condemned, and executed, as a spy. He had family connex
ions in the neighborhood, who sought to avert his fate by
addressing a remonstrance to the Commander-in-chief, but
Washington refused to interfere. The country included in
Stark's command was, at this time, overrun with spies and
traitors. Of a band of these miscreants, Lovelace was the
commander.
LOVELL, BENJAMIN. Of Boston. Graduated at Harvard
University in 1774. He retreated to Halifax, and finally to
England, where he was settled in the ministry, and died
March, 1828, aged seventy-three years. He was the youngest
son of John Lovell.
LOVELL, JOHN. Of Boston. He graduated at Harvard
University in 1728. After some years of service as assistant
of the South grammar, or Latin school, he was placed at the
head of it in 1738. He was the master nearly forty years, and
many of the principal Whigs of Massachusetts had been his
pupils. He accompanied the British army to Halifax at the
evacuation, and died at that place in 1778, aged about seventy.
He was a good scholar, a rigid disciplinarian, yet humorous,
and an agreeable companion. His son James was a Whig,
and it is a singular circumstance, that the father went to Nova
Scotia a Loyalist, while the son was a prisoner of his protec
tors, and both were at Halifax at the same time. James,
after his release, returned to Boston, and was elected a member
of Congress. He was Collector of Boston under the confeder
ation, and afterwards under the present constitution, naval
officer of Boston and Charlestown. He died in that office in
1814, aged seventy-six. It is worthy of mention, that Master
430 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Lovell delivered the first Address in the Cradle of Liberty in
1743. The occasion was on the death of Peter Faneuil, Esq.,
the founder; and in the course of his funeral oration, Mr.
Lovell said : " May this Hall be ever sacred to the interests of
Truth, of Justice, of LOYALTY, of Honor, of Liberty. May
no private views, nor party broils, ever enter within these
walls." Thus was Faneuil Hall dedicated.
LOWNSBURY, JOHN. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, 1783.
Low, ISAAC. Of New York. He favored the popular cause,
and was indeed a prominent Whig. He made a judicious
speech at a public meeting of the merchants of New York
in May, 1774, and was an active member of the committee of
fifty, appointed to correspond with our sister Colonies. In a
published appeal to the people at that period, Mr. Low used
the following spirited language. " Let us," said he, "with
the brave Romans, consider our ancestors and our offspring.
Let us follow the example of the former, and set an example
to the latter. Let us not be like the sluggish people, who,
through a love of ease, 'bowed themselves, and became servants
to tribute,' and whom the inspired prophet, their father, justly
compared to asses. Had I the voice which could be heard
from Canada to Florida, I would address the Americans in the
language of the Roman patriot,'' &c.
Mr. Low was elected a member of the first Continental
Congress, and took his seat in that body, and participated in
its proceedings. He signed the Association, October 20, 1774,
and later in the session, the Address to the Inhabitants of the
Province of Quebec. He was a member of the New York
Provincial Congress in 1775, for the city and county of New
York, but his name soon after disappears from the revolution
ary history. In 1782, he was President of the New York
Chamber of Commerce. He was attainted, and his property
was confiscated. He went to England. In consequence of
his course in the early part of the struggle, his application to
be compensated for his losses as a Loyalist, was not at first
favorably considered.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 431
Low, JACOBUS. Of Ulster County, New York. In April,
1775, he was admonished by the Whig Committee to discon
tinue the sale of Tea ; but he declared that he had and would
sell Tea; whereupon a public meeting published him to the
country, as an enemy to the rights and liberties of America.
Low, JOHN. Died at St. Andrew, New Brunswick, June,
1844, aged ninety-two years. He emigrated to that town
when it was an unbroken wilderness.
LOWE, CHARLES. Embarked at Boston, with the British
army, for Halifax in 1776.
LUDLAM, DANIEL, NICHOLAS, HENRY, Junior, HENRY, JOSEPH,
THOMAS, and WILLIAM, Senior. Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged allegiance October, 1776. Nicholas
had signed a Declaration of loyalty in 1775. Ephraim Lud-
lam, of Queen's County, had also performed the same act.
LUDLOW, CARY. Of New York. Was Surrogate and Mas
ter in Chancery in the city, in 1782.
LUDLOW, GABRIEL G. Of New York. He entered the mili
tary service of the crown, and in 1782 was colonel and com
mandant of De Lancey's Third Battalion. He went to New
Brunswick at the peace, and filled various public stations. In
1792 he held the office of Judge of Vice- Admiralty, and was
a member of the Council of the Colony, and a colonel in the
militia. In 1803 Governor Carlton embarked for England,
when Colonel Ludlow was sworn in as commander-in-chief.
He died in 1S08, aged seventy-two. Ann, his widow, died at
Carlton, New Brunswick, in 1822, at the age of eighty. Fran
ces, his second daughter, died at New York in 1840, aged
seventy-four.
LUDLOW, GEORGE DUNCAN. Of New York. He served an
apprenticeship with an apothecary, but disliking the business,
resolved to study law. In consequence of sickness, his tongue
was too large and his speech defective, and his friends, antici
pating his certain failure at the bar, opposed his design. But
he persisted and completed his studies. Those who were in
terested in his success, attended Court on the first trial of his
powers, predicting as they went, that his discomfiture and
432 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
their own mortification were certain. Much to their surprise,
he was fluent, and argued the case intrusted to him with
great skill and judgment. His rise was rapid ; and at the
Revolutionary era, he was one of the Judges of the Supreme
Court, and one of the most considerable characters in the
Colony. In 1779 his house at Hempstead was plundered,
and it is said, that the Judge himself escaped heing made
prisoner, by getting upon the roof through the scuttle, and
hiding behind the chimney. In 1780 he was appointed Master
of the Rolls, and Superintendent of Police on Long Island,
" with powers or principles of Equity, to hear and determine
controversies, till civil government can take place." The
Whigs of New York formed a constitution as early as 1777,
organized a government, and appointed Judges ; but the party
who adhered to the crown, considered Judge Ludlow to be in
office until 1782, and indeed until the peace, when he was
compelled to leave the country. His seat at Hyde Park, and
his other property, passed to the State under the confiscation
act. He retired to New Brunswick in 1783, where he occu
pied the first place in public affairs. He was a member of the
first Council formed in that Colony, and as senior Councillor
administered the government ; and he was the first Chief Jus
tice of the Supreme Court. His place of residence was at
Fredericton, the capital, and he died there, February 12, 1808.
Frances, his widow, and daughter of Thomas Duncan, Es
quire, died at St. John in 1825, at the age of eighty-seven.
Elizabeth, his daughter, and wife of the Honorable John Rob
inson, of St. John, died in France in 1828.
LUDLOW, THOMAS. Of New York. Marshal of the Court
of Admiralty. He was in office near the close of the war.
LUGRIN, PETER. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1814,
aged sixty-one.
LUGRIN, SIMEON. At the peace was one of the grantees of
St. John, New Brunswick. He taught a school in that city.
LUMSDEN, GEORGE. Of New Haven, Connecticut. He, his
wife, and four children, arrived at St. John, New Brunswick,
in the ship Union, in the spring of 1782.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 433
LUTWYCHE, EDWARD GOLDSTONE. Of New Hampshire. He
was a gentleman of some consideration, and as early as 1767
commanded a regiment of militia. He fled to Boston, and in
1776 accompanied the British army to Halifax. In 1778 he
was proscribed and banished, and his estate confiscated. In
1780, Matthew Thornton, a signer of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, became the purchaser of his farm. He was at New
York in 1783, and a petitioner for a grant of lands in Nova
Scotia.
LYDE, BYFIELD. Of Boston. Graduated at Harvard Uni
versity in 1723. He was an Addresser of Hutchinson in
1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year, and
in 1775 an Addresser of Gage. In 1776 he accompanied the
royal army to Halifax, and died there the same year.
LYDE, EDWARD. Merchant, of Boston. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778.
LYDE, GEORGE. Of Boston. In 1770 he was appointed Col
lector of the Port of Falmouth, Maine, and continued there
until the commencement of the Revolution. The custom-house
at that period was kept in a dwelling-house at the corner of
King and Middle streets, and was burnt when Mowatt set fire
to the town in 1775. Mr. Lyde was an Addresser of Hutchin
son in 1774, and in 1778 was proscribed and banished.
LYMAN, DANIEL. Of New Haven, Connecticut. He accepted
a military commission under the crown, and in 1782 was a
captain in the Prince of Wales's American Volunteers. At
the peace he was a major. He settled in New Brunswick,
and was a member of the House of Assembly, and a magis
trate. He went to England, and died in London in 1809.
LYMAN, PHINEAS. Of Connecticut. A distinguished man, but
one of the most unfortunate in our history. He was born at
Durham in 1716, graduated at Yale College in 1738, was
appointed tutor in 1739, and continued in that oflice three
years, when he devoted himself to the profession of the law,
and became eminent. In civil life he was employed to adjust
a disputed boundary between Massachusetts and Connecticut,
and held the offices of representative to the Assembly, and
37
434 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
member of the Council. In 1755 he was appointed major
general and commander-in-chief of the Connecticut forces, and
was in service throughout the French war. In the battle of
Lake George, Sir William Johnson of New York, who com
manded, was soon wounded ; when Lyman maintained the
conflict for five hours, and was himself personally exposed the
whole time. But Sir William Johnson obtained the rewards
of the splendid victory, which was achieved over the French
by the Colonial troops on this occasion. In 1758 General
Lyman served with Abercrombie, and was with the gallant
and estimable Lord Howe when he was killed. In 1762
Lyman was again engaged in the important enterprise against
Havana, and was in command of the Colonial forces em
ployed in the expedition. His wisdom, integrity, bravery, and
military skill, won universal commendation. Several British
officers who had been his associates, solicited him to visit Eng
land after the peace ; and having connected himself with a
company composed principally of Colonial officers and soldiers,
who had been engaged in the war, and whose object was to
obtain a grant of lands of the British government on the
Mississippi and Yazoo, he accordingly went to the mother
country in 1763, as agent of these persons, who styled them
selves Military Adventurers. He remained in England for
eleven years, in all the misery, suspense, and anxiety, delay,
and false promises of attendance upon the Court, and a victim
to the suffering, which ever awaits the endeavors of a sensi
tive mind, employed in an arduous and unsuccessful undertak
ing. In a word, he well nigh sunk into hopeless imbecility ;
and rather than return to America without accomplishing his
purpose, he resolved to remain and die in England. But
about the year 1774 the grant was obtained. Many of the
original projectors were then dead, and others had become too
advanced in life, or so changed in circumstances, as to have
lost their desire to emigrate to a wilderness. But General
Lyman, soon after arriving in Connecticut from his embassy,
resolved upon carrying through an enterprise that had cost
him so much time and anxiety ; and in 1775, accompanied by
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 435
his oldest son and a few settlers, he arrived upon the land
which he had secured for himself and others of the company.
His preparatory arrangements were hardly made before he
died, at the age of fifty-nine. Yet, the year following, in
1776, Mrs. Lyman, attended hy her only brother, Colonel
Dwight, and her remaining children — the second son ex-
cepted — commenced and accomplished a journey to the same
country. She, a woman, who in endowments and education
was superior to most of her sex, had been broken down
during her husband's long absence, by the distresses in which
the family had become involved ; and died the same year.
Her brother lived only until the next summer. The survivors
continued in the country and in the neighborhood of Natchez
for several years. When it was invaded by the Spaniards in
1781 and in 1782, they abandoned it, and attempted to make
their way to Savannah. The war, and their political sympa
thies, rendered a direct journey dangerous ; and they accord
ingly selected a route which caused them to travel upwards of
thirteen hundred miles, and occupied one hundred and forty-
nine days. They were all mounted on horseback, but the
ruggedness of the ground often required them to travel long
distances on foot. Women and children, and infants at the
breast, formed a part of the returning and suffering band.
Some were sick, all endured the most exhausting fatigue,
were in constant dread of meeting with savages, and were
sometimes without sufficient food and water. After reaching
Georgia, the party formed themselves into two companies.
One division became the prisoners of the Whigs ; the other,
after surmounting many difficulties, reached Savannah in
safety. The captives were soon released. Among those who
arrived at Savannah, were two daughters of General Lyman,
both of whom died at that place. Such was the calamitous
issue of the life of a gentleman, who enjoyed before the Revo
lution a reputation possessed by few of our countrymen ; such,
too, the sad end of several members of his family.
LYMAN. The five sons of General Phineas Lyman adhered
to the crown. Four were alive at the close of the contest ;
436 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of whom three accompanied their mother as already related ;
but of them little else is known. All were born and educated
to high hopes. The ascertained fate of two, will show how
prematurely their prospects declined, and how utterly the ex
pectations of their youth were blasted. The eldest son of
General Lyman was educated at Yale College, and received a
commission in the British army, but he resigned, and devoted
himself to the study of the law. The distresses consequent
upon the long absence of his father, and various other causes,
combined to ruin his health ; and when the parent finally
returned, he found him in a state of confirmed insanity. In
the hope that a change of scene and climate would conduce to
his restoration, the afflicted father took him to West Florida.
But the broken-hearted maniac died in 1775, soon after com
pleting the journey. The second son was sent to England in
1774, by his grief- worn mother, to solicit his father to remain
no longer abroad ; and while there, received a commission in
the British army. Soon after his return, he was ordered to
join his regiment at Boston ; and repairing thither, he con
tinued in service until 1782, when he sold his commission.
His disappointments and mental sufferings had rendered him
almost reckless of pecuniary affairs, and receiving a part of
the purchase money, he gave credit for the balance, and lost it
by neglect ; and lending a considerable part of what he did
receive, without taking evidence of the loan, he returned to
Connecticut nearly pennyless. He was urged to take a school,
and consented. But he made no effort to collect the payments
which became due for his services, and failed to provide him
self with articles of necessity, from the scanty funds that came
into his possession. His friends, when his clothing had be
come indecent, bought and carried him garments of which he
stood in need ; but he was too sad, too sorely stricken, to wear
them; and in a little time "joined his friends in the grave."
Thus ended the career of the fourth child of General Lyman,
and of a man who was "brilliant, gay, and ingenious, beyond
most of mankind." The ultimate fate of the three who re
turned with the survivors of the Military Adventurers, as
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 437
related in the notice of the father, is unknown. One of them,
at the evacuation of Georgia by the royal forces, went to New
York, and subsequently to Connecticut, for the purpose of dis
posing of the remains of his father's estate ; another retired to
Nova Scotia ; and the third went to New Providence. Of a
truth, this was a doomed family.
LYNAH, JAMES. A physician, of South Carolina. He was
in commission under the crown after the fall of Charleston in
1780, and his estate was confiscated. In 1809 there died at
Charleston, Doctor James Lynah, physician and director-
general of all the military hospitals in South Carolina.
LYNCH, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
LYNDE, BENJAMIN. Of Salem. Chief Justice of Massachu
setts. He graduated at Harvard University in 1718. For
many years he was a member of the Council. He presided at
the trial of Captain Preston, who was held to answer to the
tribunals for the Boston Massacre, so called, in 1770. In 1772
Mr. Lynde resigned his seat on the bench. In 1774 he was
one of the Salem Addressers of Gage. He died in 1781, aged
eighty-one. His father was the Honorable Benjamin Lynde,
a Chief Justice of Massachusetts, who died in 1745, aged
seventy-nine.
LYON, ENOCH. Of New Jersey. Was a lieutenant in the
Second Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
LYON, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton.
LYON, SYLVANUS. Of Westchester County, New York. Was
a Protester in 1775.
LYON. Of Connecticut. Eleven persons of this name were
members of the Reading Association. Lieutenant Peter, and
Lieutenant Daniel, Jabez, Eli, and John, of Reading ; Joseph,
Jonathan, Thomas, Jesse, Ebenezer, and Gershom junior, of
Fairfield Comity. A number of the Connecticut Lyons, and
two of the above, settled in New Brunswick ; thus, John, John
junior, Reuben, and Joseph, arrived at St. John in the spring
of 1783, in the ship Union ; and Hezekiah arrived the same
37*
438 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
year, and was a grantee of the city. John was accompanied
by his wife and five children. John, junior, died in Kingston,
New Brunswick, in 1845, aged eighty-three, and left many
descendants.
MABEE, JACOB. Of New York. Fled to the British lines,
thence to the city of New York, where he remained during
the war. At the peace of 1783, he retired to St. John, New
Brunswick, and thence to St. Stephen in the same Province,
at which place he died about the year 1820, aged upwards of
eighty years. His property in New York was confiscated.
His son Solomon was impressed into the British navy, and
served during the contest ; at its close he went to St. Stephen,
but removed to Eastport, Maine, in 1795, and died there in
1828, aged sixty-six years. His son William still survives
(1844), and resides at St. Stephen.
MABEE, WILLIAM. Of New York. Arrived at St. John, New
Brunswick, in the ship Union, in the spring of 1783. Jasper
died in that city, very aged, in 1822. Jeremiah died at Kings
ton, New Brunswick, 1824, aged eighty-five.
MACAULEY, JAMES. In 1782 he was surgeon's mate of the
Queen's Rangers,
MACBETH, ALEXANDER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
MACKAY, JOHN. Of North Carolina. Went to England. In
1779 he was an Addresser of the king.
MACKENZIE, ROBERT. Of Virginia. This gentleman was a
friend of Washington, and one of the very few of his letters
devoted to the subject of the revolutionary controversy, written
before the appeal to arms, was to him. It was dated at Phila
delphia, October 9, 1774; and Mr. Sparks, in a note, remarks
of Mackenzie, that "he had been a captain of the Virginia
regiment, commanded by Washington in the French war, and
a friendly intimacy seems always to have subsisted between
them. Mackenzie had obtained a commission in the regular
army, and was now attached to the forty-third regiment of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 439
foot. He was wounded at the battle of Bunker's Hill, while
fighting in that regiment." At a later period, there was a
Major Mackenzie of the Royal Welsh Fusileers, of which Sir
William Howe was the Colonel ; perhaps the same.
MACKNIGHT, THOMAS. Of North Carolina. He was a mem
ber of the Assembly under the royal government ; and so far
sided with the Whigs, as to take a seat in the Convention of
1775, which Governor Martin denounced. But he refused to
sanction the proceedings, and was censured by his associates,
in a Resolve of great severity and bitterness. Still a member
of the Assembly, he was placed on a committee with Hewes,
Hooper, and other Whigs, to frame an answer to the Gover
nor's speech. In 1779 his property was confiscated. He was
in England in 1784, a petitioner for relief.
MA GEE, HENRY. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778, the Council
required him to appear and take his trial for treason, or stand
attainted.
MAINWARING, EDWARD. A captain in the King's Rangers.
In November, 1782, he had retired to the Island of St. John,
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
MALCOLM, JOHN. A custom-house officer, at Portland, Maine.
Early in 1774 he was seized at Boston, tarred and feathered,
and carried through the streets in derision. A few days before
this occurrence he struck a tradesman, who, as he alleged, had
frequently insulted him, when a warrant was issued against
him ; but as the constable had not been able to find him, a
mob gathered about his house, and broke his windows. Mal
colm was in the house, and pushing his sword through a
broken window, wounded one of the assailants. The multitude
then made a rush, broke in, and finding him in a chamber,
lowered him by a rope into a cart, tore off his clothes, and
tarring and feathering him, dragged him through several
streets to the Liberty Tree, and thence to the gallows on
the Neck, where he was beaten and threatened with death.
Having been detained under the gallows for an hour, he
was conveyed to the extreme north part of the town, and
thence back to his house. He was kept stripped four hours,
440 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and was so bruised and benumbed by the cold, that his life
was despaired of. His offences — besides striking the person
above mentioned — appear to have consisted in seizing a vessel
at Portland for want of a register, and in using great freedom
and rudeness of speech at Boston, in condemning the proceed
ings of the Whigs.
MALLARD, THOMAS. During the war he was in the city of
New York. The following receipt has been preserved.
" New York, 13 Novbr. 1780. Rec'd by order of the Com
mander in Chief of Mr. Thomas Mallard thirty pounds, being
half a year's rent due the 1st inst. for No. 522 Hanover Square,
for the use express' d in said order.
JOHN SMYTH, Coll'r of rents."
£30:0:0
It may be remarked, that the above is one, probably, of
many hundred receipts given by John Smyth for payment of
rents while the royal army occupied New York. After the
evacuation, the question arose, whether the persons who had
occupied buildings under the authority of the British Com
mander-in-chief, could plead payments to Smyth in bar of
actions commenced against them by the owners. This ques
tion, before it was finally disposed of, caused much excitement
among the people, in the courts, and in the legislature. Mr.
Mallard settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and died at St.
John about the year 1803.
MALLERY, CALEB. Was a grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, 1783.
MALLERY, JOHN, JONATHAN, Junior, and NATHAN, Junior. Of
Fairfield County, Connecticut. Were members of the Reading
Association.
MALONY, MICHAEL. In 1775 he was sent prisoner from Long
Island, New York, to Massachusetts, and confined within the
limits of the town of Shrewsbury.
MANLOVE, BOAZ. Of Delaware. In 1778 it was enacted,
that, unless he should surrender himself for trial for treason
within a specified time, his property would be confiscated.
MANN, GEORGE. A gentleman of great wealth and influence,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
441
who resided in the interior of New York. He was distinguish
ed for his attachment to the royal cause, and the king's com
missioners met at his house for the purpose of administering
the oath of allegiance to the surrounding inhabitants. On one
occasion, in 1778, when upwards of one hundred had thus
signified their loyalty, and had been paraded before Mann's
door with the red badge upon their hats, and he had com
menced a most stirring and loyal oration, a body of Whig
cavalry dashed in, and spoiled the speech, and caused the
speedy flight of all present. Word was given to pursue Mann,
and bring him in alive if possible, but to bring him in, dead or
alive. Mann sheltered himself upon the top of a wheat-stack,
where he was discovered by the son of a Whig, a lad of six
teen, who made known the order, that if he did not surrender
he must be shot. Mann implored for mercy, but the stripling re
peated the terms. The boy's heart, however, failed him, for his
prisoner had lived a neighbor to his father, and had been kind
to him. It was night, and the rain descended in torrents, and
Mann contrived to escape to the mountains, where he remained
fifteen days. He subsequently gave himself up, on condition
made through friends, that he should receive no personal
harm, and was taken to Albany and kept in confinement
to the close of the war. His estate was not confiscated, and
he was suffered to repossess himself of it, arid to live and die
upon it.
MANN, JOHN. Of New York. Settled in Nova Scotia, and
had charge of a parish. He died at Newport, Nova Scotia,
1817, aged seventy-three.
MANNING, GEORGE. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
MANSFIELD, ISAAC. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774. A Loyalist of this name, and
a Sandemanian, died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1835, aged
eighty-four.
MANSFIELD, JOHN. In 1776 he was a Loyalist Refugee at
Halifax.
MANSFIELD, RICHARD. An Episcopal clergyman, in Connecti-
442 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
cut. He commenced his ministerial labors about the year
1748, and continued them without intermission until near the
close of 1775, when he was compelled to leave his people.
He had the care of two churches, and of the one hundred and
thirty families which composed his flock, one hundred and
ten of them were firm and steadfast friends to government, or
Loyalists. I suppose that Mr. Mansfield's two churches were
those in Derby and Oxford. He fled to Hempstead, New York.
In 1775 he was fifty- two years of age. He left his wife and
children in Connecticut ; of the latter, one was an infant just
weaned, four others were small, and four were adults.
MANROW, WILLIAM. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member
of the Association. David Manrow, of that town, was also
a member.
MANSON, DANIEL. In 1782 he was major of the North Car
olina Volunteers.
MANSON, THOMAS. An ensign in the North Carolina Vol
unteers.
MANYCH, ISAAC. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MARCHINGTON, PHILIP. Of Pennsylvania. His estate was
confiscated. He was at New York, some part of the war, a
merchant. He settled at Nova Scotia, and died at Halifax in
1808, aged seventy-two. His daughter Mary married Lieu
tenant Colonel John Wellsford, 101st Regiment, British Army,
and died at Halifax, 1842, at the age of fifty-six.
MARGISTON, WILLIAM. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783.
MARKS, NEHEMIAH. He was born at Derby, Connecticut.
Soon after the war commenced, he repaired to New York, and
engaged with the British commander there to act as a despatch
agent. At the peace he retired to Nova Scotia, but in the
spring of 1781, he settled at St. Stephen, New Brunswick,
where he died July, 1799, aged fifty-two years. His wife
Betsy died at the same place in 1812, aged sixty. Eight chil
dren survived him. His son Nehemiah, a highly enterprising
ship-owner of St. Stephen, is Lieutenant Colonel of Charlotte
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 443
County Militia, and a magistrate. His daughter Hannah
married General John Brewer, a distinguished citizen of Rob-
binstori, Maine.
MARK, LAWRENCE. In 1781 he was convicted as a spy, and
sentenced to death. After a respite of a few days, he was
executed at Philadelphia in November of that year.
MARSHALL, EMANUEL. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MARSHALL, JOHN. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick.
MARSHALL, JOSEPH. In 1782 he was a captain in the King's
Rangers, Carolina.
MARSHALL, WILLIAM. Pilot, of Philadelphia. In 1778 the
Council of Pennsylvania ordered, that he should stand attaint
ed, if he failed to appear and be tried for treason.
MARSTON, BENJAMIN. Son of Colonel Benjamin Marston, of
Salem, Massachusetts. Graduated at Harvard University in
1749, and died on the coast of Africa, while in the service of
the African Company, in 1793. He was a merchant at Mar-
blehead, and his name appears among the Addressers of Gov
ernor Hutchinson in 1774. He went to Halifax in 1776, and
was proscribed under the act of 1778.
MARTIN, JOHN. Of North Carolina. A captain in the North
Carolina Volunteers.
MARTIN, JOSIAH. He was a major in the British army, and,
on Governor Tryon's being transferred to New York in 1771,
was appointed Governor of North Carolina, and was the last
royal chief magistrate of the Colony. His first duty seems to
have been to conciliate the Regulators, who had been in open
rebellion and in arms, during the administration of his prede
cessor. His efforts were successful, and a very considerable
proportion, and perhaps a majority, of the Regulators, — sin
gular as is the fact, — adhered to the crown in the Revolution.
But Tryon had bequeathed the far more serious and general
controversy with the Whigs; and Martin soon became involved
in difficulties. In his last speech to the Assembly in April,
1775, he reviews the whole course of affairs at length, and
with more than common ability. The House returned a spir-
444 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ited answer, and he immediately dissolved it. As Governor
Martin had no military force, his sole dependence now, to carry
on the government, was on such of the Council as remained
faithful to the interests of the king. He proposed, or at least
suggested, the propriety of issuing writs for the election of a
new Assembly, but his advisers recommended delay. But he
commenced fortifying the palace, and the embodying of a force
of Loyalists. These hostile preparations, and the knowledge
that he had written to Gage at Boston for arms and ammunition,
soon produced an open rupture. Some bold Whigs seized and
carried off the cannon which he had planted, while he and
his council were in session, on the 24th of April. On that
day, the records of the royal government in North Carolina
cease ; and in the evening, Governor Martin fled to Fort John
ston, on the Cape Fear river. But the Whigs pursued, and
drove him from the Fort, to the king's sloop of war, the
Cruiser, from which ship, on the 8th of August, he issued a
proclamation, and one of the longest, probably, on record.
The battle of Moore's Creek, in which the Loyalists under
McDonald were defeated and dispersed by Colonel Caswell,
followed in February, 1776 ; arid Governor Martin, embarking
on board the fleet of Sir Peter Parker, arrived at Charleston,
South Carolina, early in June of that year. He retired, subse
quently, to New York, and died at Rockaway in November,
1778. His estate in North Carolina was confiscated. The
documents which relate to his administration, show that he
was a man of remarkable force and energy of character.
His age at his decease is stated at seventy-nine years ; but this
must be an error, as his father, Colonel Samuel Martin, was
alive in 1774, and wrote a spirited letter on public affairs.
MARTIN, JOSIAH. Of North Carolina. In 1782 was colonel
of the North Carolina Highland Regiment.
MARTIN, LAUGHLIN. Of South Carolina. Was tarred and
feathered at Charleston, and was ordered to depart to England.
Subsequently, on expressing his contrition for his offences,
he was allowed to remain in the city, and to pursue his avo
cation.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 445
MARTIN, SAMUEL. Of Virginia. Lost his estate under the
confiscation act. The British government, in considering the
claims of the Loyalists, fixed the value of the fee simple of
his landed property at £13,115, and of his life interest therein
at £6,500, and for the life interest gave him a certificate of
compensation. An attempt was made to secure the reversion,
estimated at £6,615, for his son, George Martin, but it is be
lieved that the Legislature of Virginia refused to interfere with
its previous act of confiscation, by which the whole interest
was presumed to be vested in the father.
MARTIN, STEPHEN. A physician, of Far Rockaway, New
York. Gave his parole of honor in 1776, that he would not
directly or indirectly oppose the Whigs.
MARTIN, WILLIAM, of Boston, and MICHAEL, of Brookfield,
Massachusetts. Were proscribed and banished in 1778.
MARVIN, JOHN. Of Norwalk, Connecticut. He arrived at
St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in the spring of
1783.
MASON, SAMUEL. Settled in New Brunswick. In 1795 he
was a member of the Loyal Artillery of St. John. He died in
that city, 1827, aged sixty-six years.
MASSEY, JAMES. Hatter, of Duck Creek, Delaware. Unless
he surrendered himself for trial on or before August 1, of 1778,
his estate was to become forfeit.
MASSINBIRD, GEORGE. Of North Carolina. In December.
1775, a Whig who had caught him in the course of his offi
cial excursions, carried him before the Council, and prayed that
condign punishment might be inflicted. But Massinbird played
the penitent, and was released.
MASSINGHAM, ISAAC. Petty officer of the Customs. He
embarked at Boston for Halifax with the British army in 1776.
MATHER, SAMUEL. Clerk of the Customs. In 1776 he em
barked at Boston for Halifax with the British army j anoT in
August of that year arrived in England.
MATHESON, ALEXANDER. Was quartermaster of the Queen's
Rangers.
38
446 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
MATHESON, CHARLES. An officer in the Queen's Rangers.
In 1783 he was a grantee of St. John, New Brunswick.
MATHEWS, DAVID. Of New York. He was mayor of the
city, and in 1782, Register of the Court of Admiralty. He
had a house in New York, and another in Flatbush, and kept
up an establishment at both. His estate was confiscated.
MATHEWS, FLETCHER. Of New York. During the war he
was proceeded against by the commissioners appointed to the
charge of persons who adhered to the crown, and was ordered
to be sent within the British lines. But Governor Clinton
having so far interfered with the decision as to detain him for
the purpose of exchange, he was suifered to remain in the
country without interruption.
MATHEWS, GEORGE. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1832, aged eighty-four.
MAWDESLEY, JOHN. He was at New York in July, 1783,
and was one of the fifty-five who petitioned for grants of lands
in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
MAXWELL, ANDREW. In 1782 he was a captain in the Prince
of Wales's American Volunteers.
McAoAM, JOHN LOUDOUN. The projector of the improve
ment in the making of roads, known as McAdamized roads.
He was born in Scotland in 1756, emigrated to New York
when a lad, and remained in that city throughout the Rev
olution. Under the protection of the British troops, he accu
mulated a considerable fortune, as agent for the sale of prizes.
At the close of the war he returned to his native land, with
the loss of nearly the whole of his property. He died poor in
1836, aged eighty-one. His system of making roads is too
well known to require description. By his first wife, a lady
of the name of Nicholl, whom he married «it New York, he
had six children, most of whom survived him. His second
wife, of the (Loyalist) name of De Lancey, brought him no
family. When he came to America, he lived until manhood
with his uncle William, a merchant of New York, who, as I
suppose, was the William McAdam of the following notice.
McAoAM, WILLIAM. Merchant, of New York. His estate
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 447
was confiscated. Like many of his associates of the committee
of fifty of that city, " appointed to correspond with our sister
Colonies," he was, I conclude, from the documents of the day,
disposed at the outset to favor the popular cause.
Me ALPINE, ANTHONY. An officer under Sir John Johnson.
McALPiNE, DONALD. A lieutenant in the North Carolina
Volunteers.
MCALPINE, PETER and WALTER. Were grantees of St. John,
New Brunswick.
MCALPINE, WILLIAM. Printer and bookbinder, of Boston.
An Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775;
was proscribed and banished in 1778. He remained in that
town during the siege, but embarked with the British army,
and went to Halifax. Subsequently, he went to Great Britain,
and died at Glasgow in 1788. His place of business, while
in Boston, was at one time opposite to the Old South Church.
MCALPINE, WILLIAM. Was a captain in the Guides and
Pioneers.
MCARTHUR, NIEL. Was a captain in the North Carolina
Regiment.
McAusLEN, ALEXANDER. Of Newbern, North Carolina. His
property was confiscated in 1779.
McCALL, GEORGE. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city. He established
himself as a merchant. There was an Addresser of Hutchin
son at Marblehead, 1774, of this name.
McCALL, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MCCANISH, JOHN. An ensign in the King's Rangers, Carolina.
McCANN, ANDREW. An officer of infantry in the Queen's
Rangers.
MCCARTNEY, JUSTIN. Was a lieutenant in De Lancey's
Second Battalion.
McCLATCHEY, . I suppose of Georgia. In 1793 he
lived in Florida, and was largely concerned in the Indian
trade, under permission of the Spanish government to import
goods directly from England.
448 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
MCCLELLAN, WILLIAM. Of Edgecombe, North Carolina. His
property was confiscated in 1777.
MCCLINTOCK, NATHAN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with
the British army, for Halifax.
McCoLLUM, FARQUER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MCCOLLUM, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
McCoMB, . He commanded a company in the battle of
Bennington in 1777, and was there killed.
McCoRMicK, WILLIAM. Of North Carolina. Went to Eng
land. In July, 1779, he was in London, and presented an
Address to the king. His property was confiscated.
McCoY, ALEXANDER. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
McCoy, ARCHIBALD. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
McCowAN, PATRICK. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783.
McCREA, CREIGHTON. An officer in the Queen's Rangers.
McCREA, JANE. She was the daughter of the Reverend
James McCrea, of New Jersey ; and was beautiful and good.
Her sad fate is well known. Of Loyalist parentage, she was
to have become the bride of David Jones, another Loyalist,
and a captain in the British service. Her nephew, Colonel
James McCrea, lived at Saratoga in 1823.
McCREA, ROBERT. An officer of infantry in the Queen's
Rangers.
MCCRIMMEN, DONALD. Was a lieutenant of infantry in the
British Legion.
McCuLLocH, HENRY. Of North Carolina. His property
was confiscated in 1779.
McCuLLOH, ALEXANDER. A member of the Council of North
Carolina. He advised Governor Martin to issue his Proclama
tion against the Whig Convention appointed to meet at New-
bern, April 3d, 1775, to elect Delegates to the Continental
Congress.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 449
McCuLLOH, HENRY EUSTACE. Of North Carolina. He was
a member of the Council, and for a number of years agent of
the Colony. From the latter office, he was dismissed by the
Assembly in 1774. His integrity may well be questioned,
since, in his capacity of Councillor, he sold his vote in favor of
the Tuscarora grant of lands to Williams, Pugh, and Jones,
for one thousand acres of land. The fact that he was thus
bribed seems to have been notorious. Mr. Alexander Elmsly,
a gentleman who filled an official station of responsibility
while in London in 1774, wrote to a friend in North Carolina
thus : " Mr. McCulloh has often been talking to me of buying
the one thousand acres of land he got for his vote in Council
from Pugh and Williams. I have never listened to him," &c.
In 1779 McCulloh's estate was confiscated. He went to
England. After the war, he was agent of the North Carolina
Loyalists for prosecuting their claims to compensation for losses.
He was in London in 1788.
MCDONALD, ALEXANDER. A captain in the regiment of North
Carolina Highlanders. His wife was the celebrated Flora
McDonald, who was so true, so devoted to the unfortunate
Prince Charles Edward, the last Stuart who sought the throne
of England. The story is familiar to all, and I will not repeat
it. Suffice it to say, that Flora and her husband emigrated to
North Carolina, where, when the Revolution came on, they
espoused the royal cause, and the husband accepted a com
mission and took up arms against his adopted country, as did
two of his sons. At the close of the war they, of course, left
America. On their passage home, they encountered a French
ship of war, and in the action which ensued, the intrepid
Flora, true to her heroic character, remained upon deck, and
endeavored by her voice and example to encourage the sailors.
In the bustle of the fight she was thrown down and broke her
arm. In relating the incident afterwards, she said, that she
"had now perilled her life in behalf of both the house of
Stuart and that of Brunswick, and got very little for her
pains." She died in 1790, and was actually buried in a
shroud made from the sheet in which Prince Charles had slept,
38*
450 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and which she had preserved for this very purpose forty-five
years, through her many adventures and migrations. Her
husband survived her a few years, and died on the half-pay
list as a British officer. Her son, Lieutenant Colonel John
McDonald, was alive in 1833, as was also a daughter.
MCDONALD, CHARLES. Of North Carolina. Son of Alexander
McDonald. In 1782 he was a captain of cavalry in the
British Legion. I suppose that, previously, he had been a
captain in the Queen's Rangers, and had exchanged into this
corps. He went to Great Britain at the peace, and died there
prior to 1833. As the late Lord McDonald saw his remains
lowered into the grave, he remarked, "there lies the most
finished gentleman of my family and name."
MCDONALD, DAVID. Was a grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783.
MCDONALD, DENNIS. Embarked at Boston, with the British
army, for Halifax in 1776.
MCDONALD, DONALD. Of New York. He served the crown
under Sir John Johnson seven years. He died at the Wolfe
Islands, near Kingston, Upper Canada, in 1839, aged ninety-
seven.
MCDONALD, DONALD. Of Johnstown, New York. In 1781,
at the head of a band of Indians and Tories, he made an
attack upon the house of John Christian Shell, at a place
called Shell's Bush, near Herkimer, New York. During the
affray he attempted to force the door with a crow-bar, when
Shell, "quick as lightning," opened the door and drew him
within his dwelling a prisoner. McDonald, to save his life,
gave up his ammunition to be fired against his own party with
out, Shell's being nearly exhausted. The Loyalists soon after
attempted to carry the house by an assault, and rushing up to
its walls, five of them thrust their muskets through its loop
holes ; but Shell's wife ruined every musket by bending the
barrels with an axe. The assailants finally retired, but Shell
and his family repaired to Fort Dayton, leaving McDonald,
who had been wounded in the leg, alone in the house. He
was removed the next day, and suffered amputation of the
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 451
injured limb, but the blood could not be stanched, and he
died a few hours after the operation. He wore a silver
mounted tomahawk, on which Shell, who took it from him,
counted thirty scalp notches — showing the number of persons
he had scalped — honorable trophies, indeed !
MCDONALD, DONALD. Of North Carolina. He was known
to be warmly attached to the royal interests, and early in the
struggle, Governor Martin authorized him to raise and em
body all of like sympathies in the Colony. Of the troops thus
enlisted on the side of the crown, McDonald was to be placed
in command as captain general. His success was very great.
The Whigs, alarmed at the aspect of affairs, placed General
Moore in the field with all the militia of the popular party
that could be assembled without delay. The opposing forces
soon met. McDonald was defeated and made prisoner. Many
other Loyalists were captured, among whom were his son
who was a colonel, and Kennett, and Daniel McDonald, who
were also officers. This discomfiture was of much benefit to
the Whigs, and for a considerable time, subsequently, the
friends of the king in North Carolina were too much dis
heartened to attempt further offensive operations. The pre
cipitation of the Loyalists was the cause of their ruin.
MCDONALD, JAMES. Of North Carolina. Son of Alexander
and Flora McDonald. In 1782 he was a lieutenant of infantry
in the British Legion.
MCDONALD, JAMES. An officer of dragoons. After the Revo
lution he was high-constable of St. John, New Brunswick,
and died in that city in 1804.
MCDONALD, LEWIS. Of Bedford, Westchester County, New
York. He was at first a Whig, and a captain, and a commit
tee-man, but incurring the displeasure of his early political
associates, was compelled to abandon his home. In 1779 he
was on Long Island, and was robbed by about thirty rebels
from Connecticut.
MCDONALD, . Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. He was a lieutenant in the service of the crown,
and engaged in the border affrays with Butler and other New
452 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
York Loyalists. During the battle of the Oriskany in 1777,
he fought hand to hand with a Whig officer named Gardenier,
who, though wounded, seized a barbed spear and thrust it into
his side. McDonald dropped dead.
MCDONALD. There were several Loyalists of this name
besides the above ; between some of whom I am not able to
discriminate. Thus there were many having the sirname
Alexander.
MCDONALD, ALEXANDER. Of Richmond County, New York.
Was examined in 1775 before the Provincial Congress, and by
a resolution of that body was ordered to be secured and kept
in custody, on the charge of concerting measures and employ
ing agents to enlist men for the royal army. Alexander, of
the Parish of St. George, Maryland, July 5, 1775, was de
nounced in the public papers as a violator of the Association
of the Continental Congress.
MCDONALD, ALEXANDER. Of North Carolina. Was second
major of the Cumberland County regiment, but was dismissed
by the Whigs in 1776, in consequence of his adherence to the
crown.
MCDONALD, ALEXANDER. In 1782 he was a captain in the
Loyal Foresters.
MCDONALD, ALEXANDER. In 1782 was a lieutenant in the
King's Orange Rangers.
McDoNALD, ALEXANDER. Was an officer in a Loyalist corps ;
went to New Brunswick in 1784, and died in that Colony in
1835, aged seventy-two.
MCDONALD. The same difficulty occurs in distinguishing
between those of the name of Angus McDonald.
MCDONALD, ANGUS. In 1775 he was arrested in New York
and sent prisoner to Connecticut ; and the 6th of July of that
year, complained in a letter from Fairfield Jail, of having been
placed in close confinement, and said, that he expected " to be
treated more like a gentleman than a highwayman," &c. His
wife arrived at his prison on that day, and while she remained
he prayed for more liberty ; and he averred his willingness to
suffer death, should he abuse such privileges as might be
granted to him.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 453
MCDONALD, ANGUS. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Guides and Pioneers.
MCDONALD, ANGUS. In 1782 he was an ensign in the King's
Rangers, Carolina.
MCDONALD, ANGUS. An officer of the Seventy-first Regiment,
died at Montreal in 1812. Angus, who served in the Revolu
tion, died at Cumberland, New Brunswick, in 1842, aged one
hundred and six years.
MCDONALD. The following, none of whom have been men
tioned among the foregoing, were certainly in commission in
1782.
MCDONALD, ARCHIBALD. Was surgeon of the Guides and
Pioneers.
MCDONALD, CHARLES. Was a captain in the Second Ameri
can Regiment.
MCDONALD, FORBES. Was a captain in the King's Orange
Rangers.
MCDONALD, JAMES. A lieutenant in the Prince of Wales' s
American Volunteers.
MCDONALD, S. Was an ensign of infantry in the British
Legion.
MCDONALD, THOMAS. Was an ensign in the North Carolina
Volunteers.
McDoNELL, ALLAN. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. When, in 1776, General Schuyler was dispatched
to that County to reduce and secure the Loyalists, he and Sir
John Johnson entered into a joint negotiation for terms, and
his name appears with that of the Baronet, in the communi
cations to the General. Sir John had previously sent him on
a secret embassy to Governor Tryon ; and it is probable that
the severe treatment which the Baronet received at the hands
of the Whigs, was owing to the knowledge which reached
Congress, through some of their agents, of this mission to
Tryon.
McDoNouGH, THOMAS. Of New Hampshire. He was pro
scribed and banished, and his estate also was confiscated. He
was secretary of Governor Wentworth ; and left Portsmouth
in 1776.
454 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
McDouGALL, ARCHIBALD. An ensign in the North Carolina
Volunteers.
McDowALL, ALEXANDER. A Whig officer, and adjutant of
Colonel Welles' s regiment of the State troops of Connecticut.
In 1781 he was found guilty of desertion to the royal cause,
and ordered to be executed.
MCEACHRAN, . In 1782 he was an ensign in the North
Carolina Highland Regiment.
MCELLERY, WILLIAM. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, 1783.
McEwEN, JAMES. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774. Among the magistrates who addressed Sir Charles
Douglas at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1784, was one of this
name.
MCFARLAND, WILLIAM. A lieutenant in De Lancey's Third
Battalion.
McGiLL, JOHN. 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.
McGiLCHRisT, WILLIAM. An Episcopal clergyman, of Salem,
Massachusetts. He commenced his labors in Salem in 1747,
and continued in that town until his death in 1780, at the age
of seventy-three. Before he came to Salem, I suppose, he was
a minister in South Carolina. Few memorials remain of him;
but the meagre accounts that exist, give him an excellent
character. I conclude, that, though he remained with his
people, the troubles of the times interfered with the regular
discharge of his duties. He suffered a considerable loss of
property, and was exposed to many trials; and he said, that
he " could not freely nor safely walk the streets by reason of
party rage and malevolence, and the uncontrolled rancor of
some men." He bequeathed the arrears of three years' salary
due to him, and his share of a sum that had been given to
such Episcopal missionaries as were sufferers by the Revolu-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 455
tion, to the Society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign
parts.
McGiLLis, DONALD. He resided at the commencement 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.
McGiLLiVRAY, LACHLAN. Of Georgia. His property was
confiscated by that State, and he settled among the Creeks,
where he became a principal agent of Indian affairs, and ex
ercised a hostile spirit towards Georgia. In 1789, his son
Alexander, by "a principal woman of the Upper Creeks," who
had been his deputy, and was then his successor, resided in
the Indian country, and was a personage of vast influence.
General Knox, Secretary of War, in a report to the President,
said of him : " He had an English education ; his abilities and
ambition appear to be great; his resentments are probably
unbounded against the State of Georgia, for confiscating his
father's estate, and the estates of his other friends, refugees
from Georgia, several of whom reside with him among the
Creeks." From a state paper of an earlier date, I find that
Alexander, in 1785, obtained permission, to form connexions
with, and establish British commercial houses for the supply of
the Indians ; and that he was an agent of Spain with a salary.
He is everywhere spoken of as a man of great talents. He
died at Pensacola, February 17, 1793.
MCGILLIVRAY, WILLIAM. Of Georgia. He went to England.
He was in London in 1779.
McGiNNis, R. A lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Bat
talion.
456 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
McGLAUGHLiN, WILLIAM. He was quartermaster of the
Queen's Rangers, and settled in New Brunswick, and received
half-pay. He died in the County of York, in 1827, at the age
of seventy -five.
MCGREGOR, JOHN. A lieutenant in the New York Volun
teers.
McGuiRE, THOMAS. A member of the Council of North
Carolina. On the 7th of April, 1775, the Whig Convention
for electing Delegates to the Continental Congress, was in
session at Newbern, when the Council advised Governor Mar
tin to issue his Proclamation to dissolve the unlawful Assem
bly. There were present in Council on this occasion, Hasell,
Rutherford, Howard, De Rossett, McColloh, Strudwicke, Cor
nell, and McGuire, — eight members.
McGuLLivROY, WILLIAM HENRY. Of South Carolina. After
the fall of Charleston in 1780, he held a commission under the
crown. He died, I suppose, before the close of the war. His
estate was confiscated.
MclNTOsH, ROBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
McKAM, PATRICK. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
McKAY, ANGUS. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1799, aged forty-four years.
McKAY, JAMES. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the King's
American Regiment.
McKAY, JOHN. He entered the royal military service, and
was a captain in the Queen's. Rangers, under Simcoe. He
settled in York County, New Brunswick, after the war, and
held public stations of honor and trust. He died in that
County in 1822. His wife was a sister of Chief Justice Saun-
ders of New Brunswick.
McKEE, ALEXANDER. A "Loyalist of revengeful machina
tions." He was imprisoned by the Whigs at Pittsburgh, but
effected his escape. In 1778 he went through the Indian terri
tory to Detroit, to excite the warriors to espous.6 the royal
cause. After the peace, he was deputy agent of Indian affairs in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 457
Canada, in which capacity he found ample opportunity to in
dulge his hatred towards the country which he had deserted
in the hour of peril ; and the Indian war of Washington's ad
ministration is attributed, principally, to his influence with
the savage tribes. In 1794, during General Wayne's cam
paign, his barns, stores, and other property, were burned.
McKEEL, JOSEPH. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city. His son John was
killed in King's County, New Brunswick, in 1846, in an affray
with a neighbor.
MCKENZIE, ANDREW. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton, and a Petitioner to be
armed in the royal service. Was banished, and lost his estate
in 1782.
MCKENZIE, COLONEL ROBERT. Of South Carolina. Was in
commission under the crown. Was banished, and lost his
estate in 1782.
MCKENZIE, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton.
MCKETHAN, DUGALD. An ensign in the North Carolina Vol
unteers.
McKiE, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
McKiMMEY, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
McKLouN, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
McKouN, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston with the
British army, for Halifax.
MCLEAN, ARCHIBALD. He was a captain in the New York
Volunteers, and was in several battles. In the severe conflict at
Eutaw Springs, he was distinguished for his bravery and good
conduct. In 1783 he went to St. John, New Brunswick, and
was a grantee of that city. During the war of 1812 he was
again in commission, and was staff adjutant. His place of
39
458 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
residence was in York County, and he was a member of the
House of Assembly, and a magistrate of that County, for
many years. He died at Nashwaak, New Brunswick, in 1830,
aged seventy-six. He received half-pay.
McLEAN, CHARLES. A grantee of the city St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
McLEOD, JOHN. Of North Carolina. Lost his estate under
the confiscation act in 1779.
McLEOD, NORMAN. Of North Carolina. Was a captain in
the North Carolina Highland Regiment.
McLEOD. Of North Carolina. Murdock was surgeon, and
Roderick an ensign and adjutant of the North Carolina Vol
unteers. Besides these, a Captain McLeod was killed in
battle, — upwards of twenty bullets went through his body.
McLEOD, NORMAN. lo 1782 was a captain in the third
battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
McLEOD, RODERICK. Residence unknown. Was a lieuten
ant in the King's American Regiment ; and in 1782 there was
a Donald, a lieutenant in the King's Orange Rangers, and the
same year a Donald, of the same rank, in the British Legion.
Among the grantees of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, were
Duncan, and John McLeod. John was a merchant, and died
in that city in 1805, aged forty-five.
McLEOD, WILLIAM. Of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Was
appointed an ensign in the Fifty-second Regiment, in 1775.
On the 6th of July, the Whig Committee of that town, hear
ing that he had gone to New York, for the purpose of embark
ing there for Boston, and of joining his regiment, detained his
baggage, and notified their friends at New York. The Provin
cial Congress of New York was in session, and voted to arrest
him and send him back to Elizabethtown ; but to treat him
with all possible lenity as a gentleman and soldier.
McLiNACHus, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
McMAHON, JOHN. He was a captain in the Second American
Regiment in 1782.
MCMASTER, DANIEL. Merchant, of Boston. Implicated in
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 459
some measure in the transactions which involved James and
Patrick, he was compelled to leave that town. He went to
Halifax in 1776. Resuming the business to which he was
educated, at St. Andrew, New Brunswick, after the war, he
became eminent. He married Hannah Ann, the only daughter
of the Reverend Samuel Andrews, a Loyalist clergyman. She
died at St. Andrew, September 28, 1827, and his own death
occurred at the same place, June 16, 1830, at the age of
seventy-six years. He was a gentleman of courteous and affa
ble manners.
MCMASTER, JAMES. Merchant, of Boston. Having violated
the non-importation agreement, he found popular opinion so
strong against him, that he removed to Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. At that place, his delinquency was soon known,
and a public meeting was held, at which it was resolved that
it was highly unreasonable to suffer persons who had counter
acted the plans of the Whigs of the neighboring Colonies, to
come there and sell their goods, and that those who encour
aged, aided, or assisted such persons, should be regarded as
enemies to the town. McMaster, in 1775, signed and published
a Submission, but was compelled to leave. By the act of New
Hampshire of 1778, he was proscribed and banished, and his
property confiscated. In Boston his offences seem to have
been two-fold : first, the selling of Tea, and the enrolling
himself among the Addressers of Hutchinson. He settled
eventually at St. Patrick, New Brunswick, where he resumed
mercantile pursuits, and was highly respected. One of his
daughters married the late Honorable James Allanshaw, mem
ber of her Majesty's Legislative Council of New Brunswick,
and another daughter is the wife of Reverend Samuel Thomp
son, rector of the Episcopal Church, St. George. McMaster
died in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, in 1804.
MCMASTER, JOHN. He was proscribed and banished, and
his estate confiscated by the act of New Hampshire.
MCMASTER, PATRICK. Merchant of Boston, and a partner
of James. He was an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
Quitting the country with the British army at the evacuation
460 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of Boston in 1776, he became a merchant at Halifax, Nova
Scotia.
McMATH, WILLIAM. He was a Whig soldier of Colonel
Lamb's Artillery, and in 1778 was tried for desertion to the
royal forces. The Court found him guilty, and sentenced him
to be immediately executed. Washington, subsequently, post
poned his doom, and finally pardoned him.
MCMILLAN, ALEXANDER. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in De
Lancey's Second Battalion.
MCMILLAN, . A lieutenant in De Lancey's First Battal
ion ; and a grantee of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
McMoNGLE, HUGH. After settling in New Brunswick, he
was a member of the Assembly, from the County of Westmore
land. In 1803, while travelling on the ice, he broke through,
and was drowned.
McMuLLEN, ALEXANDER. Embarked at Boston, with the
British army, for Halifax in 1776.
McNAB, ALLAN. 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.
His son, Sir Allan Me Nab, is a noted man. He was born
some years after his father became an inhabitant of Canada,
and in the war of 1812 was a lad. But at the age of fourteen
he volunteered to join a grenadier company of the eighth
British regiment, in an attack in which most of the company
were killed ; and was subsequently engaged in several other
actions. His affair, in cutting out and burning the steamer
Caroline, during the recent insurrection in Canada, is too fresh
in the public mind to need a particular mention. For his
conduct on this occasion he was knighted ; and for this and
other services at the head of the loyal militia in the course of
the outbreak, thanks were voted him by several Colonial legisla
tures, the militia of Upper Canada presented him with a sword,
and the United Service Club in London, in opposition to a
standing rule, selected him an honorary member. Previous to
the union of the two Colonies, he was Speaker of the House of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 461
Assembly of Upper Canada, but lost the place and its emolu
ments, when the act of parliament creating but one legislative
body went into operation. He applied for indemnification,
but, it is believed, has been unsuccessful. He held also the
post of Queen's Counsel in the district in which he resides,
but has been superseded, " to gratify the revenge," says Sir
Francis Head, " of rebels against whom Sir Allan had been
obliged to appear as prosecutor for the crown."
McNAiR, JOHN. Of North Carolina. His property was con
fiscated in 1779. One of the last acts of Governor Martin,
before the royal government came to an end in 1775, was, to
appoint this gentleman a Justice of the Peace for the County
of Orange.
McNAiR, RALPH. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779. Before the Revolution, he was a member
of the House of Assembly.
MCNAMARA, PATRICK. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, 1783.
McNiEL, ARCHIBALD. Baker, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774. and of Gage in 1775 ; went to Halifax in
1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
McNiEL, CHARLES and NIEL. Of Connecticut. Were mem
bers of the Reading Association.
McNiEL, CHARLES. Residence unknown. Was captain lieu
tenant of the Prince of Wales's American Volunteers. ARCHI
BALD, (possibly the Archibald of Boston,) was a member of the
Loyal Artillery in 1795, and died on the river St. John about
the year 1808.
McNiEL, DANIEL. In 1782 was captain of the North Caro
lina Volunteers ; and John was an ensign in the same corps.
McNiEL, DOMINICK. Of Tuscarora, Pennsylvania. Failing
to appear and to be tried for treason, the Council, in 1778,
directed that he should stand attainted.
McNiEL, DUNCAN. Of North Carolina. Was major of the
Cumberland County regiment, but in consequence of his ad
herence to the crown, the Whigs dismissed him from office in
1776, and commissioned David Smith, Esquire, in his stead.
39*
462 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
James, of Halifax County, and Arthur, lost their estates in
1779, under the confiscation act.
McNiEL, HECTOR. Of North Carolina. Was a person of
some consideration. In the first military elections after the
royal government was at an end, he received a commission at
the hands of the Whigs. But in 1776 he appeared in arms
against them, and was taken prisoner, and confined in jail.
McNiEL, JAMES. Was proprietor of a lot at Red Head, New
Brunswick, in 1784.
McNiEL, WILLIAM. Of Boston. Accompanied the British
troops to Halifax at the evacuation, and remained in exile
during the war. In 1784 he returned to Boston by way of
Philadelphia.
McPHERsoN, CHARLES. Was a grantee of St. John, New
Brunswick. He removed from King's Bridge, New York, and
died at St. John, 1823, aged seventy.
MCPHERSON, DONALD. Was a captain of infantry in the Brit
ish Legion.
MCPHERSON, LIEUTENANT . Of the New York Volunteers ;
was a grantee of St. John, New Brunswick.
MCPHERSON, PETER. Was a captain in the Guides and Pio
neers.
MEGAN, EDWARD. An ensign in the King's American Regi
ment.
MECKLEJOHN, GEORGE. An Episcopal minister, of North
Carolina. Though " a high church-man in his religion, and
a high Tory in politics," the Provincial Congress in August,
1775, were compelled to employ him as their chaplain. The
service was one of necessity on both sides ; and quite as un
willingly as he was engaged on the part of the Whigs, he per
formed the duty. His place of residence seems to have been
Hillsborough.
MEEKER, JONATHAN. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member
of the Association of Loyalists ; as was Ephraim Meeker of
the same town.
MEETIN, PETER. A magistrate, of New York. He lived at
or near Warrensburgh. In 1775 he declared in a company of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 463
men who had met to talk about the troublesome times, that he
" had the king's proclamation from Governor Gage, to offer
pardon to any person who would recant from the Whig Asso
ciation," and that he "expected soon to have the handling of
the estates of all such as refused," &c.
MEGGETT, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
MEGOUN, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MEIN, JOHN. Printer and bookseller, of Boston. Partner
of Fleming in the publication of the Boston Chronicle. He
was well educated, and possessed literary talents to a very
respectable degree. He took a decided part in favor of the
oppressive acts of the British ministry ; and the Chronicle be
came a vehicle for the most bitter attacks upon some of the
prominent Whigs of Massachusetts. Mein, who was the
editor, became so obnoxious, that he finally secreted himself
until an opportunity occurred for going to England. He em
barked in November of 1769 ; his bookstore was then closed,
and the Chronicle was discontinued soon after, in 1770. In
London he engaged himself, under pay of the British govern
ment, as a writer against the Colonies, but after the com
mencement of hostilities, sought other employment. He never
returned to the United States.
MELLOWS, MICHAEL. In 1775 he was sent prisoner from
Long Island, New York, to Massachusetts, and confined
within the limits of the town of Sutton.
MELVILLE, DAVID. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city ; and in 1784 was
proprietor of lands opposite Long Island, New Brunswick.
MENZIES, ALEXANDER. Of New York. Was major of De
Lancey's Third Battalion, and died at Hempstead, New
York, in 1781.
MENZIES, ALEXANDER. Of New York. Was an ensign in a
corps of Loyalists. In 1 783 he went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, and received the grant of a city lot. He enjoyed half-
pay.
464 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
MENZIES, JOHN. Of New York. Was a grantee of St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783, and established himself as a mer
chant.
. MENZIES, THOMAS. Of New York. Was a major in the
American Legion, the corps commanded by Arnold after his
treason. In 1783 Major Menzies settled in New Brunswick,
and held various civil and military offices. He died near St.
John in 1831, at the advanced age of ninety-eight. He re
ceived half-pay nearly half a century.
MERCER, JOSEPH. A captain in a corps of Loyalists. He
settled in New Brunswick, and died there. Sarah, his widow,
died in Norton, King's County, in 1837, aged ninety.
MERREN, PEREZ. In 1775 he was sent prisoner from Long
Island, New York, to Massachusetts, and confined within the
limits of the town of Shrewsbury.
MERRIN, JOSEPH. Surgeon of the Georgia Loyalists.
MERRITT, THOMAS. Of New York. In 1782 he 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. Catharine's,
May, 1842, aged eighty-two. His brother Nehemiah, who
was a gentleman of great wealth, died at St. John, New Bruns
wick, the same year, at the age of seventy-two.
MERRITT, THOMAS. Of New York. Settled in New Bruns
wick, and died at St. John in 1821, aged ninety-five.
MERRITT. Several of Westchester County, New York, were
Protesters ; namely, Elisha, Edward, and Edward junior, Na
thaniel, and Elisha.
MERSEREAU, JOHN, DAVID, and PAUL, Junior. Were grantees
of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
MESERVE, GEORGE. Distributer of Stamps for New Hamp
shire, and Collector of the Customs at Portsmouth ; was pro
scribed by the acts of New Hampshire of 1778, and his estate,
real and personal, confiscated. He was a native of Ports
mouth, and his father, who was a ship-carpenter by trade,
was lieutenant colonel of the New Hampshire troops at the
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 465
siege of Louisburg in 1745, and was engaged in the expedi
tion against that city in 1758. History assigns to Colonel
Meserve the device of constructing the rude sledges on which
the cannon were drawn over the morasses near Louisburg
during the first siege. George, the son, while in England, re
ceived the appointment of stamp distributer; and embarking
for home, arrived at Boston in September of 1765. Before
landing, he was informed of the opposition to the act, and
was advised to resign his office, which he did. On reaching
Portsmouth, he resigned a second time on the parade, be
fore going to his residence. Subsequently, on receiving his
commission, the Sons of Liberty compelled him publicly to
surrender that instrument, which they bore about the town on
the point of a sword; and required of him on oath before
Justice Claggett, that he would not directly or indirectly at
tempt the performance of official duty. After the repeal of the
act, and on the arrival of Secretary Conway's circular in 1766,
enclosing a resolution of parliament to the effect, that the
Colonies should make recompense to such persons as had suf
fered injury or damage in consequence of their assisting to
execute the act, Meserve applied to the Assembly of New
Hampshire for compensation, which application was referred
to a committee, who made a report adverse to his claim, and
it was dismissed. He afterwards went to England and ob
tained the office of Comptroller of the Customs at Boston ; but
by permission of the British government, he exchanged places
with Robert Hallowell, Collector of the Customs at Ports
mouth. This collectorship was worth about £600 sterling
per annum ; and Meserve held it for some years, until the
commencement of the Revolution. He retired from New
Hampshire in 1776, and accompanied the British army to
Halifax.
METZNER, FREDERICK. Was a captain of cavalry in the
American Legion under Arnold.
MICHIE, HARRY. Of South Carolina. Went to England.
He was an Addresser of the king in 1779.
MIDDLETON, A. Of Virginia. Went to England. In 1779
he was in London.
466 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
MILBY, WILLIAM. Yeoman, of Sussex County, Delaware.
In 1778 it was declared by law, that failing to surrender and
be tried for his treason and offences, his property should be
confiscated to the State.
MILES, ELIJAH. In 1782 he was a captain in De Lancey's
Third Battalion. In 1783 he settled in New Brunswick, and
became a person of note. He was a Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas, a Colonel in the militia, and a member of the
House of Assembly. He died at Maugerville, in the County
of Sunbury, in 1831, at the age of seventy-nine. He received
half-pay.
MILES, SAMUEL. He settled in New Brunswick, and in 1805
was an alderman of St. John. He died in 1824, aged eighty-
two.
MILES, THOMAS, Junior. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick.
MILLAR, CHARLES HENRY. An officer in the Queen's Ran
gers.
MILLAR, JOHN. A lieutenant of cavalry in the British
Legion.
MILLAR, NATHANIEL B. Was lieutenant of cavalry in the
South Carolina Royalists.
MILLAR, THOMAS. A captain of infantry in the British
Legion.
MILLER, ALEXANDER. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1827, aged seventy-four.
MILLER, ANDREW. Merchant, of Halifax, North Carolina.
The Whig Committee of Halifax County, December 21, 1774,
''Resolved unanimously, To show our disapprobation of his
conduct, and to encourage such merchants who have signed
the Association, that we will not, from this day, purchase
any goods, wares, or merchandises of any kind whatever,
from said Andrew Miller, or any person acting for, or in
partnership with him ; and that we will have no commerce or
dealings with him, after paying our just debts, and fulfilling
the contracts already entered into for commodities of this year's
produce; and we also recommend it to the people of this
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 467
County in particular, and to all who wish well to their coun
try, to adopt the same measure." In 1779 his property was
confiscated. He was, probably, a person of standing. I find
in a letter from a gentleman of North Carolina, who was in
London in 1774, to a friend at home, the following passage.
" When I left my power of attachment with you, I told you
that Andrew Miller and I had agreed, that all money you or
he might receive of mine, should lie in his hands for three
years, he paying me interest at the rate of five per cent, for
two years and a half only. I had a letter from him lately, in
which he appears perfectly to recollect this, but seems to have
forgot that the money was to be remitted at the Virginia ex
change, making an allowance of thirty-five per cent, to bring
the product into Virginia money ; he charges thirty-three and
one half," &c.
MILLER, E. An Episcopal clergyman, at Braintree, Mas
sachusetts. He was a missionary from the Society for Pro
pagating the Gospel, and his name is connected with the
earliest disputes of the Revolution. He died in 1762 or 1763,
at which time the project of sending a Bishop to America had
been agitated for some years ; and the minds of the people
were well prepared for an attack upon the established church.
His decease was unkindly noticed in one of the newspapers,
which created a heated controversy ; and before the excite
ment was allayed, the dissenters found themselves arrayed on
one side, and the dependents of the crown on the other. The
writings which his labors and decease produced, are to be
considered as a part of the revolutionary dissensions in Mas
sachusetts. For it is to be remembered, that in that Colony, the
question of Episcopacy, had very great influence in the forma
tion and in the action of the two political parties.
MILLER, GEORGE. An eminent merchant, of Dobbs County,
North Carolina. His property was confiscated in 1779. For
a while he seems to have acted heartily with the Whigs. He
was a member of the Conventions in 1774 and 1775, which
Governor Martin denounced, and which sustained the proceed
ings of the Continental Congress. Hewes and Hooper, who
468 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
signed the Declaration of Independence, were his associates in
1774. In 1776, he fell off, declaring, that he was by no means
ripe for so strong and questionable a measure, as that of
entire separation from the mother country. His defection was
much regretted, since he was a gentleman of consideration,
and of noble traits of character. Yet he did much to oppose
the sanguinary intolerance of the Loyalists of North Carolina,
and on one occasion, appeared in opposition to them at the
head of a company of volunteer riflemen. He went to Scot
land. In 1779 he was in London, a Loyalist Addresser of
the king.
MILLER, JOHN. Embarked at Boston with the British army,
for Halifax, in 1776.
MILLER, ROBERT. Of Virginia. Went to England. He was
in London July, 1779.
MILLER, STEPHEN. He was a magistrate of the County of
York, New Brunswick, and died at Fredericton in 1817, aged
ninety.
MILLER, THOMAS. An ensign of infantry in the British
Legion.
MILLER, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. In 1782 there was a
cornet of cavalry in the British Legion of this name.
MILLIDGE, THOMAS. Of New Jersey. Previous to the Rev
olution, he was his Majesty's surveyor general of that Colony.
He entered the military service, and was major of the first
battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, raised by Skinner. At
the close of the war he went to New Brunswick, and made a
survey of the river St. Croix, and the waters adjacent. He
settled in Nova Scotia, and was a colonel in the militia. He
died at Granville, Annapolis County, in 1816, aged eighty-one.
Mercy, his widow, survived him four years, and died at
Annapolis at the age of eighty-one. His son Thomas was an
eminent merchant, a magistrate, and a member of the House
of Assembly, and resided at St. John, New Brunswick, until
his decease, at the age of sixty-two.
MILLIDGE, PHINEAS. Of New Jersey. Son of Thomas Mil-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 469
lidge. He was an ensign in his father's battalion, and retired
on half-pay. He died at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, in 1836,
aged seventy-one.
MILLIGAN, JOSEPH. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MILLS, JOHN. Of South Carolina. Was in England, July,
1779.
MILLS, NATHANIEL. Printer, of Boston. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778. He was born in Massachusetts, and served
his apprenticeship with Fleming, already noticed. The friends
of the royal government urged him and John Hicks to pur
chase of Green and Russell, the Massachusetts Gazette and
Post Boy, which they did in 1773. Under their management,
this paper took strong ground in opposition to the measures of
the Whigs, and defended the ministry and Colonial servants of
the crown, with great zeal and ability. The commencement
of hostilities in 1775, put an end to its publication. Mills re
mained with the British troops while they occupied Boston,
and on the evacuation, accompanied them to Halifax, Nova
Scotia. Thence he proceeded to Great Britain, but soon re
turned to New York, and became interested with the Robert
sons, in the Royal American Gazette. He continued in New
York during the remainder of the war, and at the peace went
a second time to Halifax, and from thence to Shelburne, in the
same Colony.
MILLS, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. Was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated. He may have been inclined to
the Whig side in 1775, since in that year the Whig Convention
made him a member of the Committee to carry out the views of
the Continental Congress on the subject of the Association.
MILLS, WILLIAM HENRY. Of South Carolina. He held a
royal commission after the fall of Charleston in 1 780. He died
probably* before the close of the Revolution. His property
was confiscated.
MILLS. Several persons of this name signed a Declaration
of loyalty in January, 1775. To wit : David Mills, Obadiah
40
470 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Mills, John Mills, Nathaniel Mills, junior, and Hope Mills
junior. They all belonged to Jamaica, Long Island, New
York. In 1776 the following, of Queen's County, signed an
acknowledgment of allegiance ; to wit : Isaac, Obadiah,
Amos, Nathaniel junior, and Samuel. John Mills was a
grantee of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
MITCHELL, ANDREW. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MITCHELL, AUGUSTINE, JOHN, JOHN Junior,, and ROBERT. Of
Queen's County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance Oc
tober, 1776.
MITCHELL, GARY. Of Yirginia. Went to England, and was
in London July, 1779.
MITCHELL, JOHN. Of South Carolina. After the fall of
Charleston in 1780, he held an office under the crown. Estate
confiscated.
MITCHELL, THOMAS. Mariner, of Boston. Went to Halifax
in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
MITCHELSON, DAVID. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutch-
inson in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year. In 1776 he accompanied the royal army to Halifax.
MITCHELSON, DAVID. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with
the British army, for Halifax.
MINOT, CHRISTOPHER. Tide-waiter, of Boston. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. He went to Halifax in 1776.
MINOT, SAMUEL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year.
MIOT, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MOFFAT, JAMES. Was a lieutenant in the Second American
Regiment.
MOFFAT, THOMAS. Physician, of New London. He had
property in Massachusetts, which was confiscated by an act of
that State. He was one of the writers of the letters sent to
Massachusetts by Franklin. He went to England, and was a
Loyalist Addresser of the king, July, 1779.
MONCRIEF, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 471
MONDEN, CHARLES. In 17 '? 2 he was chaplain of the Second
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
MONFORT, GARRET, JOHN, PETER, and W. Of Queen's Coun
ty, New York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
MONTELL, ANTHONY. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
MONTGOMERY, ARCHIBALD. Was at New York, June, 1783,
preparing to embark for Nova Scotia.
MONTGOMERY, JOHN. Was a grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, 1785.
MONTGOMERY, JOSEPH. Was an auctioneer in St. John, New
Brunswick, 1785.
MONTGOMERY, WILLIAM. Was an ensign in De Lancey's
Third Battalion.
MOODY, JAMES. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the First
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He was a celebrated
partisan officer, and performed many exploits peculiar to that
species of warfare. He delighted in seizing and carrying off
Whig Committee-men, and was fond of relating the means
which he employed to catch them. At the peace, he settled
in Nova Scotia, where he was known as Colonel Moody. He
died at Sissibou, Nova Scotia, in 1809, aged sixty-five. He
received half-pay.
MOODY, JOHN. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with the
British army, for Halifax. He was accompanied by John
Moody, junior.
MOODY, JOHN. In 1781 he was executed at Philadelphia as
a spy.
MOORE, BENJAMIN. Of New York. An Episcopal clergyman.
Was deputy chaplain of the hospital staff, and was stationed
at the city in 1782, and at the same time was assistant rector.
MOORE, JOHN. Of Massachusetts. In 1776 he embarked at
Boston, with the British army, for Halifax. The death of a
Loyalist of this name occurred on the river St. John, about
the year 17ijO. He was supposed, by one who remembers
him, to have been a native of New England.
MOORE. Loyalists of this name were numerous. Those of
472 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Queen's County, New York, who acknowledged allegiance in
1776, were, Joseph, John, Jacob, Samuel senior, John junior,
James, Lambert, Stephen, Nathaniel, Nathaniel junior, Benja
min, Samuel, and David. Among the Addressers of Lieuten
ant Colonel Sterling of the Forty-second Regiment, in April,
1779, were, John Moore, John junior, Samuel senior, Jacob,
Samuel the 3d, John, David, Samuel junior, Nathaniel, and
Nathaniel junior.
MOORE, JOHN. In 1782 was deputy receiver-general of quit
rents of New York. In July, 1783, he announced his deter
mination to remove to Nova Scotia, and was one of the fifty-
five petitioners who applied for extensive grants of land in
that Colony. See Abijah Willard.
MOORE, LAMBERT. Of New York. Was a notary public in
the city, and an officer in the Superintendent Department.
MOORE, THOMAS WILLIAM. Of New York. Was a captain
in De Lancey's Second Battalion.
MOORE, THOMAS. Of New Jersey. Was chairman of a
Loyalist meeting at Hackensack, in 1775.
MOORE, JOHN. Of Tryon County, North Carolina. Lost his
estate in 1779, under the confiscation act.
MORAN; JAMES. Was an officer in the Superintendent De
partment at New York.
MORE, JOHN. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New
York. He was a soldier under the crown, and served under
Sir John Johnson, and was living in 1838, to relate his adven
tures and those of the corps to which he belonged.
MOREHOUSE, DANIEL. Of Connecticut. A member of the
Reading Association. He became an officer in the Queen's
Rangers, and retired at the close of the war on half-pay. He
went to New Brunswick, and was a magistrate, and a major
in the militia. He died in the County of York in 1835, aged
seventy-seven.
MOREHOUSE, JAMES. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783.
MOREHOUSE, JOHN. Of Connecticut. A member of the Read
ing Association. He settled in Nova Scotia, and at his de-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 473
cease was one of the oldest magistrates in the Colony. He
died on Digby Neck in 1839, aged seventy-eight.
MORGAN, CAPTAIN JAMES. Of Reading, Connecticut. A mem
ber of the Association.
MORGANAN, WILLIAM. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 he was
tried on a charge of holding intercourse with the royal forces,
and for other offences ; and was sentenced to be kept at hard
labor during the war, not less than thirty miles from the British
camp, and to suffer death if caught making his escape.
MORGRIDGE, JOHN. Of South Carolina. Went to England.
In 1779 he was in London.
MORRELL. Eleven persons of this name of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
John, Robert, John, James, John, Thomas, John, Richard,
Caleb, Jonathan, and Joseph. Among the Addressers of Lieu
tenant Colonel Sterling of the Forty-second Regiment, April,
1779, were John Morrell. Richard. James, Jonathan, Abraham
senior, and Abraham junior. John Morrell, a Loyalist, died
at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1817, aged sixty-nine ; proba
bly one of the above.
MORRIS, DAVID. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1817,
aged sixty-six years.
MORRIS, ENOCH. Wheelwright, of Hilstown, Pennsylvania.
In Council, in 1778, it was ordered, that, failing to surrender to
be tried for treason, he stand attainted.
MORRIS, JOHN. Comptroller of the Customs of South Caro
lina.
MORRIS, ROGER. Of New York. In the French war he was
a captain in the British army, and one of the aids of the ill-
fated Braddock. He married Mary, daughter of Frederick
Phillipse, Esquire, and settled in New York. At the com
mencement of the Revolution he was a member of the
Council of the Colony, and continued in office until the peace,
although the Whigs organized a government as early as 1777,
under a written and well framed constitution. A part of the
Phillipse estate was in possession of Colonel Morris in right of
his wife, and was confiscated; and that the whole interest
40*
474 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
should pass under the act, Mrs. Morris was included in the
attainder. It is believed that this lady, her sister Mrs. Robin
son, and Mrs. Ingles, were the only females who were at
tainted of treason during the struggle. But it appeared in due
time, that the confiscation act did not affect the rights of Mrs.
Morris's children. The fee-simple of the estate was valued by
the British government at £20,000 ; and, by the rules of de
termining the worth of life interests, the life interests of
Colonel Morris and his wife were fixed at £12,605, for which
sum they received a certificate of compensation.
In 1787 the attorney-general of England examined the case,
and gave the opinion, that the reversionary interest (or property
of the children at the decease of the parents) was not included
in their attainder, and was recoverable under the principles of
law and of right. In the year 1809, their son, Captain Henry
Gage Morris of the royal navy, in behalf of himself and his
two sisters, accordingly sold this reversionary interest to John
Jacob Astor, Esquire, of New York, for the sum of £20,000
sterling. In 1828 Mr. Astor made a compromise with the
State of New York, by which he received for the rights thus
purchased by him (with or without associates) the large
amount of five hundred thousand dollars. The terms of the
arrangement required, that within a specified time he should
execute a deed of conveyance in fee-simple, with warrantee
against the claims of the Morrises — husband and wife — their
heirs, and all persons claiming under them ; and that he
should also obtain the judgment of the Supreme Court of the
United States, affirming the validity and perfectibility of his
title. These conditions were complied with, and the respecta
ble body of farmers, who held the confiscated lands under
titles derived from the sales of the commissioners of forfeitures,
were thus quieted in their possessions. Colonel Morris died in
England in 1794, aged sixty-seven; and Mary, his widow,
died in 1825, at the age of ninety-six. Their remains were
deposited near Savior-gate Church, York. Their son, above
mentioned, erected a monument to their memory. It is under
stood that the British government made them a second com-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 475
pensation for their losses, and that the whole sum received
was £17,001) sterling. Their children were as follows ; Henry
Gage, a captain in the royal navy ; Amherst, who was named
for his god-father Lord Amherst, who was also a captain in
the royal navy, and who died unmarried in 1802; Joanna,
who married Captain Thomas Cowper Hincks, of the British
Dragoons, and who died in 1819 ; and another daughter whose
name and fate have not been ascertained. To the memory of
Captain Amherst Morris, there is a monument at Baildon,
England. Of Captain Henry Gage Morris, honorable mention
is made in the British naval history. Of Mrs. Morris's early
life, there is a most interesting incident. That Washington
had some desire to become her suitor, is a fact which rests on
the highest authority.
In Mr. Sparks's Life of the illustrious Commander-in-chief,
there is the following passage. " While in New York," in
1756, Washington " was lodged and kindly entertained at the
house of Mr. Beverley Robinson, between whom and himself
an intimacy of friendship subsisted, which indeed continued
without change, till severed by their opposite fortunes twenty
years afterwards in the Revolution. It happened that Miss
Mary Phillips, a sister of Mrs. Robinson, and a young lady of
rare accomplishments, was an inmate in the family. The
charms of this lady made a deep impression upon the heart of
the Virginia Colonel. He went to Boston, returned, and was
again welcomed to the hospitality of Mr. Robinson. He
lingered there till duty called him away; but he was careful
to entrust his secret to a confidential friend, whose letters kept
him informed of every important event. In a few months
intelligence came that a rival was in the field, and that the
consequences could not be answered for, if he delayed to renew
his visits to New York. Whether time, the bustle of the
camp, or the scenes of war, had moderated his admiration, or
whether he despaired of success, is not known. He never
saw the lady again, till she was married to that same rival,
Captain Morris, his former associate in arms, and one of
Braddock's aids-de-camp." In an English work, shown tome
476 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
by Mrs. Morris's relatives in New Brunswick, it is stated that
she refused Washington. But this is very doubtful ; and the
passage just cited, which is founded upon Washington's
papers, seems to utterly disprove the assertion. Imagination
dwells upon the outlawry of a lady whose beauty and virtues
won the admiration of the great Whig Chief. Humanity is
shocked, that a woman was attainted of treason, for no crime
but that of clinging to the fortunes of the husband, whom she
had vowed on the altar of religion never to desert.
MORRISON, ARCHIBALD. Of New York. Was an ensign in the
Loyal American Regiment.
MORRISON, GEORGE and MALCOLM. Of New York. Lost
their estates under the confiscation act of that State.
MORRISON, JOHN. Of New Hampshire. He was ordained
at Peterborough in 1766. In 1772 the connexion was dis
solved, when he visited Charleston, South Carolina. After
his return, in 1775, he joined the army at Cambridge, but
went over to the royal army immediately after the battle of
Bunker's Hill, and was appointed to a place in the commissary
department. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished under
the Act of New Hampshire. He died at Charleston, South
Carolina, at the close of the year 1782. His wife was Sarah
Ferguson, of Peterborough. Mrs. Morrison was living in
1S22.
MORROW, COLONEL . Of Boston. He was in England
in 1776, and in 1783 a Loyalist Refugee; and was a pensioner
of the British government.
MORTON, ALEXANDER. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, 1783.
MORTON, LEMUEL. Of Massachusetts. Settled in Nova Scotia,
and was a magistrate, and a major in the militia. He died at
Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, in 1811.
MOSELEY, JOHN. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
1783.
MOTT, JACOB S. After the war, he was King's Printer for
New Brunswick. He died at St. John, 1814, aged forty-one.
MOTT. Eleven persons of this name of Queen's County
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 477
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Richard, Jacob junior, Sylvester, Jackson, Adam senior, John,
Adam, Samuel, Samuel the 3d, Jacob, and Noah junior. In
1780, Joseph and John Mott, of Queen's County, assisted in
the capture of the Whig privateer Revenue. During the war,
William Mott, of Great. Neck, was robbed and much beaten ;
and Adam Mott, (father of Samuel,) of Cow Neck, was also
visited by a party of marauders ; both of these Motts were
known as prominent Loyalists.
MOUNT, JOHN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city. He removed to Lan
caster, New Brunswick, but died while at St. John, 1819,
aged fifty-seven.
MUIR, GEORGE. Of Virginia. Went to England. He was
an Addresser of the king in 1779.
MULBALL, EDWARD. Petty officer of the Customs. He em
barked at Boston for Halifax, with the British army, in
1776.
MULCARTY, PATRICK. In 1776 he embarked at Boston, with
the British army, for Halifax.
MULLENS, THOMAS. Blacksmith, of Leominster, Massachu
setts. Was proscribed and banished in 1778. A Loyalist of
this name was a grantee of, and died at, St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1799, at the age of fifty-four ; and administration
was granted on his estate the following year.
MUNCREEF, RICHARD. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
MUNDAY, NATHANIEL. In 1782 he was an officer in the
Queen's Rangers. He was in New Brunswick after the Revo
lution, and received half-pay; but left that Colony, and, as it
is believed, went to Canada.
MUNGER, SIMEON. Of Reading. Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
MUNN, ALEXANDER. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
MUNRO, HENRY. Was a captain in the Second American
Regiment.
478 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
MUNRO, DUNCAN. A lieutenant of cavalry in the British
Legion.
MUNRO, . In 1782 was a major in the North Carolina
Highland Regiment.
MUNRO. Among others of the name, John was a grantee of
St. John, New Brunswick ; Alexander died in that city, 1828,
aged seventy-four ; and Hugh emigrated to New Brunswick
in 1783, became a magistrate and member of the House of
Assembly for the County of Northumberland, and died in the
County of Gloucester in 1846.
MUNSON, THOMAS. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association of Loyalists.
MURELL, JOSEPH. Of Pennsylvania. He was tried in 1778,
on the charges of giving intelligence, and of acting as a guide
to the enemy. He was convicted of the latter, and sentenced
to immediate death. His execution was subsequently post
poned, and probably he finally escaped the penalty.
MURPHY, GARRET. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of
the Declaration of Loyalty in 1775.
MURRAY, DANIEL. Of Brookfield, Massachusetts. Son of
Colonel John Murray. He graduated at Harvard University
in 1771. In July, 1775, he applied to Washington for leave for
his sister and two of his brothers to go into Boston. The
Commander-in-chief, unacquainted with the circumstances of
the case, referred the subject to the Committee of Safety, and
that body laid the application before the Provincial Con
gress, when the request was refused. Mr. Murray subsequently
entered the military service of the crown, and was major of
the King's American Dragoons. In 1778 he was proscribed
and banished. At .the peace, he retired on half-pay. In 1792
he was a member of the House of Assembly of New Bruns
wick. In 1803 he left that Colony in embarrassed circum
stances. He died at Portland, Maine, in 1832.
MURRAY, JAMES. Of Boston. Was an Addresser of Gage
in 1775 ; went to Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and
banished in 1778. I suppose he was an officer of the cus
toms.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 479
MURRAY, JOHN. Of Rutland, Massachusetts. He was a
colonel in the militia, for many years a member of the Gen
eral Court, and in 1774 was appointed a Mandamus Councillor,
but was not sworn into office. He abandoned his house on
the night of the 25th of August of that year, and fled to Bos
ton. In 1776 he accompanied the royal army to Halifax. In
1778 he was proscribed and banished ; and in 1779, he lost his
extensive estates under the conspiracy act. After the Revolu
tion, Colonel Murray became a resident of St. John, New Bruns
wick. He built a house in Prince William street, which (1846)
is still standing. The lot attached to this dwelling is very
large, and the market value at the present time is, perhaps,
£4,000. A part of it is owned by Chief Justice Chipman, and
is rented to a horticulturist, who raises flowers for sale. The
Honorable R. L. Hazen of St. John, a member of the Execu
tive Council of New Brunswick, and a grandson of Colonel
Murray, has his portrait, by Copley. He is represented as
sitting, and in the full dress of a gentleman of the day ; and
his person is shown to the knees. There is a hole in the
wig — and the tradition in the family is, that a party who
sought the Colonel at his house after his flight, vexed because
he had eluded them, vowed they would leave their mark
behind them j and accordingly pierced the canvass with a bay
onet.
The descendants of Colonel Murray in New Brunswick,
have also several relics of the olden time, not destitute of
interest. Among them are articles of silver-plate of a by-gone
fashion, books of accounts, business memoranda, muster rolls,
or list of officers of the regiment which he commanded, deeds
of his estates, &c. Of the latter, there are no less than
twenty-two of his lands in Rutland, and several of property in
Athol. One of the deeds is stamped, but it bears date some
years previous to the passage of the odious stamp-act. The
manner in which Colonel Murray kept his books and papers,
shows that he was a careful, calculating, and exact man in his
transactions — method is seen in everything. In person, he
was about six feet three inches high, and well proportioned.
480 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
In Massachusetts he was a principal man in his section, and
one of the country gentlemen or colonial noblemen, who lived
upon their estates in a style which has passed away. The
wife of the Honorable Daniel Bliss, and the first wife of the
Honorable Joshua Upham — Loyalists mentioned in these
pages — were his daughters.
MURRAY, JOHN. Son of Colonel John Murray. In 1782 he
was a captain in the King's American Dragoons. After the
Revolution, he was an officer of the Fifty-fourth Regiment,
British army.
MURRAY, LINDLEY. Of New York. The celebrated Gram
marian. He was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1745,
of Quaker parents. His father, from owning a flour mill,
became one of the most respectable merchants of America,
and in 1753 settled at New York. Lindley desired to study
law, but his wish was opposed, and he entered his father's
counting room, and commenced preparing himself for com
mercial life. But mercantile pursuits proved so disagreeable,
that he appealed to his father a second time, to be allowed to
adopt the profession of the law. The parent yielded, and he
was placed in the office of Benjamin Kissam, Esquire, where
for about two years he was the fellow student of the illus
trious John Jay. After four years' study, he was called to
the bar, and met with success ; but his practice was interrupt
ed by a voyage to England on account of his father's affairs
and health. In 1771 he returned to New York, and resumed
the law. His business was very successful, and continued to
increase, until the revolutionary controversy reached a crisis.
He was in a feeble state of health at the time of the suspen
sion of proceedings in the courts, and retired from the city
to Long Island, where he made preparations at a considerable
expense, to begin the manufacture of salt; but Long Island
soon after fell into the possession of the royal army, and the
enterprise was abandoned, as salt could then be freely imported
from England. Dissatisfied at length with his inactive life,
and desirous to make provision for his family, he returned to
the city, which was also occupied by the British troops, and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
embarked in commerce. He continued in New York until
about the conclusion of the war, and accumulated an ample
fortune. Retiring from business, he purchased a country seat
at Bellevue, three miles from the city, where he remained until
near the close of 1784, when he embarked for England. His
attachment to the home of his fathers, he said, "was founded
on many pleasing associations. In particular, I had strong
prepossessions in favor of a residence in England, because I was
ever partial to its political constitution, and the mildness and
wisdom of its general system of laws." * * * * "On
leaving my native country, there was not, therefore, any land
on which I could cast my eyes with so much pleasure ; nor is
there any which could have afforded me so much real sat
isfaction, as I have found in Great Britain. May its politi
cal fabric, which has stood the test of ages, and long attracted
the admiration of the world, be supported and perpetuated by
Divine Providence."
He established his residence at Holdgate, near the city of
York. In 1787 he published his first work, — The Power of
Religion on the Mind, — which met with favor. Having been
often solicited to compose a Grammar of the English Language,
he finally consented to undertake the task; and in 1795, gave
the world the fruit of his labors. A second edition was immedi
ately called for, and Murray's Grammar soon became a stand
ard work. Encouraged to continue his literary career, he
composed his Exercises, and Key, and published both in 1797 :
and in the same year he made an Abridgment of the Grammar.
His English Reader, the Introduction, and the Sequel, soon
followed, as did his Spelling Book. For these publications, he
was liberally paid by the booksellers of London, to whom he
sold the copyrights. From 1809 until his decease, a period of
more than sixteen years, he was wholly confined to his house,
except that during this time he took an occasional airing.
His physical debility was very great, and for years his infirmi
ties did not allow him to rise from his seat. His mental pow
ers were, in a good measure, unimpaired to the last. He died
in 1826, in the eighty-first year of his age. He was an excel-
41
482 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
lent man. " His life and death were blessed, and his memory is
blessed." "His literary works and his good deeds are a
lasting memorial of him." His integrity and truthfulness
were unimpeachable. His benevolence was universal. He
was hospitable and generous, mild, affectionate, and kind. In
a word, he was a true Christian. In person he was tall and
stout. His appearance was prepossessing, his features regular,
his manners and address courteous. " Some have said after
their first introduction to him, that his aspect and demeanor,
together with the purity and sanctity of his character, recalled
to their minds the idea of the apostles and other holy men" of
the early ages of Christianity. Mr. Murray was a member
of the Society of Quakers, or Friends ; and his remains were
interred at York, in the burying-ground of that communion.
His wife, with whom he lived upwards of fifty-eight years,
survived him.
MURRAY, ROBERT. In 1782 he was a lieutenant of the
King's American Dragoons. He settled in New Brunswick,
and died there of consumption. He received half-pay.
MURRAY, SAMUEL. Son of Colonel John Murray, of Rutland,
Massachusetts. Graduated at Harvard University in 1772.
He was with the British troops at Lexington in 1775, and was
taken prisoner. In a General Order, dated at Cambridge,
June 15, 1775, it was directed; "That Samuel Murray be
removed from jail in Worcester to his father's homestead
in Rutland, the limits of which he is not to pass until further
orders." In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He died
previous to 1785.
MURRAY, WILLIAM. Of Massachusetts. Embarked for Hal
ifax with the royal army in 1776.
MURRAY. Residence unknown. Several Loyalists of the
name of Murray, beside the sons of Colonel John, were in the
royal service. Thus, John was a lieutenant of cavalry in the
South Carolina Royalists ; Thomas, Edward, and James,
were officers of infantry in the Queen's Rangers ; and another
Thomas, a lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Battalion. And
in South Carolina, Patrick Muckle Murray was in commission
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 483
under the crown, and lost his estate in 1782 under the confis
cation act.
MuRRELL, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. Estate confis
cated.
MUSGROVE, JOHN. Of South Carolina. He was in commis
sion under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
NASE, HENRY. Of New York. He joined the royal army
at King's Bridge in 1776, and served six years in the Loyalist
corps called the King's American Regiment. In 1783 he set
tled in New Brunswick ; was lieutenant-colonel in the militia,
and filled several civil offices. He died in King's County,
New Brunswick, in 1836, aged eighty-four. Before entering
the service of the crown, his loyalty involved him in much
trouble with his Whig neighbors; and he was a great sufferer
by the events, which made his country free — but himself an
exile.
NASH, RICHARD. Was seized at Long Island, New York, in
1775, sent to Massachusetts, and confined within the limits of
the town of Brookfield.
NEALIE, CHRISTOPHER. Of South Carolina. Held a royal
commission after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confis
cated.
NELSON, ROBERT. Of North Carolina. Went to England.
He was in London July, 1779, and a Loyalist Addresser of
the king.
NELSON, THEOPHILUS. Of New York. He was included in
the disfranchising act of that State of 1784, but by an act of
1786, was restored to his civil rights, on his taking the oath of
abjuration and allegiance.
NERVCOB, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
NESS, JOHN. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Prince of
Wales's American Volunteers, and adjutant of the corps.
NEWBERRY, . A Tory sergeant in the British service.
In 1778, the daughter of a Mr. Mitchell of Cherry Valley, a
484 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
little girl of ten or twelve years old, in the massacre of the
family by the Indians, was left alive, though wounded and
much mangled. Newberry, by a blow of his hatchet, put an
end to her life. He fell into the hands of General James Clin
ton, at Canajoharie, the next year, and was executed.
NEWBLE, JAMES. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1821 ,
aged ninety-four years.
NICHOLS, WIDOW RUTH. Of Newport, Rhode Island. In the
spring of 1783 she and her two children arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, in the ship Union.
NICHOLSON, ARTHUR. A cornet in the King's American
Dragoons, and adjutant of the corps. He settled in New
Brunswick ; received half-pay; and died in that Colony.
NISBETT, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
NIXON, ROBERT. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 the Council
required him to surrender himself for trial, on pain of standing
attainted.
NOBLE, BENJAMIN. Of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
NOBLE, FRANCIS. Of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. A Loyalist of this name settled
at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and was a grantee of
that city.
NODES, THOMAS. Cordwainer, of Newcastle, Delaware. In
1778 it was declared by statute, that his property, both real
and personal, would become absolutely forfeited to the State,
unless he should surrender and abide trial for treason.
NORRICE, HENRY. Of Pennsylvania. Was tried in 1778, on
a charge of supplying the royal forces with provisions, and
found guilty. He was sentenced to confinement and to hard
labor for one month ; and in addition, to the payment of fifty
pounds for the use of the sick of the Whig camp.
NORTH, CAPTAIN JOSHUA. Of Brandywine, Delaware. In
1778 it was declared by law, that, on failing to appear to
answer to the charge of treason on or before August 1, his
estate should be confiscated.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 485
NORTHRUP, BENAJAH. Of Connecticut. Settled in New Bruns
wick in 1783, and died at Kingston, King's County, in 1838,
aged eighty-eight, leaving fourteen children, one hundred and
eighteen grandchildren, and one hundred and eleven great
grandchildren.
NORTON, ASA. A physician, of Reading, Connecticut. A
member of the Association.
NOSTRAND, GEORGE. Of Queen's County, New York. Ac
knowledged allegiance October, 1776. John and Garret Nor-
strant, of the same County, signed a Declaration of loyalty
the year before.
NOSTRANDT. Eleven persons of this name of Queen's
County, New York, acknowledged allegiance October, 1776.
To wit : Daniel, Peter, Garret junior, Frederick, Jacob, Peter,
Garret, Daniel, Garret, Peter junior, and John.
NUGENT, JOHN. An officer in the Superintendent Department
established at New York.
NUTTING, JOHN. Carpenter, of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
NUTTING, JOSEPH. He was collector of taxes of the city of
St. John, and died there in 1826, aged sixty-eight.
OAKLY, DAVID. A magistrate, of Westchester County, New
York. A Protester at White Plains.
OBMAN, JACOB. A lieutenant in the Georgia Loyalists.
ODELL, REVEREND JONATHAN. An Episcopal clergyman. He
was a graduate of Yale College. During the Revolution he
was chaplain of a Loyalist corps. At the close of the war he
settled in New Brunswick, and is mentioned in the annals of
that Colony, as the " Honorable and Reverend Jonathan
Odell." He was the first Secretary of New Brunswick, and
was Register and Clerk of the Council, and had a seat as
Councillor. He died in 1818. His daughter Lucy Ann, wife
of Lieutenant Colonel Rudyerd, of the Royal Engineers, died
at Halifax in 1829. His widow, Anne, died at Fredericton
in 1825, aged eighty-five ; and his son, the Honorable William
Odell, who was his successor as secretary, and held the office
41*
486 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
for thirty-two years, died at Fredericton in 1844, at the age of
seventy.
ODELL. WILLIAM. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains. Abraham Odell, of that County,
was also a Protester.
OGDEN, BENJAMIN. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains. Benjamin Ogden, Esquire, Justice
of the Court of Common Pleas, died at Antigonish, Nova
Scotia, in 1835.
OGDEN, DAVID. He was principal clerk of the post-office de
partment of the Colonies, and was considered to be in office in
1782 — certainly — and probably until the peace.
OGDEN, DAVID. A member of His Majesty's Council, and a
Judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. After Galloway,
the celebrated Loyalist of Pennsylvania, retired to England,
Ogden was a correspondent, and his letters betray much bitter
ness of feeling. He was a member of the Board of Refugees
or Loyalists established at New York in 1779, and composed
of delegates from the several Colonies. He devised the out
lines of a plan for the government of America after her sub
mission to Great Britain, an event which he deemed " certain
and soon to happen, if proper measures were not neglected."
That plan is curious in many respects, and is here inserted.
It proposed, — " That the right of taxation of America by the
British parliament be given up. That the several Colonies
be restored to their former constitutions and forms of govern
ment, except in the instances after mentioned. That each
Colony have a Governor and Council appointed by the crown,
and a House of Representatives to be elected by the free
holders, inhabitants of the several Counties, not more than
forty, nor less than thirty for a Colony, who shall have power
to make all necessary laws for the internal government and
benefit of each respective Colony, that are not repugnant or
contradictory to the laws of Great Britain, or the laws of the
American parliament, made and enacted to be in force in the
Colonies for the government, utility, and safety of the whole.
That an American parliament be established for all the Eng-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 487
lish Colonies on the continent, to consist of a lord Iieutenant3
barons (to be created for the purpose) not to exceed, at present,
more than twelve, nor less than eight from each Colony, to be
appointed by his majesty out of the freeholders, and inhabi
tants of each Colony ; a House of Commons, not to exceed
twelve, nor less than eight from each Colony, to be elected by
the respective Houses of Representatives for each Colony,
which parliament, so constituted, to be three branches of legis
lature of the Northern Colonies, and to be styled and called
the Lord Lieutenant, the Lords, and Commons of the British
Colonies in North America. That they have the power of
enacting laws in all cases whatsoever, for the general good,
benefit, and security of the Colonies, and for their mutual
safety, both defensive, and offensive, against the king's ene
mies, rebels, &c. ; proportioning the taxes to be raised in such
cases by each Colony. The mode for raising the same to be
enacted by the General Assembly of each Colony, which, if
refused or neglected, be directed and prescribed by the North
American parliament, with power to levy the same. That
the laws of the American parliament shall be in force till
repealed by his majesty in Council ; and the laws to the sev
eral legislatures of the respective Colonies to be in force till the
same be repealed by his majesty, or made void by an act and
law of the American parliament. That the American parlia
ment have the superintendence and government of the several
colleges in North America, most of which have been the
grand nurseries of the late rebellion, instilling into the tender
minds of youth principles favorable to republican, and against
a monarchical government, and other doctrines incompatible
to the British constitution." Mr. Ogden went to England, and
was agent of the New Jersey Loyalists for prosecuting their
claims to compensation for losses. He was in London in
1788.
OGDEN, ISAAC. Barrister at law, New York. Was also a
correspondent of Galloway.
OGDEN, JONATHAN. Settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and
died at Greenwich, King's County, November, 1845, aged
488 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ninety-seven. Mary, his widow, died at the same place,
August, 1846, aged eighty-one. " They were both among the
faithful and intrepid band of Loyalists, who, for their unshaken
attachment to the Throne and Constitution of Great Britain,
suffered much in their early days."
OGDEN, PETER. Of New York. Was secretary of the police
department of the city, in 1782.
OGDEN, ROBERT. Of New Jersey. Speaker of the House
of Assembly. He was a member of the Stamp Act Congress,
so called, and refused to sanction the proceedings of the major
ity. An attempt was made at his instance to conceal his de
fection, but without success. He was accordingly burned in
effigy in several places in New Jersey, and was removed
from the Speaker's chair at the next meeting of the Assembly.
OGDEN, . Of New Jersey. When, in 1781, a considera
ble part of the Pennsylvania line became discontented, he
acted as the guide of the emissary who was sent by Sir Henry
Clinton to seduce them. Instead of meeting the overture, they
surrendered Ogden and his associate to General Wayne ; and
January 10th, both were tried as spies, convicted, and subse
quently executed.
OGILVIE, CHARLES. Of South Carolina. Was in commis
sion under the crown after the fall of Charleston. His prop
erty was confiscated.
OGILVIE, DAVID. A captain of cavalry in the British Le
gion.
OGILVIE, GEORGE. Of New York. Son of the Reverend
Mr. Ogilvie. Was an officer in a corps of Loyalists.
OGILVIE, J., D. D. An Episcopal clergyman of New York.
He succeeded Doctor Barclay as missionary to the Mohawk
Indians, and was again his successor as rector of Trinity
Church at his decease, in 1765. One who knew him while he
was stationed among the Mohawks, thus speaks : " His ap
pearance was singularly prepossessing ; his address and man
ners entirely those of a gentleman. His abilities were respect
able, his doctrine was pure and scriptural, and his life
exemplary, both as a clergyman and in his domestic circle,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 4S9
where he was peculiarly amiable ; add to all this a talent for
conversation, extensive reading, and a thorough knowledge of
life." He died in New York in 1774.
O'HALA, DENNIS. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
O'HALLAM, JOHN. An ensign in the King's Rangers, Caro
lina.
OLDFIELD, JOSEPH. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of
the Declaration in 1775.
OLDHAM, THOMAS. Of Chowan, North Carolina. His pro
perty was confiscated in 1779. He was a member of the
House of Assembly ; and seems at first to have been with the
Whigs, since he had a seat in the Convention which approved
of the proceedings of the Continental Congress, and which
Governor Martin denounced by proclamation.
OLDING, NICHOLAS PURDIE. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in
the Royal Garrison Battalion, and a deputy muster master
general of the Loyalist forces.
OLIPHANT, ALEXANDER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
OLIVE, WILLIAM. A member of the Loyal Artillery, St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1795. He died at Carlton, New Bruns
wick, in 1822.
OLIVER, ANDREW. Of Massachusetts. His father was the
Honorable Daniel Oliver, a member of the Council, and he
graduated at Harvard University in 1724. He entered public
life, and was Secretary, Stamp-distributer and Lieutenant
Governor of Massachusetts. In 1765, soon after receiving
the appointment of stamp-officer, the building which he had
fitted for the transaction of business was demolished by a mob,
and he was compelled to resign. He was then allowed to
enjoy his post of secretary without molestation for several
months. But before the close of the year, a report that he was
seeking to be restored to his place of stamp-officer, obtained
circulation, and he was required to make a public statement
upon the subject. He complied with the demand, and pub
lished a declaration, that he would not act under his commis-
490 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
sion ; but this was deemed unsatisfactory, and he was desired
to appear under the Liberty Tree, and there resign the office
in form, and in the presence of the people. With this demand
he also complied, and at the proper time, and while two
thousand persons surrounded him, he made oath to the fol
lowing declaration ; — "That he had never taken any mea
sures, in consequence of his deputation, to act in his office as
distributer of stamps, and that he never would, directly or
indirectly, by himself, or any under him, make use of his
deputation, or take any measures for enforcing the stamp-act
in America." The multitude gave three cheers, and allowed
him to depart. But so determined a course on the part of the
Whigs gave him great pain, and caused intense suffering both
to himself and his family.
In 1770, Mr. Oliver was appointed Lieutenant Governor. In
1773, several letters which he had written to persons in Eng
land were obtained by Franklin, and sent to Massachusetts.
These letters caused much excitement, and became the subject
of discussion throughout the Colony. The Whigs of the
House of Representatives agreed upon a report, that the man
ifest tendency and design of these and other similar commu
nications of Hutchinson, Paxton, Moffat, Auchmuty, Rogers,
and Rome, was to overthrow the constitution, and introduce
arbitrary power. In addition to the assaults at home, Junius
Americanus, a writer in the public papers in England, charged
him with the grave crime of perjury. Mr. Oliver was now
advanced in life. He had always been subject to disorders of
a bilious nature ; and unable to endure the disquiet and mis
ery caused by his position in affairs at so troubled a period,
soon sunk under the burthen. After a short illness, he died
at Boston in March, 1774, aged sixty-seven. In private life, he
was a most estimable man ; but his public career, though earn
estly defended by his brother-in-law, Governor Hutchinson, is
open to severe censure. That he was " hungry for office and
honor," there seems no reason to doubt. No man in Massa
chusetts was more unpopular ; and Hutchinson remarks, that
the violence of party spirit was evinced even at his funeral ;
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
491
that some members of the House of Representatives were
offended because the officers of the army and navy had pre
cedence in the procession, and retired in a body; and that
" marks of disrespect were also shown by the populace to the
remains of a man, whose memory, if he had died before this
violent spirit was raised, would have been revered by all orders
and degrees of men in the province."
OLIVER, BRINLEY SYLVESTER. A son of Lieutenant Governor
Andrew Oliver, of Massachusetts. He graduated at Harvard
University in 1774, and became a surgeon in the British
service.
OLIVER, JAMES. Of Conway, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
OLIVER, PETER. Of Salem. Son of Lieutenant Governor
Andrew Oliver, of Massachusetts, who died at Boston, March,
1774; became a surgeon in the British army, and died in
London, April, 1795. His widow married Admiral Sir John
Knight, and died at her seat near London in 1839. Doctor
Oliver was one of the eighteen country gentlemen who ad
dressed Gage on his departure in 1775, and was proscribed
under the act of 1778.
OLIVER, PETER. He was born in 1713, and graduated
at Harvard University in 1730. Though not educated a
lawyer, he was appointed Chief Justice of Massachusetts in
1756 ; and in McFingal it is asked,
" Did heaven appoint our chief judge Oliver,
Fill that high bench with ignoramus,
Or has it councils by mandamus ? "
Judge Oliver was proscribed and banished, and his estate
was confiscated. In addition to his judicial station he was a
Mandamus Councillor. He went to Halifax at the evacuation
of Boston in 1776. Subsequently he embarked for England.
Of the five Judges of the Superior Court of Massachusetts at
the revolutionary era, four, to wit, the subject of this notice, Ed
mund Trowbridge, Foster Hutchinson, and William Browne,
were Loyalists. The Whig member of the Court was William
492
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Gushing. In 1774, Oliver was impeached by the legislature
for refusing to receive, as usual, a grant for his services from
the Colonial treasury, and hecause he would not engage to
accept of no emolument from the crown. Judges at this time
wore swords, robes, &c. while on the bench. He died in
England in 1791.
OLIVER, PETER, Junior. Son of Chief Justice Peter Oli
ver, of Massachusetts. Graduated at Harvard University
in 1761, and died at Shrewsbury, England, September, 1822,
aged eighty-one years. He was one of the eighteen country
gentlemen who were driven from their habitations in the coun
try to Boston ; and who addressed Gage on his departure in
1775. He was proscribed under the act of 1778, and is styled
of Middleborough, and a physician.
OLIVER, THOMAS. Of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Was born
in Dorchester, and graduated at Harvard University in 1753.
He lived in great retirement, and mingled but little in public
affairs. But after the decease of Lieutenant Governor Andrew
Oliver, of a different family, in 1774, he was appointed his suc
cessor, and was the last royal Lieutenant Governor, and Presi
dent of the Council of Massachusetts. As his appointment as
Councillor was by the king's writ of mandamus, and contrary to
the charter, which provided for the election of members of the
Council, he became an object of popular resentment. He de
tailed the course pursued against him, in consequence of being
sworn into office, in the following narrative, dated September 7,
1774, which, as giving his version, and as throwing light on
the transactions of the times, is inserted entire. It is an answer
to the Whig account of the occurrences at Cambridge on the
2d of September, and, as will be seen, is very full and explicit.
"Early in the morning" (of September 2d), said he, "a
number of the inhabitants of Charlestown called at my house
to acquaint me that a large body of people from several towns
in the County were on their way coming down to Cambridge ;
that they were afraid some bad consequences might ensue,
and begged I would go out to meet them, and endeavor to
prevail on them to return. In a very short time, before I could
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 493
prepare myself to go, they appeared in sight. I went out to
them, and asked the reasons of their appearance in that man
ner ; they respectfully answered, they ' came peaceably to
inquire into their grievances, not with design to hurt any
man.' I perceived they were landholders of the neighboring
towns, and was thoroughly persuaded they would do no harm.
I was desired to speak to them ; I accordingly did, in such a
manner as I thought best calculated to quiet their minds.
They thanked me for my advice, said they were no mob, but
sober, orderly people, who would commit no disorders; and then
proceeded on their way. I returned to my house. Soon after
they had arrived on the Common at Cambridge, a -report arose
that the troops were on their march from Boston ; I was de
sired to go and intercede with his Excellency to prevent their
coming. From principles of humanity to the country, from a
general love of mankind, and from persuasions that they were
orderly people, I readily undertook it ; and is there a man on
earth, who, placed in my circumstances, could have refused
it? I am informed I am censured for having advised the
General to a measure which may reflect on the troops, as being
too inactive upon such a general disturbance ; but surely such
a reflection on a military man can never arise but in the minds
of such as are entirely ignorant of these circumstances.
Wherever this affair is known, it must also be known it was
my request the troops should not be sent, but to return ; as I
passed the people I told them, of my own accord, I would
return and let them know the event of my application (not.
as was related in the papers, to confer with them on my own
circumstances as President of the Council). On my return I
went to the Committee, I told them no troops had been ordered,
and from the account I had given his Excellency, none would
be ordered. I was then thanked for the trouble I had taken
in the affair, and was just about to leave them to their own
business, when one of the Committee observed, that as I was
present, it might be proper to mention a matter they had to
propose to me. It was, that although they had a respect for
me as Lieutenant Governor of the Province, they could wish I
42
494 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Avould resign my seat. I told them I took it very unkind that
they should mention anything on that subject; and among
other reasons I urged, that, as Lieutenant Governor, I stood in
a particular relation to the Province in general, and therefore
could not hear any thing upon that matter from a particular
County. I was then pushed to know, if I would resign when
it appeared to be the sense of the Province in general ; I an
swered, that when all the other Councillors had resigned, if it
appeared to be the sense of the Province I should resign, I
would submit. They then called for a vote upon the subject,
and, by a very great majority, voted my reasons satisfactory.
I inquired whether they had full power to act for the people,
and being answered in the affirmative, I desired they would
take care to acquaint them of their votes, that I should have
no further application made to me on that head. I was prom
ised by the Chairman, and a general assent, it should be so.
This left me entirely clear and free from any apprehensions
of a farther application upon this matter, and perhaps will
account for that confidence which I had in the people, and for
which I may be censured. Indeed, it is true, the event proves
I had too much, but reasoning from events yet to come, is a
kind of reasoning I have not been used to. In the afternoon I
observed large companies pouring in from different parts ; I
then began to apprehend they would become unmanageable,
and that it was expedient to go out of their way. I was just
going into my carriage when a great crowd advanced, and in
a short time my house was surrounded by three or four thou
sand people, and one quarter part in arms. I went to the front
door, where I was met by five persons, who acquainted me
they were a Committee from the people to demand a resigna
tion of my seat at the Board. I was shocked at their ingrati
tude and false dealings, and reproached them with it. They
excused themselves by saying the people were dissatisfied with
the vote of the Committee, and insisted on my signing a paper
they had prepared for that purpose. I found I had been en
snared, and endeavored to reason them out of such ungrateful
behavior. They gave such answers, that I found it was in vain
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 495
to reason longer with them ; I told them my first considerations
were for my honor, the next for my life ; that they might put
me to death or destroy my property, but I would not submit.
They began then to reason in their turn, urging the power of
the people, and the danger of opposing them. All this occa
sioned a delay, which enraged part of the multitude, who,
pressing into my back-yard, denounced vengeance to the foes of
their liberties. The Committee endeavored to moderate them,
and desired them to keep back, for they pressed up to my win
dows, which then were open ; I could from thence hear them at
a distance calling out for a determination, and, with their arms
in their hands, swearing they would have my blood if I refused
The Committee appeared to be anxious for me, still I refused
to sign ; part of the populace growing furious, and the distress
of my family who heard their threats, and supposed them just
about to be executed, called up feelings which I could not
suppress ; and nature, ready to find new excuses, suggested a
thought of the calamities I should occasion if I did not com
ply; I found myself giving way, and b^gan to cast about to
contrive means to come off with honor. I proposed they should
call in the people to take me out by force, but they said the
people were enraged, and they would not answer for the con
sequences ; I told them I would take the risk, but they refused
to do it. Reduced to this extremity, I cast my eyes over the
paper, with a hurry of mind and conflict of passion which
rendered me unable to remark the contents, and wrote under
neath the following words : ' My house at Cambridge being
surrounded by four thousand people, in compliance with their
commands, I sign my name, THOMAS OLIVER.' The five per
sons took it, carried it to the people, and, I believe, used their
endeavors to get it accepted. I had several messages that
the people would not accept it with those additions, upon
which I walked into the court-yard, and declared I would do
no more, though they should put me to death. I perceived
that those persons who formed the first body which came
down in the morning, consisting of the landholders of the
neighboring towns, used their utmost endeavors to get the
496 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
paper received with my additions ; and I must, in justice to
them, observe, that, during the whole transaction, they had
never invaded my enclosures, but still were not able to protect
me from other insults which I received from those who were
in arms. From this consideration I am induced to quit the
country, and seek protection in the town."
The document presented to Mr. Oliver on the 2d of Septem
ber, and which he signed, was as follows : "I, Thomas Oli
ver, being appointed by his Majesty to a seat at the Council
Board, upon, and in conformity to the late Act of Parliament,
entitled an ' Act for the better regulation of the Province of
Massachusetts Bay,' which being a manifest infringement of
the Charter rights and privileges of this people, I do hereby,
in conformity to the commands of the body of this County
now convened, most solemnly renounce and resign my seat at
said unconstitutional Board, and hereby firmly promise and
engage, as a man of honor and a Christian, that I never will
hereafter, upon any terms whatsoever, accept a seat at said
Board on the present novel and oppressive plan of Govern
ment." To this, the original form, he added the words above
recited. Judge Danforth and Judge Lee. who were also Man
damus Councillors, and Mr. Phipps, the sheriff, and Mr.
Mason, clerk of the County, were compelled to submit to the
same body, and make written resignations.
Governor Oliver, as stated by himself, went into Boston, and
made assurances both to General Gage and to the Admiral on
the station, which prevented a body of troops from being sent to
disperse the large body of people who assembled at Cambridge
on this occasion ; and to these assurances it was owing, un
doubtedly, that the day passed without bloodshed. But for
the peaceable demeanor of those whom he met in the morning,
— the landholders of the neighboring towns, — the first colli
sion between the king's troops and the inhabitants of Massa
chusetts, would have occurred, very likely, at Cambridge,
and not at Lexington. A detachment was sent to the former
town the day before, to bring off some pieces of cannon,
and from this circumstance arose, principally, the proceed-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 497
ings related by Governor Oliver. Indignant because the " red
coats " had been sent upon such an errand, thousands from
the surrounding country assembled in the course of the day,
(September 2d,) armed with guns, sticks, and other weapons;
and when the Lieutenant Governor's promise on his return
from Boston, rendered it certain that they would not be op
posed by the troops, they exacted from every official who lived
at Cambridge full compliance with their demands, as has been
stated.
From this period Governor Oliver lived in Boston, until
March, 1776, when at the evacuation he accompanied the
royal army to Halifax, and took passage thence to England.
In 1778 he was proscribed and banished; and the year follow
ing was included in the conspiracy act. His estate was con
fiscated. While in England he lived in retirement. He died
at Bristol, England, November 29, 1815, aged eighty-two.
Harriet, his wife, a daughter of Colonel John Yassall, of Cam
bridge, died at the same place in 1808. His elegant mansion
at Cambridge was occupied by Governor Gerry for many
years. It is said that he was a gentleman of great mildness of
temper, and politeness of manners.
OLIVER, WILLIAM SANDFORD. Of Boston. Son of Lieutenant
Governor Andrew Oliver, of Massachusetts. In 1776 he ac
companied the royal army to Halifax. He settled at St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was the first sheriff of the
County. His official papers in 1784 are dated at Parr, and
Parr-town, by which names St. John was then known. In
1792, he held the office of Marshal of the Court of Vice Ad
miralty of New Brunswick. At the time of his decease he
was sheriff of the County of St. John, and treasurer of the
Colony. He died at St. John in 1813, aged sixty-two. Catha
rine, his wife, died in that city in 1803, at the age of forty-one.
Elisabeth Letitia, his youngest daughter, died at Fort Erie,
Upper Canada, in 1836. His son, William Sandford, was a
grantee of St. John in 1783, but left New Brunswick about
1806. A Lieutenant William Sandford Oliver, of the Royal
42*
498 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Navy, married Mary Oliver, only daughter of Thomas Hutch-
inson, Esquire, in England, in 1811: — possibly the same.
OLMSTEAD, AARON. Of Connecticut. In 1783 was a grantee
of St. John, New Brunswick.
OLMSTEAD, ELEAZER. Of Reading, Connecticut. Was a mem
ber of the Association.
OLMSTEAD, NATHAN. Of Ridgefield, Connecticut. In January
1775, was chairman of a meeting called at Ridgefield, to con
sider whether that town would "adopt and conform to the
Resolves contained in the Association of the Continental Con
gress." About two hundred voters were present, and it was
determined, with almost entire unanimity, " That it would be
dangerous and hurtful to adopt said Congress's measures ; and
we hereby publicly disapprove of, and protest against said
Congress, and the measures by them directed, as unconsti
tutional, as subversive of our real liberties, and as counte
nancing licentiousness."
O'NEALE, HENRY. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
under the crown, after the surrender of Charleston. Estate
confiscated.
O'NEIL, JOSEPH. Embarked at Boston with the British army
for Halifax, in 1776.
O'NEILL, JAMES. A lieutenant in the Prince of Wales's
American Volunteers.
ORIN, JOHN. One of the grantees of St. John, New Bruns
wick, 1783.
ORMOND, GEORGE. Adjutant of the Queen's Rangers. At
the peace he settled in New Brunswick, but removed from the
Colony, and probably to Canada. A son is lieutenant-colonel
in the British army.
ORNE, TIMOTHY. Of Salem, Massachusetts. He graduated
at Harvard University in 1768 ; was an Addresser of Gage in
1774. A mob seized him in 1775, but were persuaded to re
linquish their design of tarring and feathering him.
OSBORN, NATHAN. Of Westchester County. A Protester at
White Plains.
OSWALD, ATWOOD. One of the grantees of St. John, New
P^nnswick.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 499
OWEN, JOHN. Of Fishing Creek, South Carolina. In 1782
his estate was amerced twelve per cent.
OWENS, JOHN. One of the grantees of St. John, New Bruns
wick. He died previous to 1805 ; Mary, his widow, survived
until that year.
OXNARD, EDWARD. Of Falmouth, Maine. Brother of Thomas
Oxnard. He was born in 1746, and graduated at Harvard
University in 1767. As the revolutionary controversy ap
proached to a crisis, he was a merchant ; and between May
and October, 1775, officiated as reader of the Episcopal society.
After the burning of Falmouth by Mowatt, he retreated from
Maine, and went to England. In 1776 he was in London,
and a member of the New England Club, formed there early
in that year, by several Loyalists of Massachusetts, who
agreed to meet and have a dinner weekly at the Adelphi,
Strand. This Club, February 1, was composed of the follow
ing members: — Governor Hutchinson, Richard Clark, Joseph
Green, Jonathan Bliss, Jonathan Sewall, Joseph Waldo, S. S.
Blowers, Elisha Hutchinson, William Hutchinson, Samuel
Sewall, Samuel Quincy, Isaac Smith, Harrison Gray, David
Greene, Jonathan Clark, Thomas Flucker, Joseph Taylor,
Daniel Silsbee, Thomas Brinley, William Cabot, John S. Cop
ley, Nathaniel Coffin, Samuel Porter, Benjamin Pickman,
John Amory, Robert Auchmuty, Major Urquhart, Samuel
Curwen, and the subject of this notice; all of whom, Urqu
hart excepted, are mentioned in this volume. In 1778, Mr.
Oxnard was proscribed and banished. He returned to Port
land soon after the conclusion of hostilities, and was an auc
tioneer and commission merchant. He died July 2d, 1803.
His wife, who was Mary, a daughter of Jabez Fox, and a
descendant of John Fox, author of the Book of Martyrs ; and
his sons William, Edward, and John, and one daughter, sur
vived him.
OXNARD, THOMAS. Of Falmouth, Maine. Brother of Edward.
He was born in 1740, and removed to Falmouth (no\v Port
land) some years previous to the Revolution, and established
himself as a merchant. In 1764 he was among those who
500 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
seceded from the old parish, and formed a society of Episco
palians. In 1770, after Mr. Lyde was commissioned collector
of the customs, he was appointed deputy, and continued in
office until the royal authority came to an end, when he left
the country. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. Dur
ing some part of the war he was at the royal post established
at Castine, and in 1782 his wife was permitted, by a resolve
of the General Court, to join him, " with her two servant
maids, and such part of her household goods as the selectmen
of Falmouth should admit." At a period subsequent to the
war, he was at the island of Grand Menan, Bay of Fundy ;
but returned to Portland not long after the peace, and between
the years 1787 and 1792, officiated as reader to the Episcopal
society. He " designed to go to England to take orders, but
having a correspondence with Mr. Belsham of London, Doctor
Freeman of Boston and others, he imbibed Unitarian views of
religion, and not being able to satisfy his society of their truth,
he was dismissed, and gave up his intention of preaching."
He died at Portland, May 20, 1799, aged fifty-nine. His wife
was Martha, a daughter of General Jedediah Preble, a distin
guished Whig, and a sister of the celebrated Commodore Ed
ward Preble, of the United States Navy. His children were
Thomas, Henry, Stephen D., and Martha. Thomas com
manded the American privateer True Blooded Yankee, in the
war of 1812, and was famous for his success and the boldness
of his enterprises ; at his death, he requested that the flag of
his country should be his shroud. Henry, the second son,
who was a merchant and a ship-owner, and a gentleman highly
beloved for his many virtues, died at Boston3 December 15,
1843.
PADDOCK, ADINO. Of Boston. He was a lineal descendant
of Zachariah Paddock, who came over in the May Flower in
1620, but who, being a minor, was not included in the list of
the first settlers of Plymouth. Zachariah married and left
children. The family increased and branched off, and at the
Revolutionary period, members of it were to be found in vari-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 501
ous parts of New England, in New Jersey, and even in South %
Carolina. In 1749 Adino — the subject of this notice — mar
ried Lydia Snelling, by whom he had thirteen children. He
settled in Boston, where he manufactured chairs, and trans
acted his business near the head of Bumstead Place. He was
much respected. He commanded the Boston Train of Artille
ry, obtained the rank of colonel in the military of the day,
and was considered an excellent officer. The elm trees in
Tremont street were planted by him, and were for years the
objects of his care. It is related, that on one occasion, he
offered the reward of a guinea for the detection of the person
who hacked one or more of them. Nine of Colonel Paddock's
children died in infancy ; and John, a student at Harvard
College, was drowned in Charles river while bathing in 1773.
In March, 1776, he embarked for Halifax with the royal
army, accompanied by his wife, and by Adino, Elisabeth, and
Rebecca, his surviving children. In June of that year, the
whole family, his son Adino excepted, sailed from Halifax for
England.
Two years after Colonel Paddock abandoned his native
land, he was proscribed and banished. From 1781 until his
decease, he resided on the Isle of Jersey, and for several years
held the office of Inspector of Artillery Stores, with the rank
of captain. He died March 25, 1804, aged seventy-six years.
Lydia, his wife, died at the Isle of Jersey in 1781, aged fifty-
one. He received a partial compensation for his losses as a
Loyalist.
PADDOCK, ADINO, Junior. Of Boston. Son of Colonel Adino
Paddock. He accompanied his father to Halifax in 1776, as
related above, and in 1779 followed him to England, where he
entered upon the study of medicine and surgery. Having
attended the different hospitals of London, and fitted himself
for practice, he returned to America before the close of the
Revolution, and was surgeon of the King's American Dra
goons. In 1784 he married Margaret Ross, of Casco Bay,
Maine, and settling at St. John, New Brunswick, confined his
attention to professional pursuits. In addition to extensive
502 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
successful private practice, he enjoyed from government,
the post of surgeon to the ordnance of New Brunswick. He
died at St. Mary's, York County, in 1817, aged fifty-eight.
Margaret, his wife, died at St. John in 1815, at the age of
fifty. The fruit of their union was ten children; — of whom
three sons, namely, Adino, Thomas, and John, were educated
physicians. Adino commenced practice in 1808, and is still
(1846) living at Kingston, New Brunswick. Thomas mar
ried Mary, daughter of Arthur McLellan, Esquire, of Port
land, Maine, and died at St. John, deeply lamented, in 1838,
aged forty-seven. John, the youngest, resides at St. John.
PAFFORD, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
PAGAN, ROBERT. A native of Glasgow, Scotland. Was born
in 1750. He emigrated to America early in life, and estab
lished himself as a merchant at Falmouth, Maine (now Port
land). Though a young man, " He pursued on a large scale
the lumber business and ship-building. The ships which
were built were not generally employed in our trade, but with
their cargoes sent to Europe and sold. Mr. Pagan kept on the
corner of King and Fore streets, the largest stock of goods
which was employed here before the war ; he was a man of
popular manners and much beloved by the people." In 1775
he became involved in the controversies of the time, and aban
doned his business and the country soon after the burning of
Falmouth by Mo watt. In 1778 he was proscribed and ban
ished. He settled at St. Andrew, New Brunswick, in 1784,
and became one of the principal men in the County of
Charlotte. After serving the crown as agent for lands in New
Brunswick, and in superintending affairs connected with
grants to Loyalists, he was in commission as a magistrate, as
Judge of a Court, and as colonel in the militia, and being a
favorite among the freeholders of the County, was elected to
the House of Assembly, and for several years was a leading
member of that body. Judge Pagan died at St. Andrew, No
vember 23, 1821; and Miriam, his widow, (a daughter of
Jeremiah Pote,) deceased at the same place, January, 1828,
aged eighty-one. They were childless.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 503
PAGAN, THOMAS. Brother of Robert Pagan. He went to
St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, was one of the
grantees of that city, and established himself as a merchant.
He removed to Halifax, and while absent in Scotland for the
benefit of his health, died in 1804.
PAGAN, WILLIAM. Of Maine. Brother of Robert and Thomas.
He settled in New Brunswick, and was a member of the
House of Assembly, and of the Council. His death occurred
at Fredericton, March 12, 1819.
PAGE, GEORGE. Embarked at Boston with the British army,
for Halifax, in 1776.
PAINE, SAMUEL. Of Worcester, Massachusetts. Tn 1775 he
was sent by the Committee of that town, under guard, " to
Watertown or Cambridge, to be dealt with as the honorable
Congress or Commander-in-chief shall, upon examination,
think proper." His direct offences consisted, apparently, in
saying, that the Hampshire troops had robbed the house of
Mr. Bradish ; that he had heard the Whig soldiers were de
serting in great numbers ; and, that he was told " the men*
were so close stowed in the Colleges that they were lousy.'7
This is the substance of the testimony of a neighbor, the only
witness who appeared against him, and who had a conversation
with him (in the garden of the witness) immediately after he
had been on a visit to Cambridge, where the Whig army was
then encamped. Tn 1776 Mr. Paine accompanied the British
army from Boston to Halifax. During the war he wandered
from place to place, and apparently without regular employ
ment. After the war he returned to Massachusetts, and died
at Worcester in 1807. He was a son of Honorable Timothy
Paine, and a graduate of Harvard University of the class of
1771.
* PAINE, TIMOTHY. Of Worcester, Massachusetts. He gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1748. He was a member of
the General Court for some years, and a stout government-
man in the controversies in that body which preceded the
Revolution. In 1774 he was appointed a Mandamus Council
lor, and in August of that year, about fifteen hundred people
504 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
assembled on the Common in Worcester, and elected Joseph
Gilbert, John Goulding, Edward Rawson, Thomas Dennie,
and Joshua Bigelow, a Committee, to wait upon him and to
demand of him satisfaction for having accepted the appoint
ment. After some delay he wrote and signed his resignation.
The committee insisted further, that he should personally
appear before the people ; this he did, when Mr. Dennie read
his resignation. It was then insisted that he should read the
paper himself, and with his hat off. He hesitated, and de
manded the protection of the committee, but finally complied,
and was allowed to retire to his dwelling unharmed. The
object of the multitude having been accomplished, they with
drew in companies, those of each town marching off in a sep
arate body. Mr. Paine died in 1793.
PAINE, WILLIAM. Of Worcester, Massachusetts. Son of Hon
orable Timothy Paine. Graduated at Harvard University in
1768. He was educated to the medical profession, and having
been proscribed under the act of 1778, became apothecary to
the British forces in Rhode Island and New York. He settled
after the Revolution in the province of New Brunswick, and
was a member of the House of Assembly for the County of
Charlotte. He, however, removed to Salem, Massachusetts,
and thence to Worcester, and died in the latter town, April,
1833, aged eighty-three years.
PALMER, GIDEON. A coroner, of Westmoreland County, New
Brunswick. Died at St. John in 1824, aged seventy-five.
PALMER, JACOB. Of Queen's County, New York. Acknowl
edged allegiance, October, 1776. In 1779 he was an Addresser
of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling.
PALMER, NATHAN. A lieutenant of Tory levies. He was
detected in the camp of General Putnam. Governor Try on
claimed his surrender, when Putnam replied, "Sir; Nathan
Palmer, a lieutenant in your king's service, was taken in my
camp as a spy, he was tried as a spy, he was condemned as a
spy, and you may rest assured, sir, that he shall be hanged as
a spy."
"P. S. Afternoon — he is hanged." In some accounts this
man is call Edmund Palmer.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 5()5
PALMER. RICHARD. Cabinet-maker, of Philadelphia. In 1778
it was ordered by the Council of Pennsylvania, that, failing to
surrender and abide a legal trial for treason, he should stand
attainted.
PALMER, ROBERT. Of Beaufort, North Carolina. His prop
erty was confiscated in 1779. He went to England.
PALMER, THOMAS. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1761. In 1774 he was appointed a
Mandamus Councillor, but was not sworn into office. He died
in 1820.
PANTON, GEORGE. In July, 1783, he was at New York, and
one of the fifty-five Loyalists who petitioned for lands in Nova
Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
PANTON, W. Of Georgia. He removed beyond the limits
of that State, early in the struggle, and in 1793 lived at
Pensacola. During the Revolution he was the particular
friend and agent of Colonel Brown, who succeeded Colonel
Stuart in the British superintendency of the four southern
nations of Indians ; and a large proportion of the presents of
the British government to these nations passed through his
hands, and the hands of his connexions in different parts of
Florida : and from the Spanish government he had authority
to import goods directly from England, to conduct an exten
sive Indian trade. His importations are estimated in our State
papers at £40,000 annually. From these papers it appears
also, that he was particularly hostile to the United States, and
frequently told the Creeks, when he delivered them guns, that
" these guns were to kill the Americans, and that he had
rather have them applied to that use than to the shooting of
deer." That the feelings attributed to Mr. Panton were very
common among the Loyalists, who established their residence
with, or in the vicinity of the savage tribes, there is ample evi
dence. To the agency of such persons, indeed, the desolating
wars which occurred on our frontiers a few years after the
peace of 1783, and especially in Washington's administration,
are supposed to be justly chargeable. In the course of the
transactions of the firm of Pan ton, Leslie, and Company, of
43
506 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
which Mr. Panton was a member, a large debt became due
from the Indians, which, by consent of Spain, was finally ex
tinguished by the conveyance of a tract of land in Florida
forty miles square ; this domain, I am led to conclude, was in
the hands of John Forbes and Company in 1821, as the suc
cessors of the first mentioned firm.
PARKER, JAMES. Of Virginia. He joined Lord Dunmore,
on the first revolt of Virginia ; was a captain in the service ;
and was captured by the French squadron, and carried pris
oner to France. On the passage, the ship in which he first
embarked foundered at sea ; but all on board were saved.
PARKER, JAMES. Of North Carolina. Was banished and
attainted, and his estate confiscated. In 1794 he resided in
England, and in that year applied to the British government
to interpose for the recovery of some large debts due to him in
America at the time of his banishment.
PARKER, JOHN. Of New -York. In the autumn of 1780 a
young Whig, of the name of Shew, was captured in the woods
near Ballston, by a party of Indians and Tories, and at the
instigation of Parker, instantly murdered. Parker himself, not
long after, fell into the hands of his foes, and was tried, con
victed, and executed at Albany, as a spy.
PARKER, JOSIAH. A lieutenant in the Third Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers.
PARKER, ROBERT. Of Massachusetts. He settled in New
Brunswick in 1783, and was directly appointed store-keeper of
ordnance, and comptroller of the customs for the port of St.
John, and filled these offices many years, until his decease.
He died in that city in 1823, aged seventy- three. His only
daughter, Eliza Jane, married Frederick Du Vernet, Esquire,
of the Royal Staff Corps, in 1816. His son, the Honorable
Robert Parker, is a Judge of the Supreme Court; and his son
Neville Parker, Esquire, is Master of the Rolls of New Bruns
wick.
PARKER, STEPHEN. Of North Carolina. , He was in com
mission as a lieutenant, and in 1776 was captured and im
prisoned.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 507
PARKER, TIMOTHY. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick. 1783.
PARKINSON, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 17SO.
PARKS, ROLAND. A cornet in the King's American Dragoons.
PARLEE, PETER. Died at Sussex Vale, New Brunswick,
1832.
PARROCK, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. His estate was confis
cated in 1779.
PARRY, EDWARD. Merchant, of Portsmouth. Was proscribed
and banished by the act of New Hampshire, of 1778. He
was the Portsmouth consignee of the Tea. Two parcels were
sent to him. The first was landed and stored in the Custom
house, without the knowledge of the people. This, upon
requisition, he reshipped to Halifax without disturbance, after
paying the duty in order to obtain a clearance from the col
lector of the customs. The second- lot was likewise reshipped ;
but not until Mr. Parry had been in the hands of a mob, who
demolished his windows, and caused him to claim the protec
tion of the governor.
PARTELOW, JAHIEL. Of Connecticut. Went to St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was one of the grantees of
that city. He died at St. John in 1831, aged eighty-seven.
His son Jahiel died at the same place in 1837, at the age of
sixty -six. John R. Partelow, Esquire, son of the second
Jahiel, was many years chamberlain of St. John, and is now
a member of the House of Assembly, and a leading politician
of New Brunswick.
PARTELOW, MATTHEW. Of Connecticut. Brother of Jahiel
Partelow. Was one of the grantees of St. John, New Bruns
wick, 1783, and died there in 1834, aged eighty-seven. Mrs.
Hannah Wilbur, his daughter, died at the same place in 1846,
at the age of seventy- three.
PARTELOW, RICHARD. Of Connecticut. Died at St. John,
New Brunswick, in the year 1800, aged ninety-eight.
PATCHEN, ANDREW and ASAEL. Of Reading, Connecticut.
Were members of the Association.
508
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
PATERSON, JOHN. Of New York. Was an Addresser of the
king at London, 1779.
PATERSON, ROBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
PATERSON. The following (residence unknown) were in the
military service of the crown in 1782. Robert, as a lieutenant
in the New York Volunteers; William, as surgeon of the
Second Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers ; John, as chaplain
of the Maryland Loyalists ; and William, as a lieutenant in
the Georgia Loyalists.
PATTEN, GEORGE. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, 1776.
PATTEN, JOHN. Was at Halifax in July, 1776, a Loyalist
Refugee.
PATTERSON, JOSIAH. One of the grantees of St. John, 1783.
PATTERSON, WILLIAM. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, 1776.
PATTERSON, W., ESQUIRE. Sheriff of Cumberland County,
New York. In the difficulties which occurred between the
Whigs and Loyalists of that County, early in 1775, he seems
to have borne a prominent, and a most unfortunate part. Ac
cording to a report drawn up by the Whig Committee, the
disputes then common in all parts of the country, were aggra
vated and increased by an attempt of some persons in author
ity in the royal interest, to suppress circular letters from the
Committee of Correspondence of the city of New York, in
1774. In the course of the dissensions which followed a
knowledge of this circumstance by the Whigs, an attempt was
made by them to prevent the usual session of the County
Court ; when Mr. Patterson appeared at the Court House, at
the head of a party of armed adherents of the crown ; directed
the king's proclamation to be read ; and ordered the Whigs
" to disperse in fifteen minutes, or by God he would blow a
lane through them." Colonel Chandler, one of the Judges,
had been consulted on a previous day, as to the expediency of
the Court's sitting in the existing state of public feeling, and
had promised, that no force should be used against the Whigs,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 509
who might assemble at the Court House, to carry out their
intentions of stopping legal proceedings ; and the presence of
Patterson, thus attended, was of course wholly unexpected.
The Whigs were unarmed. Colonel Chandler was appealed
to, acknowledged what he had said, and averred that arms
had been brought to the ground without his consent or knowl
edge ; and still continuing his pacific disposition, endeavored
to disarm Patterson's party, and prevent extremities. But his
exertions and moderate counsels were without avail. Angry
words, oaths, imprecations, and threats, ensued; and, finally,
bloodshed. Several of the Whigs were maimed and wounded,
and one, of the name of William French, received four bullets,
one of which went through his brain and killed him. Violent
commotions rapidly followed these proceedings. A consider
able body of men equipped for war, from New Hampshire and
Massachusetts, soon arrived; and the government of New
York interposed. That Mr. Patterson was very much in
fault, in the transactions which connect his name with the sad
deeds here briefly considered, hardly admits of a doubt ; and
appears as well from the statements of the Loyalists, as from
the report of the Whig Committee. And besides, the course
of events in the House of Assembly shows a state of feeling
quite unfavorable to his exculpation. By referring to the do
ings of that body, in the session commenced in January, 1775,
it will be found, that Mr. Brush, a member of the ministerial
party, moved for a grant of £1000, for the purpose of " re
instating and maintaining the due administration of justice in
said County, [of Cumberland] and for the suppression of riots
therein ; " which sum, after debate, was voted. But every
Whig member present, and several of Mr. Brush's party, voted
against the measure ; and it was carried by a majority of only
two, including the Speaker. It is to be remarked, that, while
the Whigs at the Court House deny that they were armed,
Patterson's friends assert the contrary ; though both agree in
the important circumstance, that the Loyalists were the first
to use weapons, the first to fire.
PATTINSON, THOMAS. Lieutenant Colonel of the Prince of
43*
510 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Wales's American Volunteers. He died at Charleston, South
Carolina, before December, 1782.
PAUL, . Of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1782 he
was sentenced to die as a spy, and was confined in the camp
of Lafayette. The evening before the day appointed for his
execution he escaped.
PAXTON, CHARLES. He was one of the Commissioners of the
Customs at Boston ; was proscribed and banished, and his
estate was confiscated. In 1769 he and his associates were
posted in the Boston Gazette by James Otis. It was this card
of Otis's which brought on the altercation with Robinson,
another commissioner, in the coffee-house in State street, that
stood on the site of the present Massachusetts Bank ; and
which resulted in injuries to the head of the first champion of
the Revolution, from which he never recovered. Paxton was
remarkable for finished politeness arid courtesy of manners.
His office was unpopular and even odious ; arid the wags of
the day made merry with qualities, which at any other time
would have commanded respect. On Pope-day, as the gun
powder plot anniversary, or 5th of November, was called,
there was usually a grand pageant of various figures on a
stage mounted on wheels and drawn through the streets with
horses. Lanterns, transparencies of oiled paper having in
scriptions; figures of the Pretender suspended to a gibbet
of the devil, and the Pope with appropriate implements
and dress, were among the objects devised to draw attention
and make up the show. Sometimes political characters, who
in popular estimation should keep company with the person
ages represented, were added, and of these, Commissioner
Paxton was one. On one occasion he was exhibited between
the figures of the devil and the pope, in proper figure, with
this label ; " every marts humble servant, but no mart s friend "
Pope-day was never celebrated after the shedding of blood at
Lexington. As head of the Board of Commissioners, Mr.
Paxton directed his deputy at Salem, Mr. Cockle, in 1760, to
apply to the Court for the writs of assistance, under which the
officers of the revenue were to have authority to enter and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 511
search all places which they should suspect to contain smug
gled goods. In the discussions consequent upon this applica
tion, James Otis distinguished himself, and during his great
speech on the question, " Independence," said John Adams,
" was born." Mr. Paxton accompanied the British army to
Halifax at the evacuation of Boston, and embarked for Eng
land with his family, in the ship Aston Hall, July, 1776. In
1780 he was a pall-bearer at the funeral of Governor Hutchin-
son. His own death occurred in England in 1782.
PEABODY, FRANCIS. A captain ; took refuge in New Bruns
wick at the close of the war, and settled at Maugerville, Sun-
derland County, of that Colony.
PEABODY, FRANCIS. Son of Captain Francis Peabody. Was
born in 1760, and emigrated with his father to New Bruns
wick at the peace. He resided at Chatham in that Colony
about half a century, and died there, July, 1841, aged eighty-
one years.
PEARCE, ABRAHAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
PEARIS, RICHARD. An ensign in the King's Rangers, Caro
lina.
PEARSALL, WILLIAM and THOMAS. Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. William was
subsequently in arms on the side of the crown, and a party
who robbed the mother-in-law of Thomas, struck at him with
an axe. In 1781 Thomas was made prisoner by a party of
Whigs who came to North Hernpstead.
PEARSON, JACOB. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick. He became a pilot of that port.
PEASE, SIMON. Of Rhode Island. Was an officer of the
Loyal Newport Associators. He died previous to January 1,
1778.
PEAVEY, WILLIAM. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
PECK, DAVID, HENRY, and JAMES. Were grantees of St. John,
New Brunswick, 1783. James returned to the United States.
PECKER, JEREMIAH. Of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Graduated
512
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
at Harvard University in 1757. After the Revolution, he
taught a school in St. John, New Brunswick, and died in that
city in 1809.
PEDERICK, JOHN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
PEIRCE, JOHN. Of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Eldest
son of the Honorable Daniel Peirce. Was born in 1746, and
died June, 1814. He was opposed to the Revolution, at its
commencement; but was respected by the Whigs, as a man
of principle and integrity. He was educated a merchant, and
became not only a thorough accountant, but had a peculiar
faculty of adjusting intricate and long contested claims. His
friends, his townsmen, corporations, and landed proprietors, at
various periods, honored him with important trusts ; and he
was connected, from time to time, with almost every matter
which required the exercise of his properties of character. He
was distinguished for benevolence, decision, and sound judg
ment. Under President Adams, he was Loan Officer for New
Hampshire. He seems to have been a superior man, every
way.
PELHAM, HENRY. Embarked, at Boston with the British
army, for Halifax, in 1776.
PELL, JAMES. Of Westchester County, New York. A Pro
tester at White Plains.
PELL, PHILIP. A magistrate, of Westchester County, New
York. A Protester at White Plains.
PELLEW, HUMPHREY. Was an extensive merchant, and
largely concerned in shipping and in the American trade. He
purchased a tobacco plantation of two thousand acres in
Maryland, but it is not certain that he ever came to reside
upon it, or to visit it. This estate was confiscated, and the
city of Annapolis is built partly upon it. Three of his grand
sons served on the royal side during the Revolution, and
Washington expressed the opinion to a friend of the family,
that this circumstance would prevent the success of an appli
cation to Maryland for its restoration ; and as no compensation
was made under the act of parliament, the loss was total.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 513
These grandsons were John, Israel, and Edward Pellew.
John was aid-de-camp to General Phillips, and was killed in
one of the battles which preceded the surrender of Burgoyne.
Israel was an officer in the Flora frigate, and was on the
American station some part of the war. In after life he be
came Admiral Sir Israel Pellew, K. C. B., and died in 1832.
Edward was also a naval officer, and was engaged on Lake
Champlain. Arnold barely escaped becoming his prisoner.
The circumstance, as related at the time, and as confirmed by
Arnold's son James, (who is now a General in the British
army,) was briefly this. Arnold, while in command of the
Whig flotilla, ventured out upon the lake in a small boat, was
seen, and chased by young Pellew, who gained upon him,
and compelled him to make the nearest landing upon the
shore, and fly ; leaving behind him in the boat his stock and
buckle, which were taken by his pursuer, and which are still
preserved in the Pellew family. Edward subsequently joined
Burgoyne, and was included in the capitulation. He is known
in British naval history as Lord Exmouth, and one of the
most celebrated commanders of his time. His attack on the
defences of Algiers, in 1816, is one of the most memorable
and successful enterprises on record. He died in 1833, aged
seventy-six.
PEMBERTON, ISRAEL, JAMES, and JOHN. Of Philadelphia. Were
apprehended in that city in 1777, and ordered to be sent pris
oners to Virginia, for "being inimical to the Whig cause."
John had issued a seditious publication in behalf of certain
persons of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which had attracted
the attention and action of Congress. The Pembertons were
Quakers. James died at Philadelphia in 1809, aged eighty-
six. Israel Pemberton's house was occupied by Hamilton,
while Secretary of the Treasury ; and the first United States —
now the Girard — Bank, stands partially on his lot.
PENUARVIS, RICHARD. Of South Carolina. Held a royal com
mission after the capitulation of Charleston. His property was
confiscated.
PENDERGRASS, D. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
514 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
PENDRED, GEORGE. An officer of infantry in the Queen's
Rangers.
PENN, JOHN. Of Pennsylvania. He was born in Philadel
phia, and was called " the American Penn." He was a son of
Richard Penn, a grandson of William Penn, and governor of
Pennsylvania from 1763 to 1771, and from 1773 to the begin
ning of hostilities. In June, 1774, about nine hundred re
spectable freeholders in and near the city of Philadelphia, in
an urgent petition, requested him to call a session of the Assem
bly, to consider the subject of the Boston Port Act, but he re
fused. Through the same year he kept Lord Dartmouth regu
larly advised of the proceedings of the Continental Congress,
and in announcing to his Lordship the adjournment of that
body, took occasion to remark, that he had not " had the least
connexion or intercourse with any of the members." He con
tinued in the country after his government was at an end;
and in 1777; having refused to sign a parole, was sent by the
Whigs to Fredericksburgh, Virginia ; where, though restrained
in his liberty, and prevented from communicating with his po
litical friends, and from affording aid to the royal cause, he was
treated with the respect and consideration due to his position
in society, and to his private worth. His rights in Pennsyl
vania were. forfeited. And from a petition presented to Parlia
ment in 1774, it appears that he and Thomas Penn, who was
a son of William, the founder, were true and absolute Propri
etaries of the Colony, though, from a note in Sparks' s Frank
lin, it is evident that the interest of Thomas was by far the
largest. That the reader may understand something of the
nature and value of the property of the Penns in Pennsylvania,
at the revolutionary era, a brief outline of the original grant
will be necessary. The royal charter to the distinguished
William Penn bears date in 1681. The consideration recited
in the preamble is, to reward the merits and services of
Admiral Penn, and to indulge the desire of his son William, to
enlarge the British empire, civilize the savage nations, &c.
The form of government was to be Proprietary ; that is, the
soil was given to William Penn in fee, but he, and his heirs
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 515
and assigns and tenants, were to bear true faith and allegiance
to the British crown. Penn and his successors were author
ized to govern the country by a legislative body, to erect
courts of justice, and administer the laws, and generally do all
things needful for the well-being of the inhabitants, so long as
they kept within the statutes of the realm. But yet there was
an appeal to the tribunals of England, and the patent required,
that an agent or representative should reside constantly in
Great Britain, to answer to alleged abuses, and to meet the
representations of individuals. Thus Pennsylvania was a
sort of hereditary monarchy in miniature. In time, and as the
Colony became rich and populous, disputes arose between the
Governors who represented the Penns, and the members of
the Assembly who represented the people. The popular party
attained great strength, finally ; and attempted to overthrow
the Proprietary form of government instituted by the patent,
and to procure the establishment of another more congenial to
their interest and feelings. Franklin was one of the leaders
of this party, and went to England as their authorized agent
as early as the year 1757. No change was, however, effected.
The Revolution — merging all other dissensions — dispossessed
the Penns at once of political power, and of their rights of
soil. These rights were of immense value, Mr. Sparks has
preserved in Franklin's works, a curious paper drawn up by
Thomas Penn, which gives a minute calculation of the sup
posed worth of the Proprietary Estate in Pennsylvania, and
which Franklin completed on Penn's basis. By Franklin's
additions and computations, the aggregate value was £15,875,-
500,12;0, of the currency of Pennsylvania; or about ten
million pounds sterling. This estimation is, of course, extrava
gant. Yet Franklin said, that after "deducting all the articles
containing the valuation of lands yet unsold and unappropri
ated within their patent, and the manors and rents to be here
after reserved, and allowing for any small over-valuations in
their present reserved lands and incomes, (though it is thought
if any be, it will be not found to exceed the under-valuation in
other instances), there cannot remain less than a million of
516 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
property which they now at this time have in Pennsylvania."
Thus, then. Franklin's own opinion in 1759, would make the
Penns' Proprietary interest at that period, rive millions of dol
lars. But, still that sum included — to some degree at least —
the prospective value, as well as the present. Whatever was
the actual worth in 1759, or twenty years later, the whole
property of the Proprietary, except " the tenths " of the lands
already surveyed, was confiscated. Yet the Penns had pri
vate estates distinguished from their Proprietary interest, such
as manors, farms, and city and town lots, which were not
included in the forfeiture. Some part of these estates is yet
held — or was a few years since — by one of the family.
The Penn estate was by far the largest that was forfeited
in America, and perhaps that was ever sequestered during any
civil war in either hemisphere. The claim to compensation
made by the proprietaries upon the British government, caused
the commissioners much labor and investigation. The amount
claimed was £944,817 sterling. It was reduced to £500,000, and
as thus estimated and liquidated, was recommended to Parlia
ment for allowance. The commissioners made a special
report of this case (as they did of a few others), and from its
complicated nature, it occupied their attention many weeks.
Before coming to a decision, they obtained from Pennsylvania
the evidence of the person who had been the receiver general
of the proprietaries from 1753 to the Revolution, who carried
to England many accounts and papers, which served to explain
the value of the property, and the amount of the income de
rived from it. But the final adjustment appears to have been
different from that adopted by the government in common
claims, since, instead of granting a stipulated sum, a settlement
with the Penns was proposed by Mr. Pitt, which gave to them
and their heirs an annuity of £4000. His recommendation to
Parliament was, to grant £3000 per annum to John Penn,
Esquire, of Stoke Regis, in the County of Bucks, the son of
the elder branch, and £1000 per annum to John Penn, Esquire,
of Wimpole street, the son of the younger branch of the fam
ily, "to be considered as real estate, and issuing out of the
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS, 517
County of Middlesex ; " and this plan was executed by an act
during the year 1790.
In addition to £4000 annuity thus secured to the two John
Penns, the State of Pennsylvania made a liberal provision for
others of the lineage and name, " in remembrance of the en
terprising spirit of the founder," and " of the expectations and
dependence of his descendants; " and " enacted, that the sum
of £130,000 should be paid to the devisees and legatees of
Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, late proprietaries, and to the
widow and relict of Thomas Penn, in just and equitable pro
portions by installment; the first payment to be made at the
expiration of one year after the termination of the war."
This large sum, the annuity of Parliament, the provision to
secure (in the confiscation act) to the different members of the
family their private lands, estates, and hereditaments, as above
mentioned, together with the offices which were subsequently
conferred, formed a very large remuneration ; and probably
placed the Penns in a condition quite as independent as that
which they enjoyed previous to the Revolution. But if they
were actually losers, it is still to be remembered, that without a
separation of the Colonies from England, some change in the
tenure and value of their property must soon have happened.
Their rights, as secured by the original grant, were opposed to
the spirit of the time, and to the progress in American soci
ety; and men would have been found who, like Franklin,
would have demanded concessions, and have continued their
endeavors until concessions were obtained. But yet the events
which extinguished the rights and terminated the influence 01
the Penns, the Fairfaxes, Johnsons, Phillipses, Robinsons, Pep-
perells, and other large landholders, and which committed the
destinies of the New World to new families, produced a ruin
ous change in the political fortunes and prospects of the old
families, who, up to the hour of the dismemberment of the
empire, had been but little less than hereditary colonial noble
men, and viceroys of boundless domains. Governor John
Penn died in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1795. His re
mains, some time after his decease, were removed to England.
44
518 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
PENN, RICHARD. Brother of John Perm, and himself a
governor of Pennsylvania from 1771 to 1773. Unlike John,
who succeeded him, he did have some connexion and inter
course with the members of Congress. For Mr. Caesar Rod
ney wrote to Thomas Rodney from Philadelphia, September 24,
1774, that " Mr. R. Penn is a great friend to liberty, and has
treated the gentlemen Delegates with the greatest respect.
More or less of them dine with him every day. * * * All
these matters are for your own private speculation, and not
for the public view." From Washington's journal, it appears
that he was a guest at Mr. Penn's table. The liberal course
of Richard seems to have won general confidence ; and when
in 1775 he embarked for England, he was entrusted with the
care of the second Petition of the Continental Congress to the
King. After his arrival at London, he was examined in the
House of Lords as to American affairs, and expressed the
opinion, that " a majority of the people were not for indepen
dency." While John Penn was governor, Richard was a
member of his Council, and naval officer of Pennsylvania,
with a salary of £600. As governor, Richard was very pop
ular. He was ua fine, portly looking man." He died in Eng
land in 1811, aged seventy-seven.
PENNINGTON, EDWARD. An eminent merchant of Philadel
phia. In 1774 he was a member of the Philadelphia Com
mittee of Correspondence, and of the Pennsylvania Convention.
But in 1777, "for being inimical to the Whig cause," he was
ordered to be sent prisoner to Virginia. The ancestors of Mr.
Penriiugton were family connexions of William Penn's first
wife.
PENSIL, . Was engaged in the Massacre at Wyoming.
A brother, who was a Whig, sought refuge in a cluster of wil
lows, and claimed his mercy. Deaf to the appeal, the Loyal
ist instantly shot the other dead — exclaiming, as he raised
his gun, — " Mighty well, you damned rebel."
PENTON, GEORGE. Chaplain of the Prince of Wales's Amer
ican Volunteers.
PEPPERELL, SIR WILLIAM, BARONET. Of Kittery, Maine.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS,
519
Among the men of Cornwall who came to America, was Wil
liam Pepperell, who settled at the Isle of Shoals about the year
1676, became a fisherman, acquired property, and removed to
Kittery, where he died in 1734, leaving an only son of his
own name, who continued the business of fishing, amassed
great wealth, and arrived at great honors. The second Wil
liam Pepperell was born in 1696 at Kittery, and when about
the age of thirty-three, was elected a member of the Council
of Massachusetts, and held a seat in that body by annual
election for thirty-two years, until his death. He was also
selected to command a regiment of militia, and being fond
of society, and the life and spirit of every company, rich and
prosperous, was highly popular, and possessed much influence.
Indeed, Colonel Pepperell was a man of distinguished consider
ation in all respects, and the leading personage of Maine. His
political connexions, and his ample estate, gave him access
to the best circles of the capital ; and his business relations
required him to mingle with all classes of people who lived on
the Piscataqua and the Saco. He owned lands on both of these
rivers, where he erected mills and engaged in lumbering, and
he employed hundreds of men annually in fishing in the waters
of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.
The treaty of Utrecht, which secured the former Colony to
the British crown, gave France undisputed right to the latter,
and the French founded and built upon it the city of Louis-
burg, at enormous cost, and protected it with fortresses of
great strength. The walls of the defences were formed with
bricks brought from France, and they mounted two hun
dred and six pieces of cannon. The city had nunneries and
palaces, gardens, squares, and places of amusement, and was
designed to become a great capital, and to perpetuate French
dominion and the Catholic faith in America. Twenty-five
years of time, and thirty million of livres in money were
spent in building, arming, and adorning this city, " the Dun
kirk of the New World." That such a place existed at so
early a period of our history, is a marvel ; arid the lovers of
the wonderful may read the works which contain accounts of
520 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
its rise and ruin, and be satisfied that "truth is sometimes
stranger than fiction." Louisburg soon became a source of
vexation to the fishermen who visited the adjacent seas, and
its capture was finally seriously conceived, and undertaken.
Governor Shirley, in 1744, listening to the propositions made to
him on the subject, submitted them to the legislature of Massa
chusetts, and that body in secret session, (the first ever held in
America,) and by a casting vote, authorized a force to be
raised, equipped, and sent against it. Other New England
Colonies joined in the enterprise, and the command was con
ferred upon Colonel Pepperell. His troops consisted of a mot
ley assemblage of fishermen and farmers, sawyers and loggers,
many of whom were taken from his own vessels, mills, and
forests. Before such men, and before others hardly better
skilled in war, in the year 1745 Louisburg fell. The achieve
ment is the most memorable in our Colonial annals. Yaughan,
a son of the Lieutenant Governor of New Hampshire, who
was second in command, who conducted extensive fisheries,
and who claimed the merit of conceiving the expedition upon
the representations of his fishermen, who had ascertained the
weak points of the defences, died without reward, while
in England, pressing his claims to consideration ; but Colonel
Pepperell was created a Baronet in 1746,* and was the only
native of New England who received that honor during the
whole period of our connexion with Great Britain.
After the fall of Louisburg, Pepperell went to England, and
was presented at Court. In 1759 he was appointed Lieu
tenant General ; he died the same year at his seat at Kittery,
aged sixty-three years. His children were two, Andrew, a
son, who graduated at Harvard University in 1743, and who
died under the most distressing circumstances in 1751, at the
age of twenty-five; and a daughter, Elisabeth, who married
Colonel Nathaniel Sparhawk. Lady Pepperell, who was
Mary Hirst, daughter of Grove Hirst, of Boston, and grand
daughter of Judge Sewell, of Massachusetts, survived until
* He received the arms, crest, and motto of " Peperi."
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 521
1789. Mrs. Sparhawk bore her husband five children ;
namely, Nathaniel, William Pepperell, Samuel Hirst, Andrew
Pepperell, and Mary Pepperell. Sir William, her father, soon
after the decease of her brother, executed a will by which,
after providing for Lady Pepperell, he bequeathed the bulk of
his remaining property to herself and her children. Her
second son was made the residuary legatee, and inherited a
large estate. By the terms of his grandfather's will, he was
required to procure an act of the legislature to drop the name
of Sparhawk, and assume that of Pepperell. This he did on
coming of age, and was allowed, by a subsequent act, to take
the title of Sir William Pepperell, Baronet.
The second Sir William, of whom we are now to speak,
received the honors of Harvard University in 1766; subsequent
ly he visited England, and became a member of the Council
of Massachusetts. In 1774, when that body was re-organized
under the Act of Parliament, he was continued under the
mandamus of the king, and incurred the odium which was
visited upon all the councillors who were thus appointed
contrary to the charter. The people of his own county
passed the following resolution in convention, in November
of 1774
" Resolved, — Whereas the late Sir William Pepperell, Bar
onet, deceased, well known, honored and respected in Great
Britain and America for his eminent service in his life-time,
did honestly acquire a large and extensive real estate in
this country, and gave the highest evidence not only of his
being a sincere friend to the rights of man in general, but of
having a paternal love to this country in particular; and
whereas the said Sir William, by his last will and testament,
made his grandson, the present William Pepperell, Esquire,
residuary legatee and possessor of the greatest part of said
estate ; and the said William Pepperell, Esquire, hath, with
purpose to carry into force acts of the British parliament, made
with apparent design to enslave the free and loyal people of
this continent, accepted and now holds a seat in the pretended
Board of Councillors in this Province, as well in direct repeal
44*
522 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of the charter thereof, as against the solemn compact of kings
and the inherent rights of the people. It is therefore, Resolved,
that said William Pepperell, Esquire, hath thereby justly for
feited the confidence and friendship of all true friends to
American liberty, and, with other pretended councillors now
holding their seats in like manner, ought to be detested by
all good men ; and it is hereby recommended to the good
people of this County, that as soon as the present leases
made to any of them by said Pepperell are expired, they im
mediately withdraw all connection, commerce, and dealings
from him — and that they take no further lease or conveyance
of his farms, mills, or appurtenances thereunto belonging,
(where the said Pepperell is the sole receiver and appropriator
of the rents and profits), until he shall resign his seat pretend-
edly occupied by mandamus. And if any persons shall remain
or become his tenants after the expiration of their present leases,
we recommend to the good people of this County not only to
withdraw all connexion and commercial intercourse with
them, but to treat them in the manner provided by the third
resolve of this Congress."
The Baronet, not long after, thus denounced by his neighbors
and the friends of his family, retired to Boston. In 1775 he
arrived in England under circumstances of deep affliction j
Lady Pepperell, who was Elisabeth, daughter of Honorable
Isaac Royall, of Medford, Massachusetts, having died on the
passage. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished ; and the
year following was included in the conspiracy act. He is
recognized by his title in both statutes, and under the latter,
his vast landed estate in Maine, though entailed upon his heirs,
was confiscated. This estate extended from Kittery to Saco
on the coast, and many miles back from the shore ; and for
the purposes of farming and lumbering, was of great value ;
and the water-power and mill-privileges, rendered it, even at
the time of the sequestration, a princely fortune. The princi
ples which applied in the case of the Morris * heirs would
* See notice of Roger Morris.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 523
seem to apply here, and thus cast a doubt upon the legality
of the confiscation act, as far as the remainder or reversionary
interest of the heirs of the first Sir William were concerned ;
since it is apparently clear, that the • life interest of the second
Sir William could only be, or by the statute actually was,
diverted and passed to the State. But however this may be,
the confiscation was total ; and so utter became the poverty of
the last survivors of the family, that they were literally
saved from the alms-house by the charity of individuals who
commiserated their fallen condition. During the Revolution
the Baronet was treated with great respect and deference by
his fellow exiles in England. His house in London was open
for their reception, and in most cases in which the Loyalists
from New England united in representations to the ministry
or to the throne, he was their chairman or deputed organ
of communication. He was allowed £500 sterling per annum,
by the British government, and this stipend, with the wreck
of his fortune, consisting of personal effects, rendered his
situation comfortable, and enabled him to relieve the distresses
of the less fortunate. And it is to be remembered to his
praise, and to be recorded in respect for his memory, that his
pecuniary benefactions were not confined to his countrymen
who were in banishment for their adherence to the crown,
but were extended to Whigs who languished in England in
captivity. It is to be remembered, too, that his private life
was irreproachable, and that he was among the founders of
the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1779 the Loyal
ists then in London formed an Association, and Sir William
was appointed President. As a matter of curious history,
the proceedings of this body may not be unworthy of preser
vation. The account which follows, is derived from a manu
script record in the possession of a friend.
The first meeting was at Spring Garden Coffee House, May
29, 1779, and the Baronet occupied the Chair. This was
merely preliminary, and a Resolution to hold a general meeting
at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand, on the 26th of the
same month, " to consider of measures proper to be taken for
524 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
their interest and reputation in the present conjuncture," was
the only business of moment which was transacted. About
ninety persons met at the place and time designated ; when a
committee composed of Loyalists from each Colony was
appointed, " to consider of the proper measures to be pursued
on the matters, which have been proposed relative to the
affairs of the British Colonies in North America, and to pre
pare anything relative thereto, and make report at the next
meeting, to be called as soon as ready."
This committee, accordingly, reported an Address to the
king, which was taken up on the 6th of July, and which,
having been read "paragraph by paragraph, and debated, was
agreed on." In this document it is said, that, " notwithstand
ing your Majesty's arms have not been attended with all the
effect which those exertions promised, and from which occa
sion has been taken to raise an indiscriminate charge of dis
affection in the Colonists,* we beg leave, some of us from our
own knowledge, and others from the best information, to
assure your Majesty, that the greater number of your subjects
in the confederated Colonies, notwithstanding every art to
seduce, every device to intimidate, and a variety of oppres
sions to compel them to abjure their sovereign, entertain the
firmest attachment and allegiance to your Majesty's sacred
person and government. In support of those truths, we need
not appeal to the evidence of our own sufferings ; it is notori- ^
ous, that we have sacrificed all which the most loyal sub
jects could forego, or the happiest could possess. But with
confidence, we appeal to the struggles made against the usur
pations of Congress, by Counter Resolves in very large districts
of country, and to the many unsuccessful attempts by bodies
of the loyal in arms, which have subjected them to all the
rigors of inflamed resentment; we appeal to the sufferings
* It will be remembered, that at this time the royal cause wore an un
promising aspect ; Burgoyne had surrendered, and France had formed an alli
ance with the Whigs, arid the allusions of the Address were probably to
these circumstances.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 525
of multitudes, who for their Loyalty have been subjected to
insults, fines, and imprisonments, patiently enduring all in the
expectation of that period, which shall restore to them the
blessings of your Majesty's government ; we appeal to the
thousands now serving in your Majesty's armies, and in pri
vate ships of war, the former exceeding in number the troops
enlisted to oppose them; finally, we make a melancholy
appeal to the many families who have been banished from
their once peaceful habitations ; to the public forfeiture of a
long list of estates ; and to the numerous executions of our
fellow citizens, who have sealed their loyalty with their blood.
If any Colony or District, when covered or possessed by your
Majesty's troops had been called upon to take arms, and had
refused ; or, if any attempts had been made to form the Loy
alist militia, or otherwise, and it had been declined, we
should not on this occasion have presumed thus to address
your Majesty ; but if, on the contrary, no general measure to
the above effect was attempted, if petitions from bodies of
your Majesty's subjects, who wished to rise in aid of govern
ment, have been neglected, and the representations of the
most respectable Loyalists disregarded, we assure ourselves,
that the equity and wisdom of your Majesty's mind will not
admit of any impressions injurious to the honor and Loyalty
of your faithful subjects in those Colonies."
Sir William Pepperell, Messrs. Fitch, Leonard, Rome, Ste
vens, Patterson, Galloway, Lloyd Dulaney, Chalmers, Ran
dolph, Macknight, Ingram, and Doctor Chandler, composing a
committee of thirteen, were appointed to present this address.
At the same meeting it was resolved, " That it be recom
mended to the General Meeting to appoint a Committee, with
directions to manage all such public matters as shall appear
for the honor and interest of the Loyal in the Colonies, or who
have taken refuge from America in this country, with power
to call General Meetings, to whom they shall from time to
time report." Of this committee, Sir Egerton Leigh, of South
Carolina, was chairman. This body was soon organized. On
the 26th of July, Mr. Galloway of Pennsylvania, who was a
526 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
member of it, reported rules for its government, which, after
being read and debated, were adopted. The proceedings of
this committee do not appear to have been very important ;
indeed, to meet and sympathize with one another, was proba
bly their chief employment. On the 2d of August, it was,
however,
Resolved, " That each member of the Committee be desired
to prepare a brief account of such documents, facts, and infor
mations, as he hath in his power, or can obtain, relating
to the rise, progress, and present state of the rebellion in
America, and the causes which have prevented its being sup-,
pressed, with short narratives of their own, stating their facts,
with their remarks thereon, or such observations as may occur
to them ; each gentleman attending more particularly to the
Colony to which he belongs, and referring to his document
for the support of each fact." This resolution was followed
by another, having for its design to unite with them the Loy
alists who remained in America, in these terms : —
Resolved, "That circular letters be transmitted from the
committee to the principal gentlemen from the different Colo
nies at New York, informing them of the proceedings of the
General Meeting, the appointment and purposes of this stand
ing Committee, and requesting their co-operation and corres
pondence."
August 11, 1779, at a meeting of the committee, report was
made, that General Robertson had been " so obliging as to
undertake the trouble of communicating to our brethren in
New York, our wishes to have an institution established there
on similar principles to our own, for the purpose of correspond
ing with us on matters relative to the public interests of
British America." Whereupon it was resolved, that in place
of the circular letter resolved upon on the 2d, "a letter to
General Robertson, explanatory of our designs and wishes,
and entreating his good offices to the furtherance of an estab
lishment of a committee at New York, be drawn up and
transmitted." At the same meeting (August llth) Sir Wil
liam Pepperell stated, that Lord George Germaine had been
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 527
apprized of the proceedings of the " Loyalists for considering
of American aifairs in so far as their interests were concerned,
and that his Lordship had been pleased to declare his entire
approbation of their institution." The framing of the letter
to General Robertson above mentioned, seems to have been,
now, the only affair of moment, which, by the record, occu
pied the attention of the Association. It may be remarked,
however, that agreeably to the recommendation above stated,
a Board of Loyalists was organized at New York, composed
of delegates from each Colony. Another body, of which the
Baronet was the President, was the Board of Agents consti
tuted after the peace, to prosecute the claims of Loyalists to
compensation for their losses by the war, and under the con
fiscation acts of the several States. Sir James Wright, of
Georgia, was first elected, but at his decease, Sir William
was selected as his successor, and continued in office until the
commissioners made their final report, and the commission was
dissolved. Sir William's own claim was of difficult adjust
ment, and occupied the attention of the commissioners several
days. In 1788, and after Mr. Pitt's plan had received the
sanction of parliament, the Board of Agents presented an
Address of thanks to the king for the liberal provision made
for themselves and the persons whom they represented, which
was presented to his Majesty by the Baronet. On this occa
sion, he and the other Agents were admitted to the presence,
and " all had the honor to kiss his majesty's hand." As this
Address contains no matter of historical interest, it is not here
inserted. But some mention may be made of West's picture,
the " Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in
1783," of which an engraving is before me. The Baronet is
the prominent personage represented, and appears in a volu
minous wig, a flowing gown, in advance of the other figures,
with one hand extended and nearly touching the crown which
lies on a velvet cushion on a table, and holding in the other
hand at his side, a scroll or manuscript half unrolled.
The full representation of this picture is as follows : — " Re
ligion and Justice are represented extending the mantle of
528 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Britannia, whilst she herself is holding out her arm and shield
to receive the Loyalists. Under the shield is the Crown of
Great Britain, surrounded by Loyalists. This group of figures
consists of various characters, representing the Law, the
Church, and the Government, with other inhabitants of North
America; and as a marked characteristic of that quarter of
the globe, an Indian Chief extending one hand to Britannia,
and pointing the other to a Widow and Orphans, rendered so
by the civil war ; also, a Negro and Children looking up to
Britannia in grateful remembrance of their emancipation from
Slavery. In a Cloud, on which Religion and Justice rest, are
seen in an opening glory the Genii of Great Britain and of
America, binding up the broken fasces of the two countries,
as emblematical of the treaty of peace and friendship between
them. At the head of the group of Loyalists are likenesses of
Sir William Pepperell, Baronet, one of the Chairmen of their
Agents to the Crown and Parliament of Great Britain ; and
William Franklin, Esquire, son of Doctor Benjamin Franklin,
who, having his Majesty's commission of Governor of New
Jersey, preserved his fidelity and Loyalty to his Sovereign
from the commencement to the conclusion of the contest, not
withstanding powerful incitements to the contrary. The two
figures on the right hand are the painter, Mr. West, the Presi
dent of the Royal Academy, and his Lady, both natives of
Philadelphia."*
Sir William continued in England during the remainder of
his life. He died in Portman Square, London, in December,
1816, aged seventy. William, his only son, deceased in 1809.
The baronetcy was inherited by no other member of the fam
ily, and became extinct. His daughters were Elisabeth, who
married the Reverend Henry Hutton, of London ; Mary, the
wife of Sir William Congreve ; and Harriet, the wife of Sir
Charles Thomas Palmer, Baronet. The Pepperell mansion-
* Mr. West was not born in Philadelphia, but in Springfield, Pennsyl
vania; Moses, the engraver, was mistaken. Mrs. West was Elizabeth
Shewell.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS.
529
house, at Kittery, is still standing. It is plain, but very large,
and contains several rooms, some of which are spacious. It
is near the sea, and lately passed into the hands of fishermen,
at a very low price, and is occupied by a number of families.
The tomb, which was erected in 1734, is near ; and when
entered by a visiter a few years since, contained little else
than bones strewed in confusion about its muddy bottom.
Among them were, of course, all that remains of the victor of
Louisburg, who was deposited in it at his decease in 1759.
His papers, (or many of them) not long ago, were seen in a
building which had insecure fastenings, and packed in dis
order in open casks and boxes.
PERANNEAR, HENRY. Was banished, and his property con
fiscated. In 1794 his executor, Robert Cooper; in a memorial
dated at London, stated to the British government, that several
large debts due to him in America at the time of his banish
ment were unpaid, and interposition and interference were
desired to recover them.
PERCY, EZRA. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A mem
ber of the Association at Reading.
PERKINS, AZARIAH. Died in King's County, New Brunswick,
1825, aged eighty-three years.
PERKINS, JAMES. Of Boston. In 1760 he was one of the
fifty-eight Boston memorialists, who were the first men in
America to array themselves against the officers of the crown :
but in 1774 he was an Addresser of Hutchinson, and a Pro
tester against the Whigs ; and in 1775 an Addresser of Gage.
PERKINS, HOUGHTON. Of Boston. He went to Halifax, and
died there in 1778.
PERKINS, NATHANIEL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage on
his arrival in 1774. He went to Halifax at the evacuation in
1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
PERKINS, WILLIAM LEE. Physician, of Boston. An Addresser
of Gage in 1775. He went to Halifax in 1776, and was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. He was in England, it is be
lieved, in 1781.
PERONNEAU, ROBERT. Of South Carolina. A Congratulator
45
530 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of Cornwallis on his success at Camden in 1780. In 1782 his
estate was confiscated, and he was banished.
PERRY, JOHN. Residence unknown. Died at St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1803.
PERRY, MERVIN. Of Jamaica, New York. Was a loyal
Declarator in 1775. During the war, there was a privateer
manned by Loyalists and commanded by a Captain Perry,
who was taken prisoner in 1781.
PERRY, SAMUEL. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton, 1780.
PERRY, SAMUEL, STEPHEN, THOMAS, SILAS, and SETH. Of Sand
wich, Massachusetts. Were proscribed and banished in 1778.
Of these, the first three had previously joined the royal forces
at Rhode Island ; and Seth had been imprisoned at Sandwich ;
while Samuel, junior, accompanied his father to Rhode Island
in 1777.
PERRY, TIMOTHY. Residence unknown. Was a member of
the Loyal Artillery, St. John, New Brunswick, 1795.
PERRY, WILLIAM. Of Boston. Was a Protester in 1774, an
Addresser the same year, and again in 1775.
PERTIE, PETER. Of Durham, Pennsylvania. In Council, in
1778, it was ordered, that, failing to surrender and be tried for
treason, he should stand attainted.
PETERS, CHARLES. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick.
PETERS, JAMES. Of New York. He was one of the fifty-
five petitioners. See Abijah Willard. He settled in New Bruns
wick in 1783, and was one of the agents to locate lands granted
to the Loyalists, who removed to that Colony. Of the city of
St. John he was a grantee. In 1792 he was a magistrate of
Queen's County. He was a member of the House of Assem
bly for a long period. He died at his seat in Gage town, New
Brunswick, in 1820, aged seventy-five. His son, the Honor
able Charles J. Peters, is the present attorney-general of New
Brunswick.
PETERS, HARRY. Son of James Peters. He was at New
York in July, 1783, and was one of the fifty-five petitioners.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 531
See Abijah Willard. He went to New Brunswick, and was a
member of the Council.
PETERS, HULET. Clerk of the town of Hempstead, Queen's
County, New York. In April, 1775, he certified to the pro
ceedings of "the most numerous Town-Meeting that had been
held there for many years past." The Resolutions — six in
number — appear to have been adopted with great unanimity ;
they are very loyal in their tone, and unsparing in censures of
the course of the Whigs.
PETERS, SAMUEL, D. D. An Episcopal clergyman. Was
born at Hebron, Connecticut, in 1735, and graduated at Yale
College in 1757. In 1762 he took charge of the churches at
Hebron and Hartford ; and was dismissed in 1774. His loyal
conduct, and his imprudence, involved him in many difficulties ;
and perhaps no minister of the time was more obnoxious. He
was charged with making false representations to his corres
pondents in England, and various acts of a similar nature.
To answer these accusations he signed the following declara
tion, in August, 1774. "I, the subscriber, have not sent any
letter to the Bishop of London, or the venerable Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel, &c., relative to the Boston Port Bill,
or the Tea affair, or the Controversy between Great Britain and
the Colonies, and design not to, during my natural life, as these
controversies are out of my business as a clergyman ; also, I
have not wrote to England to any other gentleman or designed
Company, nor will I do it. Witness my hand," &c.
This paper was extorted from him by about three hundred
persons, who assembled at his house; some of whom, in charg
ing him with his offences, threatened him with a coat of tar
and feathers. They demanded to see copies of all his letters,
and of the articles which he had sent to the newspapers for
publication ; and they obtained a copy of certain Resolves,
which he confessed he had composed for the press. These
Resolves are thirteen in number, and relate, principally, to the
Tea question. They are not temperate, and contain some
allusions, which might well create ill feeling among the Whigs;
arid their publication produced new difficulties. In September,
532 . BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
he was again visited by the people, who made known their
determination to obtain retraction and satisfaction. He en
deavored to reason with a committee of their number, and to
justify his conduct, and the principles of the offensive resolves.
The committee, after listening awhile, told him that they did
not come to dispute with him, and advised that he should go
out and address the body without, who surrounded his house,
and promised him that he should return unharmed. He com
plied, and placing himself in the midst of the multitude, com
menced an harangue, which was disturbed by the discharge of
a gun in his house. It is said that Doctor Peters had assured
the committee no arms were in his dwelling, except one or
two old guns, which were out of repair ; but on searching it,
several guns and pistols, loaded with powder and ball, some
swords, and about two dozen large wooden clubs, were found
concealed ; but he was still allowed to finish his address, and to
retire without molestation, as had been promised to him. Yet
it was insisted, that he should draw up and sign another decla
ration. He completed a paper of this description, which was
rejected. He was then urged by the committee to affix his
name to another, framed by themselves. This he declined to
do ; and while in conversation on the subject, the mass, impa
tient of delay, and weary and hungry, rushed into the house
by the door and one window, and seizing the Doctor, bore him
to a horse and carried him to the Meeting-house Green, or
parade-ground, three quarters of a mile distant, and compelled
his acquiescence. Having signed the paper prepared by the com
mittee, he read it to the people himself; when they gave three
cheers and dispersed. During the affair, his gown and shirt
were torn, one sash was somewhat shattered, a table was turned
over, and a punch-bowl and glass were broken. Thus the
damage to his person and property was inconsiderable ; though
the multitude — about three hundred in number — were much
exasperated in consequence of the arms found secreted in his
house, contrary to his assurances.
The Doctor, soon after this occurrence, fled from Hebron to
Boston, with the design of embarking for England, to make a
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 533
representation of the treatment which he had received from the
inhabitants of his town and neighborhood. It was feared that
he would state his grievances in a light which would endanger
the Charter of Connecticut, and some anxiety was manifested
by the Whigs of that Colony ; and the more especially, as at
Boston he received the countenance of the Governor, of the
Commissioners of the Customs, the Mandamus Councillors,
and the Episcopal clergy, all of whom, it was feared, would
testify to his character, and to the injuries which he had sus
tained. It was deemed advisable, therefore, that his motions
should be watched, that communications with his friends in
Connecticut should be intercepted,* and %that other means
should be adopted to prevent his procuring testimony to make
out a case against the Colony of a nature likely to engage the
attention of the ministry in England. The following letter to
his mother, which was intercepted, shows that his plans were
indeed similar to those which were suspected by the persons
who observed his movements.
"Dear Mother: — I am well, and doing business for my
intended route. I hear a mob was gathered for me the day I
left Hebron ; what they have done I cannot yet find out. As
Jonathan will be obliged to attend at New Haven when the
Assembly sits, I desire him to tell Mr. Jarvis, Andrews, Hub-
bard, &c., to collect all the facts touching mobs and insults
offered the clergy of our churches, or her members ; likewise
to send me a copy of the Clergy's petition to Governor Trum-
bull, and what he does in answer. If Jonathan is hurt, or my
house is hurt or damaged, let that be transmitted to me within
fourteen days, or, after that, send accounts to the care of Mr.
* Two of his friends, who were known to have visited him, were accused,
on their return, of having brought letters to his family, but denied the fact.
They were seen, however, afterwards, to go to a stone-wall, which, on being
examined, was found to contain two letters ; that given in the text is a copy
of one of them, and these men, when again questioned, confessed that they
had deposited them there.
45*
534 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Rice Williams, a woollen draper, in London. I am in high
spirits. I should be happy if my friends and relations at He
bron were provided for at these bad times, when things are
growing worse. Six regiments are now coming from England,
and sundry men-of-war ; so soon as they come, hanging work
will go on, and destruction will first attend the sea-port towns ;
the lintel sprinkled on the side-posts will preserve the faithful.
I wish Hannah to take some papers which she and I laid
away, and bring them to me ; she knows where they be ; or
burn them if this letter appears to be opened' before it is opened
by you. Mr. Beebe, and Mr. David Jones, Mr. Warner, and
Mr. Griffin, of Millington, must draught a narrative of their
sufferings, and such words as Colonel Spencer, &c., have
spoke, by way of encouragement to mobs, and let Doctor
Beebe send the same to me, to the care of Mr. Thomas Brown,
merchant, in Boston.
"I am, &c.,
" SAMUEL PETERS."
In another letter to Reverend Doctor Auchmuty, of New
York, which was intercepted at the same time, dated at Bos
ton, October 1, 1774, Doctor Peters says: "I am soon to sail
for England; I shall stand in great need of your letters and
the letters of the clergy of New York. Judge Auchmuty, &c.,
&c., will do all things reasonable for the neighboring charter;
necessity calls for such friendship, as the head is sick, and the
heart faint, and spiritual iniquity rides in high places with
halberts, pistols, and swords," &c. ; and he closes with the
significant remark, that "The bounds of New York may
directly extend to Connecticut river, Boston meet them, and
New Hampshire take the Province of Maine, and Rhode Island
be swallowed up as Dathan."
He w.ent to England, as he contemplated, and carried with
him, as is manifest, a desire to divide Connecticut between
New York and Massachusetts, and to swallow up Rhode
Island ; but the ministry, soon after his departure, had graver
work to attend to than any which he could have proposed, and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 535
those whom he left behind, to fear for the success of his efforts,
soon lost sight of him and his plans, in the turmoils of civil
war. He remained abroad until the year 1805, when he re
turned to America. While absent, he was elected Bishop of
Vermont, but he declined the station. He preached sometimes
in London, but his style of composition, as well as his manner
of speaking, failed to interest hearers, and a fellow Loyalist,
who heard him deliver a sermon in a London pulpit, said it
was "hard to conceive how he got there." While absent, too,
he published a History of Connecticut, which "is embarrassed
in its authority by a number of fables," and which is never
referred to, but in amusement or disgust. He never, it is
affirmed, acknowledged that he was the author of this book ;
but the fact is now well ascertained. In 1817 and 1818 he
made a journey to the West, and as far as the Falls of St.
Anthony, claiming a large territory under Carver. He died in
New York, April 19, 1826, aged ninety, and was buried at
Hebron. He appears to have been a man of singular mind,
and to have been deficient in some qualities of character
necessary to command the respect, at least, of opponents. In
McFingal we read,
" From priests of all degrees and metres,
T' our fag-end man, poor parson Peters."
Two children survived him; a daughter, who accompanied
him to England, and who married Mr. Jarvis; and a son, who
died at New Orleans.
PETERS, THOMAS. A magistrate ; died at Fredericton, New
Brunswick, 1813, aged sixty- four.
PETERS, V. H. A magistrate, of Queen's County, New York.
Ah Addresser of the royal governor of New York in 1780.
PETERS, WILLIAM. Died in King's County, New Brunswick,
in 1805.
PETERS, WILLIAM. Died at Woodstock, New Brunswick,
January, 1835. He emigrated to that Province at the close of
the Revolution. For ten years he was a member of the House
of Assembly, and was in the Commission of the Peace for a
much longer time.
536 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
PETRIE. EDMUND. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780; was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated.
PETTET, JOHN S. Petty officer of the Customs. Embarked
at Boston for Halifax, with the British army, in 1776.
PETTINGILL, MATTHEW. Died at St. John, New Brunswick,
1817, aged eighty-one years.
PETTIT. Eleven persons of this name of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
James, Samuel, Isaac, Increase, P., John, W., John, Samuel,
Obadiah, Joseph junior. Isaac had previously signed a Decla
ration at Jamaica. In 1780, James, William, and Joshua
Pettit, of that County, belonged to an armed party of Loyalists
under Lieutenant McKain.
PHAIR, ANDREW. In 1782 he was adjutant of Arnold's Ameri
can Legion. He settled in New Brunswick ; received half-pay ;
was postmaster of Fredericton, and died in that city.
PHEPOE, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780; also a Petitioner to be
armed on the side of the crown ; was banished in 1782, and
his property confiscated.
PHILLIPS, A. F. Of Boston. Was a Protester, and one of
the Addressers of Hutchinson. In July of 1774, a Boston
Whig wrote to a friend at New York, that the Addressers and
Protesters led a miserable life, that " in the country the people
would not grind their corn, and in the town they refused to
purchase from, or sell to, them," &c.
PHILLIPS, BENJAMIN. Of Boston. Was a Protester against
the Whigs in 1774.
PHILLIPS, EBENEZER. Left Boston with the British army for
Halifax in 1776 ; and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
PHILLIPS, JOHN. Of Massachusetts. Was in London, 1779,
an Addresser of the king.
PHILLIPS, JOHN. Residence unknown. Was captain lieutenant
of the Royal Garrison Battalion.
PHILLIPS, JOSEPH. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Was ban
ished in 1778.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 537
PHILLIPS, MITCHELL. Of Virginia. Was denounced in March,
1775, by the Whig Committee of Princess Anne County, for
his loyal conduct, and especially because, as captain of a com
pany of militia, "he had exerted every effort to deter the men
under his command from acceding to the Association, and had
represented all the American proceedings in the light of abso
lute rebellion." And the Committee expressed the conviction,
li that no person ought to have any commercial intercourse or
dealing with him."
PHILLIPS, RICHARD. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson.
PHILLIPS, ROBERT. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton, and a Petitioner to bear arms
on the side of the crown, in 1780; was banished, and lost his
estate under the confiscation act, 1782.
PHILLIPSE, FREDERICK. Of New York. He was descended
from Frederick Phillipse, who emigated from Holland in 1658.
The first Frederick was one of the founders of the city of
New York, and brought with him money, plate, and jewels,
with the design of settling upon and improving large estates
which he had purchased on the Hudson river. He had ob
tained two patents. The upper was named Phillipsbourgh,
and the lower Fredericksbourgh. The one contained one
hundred and fifty, and the other, two hundred and forty,
square miles of territory. He also purchased several houses
in the city, as well as lands there, and laid out lots and streets,
and erected buildings ; and having established his residence
in the city, he commenced the contemplated improvements on
the estate called Phillipsbourgh. At his decease, the whole
property descended to his heir. At the period of the Revolu
tion, it had been divided by the will of the previous possessor,
(whose name was Frederick Phillipse), between his four chil
dren ; and was in possession of Frederick Phillipse, who is the
subject of this notice ; of the heirs of Philip PhiHipse ; of
Susanna and Beverley Robinson ; and of Roger and Mary
Morris.
The Frederick Phillipse, of whom we are now to speak,
538 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
occupied an elevated position in colonial society, but he does
not appear to have been a prominent actor in public affairs.
He was, however, a member of the House of Assembly, and
held the commission of colonel in the militia. Nor does it
seem that, though a friend of existing institutions, and an
opposer of the Whigs, he was an active partisan. In April,
1775, he went to the ground appointed by the Whigs of West-
chester County, to elect deputies to Congress ; and declared,
that he would not join in the business of the day, and, that
his sole purpose in going there was, to protest against their
illegal and unconstitutional proceedings. On some other occa
sions, he pursued a similar line of conduct ; but his name is
seldom met with in the documents of the time. Soon after
1771, Colonel David Humphreys, who subsequently became
an aid to Washington, and, under the Federal government,
minister to Portugal and Spain, and who had just completed
his studies at Yale College, became a resident in his family,
then living on Phillipse Manor. The late President Dwight
was well acquainted with him at this time, and speaks of him
as " a worthy and respectable man, not often excelled in per
sonal and domestic amiableness ; " and of Mrs. Phillipse, he
remarks, that she " was an excellent woman."
In the progress of events, Colonel Phillipse abandoned his
home, and took refuge in the city of New York, and finally
embarked for England. In person he was extremely large ; and
on account of his bulk his wife seldom rode in the same carriage
with him. Colonel Phillipse had one brother and two sisters,
who inherited the Manor of Fredericksbourgh, in equal por
tions. His brother, whose name was Philip, died before the
Revolution, and as his children were too young to take a part
in the war, their share was saved, and is still in the family.
For an account of Susanna and Mary, the sisters, the rea
der is referred to the notices of their husbands, — the senior
Colonel Beverley Robinson, and Colonel Roger Morris. The
Manor of Phillipsbourgh was the property of Colonel Phil
lipse, and, like his sisters' shares of the other estate, was confis
cated. He applied to the British government for compensation,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 539
and was allowed £62,075 sterling, or, about three hundred
thousand dollars. In 1809, in an English work, the value of
the two Manors, or the whole of the original Phillipse property,
was estimated at six or seven hundred thousand pounds. Nor
was the smaller sum extravagant. But it is to be remembered,
that lands in 1783 hardly had a fixed value ; while in 1809,
the impulse which the Revolution had given to settlements, to
increase of population, &c., had already effected vast changes
in the marketable prices of real property. Colonel Phillipse's
son Frederick, is also named in the New York confiscation
act. This gentleman married a niece of Sir Alured Clarke,
Governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope.
PHINNEY, FRANCIS. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. In 1777
he joined the royal party at Rhode Island.
PHIPS, DAVID. Graduated at Harvard University in 1741,
and died in England, July, 1811, aged eighty-seven years.
His father was Spencer Phips, himself a lieutenant-governor,
and adopted son of Sir William Phips, the first governor of
Massachusetts, under the charter of William and Mary.
David was colonel of a troop of guards in Boston, and sheriff
of Middlesex County. He was an Addresser on three occa
sions ; as his name is found among the one hundred and
twenty -four merchants and others, of Boston, who addressed
Hutchinson in 1774 ; among the ninety-seven gentlemen and
principal inhabitants of that town, and among the eighteen
country gentlemen who were driven from their homes, and
who addressed Gage in October, 1775. He went to Halifax in
1776, and was proscribed and banished: under the act of 1778.
His house at Cambridge was confiscated.
PICKEN, ROBERT. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. In 1775 he signed a loyal Declaration.
PICKETT, DAVID. Of Stamford, Connecticut. Accompanied
by his wife and seven Children, he went to St. John, New
Brunswick, in the ship Union, in 1783. He was a magistrate,
and a justice of the Court of Common Pleas, in King's County,
for many years, where he died in 1826.
PICKETT, JAMES. Of Norwalk, Connecticut. Arrived at St.
540 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
John, New Brunswick, with his wife and two children in the
ship Union, and was a grantee of that city. He died at Port
land, New Brunswick, in 1812.
PICKETT, LEWIS. Of Nor walk, Connecticut. Went to St.
John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, with James and
David.
PICKET. Nathaniel Picket, of Fairfield County, and John
Picket, and John Picket, junior, of Reading, were members of
the Reading Association. John was a grantee of St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783.
PICKLE, NICHOLAS. Died at Upham, King's County, New
Brunswick, in 1843, aged ninety-eight ; and his wife died at
the same place, the same year, at the age of eighty-three.
PICKMAN, BENJAMIN. Of Salem, Massachusetts. Was born
at that place in 1740, graduated at Harvard University in
1759, and died in the town of his nativity, April, 1819, aged
seventy-nine years. He was a merchant ; a representative to
the General Court ; and commanded a regiment of militia.
His name appears among the Addressers of Gage on his arri
val in 1774, and in the banishment act of 1778. His estate
was confiscated, but a portion of it was restored on his return
from England. Gentlemen of his lineage are of distinguished
consideration in Massachusetts at the present time.
PIKE, THOMAS. A fencing master, of Philadelphia. Dis
sembled, and was supposed to be Whiggish. But in 1777 he
was apprehended (with several others) and sent to Virginia for
safe keeping. On the journey he acted the part of major-domo
or caterer, at the inns at which the party stopped.
PILES, JOHN. Of North Carolina. A colonel in the royal
service. " A violent and powerful Tory." The family of this
name, of whom Colonel John was the head, were noted for
their attachment to the royal interests. Before the close of the
year 1776, the Colonel was once seized and borne off from the
house of a fellow Loyalist, and once taken prisoner in battle.
In 1781 Cornwallis sent Tarleton to the district between the
Haw and Deep rivers, which was overrun with Loyalists, to
make enlistments. His exertions were successful, and persons
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 541
of the name of Piles, gave an example to others of like political
sympathies. Soon after, the Colonel — who had previously
embodied a corps — fell in with Colonel Lee's command, and
suffered a disastrous defeat. His force, indeed, was nearly
annihilated. The infatuated adherents of the king were
wholly unacquainted with arms, and imagining, as it would
seem, that Lee's troops were Tarleton's, and friends instead
of enemies, they allowed themselves to be cut to pieces, with
little or no resistance.
PINE, ALPHEUS. He was a native of New York, and accom
panied the Loyalists of that State to New Brunswick. For
several years he commanded a vessel on the river St. John.
On one occasion he sold a quantity of wood to General Arnold,
who, after the peace, lived for some time at St. John. Arnold,
not paying for it, and taking it away as had been agreed, he
sold it a second time. Just as the second purchaser was com
mencing to haul it off, Arnold appeared, and a quarrel en
sued. In the affray, Pine caught a stick from the pile, and
was about to "break the traitor's head," when some persons
in the crowd interfered. " But for this," Pine has frequently
told the writer, " I would not have left a whole bone in his
skin." After living in New Brunswick for a considerable
period, the Captain removed to Eastport, Maine, where he
kept a hotel, which was celebrated. Returning to St. John, he
died there in March, 1846, of apoplexy, aged eighty-four
years. He was universally known as an honest man. Fond
of relating anecdotes, and possessed of a ready memory, he
always had a story. His account of the sufferings of the Loy
alists, after they removed to New Brunswick, was interesting
and painful.
PINE, HENRY. Son of Stephen Pine. He served in the royal
army, and was discharged at Halifax at the peace. He con
tinued to reside in Nova Scotia until his death, in 1844. His
age was ninety-five years. A numerous family survive.
PINE, SAMUEL. Of Massachusetts. He was one of the
eighteen country gentlemen who were driven from their habi-
46
542 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
tations to Boston, and an Addresser of Gage on his departure
in 1775.
PINE. Four persons of this name, of Queen's County, New
York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit : Reu
ben, James, Richard, and James. In 1780, David Pine, of the
same County, was in arms against the Whigs.
PINE, STEPHEN. Of Pine's Ferry, New York. He was in
the service, and connected with the transportation or wagon
department, until after the battle of Brandywine. In 1783 he
went to New Brunswick, and died on the river St. John in
that Colony, about the year 1786, aged sixty-six. Three sons,
Henry, Alpheus, and Stephen, survived him. Stephen is yet
(1846) living at the age of seventy-seven years, and resides
at Eastport, Maine. Pine's Ferry was a noted crossing-place
on the Croton River, and belonged to the family. At the period
of the Revolution, a bridge had been erected across the stream,
which, in turn, was known as Pine's Bridge. Smith, who
conducted Andre on his way to New York, took his leave at
this Bridge, in the belief that no difficulty would happen for
the remainder of the journey. The Cow-Boys had recently
been above it, while the territory below it was considered their
appropriate domain. These miscreants, though mostly refu
gees, and therefore belonging to the British side, Smith was
anxious to avoid ; but Andre, it was supposed, would meet no
interruption from them. It happened, however, that on the
morning he passed the Bridge, several persons who resided
within the Neutral Ground, went out for the professed ob
ject of obtaining whatever booty chance might throw in their
way. Whether the three of this party into whose hands Andre
fell, were better, or indeed, whether they were other than
Cow-Boys, has been a question of some discussion. Andre
himself was of the opinion, that Paulding, Van Wart, and
Williams, were men of doubtful virtue; and Major Tallmadge,
a Whig officer of distinguished merit, who was acquainted
with the circumstances, seems to have been impressed with the
same conviction. One of the Pines has assured me, that he
knew Van Wart was — to use his own words — "a British
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 543
militia-man," for he " had been told so by Yan Wart himself."
Mr. Sparks, — a gentleman whose kindness and charity are
ever manifested, and are as remarkable as his fidelity in his
torical examinations, — pursues a course of argument with rela
tion to the captors of Andre, which relieves them of the weight
of the imputations of their accusers.
PINCKNEY, CHARLES. Of South Carolina. In 1774 he was a
member of the Committee of Charleston, appointed to receive
donations for the relief of the sufferings at Boston, caused by
the passage of the Boston Port Bill. At that time he was
also a member of the Charleston Committee of Correspondence.
In 1775 he was President of the South Carolina Provincial
Congress. But in 1782, in consequence of his defection from
the Whig cause, his estate was amerced twelve per cent. This
gentleman was known as Charles Pinckriey, senior. He was
a colonel in the militia, and a member of the House of Assem
bly. He was educated for the bar, and at the period of the
Revolution, was one of the three eminent lawyers of South
Carolina, and as a public speaker, was surpassed but by few.
[n 1775 the Whig Charles Pinckney was a youth of seventeen.
PINKNEY, JONATHAN. Of Maryland. His son, the Honor
able William Pinkney, a mere lad at the commencement of
the Revolution, but a Whig in his political sympathies, became
a very distinguished man; having been an eminent lawyer, a
minister at several foreign courts, Senator to Congress, and
Attorney General of the United States.
PIPER, JOHN. Surgeon's mate of the North Carolina High
land Regiment.
PITFIELD, GEORGE. A magistrate ; died at Sussex Yale, New
Brunswick, in 1827, aged seventy-eight.
PLACE, AARON. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
PLACE, JAMES. An ensign in the Prince of Wales's American
Volunteers. *.
PLATEAU, JAMES. Of New York. See William Gorl.
PLATT, OBADIAH. Of Fairfield, Connecticut. In March, 1775,
the Whig Committee of Inspection pronounced, that "all
544
.BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
connexions, commerce and dealings, ought to be withdrawn
from him by every friend to his country, for a breach of the
Association of the Continental Congress."
PLATT. Six of this name signed the Reading Association,
Connecticut. Abel, Joseph, and Josiah, of Fairfield County ;
and Isaac, Hezeldah, and Timothy, of Reading.
PLEASANTS, SAMUEL. Of Philadelphia. In 1777, charged
with disaffection to the Whigs, he was ordered to be sent
prisoner to Virginia.
PLUMBER, DANIEL. Of South Carolina. He was in commis
sion under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. He
died, probably, before the peace. His estate was confiscated.
PLUNKETT, WILLIAM. A colonel in the militia, of Pennsyl
vania. In the difficulties which occurred during the Revolu
tionary controversy, between the Connecticut people who
emigrated to Wyoming, and the authorities of Pennsylvania,
he was a prominent actor, both as a magistrate, and as the
leader of an armed force designed to suppress the alleged
misconduct of the Yankee settlers. He was a stout adherent
of the crown, and never, to his latest hour, would concede that
the authority of his royal master had passed away, or consent
to take an oath to support the new government. He died a
bachelor at an advanced age. He was an Irishman, and
came to America in early life. In 1750 it is affirmed, that he
was concerned in several robberies in England. By his own
admission, it appears, that he aided in the robbery of Lord
Eglintoun on Hounslow Heath. He was recognized in this
country by a person who had known him at home, but the
secret of his crime was not divulged. From the accounts of
him, it would seem, that he was a rough, fearless man, of
great energy and activity, but of an arbitrary and severe dis
position. He was buried at Sunbury, Pennsylvania.
POLHEMUS, ABRAHAM, ABRAHAM Junior, and JOHN. Of Queen's
County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
Abraham had signed a Declaration of loyalty the year before.
In April, 1779, Abraham, and Abraham junior, were Address
ers of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling, of the Forty-second Regi-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 545
ment. In 1783, a person named Abraham Polhemus was a
magistrate of Queen's County.
POLHEMUS, JOHN. Of Jamaica, New York. Was a captain ;
signed a Declaration of loyalty in 1775, and in 1777 was
designated in town meeting, a Trustee to provide fuel and
other necessaries for the guard-house and hospital of the royal
troops at Jamaica. September 13, 1783, he advertised in
Rivington's paper, that the ship was ready to receive the
Loyalists who had enrolled themselves in his company for
Annapolis, Nova Scotia, and that those who neglected his
notice, would not be provided with passages at the expense of
the government.
POLLARD, BENJAMIN. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, in 1776.
POMROY, JOSIAH. Physician, of Hatfield, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
POMROY, JOSIAH. Of New Hampshire. His estate was con
fiscated, and he was proscribed and banished.
POOLE, SAMUEL SHELDON. He was a member of the Assem
bly of Nova Scotia for fifty years, and was long known as the
Father of the House. He died at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia,
in 1835, aged eighty-seven.
PORCHER, PHILIP. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
under the crown. His property was confiscated. Very proba
bly he was a Whig at the outset, as in 1775 he was a member
of the Provincial Congress.
PORTER, GEORGE DUDLEY. Was in the royal military service.
He died at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, in 1841, aged eighty-
nine.
PORTER, JAMES. Comptroller General of the Customs. He
embarked at Boston with the British army for Halifax, in
1776. He arrived in England in August of that year.
PORTER, SAMUEL. Attorney at law, of Salem, Massachusetts.
Graduated at Harvard University in 1763. His name occurs
among the barristers and attornies who addressed Hutchinson
on his departure in June ; and among the Salern Addressers of
46*
546 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Gage on his arrival, June, 1774 ; and is to be found in the
banishment act of 1778. He died in London in 1798.
POTE, JEREMIAH. Merchant, of Falmouth, Maine. He owned
and occupied one of the two principal wharves erected in that
town previous to the Revolution ; transacted a large business,
and filled offices of trust and honor. In 1774 a public meeting
was called to consider the state of public affairs, which he
attended ; but he desired that his dissent might be entered
against a resolution relative to the ministry and East India
Company, which was introduced and passed. In 1775 he
rendered himself obnoxious during the troubles with Mowatt,
which resulted in the burning of the town. He was sum
moned before the Whigs, who, under Thompson, assumed the
government, and organized themselves into a board of war,
and required him to contribute money and provisions, and to
give a bond in the sum of £2000, to appear at the Provincial
Congress of Massachusetts, and give an account of his con
duct. In the conflagration w^hich soon followed, his loss
in real estate was £656, and in other property £202. In
1778 he was proscribed and banished. After the peace he
settled in St. Andrew, at the mouth of the river St. Croix,
New Brunswick, where he died November 23, 1796, aged
seventy-one years. His son Robert deceased at the same
place, November 8, 1794, at the age of twenty-five : and his
widow, Elisabeth, died December 21, 1809, aged seventy-
nine.
POTTS, EDWARD. Was captain lieutenant of De Lancey's
Second Battalion. In 1809, E. Potts, Esquire, died at Hali
fax, Nova Scotia, — probably the same.
POTTS, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. Judge of the Court of Com
mon Pleas. After Galloway deserted the Whig cause, and
went to England, he was a correspondent. In 1779 his estate
was confiscated. He was a petitioner for lands in Nova
Scotia in July, 1783. See Abijah Willard.
POWELL, JACOB. Went from New York to Richebucto, Nova
Scotia, in 1783. He became a magistrate, and died in 1819,
aged fifty-three.
OF AMERICAS LOYALISTS. 547
POWELL, JAMES EDWARD. Of Georgia. Went to England.
He was an Addresser of the king at London in 1779.
POWELL, JOHN. Of Boston. He was one of the rifty-eight
Boston memorialists, who, in 1760, arrayed themselves against
the officers of the crown. But in 1774 he was an Addresser
of Hutchinson, and in 1775 an Addresser of Gage. He went to
Halifax in 1776, and in 1778 he was proscribed and banished.
In 1783 he was in England.
POWELL, ROBERT WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
Before the Revolution he was a merchant, and conducted a
large business. In the early proceedings in that city, he ap
pears to have acted with the Whigs. He was a member of
the House of Assembly in 1774, and chairman of a general
meeting called at Charleston, to consider the Boston Port Bill
and other grievances, and to support the measures proper to
be adopted in consequence thereof; and, as the organ of the
committee, acquainted the House, that during the recess they
had nominated delegates to meet deputies from the other Colo
nies in the Congress at Philadelphia, in September of that
year. The nominations were confirmed. At a subsequent
period he was found among the adherents of the crown, and
during the war raised and commanded a regiment or battalion
of troops. He accordingly lost his large estate by confiscation,
but received partial compensation as a Loyalist under the act
of parliament. He went to England, and in 1794 represented
to the British government, that, at the time of his banishment
and the forfeiture of his property, large debts were due to him
in America, which, though the debtors were able to pay,
remained unpaid, and he prayed for interposition and relief.
Colonel Powell died in 1835.
POWELL, SOLOMON. Settled in Richebucto, Nova Scotia, and
died there. Elizabeth, his widow, deceased at that place in
1837, aged ninety-one.
POWELL, WILLIAM DUMMELL. Of Boston. He became Chief
Justice of Upper Canada, and died at Toronto, in that Colony,
in 1834, aged seventy-nine.
POWELL, AMOS, STEPHEN, and HENRY. Of Queen's County,
548 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
New York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. In 1780
Stephen bore arms on the side of the crown.
POYNTON, THOMAS. Of Salem, Massachusetts. Was one of
the forty-eight merchants and others, of the ancient town of
Salem, who addressed Gage on his arrival to succeed Hutch-
inson, June, 1774. He went to England the following year,
and there died before the peace.
PRENTICE, JOHN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
PRICE, BENJAMIN. Embarked at Boston with the British
army, for Halifax, in 1776.
PRICE, HOPKINS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780; was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated. The estate of William Price, of
South Carolina, was amerced twelve per cent, by an act of the
last named year.
PRICE, WALTER. He settled in York County, New Bruns
wick, as an Episcopal minister, and died there.
PRINCE, JOHN. A physician, of Massachusetts. Went to
Halifax. His wife was a daughter of Honorable Richard
Derby. He was an Addresser of Gage.
PRINCE, JOHN. Died at Hampton, New Brunswick, in 1825,
at an old age.
PRINCE, SAMUEL. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774 ; was proscribed and banished in 1778.
PRINDALL, JONATHAN. Of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
PROCTOR, THOMAS. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Second American Regiment. In 1774, Thomas Proctor, of
Marblehead, Massachusetts, was an Addresser of Hutchinson.
PROCUE, PETER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
PROUD, ROBERT. Of Philadelphia. He taught a school in
that city for several years ; and later in life, wrote a History
of Pennsylvania, which was published, in two volumes, in the
years 1797 and 1798. The work is valuable on many accounts ;
but is wanting in continued and well sustained narrative.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 549
The publication was unprofitable, and occasioned him loss.
" Domine Proud wore a curled, grey wig, and a half-cocked,
ancient hat. He was the model of a gentleman." He was
tall, had a Roman nose, and '-most impending brows." He
died in 1813, aged eighty-five. He was not only decided in
his attachment to the crown, but was of the opinion, that the
Revolution would prove both the cause and the commencement
of the decline of national virtue and prosperity in America.
PUNDERSON, • . A physician, of Queen's County, New
York. In July, 1780, a party of Whigs surrounded his house,
took him prisoner, and carried him to Connecticut. The rebels
told his wife that the act was in retaliation for the capture
of John Smith, at Smithtown, and that they should hold
the Doctor for exchange. Such transactions were not un
common.
PURDY. Among the Protesters against the Whigs at White
Plains, New York, April, 1775, were twenty-four persons of
the name of Purdy, all of the County of Westchester. To wit :
Captain Joshua Purdy, Lieutenant Jonathan, and Lieutenant
Samuel. Sylvanus, Gilbert, Samuel, Timothy, Daniel, Seth,
David, Francis, Joseph, Gabriel, Elijah, Joseph, Isaac, Na
thaniel, Roger, Haccaliah junior, Jonathan junior, Joseph
junior, Elijah junior, Joshua junior, and Roger junior. David
subsequently entered the service, was an ensign in the King's
American Regiment ; and at the peace went to St. John, New
Brunswick, and was a grantee of two city lots. Gilbert was
also a grantee of that city ; one of the Samuels died in St.
John in 1841 ; and Joseph junior, was drowned in the river
St. John, 1844. Of the Purdy s of New York, not mentioned
above, Archibald embarked for Nova Scotia in 1783 ; and
Henry, a magistrate, died at Fort Lawrence, Cumberland
County, New Brunswick, 1S27, aged eighty-three.
PURVIS, JOHN. Of South Carolina. In June, 1775, when the
Provincial Congress (of which body he was a member) raised
two regiments of foot, and qne of horse, he was commissioned
a captain in the latter, and took the field as a Whig officer.
During the affair with the Cunninghams in July of that year,
550 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
he went over to the adherents of the crown, and his troop fol
lowed his example. The desertion of Purvis and of Kirkland,
at the same time, with their commands, had a pernicious
influence upon the affairs of the Whigs of South Carolina.
PUTNAM, JAMES. Of Massachusetts. He was a graduate of
Harvard University, and a relation of the Whig General Israel
Putnam. His name appears among the Addressers of Hutch-
inson, and in the banishment act. He was the last royal
attorney general of Massachusetts. Leaving Boston with the
British army, he went to New York, Halifax, and England.
Settling finally in New Brunswick, he became a member of his
Majesty's Council, and Judge of the Supreme Court. He died
at St. John in 1789. The tablet erected over his remains,
records, that his widow, Elisabeth, died in 1798, aged sixty-
six; his daughter. Elisabeth Knox. in 1787, aged eighteen; his
grand- daughter, Elisabeth Knox, in 1789, aged five months ;
his son, Ebenezer, in 1798, aged thirty-six years; and his great-
grandson, James, in 1825, aged eleven months. The motto at
the close of the inscriptions is, " VIVIT POST FUNERA VIRTUS."
PUTNAM, JAMES, Junior. Son of James Putnam, of Massa
chusetts. Graduated at Harvard University in 1774. He
was one of the eighteen country gentlemen who were driven
to Boston, and who addressed Gage on his departure in 1775.
He went to England, and died there in March, 1838 ; having
been a barrack-master, a member of the household, and an
executor of the late Duke of Kent.
PYNCHON, WILLIAM. Counsellor at law, of Salem, Massa
chusetts. Graduated at Harvard University in 1743, and
died March, 1789, aged sixty-eight years. He was one of the
Salem Addressers of Gage, on his arrival to succeed Hutchin-
son in 1774; but remaining in the country, was not proscribed,
though his property and his peace suffered from the fury of
mobs. His name is also found among the barristers and attor-
nies who addressed Hutchinson. Lucy, his widow, died at
Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1814, aged seventy-four; and
his son, Erastus, died at that place in 1817, at the age of forty-
nine.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 551
QUACKENBUSH, DAVID. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County.
New York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration of loyalty.
QUAILL, HENRY. Of New York. In 1783 he was preparing
to embark for Nova Scotia.
Q,UIGLEY, JOHN. A magistrate, of New Hampshire. In 1775
he was seized and confined in the jail at Amherst. He was
released and fled. By the act of 1778, he was proscribed and
banished. His property was confiscated.
Q.UIN, MICHAEL. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Address
er of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
QUINCY, SAMUEL. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at Har
vard University in 1754, and entering upon the practice of
law, rose to distinction, and was appointed Solicitor General
of the Crown. His brother Josiah was a Whig, and one of the
purest men of the time. Samuel, influenced by his official
duties and connexions, espoused the opposite side, and at the
evacuation of Boston left the country, and went to England.
His name appears among the barristers who were Addressers
of Hutchinson ; and in the proscription and confiscation acts.
He received the post of Attorney to the Crown, in the island
of Antigua, and held it at his death in 1789. He has descend
ants in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Q.UINTARD, ISAAC. Of Stamford, Connecticut. He commanded
the second company of militia in that town, and in 1775 be
came involved in difficulty with the House of Assembly for
his opposition to the Whigs, and a Committee was appointed
to examine into his conduct.
QUINTON, DIXON. Of Worcester County, Maryland. The
Whig Committee of that County pronounced him to be an
enemy to his country, June 7, 1775. His offence consisted in
dealing in salt, " imported contrary to the Resolves of the
Continental Congress."
QUINTON, HUGH. Of Londonderry, New Hampshire. Set
tled in New Brunswick in 1783, and died there. His widow,
who married a Mr. McKeen, died at Carlton, New Brunswick,
in 1834, aged ninety-five. His son James, a ship-master of St.
John, was the first male child of British origin born in that
Colony.
552
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
RADCLIFFE, THOMAS, Senior. Of South Carolina. In 1782
his estate was amerced twelve per cent.
RAINSFORD, ANDREW. After the Revolution, he became a
resident of New Brunswick, and was receiver-general, and
assistant barrack-master of that Colony. He died at Frede-
ricton in. 1820, at the age of eighty-six, leaving numerous de
scendants. Four of his sons, it is believed, held, or have held,
military commissions in the British service.
RALPH, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
RAMADGE, CHARLES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
RAMADGE, JOHN. Embarked at Boston with the British army
for Halifax, 1776.
RAND, ISAAC. Physician, of Boston. He was born in 1743,
and graduated at Harvard University in 1761. In 1764 he
settled in Boston as a practitioner of medicine, and rose to
great eminence. His political opinions were well known. He
continued in Boston during the siege ; but as he was at no
time an active partisan, the Whigs did not molest him. From
1798 to 1804 he was President of the Massachusetts Medical
Society. He was a man of great benevolence of character,
gave both money and professional services to the poor; and
whole families owed their support for years to his bounty.
His manners were polished ; his life in the highest degree
exemplary. He died in 1822, at the age of seventy-nine. He
wrote and published essays on medical subjects.
RAND, PHINEAS. Of Philadelphia. In 1777 he was seized and
ordered to be sent to Virginia, as an enemy to the Whig cause.
RANDALL, AMOS. Died in Argyle, Nova Scotia, 1839, aged
eighty.
RANDALL, JOHN B. A captain in the Georgia Loyalists.
RANDOLPH, JOHN. Of Virginia. Went to England. He was
in London in 1779.
RANDOLPH, ROBERT FITZ. He removed from New York to
Nova Scotia in 1783, and died in the County of Annapolis in
1831, at the age of ninety-four.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 553
RANKIN, JAMES and JOHN. Of York County, Pennsylvania.
Their estates were confiscated in 1779.
RAPALJE, JOHN, Esquire. Of New York. In 1774 he was a
member of the Committee of Correspondence, and in 1775 he
had a seat in the House of Assembly, and was one of the
fourteen who, during the recess that year, addressed General
Gage at Boston, on the subject of the unhappy contest. His
property was confiscated, and he departed the country. Dur
ing the war, he was in authority at Brooklyn, and it is sup
posed that he carried off the public records of that town, as
they were never seen after his removal. His estate was large,
and consisted principally of land.
RAPALJE. Sixteen persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, were signers of a Representation and Petition, ac
knowledging allegiance to Lord Richard and General William
Howe, October, 1776. To wit : Daniel senior, George, George
junior, Abraham J., John, Berns, Richard, Abraham, Daniel,
Cornelius, Martin, George, Jeromus, Joris, Jeromus, and Cor
nelius. In April, 1779, Daniel, Martin, Cornelius, Daniel,
George, John, Abraham J., Bermandus, and Jeronemus Ra-
palje, were Addressers of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling, of the
Forty-second Regiment.
RATHEU, JOSEPH. Of North Carolina. Went to England
previous to July, 1779.
RAYMOND, JOHN. Of Reading, Connecticut. Was a member
of the Association.
RAYMOND, RICE and STENT. Of Connecticut. Were grantees
of St. John, New Brunswick, 1783.
RAYMOND, SILAS. Of Norwalk, Connecticut. With his wife
and four children, and widow Mary, of the same place, arrived
at St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in the spring
of 1783. Silas settled in King's County, and died there in
1824, aged seventy-six.
RAYMOND, WHITE. Of Norwalk, Connecticut. Went to New
Brunswick at the peace, deceased in 1835, at the age of
seventy-six, and was buried at Hampton.
RAYNOR. JOSEPH, ELIJAH, and EZEKIEL. Of Queen's County,
47
554 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
New York. Assisted in the capture of the Whig privateer
Revenue, in 1780.
READ, CHARLES. Embarked at Boston with the British army
for Halifax, 1776.
READFORD, THOMAS. Of North Carolina. In 1776 he was
taken prisoner by the Whig Colonel Caswell, and imprisoned.
REED, JAMES. An Episcopal clergyman, of Newbern, North
Carolina. The 20th of July, 1775, by recommendation of
the Continental Congress, was kept as a day of fasting, humili
ation and prayer. He was requested and entreated to perform
divine service in his church, but refused, and gave in sub
stance as a reason, that "he should render himself obnoxious
to the ministry, and of course lose his parish." But he did
not save it. Subsequently, the Whig Committee "earnestly
requested the vestry of the parish to suspend his ministerial
functions, and that they immediately direct the churchwardens
to stop the payment of his salary." Mr. Reed was suspended.
It appears from the proceedings, that, on the day in question,
the people assembled at the church, in the expectation of ser
vices suited to the occasion, and that Mr. Reed " deserted his
congregation ; " when a " very animated and spirited discourse
was read by a member of the Committee, to a very crowded
audience."
REED, LEONARD. Of New York. In 1782 he was a lieuten
ant in the King's American Regiment. He settled on the river
St. John, New Brunswick, and received half-pay.
REED, RICHARD and SAMUEL. Of Marblehead. Were Address
ers of Hutchinson, 1774.
REED, ROBERT and JAMES. Residence unknown. Were gran
tees of St. John, 1783; the latter died at that city in 1820,
aged sixty-three.
REEF, JOHN. In 1775 he was sent prisoner from Long Island,
New York, to Massachusetts, and confined within the limits
of the town of Rutland.
REES, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. Was in commission of
the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate confis
cated.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 555
REGAN, JEREMIAH. A magistrate ; died at Sussex Vale, New
Brunswick, 1815, aged seventy-four.
REMSEN. Fifteen persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Rem P., John, Christopher, Abraham, John, Jeremiah, Rem,
John, Jacob, Rem, Jeromus, Simon, Isaac, Cornelius, and
Isaac junior. John Remsen, Ares, Rem, Rem junior, Daniel,
arid Jacob, were signers of the Jamaica, Long Island, Declara
tion of Loyalty, in 1775. In April, 1779, Jeromus and Jeremiah
Remsen, of Queen's County, were Addressers of Lieutenant
Colonel Sterling, of the Forty-second Regiment. John Rem
sen died at Clements, Nova Scotia, 1827.
RENCH, JAMES. Physician, of Delaware. By a law of 1778,
he was required to surrender himself and be tried for treason,
or lose his estate.
RENNIE, JOHN. He was banished, and his estate confiscated.
In 1794 he and other Loyalists presented a memorial to the
British government, on the subject of large debts due in
America, which were unpaid, though the debtors were rich,
and though the treaty of peace was supposed to afford means
of recovering all sums of money that were lawfully due be
fore the Revolution.
RENSHAW, JAMES. Died in the County of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1835, aged about eighty.
RENSHAW, THOMAS. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
REUBELL, JOHN CASPAR. A Lutheran clergyman, of Long
Island, New York, and "a rotund, jolly looking man." For a
time during the war, Colonels Atlee and Miles, of the British
service, were his boarders. He prayed in his pulpit for " King
George the Third, Queen Charlotte, the princes and princesses
of the royal family, and the upper and lower houses of par
liament." He was deposed from the ministry in 1784.
REYNOLDS, WILLIAM. A cornet in the King's American
Dragoons.
RHEMS, JOSEPH. Of South Carolina. Held a royal commis
sion after the capitulation of Charleston. Estate confiscated.
556
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
RHOADES, HENRY. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, in 1776.
RHODES, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. Went to England.
RICE, JESSE. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
RICH, ABRAHAM. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester, April, 1775.
RICHARDS, OWEN. Tide-waiter, of Boston. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778. He went to Halifax in 1776.
RICHARDSON, EBENEZER. Of Boston. An inferior officer of
the Customs, and an informer against smuggled goods. He
was very obnoxious. Early in 1770 he was assailed by a
mob, who drove him to his house, and threw stones through
the windows. As some of the multitude were about to force
their way into his dwelling, he fired upon them, and killed a
boy about twelve years of age. He was seized and dragged
through the streets and threatened with immediate death, but
was finally taken before a magistrate, who committed him to
prison. At the next term of the Court he was tried for the
offence, which all the Judges were of the opinion, was at
most but manslaughter, while one or more of them considered
the homicide justifiable; but the jury gave a verdict of
murder. The Judges, however, suspended sentence, and certi
fied to the Lieutenant Governor, that Richardson was a proper
object of pardon, and upon representation to the ministry, an
order was passed, that his name " should be inserted in the
next Newgate pardon," and in due time he was discharged,
when he immediately absconded.
RICHARDSON, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
RICHARDSON, . An ensign in the New York Volunteers.
He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and was
a grantee of that city. He received half-pay.
RICKER, JACOBUS. Of Queen's County, New York. Ac
knowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
RIED, ANDREW. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. Also a Petitioner to be
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 557
armed on the side of the crown. He was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated.
RIED, JOHN. A lieutenant in the First Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
RIERSON, SAMUEL. A captain in the Third Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
Rio, ALEXANDER. A lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Bat
talion.
RIPPON, ISAAC. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate was
amerced twelve per cent.
RISTEEN, JOSEPH. Died in the County of Carlton, New
Brunswick, in 1S39, aged ninety.
RIVINGTON, JAMES. Of New York. Printer and bookseller.
He was born in England, and emigrating to America, settled
in that city, where he published a paper called Rivington's Ga
zette. At the Revolutionary era, it received the name of Riv
ington's Lying Gazette. He became very obnoxious, and was
denounced in every section of the country. In Newport,
Rhode Island, the Whigs resolved, March 1, 1775, that,
" Whereas, a certain James Rivington, a printer and sta
tioner in the city of New York, impelled by the love of sordid
pelf, and a haughty domineering spirit, hath, for a long time,
in the dirty Gazette, and in pamphlets, if possible still more
dirty, uniformly persisted in publishing every falsehood which
his own wicked imagination, or the imaginations of others of
the same stamp, as ingenious perhaps in mischief as himself,
could suggest and fabricate, that had a tendency to spread
jealousies, fear, discord, and disunion through this country ;
and by partial and false representations of facts, hath endeav
ored to pervert truth, and to mislead the incautious into
wrong conceptions of facts reported,- and wrong sentiments
respecting the measures now carrying on for the recovery and
establishment of our rights," &c. " Therefore, it is the opin
ion," &c., "that no further dealings or correspondence ought
to be had with the said James Rivington; and we recommend
it to every person who takes his paper, to immediately drop
the same," &c.
47*
558 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
On the 6th of the same month a similar resolution was
passed in Freehold, New Jersey; on the 8th, a paragraph
published in his paper attracted the attention of the Committee
of New York, who authorized Philip Livingston and Mr. Jay,
to wait on him and ask for the authority on which he had
made a false statement; on the 14th, the freeholders of Ulster
County, New York, voted to have no connexion or inter
course with him ; and in May, Richard Henry Lee wrote to
Gouverneur Morris, that he was " sorry, for the honor of human
nature, Rivington has so prostituted himself in support of a
cause the most detestable that ever disgraced mankind. "
His press was finally destroyed by a mob from Connecticut,
who also carried off a part of his types, and converted them
into Whig bullets, and compelled him to suspend the publica
tion of his paper. His conduct was examined by the Provin
cial Congress, who referred his case to the Continental Congress
at Philadelphia, and while the latter were employed in consid
ering it, he addressed to them the following letter.
"Whereas the subscriber, by the freedom of his publications
during the present unhappy disputes between Great Britain and
her Colonies, has brought upon himself much public displeasure
and resentment, in consequence of which his life has been
endangered, his property invaded, and a regard to his personal
safety requires him still to be absent from his family and busi
ness ; and whereas, it has been ordered by the Committee of
Correspondence for the city of New York, that a report of
the state of his case should be made to the Continental Con
gress, that the manner of his future treatment may be sub
mitted to their direction ; he thinks himself happy in having
at last for his judges, gentlemen of eminent rank and distinc
tion in the Colonies, from whose enlarged and liberal senti
ments, he flatters himself that he can receive no other than
an equitable, sentence, unbiased by popular clamor and resent
ment. He humbly presumes that the very respectable gentle
men of the Congress now sitting at Philadelphia, will permit
him to declare, and, as a man of honor and veracity, he can
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 559
and does solemnly declare, that however wrong and mistaken
he may have been in his opinions, he has always meant hon
estly and openly to do his duty as a servant of the public.
Accordingly his conduct, as a printer, has always been con
formable to the ideas which he entertained of English liberty,
warranted by the practice of all printers in Great Britain and
Ireland for a century past, under every administration ; au
thorized, as he conceives, by the laws of England, and coun
tenanced by the declaration of the late Congress. He declares
that his press has been always open and free to all parties, and
for the truth of this fact, appeals to his publications, among
which are to be reckoned all the pamphlets, and many of the
the best pieces that have been written in this and the neigh
boring Colonies in favor of the American claims. However,
having found that the inhabitants of the Colonies were not
satisfied with this plan of conduct, a few weeks ago he pub
lished in his paper a short apology, in which he assured the
public that he would be cautious for the future of giving any
further offence. To this declaration he resolves to adhere, and
he cannot but hope for the patronage of the public, so long as
his conduct shall be found to correspond with it. It is his
wish and ambition to be an useful member of society.
Although an Englishman by birth, he is an American by
choice, and he is desirous of devoting his life, in the business
of his profession, to the service of the country he has adopted
for his own. He lately employed no less than sixteen work
men, at near one thousand pounds annually; and his con
sumption of printing paper, the manufacture of Pennsylvania,
New York, Connecticut, and the Massachusetts Bay, has
amounted to nearly that sum. His extensive foreign corres
pondence, his large acquaintance in Europe and America, and
the manner of his education, are circumstances which, he
conceives, have not improperly qualified him for the station in
which he wishes to continue, and in which he will exert every
endeavor to be useful. rHe therefore humbly submits his case
to the honorable gentlemen now assembled in the Continental
Congress, and begs that their determination may be such as
560 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
will secure him, especially as it is the only thing that can
effectually secure him in the safety of his person, the enjoy
ment of his property, and the uninterrupted prosecution of his
business.
" JAMES RIVINGTON."
" May 20, 1775.
For a time he made his peace with the Whigs, and on
the 7th of June following, the Provincial Congress of New
York resolved, that, u Whereas James Rivington, of this city,
printer, hath signed the General Association, and has lately
published a hand-bill declaring his intention rigidly to adhere
to the said Association ; and also asked the pardon of the pub
lic, who have been offended by his ill-judged publications;
therefore, he be permitted to return to his house and family ;
and this Congress doth recommend it to the inhabitants of this
Colony not to molest him in his person or property."
But Rivington, like almost every other person who once
incurred odium or suspicion, fell off. He went to Eng
land, where he furnished himself anew with materials for
printing, and was appointed king's printer for New York. In
1777 he returned, and resumed the publication of his paper,
but changed its name to that of the Royal Gazette. At the
peace he attempted to conciliate the Whigs, and to keep up his
Gazette, but failing in this, his editorial labors ceased in 1783.
He was possessed of fine talents, polite manners, and was well
informed. It is apparent from the correspondence of several of
the leaders on the popular side, as well as from what has
been here said, that his tact and ability in conducting a news
paper were much feared, and that his press had more influ
ence over the public' mind than any other in the royal interest
in the country. Rivington died in 1802, aged seventy-eight
years. His son, John, a lieutenant in the eighty-third regi
ment, died in England in 1809.
ROBIE, THOMAS. A merchant, of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
He went first to Halifax, and thence to England, but returned
to the United States, and died at Salem. His son, the Honor-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 561
able S. B. Robie, of Halifax, was appointed Solicitor General
of Nova Scotia in 1815 ; Speaker of the House of Assembly
in 1817, 1819, and 1820; Member of his Majesty's Council in
1824 ; and Master of the Rolls in 1825 ; he is a gentleman
of wealth.
ROBERTS, FREDERICK. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774.
ROBERTS, JAMES. Of Surry, North Carolina. His property
was confiscated in 17</79. *
ROBERTS, JOHN. Of the County of Philadelphia. He joined
the royal forces when Sir William Howe took possession of
Philadelphia, and was tried for his life in 1778. Thomas
McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and at
that time Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, presided at the trial.
Roberts's offence was legally and satisfactorily proved, and he
suffered death as a traitor to his country. The year following
his execution, his estate was confiscated.
ROBERTS, ZACHARIAH. Of New York. Died in Queen's
County, New Brunswick, in 1833, aged seventy-seven.
ROBERTSON, ALEXANDER. Was a captain in the service of
the king, and at the peace he went to Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
In 1834 he fell through the ice at Shelburne, and continued in
the water nearly an hour ; though he recovered his speech and
recollection, the shock was fatal. His age was seventy-nine.
He was the last of sixteen Loyalist captains who were original
grantees of that city.
ROBERTSON, - — .A physician, of North Carolina. Was
attached to a Loyalist corps, and was captured and sent to
prison in 1776.
ROBERTSON, JAMES. Was associated with his brother Alex
ander, who like himself was a Loyalist, and with John Trum-
bull, who was a Whig, in the publication of the Norwich
Packet, at Norwich, Connecticut. This connexion, which
commenced in 1773, ceased soon after the British troops took
possession of New York in 1776, and the Robertsons went to
that city, and printed the Royal American Gazette, during the
remainder of the war. After the peace, both James and
562 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Alexander published a paper at Shelburne, Nova Scotia ; but
Alexander soon died. James removed to Scotland, where he
was alive in 1810, and engaged in printing and bookselling at
Edinburgh.
ROBERTSON, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. James Robertson,
of that city, was also an Addresser.
ROBERTSON, WILLIAM. Was an ensign in the Georgia Loy
alists.
ROBINSON, BEVERLEY. Of New York. He was a son of the
Honorable John Robinson of Yirginia, who was President of that
Colony on the retirement of Governor Gooch. He emigrated to
New York, and married Susanna, daughter of Frederick Phil-
lipse, Esquire, who owned an immense landed estate on the
Hudson river. By this connexion, Mr. Robinson became rich.
When the revolutionary controversy commenced, he was living
upon that portion of the Phillipse estate which had been given to
his wife, and there he desired to remain in the quiet enjoyment
of country life, and in the management of his large domain.
That such was his inclination, is asserted by the late President
Dwight, and is fully confirmed by circumstances, and by his
descendants. He was opposed to the measures of the minis
try, gave up the use of imported merchandise, and clothed
himself and his family in fabrics of domestic manufacture.
But he was also opposed to the separation of the Colonies from
the mother country. Still, he wished to take no part in the
conflict of arms. The importunity of friends overruled his
own judgment, and he entered the military service of the
crown. His standing entitled him to high rank. Of the
Loyal American Regiment, raised principally in New York,
by himself, he was accordingly commissioned the colonel.
He also commanded the corps called the Guides and Pioneers.
Of the former, or the Loyal Americans, his son Beverley was
lieutenant colonel, and Thomas Barclay, major. Besides his
active duty in the field, Colonel Robinson was employed to
conduct several matters of consequence ; and he figures con
spicuously in cases of defection from the Whig cause. In the
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 563
real or supposed plan of the Whig leaders of Vermont, to
return to their allegiance to the king, or to form some other and
hardly less objectionable alliance with officers of the crown,
he was consulted, and opened a correspondence. In the
treason of Arnold, his name and acts occur continually ; and it
is supposed that he was acquainted with the traitor's purpose
before it was known to Sir Henry Clinton, or any other person.
And it appears certain, that Arnold addressed him a letter on
the subject of going over to the royal side, before soliciting the
command of West Point. As the plot matured, he accompa
nied Andre to Dobbs's Ferry to meet Arnold, according to a
previous arrangement; but an accident prevented an inter
view, and both returned to New York. Subsequently he went
up the Hudson in the Vulture, for the purpose of furthering
the objects in view ; but failed in his most material designs.
Arnold now sent Smith on board of the Vulture with a letter,
which was delivered to Colonel Robinson, and on the faith of
which, Andre went on shore. The treacherous Whig had
been expected on board of the ship in person, and it has been
said, that Robinson was much opposed to Andre's trusting
himself to the honor " of a man who was seeking to betray
his country." But the zealous young officer would not listen
to the prudent counsel, and determined to embark upon the
duty from which he never returned. That unfortunate gentle
man was captured on the 23d of September, 1780, and on the
26th, was conveyed a prisoner to Colonel Robinson's own
house, which, with the lands adjacent, had been confiscated by
the State, which Arnold had occupied as his head-quarters,
and of which Washington was then a temporary occupant.
After Andre's trial and conviction. Sir Henry Clinton sent
three Commissioners to the Whig camp, in the hope of pro
ducing a change in the determination of Washington, and of
showing Andre's innocence ; to this mission, Robinson was
attached in the character of a witness. He had previously
addressed the Commander-in-Chief on the subject of Andre's
release; and as he and Washington had been personal friends,
until political events had produced a separation, he took
occasion to speak of their former acquaintance in his letter.
564 BIOGRAPHTCAL SKETCHES
Colonel Robinson at the peace, with a part of his family,
went to England. His name appears as a member of the first
Council of New Brunswick, but he never took his seat at the
board. His wife is included in the confiscation act of New
York, and the whole estate derived from her father passed
from the family. The value of her interest may be estimated
from the fact, that the British government granted her husband
the sum of £17,000 sterling, which, though equal to eighty
thousand dollars, was considered only a partial compensation.
After going to England, Colonel Robinson lived in retirement.
He was unhappy ; and did not conceal the sufferings which
preyed upon his spirits. He resided at Thornbury, near Bath,
and there closed his days. Susanna, his wife, died at the
same place in 1822, at the age of ninety-four. His eldest
daughter, Susan Maria, died in England in 1833, aged seventy-
two. The Robinson House, which was his residence on the
Hudson, and which has become of historical interest, is still
(1840) standing. It is situated within two or three miles of
West Point, and on the opposite, or eastern side of the river.
It is the property of Richard D. Arden, Esquire. The interior
remains much as it was when its original possessors, and
Washington, Arnold, and Andre, were its permanent or tem
porary occupants. The rooms are low, the timbers are large,
and many of them are uncovered ; and the fireplaces are orna
mented with polished tiles. In the chamber which was used
by Mrs. Arnold nothing has been changed ; and over the
mantel and in the wood- work are carved the words, " G. Wal-
lis, Lieut. VI. Mass. Regt."
Colonel Robinson's descendants in New Brunswick possess
some relics of the olden time, not destitute of interest. Among
them is a silver tea urn, of rich and massive»workmanship, and
of considerable value, which was the present of an English
gentleman, who was the Colonel's guest in New York before
the Revolution. This urn, according to the family account,
was the first article of the kind in use in America. Prince
William Henry, who was afterwards King William the Fourth,
enjoyed Colonel Robinson's hospitality in New York at a later
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 565
day, and the circumstance may have contributed something to
the advancement of the family. The Robinsons were unques
tionably immediate sufferers from the events which drove them
into exile. Towards the Loyalists, the British government
evinced much liberality, and, if viewed as a body, the com
pensation which they received, probably, fully covered their
losses. The aggregate of the money grants, it cannot be men
tioned too often, was but little short of sixteen millions of dol
lars ; while large tracts of lands, pensions, half-pay, and
offices with handsome salaries, and held upon a life-tenure,
were freely bestowed. Yet individuals who possessed estates
of unfixed or prospective value, or who were unable to exhibit
sufficient proof of their claims, were losers. But, on the other
hand, the Loyalists who owed as much as the property which
they had in possession was worth, and yet claimed and received
of the government precisely as though they owed nothing,
were gainers.
The family of which we are speaking belonged to the class
first mentioned. But in considering the present value of Mrs.
Robinson's portion of the Phillipse Manor, it ought not to be
overlooked, that no inconsiderable part of it arises from the
success of the Whigs of the Revolution, and the turn of the
very events which its original proprietors resisted. The rebels
of 1776 made New York an independent — nay, more — the
Empire State. Had the old families continued their rule; had
the thirteen Colonies continued dependent ; had the resources
of the American continent been developed only as the mother
country permitted ; had population, wealth, the facilities for
transportation, manufactures, and commerce increased only as
in Colonial possessions they ever have, and still do, — how
much would three quarters of a century of mere time, of
additional years of Colonial vassalage, have added to the
value of the Manor ? The descendants of the Loyalists, then,
in estimating the worth of the estates of their fathers, which
passed under the confiscation acts, are to be precluded from
every benefit derived from the glorious issue of the rebellion;
and they are to be confined in their computations to the actual
48
566 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
value of wilderness lands at the time, adding the probable
increase since, had the British empire not been dismembered
in 1783. Tt is admitted, however, that Colonel Robinson was
not amply compensated in money by the government for
which he sacrificed fortune, home, and his native land. But
from the account which follows, of the distinction attained by
his children and grand-children, it will be seen, that though
deprived of their inheritance, they have not been without other
and substantial recompense; and that no persons of Loyal
ist descent have been or still are, more favored in official
stations, and in powerful family alliances, than the heirs of
the two daughters of Frederick Phillipse — Susanna Robin
son, and Mary Morris. And that this may fully appear, the
notice of Colonel Roger Morris should be read in connexion.
ROBINSON, BEVERLEY. Son of Colonel Beverley Robinson,
and lieutenant-colonel of the Loyal American Regiment, com
manded by his father. Was a graduate of Columbia College,
New York, and at the commencement of the Revolutionary
troubles, was a student of law in the office of James Duane.
His wife, Nancy, whom he married during the war, was the
daughter of the Reverend Henry Barclay, Rector of Trinity
Church, New York, and sister of Colonel Thomas Barclay
who is noticed in these pages. At the evacuation of New
York, Lieutenant Colonel Robinson was placed at the head of
a large number of Loyalists who embarked for Shelburne,
Nova Scotia, and who laid out that place in a very handsome
and judicious manner, in the hope of its becoming a town of
consequence and business. The harbor of Shelburne is re
puted to be one of the best in North America, but though the
population rapidly rose to about twelve thousand persons, the
expectations of the projectors of the enterprise were not real
ized, and many abandoned Shelburne for other parts of British
America. Robinson went to New Brunswick, and resided
principally at and near the city of St. John. His deprivations
and sufferings for a considerable time after leaving New York
were great ; these were finally relieved by the receipt of half-
pay as an officer in the service of the crown. In New Bruns-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 567
wick he was a member of His Majesty's Council, and at the
period of the French Revolution, and on the occurrence of war
between England and France, was intrusted with the com
mand of the regiment raised in that Colony.
He died in 1816, at New York, while on a visit to two of
his sons, who continued residents of that city. He possessed
great energy, and his exertions and influence were sensibly
felt in settling and advancing the commercial emporium of
New Brunswick. In the confiscation act of New York, by
which his estate was forfeited and he was attainted and ban
ished, he is styled u Beverley Robinson the younger." Colonel
Robinson left six children. His son Beverley resides in the
city of New York, and is a counsellor at law. Morris resides
also at New York, was cashier of the Branch of the United
States Bank, and is President of the Life Insurance Company ;
a daughter is the wife of Alexander Slidell McKenzie, Esquire,
of the United States Navy. Frederick Phillipse is auditor-
general of New Brunswick, and lives at Fredericton. John
is a lieutenant in the British army, enjoys half-pay, and lives
near Fredericton. William Henry is a retired major in the
British army, and resides in New Brunswick. Susan, the
remaining child, is the wife of George Lee, Esquire, a half-
pay officer of the British army, who lives on the river St.
John.
ROBINSON, CHRISTOPHER. A relative of Colonel Beverley
Robinson. Was an officer in the Queen's Rangers. He set
tled at St. John, New Brunswick, and received the grant of a
city lot, but removed to Nova Scotia, and was a crown officer
in that Colony in 1813. He went, subsequently, to Upper
Canada, where he died. His son, the Honorable John Bever
ley Robinson, is, at the present time, one of the most dis
tinguished public men in that Colony. He was born in Upper
Canada, but received a legal education in England, and was
there admitted to the bar. He returned while yet young,
served in the war of 1812, and was in several battles. After
holding a seat in the House of Assembly for ten years, he was
appointed a member of the Council and attorney-general.
568 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
During the recent insurrection in Canada, he took his musket
and went into the ranks accompanied by his two sons. When
the two Colonies were united under one government hy the
late act of parliament, he was President of the Council, but
lost that post and its emoluments by the change. He was
however, elevated to the place of Chief Justice of Canada
West, and in 1846 was appointed by the Governor General to
the office of Deputy Governor of the same division of the
Colony, (formerly Upper Canada.)
ROBINSON, SIR FREDERICK PHILLIPSE, G. C. B. Of New York.
Son of Colonel Beverley Robinson. He entered the king's ser
vice early in the Revolution, and at the peace retired to Eng
land with his father. He was continued in the British army,
and is now a Lieutenant General, and has received the honor
of knighthood. He was with the Duke of Wellington, and
saw much hard duty. At the storming of St. Sebastian
he was dangerously wounded. He was in the battles of
Vittoria, Nive, Authes, and Toulouse. During the war of
1812 he came to America, and was employed in Canada. He
commanded the British force in the attack on Plattsburgh,
under Prevost, and protested against the order of his superior,
when directed to retire, and because, from the position of his
troops, he was of the opinion, that his loss of men would be
greater in a retreat, than in an advance upon the American
works. After the conclusion of hostilities he embarked at
New York for England. On his journey from Canada, he
stopped at the Highlands to visit the place of his birth and
the scenes of his youth. A nephew relates that " he wept like
a child," as he saw and recollected the spots and objects once
familiar to him. Sir Frederick now (1846) lives at Brighton,
England, and is the only surviving child of his father. His
daughter, Maria Susanna, married Hamilton Charles James
Hamilton, her Majesty's minister to Rio Janeiro.
ROBINSON, MORRIS. Of New York. Son of Colonel Beverley
Robinson. He accepted a commission under the crown, and
was a captain in the Queen's Rangers. When that corps was
disbanded at the peace, most of the officers were dismissed
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 569
from service, and many of them — as is seen in this volume —
settled in New Brunswick. But Captain Robinson, partici
pating in the good fortune of his family, was continued in
commission. At the time of his decease he was a lieutenant-
colonel, and assistant barrack -master general, in the British
army. He died at Gibraltar in 1815, aged fifty-six. His wife
was a sister of Captain Waring, of the British navy. His
daughter, Margaret Ann, wife of Reverend J. Cross, died at
Thornbury, England, in 1837, at the age of forty-three. His
son Beverley is a captain in the Royal Artillery, and resides at
Ross, Herefordshire. Frederick is a staff officer in the British
army. John De Lancey is a lieutenant in the royal navy, on
half-pay. Oliver De Lancey, his remaining son, is major in
the Queen's Regiment. His daughters, Susan and Joanna,
reside in New Brunswick. The first is the wife of the Hon
orable Robert Parker, a Judge of the Supreme Court ; and the
latter, the wife of Robert F. Hazen, Esquire, barrister at law,
master in chancery, and formerly mayor of the city of St.
John.
ROBINSON, JOHN. Of New York. Son of Colonel Beverley
Robinson. During the Revolution, he was a lieutenant in the
Loyal American Regiment, commanded by his father, and when
the corps was disbanded he settled in New Brunswick, and
received half-pay. He embarked, and successfully, in com
mercial pursuits, and held distinguished public stations. He
was deputy paymaster-general of his Majesty's forces in the
Colony, a member of the Council, treasurer of New Bruns
wick, mayor of St. John, and president of the first bank char
tered in that city and in the Colony. He died at St. John in
1828, aged sixty-seven. Elisabeth, his wife, and daughter of
the Honorable George D. Ludlow, Chief Justice of New Bruns
wick, died in the south of France, while there for the benefit
of her health. His daughter, Frances Maria, wife of Colonel
Joshua Wilson, of Roseville, near Wexford, Ireland, died at
Bath. England, in 1837, at the age of forty-two. Five sons
survive. William Henry is deputy commissary-general in the
British army ; Beverley is treasurer of New Brunswick j George
48*
570 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Duncan is lieutenant-colonel of St. John city light infantry, and
was lately a member of the House of Assembly; Daniel Lud-
low is a barrister at law, and registrar of the Court of Chan
cery ; and John Morris is a barrister at law, registrar of the
Court of Vice Admiralty, and a Master in Chancery.
ROBINSON, JOHN. Went from some part of New England to
St. Andrew, New Brunswick, at the close of the war, and was
one of the first settlers of that town. He died there in 1807,
aged fifty-three. Lydia, his widow, died at St. Andrew in
1820, aged fifty-five.
ROBINSON, JOHN. A grantee of St. John, 1783 ; died at Port
land, New Brunswick, 1839, aged ninety-one.
ROBINSON, JOSEPH. Of South Carolina. Held a royal com
mission after the capitulation of Charleston. Estate confis
cated.
ROBINSON, ROBERT. Of New Hampshire. An ensign in the
Loyal American Regiment. He was proscribed and banished
in 1778.
ROBINSON, THOMAS. Of Sussex on Delaware. In July, 1775,
the Sussex County Committee took him in hand for his acts
and words, and unanimously declared that he was " an enemy
to his country, and a contumacious opposer of liberty and the
natural rights of mankind." His offences were various. Peter
Watson swore, that, " being at Robinson's store, he saw his
clerk, John Gozlin, weigh and sell two small parcels of bohea-
tea, one of which he delivered to a girl, and the other to
Leatherberry Barker's wife." Robert Butcher testified, that
Robinson said to him, the Whig Committees " were a pack
of fools for taking up arms against the king, that our char
ters were not annihilated, changed or altered by the late acts
of parliament," &c. Nathaniel Mitchell testified, that Rob
inson had declared to him, " the present Congress were an un
constitutional body of men, and also, that the great men were
pushing on the common people between them and all danger."
After hearing this evidence, the Committee summoned Robin
son to appear before them to answer ; but he returned word,
that " he desired his compliments to the gentlemen of the Com-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 571
mittee, and to acquaint them that he did not, nor could not,
think of coming before them, unless he could bring forty or
fifty armed men with him." These "compliments" were
voted " to be insulting and injurious," and a Resolution pro
nouncing his defection from the Whig cause followed. In 1778
he was ordered to surrender himself for trial, or stand attainted
of treason.
ROBINSON, SIR WILLIAM HENRY. Of New York. Son of Colonel
Beverley Robinson. He accompanied his father to England,
and was appointed to a place in the commissariat department
of the British army, of which, at his decease, he was the head.
For his long and faithful services he received the honor of
knighthood. He was the youngest son of the senior Colonel
Beverley Robinson. He died at Bath, England, in 1836, aged
seventy-one. Lady Robinson, his relict, died at Wisthorpe
House, Marlow, England, in 1843, at the age of seventy-five.
Sir William was named for his Majesty William the Fourth.
His wife was Catharine, a daughter of Cortlaridt Skinner,
Attorney General of New Jersey, who was a Loyalist, arid a
brigadier-general in the service of the crown during the Revo
lution. Three children of Sir William survive. His son,
William Henry, is a captain in the seventy-second regiment of
the British army. Catharine Beverley, is the wife of Major
General Smelt, of the British army. Elisabeth, is the wife of
William Henry Robinson (her cousin), deputy commissary-
general in the British army, and son of the Honorable John
Robinson.
ROBBINS, EPHRAIM. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Mem
ber of the Association at Reading.
ROBBINS, JOSEPH. A native of Plymouth, Massachusetts. He
died at Chebogue, Nova Scotia, 1839, aged eighty-two. His
descendants at the time of his decease were two hundred and
two, namely, thirteen children, ninety grandchildren, and
ninety-nine great-grandchildren.
ROBBINS, WILLIAM. A lieutenant of cavalry in the British
Legion.
ROBBINS. Seven persons of this name, of Queen's County,
572 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
John, Jacob, Jeremiah, Samuel, Isaac, John junior, and Ste
phen.
ROBINS, JOHN. An ensign in the King's Rangers. He was
at the Island of St. John, Gulf of St. Lawrence, before the
close of 1782, and invited other Loyalists to join those already
there.
ROCHFORD, THOMAS. Innkeeper, of Jamaica, New York. In
May, 1778, he informed " the gentlemen of the army and navy,
and inhabitants of New York, that they can have breakfasts
and dinners at the shortest notice," and that he " had laid in
an assortment of liquors of the best quality." In July, 1779,
he advertised that he had removed to the Queen's Head, and
was " grateful to the gentlemen of the army and navy; " while
in October of that year it was announced, that tickets for the
Accession Ball were to be had at his house. In 1781 he re
moved a second time, and begged to inform " the ladies and
gentlemen, that at his new quarters he has an elegant garden,
with arbors, bowers, alcoves, grottos, naiads, dryads, hama
dryads." These trifling incidents show that, though a civil
war was raging, men and women were not wholly inattentive
to matters that gratified the appetite, the eye, and the taste.
ROGERS, DANIEL. Minister, of Littleton, Massachusetts.
Graduated at Harvard University in 1725. He was a lineal
descendant of John Rogers, who suffered at Smithfield in
1555 ; and some account of those of the martyr's name and
blood who came to New England, may very properly be given
in speaking of the subject of this notice, especially as several
of them were clergymen, and are distinguished in our annals.
The first who emigrated to America was the Reverend Na
thaniel Rogers, son of the Reverend John Rogers, of Dedham,
England, and grandson of the Reverend John Rogers, the mar
tyr, who was born in 1598, was educated at Emanuel College,
Cambridge, and arrived in Massachusetts in 1636. He settled
at Ipswich in 1639, as successor of the Reverend Nathaniel
Ward, author of the Simple Cobbler of Aggawam in Amer
ica, and as colleague of the Reverend John Norton. He
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 573
died at Ipswich in 1655, aged fifty-seven. He was eminent
for talents, eloquence, humility, and modesty. The second
was the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers, a son of Richard Rogers,
and cousin of Nathaniel Rogers, who was born in England in
1590, was educated at Cambridge, and became chaplain to Sir
Francis Barrington. He joined his kinsman in Massachusetts
in 1638, and commenced a plantation, and was ordained at
Rowley in 1639. He died in 1661, aged seventy, after a
lingering illness. Like his cousin, he was a man of ability
and eloquence. But he possessed some peculiar opinions, and
in an election sermon, preached in 1643, he exhorted the people
not to elect the same person for their governor for two succes
sive years. He bequeathed his library to Harvard University,
and his house and lands to the town of Rowley for the sup
port of the ministry. He suffered much affliction and pecu
niary loss. He was three times married ; his third wife was
a daughter of the Reverend John Wilson, the first minister
of Boston. His children all died in his life-time, and this
branch of the family became extinct, therefore, at his de
cease.
But the martyr's lineage was perpetuated by Nathaniel
Rogers, first mentioned, who left a daughter and a son. This
daughter married the Reverend William Hubbard, a graduate
in the first class of Harvard University, minister of Ipswich,
and the early historian of New England, who died in 1704,
leaving a son Nathaniel, who became a Judge of the Supreme
Court of Massachusetts. The son was John Rogers, who
graduated at Harvard University in 1649, became his father's
colleague, but devoted himself finally to medicine, and with
drew from the ministry. In 1682, after the death of Doctor
Oakes, he was elected President of Harvard University, but
did not long survive, having died suddenly the day after com
mencement in 1684, aged fifty-three. His wife was Elisabeth
Denison, of a distinguished family. He left one daughter and
three sons. The daughter married John Leverett, a President
of Harvard University, and a grandson of Governor Leverett.
The sons were educated at Harvard University. Daniel
574 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
graduated in 1686, studied medicine, settled at Ipswich, and
perished on Hampton Beach in 1722, or early in the year fol
lowing. Nathaniel was born at Ipswich, February 22, 1669,
graduated in 1687, was ordained at Portsmouth. New Hamp
shire, May 3, 1699, and died there October 3, 1723, aged fifty-
three, and was buried in the ancient bury ing- ground called
the Point of Graves, leaving a widow, whose maiden name
was Sarah Purkiss, and who died in 1704, from injuries re
ceived in the burning of the parsonage that year. His children
were nine, as follows : Nathaniel, a physician ; Sarah, the wife
of Reverend Joshua Gee, of Boston ; Elisabeth, who perished in
the flames at the time her mother was fatally injured ; George, a
merchant, who married a sister of Governor Hutchinson ; Elis
abeth, wife of Reverend John Taylor, of Milton j Mary, wife
of Honorable Matthew Livermore, of Portsmouth ; John, who
died at the age of five years ; Daniel, an apothecary in Ports
mouth; and Margaret, who died, unmarried, at the age of
twenty-two. John (the remaining son of John, President of
Harvard University) graduated in 1684, was ordained at
Ipswich some time after, and died in 1745, aged seventy-eight.
His three sons were clergymen, namely, John, who graduated
at Harvard University in 1711, settled in the ministry at
Kittery, Maine, and died in 1773, at the age of eighty-one,
leaving a son John, who was minister of Gloucester, Massa
chusetts, and died in 1782, aged sixty-three ; Nathaniel, who
graduated in 1721, became colleague pastor of his father, and
died in 1775, aged seventy-two ; and Daniel, who graduated
in 1725, was settled as a minister at Exeter, New Hampshire,
and died in 1785, aged seventy-nine.
Daniel, of Littleton, whom we are now to notice very
briefly, was the son of Daniel the physician, who perished on
Hampton Beach, as before related, and was, therefore, the
great, great, great, grandson of the martyr. He espoused
the loyal side, though with moderation and prudence — pray
ing neither for the King nor the Congress. But his house,
which is still (1847) standing, and occupied as the parson
age, was beset by the multitude, and holes made by bullets
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 575
which were fired at it are yet to be seen. He died in 1782,
aged seventy-five. His children were Jeremiah Dummer ;
Daniel ; a daughter, who married Abel Willard, a Loyalist men
tioned in this work ; a daughter, who married Samuel Park-
man, Esquire, a gentleman of great wealth of Boston ; and a
daughter, who married the Reverend Jonathan Newell, of
Stow, Massachusetts.
ROGERS, JEREMIAH DUMMER. Son of Daniel Rogers, and
great, great, great, great, grandson of John Rogers, the martyr.
Graduated at Harvard University in 1762, and after studying
law, commenced practice in Littleton. In 1774 he was one of
the barristers and attorneys who were Addressers of Hutchin-
son. He took refuge in Boston, and after the battle of Breed's
Hill, was appointed commissary to the royal troops that con
tinued to occupy Charlestown, and lived in a house which
stood on the site of the present Unitarian church in that town,
where his grandson now ministers. At the evacuation of
Boston in 1776, he accompanied the royal army to Halifax,
and died in that city in 1784. His wife was a sister of the
Reverend Doctor Peter Thacher, minister of Brattle Street
Church, Boston. His children were three daughters, and four
sons. The daughters, and Samuel, one of the sons, were
children at the time of his decease, and returned to Boston,
where they were educated by his sisters, the ladies mentioned
in the notice of his father. One daughter married the late
David Ellis, Esquire, of Boston, whose son, the Reverend
George E. Ellis, of Charlestown, Massachusetts, is one of the
ablest writers of the day ; another, married the late Doctor
William Spooner, of Boston ; and the third, the late Jonathan
Chapman, Esquire, of Boston. His sons John and Daniel
died young. His son Samuel, merchant in Boston3 deceased
in 1832. Jeremiah Dummer, the other son, went to England,
where he was educated by an uncle. He became a classical
tutor, and Lord Byron was among his pupils. He visited his
relatives in Massachusetts in 1824, and was honored with a
diploma from the University of which so many of his name and
family were graduates. He had become so much of an Eng-
576 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
lishman as to feel strong prejudices against the civil and relig
ious institutions of the land of his immediate ancestry. He
returned to England, and died at Nottingham in 1832, where
a monument has been erected to his memory.
ROGERS, ROBERT. Of New Hampshire. He was the son of
an early settler of Dunbarton, New Hampshire, and, disposed
to military life, entered the service in the French war, and
commanded Rogers's Rangers, a corps renowned for their ex
ploits. After the peace he returned to his native Colony, and
lived on half-pay. His subsequent career was one of doubtful
integrity. In 1766 he was appointed governor of Michilli-
mackinac ; and, accused of a plot to plunder his own fort and
join the French, was sent to Montreal in irons. In 1769 he
went to England, and was presented to the king, but was soon
imprisoned for debt. As the Revolutionary controversy dark
ened, it was supposed that he was ready to side with the
Whigs, or with the adherents of the crown, as chance or cir
cumstances might direct. Towards the close of 1775, it was
rumored that he had been in Canada, had accepted a commis
sion under the king, and had been through one of the Whig
encampments in the habit of an Indian ; his course was there
fore closely watched.
Doctor Wheelock, at Dartmouth College, wrote at this pe
riod ; "the famous Major Rogers came to my house, from a
tavern in the neighborhood, where he called for refreshment.
I had never before seen him. He was in but an ordinary habit
for one of his character. He treated me with great respect ;
said he came from London in July, and had spent twenty
days with the Congress in Philadelphia, and I forget how
many at New York ; had been offered and urged to take a
commission in favor of the Colonies; but, as he was on
half-pay from the crown, he thought proper not to accept it ;
that he had fought two battles in Algiers under the Dey ; that
he was now on a design to take care of some large grants of
land made to him; that he was going to visit his sister at
Moor's Town, and then to return by Merrimac river to visit
his wife, whom he had not yet seen since his return from Eng-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 577
land ; that he had got a pass, or license to travel, from the
Continental Congress," &c.*
Major Rogers' s account of himself and his plans was prob
ably not wholly true. He actually had a pass from Congress,
but he had been the prisoner of that body, and had been re
leased on his parole, and on signing a certificate, wherein he
"solemnly promised arid engaged on the honor of a gentleman
and soldier, that he would not bear arms against the American
United Colonies in any manner whatsoever, during the Amer-
can contest with Great Britain." He wrote to Washington
soon after leaving Doctor Wheelock, that, " I love America; it
is my native country, and that of my family, and I intend to
spend the evening of my days in it." At this very moment it
is possible that he was a spy. In January, 1776, Washington
said: "I am apt to believe the intelligence given to Doctor
Wheelock respecting Major Rogers [having been in Canada]
was not true ; but being much suspected of unfriendly views to
this country, his conduct should be attended to with some degree
of vigilance and circumspection." In June of that year the
Commander-in-Chief wrote again : " Upon information that.
Major Rogers was travelling through the country under suspi
cions circumstances, I thought it necessary to have him se
cured. I therefore sent after him. He was taken at South
Amboy, and brought to New York. Upon examination, he
informed me that he came from New Hampshire, the country
of his usual abode, where he had left his family ; and pretended
he was destined to Philadelphia on business with Congress.
" As by his own confession he had crossed Hudson's River
at New Windsor, and was taken so far out of his proper and
direct route to Philadelphia, this consideration, added to the
length of time he had taken to perform his journey, his being
found in so suspicious a place as Amboy, his unnecessary
stay there on pretence of getting some baggage from New
York, and an expectation of receiving money from a person
here of bad character, and in no circumstances to furnish him
* Sparks's Washington, Vol. 3, p. 208.
49
578 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
out of his own stock, the Major's reputation, and his being a
half-pay officer, have increased my jealousies about him. The
business, which he informs me he has with Congress, is a secret
offer of his services, to the end that, in case it should be re
jected, he might have his way left open to an employment in
the East Indies, to which he was assigned ; and in that case
he flatters himself he will obtain leave of Congress to go to
Great Britain."
Washington's suspicions at this time were very strong, and
he sent Rogers to Congress under the care of an officer ; and
suggested to the president of that body, " Whether it would
not be dangerous to accept the offer of his services." If, after
arriving at Philadelphia, he did as he told the Commander-in-
Chief he intended to do, his overtures were declined; since
Congress directed that he should return to New Hampshire,
and be disposed of as the Provincial Congress should deem
proper and necessary. Every incident shows that either he
waited a bid from the Whigs, that his sympathies were se
cretly with the ministerial party, or, that from first to last he
played a part. Whichever conjecture be the true one, he
soon after openly joined the royal side, and notwithstanding
his parole of honor, accepted the commission of colonel, and
raised a command called the Queen's Rangers, a corps cele
brated throughout the contest. To encourage enlistments, he
promised recruits in a printed circular, " their proportion of
all rebel-lands " &c., a pledge which he was never able to ful
fil, but one which may be indicative of his own motives of
action. In the fall of 1776, while with his corps at an outpost
near Marroneck, he narrowly escaped being taken prisoner
by a party sent out by Lord Sterling. Soon after this he went
to England, and Simcoe succeeded him as commander of
the Queen's Rangers, In 1778 Colonel Rogers was proscribed
and banished under the act of New Hampshire.
ROGERS, SAMUEL. Merchant, of Boston. Graduated at Har
vard University in 1765. He went to Halifax in 1776, and
was proscribed under the act of 1778. One of the few who
returned from banishment, he died at Boston, June, 1804, at
the age of fifty-seven years.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 579
ROGERS. Five were grantees of St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783. To wit : Thomas, James, Patrick, Nehemiah, who
had been a lieutenant in some Loyalist corps, and Fitch. The
last engaged in business as a merchant, but returned to the
United States. William and Patrick, others of the name, set
tled in New Brunswick, and died there ; the former at St.
John in 1833, aged seventy-three ; the latter, at Sussex Vale,
in 1821. Nathaniel, another, was quartermaster of De Lan-
cey's First Battalion.
ROME, GEORGE. Of Newport, Rhode Island. He was a
merchant, and carried on a large business in the whale fishery.
A letter of his to Doctor Moffatt, in which he indulged in some
severe remarks upon the political heresies of the time, and
especially upon the manner of administering justice in the
Colonies, found its way to England, and was thence transmit
ted by Franklin in 1772 to Massachusetts, with several letters
of Hutchinson, Oliver, and others. The House of Represen
tatives of Massachusetts censured Rome, by resolutions, but
did no more. The Assembly of Rhode Island, however, re
quired him to acknowledge himself the writer of the commu
nication, as it appeared in print, and upon his refusal, com
mitted him to prison, but finally permitted him to go at large.
In the course of the war he was a contractor in the royal ser
vice; but went to England previous to July, 1779. In 1780 his
property was confiscated. At the peace he was still abroad,
and was appointed agent of the Rhode Island Loyalists who
had suffered losses to prosecute their claims to compensation.
In 1788, when the commissioners had completed their duties,
and parliament had passed an act to remunerate the sufferers,
he joined the other agents in an address of thanks to the
king.
ROME, WILLIAM H., WILLIAM L , and JACOB. Were grantees
of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
ROMICK, JOSEPH. Of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
His estate was confiscated in 1779.
ROOFA, . A captain in a Loyalist corps. In 1777 he
was taken in arms, and hanged at Esopus, New York. His
580 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
offence, as appeared at his trial, consisted in inducing per
sons of his own sentiments to enlist under the royal banner.
ROLLO, ROBERT. A captain of infantry in Arnold's Ameri
can Legion.
ROOME, JOHN L. C. In 1778 he was an officer of the cus
toms at New York, or on Long Island. He was a notary
public in the city in 1782. In July, 1783, he was one of the
fifty-five Loyalists who petitioned for grants of lands in Nova
Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
ROORBACK, BARRENT. Of New York. He was educated at
a college, studied medicine, and at the commencement of
the Revolution was in practice. But he abandoned his pro
fession, entered the service, and was a captain in De Lancey's
First Battalion. During the war he gave proofs of valor,
and continued in commission until the peace. After the corps
was disbanded, he married, and established his residence in
New York. In 1806, though he enjoyed half-pay, it is under
stood that his circumstances were needy ; and joining Miranda
in the attempt to create a revolution in Caracas, was an enthu
siast in the cause. His rank at first was that of captain in the
first regiment of riflemen, but he was soon appointed major of
brigade, and finally a lieutenant-colonel. He appears to* have
been one of the most popular officers engaged in the enter
prise.
ROPES, NATHANIEL. Of Salem, Massachusetts. Was born
in 1727, graduated at Harvard University in 1745, and died at
Salem, March, 1774, aged forty-seven years. He was repre
sentative to the General Court; a member of the Council ;
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and Judge of Probate for
the County of Essex ; and a Judge of the Superior Court, of
Massachusetts. He was a firm Loyalist. The night before
his death, his house was attacked by the multitude, and the
windows and furniture were demolished.
ROSE, HUGH. A physician, of Charleston, South Carolina.
Was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton, and a Petitioner to
be armed on the side of the crown in 1780 ; and John, of that
city, was the same ; both were banished and lost their estates
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 581
in 1782. Alexander, of that State, was a Congratulator of
Cornwallis after his success at Camden, and incurred the same
penalties.
ROSE, PETER. Embarked at Boston with the British army,
for Halifax.
ROSE, WILLIAM. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
ROSEWELL, WALTER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
Ross, FINLEY. Of New York. He 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 Charlottenburgh, Upper Canada, where he died in 1830,
aged ninety.
Ross, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Address
er of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
Ross, JOHN. Was an officer in the Queen's Rangers. He
settled at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and was a
grantee of that city. He received half-pay.
Ross, NICHOLAS. Of New York. He lived at or near War-
rensburgh. In 1775 he refused to sign the Whig Association.
Ross, THOMAS. Mariner, of Falmouth, Maine. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. He settled on the island of
Grand Menan, Bay of Fundy, where he followed the sea, as
master mariner. He died in 1804, while on his passage home
from the West Indies. The children who survived him, were
William, John, Margaret, Barbara, and Betsey; all of whom
are now (July, 1844) deceased, excepting John, who resides
at Grand Menan.
Ross, WILLIAM. Of Philadelphia. In 1778 the Council of
Pennsylvania ordered, that, failing to appear and be tried for
treason, he should stand attainted.
ROTHBUN, JOSEPH. Of Rhode Island. He arrived at St.
John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in 1783.
ROTTEN, ROBERT. A captain in the King's Orange Rangers.
ROUPELL, GEORGE. Deputy Postmaster General, of South
Carolina. Went to England. He was in London in 1779.
49*
582 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ROUTH, RICHARD. Collector of the Customs at Salem, Mas
sachusetts. Died in 1801. He was an Addresser of Gage, on
his arrival in 1774. In 1776 he went to Halifax with the
British army. After quitting Massachusetts, he was Collector
of the Customs, and Chief Justice, of Newfoundland.
ROWE, SAMUEL. Of South Carolina. Held a royal commis
sion after the fall of Charleston in 1780. His property was
confiscated.
ROWELL, JAMES. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A mem
ber of the Association at Reading.
ROWLAND, ISRAEL. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading.
ROWLAND, WILLIAM. Pilot, of Delaware. To save his prop
erty from confiscation, he was required by an act of 1778, to
surrender himself to some judge or justice of the peace, and
abide his trial for treason.
Ro WORTH, SAMUEL. A captain in the King's Rangers, Caro
lina.
ROYALL, ISAAC. Of Medford. Massachusetts. Died in Eng
land, October, 1781. He was representative to the General
Court, and for twenty-two years a member of the Council.
In 1774 he was appointed Councillor under the writ of Man
damus, but was one of the twenty-six who were not sworn
into office. He bequeathed upwards of two thousand acres of
land in Worcester County, to found the first law professorship
of Harvard University, and his bequests for other purposes
were numerous and liberal. He was proscribed in 1778, and
his estate confiscated. A daughter married the second Sir
William Pepperell.
RUGGE, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
RUGELY, HENRY. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
of the crown after the capitulation of Charleston. Estate con
fiscated.
RUGGLES, JOHN. Of Hardwick, Massachusetts. Son of Gen
eral Timothy Ruggles. In 1778 he was proscribed and ban
ished. He settled in Nova Scotia, and died there. His widow,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 583
Hannah, only daughter of Doctor Thomas Sackett, of New
York, died at Wilmot, Nova Scotia, in 1839, aged seventy-six.
His only son, Captain Timothy Amherst Ruggles, of the Nova
Scotia Fencibles, died at the same place in 1838, at the age of
fifty-six. Three daughters were alive in 1839.
RUGGLES, JOSEPH and NATHANIEL. Of Hardwick, Massachu
setts. Were proscribed and banished in 1778.
RUGGLES, RICHARD. Of Hardwick, Massachusetts. He went
to Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
RUGGLES, TIMOTHY. He was a member of the House of
Assembly of Nova Scotia many years. He died at Granville,
Nova Scotia, in 1831. Sarah, his widow, died at that place,
1842, aged ninety-two.
RUGGLES, TIMOTHY. Of Massachusetts. He was the son of
the Reverend Timothy Ruggles, of Rochester, was born at
that place in 1711, and graduated at Harvard University in
1732. He appeared in public life for the first time in 1736, as
the representative from his native town. Removing to Sand
wich, he commenced the practice of law, though his father
had intended that he should adopt his own profession. At
Sandwich he married a widow, opened a tavern and person
ally attended the bar and stable, but continued his practice in
the Courts, where he was generally opposed to Otis. He
changed his abode a second time, and removed to Hardwick,
in the County of Worcester. Possessing military talents and
taste, he attained the rank of brigadier general, and led a
body of troops to join Sir William Johnson in the war of
1755. He distinguished himself in the action with Baron de
Dieskau, for which he was rewarded by the gift of a lucrative
place. In 1757 he was appointed Associate Justice of the
Common Pleas, and subsequently was placed at the head of
the bench of that Court. To the Congress of nine Colonies at
New York, in 1765, he, Otis, and Patridge, were the dele
gates from Massachusetts. Ruggles was made president of
that body. His conduct gave great dissatisfaction to the
Whigs of Massachusetts, and in addition to a vote of censure
of the House of Representatives, he was reprimanded in his
584 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
place from the Speaker's chair. He offered reasons for his
course, which at first he had leave to insert upon the journal,
but after his statement was considered, the liberty to insert
was revoked. He became, as the Revolutionary quarrel pro
gressed, one of the most violent supporters of the measures of
the ministry, and he, and Otis, as the leaders of the two
opposing parties, were in constant collision in the discussions
of the popular branch of the government. In 1774 he was
named a Mandamus Councillor, which increased his unpopu
larity to so great a degree, that his house was attacked at
night, and his cattle were maimed and poisoned. On the
22d of December of that year, he addressed the following note
to the Printers of the Boston Newspapers.
" As Messrs. Edes and Gill, in their paper of Monday, the
12th instant, were pleased to acquaint the public, ' that the
Association sent by Brigadier Ruggles, &c., to the town of
Hardwick, &c., together with his son's certificate thereof, and
the Resolves of the Provincial Congress therein, must be
deferred till their next,' I am so credulous as to expect then
to have seen their next paper adorned with the form of an
Association, which would have done honor to it, and, if at
tended to and complied with by the good people of the Prov
ince, might have put it in the power of any one very easily
to have distinguished such loyal subjects to the King, as dare
to assert their rights to freedom, in all respects consistent with
the laws of the land, from such rebellious ones, as under the
pretext of being friends to liberty, are frequently committing
the most enormous outrages upon the persons and property of
such of his Majesty's peaceable subjects, who, for want of
knowing who to call upon (in these distracted times) for
assistance, fall into the hands of a banditti, whose cruelties
surpass those of savages. But finding my mistake, I now take
the liberty to send copies to your several offices to be published
in your next papers, that so the public may be made more
acquainted therewith than at present, and may be induced to
associate for the above purpose. And as many of the people,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 585
for some time past, have been arming themselves, it may not
be amiss to inform them that their numbers will not appear so
large in the field as was imagined before it was known that
independency was the object in contemplation ; since which
many have associated in different parts of the Province to
preserve their freedom and support government; and as it
may become necessary in a very short time to give convincing
proofs of our attachment to government, we shall be much
wanting to ourselves if we longer trample upon that patience,
which has already endured to long-suffering, and may, if this
opportunity be neglected, have a tendency to ripen many for
destruction who have not been guilty of an overt act of rebel
lion, which would be an event diametrically opposite to the
humane and benevolent intention of him whose abused pa
tience cannot endure forever, and who hath already, by his
prudent conduct, evinced the most tender regard for a deluded
people.
" TIMOTHY RUGGLES."
The Association consisted of a preamble and six articles.
The principal were the first and third, which provided;
" That we will, upon all occasions, with our lives and for
tunes, stand by and assist each other in the defence of his life,
liberty, and property, whenever the same shall be attacked or
endangered by any bodies of men, riotously assembled upon
any pretence, or under any authority not warranted by the
laws of the land."
And, "That we will not acknowledge or submit to the
pretended authority of any Congress, Committees of Corres
pondence, or any other unconstitutional assemblies of men ;
but will, at the risk of our lives, if need be, oppose the forci
ble exercise of all such authority."
General Ruggles's plan of combining against the Whigs
seems to have been the model of similar Associations formed
elsewhere, and that in Reading, Connecticut, was composed of
many members.
During his residence in Boston, (in which town he had
586 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
taken refuge when the above communication to the printers
was sent to them), he attempted to raise a corps of Loyalists,
but did not succeed. At the evacuation, he 'accompanied the
royal army to Halifax, and from thence repaired to Long and
Staten Islands, New York, where the attempt to embody a
force for the king's service was renewed. He organized a body
of Loyal Militia, about three hundred in number, but does not
appear to have performed much active duty. He is named in
the statute of Massachusetts of 1779, "to confiscate the estates
of certain notorious conspirators against the government and
liberties of" that State, and went into perpetual banishment.
After many vicissitudes incident to his position in so troubled
times, he established his residence in Nova Scotia. Of the
beautiful site of Digby in that Colony he was a proprietor and
a settler. He died in 1798, aged eighty-seven years.
General Ruggles was a good scholar, and possessed powers of
mind of a very high order. He was a wit and a misanthrope ;
and a man of rude manners and rude speech. Many anec
dotes continue to be related of him in the town of his nativity,
which show his shrewdness, his sagacity, his military hardi
hood and bravery. As a lawyer, he was an impressive pleader,
and in parliamentary debate, able and ingenious. That a
person thus constituted should make enemies, other than those
which men in prominent public stations usually acquire, is not
strange, and he had a full share of personal foes. In Mrs.
Warren's dramatic piece of The Group, he figures in the
character of Brigadier Hate-all. Numerous descendants are
to be met with in Nova Scotia, and the avocation of inn
keeper, adopted by the General at Sandwich, is not yet un
known in the family.
RUIN, GEORGE. Of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His
estate was confiscated in 1779.
RULOFSON, RULOF. He was in the service of the king from
the beginning to the close of the war. Soon after the peace
he settled in Hampton, King's County, New Brunswick, where
he was a magistrate. He died at Hampton, 1840, aged eighty-
six, leaving a widow, six children, several grand and great
grandchildren.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 587
RUMMER, RICHARD. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, 1776.
RUSSEL, NATHANIEL. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, 1776.
RUSSELL, CHARLES. Son of Honorable James Russell, of
Charlestown, Massachusetts. Graduated at Harvard Univer
sity in 1757, and died at Antigua, where he was a physician,
in 1780. His wife was the only child of Colonel Henry Vas-
sall, of Cambridge. By the banishment act of 1778, in which
he is proscribed, it appears that his residence was at Lincoln,
County of Middlesex.
RUSSELL, EZEKIEL. Printer, of Boston. Was born in that
town, and served an apprenticeship with his brother, Joseph
Russell. In November, 1771, he commenced a political publi
cation, called The Censor, which, during its short existence,
was supported by adherents of the British government ; and
Lieutenant Governor Oliver was said to have been a contributor.
Loyalists of the first character gave the Censor both literary
and pecuniary aid ; but its circulation was confined to a few
of their own party, and it was soon discontinued. Russell,
subsequently, attempted to establish a newspaper at Salem,
but did not succeed. He again removed to Darivers; but
finally returned to Boston, where he obtained support, princi
pally by printing and selling ballads, and small pamphlets.
His wife was an active and industrious woman, and not only
assisted him in printing, but sometimes wrote ballads on re
cent tragical events, which were published, and had frequently
a considerable run. Russell died, September, 17963 aged fifty-
two years.
RUSSELL, JAMES. Of Charlestown, Massachusetts. His pa
ternal ancestor was Richard Russell, who settled in that town
in 1640, and was treasurer of the Colony. His mother's family
was also ancient, and highly respectable. His father was the
Honorable Daniel Russell. He was born at Charlestown in
1715, and there, except during the Revolutionary period, he
passed the whole of his life. He sustained many public offices,
and was a judge. In 1774 he was appointed a Mandamus
5S8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Councillor, but did not take the official oath. He died in 1798,
aged eighty-two. A more excellent man has seldom lived.
He was not solicitous to shine, but he was anxious to do good.
As a son, a husband, brother, father, neighbor, and friend, he
was all that could be expected or desired. His understanding
was sound and practical ; and, possessed of great benevolence
and public spirit, he was incessant in his endeavors to promote
the happiness and advance the prosperity of the community
in which he lived. A bridge from Charlestown to Boston was
among the enterprises which he projected ; and he was the
first person in Massachusetts, probably, who conceived that
the plan of thus uniting the two towns was practicable. By
his persevering efforts, the work was finally commenced and
successfully accomplished ; and the Charlestown Bridge was
the first structure of the kind ever built across a broad river in
the United States.
RUSSELL, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
RUSSELL, JOSEPH. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, 1808,
aged seventy-three.
RUSSELL, MATTHEW. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. In 1778
the Council required him to surrender and be tried for treason,
or to stand attainted.
RUSSELL, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780; was banished, and lost
his property under the confiscation act of 1782.
RUSTIN, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York. A pro
tester, April, 1775.
RUTHERFORD, HENRY. Established his residence in Nova
Scotia, and died at Digby in that Colony in 1808, aged fifty-
five.
RUTHERFORD, JAMES. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1777.
RUTHERFORD, JOHN. A member of his Majesty's Council of
North Carolina. On the 1st of March, 1775, he was present
in Council, and gave his advice to Governor Martin to issue
his Proclamation to inhibit and forbid the meeting of the Whig
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 589
Convention at Newbern, on the 3d of April following ; " the
Board, conceiving the highest detestation of such illegal meet
ings, were unanimous in advising his Excellency."
RUTHERFORD, THOMAS. Of North Carolina. He was a mem
ber of the Assembly under the royal government, from the
County of Cumberland ; and for a while appears to have been
with the Whigs. In 1774 he was elected to the Provincial
Congress, and in 1775 was a member of the Whig Convention
which Governor Martin denounced, and which sustained the
proceedings of the Continental Congress ; and in the military
organization of the State he was commissioned a colonel. But
in 1776, as he had joined the adherents of the crown, Colonel
Alexander McAllister displaced him in the command of the
Cumberland County Regiment. In 1779 Mr. Rutherford's
property was confiscated.
RUTTAN, PETER. A captain in the Third Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
RYAN, JOHN. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city. He established a news
paper, and was king's printer. He is now (1846) living at
Newfoundland, and is queen's printer for that government.
RYDER, BARNARDUS. Of Jamaica, New York. Signer of a
Declaration in 1775.
RYDER, STEPHEN. An ensign in the Third Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
RYERSON, PETER, CORNELIUS, and GEORGE. Of Queen's Coun
ty, New York. Acknowledged allegiance in October, 1776.
Francis Ryarson, of that County, went to Nova Scotia at the
peace, and settled in Annapolis.
RYKEMAN, JOHN. A lieutenant of Tory levies. He was cap
tured by the Whigs in 1781, in the action in which Walter N.
Butler was slain.
RYSAM, WILLIAM JOHNSON. Of New Hampshire. He was
proscribed and banished, and his estate confiscated.
SABB, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
50
590 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SACKETT, WILLIAM. Of Queen's County, New York. Ac
knowledged allegiance in 1776, and was an Addresser of Lieu
tenant Colonel Sterling in 1779.
SALKIN, JOHN. Of Pennsylvania. Went to New Brunswick,
and died at Mace's Bay in that Colony in 1821, aged eighty-six.
SALTONSTALL, LEVERETT. Of Massachusetts. He was the
youngest son of Judge Saltonstall, and was born December
25, 1754. Unlike his brother Richard, he bore arms against
his native land. At the breaking out of hostilities, he had
nearly completed his term of service with a merchant of Bos
ton. Becoming acquainted with the British officers, and fas
cinated with their profession, he accompanied the army to
Halifax, and subsequently accepted of a commission, and was
engaged in several battles. A captain under Cornwallis, he
fell a victim to the fatigues of a camp life, and died of con
sumption at New York, December 20, 1782, at the age of
twenty-eight.
SALTONSTALL, RICHARD. Of Massachusetts. He was de
scended from a most respectable and ancient family, and was
the eldest son of the Honorable Richard Saltonstall, Judge of the
Superior Court of Massachusetts. Colonel Richard Saltonstall
was born April 5, 1732, and graduated at Harvard University
in 1751. In 1754 he was commissioned to command a regi
ment, and was in active service in the French war that imme
diately followed. Soon after the peace he was appointed
sheriff of the County of Essex, and held that office at the
commencement of the Revolution. He was much beloved by
his neighbors, and notwithstanding his well known loyal prin
ciples, it was a long time before he lost his popularity. At
length he was compelled to leave Haverhill, the place of his
residence, and take refuge in Boston, to avoid the violence of
mobs. He left the country in 1775, and remained in England
throughout the war, 'until his death, October 1, 1785, at the
age of fifty-two. He was never married. The king granted
him a pension.
Colonel Saltonstall was a good man, and is entitled to the re
spect of all. He refused to enter the service of the crown, and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 591
feeling on the other hand, that he could not conscientiously
bear arms on the side of the Whigs, he went into exile. His
military knowledge and skill were very considerable, and it
was supposed, that, had he embraced the popular cause, he
might have had a high command in the patriot army. In one
of his last letters written to his American friends, he said : "I
have no remorse of conscience for my past conduct. I have
had more satisfaction in a private life here, than I should have
had in being next in command to General Washington, where
I must have acted in conformity to the dictates of others,
regardless of my own feelings."
His integrity, frankness, and benevolence, his politeness,
superior understanding and knowledge of the world, won gen
eral praise and admiration. His remote family friends in
England received him kindly, and after his decease, erected a
monument to his memory. His brother Nathaniel, a physi
cian of eminence, and a graduate of Harvard University in
1766, was a firm Whig. His brother Leverett was a Loyalist.
His sister Abigail married Colonel George Watson of Ply
mouth; and his sister Mary was the wife of the Reverend
Moses Badger, an Episcopal clergyman and a Loyalist.
SAMPSON, JOHN. Of North Carolina. A member of the Coun
cil. He concurred with Governor Martin in his efforts to put
a stop to the unlawful meetings and assemblies of the Whigs.
SAMPSON, JOHN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Gage in 1775.
SAMS, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
SANDEMAN, ROBERT. He was the founder of the sect of
Sandemanians, many of whom, like himself, were Loyalists,
and are mentioned in these pages. His first society was estab
lished at Boston in 1764. Subsequently, several were formed
in Connecticut, and some in other parts of New England. The
Sandemanians gave the Whigs no little trouble. Mr. Sande-
man died at Danbury, Connecticut, in 1771, aged fifty-three.
He was born in Scotland, and was educated at St. Andrew's.
Before coming to America he organized a church of his faith
in London.
592
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SANDFORD, JOHN. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
SANDFORD, THOMAS. A captain of cavalry in the British
Legion.
SANDS, EDWARD. Served the crown as a military officer,
and at the close of the war retired to New Brunswick, and
received half-pay. He settled at St. John ; was a major in the
militia, an alderman of the city, and coroner for the city and
county. He died at St. John in 1803, at the age of forty-
three.
SANDS, SIMON, JOHN, PELHAM, GEORGE, HENRY, SAMUEL, and
BENJAMIN. Of Queen's County, New York. Acknowledged
allegiance October, 1776.
SANGER, ELEAZAR. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished.
SANTICROIX, . A captain in a corps of Loyalists. He
went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and was one
of the grantees of that city. He removed to Digby, Nova
Scotia.
SAPPINFIELD, MATTHIAS. Of Rowan, North Carolina. His
property was confiscated in 1779.
SARGENT, JOHN. Merchant, of Salem. His name stands
first among the Salem Addressers of Gage on his arrival in
1774. He was proscribed under the act of 1778. He went to
England.
SARGENT, JOHN. A lieutenant in the King's American Reg
iment.
SARGENT, WINWOOD. An Episcopal clergyman, of Cam
bridge, Massachusetts. I am not quite sure that this gentleman
should have a place in this volume. But I find that a Reverend
Mr. Sargent, of Massachusetts, died in exile during the war,
and that Mary, " relict of late Reverend Winwood Sargent,
formerly minister of the Episcopal Church, Cambridge, Mas
sachusetts, and daughter of Reverend Arthur Browne, rector of
Queen's Chapel, Portsmouth, New Hampshire," died at Bath,
England, in 1808.
SAUNDERS, HENRY. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 593
SAUNDERS, JOHN. Of New Jersey. Went to New Bruns
wick in 1783, and died there. Elisabeth, his widow, a native
of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, deceased at Hampton, New
Brunswick, in 1838, aged eighty-six, leaving nine children,
seventy-one grandchildren, and forty-five great-grandchildren.
SAUNDERS, JOHN. Of Virginia. He was descended from an
English family, that adhered to the King in the civil Avar be
tween Charles and the Round- heads. His grandfather emi
grated to Virginia, and acquired large landed estates. In July,
1774, the subject of this notice was present at a meeting in
Princess Anne County, convened for the purpose of choosing
delegates to attend a convention of Whigs at Williamsburgh,
and was the only one who refused to sanction its proceedings.
In August of that year the Whigs formed a Provincial Associ
ation, and held meetings in various parts of the country. He
generally gave his attendance ; but steadily refused to bind
himself to observe the votes and resolutions, which were
adopted. The Continental Association was formed before the
close of 1774; but he continued a recusant. The Committee
of the County, considering that he was a young man, and that
he might be better advised, appointed some of their number to
wait upon him at his own house, and expostulate with him on
his course of conduct ; but to no purpose. Some days after their
visit, however, an intimate Whig friend went to him privately,
and pressed upon him the expediency of signing the necessary
agreement, which, finally, he apparently consented to do. His
friend, on looking at his signature, found written after it, the
word "No," in large characters. The Committee were indig
nant when informed of this, and summoned him to appear
and answer ; he declined the notice, and was forthwith pub
licly denounced. His Whig friends regretted the result of
their many overtures and persuasions; for "he had enjoyed
the advantages of a liberal education, and for some time past
had studied law," and was thought to possess much energy
and determination.
On Lord Dunmore's appeal to the loyalty of the Old Do
minion, Mr. Saunders raised a troop of horse at his own
50*.
594 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
expense, and joined the royal standard. He was afterwards
attached to the Queen's Rangers, under Simcoe, and was
a captain of cavalry in that corps. He continued in service
during the conflict, was often engaged in partisan strifes,
and was twice wounded. When Colonel Simcoe retired
from the command of the Rangers, Major Armstrong and
Captain Saunders were deputed by the officers to present him
with an Address. At the peace he went to England, became
a member of the Middle Temple, and commenced the practice
of the law. In 1790 he succeeded Judge Putnam, as Judge
of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick ; and was soon after
appointed a member of the Council of that Colony. In 1822,
on the decease of Judge Bliss, he was created Chief Justice.
He died at Fredericton in 1834, aged eighty; having spent
sixty years of his life in the civil and military service of the
British crown. He possessed two estates in Virginia, both of
which were confiscated. His widow, Ariana- Margaretta
Jerkyl, died at Fredericton in 1845, in her seventy-eighth
year. His daughter Eliza, wife of Adjutant Flood, of the
seventy-fourth regiment, British army, died at the same place
in 1821, aged twenty-six. His only son, — who bears the
name of the commander of the Rangers, — John Simcoe, has
held the offices of Advocate General ; Justice of a Court of
Judicature ; member of the Council ; and is the present Secre
tary of New Brunswick.
SAUNDERS, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
SAVAGE, ABRAHAM. Tax-gatherer, of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774. He went to Halifax in 1776, and was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
SAVAGE, ARTHUR. Of Boston. An auctioneer. In 1757 his
place of business was on the north side of the town dock. In
1755 he was appointed Comptroller of the Customs at Fal-
mouth, and removed to that town. After the people began to
resist the officers of the revenue, he was often absent, when he
confided the duties of his station to Thomas Child, the only
Whig officer of the Customs at Falmouth. In 1771 he was
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 595
mobbed, and soon after returned to Boston. At the time of
this outrage, the collector was absent in England. Mr. Savage,
as filling his place, had ordered the revenue cutter of the
crown to seize a vessel of Mr. Tyng's, for a violation of the
revenue laws, which was probably the cause of the proceed
ing. The comptroller was proscribed and banished by the
act of 1778. He had abandoned the country two years previ
ously, having accompanied the British army at the evacuation
of Boston, and embarked at Halifax for England in the ship
Aston Hall, July, 1776.
SAVAGE, EDWARD. A Judge of the Supreme Court of South
Carolina. He was permitted to leave the country.
SAVAGE, JEREMIAH. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished,
and in 1 782 his property was confiscated.
SAXTON, JOHN. An ensign in the Royal Garrison Battalion.
SAYLOR, DAVID. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
SAYRE, JAMES. An Episcopal minister, of Connecticut. I
suppose that he was chaplain of one of De Lancey's Battal
ions, and that he abandoned the situation in 1777, " impelled
by distress, severity of treatment, and of duty." He was in
New Brunswick after the Revolution, and was a grantee of
the city of St. John ; but returned to the United States.
SAYRE, JOHN. An Episcopal minister, at Fairfield, Con
necticut. He was employed, and stationed at Fairfield,
by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in For
eign Parts, several years before the Revolution. When
Try on, in 1779, appeared in force to bum that town, Mr.
Sayre's well known attachment to the crown, and the sacri
fices which he had made in behalf of the royal cause, gave
him some influence with the incendiary Governor, which,
at first, was exerted to prevent indiscriminate conflagration.
But, before the dreadful deed was fully consummated, his con
duct caused so much indignation among the people, that, with
his family, he was compelled to quit the town, and embark
596 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
with Tryon. Mr. Sayre seems to have been involved in this
calamity equally with the Whigs, and to have lost nearly all
his property at Fan-field. The church building, in which he
officiated, was consumed. He fled to Flushing, New York.
In 1781 he was in the city of New York. He was still there
in July, 1783, when he was a petitioner for a grant of lands in
Nova Scotia, and one of the fifty-five. See Abijah Willard.
He arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, during the last-
mentioned year, and was a grantee of that city. He was
appointed by Lord Dorchester one of the agents of government
to locate the lands granted to the Loyalists who settled in New
Brunswick. Mr. Sayre continued in the Colony for the re
mainder of his life, and died at Maugerville, on the river
St. John. The following letter, which was addressed to the
society above named, towards the close of the year 1779, is
of interest. Some allowance, of course, is to be made for his
excited state of feeling, as it will be seen that he had but just
passed through the conflagration at Fairneld, and, as he states,
had been " left with a family, consisting of a wife and eight
children, destitute of food, house, and raiment."
" The circumstances of the Fairfield mission, when I first
went to it, are already known to the Society ; and since I
wrote to them, the congregations have been so far from dimin
ishing, that they have considerably increased, not only in
numbers, but also in attachment to the church ; notwithstand
ing the many oppositions to religion and loyalty which have
happened since. And I have great reason to think, that many
who did not actually join us, were prevented merely by their
apprehensions of a participation in our persecutions, for which,
it, seems, their minds were not yet sufficiently prepared. And
I believe, that if it shall please the Lord to restore the consti
tutional government to Connecticut, the church will greatly
increase in that province. The people of the parish of North-
Fairfield erected galleries in their church shortly after they
came under my care ; and even with that addition, it soon be
came incapable of accommodating the congregation. They
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 597
intended to have finished it completely, but were discouraged
by the many abuses which their church shared in common
with the other churches in the mission. Shooting bullets
through them, breaking the windows, stripping off the hang
ings, carrying off the leads (even such as were essential to the
preservation of the building), and the most beastly defile
ments, make but a part of the insults which were offered to
them. Add to this, that my people in general have been
greatly oppressed, merely on account of their attachment to
their church and king. Their persons have been frequently
abused, many of them have been imprisoned on the most
frivolous pretences, and their imprisonment aggravated with
many circumstances of cruelty. They have been heavily
fined, for refusing to rise in arms against their sovereign, and
their legal constitution ; and many, thinking their situation
intolerable at home, have, by flight, sought relief in the king's
protection, at the peril of their lives, suffering all the pungent
feelings and reflections which must attend a separation from
their families under such circumstances ; and not a few, im
patient of so miserable a servitude, and stimulated by repeated
injuries, have entered into the service, that they might con
tribute their aid for the recovery of the king's rights, and their
own liberties. All these things they have endured, with a pa
tience and fortitude indicative of the power of religion, and
the steadfastness of their virtue in the face of an opposition
very violent and formidable.
" The loss of all my books and papers, puts it out of my
power to transmit an exact account of the marriages, funerals,
and baptisms, since the first year of my residence in Fan-field,
but I think they have not greatly altered since that time.
There has been, however, a considerable augmentation in the
number of communicants. I think on my first going to Fair-
field they did not exceed forty. Some time ago they were
considerably more than a hundred ; but lately, I believe, some
thing less, owing to refugees, hinted at above. The present
confusions commenced shortly after my removal from the mis
sion of Newburgh to Fairfield ; and foreseeing the calamities
598 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
which have befallen my people, I freely relinquished the rates
due to me from them by the laws of that province, and in
formed them that I should expect only a bare subsistence for
my family during the troubles — towards which the Society's
bounty and my medical employment also contributed — at the
same time assuring them that I desired only whatsoever they
were respectively able, and quite willing to give ; and (I will
say it to their honor) my people did not forsake or neglect me
in my most threatening situations, even when their very per
sonal safety seemed to require a very different kind of conduct.
Nothing but an opinion that it would be expected of me, could
have induced me to trouble the Society with my personal con
cerns. I shall therefore take but little of their time with it.
"For some time after I went to live at Fairfield, I lived in
tolerable quiet, owing to the indecisive measures of that period,
though always known to disapprove the public conduct, and
strangely suspected of endeavoring to counteract it. But this
repose was soon interrupted by a public order for disarming the
loyalists. Upon this occasion my house was beset by more
than two hundred horsemen, whose design was to demand my
arms ; but they were, for that time, diverted from their purpose
by the violent agitation they saw the terror of their appearance
had thrown my wife into ; and which, considering her being
sick, and in the latter stages of pregnancy, was indeed enough
to awaken some degree of humanity, even in their breasts.
After this, I was confined for some days to my house and gar
den, by order of the person who commanded the militia of the
town ; for which time I was pointed out by the leaders of the
people as an object of their hatred and detestation, and very
few of my neighbors (who were chiefly dissenters) would hold
any kind of society with me, or even with my family ; and my
sons were frequently insulted, and personally abused for carry
ing provision to the jail from my house, when some of my
parishioners were confined therein, as well as on other occa
sions. After this, 1 was advertised as an enemy to my country,
(by an order of the committee) for refusing to sign an associa
tion, which obliged its subscribers to oppose the king with life
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 599
and fortune, and to withdraw all offices of even justice, hu
manity, and charity, from every recusant. In consequence of
this advertisement, all persons were forbidden to hold any kind
of correspondence, or to have any manner of dealing with me,
on pain of bringing themselves under the same predicament.
This order was posted in every store, mill, mechanical shop,
and public house, in the county, and was repeatedly published
in the newspapers ; but through the goodness of the Lord we
wanted for nothing, our people, under cover of the night, and,
as it were, by stealth, supplying us with plenty of the comforts
and necessaries of life. These measures proving insufficient
to shake my attachment to his majesty's person and govern
ment, I was at length banished (upon the false and malicious
pretence of my being an enemy to the good of my country)
to a place called New Britain, in Farmington, about sixty or
seventy miles from Fairfield, where I was entirely unknown,
except to one poor man, the inhabitants differing from me both
in religious and political principles ; however, the family in
which I lived showed me such marks of kindness as they could,
and I was treated with civility by the neighbors.
" In this exile I remained about seven months, after which I
was permitted to return home, to be confined to the parish of
Fairfield, which is about four miles in diameter, my people
having given security in large sums that I should not trans
gress that limitation, and in that situation I remained about
eighteen months. After this, my bounds were made co-extensive
with those of Fairfield county, which was a great satisfaction
to me, as it allowed me to visit the congregations of North-
Fairfield and Stratfield, who had been so long deprived of my
ministry ; and so I remained, (officiating two Sundays of four
at Fairfield, dividing the other two equally between the two
other parishes,) until I came away. We did not use any part
of the liturgy lately, for I could not make it agreeable, either
to my inclination or conscience, to mutilate it, especially in so
material a part as that is, wherein our duties as subjects are
recognized. We met at the usual hours every Sunday, read
parts of the Old and New Testaments and some psalms. All
600 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
these were selected in such a manner as to convey such in
structions and sentiments as were suited to our situation. We
sung psalms with the same view. On the Sunday mornings I
read the homilies in their course, and on the afternoons I ex
pounded either parts of the catechism, or some other passages
of holy scripture, as seemed adapted to our case in particular,
or to the public calamities in general. By this method we
enjoyed one of the two general designs of public religious
meetings — I mean public instruction ; the other, to wit. public
worship, it is easy to believe was inadmissible in our circum
stances, without taking such liberties with the service as I
confess I should blame even a superior in the church for as
suming. Resolved to adhere to those principles and public
professions which, upon very mature deliberation and clear
conviction, I had adopted and made, I yielded not a tittle to
those who opposed them, and had determined to remain with
my people to see the end, but was compelled to alter this reso
lution by that sudden vicissitude which I must now, with
painful reflection, relate to the Society. fcOn the seventh day of
July last, Major-General Tryon landed at Fairfield with a
body of his majesty's troops, and took possession of the town
and its environs, the greater part of the inhabitants having
tackled their teams and removed what they could on his
approach. This cut off all hope from the few loyalists of
saving any part of their effects if the town should be burnt,
every carriage being taken away. The General was so kind,
however, as to order me a guard to protect my house and some
others in its vicinity, when he had resolved to commit the rest
of the town to the flames ; for, as I have already hinted, I had
determined to remain at home. But the ungovernable flames
soon extended to them all, and in a few minutes left me with a
family, consisting of my wife, and eight children, destitute of
food, house, and raiment. Thus reduced, I could not think of
remaining in a place where it would have been impossible to
have clothed and re-furnished my family ; therefore, availing
myself of the protection offered by the present opportunity, I
retired with them within the king's lines. As it was impossible
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 601
(through want of carriages) to save anything out of the house,
the valuable little library given by the Society was burnt,
together with my own ; and the plate belonging to Trinity
Church, at Fairfield, was lost, as well as that of my family,
and the handsome church itself was entirely consumed. The
people of that mission have met with a heavy stroke in the loss
of their church, parsonage-house, plate, books, &c., not to
mention myself, their unworthy minister. My loss includes
my little all ; but what I most regret is my absence from my
flock, to which my heart was, and still is, most tenderly at
tached. I trust, however, that the Great Shepherd will keep
them in his own tuition and care. I bless the Lord for that,
through all my trials, I have endeavored to keep a conscience
void of offence towards God and towards men ; continually
striving to discharge my duties to my Master, my king, and
my people ; and am bound to thank the Lord daily for that
divine protection, that tranquillity of mind, and that peace of
conscience, which, through his grace, I have all along enjoyed.
Be assured, however, that I am nevertheless, Reverend Sir,
your affectionate brother,
"JOHN SAYRE."
SAYRE, JOHN, Junior. Son of John Sayre. Went to St.
John at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
In 1801 he was a merchant, and concerned in shipping.
SCAMMEL, THOMAS. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, in 1776.
SCHENCK, JOHN, MARTIN, Junior, MARTIN, ABRAHAM, and PETER.
Of Queen's County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance.
October, 1776. The house of Martin Schenck was twice
robbed during the war. The first time the robbers threatened
to strangle him unless he gave up his money. The second
time he received a blow with a musket which disabled one of
his arms.
SCHUREMAN, JACOB. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains, April, 1775, against Whig Con
gresses and Committees.
51
602 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SCHURMAN, PHILIP. Of New Rochelle, New York. Son of
Frederick Schurman of that town. Settled in New Bruns
wick in 1783, and died at St. John in 1822, aged sixty-nine.
He has descendants in that city.
SCHUYLER, HON-YOST. A most singular being. He was
coarse and ignorant, and was regarded as half an idiot, but
yet possessed no small share of shrewdness. He partially
attached himself to the royal cause, but like the Cow-Boys,
cared but little, it is supposed, which party he served or
plundered. He was, however, captured by the Whigs, tried
for his life, found guilty, and condemned to death. His
mother, who it is said, was a sort of gypsy, came to camp
and plead with great eloquence and pathos that he might be
spared. Denied at first, she became almost frantic with grief
and passion. But it was at length agreed, that if Hon-Yost
would proceed to Fort Schuyler, and so alarm the British com
mander as to induce him to raise the siege of that post and
fly, he — the convict-traitor — should not die. Before Hon-
Yost departed, several shots were fired though his clothes,
that it might appear how narrow had been his escape from the
rebel forces approaching to relieve their friends. Such was
his address, that he fairly deceived the British officer, who
fled with the utmost haste — the retreat, indeed, was disorder
ly to the last degree. Hon-Yost, subsequently, joined Sir John
Johnson, and was known as an out-and-out Tory. After the
war he returned to his old home in the valley of the Mohawk,
where he continued to live for the remainder of his days. He
died about the year 1818. It is said that General Herkimer, a
distinguished Whig, was his uncle.
SCOBY, WILLIAM. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
SCOPHOL, . Of Georgia, or South Carolina. He is said
to have been an " illiterate, stupid, and noisy blockhead," but
stupid though he was, he gave the Whigs no inconsiderable
trouble. In honor of him a band of Loyalists took the name
of Scopholites. Scophol was a colonel of militia.
SCOTT, JAMES. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 603
York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration of loyalty. James
Scott, a Loyalist, died at St. John, New Brunswick, 1804,
aged fifty-six.
SCOTT, JOHN. Of South Carolina. Son of Jonathan Scott.
A Congratulator of Cornwallis on his success at Camden in
1780. In 1782 his estate was confiscated, and he was ban
ished.
SCOTT, JOHN. A warrant officer in the King's New Bruns
wick Regiment. Died at St. John previous to July, 1803.
SCOTT, JONATHAN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
SCOTT, JOSEPH. Of Boston. In May, 1774, he was an Ad
dresser of Hutchinson, and having in September of that year
sold some warlike stores to General Gage, he fell into the hands
of the people. There was much disturbance, and one account
states, that the Selectmen and Committee of Correspondence
of Boston, told him, that for the act " he deserved immediate
death," but the Committee in their version of the affair, would
not appear to convey this impression. They however aver,
that a guard was offered Mr. Scott by General Gage, but that
"he was informed no military guard could save him, and
would but stimulate the people to greater acts of violence."
Mr. Scott was fortunate enough to escape personal harm,
though his warehouse was injured. He seems to have re
mained at Boston, as in October, 1775, he was an Addresser of
Gage. But at the evacuation in 1776 he accompanied the
royal army to Halifax, and in 1778 was proscribed and ban
ished.
SCOVIL, DANIEL. Settled in St. John, New Brunswick, and
became a merchant. He died there in 1822.
SCOVIL, EZRA. Settled in New Brunswick, and was an
Alderman of the city of St. John. He went to Nova Scotia,
and died at Granville in 1825, aged seventy-three.
SCOVIL, JAMES. An Episcopal minister, of Connecticut.
Like Cooke, Andrews, Clarke, and Arnold, who were all
clergymen of his communion in that State, he settled in New
Brunswick after the Revolution. Mr. Scovil resumed his
604 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
i
clerical duties in King's County, and died there. His widow
died in the same County in 1832, aged ninety. His son, the
Reverend Elias Scovil, Rector of Kingston, forty years in the
service of the Society for Propagating the Gospel, and one of
its oldest missionaries, died at that place in 1841, at the
age of seventy.
SCRIBNER. Of Connecticut. Five, of the name of Norwalk, set
tled in New Brunswick in 1783, namely, Hezekiah, who, with
his wife, Elias, who, with his wife and five children, and Thad-
deus, arrived at St. John in the ship Union, one of the spring
fleet ; Joseph, who was a grantee of St. John, and Thomas.
The first died in that city in 1820, aged sixty-one ; and the
last in 1837, at the age of seventy-seven.
SEABROOKE, JOSEPH. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent. There is some evidence that at
the outset he was considered a Whig.
SEABROOKE, JOSEPH, Junior. Of South Carolina. He was
in office under the crown after the surrender of Charleston.
His property was confiscated.
SEABURY, DANIEL. A petitioner for lands in Nova Scotia,
July, 1783. See Abijah Willard.
SEABURY, SAMUEL, D. D. The first bishop of the Episcopal
Church in the United States. He was the son of the Reverend
Samuel Seabury, who was a Congregational minister at
Groton, and subsequently the first Episcopal minister of New
London. He was born at New London in 1728, and gradu
ated at Yale College in 1751. Soon after completing his
collegiate education, he went to Scotland for the purpose of
studying medicine, but changed his purpose and devoted his
attention to theology. In 1753 he took orders in London, and
returning to his native country, was settled at New Brunswick,
New Jersey. After the death of Mr. Colgan, Sir Charles
Hardy, Governor of New York, introduced him as clergyman
f the Episcopal Church at Jamaica, Long Island, where he
remained from 1756 to 1766. Near the close of the latter
year he removed to Westchester, and continued there until the
commencement of hostilities. In April, 1775, a large number
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 605
of Loyalists assembled at White Plains, and adopted the fol
lowing Protest. Mr. Seabury's name is the third affixed to it;
that of the Reverend Luke Babcock, another Episcopalian
minister, is the fourth. " We, the subscribers, freeholders,
and inhabitants of the County of Westchester, having assem
bled at the White Plains in consequence of certain advertise
ments, do now declare, that we met here to declare our honest
abhorrence of all unlawful Congresses and Committees, and
that we are determined, at the hazard of our lives and
properties, to support the King and Constitution; and that
we acknowledge no Representatives but the General Assem
bly, to whose wisdom and integrity we submit the guar
dianship of our rights, liberties, and privileges." Mr. Sea-
bury went into New York after the Revolution opened, and
at one time was chaplain of the King's American Regi
ment, commanded by Colonel Fanning. At the peace he set
tled at New London. In 1784 he went to England to obtain
consecration as a bishop, but objections arising there, he was
consecrated in Scotland, on the 14th of November of that
year, by three non-juring bishops. For the remainder of his
life, he presided over the diocess of Connecticut and Rhode
Island. His duties were discharged in an exemplary manner.
He died February 25, 1796, aged sixty-eight years. Two
volumes of his sermons were published before his decease, and
one volume in 1798. A sermon founded on St. Peter's exhor
tation, to fear God and honor the King, delivered before the
Provincial or Loyalist troops, was printed during the war, by
direction of Governor Try on.
SEAMAN, BENJAMIN. Of New York. His property was con
fiscated. In 1774, this gentleman seems to have been mode
rate in his course, and perhaps favored the popular movements.
Such inference I draw from a communication to the Com
mittee of Correspondence of Connecticut, which bears his sig
nature, and in which it is said, that " at this alarming juncture,
a general congress of deputies from the several Colonies, would
be a very expedient and salutary measure," &c. In July,
1783, he announced his intention to remove to Nova Scotia,
606 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and was one of the fifty-five petitioners for grants of lands in
that Colony. See Abijah Willard.
SEAMAN, RICHARD. Settled in New Brunswick after the war.
He was an alderman of St. John, and treasurer of the Colony.
SEA.MAN. Twelve, of Queen's County, New York, acknowl
edged allegiance, in a Representation and Petition to Lord
Richard and General William Howe, October, 1776. To wit:
Israel, Ambrose, Abraham, Samuel, Isaac, Thomas, Jonathan,
Thomas, Obadiah, Thomas Cooper, Solomon, and Jacob.
SEAMAN, URIAH. Of Queen's County, New York. Was in
arms against the whigs in 1780.
SEAMAN, WILLIAM and JOHN. Of Duchess County, New York.
Were grantees of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783. And
Hicks Seaman (residence unknown, but probably New York),
who went to that Colony at the peace, died at Sheffield, in
1841, aged eighty-four.
SEARS, THATCHER. Of Connecticut. He was descended from
the Reverend Peter Thatcher, of Boston, and was the second
son of Nathaniel Sears, of Norwalk, Connecticut. The noted
Whig, King Sears, as he was called, of New York, was his
father's brother. In early life, Mr. Sears was much employed
in the Mohawk country, under the patronage of Sir John
Johnson, in the purchase of furs. His pecuniary affairs were
very considerably injured by the burning of Norwalk, and
were otherwise deranged, in consequence of his adherence to
the side of the crown. He was finally forced to leave home,
when he sought refuge with the royal army at New York.
He had become poor, and was compelled to live in retirement.
In 1783, he removed to St. John, New Brunswick, and re
ceived the grant of a city lot in King Street, which is now
valuable, and owned by his descendants. Upon this lot he
erected a dwelling. " With a sorrowful and heavy heart," he
said, "I commenced the task of cutting down and hewing the
timber for the building, which was to shelter, and be the abode,
of myself and family, in our exile in the wilderness." He died
at St. John in 1819, aged sixty-seven. He was twice mar
ried. His first wife was a daughter of Henry Smith, Esquire,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 607
of Huntingdon, Long Island, New York, and died in 1803.
His second child, Ann, who was born shortly after his arrival
at St. John, was the first native of that city. He reared a
large family of children ; but Edward, Robert, John, Elisa
beth, and Sarah, are the only survivors. Mr. Sears was the
only Loyalist of his family. His estate at Norwalk is now
owned by gentlemen of the name of Church.
SEATON, ROBERT EGLINTON. Ensign of infantry in the Brit
ish Legion.
SECORD, ISRAEL and BENJAMIN. Of Westchester County, New
York. Were Protesters.
SECORD, JOHN. Of Pennsylvania. He was " a bold, bad
man," and joined the enemy, after having acted as a spy upon
the Whigs in the vicinity of Wyoming.
SEEKLES, DANIEL. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
1783.
SEEKLES, DANIEL, Junior. One of the grantees of St John,
New Brunswick, 1783.
SEELYE, or SEELY, NEHEMIAH, and NEHEMIAH, Junior. Of Con
necticut. Were members of the Reading Association. Seth,
and Seth junior, of Stamford, arrived at St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783, the former accompanied by his wife and seven
children younger than Seth junior. Ebenezer and Stewart,
others of the name, and natives of Connecticut, settled in New
Brunswick ; the former died at Carlton in 1833, aged eighty-
eight, the latter at St. George, in 1838, at an old age.
SEGEE, JOHN. Died at New Maryland, New Brunswick, in
1835.
SELBY, JOHN. Clerk of the Customs. Embarked at Boston
for Halifax with the British army, 1776.
SELICK, NOAH. An ensign in De Lancey's Third Battalion.
SELKRIG, JAMES. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. He went to Hali
fax in 1776. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished.
SELKRIG, THOMAS. Merchant, of Boston. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
SEMPLE, JOHN. Merchant; of Boston. An Addresser of Hutch-
608 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
inson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775 ; was proscribed and ban
ished in 1778.
SEMPLE, ROBERT. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Gage in 1775. He went to Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
SERGEANT, JOHN. Embarked at Boston with the British army
for Halifax, 1776.
SERVANIER, JAMES. In 1782 he was lieutenant in the Third
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He settled in New Bruns
wick, and received half-pay. He died at St. John in 1803.
SERVICE, ROBERT. Trader, of Boston. He went to Halifax
in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
SERVICE, • . Of New York. He lived in the vicinity of
Scoharie, and his house was a place of resort for Indians and
Tories, and a depot of supplies. His attachment to the king and
his measures was well known ; and in 1778, a party of Whigs
determined to seize him and carry him off. They took him
prisoner, but on being informed that he must accompany them,
he seized an axe and attempted to cut down one of the Whig
officers ; whereupon another officer shot him dead. This
party, while on their way, had dispersed a company of Tories
who intended to reach the dwelling of Service, and pass the
night there.
SESSIONS, DARIUS. Of Rhode Island. He was Deputy Gov
ernor of the Colony, and in April, 1775, in a written paper
dated from the Upper House, entered his written dissent to a bill
of the Assembly, for raising an army of fifteen hundred men.
In June of that year, his official functions had ceased, and the
post of Deputy Governor was filled by the Honorable Nicholas
Cooke, Esquire. Probably he was driven into retirement ; for
the Protest of Wanton, Sessions, Potter, and Wickes, as ap
pears by the Recantation of Potter, gave much uneasiness to
the good people of Rhode Island.
SETON, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was a notary public, and secre
tary to the superintendent of police in the city of New York.
SETON, WILLIAM. An officer in the superintendent depart
ment at New York.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 609
SEWALL, JONATHAN. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1748 ; taught school in Salem till 1756 ;
then studied law with Judge Russell ; and commenced the
practice of law in Charlestown. About the year 1767 he was
appointed Attorney General of Massachusetts. In 1775 he
left the country, went to England, and resided at Bristol. In
1788 he emigrated to New Brunswick, where he held the office
of Judge of Admiralty. He died in that Colony in 1796,
aged sixty-eight. His wife, Esther, who was a Quincy, and
sister of Hancock's wife, died at Montreal, January 21, 1810.
His son Jonathan resided at Quebec, was Chief Justice of
Canada thirty years, and died in 1839, aged seventy-four. His
son Stephen was Solicitor General, and died at Montreal in
1832. Judge Sewall was a man of fine talents and of honora
ble character. He arid John Adams were bosom friends. He
attempted to dissuade Mr. Adams from attending the first Con
tinental Congress; and it was in reply to his arguments, and
as they walked on the Great Hill at Portland, that Adams
used the memorable words: " The die is now cast; I have
now passed the Rubicon ; swim or sink, live or die, survive or
perish with my country is my unalterable determination."
They parted, and met no more until Sewall came to America
in 1788. The one, the high-souled, lion-hearted Adams, had a
country, and a free country ; the eloquent and gifted Sewall
lived and died a Colonist. It is thought that Sewall originally
sympathized with the Whigs, and that he was won over to the
other side by the address of Hutchinson, after some dissatis
faction with the Otises relative to the estate of his uncle, a
deceased Chief Justice of Massachusetts. He is said to have
adhered to the crown at last, — as did thousands of others,—
from a conviction that armed opposition would end in certain
defeat, and utter ruin to the Colonies.
In 1774 he was an Addresser of Hutchinson, and in Septem
ber of that year, his elegant house at Cambridge was attacked
by a mob, and much injured. He fled to Boston for refuge.
His name appears among the proscribed and banished, and
among those whose estates were confiscated. While in Eng-
610 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
land he wrote to his fellow exile Curwen : "The situation of
American Loyalists, I confess, is enough to have provoked
Job's wife, if not Job himself; but still we must be men, phi
losophers, and Christians ; bearing up with patience, resigna
tion, and fortitude, against unavoidable suffering." In McFin-
gal it is asked,
" Who made that wit of water-gruel
A judge of admiralty, Sewall ? "
SEWALL, SAMUEL. Great-grandson of Chief Justice Samuel
Sewall, and son of Henry Sewall, Esquire, of Brookline,
Massachusetts. Was born December 31, 1745, graduated at
Harvard University in 1761, and died at Bristol, England,
May 6, 1811, aged sixty-six years. He was a citizen of Bos
ton, where he practised law. His name occurs among the
barristers and attornies who were addressers of Hutchinson
in 1774, and he was proscribed under the act of 1778. His
estate in Brookline was confiscated. The Sewall family was
long one of the most eminent in New England. Of the Chief
Justice Samuel, it is related, that he received by his wife a
fortune of £30,000. which was paid him in sixpences.
SEYMOUR, JOHN. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member
of the Association.
SHADIN, DANIEL. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains.
SHADWELL, EDMUND. An ensign in the Royal Garrison Bat
talion.
SHANKS, DAVID. An officer of cavalry in the Queen's Ran
gers.
SHANKS, JAMES. A lieutenant in the Prince of Wales Amer
ican Volunteers.
SHANNON, LEONARD. An ensign in the Second Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers.
SHARP, JOHN. One of the grantees of St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783.
SHAW, J^NEAS. An officer of infantry in the Queen's Ran
gers.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 611
SHAW, COLIN. Of North Carolina. His property was con
fiscated in 1 779.
SHAW, JOHN. A lieutenant in the North Carolina Volun
teers.
SHAW, JONATHAN. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 the Council
ordered, that, failing to surrender himself and be tried for
treason, he should stand attainted.
SHAW, MOSES. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city.
SHEAFE, GENERAL, SIR . Though a lad at the commence
ment of the Revolution, and not, therefore, strictly a Loyalist,
a notice of him may not be without interest. He was engaged
in the war of 1812, as a Major General, and in the affair of
Q,ueenstown Heights, took General Scott and his band prison
ers, for which he was created a Baronet. He stated to Gen
eral (then Colonel) Scott the circumstances of his youth, and
why it was that he was in arms against his native land. His
account was (in substance) that in 1775, he was living in
Boston with his widowed mother, with whom Earl Percy
had his quarters ; that his Lordship was very fond of him,
and took him away with a view of providing for him, which
he did, by giving him a military education, and by purchasing
commissions and promotion to as high rank as is allowed by
the rules of the service ; and that the war then existing found
him stationed in Canada. He stated, moreover, that reluctant
to serve against his own countrymen, he had solicited to be
employed elsewhere ; but at that time his request had not been
granted.
SHECK, CHRISTOPHER. Served in the contest; at the peace
retired to New Brunswick, and died at Sussex Vale, 1841,
aged eighty-six.
SHERBROOK, MILES. Of New York. His property was con
fiscated. Like Low, and several others spoken of in this
work, he seems to have been at first inclined to the popular
side, since he was a member of the committee of fifty raised in
that city, to correspond with our sister Colonies. Associated
with him were the illustrious Jay, and the renowned Isaac, or
King Sears.
612 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SHELTON, JEREMIAH. Served during the contest as an officer
in a Loyalist corps, and at its close settled in New Brunswick.
He died at Portland in that Colony in 1819, aged sixty-four.
He received half-pay.
SHERLOCK, JOHN. Of Accomac County, Yirginia. The
Whig Committee denounced him in 1775, for his defection from
the popular cause. Several witnesses testified in substance,
that in different conversations Sherlock had said, all who
opposed " the ministerial measures with America were rebels ;
that he should be employed hereafter in hanging them, and
that, if no hemp could be got, he had plenty of flax growing."
The Whigs, subsequently, carried him to the Liberty-pole,
where he made a written recantation, which was published
with the proceedings against him.
SHEPHERD, JOSEPH. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax in 1776.
SHERIDAN, HENRY F. Major of the New York Volunteers,
or Third American Regiment.
SHERMAN, AMBROSE. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Royal Fensible Americans, and surgeon's mate of that corps.
He settled in New Brunswick, and received half-pay. His
wife was a Miss McLane, of Boston. He was drowned at
Burton.
SHERWIN, RICHARD. Saddler, of Boston. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
SHERWOOD, JOHN. Of Connecticut. Was a member of the
Reading Association.
SHERWOOD, ABIJAH, JONATHAN, and JUSTUS. Were grantees of
St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783. The latter died in King's
County, 1836, at the age of eighty-four.
SHIELDS, LUKE, Junior. Pilot, of Delaware. By law, in
1778, his property was to be confiscated, unless he should
surrender himself on or before August 1, of that year, and
abide trial for treason.
SHIEVE, THOMAS. An ensign in De Lancey's Second Bat
talion.
SHIPPEN, EDWARD. Of Philadelphia. Doctor of Laws, and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 613
Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. His elevation to the bench
occurred in 1799, and he held the appointment until 1806, in
which year he died, aged seventy-seven. His daughter Mar
garet married General Benedict Arnold. The family of the
Chief Justice, at the period of the Revolution, was of the high
est respectability, as the descendants still are. Mr. Shippen re
mained in Philadelphia after its evacuation by the royal army.
While it was held by the British troops, he maintained close
intimacy with the officers, and his daughter, the future wife
of Arnold, was by them highly admired and flattered. There
is a story, that the Whig General Greene was Arnold's rival.
SHIPPY, NATHAN. Of Duchess County, New York. Went to
St. John, New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in the spring of
1783.
SHOALS, JOHN. Of Queen's County, New York. In 1776 he
professed himself a loyal and well affected subject to Lord
Richard and General William Howe. In 1779 his name ap
pears at the head of the Addressers of Lieutenant Colonel
Sterling.
SHOEMAKER, SAMUEL. Alderman, of Philadelphia. His estate
was conficated in 1779.
SHOMAKER, RUDOLPH. A magistrate, of Tryon, now Mont
gomery, County, New York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration
of devotion to the crown, and expressed his abhorrence of
Whig measures. It was at his house, I suppose, that Walter
N. Butler and his party were captured in 1777. by a detach
ment of Whigs sent out by Colonel Weston.
SHOTTOWE, THOMAS. Of South Carolina. Was a member
of the Council, and Secretary of the Colony.
SHUTTS, CHR. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
SILKORD, THOMAS. Of Pennsylvania. In 1778 the Council
ordered, that, unless he appeared and took his trial for treason,
he should stand attainted.
SILSBY, DANIEL. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutch inson
in 1774. In 1776 he was in England. In 1778 he was pro
scribed and banished.
52
614 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SIMMONDS, WILLIAM. In 1776 he embarked at Boston with
the British army for Halifax. He may have settled in New-
Brunswick. The son of a Loyalist of Massachusetts remem
bers that a fellow exile of his father's of this name died on
the river St. John about the year 1790.
SIMMONS, CHARLES H. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
SIMMONS, HEZEKIAH. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester.
SIMMONS, ISAAC. Laborer, of Christiana, Delaware. In 1778
he was required to surrender himself within a specified time,
or surfer the loss of his estate.
SIMMONS, SAMUEL. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of the
Declaration against the proceedings of the Whigs, January,
1775.
SIMONS, MAURICE. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
SIMONSON, ABRAHAM. Of Queen's County, New York. Was
in arms against the Whigs.
SIMPSON, JAMES. Attorney General of South Carolina. Went
to England. At the peace he was appointed by the Loyalists
of South Carolina who had suffered losses, agent to prosecute
their claims to compensation. He was in London in 1788.
SIMPSON, JEREMIAH. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax.
SIMPSON, JOHN. He embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, 1776.
SIMPSON, JONATHAN. Of Boston. Graduated at Harvard Uni
versity in 1772 ; was proscribed under the act of 1778. He
was an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage on his
departure in October, 1775. He was commissary of provisions
in the Britfsh service, but returned, and died at Boston, De
cember, 1804, aged eighty-two years.
SIMPSON, ROBERT. An ensign in the North Carolina Volun
teers.
SIMPSON, WILLIAM. Merchant, of Boston. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 615
SIMSON, WILLIAM B. Of Rhode Island. Went to England.
In 1779 he was in London.
SINKER, BENJAMIN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
SKENE, ANDREW P. Of New York. Son of Philip Skene.
His property was confiscated by an act of that State. Early
in the contest he was taken prisoner on Lake Champlain, and
sent to Connecticut, where he was confined.
SKENE, PHILIP. Of New York. At the commencement of
the struggle he held the posts of Lieutenant Governor of Crown
Point and Ticonderoga, and of surveyor of his Majesty's woods
bordering on Lake Champlain ; and had command of a corps
of militia. Previously, he had seen much military service,
having been at Carthagena, Porto Bello, and Flanders, and
with Amherst in Canada, and at the conquest of Martinique
and Havana. He had been often wounded. His residence
was at the southern extremity of Lake Champlain, where he
owned lands. In 1775 he was empowered to raise a regiment.
In June of that year, while at Philadelphia, he was arrested,
and his papers were examined by order of Congress. Mr.
James Lovell, a distinguished Whig of Massachusetts, having
fallen into the enemy's hands at Boston, an exchange was
proposed early in 1776. Some delay occurred in completing
the arrangement, but in October Colonel Skene, who was
then a prisoner at Hartford, was conveyed to a British ship of
war in the Hudson, though it was not known that Mr. Lovell
had arrived from Halifax, or was at liberty. Colonel Skene
was attainted, and his estate was confiscated. He died in
England in 1810.
SKIDMORE. Nathan, John, Whithead, Joseph senior, Walter,
Samuel junior, Samuel, and Joseph, of Queen's County, New
York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
SKINNER, CORTLANDT. Of New Jersey. He was Attorney
General of that Colony at the commencement of the Revolu
tion, arid in the performance of his official duties evinced both
ability and integrity. He accepted service under the crown,
and was authorized to raise a corps of Loyalists, to consist
616
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of t\vo thousand five hundred men. He was allowed to
nominate his own officers. Three battalions were organized
and officered, and called the New Jersey Volunteers. But the
enlistments of common soldiers were slow. After several
months of active exertions, the whole number of men who had
rallied under his standard was but one thousand one hundred
and one. Skinner continued in command of the corps, with
the rank of brigadier general. His daughter Catharine mar
ried William Henry, afterwards Sir William Henry Robinson
of the British army, and son of the senior Colonel Beverley
Robinson. His daughter Gertrude was married to Captain
Meredith, of the seventieth regiment, royal army, at Jamaica,
New York, in July, 1780. He went to England at the peace.
His claim to compensation for his losses as a Loyalist was
difficult to adjust, and caused the commissioners much labor.
SKINNER, CORTLANDT, Junior. Of New Jersey. Son of Cort-
landt Skinner. In 1782 he held a commission in the British
army, as distinguished from the Provincial or Loyalist corps.
SKINNER, JOHN. Of New Jersey. Brother of Cortlandt
Skinner, Junior. During the Revolution he was a midship
man in the British navy, and in an affair with some Whig
batteries on the Hudson river lost an arm. In the latter part
of his life he was a retired lieutenant in the royal navy, and
commanded a steam-packet between Holyhead and Dublin.
Consenting, while engaged in this service, to put to sea in a
violent gale, to gratify others, and much against his own judg
ment, he perished.
SKINNER, FRANCIS. Clerk of the Council, of Massachusetts.
He was at Halifax in July, 1776. In 1778 he was proscribed
and banished.
SKINNER, JOHN. In 1782 he was deputy muster-master-gen
eral of the Loyalist forces.
SKINNER, PHILIP. An ensign in the First Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
SKINNER, STEPHEN. A member of the Council, of New
Jersey. In 1775, (February 8,) he sent the following letter to
the House of Assembly, from which it appears, that he was
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 617
in some pecuniary difficulty on account of his former office
of treasurer.
" Mr. Speaker : — The message of the House, ordering the late
Treasurer to attend this day at ten o'clock, to inquire of him
the deficiency of the Treasury, I have received ; but as I have
the Honor to be one of his Majesty's Council, I can't possibly
attend till such time as I have laid the order before the Coun
cil, which I shall immediately do upon their meeting. As the
order is to inquire concerning the deficiency of the Treasury,
I can assure the House, had I been apprized of their wanting
the public* money, I should have taken care that the whole
should have been in the Treasury for their inspection ; but as
I have amply secured the Treasurer, I shall take care that he
shall have the whole amount of the bond I have given him
within the time appointed for cancelling the public money.
"I am with great respect, &c.
"STEPHEN SKINNER."
He was at New York in July, 1783, and a petitioner for
lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
SKYLER, HENRY. Of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His
estate was confiscated in 1779.
SLAYTER, JOHN. He settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and
was an officer of the Customs there quite fifty years. He died
at Halifax in 1824, aged seventy-seven.
SLIP, JOHN. Settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and died
on Long Island, Queen's County, in that Colony, in 1836, leav
ing numerous descendants.
SLOCUM, EBENEZER. Of Rhode Island. Arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, with his wife and two children, in 1783, in
the ship Union.
SLOCUM, ELEAZER. Of Massachusetts. Arrived at St. John,
New Brunswick, with his wife and one child, in the ship
Union.
SMILER, SAMUEL. A member of the Loyal Artillery. Died at
St. John, New Brunswick, in 1820.
52*
618 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SMITH, CHARLES. Of New York. In 1778, his messenger
was detected with a letter for Brant, when Smith himself
was pursued by a party of Whigs, and slain. His scalp was
taken and sent to General Stark.
SMITH, CLAUDIUS. Of New York. In 1779 he was seized
and put to death, in the County of Orange, by a party of
Whigs. A man, says a writer of the time, "infamous, and a
villain."
SMITH, FREDERICK. Chief Justice of New Jersey. In 1773,
he was appointed, under the great seal of England, one of the
Commissioners to examine into the affair of the burning of
the king's ship, Gaspee, by a party of Rhode Island Whigs,
the previous year. In 1774, in delivering a charge to the
Grand Jury of Essex County, he spoke of the troubles of the
time, and said that the " imaginary tyranny, three thousand
miles distant," was less to be guarded against, than the "real
tyranny at our own doors." The Jury excepted to this course
of remark, and made a spirited and a Whig reply.
SMITH, GEORGE. A physician, of Albany, New York. In
1781, he was actively engaged in fomenting disaffection among
the people of Vermont, and was believed to have had a special
commission for the purpose. I suppose that Chief Justice
Smith was a brother. There is much mystery hanging over
the conduct of Ethan and Ira Allen, and some other Whigs, at
this period ; but sufficient appears to have become known to
warrant the impression, that their intentions were hardly to be
excused.
SMITH, ICHABOD. Was captain lieutenant of De Lancey's Sec
ond Battalion. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783,
and was a grantee of that city; subsequently he was a captain in
the militia, and a magistrate. He died in Maugerville, New
Brunswick, in 1823, aged sixty-seven. He received half-pay.
SMITH, ISAAC. Graduated at Harvard University in 1767,
and was subsequently connected with that institution as a
tutor. He went to England, and was ordained as a clergyman
in 1778, but returned after the Revolution, and resumed his
connexion with the University as librarian. He was after-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 619
wards preceptor of Dummer Academy, at Byfield, Massachu
setts.
SMITH, JACOB. Of New York. A captain in De Lancey's
First Battalion. In 1783, when the corps was disbanded, he
settled in New Brunswick, and received half-pay. He died
on the river St. John, in 1837, aged eighty-eight.
SMITH, JAMES. A captain. After the Revolution, he settled
on the Island of Grand Men an, Province of New Brunswick,
where he died, July, 1836, aged eighty-seven years.
SMITH, JOSHUA H. Of New York. In Arnold's treason, in
1780, he figured prominently, either as a tool or an accomplice ;
and the truth perhaps is, that he was at first the traitor's dupe,
and, before the affair was at an end, his willing associate.
Smith brought Andre on shore, and he and Arnold had their
first interview at his house, — the White House — near Stony
Point. When the plot was complete, and Andre was ready to
return, Smith, for some reason never explained, refused to
carry him on board of the Vulture, but agreed to accompany
him on the way to New York by land, and he did so, to a
point of supposed safety. Before they started, Andre divested
himself of his military coat, and leaving it behind, received
one of Smith's in exchange. Smith was tried by a military
court for his connexion with this affair, but acquitted. He was
however taken into custody by the civil authority of the State,
and committed to jail. After some months' imprisonment, he
made his escape, and, sometimes disguised in a woman's dress,
made his way through the country to New York, where he
was among friends. At the close of the war he went to Eng
land. In 1808, he published in London, An Authentic Nar
rative of the Causes which led to the death of Major Andre.
The book is regarded with no favor by historians. It is be
lieved that he was a brother of Chief Justice William Smith.
SMITH, NATHAN. A physician, of Rhode Island. He en
tered the king's service, and was surgeon of one of the Loyalist
regiments. In 1783 he settled at St. John, New Brunswick,
received half-pay, and continued in that city until his decease.
He died in 1818, aged eighty-one. His son, William Howe
620 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Smith, who was bom in Rhode Island in 1777, died at St. John
in 1822, leaving four sons and two daughters, of whom one
son (1846) survives.
SMITH, RICHARD. Of New York. Son of Claudius Smith.
After the execution of his father, and the death of his brother,
who was shot in an affray, he led a band, who, it is averred,
committed every possible enormity. On one occasion, having
killed John Clark, the following Warning to the Rebels,
was pinned to Clark's coat : — " You are hereby warned, at
your peril, to desist from hanging any more friends to govern
ment, as you did Claudius Smith. You are warned, likewise,
to use James Smith, James Fluelling, and William Cole, well,
and ease them of their irons, for we are determined to hang
six for one, for the blood of the innocent cries aloud for ven
geance. Your noted friend, Captain Williams, and his crew
of robbers and murderers, we have got in our power, and the
blood of Claudius Smith shall be repaid. There are particu
lar companies of us that belong to Colonel Butler's army,
Indians as well as white men, and particularly numbers from
New York, that are resolved to be avenged on you for your
cruelty and murder. We are to remind you, that you are the
beginners and aggressors, for by your cruel oppressions and
bloody actions, you drive us to it. This is the first, and we
are determined to pursue it on your heads and leaders to the
last — till the whole of you are murdered" Such are the hor
rors of civil war !
SMITH, RUFUS. Of New York. Went to New Brunswick
a year after the first emigration, in 1784. He studied med
icine, established himself as a physician in the County of
Westmoreland, and was several times elected a member of the
House of Assembly. He died in Westmoreland in 1844. He
was in the practice of physic upwards of fifty years.
SMITH, THOMAS. An officer of the privateer Adventure. He
was captured, and sent to Simsbury Mines, Connecticut, whence
he made his escape, and published an account of the treat
ment which he received from the Whigs while in their power.
Ebenezer Hathaway, of whom there is a notice in these pages,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 621
was his companion in prison, and joined in his statement.
Smith, in an affray with the Rebels, lost a part of his nose.
He settled in New Brunswick, survived Hathaway, and was
an attendant in his last moments, and evinced much feeling in
parting with his old associate.
SMITH, TITUS. A native of Hadley, Massachusetts. He
embraced the views of Robert Sandeman, and became an
Elder in the Sandemanian Church. He went to Halifax, Nova
Scotia, and died there in 1807.
SMITH, WILLIAM. Of New York. He was Chief Justice,
and a member of the Council of the Colony, and considered to
be in office in 1782. His father, the Honorable William Smith,
an eminent lawyer, and Judge of the Supreme Court, died in
1769. William Smith, the subject of this notice, graduated at
Yale College in 1745. It appears, that he was at a loss as to
the side which he should espouse in the controversy which pre
ceded the Revolution, and that he made no choice until late in
the war. It seems, also, that a number of other gentlemen of
wealth and influence, who had wavered like himself, joined
the royal cause about the same time, in 1778. It is be
lieved that, at first, he opposed the claims of the ministry.
However this may be, his final decision excited the remark of
both the Whigs and the Loyalists ; the former indulging their
wit in verse, and calling him the "weathercock," that "could
hardly tell which way to turn ; " and the latter noticing his ad
hesion in their correspondence. He settled in Canada, after
the war, and was Chief Justice of that Colony. He published
a history of New York, which was continued by his son
William. The celebrated Dr. Mitchell, of New York, is said
to have related the following anecdote.
" This eloquent man," alluding to Judge Smith, " having
been an adherent to the royal cause during the Revolution, left
the city of New York in 1783, with the British troops, and
was afterwards rewarded by his sovereign with a high ju
diciary office at Quebec. Judge Smith, although thus removed
from the place of his origin, always contemplated the politics
of his native country with peculiar solicitude. One evening,
622 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
in the year 1789, when Dr. Mitchell was in Quebec, and pass
ing the evening at the Chief Justice's house, the leading sub
ject of conversation was the new Federal Constitution, then
under the consideration of the States, on the recommendation
of the Convention which sat at Philadelphia, in 1787. Mr.
Smith, who had been somewhat indisposed for several days,
retired to his chamber with Mr. Grant, one of the members of
the Legislative Council, at an early hour. In a short time,
Mr. Grant came forth, and invited Dr. Mitchell, in Mr. Smith's
name, to walk from the parlor into Mr. Smith's study, and sit
with them. Mr. Mitchell was conducted to a sofa, and seated
beside the Chief Justice, before whom stood a table, support
ing a large bundle of papers. Mr. Smith resumed the subject
of American politics, and untied his papers. After searching
among them a while, he unfolded a certain one, which he said
was written about the time the colonial commotions grew vio
lent, in 1775, and contained a plan, or system of government,
sketched out by himself then, and which nearly resembled the
Constitution afterwards proposed by the Federal Convention
of the United States. He then read the contents. The piece
was long and elaborate, and written with much beauty and
spirit. ' This, sir,' added he, after finishing it, ' is a copy of a
letter, which I sent to a member of Congress in 1775, who was
an intimate friend of General Washington. You may trace to
this source the sentiments in favor of a more energetic govern
ment for your country, contained in the Commander-in-chief s
circular letters, and from this, there can be no doubt, that the
citizens of all the States derived their leading hints for your
new form of government.' "
SMITH, . The captain of a Tory band. In 1778 he
enlisted a company of Tories in the neighborhood of Catskill,
New York, and while on his way to join Sir John Johnson at
Niagara, was assailed by a Whig force, who shot him dead,
and put his men to flight.
SMITH. Fifty-four, of Queen's County, New York, acknowl
edged allegiance in a Representation and Petition to Lord
Richard and General William Howe, October, 1776. To wit :
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 623
John, Samuel, Thomas junior, George, Cornel, Amos, Peter
junior, Plat, Nathaniel, Peter senior, Samuel junior, Jacob,
Benjamin R.; Joseph, Silas, James, Samuel, Walter, Nathaniel,
Charles, Thomas, W. of Cow Neck, Benjamin, Noah, Nicholas,
Isaac, James, Daniel junior, John, Benjamin junior, Israel,
John, Samuel, John, Richard, John, Daniel, Richard, Isaac,
Zebulon, W. junior, Daniel, Richard, Gershom, W. junior,
Jonathan, William, Timothy, Thomas, Richard, Thomas
Howell, William, John, and Stephen. The Whigs often accused
the Loyalists of placing the names of men of straw on their
addresses to the royal functionaries, and there seems some rea
son to suppose that the same person signed the document repeat
edly ; and the same remark will apply, perhaps, to the Jack-
sons, the Remsens, the Townsends, and others who signed the
Representation and Petition of the Loyalists of Queen's
County. Several persons of the name of Smith, of Jamaica,
affixed their signatures to a Declaration of Loyalty in 1775,
namely, Ludlam, John, Charles, and William. In 1780,
Joseph, Israel, William R., and Barnabas Smith, of Queen's
County, were in arms, and assisted in the capture of the Whig
privateer Revenue.
SMITH. The Loyalists of this name were very numerous.
In addition to the preceding seventy, there were thirty-eight
others who remain to be noticed. These are Alexander Smith,
a blacksmith, of Philadelphia, who, in 1778, was ordered to
surrender himself or stand attainted ; Alexander, of the same
city, and keeper of the New Jersey Ferry, whose estate was
confiscated in 1779 ; and Alexander, of Charleston, South Car
olina, who was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
Of the name of William there seems to have been five ; Wil
liam, of Philadelphia, who in 1777 was sent prisoner to Vir
ginia ; William Drewit, a druggist of that city, who was pro
scribed in 1778; William, of Charleston, South Carolina, an
Addresser of Clinton ; William, of Maryland, who went to
England previous to July, 1779 ; and William, of New York,
who settled in New Brunswick in 1783, and died at Frederic-
ton in 1834, aged eighty-three. In Queen's County, New
624 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
York, there was Thomas, a magistrate, who was an Addresser
of Governor Robertson in 1780; and in New Hampshire,
Thomas, who was proscribed and banished in 1778. Of the
name of James, one was a lieutenant in the King's Rangers;
and another James, who belonged to South Carolina, was in
England in 1779. Of the name of John, four of the five fol
lowing, and perhaps all, were different persons. Thus, John
was paymaster-general of the Loyalist forces, and in 1783 was
at New York, a petitioner for a grant of lands in Nova Scotia ;
John, of Tryon, now Montgomery. County, New York, was a
loyal Declarator ; John, of New Hampshire, was proscribed
and banished ; John, who settled in New Brunswick at the
peace, died in Belville, Upper Canada ; and John, a grantee
of St. John, died in King's County, New Brunswick, in 1843,
aged eighty-four. Besides those mentioned who were in ser
vice, there were Joseph, who was a captain in the King's
Rangers, Carolina; Peter J., a lieutenant in the King's Ameri
can Regiment; Samuel, an officer of infantry in the Queen's
Rangers ; Abraham, a cornet of cavalry in the American
Legion under Arnold ; Nathaniel, surgeon of De Lancey's
First Battalion ; and Stephen, a sergeant in the King's Amer-
can Regiment, who, while stationed on Long Island, New
York, warned all persons not to trust his wife Mary. In
Massachusetts, were Richard, a merchant, of Boston, who was
an Addresser of Hutchinson; and Henry, a merchant of the
same town, who accompanied the royal army to Halifax ;
Joshua, a trader, of Townsend, and Solomon, a boatman, of
Taunton, were severally proscribed and banished ; and Bowen,
son of Honorable Josiah Smith, of Pembroke, who died at
Shediac, Nova Scotia, in 1836. In Pennsylvania, was Andrew,
against whom there was a proclamation of proscription. In
Delaware, was Christian, of Newcastle, who was ordered to
surrender himself, or be attainted. In South Carolina, Nicho
las, of Charleston, an Addresser of Clinton. In Connecticut,
was Daniel, of New Milford, who arrived at St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783, in the ship Union, received a grant of a city
lot, and died in the County of Sunbury in 1834, aged seventy.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 625
Among those whose residence is unknown, were Edward,
who accompanied the royal army from Boston to Halifax in
1776 ; Shubal, who went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee ; Robert, a magistrate, who died in
Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1820, aged sixty-nine ; Rob
ert, a magistrate, who died in Queen's County, New Bruns
wick, in 1829, aged seventy-seven; Elijah, a magistrate, who
deceased in Queen's County in 1833, at the age of seventy-
three ; and Michael, a staunch Loyalist, who died at Wood
stock, New Brunswick, in 1842, aged eighty-five.
SMYTH, ALEXANDER. Adjutant of the King's Rangers. He
was at the Island of St. John, Gulf of St. Lawrence, before
the close of 1782, where he had settled, or thought of settling,
and where he invited his countrymen and fellow sufferers to
follow him.
SMYTH, JAMES. Of South Carolina. Was in commission of
the crown after the capitulation of Charleston in 1780. Estate
confiscated.
SMYTH, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, and a Petitioner to be
armed on the side of the crown. He was banished in 1782,
and his property confiscated. Early in the controversy he may
have been a Whig, as in 1774 he was a member of the Com
mittee of Correspondence.
SNEAD, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Address
er of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
SNEDEKER. Abraham, Barnt, Christian, W., Gorce, John,
Albert, and Johannes, of Queen's County, New York, acknow
ledged allegiance, October, 1776. Abraham, Johannes, and
John, had signed a Declaration of Loyalty the year before.
Rem Snedeker, of that County, had signed the same.
SNEDEN, ROBERT. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783.
SNELLING, JONATHAN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutch-
inson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. In 1776 he went to Hali
fax. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. A person of
this name died at Halifax in 1809, aged fifty-one.
53
626 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SNODGRASS, NEAL. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
SNODGRASS, NIEL. Of North Carolina. Went to England.
He was an Addresser of the king, July, 1779.
SNOW, ELISHA. A minister, of Thomaston, Maine. He
was professedly a friend, but really a traitor to General Peleg
Wadsworth, (the father of Captain Alexander S. Wadsworth,
of the United States Navy), who commanded the eastern dis
trict in 1780. When, in that year, another adherent of the
crown betrayed the condition of the General to the British
commander at Castine, the party dispatched from that place to
make him prisoner were concealed at Snow's house until a
late hour of the night, and departed thence to complete their
enterprise, in which they were successful.
SNOWDEN, RANDOLPH. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
SNYDER, WILLIAM. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
SORRELL, WILLIAM. An ensign in the Third Battalion of
New Jersey Yolunteers, and quartermaster of the corps.
SOUTHARD, JAMES, and ABEL. Of Queen's County, New
York. Assisted in the capture of the Whig privateer Revenue
in 1780. Abel was wounded.
SOWER, CHRISTOPHER, Senior. Of Germantown, Pennsyl
vania. His estate was confiscated in 1779.
SOWER, CHRISTOPHER, Junior. Received a good education,
and was ordained minister over a society of German Bap
tists ; but having also been taught the art of printing, suc
ceeded to his father's business as a printer and bookseller, at
Germantown, Pennsylvania, about the year 1744. For a con
siderable period his was the most extensive concern for print
ing and binding books in America. The Revolution broke up
his establishment ; arid the part he took in it, caused the con
fiscation of his estate. When the British entered Philadel
phia, he joined them, and remained in the city while they pos
sessed it. Among his property which was forfeited, was a
part of an edition of the Bible unbound and in sheets, of which
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 627
some copies were made into cartridges, and thus used for the
destruction of men's bodies, rather than for the salvation of
their souls. Sower was esteemed a man of integrity and
merit. His losses by the battle of Germantown, and other
wise, were estimated at thirty thousand dollars. He died near
Philadelphia, quite aged, in August, 1784.
SOWER, CHRISTOPHER, the 3d. Was a printer, of German-
town, Pennsylvania, and for a short time was connected with
his father. He sought royal protection, and retired from the
United States with the British troops. After the conclusion of
the war, he settled in New Brunswick, and published the
Royal Gazette, at the city of St. John. In 1792 he was deputy
postmaster-general of the Colony. His health becoming im
paired, he left New Brunswick in 1799 ; and died at Baltimore
in July of that year.
SPARHAWK, ANDREW. Of Kittery, Maine. Brother of Sam
uel Hirst Sparhawk. He went to England, and died there
in 1783. His wife, who accompanied him, died previ
ously.
SPARHAWK, SAMUEL HIRST. Of Kittery, Maine. He gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1771. He was in Boston in
1774 and 1775, and was an Addresser of both Hutchinson and
Gage. Subsequently he went to England. The second Sir
William Pepperell was his brother.
SPEARS, ROBERT. Quartermaster of the Royal Fensible Amer
icans.
SPENCE, JAMES. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783.
SPENCE, PETER. A physician, of South Carolina. Estate con
fiscated.
SPENCE, WILLIAM. Went to New Brunswick in 1783, in cir
cumstances of great poverty and destitution ; but accumulated
a large estate. He died at Hampton, New Brunswick, in 1821,
at the age of seventy-four.
SPENCER, BENJAMIN. A magistrate. In 1775 he was mobbed,
and his person injured. His residence was in the New Hamp
shire Grants, now the State of Vermont.
628 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SPENCER, GEORGE. An officer of cavalry in the Queen's
Rangers.
SPERGEN, WILLIAM. Of North Carolina. His property was
confiscated in 1779.
SPIERS, JOHN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city. He died there in 1820,
aged seventy-three.
SPINK, N. Of Rhode Island. He left the State during the
war, and joined the enemy ; but returning, was, by act of May,
1783, ordered and required to quit it.
SPOONER, EBENEZER. Embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax in 1776.
SPOONER, GAPHINEAH. A magistrate, of New York. In April,
1782, he signed an Address to the British Legion, on their
departure from the District of Foster's Meadow and Spring
field, " in behalf of twenty-six most respectable inhabitants,"
and Loyalists of that neighborhood.
SPOONER, GEORGE. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774; was proscribed and banished in 1778.
SPRAGG, CALEB and RICHARD. Were grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick.
SPRAGG, THOMAS. A captain. Went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city. He died
at Springfield, King's County, in 1812, aged eighty-two.
SPRING, MARSHALL. A physician, of Massachusetts. Was born
in Watertown. In 1762 he graduated at Harvard University.
He settled at Waltham, where his practice became extensive.
Though opposed to the Revolution, he was a friend of the ad
ministration of Mr. Jefferson. He left his son a large fortune.
He died in January, 1818, aged seventy-five. His reputation
for medical skill was great, and his wit keen.
SPRINGER, WILLIAM. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
SPRISD, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
SPROULE, THOMAS. Of Long Island, New York. He settled
in New Brunswick, and became surveyor-general of that Col-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 629
ony, and a member of his Majesty's Colonial Council. He
died at Fredericton in 1817, aged seventy-six.
SPROUT, DAVID. Was a commissary of naval prisoners at
New York. It was stated that upwards of eleven thousand
Americans died on board of the prison ships at New York,
and the statement, it is believed, has never been contradicted.
Mr. Sprout returned subequent to the Revolution, and fixed
his residence at Philadelphia, where he died.
SQUARE, RICHARD. Of Lanesborough, Massachusetts. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
SQUEIRS. Of Connecticut. Seth, accompanied by his wife
and six children, and Seth junior, arrived at St. John, New
Brunswick, in the spring of 1783, in the ship Union ; and
Richard was a grantee of that city the same year. They be
longed to Stratford.
STAGEY, RICHARD. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
STACKHOUSE, ROBERT. Died at Carlton3 New Brunswick, in
1831, aged seventy-six.
STACKS, HENRY. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Failing to
surrender himself for trial, it was ordered in Council in 1778,
that he stand attainted.
STAFFORD, WILLIAM. He was surgeon's mate of the Mary
land Loyalists.
STANBURY, JOSEPH. Was largely concerned in the lumber
business. In 1780 he was detected in illicit trade with the
royal forces, and was committed to prison in Philadelphia.
STANLEY, THOMAS. An ensign of infantry in the British Le
gion.
STANSBURY, ADONIJAH. Of Delaware. He became a settler
at Wyoming, where he was soon recognized as a disguised
enemy. In 1777, after the marriage of his daughter to a per
son of opposite political sentiments, who purchased his prop
erty, he retired from the settlement, and from the storm which
his course of conduct had created.
STANTON, BENJAMIN. Of Rhode Island. Went to St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
53*
630 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
He was a member of the Loyal Artillery of St. John, in 1795.
He died in 1823, aged sixty-eight. His son Benjamin was
the first male child of Loyalist parentage born in St. John.
STANTON, GILES. Of Rhode Island. In 1777 he received a
commission as lieutenant in the Loyal Newport Associators.
STAPLETON, SAMUEL. Cornet of cavalry in the British Legion.
STARK, JOHN. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the Guides
and Pioneers.
STARK, WILLIAM. Of New Hampshire. He was an officer in
the French war, and saw much service ; having been engaged in
the capture of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Louisburg, and Que
bec. As the war of the Revolution opened, he applied for the
command of a regiment, but the New Hampshire Assembly
preferred another officer, and he went over to the side of the
crown, and became a colonel in the royal army. He endeav
ored to persuade General John Stark, the victor of Bennington,
who was his brother, to adopt the same course ; but John was
not to be moved. William Stark is represented as a man of
great bravery and hardihood, but as wanting in moral firmness.
He was killed at Long Island, New York, by a fall from his
horse. His name appears in the banishment and proscription
act of New Hampshire, and his estate was also confiscated.
STARR, DAVID. Died at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, in 1828.
STARR, JOSEPH. Died at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, in 1840,
aged eighty-four years.
STAVERS, BARTHOLOMEW. Of New Hampshire. He was pro
scribed and banished.
STEARNS, JONATHAN. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1770. Removing to Nova Scotia with
the British army in 1776, he was appointed Solicitor General
of that Colony in 1797, but died the following year, and was
succeeded by James Stewart. His wife was a daughter of
Thomas Robie, a Loyalist, who is noticed in these pages.
Before leaving the United States, Mr. Stearns was driven from
his residence, and was one of the eighteen country gentlemen
who were Addressers of Gage.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 631
STEDMAN, ALEXANDER. Of Philadelphia. In 1778, the Coun
cil of Pennsylvania ordered, that if he failed to surrender
himself within a certain time, and take his trial for treason,
he should stand attainted.
STELLE, EDWARD. Captain Lieutenant of the Second Bat
talion of New Jersey Volunteers.
STENHOUSE, ALEXANDER. Of Maryland. Went to England.
In 1779 he was in London.
STEPHENS, JOHN. Died in Nova Scotia in 1805.
STEPHENS, SOLOMON. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished. Solomon Stephens, a Loyalist, died at Mus
quash, New Brunswick, 1819, aged sixty-six.
STEPHENS, THOMAS. A captain in the militia of Danbury,
Connecticut. In 1775, he was Moderator of a public meet
ing, called, as appears, on purpose to discountenance the
proceedings of the Whigs of that town, at a previous meet
ing.
STERLING, BENJAMIN F. Embarked at Boston with the Brit
ish army for Halifax, 1776.
STEVENS, BENJAMIN. Of Kittery, Maine. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1740, and was ordained a minister in
1751. At a subsequent period, he received the degree of
Doctor of Divinity. On the death of Doctor Holyoke, Presi
dent of Harvard University, he was thought of as his succes
sor. Hutchinson says, that "the corporation, who were to
elect a" president, "consulted the Boston representatives in
every step. Two of the corporation [Doctor Winthrop, Pro
fessor of Mathematics, and Doctor Cooper, one of the ministers
of Boston], great friends of the popular cause, were succes
sively elected, and declined accepting. The minister of Kittery
would have had the voice of the people, if his political prin
ciples had not been a bar. The want of a concurrence with
other necessary qualifications in the same person, caused the
place to remain vacant longer than usual." Doctor Stevens
died in 1791, aged seventy. Several of his sermons were pub
lished. He sustained an excellent character, and was an able
man.
632 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
STEVENS, ENOS. Of New Hampshire. His estate was con
fiscated, and he was proscribed and banished.
STEVENS, JOHN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city.
STEVENS, PHINEAS. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished.
STEVENS, SHUBAL. Died in King's County, New Brunswick,
1826, aged seventy-four.
STEVENS, WILLIAM. Of Saluda, South Carolina. Held a
royal commission after the capitulation of Charleston, in 1780.
Estate confiscated.
STEVENSON, FRANCIS. An officer of infantry in the Queen's
Rangers.
STEVENSON, WILLIAM. In 17S2 he was a lieutenant in the
Third Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
STEVENSON. . An officer in a band of plunderers.
STEWART, ANDREW. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. Thomas Stewart,
of that city, was also an Addresser.
STEWART, ANTHONY. In July, 1783, he was at New York,
and one of the fifty-five who petitioned for grants of lands in
Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard.
STEWART, DUNCAN. Of Connecticut. Went to England. In
July, 1779, he was in London.
STEWART, ISAAC. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of that city.
STEWART, JAMES. I conclude was a Loyalist. He was an
early settler of St. John, New Brunswick, and survived all the
gentlemen who, with him, in 1785, were appointed to civil
office under the charter of that city. He died at Cheltenham,
England, in 1840, aged seventy-nine years.
STEWART, WILLIAM. He removed to St. Andrew, New Bruns
wick, on the evacuation of Castine by the royal troops, in
1783, where he continued to reside until his decease. For
many years he was a pilot of that port. A large family of
children and grandchildren survived him. His wife died at St.
Andrew's Island, September, 1843, at the age of eighty-four.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 633
STEWART. Besides the preceding, eleven were in service.
Thus :
STEWART, ALEXANDER. Was lieutenant-colonel of the North
Carolina Highland Regiment.
STEWART, ALEXANDER. Brother of William Stewart. A
lieutenant in the King's American Dragoons. After the war
he and William settled in Upper Canada.
STEWART, ANDREW. A captain in the Georgia Loyalists.
STEWART, DONALD. A lieutenant in the North Carolina
Highland Regiment.
STEWART, HUGH. A lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Bat
talion.
STEWART, JAMES. An officer in a corps of Loyalists. Went
to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and was one of the
grantees of that city. He died at Nashwaak, New Brunswick,
in 1837, aged eighty-two, leaving a widow, eight children,
and forty-two grandchildren.
STEWART, JAMES. Chaplain in the King's Rangers, Carolina.
STEWART, JOHN. An ensign in the Maryland Loyalists.
STEWART, NEAL. A lieutenant in the King's Orange Ran
gers.
STEWART, PATRICK. A captain of infantry in the British
Legion.
STEWART, WILLIAM. A captain in the King's American
Dragoons.
STILWELL, DANIEL. An early settler of the Colony of New
Brunswick. He died at Grand Lake, Queen's County, in
1842, at the age of eighty-six years, having resided in New
Brunswick fifty-nine years.
STILWELL, JOHN. Of Tuscarora, Pennsylvania. Failing to
appear and be tried for treason, the Council, in 1778, ordered
that he should stand attainted.
STIMSON, JOHN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
STINSON, JOHN, JOHN Junior, and SAMUEL. Of New Hamp
shire. Were proscribed and banished in 1778. John Stinson, a
Loyalist, was a grantee of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
634 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
STIRLING, JOHN. A lieutenant in the Maryland Loyalists.
STIRLING, JONATHAN. Of Maryland. A captain in the Mary
land Loyalists. He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was one of the grantees of that city. He received
half-pay. He died at St. Mary's, York County, New Bruns
wick, in 1826, aged seventy-six. Ann, his widow, died at the
same place in 1845, at the age of eighty-two.
STIRLING, WILLIAM. Was an ensign in the Maryland Loyalists.
STIVERS, JASPER. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester.
ST. JOHN, NEHEMIAH. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Reading Association.
ST. JOHN, THOMAS. An ensign in the Royal Garrison Bat
talion.
STOBO, JOHN. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1799,
aged thirty-five.
STOCKTON, ANDREW. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the Loyal
Foresters. In 1784 he received the grant of a lot in the city
of St. John, New Brunswick. He died at Sussex Vale. He
enjoyed half-pay.
STOCKTON, RICHARD V. During the Revolution he was a
major in the New Jersey Volunteers, and was taken prisoner.
He went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and was
a grantee of that city. He received half-pay. He died in
New Brunswick. His daughter Phebe Harriet died at Sussex
Vale, in that Colony, in 1821, aged sixty. Major Stockton
was called in the contest, "Stockton, the famous land-pilot "
of the king's troops.
STODDARD, SIMEON, Junior. Of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774.
STODDARD, . A major in the militia of Massachusetts.
When, in 1775, Graves and Jones were committed to North
ampton jail, and placed in close confinement, on a charge of
improper communication with Gage at Boston, a hue and cry
was raised against him, and he fled to New York for safety.
I suppose he belonged to Pittsfield. " Our Tories," says a wri
ter of the time of that town, " are the worst in the Province."
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 635
STOKES, ANTHONY. Chief Justice, of Georgia.
STOKES, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate
was amerced twelve per cent.
STOLLER, MICHAEL. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. In 1775 he signed a Declaration of loyalty.
STOPTON, JOHN. He was banished, and his estate was con
fiscated. In 1794 he represented to the British government in
a memorial dated at London, that at the time of his banish
ment, several large debts were due to him in America, which
he had been unable to recover, and he desired relief. Though
sums of money due to proscribed Loyalists were not included,
(as it was generally admitted), in the confiscation acts, the
courts of some of the States were slow to coerce debtors.
STONE, EBENEZER. Died in Queen's County, New Bruns
wick, in 1836, aged eighty-nine.
STORY, ENOCH. Of Pennsylvania. Went to England. In
1779 he was in London.
STOWE, EDWARD. Mariner, of Boston. He went to Halifax
in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
STOWELL, CORNELIUS. Lieutenant of militia, of Worcester,
Massachusetts. Returning at night, early in 1775, from a
visit to a neighbor, who Avas suspected of desertion from the
popular cause, he was knocked down, and badly bruised and
wounded, because he was known as a true friend to govern
ment, and was supposed to exercise an influence upon the
political course of a neighbor, at whose house he had passed
the evening.
STRAIGHT, WILLIAM. Of Killingsworth, Connecticut. He
was a refiner of iron. In 1783 he arrived at St. John, New
Brunswick, in the ship Union.
STRANG, DANIEL. In 1777 he was taken with a paper in
his possession written by Colonel Robert Rogers, who then
commanded the Queen's Rangers, dated at Valentine's Hill,
30th December, 1776, which authorized him, or any other
gentleman, to bring in recruits for his Majesty's service, and
which pointed out the terms and rewards that were to be
offered to persons who enlisted. When captured, Strang was
636 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
near the Whig camp at Peekskill. " He was tried by a court-
martial, and, making no defence, was condemned to suffer
death, on the charge of holding correspondence with the ene
my, and lurking around the camp as a spy. General Wash
ington approved the sentence."
STRANG, GABRIEL. Was an officer in a corps of Loyalists.
He went to St. John New Brunswick, at the peace, and was
one of the grantees of that city. He settled there, and re
ceived half-pay. He died at St. John in 1826, aged seventy-
one.
STRANGE, LOT, the 3d. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778. He died at or near St. John,
New Brunswick, about the year 1819.
STRICTLAND, JAMES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
STUART, JOHN. An Episcopal minister, of New York.
He lived at or near Warrensburgh. In 1775 he refused to
sign the Whig Association. I suppose this to have been the
gentleman who is mentioned in Mrs. Grant's Memoirs of an
American Lady, under the year 1759, as " a pious missionary
in the Mohawk country, as one who was perfectly calculated
for his austere and uncourtly duties, who was wholly de
voted to them, and who scarce cast a look back to the
world which he had forsaken." He went to Canada.
STUART, JOHN. A native of South Carolina. Was Indian
Agent, and member of his Majesty's Council for most of the
Southern Colonies. The documents of the time show that
Mr. Stuart was an active and formidable opponent of the
Whigs and their measures. In June, 1779, the Committee of
Intelligence of Charleston, addressed to him two letters,
in which they set forth the views entertained of him by the
public, and to which he replied very fully, July 18, of that
year. Mr. Stuart was then at St. Augustine, Florida, to which
place, it appears, he had gone from Charleston, in consequence
of information of a design to seize his person. The Committee
called his quitting South Carolina, a precipitate departure ; but
he answered, that he should "ever consider it a most fortu-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 637
nate escape." They told him that his estate would be consid
ered as a " security for the good behavior of the Indians," to
which remark he rejoined, that it was " disagreeable that his
all should be held by so precarious tenure," and the " holding
of his personal safety and life itself on such terms, would be
more so."
STRUDWICKE, SAMUEL. The secretary, and a member of the
Council, of North Carolina. He was present with Hasell.
Rutherford, Howard, and Cornell, in Council, March 1, 1775,
and conceiving the highest detestation of illegal meetings,
advised Governor Martin to issue a Proclamation to inhibit
and forbid the meeting of the Whig Convention called at New-
bern on the 3d of April following.
STURGIS, EBENEZER. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading. Two others of the
name, of Reading, were members; viz: a second Ebenezer,
and Benjamin.
SULLIVAN, BARTHOLOMEW. Embarked at Boston with the
British army for Halifax, in 1776. George Sullivan did the
same.
SULLIVAN, JOHN. Of Pennsylvania. Went to England. In
1779 he was in London.
SUTHERLAND, ALEXANDER. Was an ensign in the Royal Fen-
sible Americans. He was continued in service after that
corps was disbanded, and received a commission in the British
army.
SUTHERLAND, WILLIAM. In 1782 he was a lieutenant in the
Royal Garrison Battalion, and quartermaster of the corps.
SUTTEN, WILLIAM. A magistrate, of Westchester County.
New York. A Protester.
SUTTER, CHARLES. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
SUTTER, JAMES. Died in New Brunswick in 1817, at the
age of eighty-six.
SUTTON, WILLIAM. A magistrate, of North Hempstead, New
York. A distinguished Loyalist. In 1779 he was seized at
Cow Neck, by a party of Whigs, and carried away prisoner.
54
638
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SUYDAM. Cornelius, Jacob, Farnandus, Jacobus, John, and
Hendrick, of Queen's County, New York, acknowledged
allegiance, October, 1776. John Suydam was an Addresser of
Lieutenant Colonel Sterling, of the Forty-second Regiment,
April, 1779. Some Whigs, taken prisoners, were quartered at
the house of Jacob.
SWANTON, JOHN. An ensign in the Second Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
SWAN WICK, RICHARD. An officer of the Customs, Philadel
phia. His estate was confiscated in 1779.
SWASEY, JOSEPH. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. An Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
SWEET, GEORGE. Of Rhode Island. Went to St. John,
New Brunswick, with his wife and one child, in the ship
Union, in the spring of 1783. He died at Carlton, near that
city, in 1818, aged sixty-nine.
SWIFT, JOSEPH. A captain in the Pennsylvania Loyalists.
SWITZER, PETER. A grantee of a lot in St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
SYMONDSON, JOHN. Entered the military service of the king,
and in 1782 was a lieutenant in the Third Battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers. He settled in New Brunswick, and re
ceived half-pay. He died in that Colony.
TARBELL, HUGH. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year. In
1775 he was an Addresser of Gage.
TARBELL, SAMUEL. A lieutenant in the King's American
Dragoons.
TAYLOR, ARCHIBALD. Of North Carolina. A major of the
Royal Militia of North Carolina. He died at Nassau, New
Providence, in 1816.
TAYLOR, DANIEL. Of New York. In 1777 he was dispatched
by Sir Henry Clinton to Burgoyne, with intelligence of the
capture of Fort Montgomery, and was taken on his way by
the Whigs as a spy. Finding himself in danger, he turned
aside, took a small silver ball or bullet from his pocket and
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 639
swallowed it. The act was seen, and Qerieral George Clinton,
into whose hands he had fallen, ordered a severe dose of
emetic tartar to be administered, which caused him to dis
charge the bullet. On being unscrewed, the silver was found
to contain a letter from the one British General to the other,
which ran as follows.
" Fort Montgomery, Oct. 8, 1777.
"Nous voici — and nothing between us but Gates. I sin
cerely hope this little success of ours may facilitate your
operations. In answer to your letter of 28th of September by
C. C., I shall only say, I cannot presume to order, or even
advise, for reasons obvious. I heartily wish you success.
" Faithfully yours,
" H. CLINTON."
" To General Burgoyne."
Taylor was tried, convicted, arid executed, shortly after his
detection.
TAYLOR, GILHAM. Died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1843,
aged eighty-six.
TAYLOR, JAMES. Died at St. Andrew, New Brunswick,
January, 1835, aged seventy-nine years. He was a native of
Glasgow, Scotland, and emigrated to New York in early life,
and during the Revolution was present on many a hard fought
field. He went to St. Andrew at the peace in 1783, and
built the third house erected in that town, which stood until
within a few months of his decease.
TAYLOR, JAMES. One of the earliest settlers of New Bruns
wick. Died on the river St. John, January, 1834, at the
age of seventy-three. He was a member of the House of
Assembly for some years, for the County of Sunbury. He
left a large family.
TAYLOR, JAMES. Of New York. Settled in New Brunswick
in 1783, and died at Sheffield, in that Colony, in 1841, aged
eighty-six, leaving three sons and four daughters.
TAYLOR, JAMES. A magistrate. Died at Fredericton, New
Brunswick, in 1835, aged seventy-nine.
640 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
TAYLOR, JOHN. Of Boston. Addresser of Hutchinson in
1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same year. In
1775 he was an Addresser of Gage. John Taylor,' Esquire,
died at Boston in 1817, aged seventy-seven.
TAYLOR, JOHN. In 1782 he was a captain in the First Bat
talion of New Jersey Volunteers.
TAYLOR, JOHN. In 1782 he was quartermaster of the
Guides and Pioneers.
TAYLOR, JOHN WARD. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
TAYLOR, JOSEPH. Merchant, of Boston. Was proscribed
and banished in 1778. He went to England. I conclude that
Joseph Taylor, who died at Boston in 1816, at the age of
seventy-one, was the same.
TAYLOR, MATTHEW. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783.
TAYLOR, NATHANIEL. Deputy naval officer, of Boston. An
Addresser of Gage in 1775, went to Halifax in 1776, and was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
TAYLOR, WILLIAM. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser of
Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. He went to Hali
fax in 1776. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished.
A person of this name died at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, in
1810, aged seventy-three.
TELFAIR, ALEXANDER. Of Halifax, North Carolina. In 1779
his property was confiscated.
TELFAIR, HUGH. Of Halifax, North Carolina. His property
was confiscated in 1779.
TEMPLE, ROBERT. Of Massachusetts. In 1775 he took pas
sage at Boston for London, but the vessel in which he em
barked proving leaky, the captain put into Plymouth, Massa
chusetts, to refit. While at Plymouth, in May 31, 1775, Mr.
Temple addressed the following letter to the Committee of
Safety.
" I, Robert Temple, of Ten Hills, near Charlestown, New
England, do declare, that I have received no injury to my
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 641
property, nor have I been under any apprehensions of danger
to either my person or property from the troops that are under
the command of General Ward ; but it is a fact, that I have
been so threatened, searched for, attacked by the name of
Tory, an enemy to this country, and treated in such a manner,
that not only my own judgment, but that of my friends, and
almost the whole of the town where I lived, made it necessary
for me to fly from my home. I am confident that this is
owing to the wickedness of a few, who have prejudiced some
short-sighted people against me, who live too far from my
abode to be acquainted with my proper character. I am con
firmed in this opinion from the kind protection that my wife
and family have received, and continue to receive from Gen
eral Ward, as well as from the sentiments which the Commit
tee of Safety have been pleased to entertain of me.
"R. TEMPLE."
As Mr. Temple was represented to be " a high-flying Tory,"
he was made prisoner at Plymouth, and sent to the camp at
Cambridge. His papers were also secured, and among them
were found several letters from officers of the royal army at
Boston to friends at home. He was released, went abroad,
and was in London with his family in 1780. He died in Eng
land before the close of the war. His brother, Sir John Tem
ple, Baronet, who was consul-general of Great Britain to the
United States, married a daughter of Governor Bowdoin.
TENBROECK, PETER. A magistrate, of Tryon, now Montgom
ery County, New York. A signer of the Declaration of loyalty
in 1775.
TERREE, ZEBEDEE. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. He went
to Halifax in 1776, and was proscribed and banished in 1778.
The son of a Freetown Loyalist has informed me, that Terree
was in New Brunswick for a time, but returned to, and died
in the United States, at or near his old home in Massachu
setts.
TERRY, EPHRAIM. Died at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, in 1833,
aged ninety-one years.
54*
642 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
TERRY, PARTIAL. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Son of a
respectable Whig of that beautiful valley. Joining the force
of Tories and Indians sent against the settlement, it is averred,
that "with his own hands he murdered his father, mother,
brothers, and sisters, stripped off their scalps, and cut off his
father's head." The story is of doubtful truth, though it ob
tained common belief in 1778, and is yet to be found in his
tory.
TERRY, THOMAS. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. He was also
engaged in the Massacre, and the tale that he "butchered his
own mother, his father-in-law, his sisters and their infant chil
dren," rests upon the same dubious authority as the account
which precedes.
THACHER, BARTHOLOMEW. A captain in the Second Battalion
of New Jersey Yolunteers.
THADFORD, WILLIAM. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of
a Declaration against the Whigs, January, 1775.
THAIN, JAMES. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, and was
a grantee of that city in 1783.
THAYER, ARODI. Marshal of the Admiral Court, Massachu
setts. Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
THA.YER, ZIPHION. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchin-
son in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year.
THEALE, CHARLES. Died in King's County, New Brunswick,
in 1814, aged seventy-nine.
THOMAS, CHARLES. Of Connecticut. In the struggle he en
gaged in marine enterprises on the side of the crown, but was
unfortunate in his exertions and results. He settled at St.
John, New Brunswick, in 1783, and died in that city in 1818,
aged seventy-five, " a worn-out American exile." That "he
never wavered in his attachment to his king," was his
boast.
THOMAS, EVAN. A native of Pennsylvania. Settled at New
Brunswick. He died at Pennfield, December, 1835, aged nine
ty, leaving children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and
great, great-grandchildren.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 643
THOMAS, GEORGE. An ensign in the King's American Regi
ment, and quartermaster of the corps.
THOMAS, HENRY. Of New York. During the Revolution
he commanded a company in a Loyalist corps; and in 1783 he
removed to St. John, New Brunswick, and was a grantee of
that city. The British government continued him in service,
and he was assistant engineer in New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia for a period of forty years. He died at St. John, in
1828, at the age of eighty-two.
THOMAS, NATHANIEL RAY. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1751. He bore the odious office of Man
damus Councillor, and shared in the troubles from mobs, which
were visited upon most of the members of that board. His
property was confiscated. He went to Halifax in 1776. His
death occurred in Nova Scotia in 1791. He is spoken of in
McFingal, as
" That Marshfield blunderer, Nat. Ray Thomas."
THOMAS, STEPHEN, SAMUEL, WALTER, and THOMAS. Were
grantees of St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783. The last
died in that city in 1831, aged eighty-five.
THOMAS, . He commanded a company of Loyalists
called the Bucks County Volunteers ; and for a time was en
gaged in a predatory warfare in the vicinity of Philadelphia.
After Arnold's treason, he was under the traitor's orders, and
accompanied him in his expedition to Virginia.
THOMPSON, SIR BENJAMIN. Better known as Count Rum-
ford. He was born in Massachusetts, in 1753. It was intended
that he should become a merchant, but he evinced great devo
tion to the mechanic arts, and little or no aptitude for business.
Through the kindness of his friend, Sheriff Baldwin, he ob
tained leave to attend philosophical lectures at Cambridge : and
afterwards taught school at Rumford, now Concord, New Hamp
shire. While at Concord, he married a daughter of the Reverend
Mr. Walker, then the widow of B. Rolfe. By this marriage his
pecuniary circumstances were rendered easy. In the Revolu
tionary controversy, he seems inclined to have been a Whig,
644 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
but was distrusted by that party, and at length incurred their
unqualified odium. Had there been less suspicion, and more
kindness, it is very probable that his talents would have been
devoted to his country. As it was, he adhered to the king,
abandoned his family, and in 1775 went to England. There
he accepted of civil employment under the government, and
under the patronage of Lord Germaine, and became an under
secretary. Towards the close of the war he came out to New
York, and was in command of a regiment called the King's
American Dragoons. Returning to England, he was knighted,
and received half-pay. Becoming acquainted with the min
ister of the Duke of Bavaria, he was induced to go to Munich,
where he introduced important reforms in the police. From
this prince he received high military rank, and the title of
Count Rurnford, of the empire. He was again in London in
the year 1800, and projected the Royal Institution of Great
Britain. He died in France in 1814. His first wife, whom he
appears to have deserted, died in New Hampshire, in 1792.
Count Rumford bequeathed a handsome sum to Harvard Uni
versity, and a Professorship bears his name. His philosophical
labors and discoveries gave him a high reputation, and caused
him to be elected member of many learned societies. His
name is found among the proscribed and banished in New
Hampshire, by the statute of 1778.
THOMPSON, JOHN. Of New York. In 1777 he was appointed
by General Robertson to the agency of cutting and supplying
the poor of the city of New York with wood, at the "cost of
cutting and carting, and four shillings per load for his trouble."
Fuel, at the time of this appointment, was high ; but, in con
sequence of the large quantities brought in, walnut wood was
soon reduced to £4 per cord, and fifty-five shillings for any
other. During some part of the war, the ill-fated Andre was
Mr. Thompson's boarder. In 1783 he removed to St. John,
New Brunswick, where he established himself as a merchant.
He was an alderman, and for eighteen years the chamberlain
of that city. He died at St. John in 1825, aged seventy. He
occupied the Caldwell House, in Prince William Street, which
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 645
was the first framed building erected in St. John, and was
burned in the fire of 1837.
THOMPSON, ANDREW and G. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
Were addressers of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. A Loyalist of
the name of George Thomson, of South Carolina, was in Eng
land the year previous. Perhaps some of the following should
be Thomson.
THOMPSON, ARCHIBALD. Was detected in 1778, with a letter
for Brant, and imprisoned.
THOMPSON, DAVID. Shipwright, of Southwick, Pennsyl
vania. His estate was confiscated in 1779. David Thomson
was at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, in 1784, an Addresser of Sir
Charles Douglass.
THOMPSON, DOUGALD. Of New York. Was at Castine,
Maine, from the time the royal forces took possession of that
place until they evacuated it at the peace. He died at St.
Andrew, New Brunswick, in 1812, aged sixty-three.
THOMPSON, GEORGE. Of Georgia. Went to England pre
vious to July, 1779.
THOMPSON, JOHN. Of Halifax, North Carolina. Lost his
property by confiscation in 1779.
THOMPSON, WILLIAM. Of Mispillion, Delaware. Was pro
scribed in 1778.
THOMPSON, . Of Medford, Massachusetts. In June, 1775,
news reached the Provincial Congress, (as a Committee of
that body reported), that, the Irvings of Boston, had fitted out,
under color of chartering to Thompson, a schooner of their
own, to make a voyage to New Providence to procure " fruit,
turtle, and provisions of other kinds, for the sustenance and
feasting of those troops who are, as pirates and robbers, com
mitting daily hostilities and depredations on the good people of
this Colony and all America." Congress therefore resolved,
that Captain Samuel McCobb, a member, " be immediately
despatched to Salem and Marblehead, to secure said Thomp
son, and prevent said vessel from going said voyage, and cause
the said Thompson to be brought to this Congress." A Mr.
Thompson, of Medford, died in England during the war;
646 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
probably the same. I find also, that James Thomson accom
panied the British troops to Halifax at the evacuation of Bos
ton ; and that Joseph Thompson, of Massachusetts, was in
London in 1779, an Addresser of the king.
THOMPSON. Residence unknown. Three were officers in
the New Jersey Volunteers ; namely, John, a lieutenant in the
first battalion ; Lewis, an ensign, and Cornelius, an ensign
and adjutant of the second. Benjamin was cornet of cavalry
in the Queen's Rangers; and James, a lieutenant in the Second
American Regiment ; possibly the latter was the James Thom
son above, who left Boston in 1776.
THORN, WILLIAM and JOSEPH. Were grantees of St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783.
THORNE, PETER. Died at Wilmot, Nova Scotia, in 1744, aged
eighty-seven. Peter Thorn, of Fairfield County, Connecticut,
was a member of the Reading Association in 1 775.
THORNE. Twenty-three, of Queen's County, New York,
acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit: Charles,
Samuel, Joseph, Samuel, Benjamin junior, John, Benjamin,
Melancthon, Stephen, Thomas junior, George, Joseph, Philip,
Stephen, Philip, Daniel, Stephen junior, Joseph, Thomas,
Richard, John, Edward, and Oliver.
THORP, JOHN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, and was
a grantee of that city in 1783.
THROCKMORTON, JOHN. A lieutenant in the King's Rangers.
In November, 1782, he had retired to the Island of St. John,
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
THURSTON, JOHN, Junior. Of Rhode Island. In 1777 he
received a commission as lieutenant in the Loyal Newport
Associators. ,
TIDD, JOSEPH. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, and was
a grantee of that city in 1783.
TILDEN, ISRAEL. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
TILLY, SAMUEL. Of Brooklyn, New York. A grantee of
St. John, New Brunswick. He died in that Colony. Elisa
beth Morgan, his widow, died at Portland, New Brunswick,
in 1835, aged eighty-four.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 647
TILSON, MATTHEW. Of Pennsylvania. Was tried in 1778
on a charge of supplying the enemy with provisions, and
found guilty. He was sentenced to be confined in the Provost,
and by day to be continually employed on fatigue duty, one
month.
TILTON, JOHN. He was one of the party who hung Captain
Huddy in 1782.
TIMMINS, JOHN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. He went to England, and I
suppose he died there before the year 1808 ; as the decease of
Mary, his widow, at Liverpool, is then recorded.
TIMMS, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
TISDALE, EPHRAIM. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. In 1775
he fled from home, and went to New York. During the war,
while on a voyage to St. Augustine, he abandoned his ves
sel at sea, to avoid capture, and gained the shore in safety.
Though nearly destitute of money, he accomplished an over
land journey to New York, a distance by the route which he
travelled, of fifteen hundred miles. In 1783 he embarked at
New York for New Brunswick, in the ship Brothers, Captain
Walker ; and on the passage, his wife gave birth to a son, who
was named for the master of the ship. Mr. Tisdale held civil
and military offices in New Brunswick. He removed to Upper
Canada in 1808, and died in that Colony in 1816. He left
eight sons and four daughters. Walker Tisdale, Esquire, of
St. John, (the son above referred to), was in Canada in 1845,
when the descendants of his father there were one hundred and
sixty-nine, of whom he saw one hundred and sixty-three.
The Tisdales of Canada were active on the side of the crown
during the recent Canadian rebellion. They are distinguished
for Loyalty.
TISDALE, HENRY. Of Freetown, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. At the peace he went to St.
John, New Brunswick, and was a grantee of that city. After
living in New Brunswick about three years, he returned to
Freetown, where he died.
648 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
TITUS. Six of the name, of Queen's County, New York,
acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit : Samuel,
Charles, Samuel, Richard, Peter, and Peter junior. David
Titus, of the same County, was an Addresser of Lieutenant
Colonel Sterling, of the Forty-second Regiment, April, 1779.
TOBLER, JOHN. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his estate was
amerced twelve per cent.
TOD, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
TODD, CORTLANDT. Of Solebury, Pennsylvania. He was
proscribed in 1778. In 1782 he was an ensign in the Penn
sylvania Loyalists.
TOLLY. JOHN. Of South wick, Pennsylvania. His estate
was confiscated in 1779.
TOMLINSON, ISAAC. Was a lieutenant in the King's Ameri
can Dragoons. John and Joseph were grantees of St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783. J. E. Tomlinson, of North Caro
lina, went to England, and was an Addresser of the king in
1779.
TOMPKINS, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester at White Plains. His son John was also a Protester.
TOMPKINS, THOMAS. Died at St. Andrew, New Brunswick,
in 1817, aged eighty. His wife, with whom he lived fifty
years, died at the same place, the same year, at the age of
seventy-seven. The Honorable Thomas Wyer, a member
of the Council of New Brunswick, married their daughter.
TONGE, W. P. Was banished, and his estate was confis
cated. In 1794 he represented to the British government, that
several large debts due to him in America at the time of his
banishment had not been recovered, and he prayed for relief.
TONGUE, WINKWORTH. An ensign in the Royal Fensible
Americans. He died at Jamaica, West Indies.
TOOLE, JOHN. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1827,
aged seventy-four.
TOWNE, BENJAMIN. Commenced the publication of the Penn
sylvania Evening Post, at Philadelphia, January, 1775, as a
Whig paper, and in opposition to Humphrey s's Ledger, com-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 649
menced the same month. Towne remained a Whig until the
British army took possession of the city, when he became a
Loyalist. On the evacuation of the city, he professed to
return to his former sentiments, and his paper again advocated
the popular cause, but he had now the respect and confidence
of neither Whigs nor Loyalists. Though proscribed by the
government of the State for his aberration, he continued the
Evening Post without being molested. Desiring to get into favor
with his first friends, he requested the celebrated Witherspoon,
then a member of Congress, to renew his contributions to the
Post, which the Doctor declined, but told him if he would
make his peace with the country by publishing an acknowl
edgment of his offence, a profession of his penitence, and a
petition for forgiveness, their old relations should be resumed.
This Towne promised to do, and asked Witherspoon to
write the article, which he did immediately ; but Towne, dis
liking some passages which the Doctor would not allow him to
omit, refused to comply with his promise. The piece, how
ever, found its way into the public prints, and passing as the
production of Towne, raised his reputation as a writer. In
this Recantation, Towne is made to speak of himself thus.
" I was originally an understrapper to the famous Galloway
in his infamous squabble with Goddard, and did in that ser
vice contract such a habit of meanness in thinking, and scur
rility in writing, that nothing exalted * * * * could ever be
expected from me. Now changing of sides is not any way
surprising in a person answering the above description."
Again, and in conclusion, " I do hereby recant, draw back, eat
in, and swallow down, every word that I have ever spoken,
written, or printed to the prejudice of the United States of
America, hoping it will not only satisfy the good people in
general, but also all those scatter-brained fellows who call one
another out to shoot pistols in the air, while they tremble so
much they cannot hit the mark," &c. &c. Towne died July,
1793. He did not possess the faculty of gaining and retaining
property, though not deficient in talents. That he lacked sta
bility, if not moral principle, seems manifest.
55
650 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
TOWNSEND, BENJAMIN. Residence unknown. Was an ensign
in the New York Volunteers.
TOWNSEND, CHAUNCEY. Of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Lost his property by confiscation in 1779.
TOWNSEND, GREGORY. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchin-
son in 1774, and of Gage in 1775. Was proscribed and ban*
ished in 1778. A person of this name died at Halifax, Nova
Scotia, in 1798.
TOWNSEND, JOB. Residence unknown. A grantee of St.
John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
TOWNSEND, JOHN. A magistrate. He lived at Oyster Bay,
New York. In 1779 a party of Rebels seized him in his
house, and carried him prisoner to Connecticut.
TOWNSEND, LEVIN. Residence unknown. A lieutenant in
the Maryland Loyalists.
TOWNSEND, RICHARD. A store-keeper, at North Hempstead,
New York. A distinguished Loyalist. In 1782 a party of
Whigs carried him prisoner to Connecticut, but subsequently
released him on parole.
TOWNSEND, STEPHEN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
TOWNSEND. Twenty-two, of Queen's County, New York,
acknowledged allegiance to Lord Richard and General Wil
liam Howe in a Representation and Petition, October, 1776.
To wit : Micajah, Timothy, W., Henry junior, Richard, John,
Richard junior, Richard, Absalom, Robert, Henry, Samuel,
Henry, John junior, James junior, Hewlett, John, Prior, Sam
uel, George junior, W., and Jotham. Nathaniel and Nicholas
Townsend, of the same County, signed a Declaration against
the Whigs in 1775.
TOWERS, WILLIAM. Died at Tower Hill, St. David, Province
of New Brunswick, January, 1835. He was the principal
workman at the erection of the fort at Bagaduce, (now Cas-
tine, Maine,) which was built by the British forces, and main
tained to the close of the Revolution. After the evacuation of
that post, he removed to St. Andrew, New Brunswick, and
built there, in 1783, the first house. Thence he removed to
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 651
St. David, an entire wilderness, and settled about seven miles
from the head of Oak Bay, on a fine hard- wood ridge, to which
he gave the name of Tower Hill. He was the father of a
numerous family, and was possessed of a strong constitution.
His age was eighty-four years.
TRAIL, ROBERT, Esquire. He was Comptroller of the Cus
toms, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with a salary of about
£180 sterling per annum. He was included in the New Hamp
shire proscription act of 1778. His wife was a near relative
of William Whipple, a signer of the Declaration of Independ
ence. He had three children, Robert and William, who set
tled in Europe ; and Mary, who married Kieth Spence, Esquire,
of Portsmouth, and whose son, Robert Trail Spence, was a
captain in the United States Navy.
TRAPHAGER, HENRY. Of New York. A grantee of St. John,
New Brunswick ; he died there in 1817, aged seventy-four.
TRAVERS, FRANCIS. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in
1821, aged sixty-eight.
TRAVIES, JEREMIAH. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester.
TRECARTIN, MARTIN. Of Duchess County, New York. Went
to St. John, New Brunswick, with his wife, in the ship Union,
in the spring of 1783, and was a grantee.
TRUP, JOHN. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of a Decla
ration of loyalty in 1775.
TROUTBECK, REVEREND JOHN. Of Boston. Assistant rector
of King's Chapel from 1755 to 1775. Doctor Caner was the
rector. The Revolution drove both from their people. Mr.
Troutbeck was an Addresser of Gage, and was proscribed and
banished. He went to England, and died there, near the close
of the war ; he was a Loyalist Addresser of the king as late
as July, 1779.
TROWBRIDGE, EDMUND. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1728. At the Revolutionary era he
was a member of the Council, and a Judge of the Supreme
Court. He was elected to the Council several times prior to
1776, but was left out that year with other government-men,
652
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
namely, Hutchinson, and Andrew and Peter Oliver; and
the Governor, in the exercise of his prerogative, disallowed
the choice of several Whigs. Judge Trowbridge died in 1793.
TRUIR, HUGH. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Addresser
of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
TRUITT, SOLOMON, Junior. Of Sussex County, Delaware. In
1778 he was required by law, to surrender himself within a
specified time, or lose his estate.
TRYON, HONORABLE WILLIAM. He was educated to the pro
fession of arms, and was an officer in the British service.
Appointed Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, the death
of Governor Dobbs left him at the head of the government of
that Colony in 1765 ; and he continued to administer its af
fairs until July, 1771, when he was transferred to New York.
During the whole period of his administration in North Caro
lina, the public mind was successively agitated by the Stamp
Act, and a civil war, known in the annals of the Colony as
the Regulation, or the rebellion of a party who assumed the
name of Regulators. The oppressive taxes growing out of the
French war, and the knavery of the officers of the law, were
the subjects of their complaints, and the alleged causes of their
taking up arms.
Governor Tryon's wife — a Miss Wake — and her sister,
Miss Esther Wake, were lovely and accomplished women, and
tradition relates, that they exercised much influence in public
affairs. For the first two years of his administration his head
quarters were on the Cape Fear River ; but he succeeded,
through the blandishments of Lady Tryon and her sister, in
obtaining an appropriation for a splendid palace, though the
Colony was poor, and great opposition was made to the meas
ure. The sum of £5,000 was first set apart for the purpose ;
but £10,000 more were found necessary to complete the edi
fice ; and as Tryon's dinners were princely, and the fascina
tion of the ladies of his family were irresistible, the Assembly
were prevailed upon, after a great deal of management, to
make a second, and the required grant. As the controversy
progressed, the Governor's unpopularity increased ; and, to
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 653
save his waning authority, he mingled with the common peo
ple, and prepared for them feasts and routs. On one occasion,
according to the accounts of the day, he barbecued an ox, and
placed it on the table as one dish; but the people, on its being
announced that the repast was ready, rushed in a mass to the
table, upset the barrels of liquors which had been provided,
and threw the ox into the river. Tryon, mortified and de
jected, retired from the crowd to his house. The day was
passed in riot and tumult. Quarrels with the Assembly on
various subjects followed from time to time; and in 1771, as
before remarked, Tryon was transferred to the government of
New York, and was succeeded in that State by General Rob
inson in 1780.
The spirit of the man, while at the head of affairs in New
York, may be fully illustrated by a single circumstance. " I
should," said he in 1777, " were I in more authority, burn
every committee-man's house within my reach, as I deem those
agents the wicked instruments of the continued calamities of
this country ; and in order sooner to purge the country of
them, I am willing to give twenty-five silver dollars for every
acting committee-man who shall be delivered up to the King's
troops."
It is claimed by the friends of Governor Tryon, that he was
" a gentleman of rank and honor, and of undaunted courage."
His political course in North Carolina gives evidence of con
siderable talents; and his military operations in New York
evince much ability and skill. But that he showed himself, in
either State, to be a man of honor, or that his civil or mili
tary life in America entitles his memory to respect, is a matter
of great doubt, I imagine, even with the most liberal and char
itable of those, who are familiar with his public conduct.
When Fairfield was burned, Mrs. Burr, a lady of great dig
nity of character, and possessed of most of the qualities which
give distinction to her sex, resolved to remain in her dwelling,
and, if possible, save it from the flames. She made personal
application to Tryon to spare it ; but he answered her not only
uncivilly, but rudely, brutally, and with vulgarity ; and when
55*
654 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
a soldier attempted to rob her of her watch, Tryon refused to
protect her. At the burning of Norwalk his conduct was
equally exceptionable ; since he seated himself in a chair on
the top of Grammon's Hill, and calmly enjoyed the scene.
Governor Tryon' s property, both in North Carolina and New
York, was confiscated.
TUCKER, SOLOMON. Of Stamford, Connecticut. Arrived at
St John, New Brunswick, with his wife and four children, in
the ship Union, in the spring of 1783.
TUCKER, . A physician, of Wilmington, North Caro
lina. His property was confiscated in 1779. When Mr.
Q,uincy, of Massachusetts, was on his southern tour in 1773,
he dined, March 29th, as he recorded in his journal, " at Doctor
Thomas Cobham's in company with Harnett, Hooper, Burg-
win, Doctor Tucker," &c. Hooper and Harnett were eminent
Whigs, and the former became a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. Doctor Tucker, if at that time inclined to the
popular side, adhered to the crown subsequently, and to his
ruin.
TUFTS, SIMON. Of Boston. He graduated at Harvard
University in 1767, and became a merchant. In 1775 he was
charged by the Boston Committee of Inspection, with selling
tea, and was examined. He made a statement of the facts of
the case under oath, which was published by the Committee.
In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He died in 1801.
TUPPER, ELDAD. Laborer, of Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
TUPPER, PRINCE. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. In Feb
ruary, 1778, he was placed in confinement for his political
delinquency.
TURILL, JOSEPH. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774. In 1775 he was an Addresser of Gage.
TURNBULL, GEORGE. In 1782 he was lieutenant-colonel
commandant of the Third American Regiment, or New York
Volunteers.
TURNER, DAVID. Of South Carolina. Was in commission
of the crown after the surrender of Charleston. Estate con
fiscated.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 655
TURNER, ROBERT. Of Guilford, North Carolina. His pro
perty was confiscated in 1779.
TURNER, WILLIAM. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of
a loyal Declaration in 1775.
TURNEY, DAVID. Of Reading, Connecticut. A member of
the Association.
TURNEY, THOMAS. Died at Burton, County of Sunbury,
New Brunswick, in 1840, aged eighty-seven, leaving thirteen
children.
TYNG, WILLIAM. Sheriff of Cumberland County, Maine.
His ancestor came to New England about the year 1630. His
grandfather, the Honorable Edward Tyng, was a gentleman
of distinction, and was appointed Governor of Annapolis,
Nova Scotia, but died in France. His father was the gallant
Commodore Tyng, who performed valuable service as a naval
officer in the war between England and France in 1745 ; he
was the senior commander of the colonial fleet sent against
Louisburg in that year, and Sir Peter Warren, who com
manded the ships of the crown in the same expedition, offered
him the rank of post-captain, which he declined on account of
his declining years; he died at Boston in 1775, at the age of
seventy-two.
William, the subject of this article, was born in Boston,
August 17, 1737, and passed most of his youthful days in his
native town. His early life was distinguished for correct
morals, dignity of deportment, and an ardent desire to assist
the unfortunate. In 1767 he \vas appointed sheriff of the
County of Cumberland, and removed to Portland. Two years
after, he married Elisabeth Ross, daughter of Alexander Ross,
Esquire. He represented Falmouth in the General Court in
the years 1772 and 1773; and was instructed by the town as
follows : —
"Sir: — Whereas, we are sensible there is reason to com
plain of infringements on the liberties of the people of this
province, and as you are a representative for this town, we
would offer a few things for your consideration on transacting
the very important business that may lay before the General
656 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Court at the next session. We are not about to enumerate any
grievances particularly, as we doubt not the wisdom of the
General Court is amply sufficient to investigate, not only every
grievance, but every inconvenience the province at present
labors under; all we mean is, to suggest some method whereby
all grievances may be redressed. And considering the singular
abilities and good disposition of the present governor, together
with his family, being embarked on the same bottom with
ourselves, we know of no expedient more effectual than for
the members of the General Court, by a rational and liberal
behavior, to conciliate the affections of his Excellency. The
particular mode of doing this, we must leave to their wisdom
and prudence, which on this important occasion they will un
doubtedly exert, only beg leave to observe, that could his Ex
cellency be prevailed upon to join the other branches of the
legislature in supplicating the throne for redress of any of our
grievances, it appears to us the most probable way of obtain
ing his Majesty's royal attention and relief."
His conduct was generally conciliatory to those whose polit
ical tendencies he could not respect. There were several per
sonal quarrels between the citizens of Fal mouth in conse
quence of their political divisions ; and Colonel Tyng was
involved in one of them, and with a friend. He and General
Preble met in King street, when some conversation took place
about an expected mob, in which he called the General an old
fool, and said, that " were he not an old man he would chas
tise him;" whereupon Preble "threatened to cane or knock
him down, if he should repeat the words." Tyng drew his
sword, and in turn threatened to run the General through ;
but the latter collared and shook him. They, however, parted
on good terms, as the Colonel asked Preble's pardon. When,
in September, 1774, he appeared before the County Conven
tion to answer certain questions propounded by the Whigs, he
seems to have given entire satisfaction in affixing his name to
a Declaration as follows : —
" Whereas great numbers of the inhabitants of this County
are now assembled near my house, in consequence of the false
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 657
representation of some evil-minded persons, who have reported
that I have endeavored all in my power to enforce the late
acts of Parliament relating to this province ; I do hereby sol
emnly declare, that I have not in any way whatever acted, or
endeavored to act, in conformity to said acts of Parliament.
And in compliance with the commands of the inhabitants so
assembled, and by the advice of a committee from the several
towns in this County now assembled in Congress, I further de
clare I will not, as Sheriff of said County, or otherwise, act in
conformity to, or by virtue of, said acts, unless by the general
consent of said County. I further declare, I have not received
any commission inconsistent with the charter of this province,
nor any commission whatever, since the first day of July
last."*
Soon after the affair at Lexington, he left Maine, and went
to Halifax. During the troubles with Mo watt, which termi
nated in the burning of Falmouth, the country people who as
sembled there under Thompson, took from his house a silver
cup and tankard, and his gold-laced hat. But Congress or
dered the silver plate to be restored, and it was delivered to
Mrs. Tyng's mother. After the royal troops entered the city
of New York, he repaired thither. In 1778 he was proscribed
and banished under the act of Massachusetts. While in New
York, Edward Preble, a midshipman in the service of Massa
chusetts, who was afterwards the distinguished Commodore
Preble of the Navy of the United States, was carried there a
prisoner of war. He was the son of General Preble, with
whom Colonel Tyng had the quarrel related above ; but the
young naval officer, who was afflicted with a dangerous sick
ness, was restored to his family through Tyng's intercession,
after receiving from him every attention and kindness that his
situation required. At the close of the war, Colonel Tyng
retired to the river St. John, New Brunswick, and was one of the
agents of the British government for the settlement of the Loy
alists who emigrated to that Colony. He was also appointed
* He was commissioned a colonel by Gage, in 1774.
658 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Chief Justice of a Court of Judicature, and was respected for
his dignity and humanity as a Judge. Six lots in the city of
St. John were granted him by the crown. He resided there in
1784; but was at Georgetown in 1785. In 1793 he returned
to the United States, and settled at Gorham, Maine, where he
remained during life. He was devotedly attached to agricul
tural pursuits, and to the enjoyments of social intercourse. His
house was the seat of hospitality, and of instructive and de
lightful conversation ; and the sorrowing, care-worn, and
unfortunate, were ever relieved. He died December 10, 1807,
of apoplexy. St. Paul's Church, of the Episcopal commun
ion, Portland, was erected under his immediate patronage,
and there his remains were carried for the performance of
the funeral service, attended by his brethren of the Masonic
Lodge, clad in full mourning. His wife, to whom he was
most tenderly devoted, bore him no children. Denied poster
ity, he regarded with the most affectionate tenderness those
whom he adopted, to supply the place of natural offspring.
He was a Christian ; and secret communion with his God
was his daily practice. In the outward observances of his pro
fession, as a member of the church, he was blameless. William
Tyng, in a word, was a true man in every relation of life ;
and his memory is to be cherished by all who love such,
whatever their sectarian or political differences or preferences.
Madam Tyng, as his relict was denominated, continued at
Gorham, and closed her life there towards the end of the year
1831.
TYRELL, WILLIAM. Warehouse-keeper of the Superinten
dent Department, established by Sir William Howe at New
York, in 1777.
UNDERBILL. Of New York. Several of this name were Pro
testers against Whig Congresses and Committees, at White
Plains, April, 1775. N. Underbill, Esquire, who signed as
mayor, John Underbill, Lancaster, Israel, Bartholomew, and
Benjamin. In the Protest, the signers pledged life and prop
erty to support the king and existing institutions. These
Underbills were of Westchester County.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 659
UNDERBILL. Eight persons of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Isaac, Peter, Caleb, Thomas, Daniel, Baruch, Amos, and
George.
UNDERBILL, WILLIAM. A grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783.
UNDERWOOD, JOBN. Of Rhode Island. He joined the enemy
during the war, but returning to that State, was required to
quit it, by act of May, 1783. He went to St. John, New
Brunswick, the same year, in the ship Union.
UNIACKE, BARTHOLOMEW. Captain lieutenant of the King's
Orange Rangers.
UPBAM, JABEZ. Of Massachusetts. Brother of Joshua Up-
ham. He died at Hampton, New Brunswick, in 1822.
Bethiah, his widow, died at the same place in 1834, at the age
of eighty-one.
UPBAM, JOSBUA. Of Brookfield, Massachusetts. Graduated
at Harvard University in 1763. In 1775 he addressed to the
Committee of Correspondence of Brookfield an able and in
teresting letter relative to his political sentiments, which was
unanimously voted to be satisfactory. Subsequently, he in
curred the displeasure of the Whigs, and became a refugee ;
and was proscribed and banished. Entering the British army,
he attained the rank of colonel of dragoons. Settling in New
Brunswick after the war, he was a Judge of the Supreme
Court, and a member of the Council. Going to England on
public duty in 1807, he died there the year following. Of the
Loyalists who went to New Brunswick, few performed greater
service to the Colony; of few is the memory more deeply
cherished. Judge Upham was connected by marriage, or
by blood, with many of the present distinguished families
and official characters of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
His second son, Joshua N., died in Massachusetts in 1805, .at
the age of thirty. His eldest daughter, Elisabeth, died unmar
ried at Federicton, in the spring of 1844, in the seventy-fourth
year of her age ; and his other daughter, Frances Chandler,
wife of Honorable John W. Weldon, Speaker of the House of
660 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Assembly, died at Richebucto, May 19, of that year, at the
age of thirty-nine. His son, Reverend Charles Wentworth
Upham, late Pastor of the First Church at Salem, Massa
chusetts, is a gentleman of fine attainments, and has en
riched the literature of his country with several valuable
and able productions ; for his Life of Sir Henry Vane, he
deserves the thanks of every lover of civil right, and of
religious truth.
USTICK, WILLIAM and HENRY. Traders, of the city of New
York. In April, 1775, at a meeting at the Liberty Pole, these
persons were denounced as inveterate foes to American free
dom — one voice only dissenting — on a charge of purchasing
spades and shovels, and of manufacturing bill-hooks and
pick-axes for the use of the royal army at Boston.
VALANCEY, CHARLES. A captain in the King's American Regi
ment.
VALENTINE. Caleb, Jacob, Jonah, Obadiah, David, Robert,
Philip, Thomas, and William, of Queen's County, New York,
acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. William signed a
Declaration the year before, as did Jeremiah Valentine, of the
same County.
VALENTINE, WILLIAM. Of Camden, South Carolina. Held an
office under the crown after the surrender of Charleston. His
property was confiscated.
VALENTINE, WILLIAM. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished,
and his property was confiscated in 1782.
VAN ALLEN, HENRY. An ensign in the Third Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers.
VAN ALLEN, WILLIAM. A captain in the Third Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers.
VANAMEER, ABRAHAM. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
VANAUSDAL, NICHOLAS. Of Jamaica, New York. Signed a
Declaration against the proceedings of the Whigs, January,
1775. Abraham and Isaac Vanausdal, were also signers.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 601
VAN BRUNT, JOOST. Of Jamaica, New York. Signed a
Declaration in 1775.
VAN BUSKIRK, ABRAHAM. Of New Jersey. Entered the mili
tary service of the king, and in 1782 was lieutenant-colonel of
the Third Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He was with
Arnold in his expedition to New London, and the traitor, in
his official account of his honorable deeds there, speaks of the
Volunteers, and of the exertions of Colonel Van Buskirk. He
settled in Nova Scotia, at the close of the contest, and in 1784
was mayor of Shelburne. He received half-pay. He died in
Nova Scotia.
VAN BUSKIRK, ABRAHAM. Of New Jersey. A captain in the
King's Orange Rangers. He settled in Nova Scotia, and re
ceived half-pay.
VAN BUSKIRK, GARRAT. Was a native of New Jersey. His
connexion with the Revolutionary troubles in that section,
compelled him to leave the country at the close of the contest,
and he went to St. John, New Brunswick, but subsequently
settled in Nova Scotia. He died in Aylesford in 1843, aged
eighty-seven years.
VAN BUSKIRK, JACOB. Of New Jersey. Entered the military
service of the king, and in 1782 was a captain in the Third
Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. After the war he settled
in Nova Scotia, arid received half-pay.
VAN BUSKIRK, JOHN. Of New Jersey. A lieutenant in the
Third Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers.
VAN CORTLANDT, PHILIP. Of New York. In 1775 he was
elected a deputy from Westchester County, to meet delegates
from other counties to appoint delegates to the Continental
Congress. But he entered the military service of the king,
and in 1782 was major of the Third Battalion of New Jersey
Volunteers. At the peace he went to Nova Scotia. One of his
daughters married Sir Edward Buller of the royal navy;
another married Captain Evans of the British army.
VAN CORTLANDT, PHILIP, Junior. Of New York. In 1782 he
was an ensign in the Third Battalion of New Jersey Volun
teers*
56
662 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
VAN DAM, ANTHONY. Of New York. In 1775 he took an
active part in the Revolutionary proceedings ; was appointed
a member of the Committee of One Hundred, and of the
Committee for Instituting a Military Night Watch. He was
also officially employed in matters connected with forwarding
stores to Albany. He went to England, and died in London
in 1807, aged seventy-seven.
VAN DEUSEN, JAMES. Was at first a Whig and enlisted in
the army, but deserted, and joined the royal forces. He was
taken by his former friends, tried, convicted, and put to death,
in 1780.
VAN DUMONT, WILLIAM. A lieutenant in the First Battalion
of New Jersey Volunteers.
VAN DYNE, DOMINICUS and ARUS. Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged allegiance in 1776. In 1779, William,
Meneus, Dow, and Ort Van Dyne, of that County, were Ad
dressers of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling.
VAN HORNE, GABRIEL. Died at Fredericton, New Brunswick,
in 1815, aged sixty-seven ; and his widow, Mary, died at the
same place the same year.
VAN HORN, WILLIAM. A lieutenant of cavalry in the South
Carolina Royalists.
VAN NOORSTRANT. Eight of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
John, Abraham, Cornelius, John, Jacob, Martin, Albert, and
John.
VAN NORSTRANDT, AARON. Of Jamaica, New York. Signed
a Declaration in 1775.
VAN NOSTRANDT. Four of this name, of Queen's County,
New York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit :
Daniel junior, John, Anthony, and Aaron.
VAN ORDEN, JOHN. A lieutenant in the Third Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers.
VANPELT, SARAH. She went to St. John, New Brunswick,
at the peace, and was one of the grantees of that city.
VANPELT, TEUNIS. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 663
VAN SHAACK, PETER, Esquire. Of Kinderhook, New York. An
exile to England, but returned to New York after the war, prac
tised law, and was eminent in the profession. He seems to
have been a most estimable man, and to have enjoyed the entire
confidence and friendship of John Jay, Egbert Benson, Richard
Harrison, Gouverneur Morris, George Clinton, and other Whigs,
without interruption and during life. In 1778 the state of
Mrs. Van Shaack's health became alarming, and it was desira
ble that she should visit the city of New York, the place of
her nativity. Her physicians were of the opinion, that, in the
peculiar state of her mind, her native air and proximity to the
sea would be of more benefit than medicine. Her husband
applied to the Governor of New York for leave to carry her
there. The city was in possession of the British, and though
that lady herself, as well as her partner, were objects of univer
sal love and esteem, the request of the dying woman was refused.
Such was the stern decree of war, of civil war. Again, Mr.
Van Shaack applied for liberty to take his sick wife within the
British lines, and was again refused. She was wasting away
under a consumption. Of the medical staff of Burgoyne's
army then prisoners, was a Doctor Hayes, of great reputed
skill, and Lafayette was asked to allow the British surgeon
to visit her, but the Committee of Safety interfered, and the
humane mission was forbidden. She soon died. In her last
moments, she told her heart-broken husband, that she forgave
him who had prevented her from going to New York ; and
when he desired to know whether she would not also forgive
those who had prevented Doctor Hayes from coming to her,
she answered, yes, she forgave them, and every body.
Of all the circumstances of her sad fate, Mr. Van Shaack
wrote a most touching account. He was sorely stricken.
Within eight years he had lost six children, he had buried his
father, had been deprived of the use of one eye, and was
harassed with the fear of total blindness. Under these cir
cumstances, the commotions of the time had broken up a flour
ishing business, and he was now an outlaw about to depart
from his native land. " Torn from the nearest and dearest of
664 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
all human connexions," are his own words, "by the visitation
of Almighty God, and by means of the public troubles of my
country, I am now going into the wide world, without friends,
without fortune, with the remembrance of past happiness, and
the future prospect of future adversity."
The order for his banishment bore the signature of Leonard
Gansevoort, Junior, Secretary of the Board of Commissioners,
who had been his student at law. " Leonard," said he, " you
have signed my death warrant, but I appreciate your mo
tives." In other words, "Leonard, I know your worth, you
have taken one side of the controversy, and I the other. You
decided from principle, and so did I." Of overt acts against
his country, Van Shaack had committed none, his sole offences
were his opinions. That he was a pure and noble man, there
is sufficient proof. On his return from England, Mr. Jay went
on board of the ship, took him to the Governor's, the Chief
Justice's, &c., and he received a hearty welcome from all ; and
it is to be remarked, that the friends who thus cordially
greeted him, were not of the moderate Whigs alone, but of
those styled violent Whigs, of whom George Clinton was
regarded the head. Mr. Van Shaack died in 1832, aged
eighty-five, and was buried at Kinderhook, New York. His
Life, by his son, which is mainly composed of his correspon
dence, is an interesting and instructive work.
VANDYKE, . He belonged, probably, to New Jersey;
but possibly to Pennsylvania. In 1777, or 1778, he was com
missioned to raise a corps of Loyalists, and in May of the lat
ter year he had embodied a force consisting of three troops of
light dragoons, and one hundred and seventy-four foot soldiers :
total number, three hundred and six.
VAN WART, JACOB. Of New York. Emigrated to New
Brunswick at the close of the war, where he settled. He died
in King's County in 1838, aged seventy-eight. He was accom
panied by his brothers, William and Isaac. Isaac died some
years ago, but William is still living in New Brunswick.
These Van Warts, and Isaac Van Wart, who was one of the
captors of Andre, were kinsmen.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 665
VAN WICKTEN, GAR. Of Jamaica, New York. Signed a
Declaration in 1775. Evart Van Wickten, also signed a
Declaration.
VAN WINKLE, SIMEON. Saddler, of Duck Creek, Delaware.
In 1778 he was proscribed.
VAN WYCK, THOMAS. Of New York. In 1776 he acknowl
edged allegiance to Lord Richard and Sir William Howe. In
1780 he was an Addresser of Governor Robinson ; in 1781
he was in the king's service, as a captain in the Loyal Queen's
County Militia.
VARDILL, JOHN. He was educated at King's College, New
York, for the ministry. Early in 1774 he embarked at that
city for England, for the purpose of taking orders. After his
departure, and on the death of Doctor Ogilvie, he was appoint
ed to the rectorship in New York, but did not accept it, pre
ferring to remain in England. It is supposed that he received
some employment from the government. He was the author
of some poetical satires on the Whigs ; and Trumbull, in his
McFingal, says ; —
" In Vardill, that poetic zealot,
I view a lawn bedizen'd Prelate ;
While mitres fall, as 't is their duty,
On heads of Chandler, and Auchmuty."
VASSAL, JOHN. Of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1757. In 1774 he was an Ad
dresser of Hutchinson. Early in 1775 he was driven from
his seat by mobs, and took up his residence at Boston. The
Committee of Safety, June 24, of the last mentioned year,
" Ordered, That the commanding officer who has the charge
of the hay on John Vassal, Esquire's estate, be directed to
supply Mr. Seth Brown, who has the care of the Colony horses,
with as much hay as they may need for their consumption."
And furthermore, and on the same day, " Ordered, That Mr.
Brown, the keeper of the Colony horses, do not admit any horses
into the stables of John Vassal, Esquire, but such as are the
property of this Colony." On the 6th of July, the Committee
56*
666 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
0
voted, "That Joseph and Parsons Smith be allowed to cut,
each, one ton of English hay and one ton of black-grass, on
the estate of John Vassal, Esquire, in Cambridge, they to be
accountable therefor ; and that Mr. David Sanger be directed
accordingly." Similar orders and votes passed this body rela
tive to the estates of other Loyalists, who had been driven
from their homes ; and the subject came up in the Provincial
Congress the same year. On the llth of July, Congress
"Resolved, that the persons employed in cutting the grass on
.the land of the Refugees, be allowed half a pint of rum each
per day." These incidents, though slight in themselves,
throw light on the transactions of the day.
Mr. Vassal's mansion-house at Cambridge became the head
quarters of Washington; and is now occupied by Professor
Longfellow, of Harvard University. Mr. Vassal, with his
family, went to England. In 1778 he was proscribed and
banished", and his estate confiscated. He died in England in
1797, aged sixty. His widow survived until 1807. His son
Spencer was an officer in the British army, and when he fell
before Monte Video, in 1806, was a lieutenant-colonel. The
Vassal family was one of the oldest and most respectable in
Massachusetts. The name of Vassal is attached to the title of
Lord Holland, and the late Lady Holland was of this lineage,
and a descendant of the emigrant to America. This gentle
man, William Vassal, Esquire, who possessed a fortune, came
early to New England, and was one of the Assistants of the
Colony of Massachusetts proper. But as he remained an
Episcopalian, he was viewed with jealousy ; and removing to
Scituate, in the Colony of Plymouth, he became proprietor of
a large estate, which bore the name of West Newland. After
the conquest of Jamaica, he obtained an extensive grant there.
He died at Barbadoes in 1655, leaving several sons and daugh
ters. One daughter married Resolved White, a brother of the
first person born in New England of English parents ; a
second married James Adams, of Virginia ; and a third was
the wife of Nicholas Ware, of the same Colony. Most of his
descendants in Massachusetts at the Revolution were Loyal-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 667
ists. A part or the whole of the property at Jamaica was
still in the family; and the subject of this notice, in losing his
estate at Cambridge, was, therefore, still in the enjoyment of a
handsome patrimony.
YASSALL, WILLIAM. Of Boston. He graduated at Harvard
University in 1733. In 1774 he was appointed a Mandamus
Councillor, but was not sworn into office. In 1778 he was
proscribed and banished. He died in England in 1800, at the
age of eighty-five.
VALK, JACOB. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Address
er of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, and a Petitioner to be armed
on the side of the crown. He was banished in 1782, and his
property confiscated.
VEAL, NATHANIEL. One of the grantees of St. John, New
Brunswick, in 1783.
VEAL, THOMAS. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester.
VERNON, GIDEON. Of Pennsylvania. A nephew of Nathan
iel Vernon. Following the example of his uncle, he entered
the royal service, and was a captain in a corps of Loyalists.
He possessed a landed property of seven hundred acres, which
was confiscated, and which now is of great value. For the
loss of this estate, the British government made him no com
pensation. He settled in New Brunswick at the close of the
war, and was the first sheriff of the County of Charlotte.
The latter part of his life was passed in Canada, and he died
there in 1836. 'His son, Moses Vernon, Esquire, who was a
magistrate of Charlotte County for several years, is a resi
dent of St. John.
VERNON, NATHANIEL. Of Pennsylvania. He was sheriff of
the County of Chester, and by a document of 1775, his office
appears to have been worth £100 per annum. He accepted a
commission in the military service of the crown, and in 1782
was a captain of cavalry in the British Legion. His estate
was confiscated.
VIETS, ROBERT. An Episcopal clergyman. He abandoned
his native country uto continue his allegiance to his sovereign,"
668 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
and was employed as an Episcopal missionary at Digby, Nova
Scotia, for a period of twenty-four years. He died at Digby
in 181 1, aged seventy -four.
VINCENT, CHARLES, Senior. Of Westchester County, New
York. A Protester at White Plains.
VINCENT, ELIJAH. An ensign in the Guides and Pioneers.
WADDINGTON, JOHN. Quartermaster of the First Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers.
WADE, THOMAS. Of Rhode Island. He and one child ar
rived at St. John. New Brunswick, in the ship Union, in the
spring of 1783.
WALBRIDGE, ZEBULON. Of New York. Was included in the
disfranchising law of that State of 1784, but was restored to
his civil rights by an act of 1786, on his taking the oath of
abjuration and allegiance.
WALDO, FRANCIS. Of Fal mouth, Maine. He was the second
son of General Samuel Waldo, and graduated at Harvard
University in 1747. Until 1758, there was no Custom-house
in Maine A naval officer and a deputy-collector resided at
Falmouth for some years previously, but the first collection
district was created in that year, when Mr. Waldo was com
missioned collector. His authority extended from Cape Porpus
to the Kennebec. In 1763, "in pursuance of strict orders from
the surveyor-general, he issued a proclamation against smug
gling rum, sugar, and molasses, which had previously been
winked at, and the officers were directed to execute the law
with rigor." He was representative to the General Court from
Falmouth for the years 1762 and 1763. but forfeiting the favor
of the popular party, he was not afterward elected. In 1770
George Lyde succeeded him as collector of the customs. Soon
after the burning of Falmouth he retired from Maine, and
never returned. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished.
His property passed to the State under the confiscation act, and
was sold in 1782. He went to England, and died in London
in 1784. He was never married ; disappointed in an affair of
the heart, in 1768, his intentions in this respect were forever
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 669
abandoned. His sister married Thomas Flucker, Secretary of
Massachusetts, and Flucker's only daughter married General
Knox. Mrs. Knox was a lady of strong mind, and lofty man
ners. She inherited a large share of the Waldo Patent. The
children of General Knox were three. Henry ; the wife of
Honorable Ebenezer Thatcher of Maine, and the mother of
the late B. B. Thatcher, a fine writer ; and the widow of the
late Honorable John Holmes.
WALDO, SAMUEL. Brother of Francis, and eldest son of Gen
eral Samuel Waldo, a large landed proprietor in Maine. He
graduated at Harvard University in 1743, and removed to
Falmouth immediately after. His family had long exercised
a great influence in Maine, in consequence of their estate, and
in 1744 he was elected a member of the General Court. Gov
ernor Shirley, the same year, gave him the commission of
colonel. In 1753 he went to Europe, with authority from his
father to procure emigrants to settle the Waldo Patent, and
was successful in the objects of his mission. In 1760 he was
appointed Judge of Probate for the County of Cumberland,
and continued in office until his decease. Thus he held the
first probate courts in Maine, and his brother Francis was
appointed to the charge of the first custom-house. After his
first election as representative, he was frequently re-elected,
and was a member of the legislature for eight years. He died
April 16th, 1770, aged forty-nine. He was buried four days
after " with great parade, under the church, with a sermon,
and under arms." His remains were subsequently removed
to Boston. His first wife was Olive Grizzel, of Boston, whom
he married in August, 1760, and who died the following Feb
ruary. In March, 1762, he married Sarah Erving, who bore
him six children, namely, Samuel, John Erving, Francis,
Ralph, Sarah, and Lucy.
WALDO, JOSEPH. Merchant, of Boston. He went to England,
and died there in 1816, aged ninety-four. He was educated
at Harvard University, and for a considerable period was the
oldest graduate living, having received his degree in 1741.
WALDRON, LIFFORD. An ensign in the Georgia Loyalists,
and quartermaster of the corps.
670 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WALKER. Five persons of this name in Massachusetts, were
proscribed and banished in 1778, namely, Adam, of Worcester;
John, of Shrewsbury; and Gideon, Benjamin, and Zera, of
Marshfield.
WALKER, DANIEL. Of Charlotte County, New York. Was
known as '-little Walker," and in 1775 some Whigs declared
that "they would have him, if he could be found above
ground."
WALKER, ALEXANDER. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was
an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
WALKER, THOMAS. Residence unknown. Was a lieutenant
in the New York Volunteers.
WALLACE, ALEXANDER. A merchant, of New York, whose
property was confiscated. He was a member of the Com
mittee of Correspondence, composed of fifty prominent men,
of whom Mr. Jay was one; and like several others of that
body who finally adhered to the royal cause, was in the be
ginning, I suppose, of Whig sympathies. To this Committee,
Francis Lewis, subsequently a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, was added by unanimous consent. May 19,
1774.
WALLACE, HUGH. Of New York. A member of the Coun
cil of the Colony, and was considered to be in office in 1782.
His estate was confiscated.
WALLACE, JONATHAN. Was one of the first loyal emigrants
to New Brunswick. He died at St. George, August, 1840, at
the age of eighty-nine.
WALLACE, MICHAEL. Merchant, of Virginia. He was probably
in North Carolina in 1779, when his property in that State
was confiscated. John Wallace was included in the attainder,
and belonged also to Virginia. • •
WALLOP, BENNET. A captain of infantry in the Q,eeen's
Rangers, and major of brigade in the Loyalist forces.
WALSH, HENRY. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
WALTER, WILLIAM, D. D. He was Rector of Trinity Church,
Summer Street, Boston. Was inducted into office in 1768,
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 671
and left his people early in the year 1776. He was an Ad
dresser of Gage, and was proscribed and banished. Doctor
Parker, who was among the very few Episcopal clergymen of
New England, who remained with his flock during the Revo
lution, was his successor. Doctor Walter graduated at Har
vard University in 1756. He died in Boston in the year 1800.
He is alluded to in McFingal. At one period of the Revolu
tion he appears to have been chaplain to De Lancey's Third
Battalion, and in 1785 in charge of an Episcopal Church at
Shelburne, Nova Scotia. His son, Arthur Maynard Walter, a
young gentleman of great promise, died at Boston in 1807,
aged twenty-six.
WALTERMEYER, JOHN. A Tory partisan leader. He was
noted for enterprise and daring, but not for cruelty or ferocity.
In 1781, at the head of a band of Tories, Indians, and Cana
dians, he attempted to carry off General Schuyler, whose abode
at that time was in the suburbs of Albany. The party entered
the dwelling, commenced packing up the plate and a search for
the General. But that gentleman opened a window, and as if
speaking to an armed force of his own, called out — "Come
on, my brave fellows, surround the house and secure the vil
lains who are plundering." The happy stratagem caused
Waltermeyer and his followers to betake themselves to flight.
WALTON, ABRAHAM. Of Queen's County, New York. In
1779 a party of rebels assailed his house, forced open the
door, seized his person, and plundered the dwelling of silver
plate and money. The leader of the party was supposed to
be one Benjamin Kirby, " a native of Long Island, who had
taken the oath of allegiance, but on D'Estaing's arrival at
Sandy Hook, revolted to Jonathan." Mr. Walton was a mem
ber of the Committee of One Hundred, of the City and County
of New York, in 1775, and one of the twenty-one delegates
chosen to the Provincial Congress the same year. As a mem
ber of the Committee, he signed a letter to the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Common Council of London, containing the
following emphatic expression ; * * * " all the horrors of
civil war will never compel America to submit to taxation by
672 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
authority of Parliament." But yet he was subsequently
known as a distinguished Loyalist.
WALTON, JACOB. Of New York. In 1769 he was re
turned to the House of Assembly from the city, and his elec
tion was viewed as a triumph of the Episcopalians over the
Presbyterians. During the recess of 1775 he joined Cruger,
Phillipse, and others, of the Ministerial party, in a letter on
the state of public affairs to General Gage at Boston. In 1776
General Lee ordered him to remove from his house, for the
accommodation of the Whig troops.
WALTON, WILLIAM. Secretary to the superintendent of police
of the city of New York.
WANTON, JOSEPH. Of Rhode Island. He graduated at Har
vard University in 1751. In 1769 he was elected Governor of
Rhode Island. In 1775 the House of Assembly, or House of
Magistrates, passed an act to raise and organize an army of
fifteen hundred, against which, he, the Deputy Governor,
and other members of the Upper House, entered a written
dissent. Subsequently, in the same year, the popular branch
passed an act, recapitulating this offence in the preamble, and
stated in addition, that he had refused to issue a proclamation
for a day of fasting and prayer, in accordance with a Resolve
of the Assembly ; that, though he had been elected Governor
of the Colony for that year, he had not taken the oath of
office ; and, that he had refused to sign the commissions of the
officers appointed to command the troops. In the body of the
act, all power as governor was taken from him until he should
comply with certain conditions therein stated, and authority to
sign civil and military commissions was intrusted to Henry
Ward, Esquire, the Colonial Secretary. These proceedings
occurred in April and May, and in June the Assembly passed
another act, which recited that Governor Wanton had appeared
and demanded that the official oath be administered to him,
but that as he had not given satisfaction to that body, his
request could not be complied with. From that period, Deputy
Governor Nicholas Cooke appears as the head of the executive
branch of the government, and affixed his signature accord-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 673
ingly. Mr. Wanton served as Governor of Rhode Island from
1769, and when superseded, had administered the government
upwards of five years. Perhaps his appointment, under the
great seal of England, to inquire into the affair of the burning
of the king's ship, the Gaspee, by the Whigs in 1773, hastened
his decline and fall. He died in 1782.
WANTON, WILLIAM. Of Rhode Island. In July, 1783, he was
at New York, and a petitioner for grants of lands in Nova Scotia.
See Abijah Willard. He settled afterwards in New Brunswick,
and about the year 1786 was appointed Collector of the Cus
toms for the port of St. John. He held that office for a period
of thirty years. In 1801 he went to England, accompanied
by his lady, in the mast-ship, Duke of Kent. He died at St.
John in 1816, aged eighty-two. His widow died at Exeter,
England, in 1824. The monument erected over his remains
is in a ruinous condition.
WARD, BENJAMIN. Of New York. A lieutenant in the
Loyal American Regiment.
WARD, DANIEL. Of New York. A grantee of St. John,
New Brunswick, in 1783.
WARD, GILBERT. Of Westchester County, New York. One
of the Loyalist Protesters at White Plains, April, 1775.
WARD, JOHN. Of Westchester County, New York. He
was an officer in the Loyal American Regiment, and entered
the military service of the crown as early as 1776. During
the war he was frequently in battle. The Loyal Americans
went to New Brunswick in 1783; and when, in the course of
that year, the corps was disbanded, he settled at St. John as a
merchant. He filled various public stations; and for many
years enjoyed the appellation of The Father of the City. At
the time of his decease he was not only the senior magistrate of
the City and County of St. John, but the oldest merchant and
half-pay officer in New Brunswick. Mr. Ward was a gentle
man of noble and venerable appearance. He died in 1846, in
the ninety- third year of his age. His remains were taken to
Trinity Church, "where the impressive funeral service of the
Church of England was read, and were subsequently interred
57
674 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
in the New Burial Ground, followed to the grave by one of the
largest and most respectable funeral processions ever seen in
this city, — including, in distinct bodies, the Justices of the
Peace for the City and County of St. John, — the Common
Council of the city, headed by his Worship the Mayor, and
his Honor the Recorder, — the members of the Legal Profes
sion, (the Barristers being in their Gowns,) at the head of
whom was his Honor Mr. Justice Carter, supported by the Hon
orable the Attorney General and Solicitor General, — the Grand
Jury for the City and County, then attending the Circuit Court,
— and the officers and men of the New Brunswick Regiment
of Artillery of St. John ; as well as a vast concourse of other
citizens, — all anxious to pay the last sad tribute of respect to
one who was so intimately associated with the early history of
the country," &c.
WARDEN, JOHN. Of Virginia. A lawyer of some celebrity.
He was unfriendly not only to American Independence, but to
the adoption of the Federal Constitution.
WARDEN, JAMES. Was an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774;
Joseph and William Warden went to Halifax in 1776. All be
longed to Boston, and the last, who was a peruke-maker, was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
WARDROBE, DAVID. Of Westmoreland County, Virginia. In
November, 1774, he was examined by the Whig Committee of
that County, concerning a letter "false, scandalous, and inim
ical to America," which he had written to a correspondent in
Scotland. The Committee passed a number of Resolves,
which they recommended " to all those who regard the peace,
the liberty, and rights of their country; " two were as follows.
" Resolved, That the vestry of Cople Parish be desired no
longer to furnish the said Wardrobe with the use of the vestry-
house for his keeping school therein." And, " That all persons
who have sent their children to school to the said Wardrobe,
do immediately take them away, and that he be regarded
as a wicked enemy to America, and be treated as such."
WARNER, CHRISTIAN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 675
WARNER, JOHN. A lieutenant in the militia, of Westchester
County, New York. A Protester at White Plains.
WARREN, ABRAHAM. He embarked at Boston with the British
army for Halifax, in 1776.
WARREN, JAMES. Brewer, of Philadelphia. In 1778 the
Council ordered, that failing to appear and be tried for treason,
he should stand attainted.
WARTONBY, WILLIAM. Bricklayer, of Duck Creek, Dela
ware. In 1778 he was required to submit himself for trial
for treason within a specified time, on pain of losing his
estate.
WASHBURN, . Of New York. An adherent of the crown,
of most infamous character. He was taken prisoner by the
Whigs, and when the exchange of General Silliman and Judge
Jones was arranged, it was stipulated that he should be re
leased. In May, 1780, he was accordingly given up.
WATERBURY, DAVID. Of Connecticut. Settled in St. John,
New Brunswick, and held various public stations. He died
there in 1833, aged seventy-five. In 1775 there was a David
Waterbury, lieutenant-colonel of the Connecticut militia, who,
because of some difficulty, resigned.
WATERBURY, JOHN. Of Connecticut. Went to St. John,
New Brunswick, at the peace, and was a grantee of that city ;
and entered upon the life of a merchant. In 1795 he was
a member of the Loyal Artillery. He died in that city in
IS 17, aged sixty -eight.
WATERBURY, PETER COOKE. Of Connecticut. Was a cornet
of cavalry in Arnold's American Legion. In 1783 he settled
at St. John, New Brunswick, and received half-pay.
WATERHOUSE, SAMUEL. Of Boston. An officer of the cus
toms. He is described as " the most notorious scribbler, sati
rist, and libeller, in the service of the conspirators against the
liberties of America." He accompanied the British troops to
Halifax at the evacuation, and embarked for England with his
family, in the ship Aston Hall, July, 1776. In 1778 he was
proscribed and banished. In 1779 he was in London, a Loy
alist Addresser of the king.
676 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WATERS, ABEL. A cornet in the King's American Dra
goons.
WATKINS, . An ensign in, and the adjutant of the
King's American Regiment. He was killed in 1779, at New
Haven, Connecticut.
WATSON, BROOK, Esquire. He professed to be a Whig.
Thus assuming, he visited several of the principal towns and
cities in the Colonies, and gained the attention of many per
sons of distinction, and especially of members of Congress.
At this time he was a merchant at Montreal ; and returning
there, after a tour which embraced Massachusetts, Pennsyl
vania, and New York, some of his letters to persons in Gage's
army at Boston, which were intercepted, revealed his true
character to be that of a spy. He 'went to England. In 1775,
when Lord North's bill to cut off the fisheries of New Eng
land was before Parliament, he was called before the House of
Commons and examined. In 1786 he became agent for the
Colony of New Brunswick in England, and was the first one
employed. At a subsequent period of his life, he was Lord
Mayor of London. He is represented as having been a man
of talents, but artful and insincere. He died at London in
1807, and was styled, Sir Watson Brook, Baronet.
WATSON, GEORGE. Of Massachusetts. He was appointed a
Mandamus Councillor, but does not appear to have taken the
oath of office. I suppose this gentleman to have been the
Colonel George Watson, of Plymouth, who died at that place
in the year 1800 ; and who is said to have possessed almost
every virtue that can adorn and dignify the human character.
WATSON, JOHN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of the city. He died at Wickham,
Queen's County, in 1846, at the great age of ninety-nine
years.
WATSON, JOHN. A physician, of Newcastle, Delaware.
Was proscribed in 1778 ; John, of Charleston, South Carolina,
was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; and John,
(perhaps the former), was at New York July, 1783, a petitioner
for lands in Nova Scotia. See Abijah Willard. Jonathan, of
Virginia, was in London in 1779, an Addresser of the king.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 677
WATTS, JOHN. Of New York. Was a member of the
Council of the Colony, and was considered to be in office in
1782. His estate was confiscated. He went to England. A
daughter married Sir John Johnson, of New York, knight and
baronet.
WATTS, - — . Of New York. Son of John Watts. He
entered the royal service, and was an officer in the Royal
Greens, under Sir John Johnson, his brother-in-law. In 1777
he was in the battle of Oriskany, one of the severest, and for
the numbers engaged, one of the most bloody actions of the
war. He was wounded, and left on the field with the slain,
and was reported among the killed. But reviving from faint-
ness, produced by loss of blood, he crawled to a brook, slaked
his thirst, and two or three days after was found by some
Indian scouts, and conveyed to the British camp.
WATTS, GEORGE, and GEORGE, junior. Of Queen's County,
New York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
WAY, JOHN. Of Queen's County, New York. Acknowl
edged allegiance in 1776, and in 1779 was an Addresser of
Lieutenant Colonel Sterling. The latter document was also
signed by James Way of that County.
WAYNE, RICHARD. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, and a Petitioner to be
armed on the side of the crown. He was banished, and his
property confiscated in 1782.
WEATHERHEAD, JOHN. Merchant, of the city of New York.
His property was confiscated.
WEBB, JOHN. Of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Was an Ad
dresser of Hutchinson in 1774.
WEBB, NEHEMIAH. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
WEBB, SAMUEL. Of Westchester County, New York. Was
a Protester in 1775.
WEBB, F. Of New York. Was in London in 1779.
WEBB, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
57*
678 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WEBB, WILLIAM. Residence unknown. Was a grantee of
St. John, New Brunswick, in 1783.
WEEKES. Twenty-eight persons of this name, of Queen's
County, New York, were signers of a Representation and Pe
tition to Lord Richard and General William Howe, acknowl
edging allegiance, October, 1 776. To wit : Richard, Refine,
Jesse, Samuel, John, Daniel junior, Abraham, Nathaniel, Ja
cob, John, Michael, Townsend, George, Daniel, Edmond,
George, Anthony, Levi, Daniel, Richard, John junior, Samuel,
Seaman, George senior, Joseph, John senior, John, and Nicho
las. In 1778 the house of one of the Johns was plundered by
a band from Connecticut, led by one Carehart, who, pretend
ing to be an adherent of the crown, had previously visited
Weekes and others, and had been kindly entertained.
WEEKS, WINGATE. In 1782 he was chaplain of the King's
Orange Rangers. After the war he settled in Nova Scotia,
and was an Episcopal clergyman.
WEITNER, GEORGE. Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. It was
ordered in Council, in 1778, that he surrender himself for trial,
or stand attainted.
WELCH, JAMES. Of Brandywine, Delaware. In 1778 he was
required by law to surrender and be tried for treason, or lose
his estate.
WELCH, THOMAS. Quartermaster of the Maryland Loyal
ists.
WELDEN, PATRICK. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at
the peace, and was a grantee of that city.
WELLING, WILLIAM. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer cf
the Declaration against the proceedings of the Whigs, January,
1775. Samuel Willing, and Charles Willing, of Jamaica, signed
the same paper.
WELLS, JOHN. Was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and
succeeded his father, who was a firm Loyalist, as a printer
and bookseller of that city, in 1775. Until the capitulation of
that city, John was a Whig, having borne arms against the
British. But he then commenced the publication of a Royal
Gazette, which he continued until December, 1782. At the
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 679
close of the war he was among the proscribed; and abandon
ing the United States, he went to Nassau, New Providence,
where he established the Royal Bahama Gazette. Dissatisfied
with his residence there, he was preparing to return to his
native land, " when he was summoned to the world of spirits."
He had married at Nassau, and was highly esteemed.
WELLS, JOHN, Junior. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished in
1782, and his property confiscated.
WELLS, JOHN. A physician, of South Carolina. In 1782
his estate was amerced twelve per cent.
WELLS, ROBERT. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County, New
York. Joined in a loyal Declaration in 1775.
WELLS, ROBERT. A native of Scotland. Established him
self at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1758, as a bookseller,
printer, and publisher of a newspaper. For many years he
was the principal bookseller in the Carolinas, and his business
was both extensive and profitable. He held the office of Mar
shal of the Admiralty Court; and was also a noted auctioneer
for the disposal of cargoes of slaves. Firmly attached to the
royal cause, he resigned his establishment to his son John, at
the commencement of the Revolution ; went to Europe, and
never returned. He was a good editor, and in his relations as
a man of business, was active, prompt, and just. His news
paper was the second published in South Carolina; and in
1775 it was called the South Carolina and American General
Gazette, which may have been its name from its commence
ment.
WELLS, SAMUEL. Of Cumberland County, New York. He
was a colonel of militia, Judge of the County Court, and mem
ber of the House of Assembly. During the recess of the As
sembly in 1775, he joined other ministerial members in a letter
to General Gage at Boston.
WELSH, JAMES and PETER. Embarked at Boston with the
British army for Halifax, in 1776.
WEMPLE, ANDREW. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. In 1775 a signer of a Declaration of loyalty.
680 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WENTWORTH, BENNING. He was proscribed and banished,
and his estate was confiscated, under the act of New Hamp
shire of 1778. I suppose, that, before abandoning the country,
he was a resident of Boston. In 1795 he was appointed a
member of the Council, and the year following, Secretary of
Nova Scotia. At this time he enjoyed the office of Treasurer
of that Colony, but resigned the trust in 1797. In 1800 he
was commissioned Master of the Robes, and Registrar in
Chancery. He died at Halifax in 1808. His son, Lieutenant
Benning William Bentinck Wentworth, of the Royal Navy,
and heir to the titles and honors of the Earldom of Strafford,
died in England, in 1810, at the age of twenty-one years.
WENTWORTH, SIR JOHN, Baronet, LL. D. Surveyor of the
king's woods in North America, and Governor of New Hamp
shire and of Nova Scotia ; was born in 1736, graduated at
Harvard University in 1755, and died at Halifax, Nova Scotia,
April 8th, 1820, aged eighty-three years. He was proscribed
by the act of New Hampshire of 1778, and his estate confis
cated. His uncle, Benning Wentworth, preceded him as Gov
ernor of New Hampshire. John was in England at the time
it was determined to remove Benning, and having become
acquainted with some members of the administration, of
whom the Marquis of Rockingham (himself a Wentworth)
was the head, solicited that his relation might not be ejected
from office, but be allowed to resign. This was acceded to,
and the nephew, at the early age of thirty-one, succeeded to
the honors of the uncle. John Wentworth was an admirable
chief magistrate, and occupied the executive chair from 1767
to 1775, and was the last royal governor of the province. He
enjoyed at the same time the dignity of surveyor of the king's
woods in America, an office of some patronage, of but little
care and duty, and worth £700 per annum. He remained
very popular until Gage applied to him to procure workmen
in New Hampshire, to proceed to Boston to erect barracks for
the British troops. The carpenters at Boston had refused the
employment, and Wentworth endeavored secretly to comply
with Gage's desire. This act was a death-blow to his au-
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 681
thority and confidence, and he soon after abandoned his gov
ernment. His last official act was performed at the Isle of
Shoals, where he prorogued the Assembly. He embarked
in the Scarborough ship of war for Boston, August 24, 1775.
He soon went to England, where he remained some time. On
the 14th of May, 1792, he was sworn in as Lieutenant Gover
nor of Nova Scotia, and continued in office until 1808, when
he was succeeded by Sir George Prevost. In 1795 he was
created a baronet. On retiring from the executive chair, and
the Colony of Nova Scotia, a pension was granted him of
£500 per annum. In the early part of the year 1810, he and
lady Wentworth returned to renew their residence in Nova
Scotia, and received an affectionate address from the people of
Halifax. Here he remained until his decease.
Sir John was an excellent public man every way. In busi
ness, few surpassed him in promptness, intelligence, and effi
ciency. His talents were of a high order, his judgment was
sound, and his views were broad and liberal. He was dis
tinguished for literary taste and attainments. The Universi
ties of Oxford and Aberdeen conferred upon him the degree of
Doctor of Laws. He was the friend of learning, and gave to
Dartmouth College its charter rights. He did much to en
courage the agriculture and promote the settlement of New
Hampshire, and he endeavored by every means in his power
to increase the wealth and importance of the province. When
the Revolutionary troubles commenced, his zeal was un
wearied to prevent a rupture. He could not resist the great
movement which released America from the bondage of the
Colonial system; but he did retire from his official trusts, with
a character unimpeached, and with a good name. No royal
Governor of his time in the thirteen Colonies, was so highly
respected by the Whigs as Wentworth ; and not one of the
official dignitaries, who clung to the royal cause, will go down
to posterity with a more enviable fame. Had Bernard and
Hutchinson been like him, the Revolution might have been
delayed. But since colonies become nations, as surely as boys
become men, thafr event could not have been prevented, and
682 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
would have happened, probably, in another generation, though
every servant of the crown on the continent had possessed the
admirable traits of character of the subject of this notice.
Lady Wentworth died in England in 1813. No child of Sir
John's is now alive. His son, Sir Charles M. Wentworth,
baronet, who was the last survivor, and who was a native of
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was appointed a member of his
Majesty's Council, in Nova Scotia, in 1801, and died at King-
sand, Devonport, England, in April, 1844. Sir John owned a
fine farm, and erected a large and elegant house at Wolfe-
borough, New Hampshire. This estate has been in various
hands since it passed from his possession under the confisca
tion act of that State, and as long ago as 1814 the mansion
was in a ruinous condition.
WENTWORTH, MARK HUNTING. Of New Hampshire. Was
the son of Lieutenant Governor John Wentworth, and father
of Sir John Wentworth. He was bred a merchant, and had
the agency of procuring spars for the royal navy. He took
part in politics, and was a member of the Council. His death
occurred in 1785, in New Hampshire. His character was
highly honorable ; his charity and kindness unbounded. His
fortune, which he amassed in business, was large.
WENTWORTH, PAUL. Was at London in 1785, and joined
other Loyalists in a petition to the government for relief.
WESTON, RICHARD. Of Frankstown, Pennsylvania. Failing
to appear and be tried for treason, the Council, in 1778, or
dered that he should stand attainted.
WESTOVER, JOB. Of Sheffield, Massachusetts. In May, 1775,
the Whig Committee of Observation unanimously denounced
him as an enemy of American liberty. Job had affirmed, that
"the parliament of Great Britain had a right to tax the Amer
icans," and had said many things disrespectful of the Conti
nental and the Provincial Congress.
WESTROP, JOHN. An ensign in the Prince of Wales's Amer
ican Volunteers.
WETHERFORD, MAJOR. An ensign in the King's Rangers,
Carolina.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 683
WETMORE, CALEB. Of New York. Settled in St. John, New
Brunswick, and in 1805 was an alderman of the city. He
removed, subsequently, to King's County, where he still (1846)
resides.
WETMORE, DAVID B. Of New York. Went to New Bruns
wick, and was one of the first settlers of the Colony. For
many years he was a member of the House of Assembly, and
a judge of the Common Pleas for King's County. He died at
Norton, in that County, in 1845, aged eighty-two, leaving
many descendants.
WETMORE, ROBERT G. Of New York. Son of Timothy Wet-
more. He became a resident of New Brunswick, and aban
doning the profession of the law, to which he was educated,
devoted himself to the study of divinity, and was ordained a
clergyman of the Episcopal church. He died in 1803, in Sa
vannah, Georgia, at the seat of the Honorable Joseph Clay,
junior.
WETMORE, THOMAS. Of New York. Son of Timothy Wet-
more. Removed to New Brunswick, where he filled several
important public stations. In 1792 he held the offices of
Deputy Surrogate of the Colony, was Master and Examiner
in Chancery, Register of Wills and Deeds for the County of
Queens, and was a member of the Council. At a later period
he was appointed Attorney General, and continued to serve
the crown in that capacity until his decease in 1828.
WETMORE, TIMOTHY. Of Westchester County, New York.
He was a person of consideration and influence. In Septem
ber, 1774, the freeholders and inhabitants of that County met
at Rye, and declared, that they were "much concerned with
the unhappy situation of public affairs," and that they con
sidered it to be their duty to state that they had had no part
"in any resolution entered into, or measures taken, with re
gard to the disputes at present subsisting with the mother
country." They also expressed their " dislike to many hot
and furious proceedings in consequence of said disputes,
which," in their opinion were " more likely to ruin this once
happy country, than remove grievances, if any there are."
684 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
They also declared their " great desire and full resolution to
live and die peaceable subjects to our gracious Sovereign King
George the Third and his laws." To this cautious Declara
tion Mr. Wetmore affixed his name. It appears to have satis
fied neither party, and was misconstrued by both. A few
weeks after he accordingly submitted the following explana
tion.
"The above paper [quoting it] like many others, being lia
ble to misconstruction, and having been understood by many
to import a recognition of a right in the Parliament of Great
Britain to bind America in all cases whatsoever, and to signify
that the Colonies labor under no grievances, I think it my
duty to explain my sentiments upon the subject, and thereby
prevent future mistakes. It is my opinion that the Parliament
have no right to tax America, though they have a right to
regulate the trade of the Empire. I am further of opinion,
that several acts of Parliament are grievances, and that the
execution of them ought to be opposed in such manner, as
may be consistent with the duty of a subject to our Sovereign;
though I cannot help expressing my disapprobation of many
violent proceedings in some of the Colonies.
" TIMOTHY WETMORE."
"November 3, 1774."
This — for the time, and in New York — was much like a
Whig's view of the controversy, and might have passed for a
Recantation. Fifteen of those who met at Rye, and were fel
low signers with Mr. Wetmore, had previously expressed their
"sorrow that they had any concern " in the Declaration, and
" utterly disclaimed every part thereof, except their professions
of loyalty to the King, and obedience to the constitutional
laws of the Realm ; " and thus the proceedings in September,
by so great defection, rather served than injured the Whigs of
that County.
Whatever were the causes which induced Mr. Wetmore to
join in repudiating the sentiments, which he probably em
bodied for the action and adoption of his associates, which he
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 685
felt required to expound, and which, in his explanation, he
nullified ; he finally fell off, adhered anew to the royal party,
and in the course of events became an exile. After the close
of hostilities he retired to New Brunswick, resided at St. John
for several years, and held situations of honor and trust.
WEYMEN, MOSES. Of Westchester County, New York. A
Protester.
WHARTON, THOMAS, the elder. Of Pennsylvania. He was a
merchant of great wealth and influence, and of the sect of
Quakers. In the enterprise of Galloway and Goddard, to es
tablish the Chronicle, a leading newspaper, he was their part
ner; and the parties supposed that Franklin, on his return
from England, would join them. Previous to the Revolution,
Franklin and Mr. Wharton were correspondents. In 1774,
Washington records, that he "dined with Thomas Wharton."
In 1777, he was apprehended and sent prisoner to Virginia; and
at a subsequent period was proscribed as an enemy to his
country, and lost his estate under the confiscation decrees of
Pennsylvania. Thomas Wharton, junior, was a distinguished
Whig, and President of Pennsylvania. In the early part of
the controversy, and indeed, until near the time when blood
was shed, both acted together, and were members of the same
deliberative assemblies and committees.
WHEATON, CALEB. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
WHEATON, JOHN. Went to St. John, New Brunswick, at the
peace, and was a grantee of the city.
WHEELER, AMAZIAH, HENRY, and ELIAS. Of Queen's County,
New York. Acknowledged ^allegiance October, 1774.
WHEELER, CALVIN. Of Fairfield County, Connecticut. A
member of the Association at Reading. Of the same, were
Enos Wheeler and Lazarus Wheeler, of Reading.
WHEELER, DANIEL. Of Fairfield, Connecticut. The Whig
Committee of Inspection ordered public, notice to be given, that
"All connexions, commerce, arid dealings, ought to be with
drawn from him by every friend to his country," because he
58
686 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
had violated the Association of the Continental Congress. This
occurred in March, 1775.
WHEELER, JOSIAH. A lieutenant in the Prince of Wales's
American Volunteers.
WHEELOCK, OBID. A captain. Died at Annapolis, Nova Sco
tia, in 1807, aged seventy-two.
WHEELWRIGHT, JOB. Of Boston. A Protester against the
Whigs in 1774. '
WHEELWRIGHT, JOSEPH. Embarked at Boston with the Brit
ish army for Halifax, 1776.
WHITE, ABIJAH. Of Marshfieldj Massachusetts. He was a
member of the House of Representatives from that town, and
a government man of great zeal, but of little discretion. He
carried to Boston the famous Marshfield Resolves, censuring
the Whigs, and on his arrival at the capital caused the docu
ment to be published. The act drew upon him the wrath of
the writers in the Whig newspapers, and he sunk under the
burden of general ridicule. He is commemorated in McPingal.
WHITE, ALEXANDER. Sheriif of Try on, now Montgomery,
County, New York. He rendered himself particularly obnox
ious to the Whigs from the beginning of the controversy. In
1775 a band of Whigs, to the number of about fifty, released
by force a Whig whom he had arrested and imprisoned, and
proceeded to his dwelling and demanded his surrender. White
discharged a pistol from his chamber window, and thus, it is
said, fired the first shot in the Revolution west of the Hudson.
His fire was instantly returned by the discharge of forty or fifty
muskets, but he escaped with a slight wound in the breast.
The Whigs demolished the doors of the house, and were at the
point of seizing him, when the alarm-gun of Sir John Johnson
admonished them that his retainers, a much more numerous
body than themselves, would soon muster and overpower them,
and they accordingly dispersed. During the difficulties be
tween the Whigs and Tories of that County, in 1775, White
was dismissed from his office by the Committee, who acted for
the people in their sovereign capacity, but was restored by
Governor Tryon. But the Committee would not allow him to
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 687
perform his official duties after his appointment, and popular
indignation against him became at length so strong, that he
was compelled to fly. He was, however, pursued and taken
prisoner, and placed in confinement at Albany. On his release,
after a short imprisonment, he left the country. Besides firing
the first shot, as mentioned above, it is also said that Sheriff
White and a band of Loyalists cut down the first Liberty-pole
which was erected in the valley of the Mohawk — that at Ger
man Flatts. He had been a captain in the French war. In
1775 he joined Sir John Johnson and others, in a Declaration
of loyalty.
WHITE, HENRY. Of New York. He was a member of the
Council of the Colony, and considered to be in office in 1782.
His estate was confiscated. He was a merchant, arid one of
the New York consignees of the Tea. He was on terms of
intimacy with, and transacted business for, Governor Martin,
of North Carolina ; and a letter of his Excellency, which was
intercepted, and in which he asked Mr. White to send him a
royal standard, was considered in the Provincial Congress,
July, 1775. The standard, he informed the Committee of
Congress, was not sent. Mr. White went to England in 1783.
In 1836, there died in New York, at the age of ninety-nine,
" Eve, relict of Harry White, Esquire, a commissary of the
British service." She was of the family of Van Courtlandt. One
of her sons was Lieutenant General White, of the British Army.
Another son was Rear Admiral White, of the Royal Navy.
One of her daughters was Dowager Lady Hayes, and widow
of the late Peter Jay Monroe, Esquire. Madam White was a
lady of wealth, and her recollections of New York society
were curious.
WHITE, JOHN. Removed to New Brunswick in 1783, and
settled at Long Reach, King's County, on land granted him by
the crown. On this land he resided for about fifty-five years.
He died at Long Reach in 1838, at the advanced age of nine
ty-six.
WHITE, PHILIP. He was taken prisoner by the Whigs, and
while some light-horse were conveying him to camp, he at-
688
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
tempted to escape; though called upon to stop, he continued to
run, and as he was about to leap into a bog, was cut down.
In retaliation, the Tory Captain Lippincott hung the Whig
Captain Huddy, as mentioned in the notice of Lippincott.
White belonged to New York, or New Jersey, and his death
occurred in March, 1782. It was pretended that he was un
justly killed ; but there is proof that, after making tokens of
surrender, he took up a musket and killed a son of Colonel
Hendrickson ; and this fact rests on the evidence of a Loyalist
who was taken prisoner at the same time. It was said, also,
that after his capture, the Whigs maimed him and broke his
legs, and tauntingly bid him run ; but the story is false.
WHITE, •. Of New York. On the night of the fire in
that city, in 1776, he was hanged on a tavern sign-post at the
corner of Cherry and Roosevelt streets. He was, says a writer
of the time, "a decent citizen, and a house-carpenter, rather too
violent a loyalist, and latterly, had addicted himself to liquor."
Several persons were arrested and examined for the murder of
this man, but it is believed that the Offenders were never dis
covered.
WHITE. Besides the preceding, there were many others, and
among them, in Massachusetts — John, of Boston, and Samuel,
of Marblehead, who were Addressers of Hutchinson, 1774.
Gideon, junior, of Taunton, who went to Halifax in 1776.
Cornelius, of Plymouth ; Cornelius the 3d, of Marshfield, and
Daniel, junior, of Marshfield, who, Samuel excepted, were
severally proscribed and banished in 1778. Gideon White,
Esq., a Loyalist, died at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1833, aged
eighty-two. In Connecticut — was Thomas, of New Haven,
who settled in New Brunswick, and died at L'Tete Passage,
Charlotte County, 1819, aged sixty. In New York — was
Thomas, whose estate was confiscated. In Pennsylvania —
was Robert, a merchant and mariner, who was proscribed in
1778. And — residence unknown — were James, who was a
cornet of cavalry in the British Legion ; Thomas and Vincent,
who were grantees of St. John, New Brunswick, 1783 ; and
William, who died at Portland, New Brunswick, in 1838, aged
seventy-seven.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 689
WHIFFLE, EBENEZER. Of Rutland, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1775.
WHISTON, or WHEATON, OBADIAH. Blacksmith, of Boston.
Went to Halifax in 1776 ; in 1778 he was proscribed and ban
ished. A Loyalist of the name of Obadiah Wheaton died in
New Brunswick, where he had become a resident, many years
ago.
WHITEHEAD, BENJAMIN. A captain in the militia, of Jamaica,
Long Island, New York. His attachment to the royal cause
involved him in many difficulties. He died at Jamaica in
September, 1780, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. A per
son of this name, of Jamaica, signed a Declaration against the
Whigs, and of attachment to the crown, in 1775 ; and an ac
knowledgment of allegiance, in 1776.
WHITEHEAD, BENJAMIN, Junior. Of Jamaica, New York. A
signer of a Declaration of loyalty in 1775. A person of this
name was a magistrate of Queen's County in 1783.
WHITEHEAD, JAMES. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783.
WHITING, BENJAMIN. Sheriff of Hillsborough County, New
Hampshire. He was proscribed and banished, and his prop
erty confiscated.
WHITING, WILLIAM. Of Virginia. Went to New Brunswick
in 1783. He died at St. John in 1830, aged seventy-one. He
was among the few Loyalists of that State, or of those south
of it, who came to the northern Colonies.
WHITLOCK, JOHN. In 1782 he was an officer of infantry in
the Queen's Rangers. He settled in New Brunswick, received
half-pay, and was a magistrate of Queen's County, and a
lieutenant-colonel in the militia.
WHITLOCK, THOMAS. Was an officer in a corps of Loyalists.
In 1783 he settled at St. John, New Brunswick, and was the
grantee of a city lot. The Whitlock House built by him in
Prince William street, was the second framed building which
was erected after the landing of the Loyalists. He received
half-pay.
WHITLOCK, WILLIAM. Established his residence in New
58*
690 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Brunswick. Was an alderman of St. John, and died in that
city in 1821, aged fifty-five.
WHITLOCK. Four of this name belonged to the Reading As
sociation. To wit : Hezekiah, Nehemiah, and Ebenezer, of
Fairfield County, and Ephraim, of Reading. In the Queen's
Rangers there was a Lieutenant Whitlock, who probably be
longed to Connecticut, since he had " a perfect knowledge
of the country about Nor walk," and " proposed to burn the
whale-boats, which harbored there, and had infested " Long
Island Sound.
WHITENECK, JOHN. Died at Studholm, King's County, New
Brunswick, in 1841, aged one hundred years.
WHITMAN, MICHAEL. Of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
His estate was confiscated in 1779.
WHITNEY, SYLVANUS. Of Stamford, Connecticut. In June,
J775, he was arraigned before the Committee of that town,
charged with the offence of buying and selling Tea. He made
a written confession of the fact, delivered up the tea remain
ing in his possession, and was allowed to depart. As the
reader may be curious to learn how the Whigs sometimes dis
posed of this obnoxious article of drink, the following account
of the destruction of that received of Mr. Whitney, is here
given. "About eight o'clock in the evening a gallows was
erected in the middle of the street. * * * * A large concourse
of people soon collected, and were joined by a number of the
soldiery quartered in the town. A grand procession soon
began to move. In the first place a large guard under arms,
headed by two captains who led the van, with the unfor
tunate Tea hung across a pole, sustained by two unarmed
soldiers. Secondly, followed the Committee of Observation.
Thirdly, the spectators who came to see the great sight. And
after parading through part of the principal streets, with
drums beating and fifes playing a most doleful sound, they
came to the gallows, where the common hangman soon per
formed his office, to the general satisfaction of the spectators.
As it was thought dangerous to let the said Tea hang all
night, for fear of invasion from our tea-lovers, a large bonfire
OF AMERICA* LOYALISTS. 691
was made under it, which soon reduced it to ashes ; and, after
giving three loud huzzas, the people soon dispersed to their
respective homes, without any bad consequences attending."
Mr. Whitney was present " during the execution," adds the
writer, "and behaved himself as well as could be expected."
He removed to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and
was a magistrate, and one of the aldermen of that city. He
died at St. John in 1827, aged seventy-nine.
WHITNEY, SAMUEL. He settled in New Brunswick after the
acknowledgment of American Independence, and established
himself as a merchant. In 1795 he was a member of the St.
John Loyal Artillery. He died in that city in 1815, aged
sixty-one. His son, James Whitney, Esquire, of St. John, is
the enterprising and well known proprietor of the steam ves
sels, which ply in different parts of New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia.
WHITWORTH, MILES. A physician, of Boston. A graduate
of Harvard University in 1772, and an Addresser of Hutchin-
son in 1774. In 1776 he was arrested and confined. He died
in England.
WICKES, THOMAS. Of Rhode Island. He was a member of
the Upper House of the government of that Colony, and in
April, 1775, joined Governor Wanton, and Deputy Governor
Sessions, in a Protest against a bill passed by the Assembly
for raising an army of fifteen hundred men. His name ap
pears among the members in the session of May following,
but he was not in office at the meeting of the Assembly in
June, and I conclude that he had been forced to retire. See
the notice of Joseph Wanton, and of Darius Sessions.
WICKHAM, JOHN. An ensign in the King's American Regi
ment.
WICKHAM, PARKER. Of New York. His property was con
fiscated by act of that State.
W^IGFALL, JOHN. Of South Carolina. After the surrender
of Charleston by General Lincoln in 1780, held an office under
the crown. His property was confiscated.
WIGGINS, JOHN, BENJAMIN, THOMAS, and HENRY. All of
692 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Jamaica, New York. Signed a Declaration of Loyalty at
that place in 1775.
WIGGINS. THOMAS, DANIEL, BENJAMIN, and RICHARD. Of
Queen's County, New York. Acknowledged allegiance, Octo
ber, 1776. Daniel, in 1783, removed to St. John, New Bruns
wick, and was a grantee of the city.
WIGGINS, JACOB. A magistrate. Died at Grand Lake, New
Brunswick, in 1815. aged fifty-four.
WIGGINS, JOHN. Died at Portland, New Brunswick, in 1815,
aged sixty-two.
WIGGINS, SAMUEL. Of New York. Removed to St. John,
New Brunswick, and died in that city in 1821, aged sixty-six.
His son, Stephen Wiggins, Esquire, of St. John, is one of the
most eminent merchants in New Brunswick.
WILBORE, JOSHUA. Of Sandwich, Massachusetts. Was pro
scribed and banished in 1778.
WILBOUR, WILLIAM. An officer in a Loyalist corps. In
1783 settled in New Brunswick, and received half-pay. He
died at St. John in 1838, aged eighty-eight.
WILDRIDGE, JAMES. Mariner, of Falmouth, now Portland,
Maine. Was proscribed and banished in 1778.
WIGHTMAN. There seems to have been three, and probably
four, of this name in the service. But little is known of them.
The Colonel of the Loyal New Englanders was one, though
that officer's name is sometimes spelled Whiteman. There
was a William Wightman, who was a lieutenant in the King's
American Regiment ; a Lieutenant John Wightman of a Loy
alist corps, who died at Carlton, New Brunswick, in 1819,
aged seventy-one; and a Captain Wightman, who was a
grantee of St. John in 1783. I conclude that they all belonged
to one family.
WILKINS, ISAAC, D. D. Of New York. His father was a
rich planter of Jamaica, West Indies, and died when he was
quite young. He was sent to New York to be educated, and
enjoyed the best advantages which the country afforded. He
prepared himself for the ministry, but did not take orders.
Having settled in the County of Westchester, he was returned
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 693
as a member of the House of Assembly, in which body he
became a leader on the ministerial side. His influence with
his associates and with his party was very great. Near the
close of the session of the Assembly of February, 1775, Colo
nel Woodhull (a Whig who met a sad and an early death,)
moved that the thanks of the House should be presented to
the delegates to the Continental Congress who met at Phila
delphia in September previously. The motion was opposed
and lost, Mr. Wilkins voting against it. When the question
of appointing delegates to the second Congress came up, he
made a speech, which was much admired by his friends for its
eloquence, clearness, and precision. Schuyler, and George
Clinton, were his principal antagonists in the debate. As this
speech affords a good specimen (and perhaps the best that has
been preserved) of the views of the Loyalists of the state of
the controversy at that period, I insert it entire, and nearly
verbatim as it was delivered. As a matter of curious history,
and as the effort of an able man, the reader will be interested
in its perusal.
" Mr. Speaker: — The subject now under our consideration
is the most important, I believe, that has ever come before
this House ; nothing less than the welfare, I had almost said
the existence, of this Colony, and perhaps of all America,
depends upon the result of our present deliberations. Deeply
impressed with this idea, I rise with the greatest anxiety of
mind to deliver my sentiments on this occasion. Whether they
are such as this House will think proper to approve, I cannot
tell ; but sure I am they are such as are dictated by an honest
heart — an heart biased by no selfish or sinister motives, and
warped by no attachment to sect, persons or party. There
is not, I am persuaded, an individual in this Assembly, who
does not wish well to America in general, and who is not so
licitous for the preservation of this province in particular.
For my own part, I feel more real concern than I can well
express, at the gloomy prospect of our affairs, and I would
sacrifice more, much more, than most men would be willing
to believe, if I could by that means rescue my country from
694 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the ruin and destruction that is now ready to overwhelm her.
The necessity of a speedy reconciliation between us and our
mother country, must be obvious to every one who is not
totally destitute of sense and feeling ; so that there can be no
dispute now, I presume, but about the means of accomplish
ing it. Before I give my opinion, however, upon this matter,
I must beg the indulgence of the House, while I exhibit a
short view of the rise and progress of our present disturbances
in America.
" Ever since the first settlement of these Colonies, Great
Britain has claimed and exercised the right of jurisdiction
over them, and her claim was founded in reason, and in the
nature of civil government ; for it is certain beyond all man
ner of doubt and controversy, that the supreme authority of
every empire must extend over the whole and every part of
that empire, otherwise there must be imperium in imperiot
two absolute and distinct powers in one and the same govern
ment, which is impossible ; and consequently the supreme
authority of the British empire, which is vested in the King,
Lords, arid Commons, must extend over these Colonies, which
are a part of the British empire. This authority was never
disputed by the Colonies till the time of the Stamp Act, and
then no farther than as to the right of imposing internal taxes;
for the right of regulating trade, and of imposing duties upon
articles of commerce, was universally acknowledged as essen
tial to the supremacy of the British Parliament. Their right
of internal taxation over the Colonies, was by the Americans
opposed upon this principle, that it was contrary to one of the
fundamentals of our free Constitution, which forbids the tak
ing of the subjects' money without their consent, given either
personally or by their representatives. This power of dispos
ing of their property, they imagined and asserted was lodged
in their Provincial Legislatures only. Be that as it will, this
was certainly placing their liberty upon a proper basis : here
they ought to have rested ; here they ought to have bounded
their demands ; this would have been a sufficient barrier
against arbitrary power. The Parliament, in consequence of
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 695
this, although they did not relinquish their claim or right to
tax the Colonies, repealed that impolitic and oppressive act ;
and although they afterwards imposed duties on paper, glass,
paints, colors, &c., yet those also, in compliance with our de
mands, were taken off: so indulgent has our mother country
been to the claims and humors of her children. This comply
ing disposition, however, in her. so far from exciting our grati
tude, or satisfying our uneasiness and discontent, has only
emboldened us to make farther encroachments upon her au
thority. We foolishly attributed this gentle conduct towards
us to fear, and to a consciousness of her inability to compel us
to submission. And when a three penny duty on tea was
demanded of us, we peremptorily refused to comply ; and in
stead of expostulating, or of showing our disapprobation of
that act, by remonstrating in a legal and constitutional way,
as we ought to have done; or instead of taking that easy and
effectual method that offered itself to us, — I mean the not
purchasing that commodity, while encumbered with the duty,
— we flew into the most indecent rage, and hastily adopted
every unwarrantable measure that could irritate and provoke
the government ; we either destroyed or sent back, in a most
contemptuous manner, all the tea that entered our harbors;
we insulted her ministers, and absolutely denied her au
thority.
" The Colony of Massachusetts Bay was the foremost and
the most violent in this opposition, and chastisement followed
close upon the transgression, which, though the mildest that
could possibly have been inflicted, considering the nature of
the offence, has kindled such a flame through the whole conti
nent of America, as threatens universal devastation. The
Colonies, instead of endeavoring to extinguish it, are increas
ing its violence; instead of striving to restore peace and good
harmony, so essential to the welfare of both countries, are
using every possible means to widen the breach and make it
irreparable. Good God ! that we should be so void of com
mon sense ! that we should be so blind to our own happiness !
What advantage, in the name of Heaven, can we propose to
696 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ourselves, in being at enmity with Great Britain? Shall we
by this means become more powerful, more wealthy, or more
free ? Let us pause for a moment, and reflect a little upon the
absurdity and folly of such expectations. On the contrary,
shall we not derive every desirable advantage from being in
friendship and amity with her ? Shall we not derive strength,
protection and stability, from that oak around which we have
so long twined ourselves, and under the shadow of whose
branches we have so long flourished, in security ?
" Permit me to carry on this allusion. We are a vigorous
and fertile vine; but without some prop, without some sufficient
support, we shall only trail upon the ground, and be liable to
injury and destruction from the foot of every passenger. But
if Great Britain gives us her protection; if she cultivates us
with tenderness and care, we shall yield her a rich and plenti
ful vintage, as necessary to her welfare and prosperity, as her
support is to our existence. In this mutual relation do we
stand to each other. Let us therefore, like wise men, endeavor
to establish a lasting and permanent union between us ; let us
endeavor to remove every obstacle to this desirable end ; and
let us reject with the utmost disdain and abhorrence every
measure that can tend to increase the difference between us,
and make this necessary union impracticable. Let us there
fore, to the utmost of our power, endeavor to put a stop to the
illegal and disorderly proceedings and resolutions of commit
tees, associations, and congresses. They have already driven
this Colony to the brink of a precipice ; some of our sister
Colonies (I speak it with the deepest concern,) have already
taken the desperate plunge, and unless the clemency of Great
Britain shall work a miracle in their favor, I know not how
they will escape perdition. Let us* be warned by their exam
ple ; let their folly and precipitation teach us wisdom ; and,
instead of linking ourselves to the chain of their evil destiny,
let us instantly break loose, and, by a well-timed effort, rescue
ourselves from destruction, and endeavor to make peace for
ourselves, — not a shameful, not an ignominious peace, — but
such an one as shall be worthy of freemen ; such an one as will
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 697
secure to us our liberties and properties, and render the union
between us and our mother country permanent and lasting •
in short, such as will be worthy Great Britain to offer, and
Americans to receive.
" And here let it not be said that it will be a base desertion
of our sister Colonies, to withdraw our assistance from them
when in so critical and dangerous a situation. But let it be
remembered that Great Britain is our mother, — a kind and
indulgent mother, who hath nourished, protected, and estab
lished us in this land of Canaan, this land flowing with milk
and honey, — a mother, whose arms are open to receive all
such of her children as will return to their duty ; who is will
ing to hear their complaints, and to redress their grievances.
And shall we take part against such a parent? Shall we,
like detestable parricides, wound her bosom for the sake of
ungrateful brethren, who have wilfully shut their eyes both to
their interest and their duty, and who are obstinately bent upon
their own destruction? Surely we cannot. No, I am per
suaded there is not an individual in this House who would
not reject such a proposal with the utmost abhorrence. We
have too much understanding not to know that the interest
of these Colonies and of Great Britain is the same ; that we
are all one people — of the same laws, language and religion,
each of us equally bound to one another by the ties of reciprocal
affection ; and we have too much loyalty to the best of sove
reigns — too great a regard to order and good government, to
assert that insurrections and tumults in one Colony, can or ought
to justify them in another. Indeed, so far am I from thinking
that this conduct in us would be deserving the common cause
of the Colonies, that I am convinced it is the only expedient
left, by which we can in any measure promote their real and
true interest. By uniting with them, we shall in probability
sink with them, but by rending ourselves from the rash and
ill-judged combination in which they have engaged, while we
are doing good to ourselves, we may do good also to them.
We may have it in our power, as I know we shall have it in
59
698 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
our will, to stretch out an helping hand to raise them from the
pit into which they are falling. And I will venture to assert
with boldness >and confidence, that if this Loyal Province will
do her duty, and act with wisdom and moderation in the criti
cal juncture, she may yet save America.
"Great Britain is not the only quarter from whence danger is
to be apprehended. Her resentment, no doubt, is to be dreaded,
and it behoves us, if possible, to avert it ; she may destroy our
cities ; she may ruin our commerce ; she may reduce us to so
deplorable a condition that we shall be willing to accept of
peace and reconciliation upon any terms which she shall think
proper to impose. This is what she may do, and what most
probably she will do, unless we alter the mode of our conduct
towards her. But if she should think proper to decline the
contest ; if in her wrath she should give us up to our own
direction, arid leave us to cut and shuffle for ourselves, and to
settle our boundaries, and to appoint our forms of government,
deeper and more terrible scenes of distress will present them
selves to our view. Fain would I draw a veil over this mel
ancholy prospect, and hide it from the eye of humanity ; but
my duty to my family — to my constituents — to my country,
forbids me to be silent. Factions and animosities will lay waste
our country. Provinces will rise against Provinces, and no
umpire to determine the contest but the sword. This once
flourishing and happy land will smile no more; it will become
a field of blood, and a scene of terror and desolation. To such
calamities shall we awake from our dreams of independence,
and to such miseries will our unreasonable love of liberty lead
us. Let us, therefore, moderate a little the eagerness of our
dispute, and not prostitute this noblest and best principle of
the human heart, to the unworthy purposes of sedition and
rebellion.
" The Americans love liberty, 'tis their grand, their darling
object, and may they ever have virtue and spirit enough to
assert and defend it, as well as wisdom and prudence to enjoy it.
But that love of liberty which beats so strongly in our hearts,
OFMMERICAN LOYALISTS. 699
and which seems to animate and inspirit almost every individ
ual, if not carefully watched and attended to, will, on some
future day, (should we be so fortunate as to escape our present
danger) prove a dreadful source of misfortune to us, if not our
ruin. Liberty and licentiousness are nearly allied to each
other ; like wit and madness, there is but a thin partition be
tween them ; and licentiousness invariably leads to slavery.
Almost every page of history will furnish abundant proofs of
the truths of these observations; and God grant that the annals
of this country may riot add to the number ; but I fear from
the present licentious conduct, we are much nearer to a state of
slavery and oppression than we seem to be aware of. So far
already have we advanced towards it, that all internal order and
subordination is nearly at an end among us. The authority of
the civil magistrate is become useless, and almost contempti
ble ; even the authority of this House, nay, of the whole Legis
lative body of this Province, has been treated with the utmost
contempt, and our power in a manner wrested from us, by a
set of men who have arrogated to themselves the style of the
People's Representatives. If they are in reality such, to what
purpose are we here assembled ? If they are authorized to make
laws, to establish penalties, and to regulate the concerns of
this Colony, why are we called together? What is left for us
to do? Nothing, sir, but to do our duty; to undo, if possible,
all that they have done ; to strip them of their borrowed
plumes, and to resume that authority, which has been delega
ted to us for the most important purposes ; for the preservation
of liberty, order, and good government. We are the represen
tatives of the inhabitants of this Colony ; they have entrusted
us with the guardianship of their rights and liberties, and they
look up to us for the preservation of them. Let us, therefore,
act as becomes us, with firmness and resolution. The eyes of
all honest and good rnen are upon us ; their hopes, their expec
tations of peace and safety, under Heaven, are centred here.
Let us not disappoint their hopes, but let us lay aside every
prejudice ; let us suppress every passion and sentiment that
700
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
can interfere with our country's welfare, and let us unite with
one voice arid one mind, to save her from destruction.
"We have this day before us the choice either of peace or
war; of happiness or misery; of freedom or slavery; and
surely we cannot hesitate a moment which to choose. By pro
ceeding in a firm, but in a peaceable, loyal, and constitutional
manner, in the settlement of this unhappy difference with our
mother country, we cannot fail, I am convinced, of meeting
with all desirable success. We shall by these means, undoubt
edly secure to ourselves a free constitution ; we shall have a
line of government stretched out and ascertained, and we shall
be restored to the favor and protection of the parent state,
which, next to the favor and protection of Heaven, will be our
best and strongest safeguard and security. But if you listen
to the dictates of violent and enthusiastic men ; if you adopt
the ill-judged, tyrannical, and destructive measures of the Con
gress, where will your miseries end ? Where, indeed, I cannot
tell ; but from that moment you must date the commencement
of them ; from that moment be assured that your ruin is inev
itable. NOAV is the critical moment of our fate ; we have it now
in our power to do the most essential good, or the most essential
mischief to ourselves and our posterity. If we neglect this
opportunity of promoting our common felicity, and of estab
lishing our liberties upon a firm and lasting basis, we may,
perhaps, never have another, and we shall repent of our fatal
infatuation and folly, when too late to retrieve the mistake ;
when the horrors and miseries of a civil war shall be increased,
if possible, tenfold upon our heads, by the curses and execra
tion of our distracted and deluded constituents ; when all
orders and degrees of men shall, in the bitterness of their
hearts, point us out as the authors of their ruin ; when we
shall be obliged to submit to the laws of conquest, or the pen
alties of rebellion.
"I have now, sir, delivered my sentiments freely and candid
ly upon the subject of our consideration. I have shown that the
rise of our present disputes with Great Britain has been an
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 701
unreasonable jealousy on our part, originating from an impol
itic exertion of authority on hers. I have proved that it is
both our interest and our duty to cultivate the closest and most
intimate union with her. I have shown that the authority of
the British Parliament, which is the supreme Legislature of
the empire, extends over these Colonies, which are parts of
that empire. I have shown the extreme danger of undue
opposition to that authority, which, either by exerting itself
against us, or giving us up to our own government, will equally
involve us in misery and destruction. I have shown, that by
a peaceable and loyal conduct, we may procure for ourselves,
and perhaps for our sister Colonies, a more perfect system of
government than that which we have hitherto enjoyed, which
was indeed better calculated for our infant state, than for the
present period of our present maturity — a period that requires,
(however paradoxical it may seem) at the same time more
liberty and a stricter government. I have, therefore, Mr.
Speaker, nothing more to add, than that, if contrary to my
hopes and my most ardent wishes — if, contrary to the honor
and dignity of this House — if, contrary to the dictates of hu
manity, and to the duty which we owe to our constituents and
our country, you adopt the unjust and destructive measures of
the Congress, and by that means involve our country in a civil
war, the most dreadful calamity that can befall a people, I
hereby declare my honest indignation to that measure, and
now call Heaven and this House to witness, that I am guiltless
of the blood of my fellow-subjects that will be shed upon the
occasion. I am guiltless of the ruin of my country."
That this speech was sufficiently loyal, and quite ardent
enough for the occasion, need not be said. A criticism of it
is not necessary. Yet it may be remarked, that Mr. Wilkins'
approval of the act for shutting up Boston, (the Boston Port
Bill,) and his declaration in the other passage which I have
marked, show to what extent a man of pure life and well in
formed mind, could allow his feelings to carry him, though
uttering at the same moment a disclaimer of being "warped"
59*
702 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
by " attachment to sect, persons, or party." In the one case
he sanctioned, in terms, an act of Parliament, which involved
in the most wanton misery thousands of persons who had no
possible agency in the deeds which it was meant to punish,
and even expressed his conviction, that it was the "mildest
that could possibly have been inflicted, considering the nature
of the offence;" and in the other, by assuming that "the eyes
of all honest and good men " were fixed upon the Assembly, as
distinguished from "the Congress," and looked to the former
body only, he distinctly conveyed the opinion that no "honest
or good man " was a Whig. He claimed himself, to act from
" an honest heart ; " was not his charity wide enough to allow
that, among his opponents, there were some whose motives
were as "honest" as his own?
Mr. Wilkins's zeal and extreme loyalty rendered him very
obnoxious to the Whigs. Besides his prominent position in the
Assembly, he gave utterance to his thoughts in essays. It is a
singular circumstance, that the youthful Hamilton, who was
also born in the West Indies, undertook the task of replying to
two of his political effusions. One of them, The Congress
Canvassed, &c., which was signed A. W. Farmer, was ex
tensively circulated ; and as well as that called, A View of the
Controversy between Great Britain and her Colonies, was
summarily disposed of, whenever they fell into the hands of
those whose measures they criticised and condemned. Both
were burned in all parts of the country; and on some occasions,
the former was dressed in tar and turkey-buzzard's feathers.
The plumage of this bird was selected as being " the most
stinking fowl in creation," though failing to be "a fit emblem
of the author's odiousness ; " but yet, as he could not be found,
" to receive a suit of the same gorgeous apparel," his book was
"thus decorated, nailed to the whipping-post, and set on fire,"
as the best means of showing indignation of his person and
sentiments. A few months after the delivery of the speech
above quoted, he abandoned the country, and went to Eng
land. At the moment of his departure, he issued the following
Address : —
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 703
" New York, May 3, 1775.
" My Countrymen : — Before I leave America, the land I
love, and in which is contained every thing that is valuable
and dear to me — my wife, my children, my friends and prop
erty — permit me to make a short and faithful declaration,
which 1 am induced to do neither through fear, nor a con
sciousness of having acted wrong. An honest man and a
Christian hath nothing to apprehend from this world. God is
my judge, and God is my witness, that all I have done, written
or said, in relation to the present unnatural dispute between
Great Britain and her Colonies, proceeded from an honest
intention of serving my country. Her welfare and prosperity
were the objects towards which all my endeavors have been
directed. They are still the sacred objects which I shall ever
steadily and invariably keep in view. And when in England,
all the influence that so inconsiderable a man as I am can have,
shall be exerted in her behalf.
"It has been my constant maxim through life to do my duty
conscientiously, and to trust the issue of my actions to the
Almighty. May that God, in whose hands are all events,
speedily restore peace and liberty to my unhappy country.
May Great Britain and America be soon united in the bonds of
everlasting unity, and when united, may they continue a free,
a virtuous and happy nation to the end of time. I leave Amer
ica, and every endearing connexion, because I will not raise
my hand against my Sovereign, nor will I draw my sword
against my country ; when I can conscientiously draw it in
her favor, my life shall be cheerfully devoted to her service.
"ISAAC WILKINS."
In 1776 he returned to Long Island, where he remained
until the peace, when he retired to Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
He remained in Nova Scotia several years, and lived a part of
the time at Lunenburgh. About the year 1800, he again es
tablished his residence in Westchester County, New York, and
was settled over the Episcopal parish there. He continued in
the ministry until his decease in 1830, at the age of eighty-nine.
704 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
He wrote the following epitaph a short time previous to his
death : —
SACRED
To the memory of
THE REVEREND ISAAC WILKINS, D. D.,
who for thirty-one years was the
diligent and faithful minister of
this parish,
placed here, as he believed, by his Redeemer.
He remained satisfied with the
pittance allowed him, rejoicing that even in that
he was no burden to his
parishioners ;
nor ever wished nor ever went forth
Jo seek a better living.
Doctor Wilkins married Isabella, sister of Lewis Morris, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence, and of Gouverneur
Morris, another distinguished Whig. Their mother espoused
the royal side, and remained within the British lines ; their
correspondence with her, during hostilities, occasioned suspicion,
and caused them difficulty, notwithstanding their sacrifices and
services. At the moment when Lewis voted in Congress for In
dependence, British ships of war were lying within cannon shot
of his house ; and soon after, his manor of Morrisania was
desolated, his woodland of one thousand acres destroyed, and
his family driven into exile. Three of the sons of Lewis served
in the Whig army. Staats, brother of Lewis and Gouverneur,
was an officer in the royal service ; became a member of par
liament, and a lieutenant-general. Thus was the Morris fam
ily divided.
Doctor Wilkins has a son in Nova Scotia, who bears the
name of his uncle, Lewis Morris, and who has obtained dis
tinction. He was elected a member of the House of Assembly
about the time of his father's return to the United States; and
when, in 1806, William Cottarn Tonge, Esquire, who was
elected Speaker, was disallowed by the Governor, Lewis Morris
Wilkins was chosen in his place, and approved of, and occupied
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 705
the chair, by subsequent elections, until 1817, when he was
removed to be placed on the bench of the Supreme Court of
the Colony. Judge Wilkins resides at Windsor.
WILLAKD, ABEL. Of Massachusetts. He graduated at Har
vard University in 1752. In 1774 he was one of the barristers
and attornies who were Addressers of Hutchinson. In 1776
he accompanied the royal army to Halifax. In 1778 he was
proscribed and banished. He died in England in 1781. Eliza,
his widow, daughter of Reverend Daniel Rogers, died in
Boston in 1815.
WILLARD, ABIJAH. Of Lancaster, Massachusetts. In 1774
he was appointed a Mandamus Councillor, and was soon an
object of public indignation. While at Union, Connecticut,
in that year, he was seized and confined over night. In the
morning, the multitude who guarded him, consisting of about
five hundred persons, condemned him to go to prison, but after
carrying him six miles on the way thither, released him on his
signing a Declaration, which they dictated, as follows : —
" Whereas I, Abijah Willard, of Lancaster, have been ap
pointed, by Mandamus, a Councillor for this Province, and
having without due consideration taken the oath, do now
freely and solemnly declare, that I am heartily sorry that I
have taken said oath, and do hereby solemnly and in good
faith promise and engage that I will not sit or act in said
Council, nor in any other that shall be appointed in such man
ner and form, but that I will, as much as in me lies, maintain
the Charter rights and liberties of this province ; and do hereby
ask the 'forgiveness of all honest, worthy gentlemen that I
have offended, by taking the above said oath ; and desire this
may be inserted in the public prints.
"Witness my hand,
"ABIJAH WILLARD."
" August 25th, 1774."
He went to Halifax with the royal army in 1776 ; and in
1778 was proscribed and banished. He was at Long Island at
706 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
a subsequent period of the war ; and in July, 1783, in the city
of New York, where he, and fifty-four other Loyalists, joined
in a petition to Sir Guy Carleton for extensive grants of lands
in Nova Scotia. These petitioners were, and still are known,
as the Fifty-Five. They represented, that their position in
society had beeii very respectable, and that previous to the
Revolution they had possessed much influence. They stated,
that they intended to remove to Nova Scotia, and desired that
the same number of acres that were granted to field-officers of
the army, might be granted to each of them. And they asked,
that, if possible, the lands should be conveyed free from quit-
rents, and from other incumbrances. This petition created
much clamor at New York, and a copy of it having been sent
to St. John and printed, created an excitement there. Mr.
Willard settled in New Brunswick, on the coast between the
St. Croix and St. John, and at a place which he called Lan
caster — the name by which it is still known. He was a
member of the Council of that Colony. He died in 1789,
aged sixty-seven. After his decease, his family returned to
Massachusetts. He could have had the commission of colonel
in the royal service, but would not bear arms against his coun
try. It is believed that Colonel Prescott, who commanded the
Whig force in the battle of Bunker's Hill, was a connexion, and
his brother-in-law. It is said, that Mr. Willard, on the day of
the action, was in company with one of the British Generals
in Boston, who from one of the hills, and with a spy-glass,
watched the movements of the rebels in their intrenchment ;
and that the Briton asked Willard if they would fight. The
latter, after a survey through the glass, and after recognizing
Prescott, replied, that he would not answer for his men : but,
said he, " Prescott will fight you to the gates of h — 1."
WILLARD, JOHN. Of South Carolina. Estate confiscated.
WILLARD, LEVI. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed and
banished.
WILLARD, SOLOMON. Of New Hampshire. He was pro
scribed and banished in 1778. Went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace, and was a grantee of the city, and became
a merchant.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 707
WILLET, GILBERT COLEURN. A magistrate, of Queen's County,
New York. In 1776 he signed a profession of loyalty and
allegiance. He entered the royal service, and was a captain in
De Lancey's Third Battalion.
WILLET, GILBERT GOLDEN. A captain in De Lancey's Third
Battalion.
WILLET, SAMUEL. A cornet of cavalry in the British Legion.
He settled in Nova Scotia after the Revolution, and received
half-pay. He died at Wilmot, Nova Scotia, in 1839, aged
eighty-seven.
WILLET, WALTER. A lieutenant of cavalry in the British
Legion.
WILLETS, CHARLES and EDWARD. Of Queen's County, New
York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. In 1777
Edward was appointed to inspect and give certificates of the
wood provided for the use of the guard house and hospital of
the royal forces stationed at Jamaica.
WILLETS, THOMAS. Sheriff of Queen's County, New York.
Was apprehended by the Whigs in 1776 ; in 1780 he was an
Addresser of Governor Robertson.
WILLIS, DAVID. Mariner, of Boston. Was proscribed and
banished in 1778. He went to Halifax in 1776.
WILLIS, JOHN. An ensign in the second battalion of New
Jersey Volunteers.
WILLIS, JOHN. An ensign in the Royal Garrison Battalion.
WILLIS, OLIVER, MORDECAI, and W. Of Queen's County,
New York. Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776.
WILLIAMS, ELIJAH. Of New Hampshire. A lawyer, at Keene ;
but abandoned his practice at the commencement of the war.
He was proscribed and banished, and his estate confiscated,
under the acts of New Hampshire.
WILLIAMS, ELIJAH. Attorney at Law, of Deerfield, Massa
chusetts. Graduated at Harvard University in 1764. He
entered the British army soon after the affair at Lexington,
and was proscribed under the act of 1778. He returned in
1784, and received half-pay during life. He died in 1793,
aged forty-seven years.
708 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WILLIAMS, ISRAEL. Of Massachusetts. He was long a
member of the House of Representatives, and in 1774 was
appointed a Mandamus Councillor, but declined serving.
Though old and infirm, he was visited by a mob at night,
taken from his house, carried several miles, and put into
a room with a fire, when the doors and the top of the chimney
were closed, and he was kept several hours in the smoke. On
being released, he was compelled to sign a paper dictated by
his tormenters. The circumstance did not escape TrumbuU's
caustic pen ; and he asks, in McFingal,
" Have you made Murray look less big,
Or smoked old Williams to a Whig ? "
Mr. Williams was a graduate of Harvard University, of the
class of 1727. He died in 1788, aged seventy-nine.
WILLIAMS, JOHN. Inspector General of the Customs, and
resided at Boston. When Hancock's sloop was seized in 1768,
the mob broke several windows in his house, which was near
the Common.
WILLIAMS, ROBERT. Was banished and attainted, and his
estate was confiscated. In 1794 he resided in England, and in
that year petitioned the British government to interfere for the
recovery of some large debts due to him in America at the time
of his banishment.
WILLIAMS, SETH. Of Taunton, Massachusetts. He gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1765. In 1776 he went to Hal
ifax ; thence to England, and was in London in 1779, a
member of the Loyalist Association formed there, and an Ad
dresser of the king. He died in London prior to 1791.
WILLIAMS, WILLIAM. Of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He
graduated at Harvard University in 1729. In 1771 he was a
member of the House of Representatives, and Hutchinson
speaks of him as one of the government members, " who, in
common times, would have had great weight," but who, over
borne by the superior numbers of the Whigs, were inactive.
Mr. Williams was subsequently an officer in the military ser
vice of the crown. He died in 1785, aged eighty -three.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 709
WILLIAMS, ELIJAH. Of New Hampshire. Was proscribed
and banished, and lost his estate under the confiscation act.
There was a Lieutenant Williams in the New Hampshire Regi
ment, or Wentworth's Volunteers ; probably the same.
WILLIAMS. In Connecticut was Benjamin, of Fairfield
County, and Ebenezer, of Reading, who were members of
the Reading Association.
WILLIAMS. In New York, were Isaac, John, and Gilbert, of
Westchester County, who were Protesters in 1775 ; and John,
Thomas, Micah, William, and Wilson, of Queen's County,
professed themselves to be true and dutiful subjects in 1776.
Reuben, of Brooklyn, was a grantee of St. John in 1783, and
died in Queen's County, New Brunswick, in 1802. Thomas
P. died at St. John in 1827. William, (perhaps the above),
died in King's County, New Brunswick, in 1802.
WILLIAMS, SAMUEL. Of Anson County, North Carolina.
Estate confiscated in 1779.
WILLIAMS. In South Carolina were three who belonged to
Charleston ; namely : Robert, James G., and George R., all of
whom were Addressers of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; and the
first, being also a Petitioner to be armed on the side of the
crown, lost his property under the confiscation act in 1782.
WILLIAMS. Residence unknown, Job, who embarked with
the royal army at Boston, in 1776 ; and Jonathan, a captain in
the Guides and Pioneers.
WILLIAMSON, ANDREW. Of South Carolina. Estate confis
cated. A member of the Provincial Congress in 1775, when
he was probably a Whig.
WILLIAMSON, FRANCIS. Of Currituck County, North Caro
lina. His property was confiscated in 1779. Previous to the
Revolution, he was a member of the House of Assembly.
WILLIAMSON, JOHN. Of Jamaica, New York. A signer of
the Declaration of Loyalty in 1775 ; he also signed an ac
knowledgment of allegiance in 1776.
WILLIAMSON, CHRISTOPHER. Of Charleston, South Carolina.
An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He died at
Charleston in 1814, aged sixty-seven.
60
710 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WILLOUGHBY, BLISS. Of New York. He lived in the County
of Albany, near Bennington ; and early in 1775, being one
of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, kept his house and
retainers armed, fearing an attack from the rioters or rebels of
that region.
WILMOT, LEMUEL. Of Long Island, New York. Entered
the king's service as an officer, and at the peace was a captain
in the Loyal American Regiment. In 1783 he settled on the
river St. John, New Brunswick, where he continued to reside.
He died near Fredericton in 1814. He received half-pay.
Hannah, his wife, a daughter of the Honorable Daniel
Bliss, died in 1810. Five sons survived him. The Honorable
Lemuel A. Wilmot, the son of his youngest son William, is a
member of the Executive Council of New Brunswick, and
a leading politician of the party of the Liberals of that
Colony.
WILSON, ARCHIBALD. A trader, of Boston. Was an Address
er of Hutchinson in 1774 ; went to Halifax in 1776 ; and was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
WILSON, JOSEPH. Of Boston. Was a Protester in 1774.
WILSON, . Coppersmith, of Wilmington, Delaware.
W^as proscribed in 1778.
WILSON, ROBERT. A physician, of Charleston, South Caro
lina. Wras an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, and a
Petitioner to be armed on the side of the crown ; and in 1780
was banished and lost his estate. John Wilson, of George
town, incurred the same penalties for offences not specified.
WILSON, JOHN. Of New York. He went to Nassau, New
Providence, and became one of the editors of the Royal Ga
zette.
WILSON. Four of this name (residence unknown) were in
service, namely : Samuel Richard, who was a lieutenant in the
Royal Garrison Battalion ; Robert, a lieutenant in the Royal
Fensible Americans ; John, an officer of cavalry in the Queen's
Rangers ; and a second John, a lieutenant in the Second Ameri
can Regiment ; while George was a grantee of St. John. New
Brunswick, in 1783.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 711
WILTBANK, ABRAHAM. Of Delaware. Was a Whig, and a
lieutenant in the service of that State, but changed sides. In
1778 he was required to abide a trial for treason, or submit to
the forfeiture of his property.
WINCHESTER, JOHN. Died at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, in 1840,
aged ninety-eight.
WINGATE, JOHN. An Episcopal clergyman, of Orange County,
Virginia. In 1775 he was charged with having in his posses
sion several pamphlets containing very obnoxious reflections
on the Continental Congress, and the proceedings of the
Whigs ; and was waited upon by the Committee of that Coun
ty, who desired him to surrender them. This he refused, but
after several peremptory demands, finally consented, to pre
vent extremities. That the reader may learn the titles of
some of the publications of the Loyalists, a list of those taken
from Mr. Wingate, is here given, namely : The Congress Can
vassed, by A. W. Farmer : A View of the Controversy between
Great Britain and her Colonies, by the same : Free Thoughts
on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress, &c. : Short
Advice to the Counties of New York : and An Alarm to the
Province of New York. Most of these were printed at New
York, by Rivington ; and were publicly committed to the
flames.
WINNET, JOHN, Junior. Embarked at Boston with the Brit
ish army for Halifax, in 1776.
WINSLOW, EDWARD. Of Massachusetts. Brother of General
John Winslow. He graduated at Harvard University in 1736.
He resided at Plymouth, subsequently, and was Clerk of the
Courts, Register of Probate, and Collector of the Port. He
left the country with his family at the evacuation of Boston,
in 1776, and went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died in
1784, aged seventy-two years. The ceremonies at his funeral
were of a style to confer the highest honor. His estates in
Massachusetts were confiscated ; but every branch of his fam
ily was amply provided for by the British government.
WINSLOW, EDWARD, Junior. Of Massachusetts. Son of Ed
ward Winslow. He graduated at Harvard University in 1765.
712 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
In 1775 he joined the royal army at Boston, and entering the
king's service, became a colonel. In 1778 he was proscribed and
banished. In 1782 he was muster-master general of the Loyalist
forces employed under the crown. After the war he settled in
New Brunswick, and was a member of the first Council form
ed in that Colony ; Surrogate General ; Judge of the Supreme
Court; and finally, Administrator of the Government. He
died at Fredericton in 1815, aged seventy years. His son,
Edward F. Winslow, Esquire, is sheriff" of Carlton County,
New Brunswick. Judge Winslow was one of the founders of
the Old Colony Club, at Plymouth, and was one of its most
active members. He delivered the first anniversary address
of that association, on the 22d of December, or Fore-fathers'
Day, in 1770.
WINSLOW, ISAAC. A physician, of Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Son of General John Winslow. He graduated at Harvard
University in 1762. He commenced the practice of physic,
and though of the same principles as other members of his
family, remained upon his estate during the war and his life.
He died in 1819, aged eighty-one. His son John, an eminent
lawyer, deceased at Natchez, in 1820. His widow, Frances,
died at Hingham, in 1846, aged eighty-four; and his daughter
Ruth S., widow of Captain Thomas Dingley, died at Pem
broke, the same year. The family tomb of the Winslows is
at Marshfield, near the residence of the Honorable Daniel
Webster.
WINSLOW, ISAAC. Of Boston. In 1774 he was an Addresser
of Hutchinson, and in 1775 of Gage. He was appointed a
Mandamus Councillor, and was qualified. In 1776 he accom
panied the royal army to Halifax; and in 1778 was proscribed
and banished. In his religious sentiments, Mr. Winslow was
a Sandemanian.
WINSLOW, ISAAC, Junior. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutch
inson in 1774, and a Protester against the Whigs the same
year. In 1775 he was an Addresser of Gage.
WINSLOW, JOHN. Of Boston. An Addresser of Hutchinson
in 1774. In 1776 he accompanied the royal army to Halifax.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 713
WINSLOW, JOHN, Junior. Merchant, of Boston. An Addresser
of Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in 1775; was proscribed
and banished in 1778.
WINSLOW, JOHN. Of Marshfield, Massachusetts. He was
the grandson of the second, and the great-grandson of the first
Governor Winslow, of the Colony of Plymouth; and no native
of New England, probably, Sir William Pepperell only ex-
cepted, was more distinguished as a military leader, at the
time he lived. In 1740 he was a captain in the unfortunate
expedition to Cuba; and subsequently, endured much hard
service in the several enterprises against Crown Point, and
Nova Scotia, and to the Kennebec, in the two French wars.
He will be remembered in our annals, principally, for his agency
in the removal of the Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1755. The
force employed in that Colony at this period was composed
almost entirely of Massachusetts troops, specially enlisted for
the service, to act as a distinct body. They were formed into a
regiment of two battalions, of which Governor Shirley was the
Colonel, and of which, Winslow, then a half-pay captain in
the British army, and a major-general in the militia, was Lieu
tenant-colonel. As Shirley could not leave his government to
take the command in person, Monckton, a lieutenant-colonel in
the army, was appointed to conduct the first battalion, and
Winslow the second. There was, indeed, much adroit man
agement on the part of the Governor, in arranging the whole
affair; and the same remark may be made of those who par
ticipated in the enterprise elsewhere. It is especially applica
ble to Governor Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, and his Council.
The plan for abducting the Acadians was kept a profound
secret, both by those who formed it, and by those who were
sent to execute it.
A proclamation was issued by Colonel Winslow, requiring
the inhabitants of certain districts and " of all other districts,'7
" both old men and young men, as well as all the lads of ten
years of age, to attend at the Church at Grand Pre," on the 5th
of September, 1755, "at three o'clock in the afternoon, that we
may impart to them what we are ordered to communicate to
60*
714 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
them ; declaring that no excuse will be admitted on any pre
tence whatever, on pain of forfeiting goods and chattels, in
default of real estate." The victims came. Four hundred and
eighteen men assembled and were shut up in the church. This
done, Winslow placed himself in their midst with his officers
around him, and addressed them in a speech of some minutes ;
and after making known that it was " very disagreeable to his
natural make and temper " to communicate his instructions,
yet that it was not his business to "animadvert, but to obey
such orders as he should receive," he announced the cruel,
wholly unjustifiable decree, that their "lands and tenements,
cattle of all kinds and live stock of all sorts, are forfeited to the
crown; with all other effects, saving their money and house
hold goods," and that they themselves were " to be removed
from this his Majesty's Province." This, said he, "is peremp
torily his Majesty's orders, that the whole French inhabitants
of these districts be removed." On finishing his discourse, he
declared that all to whom it had been addressed, were "the
King's prisoners." In a short time, the number of persons col
lected, and on whom this edict was to fall, was four hundred
and eighty-three men, and three hundred and thirty-seven
women, who were heads of families, and their sons arid daugh
ters, to the aggregate of eleven hundred and three, making a
total of one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three. Their
stock consisted of seven thousand eight hundred and thirty-
three horned cattle, four hundred and ninety- three horses, and
twelve thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven sheep and
swine. Some of these wretched people endeavored to fly from
the doom pronounced against them, when "the country was
laid waste to prevent their subsistence." In one district alone,
six hundred and seventy-eight buildings, of which more than a
third were dwelling-houses, were destroyed.
The moment of embarkation is thus described. "The pre
parations having been all completed, the 10th of September
was fixed upon as the day of departure. The prisoners were
drawn up six deep, and the young men, one hundred and six
ty-one in number, were ordered to go first on board of the
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 715
vessels. This they instantly and peremptorily refused to do,
declaring that they would not leave their parents ; but ex
pressed a willingness to comply with the order, provided they
were permitted to embark with their families. Their request
was immediately rejected, and the troops were ordered to fix
bayonets and advance towards the prisoners, a motion which
had the effect of producing obedience on the part of the young
men, who forthwith commenced their march. The road from
the chapel to the shore, just one mile in length, was crowded
with women and children, who, on their knees, greeted them
as they passed with their tears and their blessings ; while the
prisoners advanced with slow and reluctant steps, weeping,
praying, and singing hymns. This detachment was followed
by the seniors, who passed through the same scene of sorrow
and distress. In this manner was the whole male part of the
population of the district of Minas put on board of five trans
ports, stationed in the river Gaspereaux; each vessel being
guarded by six non-commissioned officers and eighty privates.
As soon as the other vessels arrived, their wives and children
followed, and the whole were transported from Nova Scotia."
Hutchinson, in speaking of the distresses of these people, says:
"In several instances, the husbands who happened to be at a
distance from home, were put on board vessels bound to one of
the English colonies, and their wives and children on board
other vessels, bound to other colonies remote from the first.
One of the most sensible of them, describing his case, said, * It
was the hardest which had happened since our Saviour was
upon earth.1 '
Deeds of deeper, darker hue, have seldom been done. The
brute animals, at least, had committed no acts against the
majesty of England; but, "The volumes of smoke which the
half-expiring embers emitted, while they marked the site of the
peasant's humble cottage, bore testimony to the extent of the
work of destruction. For several successive evenings the cat
tle assembled around the smouldering ruins, as if in anxious
expectation of the return of their masters; while all night long
the faithful watch-dogs of the Neutrals howled over the scene
716 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of desolation, and mourned alike the hand that had fed, and
the house that had sheltered them." In another section of the
Colony, two hundred and fifty- three houses were set on fire at
one time, and their owners beheld the awful calamity from the
neighboring woods in unspeakable agony. When, at length,
an attempt was made to burn their church, they suddenly
emerged from the forest, slew and maimed about thirty of their
enemies, and quickly returned to " God's first temples." Seven
thousand of these wretched people were hunted up, in the
course of the year, and sent to different parts of the thirteen
Colonies. Sole and forlorn, they were to be met with after
wards in every principal town from Boston to Savannah.
Hundreds of them perished ; few were ever in comfort. Those
who were carried to Georgia, distant as they were from home,
attempted to make a voyage round the coast to Nova Scotia,
but after reaching New York and Boston, were met by orders
which compelled them to relinquish their design.
It is said by the historian,* from whom this brief narrative
is chiefly derived, that no records of this event have been pre
served in the archives of Nova Scotia. " The particulars of
this affair," he remarks, "seem to have been carefully con
cealed, although it is not now easy to assign the reason, unless
the parties were, as in truth they well might be, ashamed of
the transaction." There can be no excuse for the transporta
tion of the Acadians, and for the wanton destruction of their
possessions ; and humanity is shocked at the accounts, which,
though the contrivers of the plan "carefully concealed " their
relative agency in forming and executing it, have still been
preserved for the execration of mankind. The most responsible
persons appear to have been Charles Lawrence, Governor of
Nova Scotia, the members of his Council, the Honorable Vice
Admiral Boscawen, and Rear Admiral Moystyn. Colonel
Winslow was but the instrument, and acted under the Gov
ernor's written and positive instructions. Still, from the state
ments of another historian,! who was personally acquainted
* Haliburton. f Hutchinson.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 717
with all the circumstances, he must have known the nature of
the service before he voluntarily engaged in it. In truth, his
own popularity, and the assurances held out, that Governor
Shirley would command the expedition, and that he would be
the officer next in rank, seems to have been given, to gain the
assent of the Legislature of Massachusetts to send off her troops,
to promote enlistments of men, and to insure the success of the
measure generally. It is certain, also, that Win slow, so far
from being reluctant to engage in the duty, smothered his dis
pleasure when he ascertained that Shirley, instead of conduct
ing the enterprise, designed that Monckton should assume the
direction of it, and that he should still be second under this
arrangement.
Whatever were the offences of some of the Acadians, it is
undeniably true that, as a people, they were involved in hope
less and utter misery, in consequence of their unalterable at
tachment to their religion, and their devoted loyalty to their
sovereign ; and was the head of the most ancient and most
loyal family of New England the proper instrument to punish
them for faithfulness to conscience and to duty? Twenty years
after, as will be seen by the accompanying notices, nearly every
person of Winslow's lineage became sufferers in turn, and for
similar reasons ; and the fact, that they, by the force of events,
were transplanted to the very soil from which the Acadians were
expelled, and that men of their blood and name are now as
rarely to be met with in the country in which for a century and
a half they were prominent actors, as are those of French origin
in the former Acadia of France, affords another instance, and
the last to be recorded in this volume, of the vicissitudes of hu
man life, and the changes of condition effected by civil war.
In 1756 the indefatigable Shirley determined to raise three
thousand men in Massachusetts, to aid the mother country in
her operations against the French in America ; and of these,
and of six thousand other troops, Winslow was to be com-
mander-in-chief, with the rank of major-general. His zeal not
only prompted him to sustain this large requisition upon his
native Colony, but induced him to propose an increase of the
718 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
number. But causes of dissatisfaction existed in consequence
of some occurrences while upon the unhappy service the pre
vious year, just mentioned, and men enrolled themselves slow
ly and reluctantly. Before the quota was completed, Shirley
was superseded in his military authority, and the Massachu
setts troops, accordingly, performed but a secondary part in
the enterprises which succeeded. Win slow took the field at
the head of nearly eight thousand men, raised in New England
and New York, and was in position to meet Montcalm, who,
to save Crown Point and Ticonderoga, made a movement from
Oswego (which fell into his hands) by the route of the St.
Lawrence. As soon as the French General returned to Canada,
Winslow and his army returned to Massachusetts. The cam
paign was attended with no results ; discomfiture happened to
the British arms every where. Win slew's force was diminished
by considerable desertions, and by deaths on his march home
ward, and deaths in camp after he had reached the Colony ;
and he found, to add to his embarrassments, that the govern
ment had made no provision for the payment of his officers
and men. The latter difficulty was met by an appropriation
of the General Court, and the General was finally permitted to
enjoy repose.
In 1762 he was appointed one of the commissioners "to
repair to the river St. Croix ; determine upon the place where
the said easterly line [of Maine] is to begin ; extend the said
line as far as should be thought necessary ; and ascertain and
settle the same by marked trees, or other boundary marks."
William Brattle and James Otis were his associates, and they
made a report of their doings, which was printed. This may
have been the first of the many efforts made to solve that vexed
question — " Which is the true river St. Croix?"
In compliment to General Winslow, "the fourth of a family
more eminent for their talents, learning, and honors, than any
other in New England," one of the towns incorporated on the
river Kennebec, in 1771, was called by his name.* Of this
* It is still Winslow, though the town of Waterville was formed of a part
of it in 1802.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 719
town he was one of the original grantees in 1766 ; and it is an
interesting incident, as connected with his political sympathies,
that the first settlers were stanch Whigs, who, though living
almost in a wilderness, had their Committee of Safety, and in
1776, voted to raise or provide "one hundred and twenty-five
thousand of shingles, and ten thousand of clapboards, to pur
chase a town stock of ammunition." General Winslow was a
member of the Legislature of Massachusetts during the Stamp
Act difficulties, and acted, possibly, with the Whigs. He was
associated with Gushing, Dexter, and Samuel Adams, on sev
eral occasions, in preparing answers to the speeches of Gov
ernor Bernard, and the papers which, apparently, they jointly
submitted, contain very pungent rebukes, and an examination
of the grounds and principles of the controversy. He died at
Hingham, in 1774, aged seventy-one. His widow, I suppose,
embarked with the royal army in 1776. She was in England
in 1783, and enjoyed a pension from the government. As has
been remarked, the Revolution caused the removal of most of
the members of this ancient family ; and the Winslows of Brit
ish America are, probably, at the present time, the nearest
direct descendants of Edward Winslow, the Mayflower Pil
grim, and one of the earliest governors of the Old Colony.
WINSLOW, JOSEPH. The Committee of Newport, Rhode
Island, of which Jonathan Otis was chairman, wrote to the
Committee of Easthampton, New York, in June, 1775, that
he was "an inveterate enemy of our county," and that it
"was generally thought," he had gone to a hospital to take
the small-pox, for the purpose of spreading that disease in the
Whig camp at Cambridge. Thomas Gilbert and Ebenezer
Philips were charged with taking the small-pox for the same
purpose. The truth of such an averment may be doubted.
WINSLOW, JOSHUA. Of Boston. In 1760 he was one of
the fifty-eight Boston Memorialists, who arrayed themselves
against the officers of the crown, and in 1767 was a member of
the Committee of that town appointed to adopt means to stop
unnecessary importations, "which threaten the country with
poverty and ruin." But in 1774 he was an Addresser of
Hutchinson, and a Protester against the Whigs.
720 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WINSLOW, PELHAM. Attorney at law, of Plymouth, Massa
chusetts. Son of General John Winslow. He graduated at
Harvard University in 1753. In 1778 he was proscribed and
banished. He entered the royal service, and was a major.
He died at Long Island, New York, in 1783.
WINSTANTLY, THOMAS. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished
and his property confiscated in 1782.
WINTERMOOT, . Of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. He was
a noted adherent of the crown, and a large land proprietor.
A fort bearing his name was erected on his estate, and was
occupied by the miscreant Colonel Butler, as his head-quarters,
while on his murderous enterprise against Wyoming. Winter-
moot was himself active in bringing destruction upon the
valley, and after doing all the mischief in his power, removed
to Canada. In the war of 1812 he had a son in the British
service, with the rank of lieutenant, who was killed at Fort
Erie, by an American volunteer from the neighborhood of
Wyoming.
WISWALL, JOHN. An Episcopal clergyman, of Falmouth,
Maine. He was a son of John Wiswall, of Boston, and
graduated at Harvard University in 1749. He commenced a
school at Falmouth as early as the year 1753, at which time
he was a Congregationalist and a student of divinity. In
1756 he was ordained over the society in New Casco. He be
came deranged in 1762, and continued in an unsound state of
mind several months. In 1764 he changed his religious views,
and embraced Episcopacy. Several attempts were made be
fore the last named year, to form a society of Episcopalians at
Falmouth, but none had proved successful. At this time
great divisions existed in the only parish there, and after a
part of the members had agreed to secede and erect a church,
a quarrel arose among them, and "two of the most respectable
of" the seceders "fought in the street." Of the new society
Mr. Wiswall was invited to become the minister. The " sece
ders from the old parish had for some time been paying him
court," and he "suddenly left his people without the usual
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 721
formalities, declared for the Church of England," and accepted
the call. After preaching several times in the town-house, he
embarked for England to be ordained, and, as was common in
those days, took passage in a mast-ship. He returned in
May, 1765. His flock, July, 1766, consisted of seventy fami
lies, and, as he wrote at the time, of " a considerable number
of strangers." * The Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts contributed £20 per annum, and his
people paid the remainder of his salary. The latter, under
the existing laws, were required, also, to aid in the support
the minister and colleague pastor of the old parish ; but of
this burden they were eventually relieved by consent of both
parties, and by an act of the General Court. The two
parishes thus terminated their strife ; no others existed in that
part of Falmouth, which is now Portland, anterior to the Rev
olution.
But though religious differences came to an end, the increas
ing public disputes caused new divisions in Mr. Wiswall's
own communion. Among those who were offended, and
seceded because of their minister's loyalty, was General Pre-
ble, a very distinguished Whig, to whom the Provincial Con
gress first offered the command of the Massachusetts forces,
but who, on account of his age, declined the appointment,
when it was conferred upon General Ward. Mr. Wiswall,
however, continued to perform his duties, until Falmouth was
burned by Mowatt in 1775. In that wanton outrage, St. Paul's
Church, the building in which he officiated, was consumed.
His conduct during the troubles with Mowatt, which preceded
* Parson Smith, to whom Mr. Wiswall seems to have been a source of great
affliction, and a sort of evil genius, and who was either recording, that the
community was in a " sad toss," or in a " sad uproar," in consequence of the
dissensions which resulted in the formation of the Episcopal Church, says, in
his Journal: " June 29th, (Sunday,) The Lieutenant Governor, Judge
Oliver, Mr. Goff, Mr. Winthrop, and Mr. Bowdoin, at meeting," to hear
him. Though seventy families had gone off, that the good old man retained
the strangers of distinction, must have been, under the circumstances, highly
grateful to his feelings.
61
722 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the conflagration, caused much offence ; and while walking
with that miscreant, he was seized, and carried before the
Whig Committee, or Board of War, a prisoner. Though he
was soon released, his usefulness was at an end, and yielding
to circumstances, he soon departed from town. During the
war he went to England, and in 1778 was included in the
banishment act of Massachusetts. While abroad he received
some professional employment, and in 1781 was a curate at
Oxford. After the peace he returned to America, and settled in
Nova Scotia. He died in that Colony in 1812. His son, the
Honorable Peleg Wiswall, was appointed a Judge in the
Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in 1816, and died at Annapo
lis in 1836, aged seventy-four.
WITTINGTON, WILLIAM. Embarked at Boston with the Brit
ish army for Halifax.
WOGNER, JOHN. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. He was banished, and
his property confiscated, in 1782.
WOLGIMOT, JOHN. Of Tryon, now Montgomery, County,
New York. In 1775 a signer of a Declaration of loyalty.
WOOD, ELIJAH. Of Queen's County, New York. He was
an officer in the royal service, and in 1780 commanded the
party of Loyalists, who, after a skirmish of six hours, cap
tured the rebel privateer sloop Revenue.
WOOD, JOHN. Died at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1817,
aged eighty-one years.
WOOD, ROBERT. Of New York. Was a merchant of that
city, and a member of the firm of Peter Miller and Company.
In 1783 he went to St. John, New Brunswick, and established
himself in business the year following. He died at St. John in
1827, aged sixty-eight.
WOODBRIDGE, TIMOTHY. Of Massachusetts. A member of the
General Court in 1771 ; and of weight on the ministerial side.
WOODRUFF, NATHANIEL and JABEZ. Of Queen's County, New
York. In 1775 signed a Declaration of loyalty. In 1776
Jabez professed himself to Lord Richard and General William
Howe a loyal and well affected subject.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 723
WOODWARD, ISAAC. One of the first who left the United
States for New Brunswick. He died in that Province, No
vember, 1833, at the age of seventy-three. He belonged to the
society of the Friends.
WOODWARD, JESSE. Of Monmouth County, New Jersey.
His ancestor came to America three years after William Penn,
and built a stone house, which is still standing. He was a
man of consequence in his neighborhood, and was employed
by Lord Cornwallis to contract for stores and forage, for the
royal army. When his Lordship left that part of the country,
considerable sums were due to persons of whom Mr. Wood
ward had made purchases, for which he was held accountable ;
and unable to make payment, he was imprisoned by the Whig
authorities, and remained in confinement three years. In 1783
he removed to Beaver Harbor, New Brunswick, and thence to
St. John, where he died. He belonged to the religious society
of the Friends, or Quakers.
WOODWARD, JESSE. Of Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Son of Jesse Woodward. After receiving a good education, he
chose a seaman's life, and was absent on a voyage at the com
mencement of the struggle, and remained abroad until its
close. His political sympathies were, however, on the side of
the crown, and he joined his father's family in emigrating to
New Brunswick. He settled at St. John, and was a ship
master. He removed to Halifax in 1808 ; and died in Africa
in 1832. Three sons and six daughters survived him. His
son, Isaac Woodward, Esquire, of St. John, was recently a
County member of the House of Assembly.
WOODWARD, JOHN. Of Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Brother of the preceding. Although of the religious faith
of his father, he accepted a military commission, and in 1782
was an ensign, and at the close of the war a lieutenant in the
first battalion of New Jersey Volunteers. He settled at St.
John, New Brunswick, was the grantee of a city lot, and re
ceived half-pay. He died at St. John about the year 1805.
After his decease, his widow and children returned to New
Jersey. His son Leeson now (1846) resides at Philadelphia.
724 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WOODWARD, ROBERT. An ensign in the Third Battalion of
New Jersey Volunteers.
WOODWARD, THOMAS. Of Queen's County, New York.
Acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. He was among the
Addressers of Lieutenant Colonel Sterling, of the Forty-second
Regiment, April, 1779 ; as was Nathaniel Woodward, of the
same County.
WOODWARD, WILLIAM. Of Westchester County, New York.
A Protester.
WOOLEN, WILLIAM. An officer of the Customs. Embarked
at Boston in 1776 for Halifax, with the British army.
WOOLSEY, BENJAMIN MUIRSON. An officer of cavalry in the
Queen's Rangers. At the peace he settled in New Brunswick,
and was a major in the militia. He returned to the United
States.
WOOTTEN, MORRIS. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783.
WORDEN, JARVIS. Of North Castle, New York. Gave up
all for his loyalty, and was a grantee of St. John, New Bruns
wick, in 1783. He died at Greenwich, King's County, New
Brunswick, in 1842, aged eighty-six, and was buried by his
desire on his own farm.
WORDEN, JEREMIAH. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick,
in 1783.
WORDEN, SAMUEL. Of Murderkill, Delaware. Was pro
scribed in 1778.
WORMLEY, JOHN. A captain in the North Carolina Volun
teers.
WORRALL, THOMAS G. Embarked at Boston with the Brit
ish army for Halifax.
WORTHINGTON, JOHN, L. L. D. Of Massachusetts. He gradu
ated at Yale College in 1740, and devoted himself to the profes
sion of the law. The late President D wight, in speaking of him,
said that he was ua lawyer of the first eminence, and a man
who would have done honor to any town, and any country."
He was a member of the House of Representatives of Massa
chusetts in 1771 and in 1774, and was appointed a Mandamus
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 725
Councillor, but declined the perilous honor. Although on the
side of government, and opposed to the course of the Whigs,
he was moderate and temperate in his opinions and actions.
He continued in the country, and died at Springfield in 1800, at
the age of eighty-one. One of his daughters married the pure
and gifted Fisher Ames, another was the wife of Judge Bliss,
a Loyalist, who is noticed in these pages. Mr. Worthington
received the degree of Doctor of Laws.
WOSSORD, BENJAMIN. Of South Carolina. Was in office
under the crown after the capitulation of Charleston. His
property was confiscated.
WRAGG, JOHN. Of Broad Street, Charleston, South Carolina.
An Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780 ; and a Petitioner
to be armed on the side of the crown. He was banished and
his property confiscated in 1782.
WRAGG, WILLIAM. Of South Carolina. He was born in 1714,
and was educated and fitted for the practice of the law in Eng
land. After returning to South Carolina, he was a member of
the Assembly and of the Council for many years. In 1709 he
declined the appointment of Chief Justice of the Colony, that
he might give evidence to those whose political course he op
posed, that his own conduct was not influenced by the hope of
official distinction. Refusing to take an oath prescribed by the
Provincial Congress, he was compelled to go into banishment.
He embarked for Europe in the summer of 1777, but perished
on the passage, at the age of sixty-three. He possessed an
ample fortune, and, until the Revolutionary controversy com
menced, was held in the highest consideration. That he was
a gentleman of talents and of blameless life, was universally
admitted.
WREN, MILES. A grantee of St. John, New Brunswick, in
1783.
WRIGHT, DANIEL. Residence unknown. Went to Halifax
from Boston in March, 1776.
WRIGHT, ELIAS. Of New York. Went to New Brunswick
in 1783, was a grantee of St. John, and became a magis-
61*
726 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
trate. He died at Beaver Harbor, on the Bay of Fundy, in
1825, aged seventy-six.
WRIGHT, JAMES. Of Georgia. Was major of the Georgia
Loyalists.
WRIGHT, JOHN. A merchant, of Falmouth, Maine. Was
proscribed and banished in 1778.
WRIGHT. Fourteen of this name, of Queen's County, New
York, acknowledged allegiance, October, 1776. To wit:
Hallet, Joseph, Zebulon, Samuel, Nathaniel, Samuel, Thomas,
Nicholas, Gilbert, William, Gideon, Theophilus, George, and
Anthony.
WRIGHT, SIR JAMES, BARONET. Of Georgia. He was the son of
Judge Wright, of South Carolina. Sir James held at different
periods the highest posts in Georgia, having been Attorney
General, Judge, and Lieutenant Governor, before assuming the
government of the Colony in 1761. He was governor at the
commencement of hostilities, and was the last who adminis
tered affairs in the name of the king. In writing to the Earl of
Dartmouth, from Savannah, December, 1774, he said, that
" since the Carolina Deputies have returned from the Conti
nental Congress, as they call it, every means have been used to
raise a flame again in this Province." In the same letter he
remarked, that the proceedings of that Assembly had roused so
rebellious a feeling, as that "God knows what the conse
quences may be, or what man, or whose property may escape."
In 1776, such had been the progress of Revolutionary principles
in Georgia, that the communications of Sir James to the legis
lature were entirely disregarded. Having threatened the
Whigs that he would resort to a military force to stop their pro
ceedings, Colonel Joseph Habersham, a member of the Assem
bly, was directed to seize his person. Sir James gave his parole
of honor to confine himself to his own house, but soon violated
the pledge ; and making his escape to an armed vessel of the
crown in the harbor of Savannah, he planned an attack upon
the town, which proved unsuccessful. He embarked for Eng
land. In 1779 he was dispatched to re-assume the govern
ment of Georgia. Savannah at this time was in possession
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 727
of the king's forces ; and the Whigs under General Lincoln,
assisted by the French under Count D'Estaing, resolved to
recover it. An assault was made October 9th, but was unsuc
cessful, and caused the assailants the loss of nearly one thou
sand men. The friends of Sir James claim, that by his deter
mined zeal and spirit, the defence of his capital was "one of
the most brilliant events of the war in the South." This
defence, it is also affirmed, would not have been made but for
his vote in the council of war ; as the other members were
equally divided, when he decided for vigorous opposition to
the combined force sent to Georgia, though very superior to that
under Prevost, the royal general. Sir James, before the peace,
was at New York. At the close of the war he retired to Eng
land. He owned a large property in Georgia, which was con
fiscated. From " his situation, age, activity, and zeal, as well
as abilities, he was placed at the head of the Board of Agents of
the American Loyalists," for prosecuting their claims to com
pensation for losses. His own claim occupied the attention of
the commissioners for a considerable time. "After a long ex
amination of his case," they reported him " to have rendered
eminent services to Great Britain ; to have lost real and per
sonal property to the value of £33,702, and his office of Gov
ernor, value £1000 per annum." During the investigation, he
produced letters from Lord George Germaine, and Lord Mans
field. Sir James died in England previous to 1788, and was
succeeded in the Presidency of the Board of Agents by Sir
William Pepperell, of Maine.
WRIGHT, WILLIAM. Of Path Valley, Pennsylvania. Was
proscribed in 1778.
WYATT, JOSEPH. Of Charleston, South Carolina. An Ad
dresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
WYER, DAVID. Of Falmouth, Maine. He was bred to the
sea, and became a ship-master. His residence was at Charles-
town, Massachusetts, while thus employed, but he removed to
Falmouth, and was an officer of the Customs. When the
Revolution commenced he was still in office, and with all the
officers of the revenue of that port (Thomas Child only ex-
728 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
cepted, who was a Whig) abandoned the country. His loss
in the conflagration of Falmouth was inconsiderable, being
estimated at only £67. During the military possession of the
town by Thompson, and preceding that event, he was re
quired to give his presence before the Board of War as being
a Tory.
WYER, DAVID, Junior. Of Falmouth, Maine. Son of David
Wyer. He was born at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1741,
and graduated at Harvard University in 1758. In 1762 he
was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law
at Falmouth. Until the year 1774, he and Theophilus Brad
bury, who removed from Newbury, Massachusetts, were the
only lawyers who resided in that town, and of course they
were ever antagonists. It is said, too, that their characters
were as opposite as their position in Court. " Bradbury,"
(says the correct and diligent Willis, in his History of Port
land,) " was grave and dignified in his deportment, while
Wyer was full of gayety and wit, the shafts of which did not
always fall harmless from his adversary ; the life of the
former was marked by steadiness and uniformity, that of the
latter was desultory and irregular ; one was distinguished by
genius, the other by method ; they both had qualities to ele
vate them in society, and give them a fair rank in the Courts,
Bradbury was more of a special pleader, and by the weight
of his character and manners had great influence with the
Court and Jury; but Wyer often carried his point by the
vigorous sallies of his wit, and when he lost the jury, he fre
quently gained the laugh and the audience." They were
also of opposite sects in religion, and of different parties in
politics.
On the testimony of Governor Sullivan, and other lawyers
who practised in Maine prior to the Revolution, Daniel Davis,
Esquire, said of Wyer, that "he was a high-minded, sterling
fellow, of strong talents, an able and eloquent advocate, and
extremely independent in his opinions and character." Mr.
Wyer kept his office in his house, which was in Congress
Street, nearly opposite the north school-house. This house
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 729
was not burned in 1775, and is now (or was until a short time)
standing. If without the regular appointment and commis
sion of king's attorney, Mr. Wyer acted in that capacity when
occasion required the services of such an officer in the Courts
of Maine. He died in 1776 at Stroudwater, to which place he
removed after the burning of Falmouth, at the age of thirty-
five, of an epidemic which prevailed at that time, and which
carried off many persons old and young. His wife was a
Miss Russell, a niece of Thomas Russell. Mrs. Wyer and two
children survived him. One of the latter, a daughter, married
Captain Samuel Waite, of Portland. The three were living
in that city in 1833.
WYER; THOMAS. Of Falmouth, Maine. Brother of David
Wyer, Junior. He was born at Charlestown, Massachusetts,
June 15, 1744, and removing to Falmouth with his father, was
also employed as an officer of the Customs. He lost £325 in
real and personal estate by the burning of the town in 1775.
In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. In 1781 he was in
New York, where he was settled for the time with his wife.
In 1784 he went to St. Andrew, New Brunswick, with other
Loyalists, and continued there until his decease. He was an
agent of the British government for settling and allotting lands
to adherents of the crown in the Revolution, the first Sheriff
of Charlotte County, a Judge of the Common Pleas, and
Deputy Colonial Treasurer. He died February 24, 1824. He
had a numerous family, but only one son survived him. This
son, the Honorable Thomas Wyer, of St. Andrew, is a mem
ber of her Majesty's Council, Justice of the Common Pleas,
member of the Board of Education, Commissioner of Wrecks,
and Lieutenant Colonel of Militia. The wife of the first Mr.
Wyer was the daughter of Jeremiah Pote, a fellow Loyalist
of Portland, and a settler of St. Andrew. The family account
is, that, the senior Wyer was a graduate of Harvard Uni
versity, but no person of his name is found upon the cata
logue.
WYLLY, ALEXANDER. Of South Carolina. In 1782 his es
tate was amerced twelve per cent.
730 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WYLLY, ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. A captain in the King's
Rangers, Carolina.
WYNN, WILLIAM. Of Duchess County, New York. In 1783
he retired to New Brunswick, where he remained nineteen
years. He removed to Upper Canada, and died at Queenstown
in 1834.
YARBOROUGH, • . A captain. Of South Carolina. Was
in commission under the crown after the surrender of Charles
ton. Estate confiscated.
YEAMANS, JOHN. Of Duchess County, New York. Removed
to New Brunswick in 1783. He was the first member of the
Assembly returned from the County of Queens, and held a
seat in that body for many years. At the time of his decease,
he was the presiding magistrate of Queen's County. He died
in 1824, aged eighty-nine years. His son, Peter Yeamans,
Esquire, is a major of militia, and a magistrate of the same
County.
YORKE, THOMAS. His estate was confiscated, and he was
attainted and banished. In a memorial dated at London in
1794, he represented to the British government, that he had
not been able to recover debts due to him in America at the
time of his banishment, and he prayed for redress.
YOUNG, EPHRAIM. Was one of the first settlers of St. An
drew, New Brunswick, and lived there before the erection of a
frame-house by any one. He died at St. George, New Bruns
wick, October, 1841, aged eighty-eight. His wife, with whom
he lived sixty-six years, survived him. His descendants are
thirteen children, one hundred and eight grandchildren, one
hundred and forty great-grandchildren, and three great, great
grandchildren.
YOUNG, FRANCIS and GEORGE. Went to St. John, New Bruns
wick, at the peace, and were grantees of that city; the latter
died there in 1827, aged severity-one.
YOUNG, GEORGE. Of Charleston, South Carolina. Was an
Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton in 1780.
YOUNG, JOHN. Residence unknown. Was a lieutenant in
the King's American Regiment.
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 731
YOUNG, JOHN. Of Philadelphia. Lost his estate by confis
cation in 1779.
YOUNG, WILLIAM. Of Pennsylvania. Settled in New Bruns
wick, and died at Carlton in 1804, aged forty-nine, leaving
nine children.
YOUNG, WILLIAM. Of Rhode Island. Was banished from
the State, and was forbidden to return at his peril, by act of
June, 1783, after the peace.
YOUNG, . Of Little Lakes, (now the town of Warren,)
New York. Founded a small Colony, which was known as
Young's Settlement, of which he continued to be the head
man. In 1778, a party of Whigs plundered and burned his
habitation in retaliation for similar deeds of the Tories, at the
secluded hamlet of Andrus-town, in the vicinity. This per
son, possibly, was Frederic Young, Esquire, who, in 1775,
signed a Declaration of loyalty.
YOUNGHUSBAND, GEORGE and ROBERT. Were grantees of St.
John, New Brunswick, in 1783. The first was a member of
the Loyal Artillery, in 1795, and an alderman of the city in
1803.
ZABRISKIE, JOHN. A magistrate, of New Jersey. His estate
was confiscated during the war ; and by an act of December,
1783, it was given to Major General Baron Steuben, in reward
for his services. John Zabriskie, Junior, Esquire, was a mem
ber of the Bergen County Committee of Correspondence in
1774, as was also Peter Zabriskie, Esquire.
ZEDWITZ, HERMAN. A lieutenant-colonel in the Whig ser
vice and Continental army. In June, 1775, he petitioned the
New York Provincial Congress to be allowed to raise a regi
ment of six hundred men in Pennsylvania. In August of 1776
he was discovered in a correspondence with Governor Tryon,
of New York. The object of this correspondence, it appeared,
was to obtain a large sum of money to be immediately sent
him, on condition of his giving the royal commander informa
tion of the strength and situation of the army of Congress,
agreeably to a promise which he had made to Tryon previous
732 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
to his accepting the commission. He confessed, at his trial,
that he had written to Try on, and that the letter produced was
his; but he averred that his end was not treasonable, and that
his aim was to draw from the royal coffers the sum of £2000
sterling, to reimburse himself for expenditures in raising a regi
ment in Germany for the Marquis of Granby, which remained
unpaid. His life was saved by a casting vote. He was, how
ever, dismissed from the army, and declared incapable of hold
ing any military office under the United States. His perfidy,
it seems, was made known by a German, who had charge of
a communication to Governor Try on, but who carried it im
mediately to Washington.
ZUBLY, JOHN JOACHIM, D. D. He was the first minister of
the Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia. He was a
man of great learning, of vigorous and penetrating mind. In
1775 he was a member of the Provincial Congress of Georgia
that assembled at Tondee's Long Room, Savannah, July 4th ;
and preached a sermon in his own church before that body on
the alarming state of American affairs, for which a committee
was appointed to return him the thanks of the Congress. He
appears to have been an active member, and to have assented to
the measures which were adopted. On the 7th of July he was
selected as one of the delegates of Georgia to the Continental
Congress at Philadelphia, a fact which shows that he possessed
the confidence of his associates. He, however, expressed his
surprise at the choice, said that he thought himself to be an
improper person on many accounts, and declared that he
would not go unless he had the approbation of his people;
whereupon a committee was appointed to request their consent.
In the subsequent proceedings he assisted to prepare a letter
to the President of the Continental Congress, and an Ad
dress to the Governor of Georgia. The task of framing a
Petition to the King was assigned to his individual pen. His
name is attached to an appeal to the inhabitants of Georgia,
dated July 25th, in which it is said, that " A civil war in
America is begun. Several engagements have already hap
pened," and at the close, an earnest recommendation is made
OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS. 733
for " a steady perseverance in the cause of liberty." His con
gregation having given their assent that he should attend the
deliberations at Philadelphia, he declared his willingness to
undertake the duty, and returned his thanks for the honor
conferred, and the faith reposed, by his associates. He took
his seat in the Continental Congress accordingly, but was soon
detected in a correspondence with the royal governor of
Georgia. A copy of his letter was obtained, and Mr. Chase, of
Maryland, denounced him in open Congress as a traitor.
Doctor Zubly denied the charge, and called upon his accuser
for the proofs. But he did not wait for the nature of his offence
to be established, for he immediately fled. Mr. Houston, one
of his colleagues, was directed to pursue him, and to counter
act the evils to be apprehended from his defection. The
remainder of Doctor Zubly's life was embittered in conse
quence of his separation from his Whig friends, and he was
involved in most unhappy disputes. He died at Savannah
before the close of hostilities, in July of 1781. His prop
erty was forfeited under the confiscation laws.
THE END.
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