|
NICHOLAS HAGERMAN History of the Settlement of Upper Canada, Wm. Canniff,
1869 Among the
company of refugees which followed VanAlstine’s lead to Canada, was Nicholas
Hagerman. He settled in the
village of Adolphustown, almost in front of the U.E. Burying ground. The
point of land here between the Bay and the Creek is still known as Hagerman’s
Point. The whole of the land except the burying ground was cleared by
Hagerman. His house was situated a short distance west of the road leading
from the wharf up to the village. It was built near the water’s edge. The
short period which has elapsed since that building was erected has not only
consigned the builder to a grave almost unknown and the building to the
destructive tooth of time, but the very land on which the house stood, where
he and his family daily passed in and out, is now washed away by the
ceaseless waves of the bay. Mr. Hagerman was
a man of some education and it is said had studied law before leaving New
York. At all events he became one of the first appointed lawyers in Upper
Canada, probably at the time McLean, of Kingston was appointed. He continued
to live and practice law in Adolphustown until his death. “He was the first
lawyer to plead at these Courts. He was a self-made man.” – Allison. The writer’s
parents lived at and near the village of Adolphustown when young; they knew
the Hagermans well and for many a day and year
attended school with Nicholas Hagerman’s children. There were at least two
brothers, David and Christopher and two daughters, Betsy and Maria. Daniel
was a sedate person, but ‘Chris’ was a saucy boy. They were both elected to
Parliament at the same time, but Daniel died before the meeting of
parliament. Christopher studied law with his father at first, was a pupil of
Dr. Strachan’s and completed his legal studies in McLean’s office in
Kingston. The father and son were sometimes employed by opposing clients; at
one time in Kingston, the son won the suit, much to the annoyance of the
father. The father exclaimed, “have I raised a son to put out my eyes.” “No,”
replied the son, “to open them father.” At the
commencement of the war in 1812, Christopher went as Lieutenant with a
Company from Adolphustown to Kingston. Shortly after he was chosen
Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General. Thenceforth, his way to preferment was
steady. At the close of the war he was appointed Collector of Customs at
Kingston. The Gazette of 5th
September, 1815, says that Christopher Alexander Hagerman, Esq.,
Barrister-at-Law, was appointed to His Majesty’s Council in and for the
Province of Upper Canada. On the 26th
of March, 1817, he was married to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of James Macaulay,
Esq., Kingston. |
J. W. HALL
of Napanee Remarkably Active for His
Years -
Commences 94th Year on
Friday Was a Former Reeve
(Scrapbook clipping, year not given) NAPANEE,
Dec. 23 - J. W. Hall, one of the best known and highly respected citizens of
Napanee quietly observed his 93rd birthday today. He is remarkably active and is enjoying
fairly good health for one so advanced in years. With the exception of slightly impaired
eyesight, his faculties are all well preserved. Practically every day he is downtown for a
short time. He was born in
the Township of Richmond and is a son of the late William Hall, who came to
Canada from Ireland, and Mary Diamond, a United Empire Loyalist settler of
the Hay Bay district. He is one of a family of four, and is the last
surviving member. During his long life
he has enjoyed the confidence and regard of a large circle of friends. While residing in Richmond he was a member
of the Selby United Church and since coming to Napanee has been a member of
Trinity United church. He was a member of the Richmond Council for some years
and for three years was reeve. He
resides on Centre Street, and with him are his son, Edgerton Hall, and Mrs.
Hall. He was married twice, his first
wife having died more than forty years ago, and his second wife having passed
away about three years ago. |
|
JOHN HAM Settlement of Upper Canada, Wm.
Canniff, 1869 John
Ham, the founder of the Ham family of Canada, so well and so favorably known
in different sections of the Province. He was born near Albany. His father
was a native of Germany, although of English parentage. John Ham was a
soldier during the war and in one of several engagements, was wounded in the
leg. The ball, lodging in the calf, was cut out and at the request of the
suffering but brave hero, was shot back at the foe. He was one of the company
who settled in Ernest Town. He had a family of ten children, eight of them
being sons, namely; John, Henry, Peter, George, Jacob, Philip, Benjamin and
Richard, all of whom lived and died in Canada. |
THE HAM FAMILY
(From the Scrapbooks of J. Wright) For
the Napanee Beaver: MR. EDITOR – As you often give incidents and occurrences interesting to your
readers, will you allow me through your columns to give you an occurrence
rarely met with. As the parties connected are known to the most of your
readers, and very many interested, being so widely connected, I will give the
names as well as the occurrence. I presume your readers or most of them know or have heard of one
of the old U.E.'s by the name of Ham, who settled in Ernestown, father to him
of whom I am about to speak, Mr. John Ham, his oldest son. Mr. Ham married a
daughter of another old U.E. Mr. Asahael Bradshaw,
and settled in North Fredericksburgh and there lived and died, leaving behind
him twelve children six sons, and six daughters, having buried an infant,
which made their offspring thirteen children. The twelve grew to manhood and
womanhood and all married but two. Some of them have settled near the home of
their father, whilst others were scattered from each other throughout
America. And now for the peculiarity of the occurrence. They all met at the old homestead, now owned by the youngest
son, on Sunday last, to greet each other and once more set around the old
fireside, and surround the old table together, as they did in the days of
their childhood. I said the occurrence was a peculiar one, and so it was, it
being over thirty one years since they had all met before, which was at the
burial of their father. They met, strange to say, an unbroken
family, the oldest being sixty five and the youngest thirty-nine, and
although they had stood the blasts of time, they all filed an appearance in
much vigor, and in good health - and I thought if their worthy sire had been
seated in their midst he would have felt as proud as did the old patriarch, Jacob
of old, when surrounded by his twelve sons. The scene was a pleasing one as you may well imagine. Solomon
says "as iron sharpeth iron so the countenance
of another his friend," If that be true, which we have no reason to
doubt, what must have been the feelings of the meeting of those of such close
kin. And although the meeting was a pleasing one to them, yet it must have
carried with it keen reflections, as it was evident to them when scattered so
widely again to their old homes, it was not at all probable they would all
ever meet again on the shores of time to greet each other with how do you do
brother and sister, I am pleased to meet you here. And as I was the first to break up the family circle over 43
years ago, if they do not meet again for another 31 years to come, it is very
evident I shall not be there to meet them, so I may say to my brother and
sister now - adieu - adieu.
E. SILLS
Children of Rev. John Ham & Esther Bradshaw Simeon
Perry b. 1809 [m. Elizabeth Scott] Elizabeth b.
1810 [m. Elisha Sills] George
Thatford 1812-1899 [m. Eleanor Pruyn] Deluw b.
1814 [m. Mary Casey] Azubah 1816-1902
[m. Solomon Wright] [middle
row, seated, right] Ira b.
1818 [ m. Almeda Haight] Martha 1820-1904
[m. Byard Detlor] Cynthia b.
1822 [m. Billings Warner] Eleanor b.
1824 [unmarried] Concurrence b.
1827 Rebecca b.
1830 [m. Perry Truax Ham] John D. 1832-1903 [unmarried] Zina 1835-1911
[m. Mercia Amanda Miller] |
|
GEORGE D.
HAWLEY A Good Man Has Been Given the Office Several Funerals. Weekly British Whig Apr 29 1895 Napanee, April 26 - Considerable excitement
was displayed, yesterday, in town, when the announcement appeared in the Globe
that George D. Hawley, ex-M.P.P. had been appointed to the vacant shrievalty,
caused by the death of O.T. Pruyn. As the excitement abates general
satisfaction is expressed in the appointment, as Mr. Hawley is well deserving
of the office. He is a man who has served the party faithfully and although
there are a number of disappointed aspirants on the whole the appointment
gives general pleasure. Mr. Hawley was born in the township of
Fredericksburgh, on April 3rd, 1841, the son of a United Empire loyalist. He
was educated in Kingston, at Queen's, and at once took an interest in public
affairs. At one time he was elected a municipal councillor and then a
legislator. He enjoyed several terms in the Ontario parliament, after
enduring the political opposition and persecution that fell to few. Mr. Hawley is a fluent and easy speaker and
a very popular gentleman.
|
|
REUBEN
HAWLEY A Lennox
Veteran Sketch of
One of the Men Who Has Lived Many Years Daily British Whig Nov 3 1896 One of the oldest
natives of Lennox residing in this locality is Reuben Hawley, Esq., of North
Fredericksburgh. He is now in his eighty-ninth year, and is still hale and
active. He may often be seen driving his carriage through our streets. His
mind and memory are yet clear, his health remains good and he bids fair to be
one in our midst for some years yet. He comes from a strong and healthy
parentage. His mother lived to be ninety-four years of age a number of his
relatives passed many mile stones beyond the allotted three score and ten. Mr. Hawley was
born in 1808 a short distance beyond what is now the old village of Camden
East, but that was years before any village had an existence there. His
parents moved to the farm where he now resides, on the Napanee river, and he
has lived there ever since - eighty-four continuous years on the same farm.
He has been a farmer all his life time, an excellent type of those
industrious, prosperous, intelligent and loyal farmers for which this country
is so noted. His father, Jehial Hawley, established
a distillery there in the good old days when it is said, "there were
more distilleries in the county than mills and more taverns than
churches," and when almost every
farmer considered his barrel of pure rye whiskey almost as much one of the
necessaries of life as his barrel of flour. He has always been a temperate
man, however. The liquors of those days were wonderfully different from the
fiery corn extract of today, but even then many had much reason to regret the
results of their use at all. Mr. Hawley well
remembers when there were but very few pretentions to a village where our
town of Napanee now stands. All that there was here in his early days was a
small flouring mill, the property of the Hon. R. Cartwright, (the grandfather
of Sir Richard) which stood about where the Herring foundry is now located,
but that was many years before the present hydraulic canal was built. There
was also a small store, standing near where the Gibbard company's finishing
shop now stands, on Dundas street. It was owned and carried on by Major
McPherson, the first merchant and post master here, and for many years one of
the most prominent and successful business men. He was also one of the first
magistrates in this county. A little east of that on the opposite side of the
street, stood the "Old Red Tavern", which was well known to all the
early inhabitants of this section. The same building is standing yet - the
old frame dwelling house one door west of Wilder Joy's. Mr. Hawley states
that it is the oldest house now standing in Napanee. We are informed that our
late well-known townsman, Archibald McNeill, was born in that house. It has
been continuously occupied ever since. Mr. Hawley has
always been a man of quiet and retiring habits and therefore never took a
very prominent part in political affairs. He has been a life-long supporter
of the old reform party, however, and his sympathies and support are still
with that party. His grandfather, Davis Hawley, who resided near Hawley P.O.,
South Fredericksburgh, one of the leading pioneers of this district, was a
near neighbor and a very active supporter of Peter Perry, who was over sixty
years ago one of the powerful leaders of the party in Upper Canada.
Associated with Peter Perry was Marshall Bidwell, at one time a resident of
Bath, who also represented this county from 1828 for years and was speaker of
the house and one of the ablest men in the party. These men long had the
active support of the Hawley family in this county. The elections in those
days were generally held for a whole week, and for years at "Fralick's Tavern, near the brick church, at Morven, where
B.B. Vanslyck now resides. Sheriff George D. Hawley is a cousin of the
subject of this sketch, and so are Davis Hawley Miller and William Miller,
ex-warden of the old midland district and ex-M.P.P. of Lennox and Addington,
was a brother-in-law. His relative throughout the country are numerous and
very respectable. He is the last, however, of a large and influential family.
Mr. Hawley reared a family of six children, two of whom died some years ago.
These were Homer, who died a young man at the family residence; Flindall, who
died in Napanee a few years ago and whose family now reside in town. The
living members are George, who resides on the homestead, Mrs. A.I. Bogart, of
Deseronto; Mrs. George Lasher, of Toronto, and Mrs. G.H. Williams, of
Napanee. |
|
JACOB
HILLIER & HIS WIFE SARAH DAVEY They’re
a Very Old Couple Husband
and Wife for Eighty-Eight Years The Story
of a Venerable Pair Who Began Life in Ernesttown Township But Are
Now Residents in Michigan A
Great Grandchild Over Thirty Years of Age Weekly British Whig July 3 1897 “BORN – At
Ernesttown, Upper Canada, 20th October, 1789, Jacob Hillier. At
the same place, on 16th March, 1791, Sarah Davey. “MARRIED – At
Ernesttown, by Rev. Robert McDowall, Presbyterian Minister, on 21st
April 1809, Jacob Hillier and Sarah Davey, at the bride’s parents. Thus reads the
record. These old people, 106 and 108 respectively, who have lived together
in the relation of husband and wife eighty-eight years are residents of
Michigan. A parallel case is unknown. They live in a cabin, 14 x 16 feet and
are very poor. Their youngest son, a man of fifty-six [sic],
lives a few yards away and looks after his parents very tenderly. He has a
ten acre lot, from which, and laboring for others, he makes a living for his
own family and his parents. Mrs. Hillier looks very old. Her face is
wrinkled; hands hard, with the skin apparently fast to the bones. She is very
greatly bent; her sight is very dim. Her hearing is very acute and she has
lost none of her mental power. Memory, not only of the long ago, but of
events all through her life, is really wonderful and her voice is clear and
musical. She sits on the edge of the bed most of the time. Mr. Hillier is
straight as an Indian, stands about six feet and weights about 180 pounds. He
has not used spectacles for fifty years and can now see to thread a fine
needle; hearing is very keen and voice strong and resonant; does not use a
cane, and occasionally walks out a mile or so to visit friends, without fatigue. They are very cheerful, contented
and happy. At the age of
forty-six he left Ernesttown and went to Dorchester, Canada, remaining there
a few years, thence to Marine City, Mich. Here he bought a fine farm and
eleven years ago, thinking they would not want it much longer, sold the farm
and divided with their children. One son was to care for them. The county
gives them $6 a month and their sisters help them a little. The old man had
not taken so much as a box of pills in his life, had very seldom employed a
doctor, was perfectly free from pain, has no rheumatism or joint stiffness.
He tilled this year a little garden, perhaps half or quarter of an acre.
Accident apart, he is good for several years yet. His eldest son lives near
Oil Springs, Ont., and is eighty-eight; he has a son fifty-six, who in turn
has a son thirty and he supposed his great-grandchild, had a family. Think of
a great-grandchild over thirty years old! Jacob
Hillier and His Wife The Oldest
Married Couple now Known to be living. They are
natives of this county The Napanee
Beaver 1897 It may be
of considerable interest to readers of THE NAPANEE BEAVER to know that the oldest married couple of
which there is now any known record in America, if not in the world, are
natives of Lennox County. They are Jacob
Hiller and his wife, now residents of the little town of Elkton,
Michigan. They were both born in
Ernestown, a couple of miles south of Odessa, during the later years of the
last century; they were married there
and were residents of the township for
many years, and there all their children were born - eleven in number.
Nearly forty years ago, at the time of the breaking out of the last great
American civil war, they moved to Michigan and there all the surviving
members of the family now reside. SOME FAMILY HISTORY
Jacob Hiller was
born on the 20th of October, 1790, and has therefore now already
seen his one hundred and seventh birthday.
Mrs. Hiller was born in March, 1792, and will be one hundred and five
next month. They have still in their
possession an old newspaper recording the death of his father at the age of
107. They were
married in Ernesttown in April 1810 and will therefore soon celebrate the
eighty-seventh anniversary of their wedding.
We doubt if another record can anywhere be found of any other two
persons now living who have been so long married. Several old residents of Napanee and this
locality will remember the old couple when they were residents of this
county. William Hiller, a member of
the same family, lived and died a few years ago on his farm just east of I.
B. Aylsworth, Esq., ex-reeve of Ernesttown; his wife died last winter. Three
of their sons, Benjamin, Peter and Gilbert, are now well known residents of
the township and well-to-do farmers. Dr. Solomon Cartwright Hiller, now a
well known practicing physician at Bowmanville, is also a member of the same
family. William, another son who was
also a doctor, was accidentally killed a few years ago. Some of the surviving sons of the venerable
old couple now reside in Michigan. Mrs. Dennis
Neville, a resident of Thomas Street, this town, is a sister of Jacob Hiller.
The family are of U.E. Loyalist
descent. Jacob’s father was a young
man resident in New York State before the American revolution. He joined the ranks of the British army and
did service during the war. At its
close he joined one of the early United Empire Loyalist bands that came to
Canada and became one of the first pioneers of “Second town,” now Ernesttown,
in the county. AMERICAN
NEWSPAPER REPORTS In consequence
of the wonderful longevity of these old people they have become subjects of
great interest to leading American newspapers. There now lies before us an illustrated
copy of the Cincinnati Enquiry of January 31st with a two column
report of a recent visit of one of its correspondents to their humble home,
accompanied by a two column engraving of the old pair, as they appeared on
that day. We have also before us a
similar illustrated article from a leading
Detroit daily of a few months earlier and containing also a view of
their residence and of several buildings in the village near which it is
located. From the Enquirer’s article
we take the following extracts: “A cheery but
noticeable feeble ‘come in’ answered a knock at the door. It came from Grandpa Hiller whose welcome
was extended. In the farther corner
of the room was an ordinary bed,................. which was spotless and
...............................…could be called a tall man, but medium in
height and build. He appears a man
well calculated to endure hardship where larger and stronger men would
fail. He presents the appearance of a
muscular son of toil. Today, even
after his struggle through a century of years, on can scarcely credit the
astounding fact that a man so spry and erect had conquered the dangers of 107
years. His step is still firm and
regular and his hand steady. His face
is wrinkled but his eye is still bright.
His long patriarchal hair falls in snowy whiteness over his
shoulders.” Regarding Mrs.
Hiller, the writer says “Time has dealt more harshly with her, who sat almost
helpless in the corner, almost bent double with her many years, her gray head
nodding in feebleness, and her sightless eyes denied the blessing of God’s
fair sunlight. In youth she must have
been fair. Even yet the old lady’s
hands are soft and of silken texture like some rural girl.” Later on in the same interview she is
reported to have said; “Jacob is still
strong but I suffer a lot. He can see,
but I wear specks, and even then can’t see anything. I am not going to live much longer.” SOME EARLY REMEMBRANCES
Among other
things reported the old man said: “I
was quite a lump of a boy when the war of 1812 was on. I used to carry milk
to the poor soldiers who were wounded.
The war around Kingston was all on water. When they were done fighting they would
throw their dead overboard. I helped
to pull the bodies ashore and helped bury them. That was a bad war. The British fought like demons against the
States, and the Yankees were just as fierce.” At that time,
according to his own record of his birth, he must have been still a boy just
emerging from his teens. It will be remembered that, during the campaign of
1813 especially, several naval demonstrations were made against Kingston, in
which the Americans got such a hot reception that any further attempts to
capture the city were abandoned. Of
this section of the country in his early days he is reported to have said;
“Canada was then only a big bush. The
country was new and the settlers were just as green as they could be. The schools were few and far between. Children had but little chance for
education in those days.” Strange to say,
the old man’s eyesight yet remains good, and he has cut several new teeth
within the past few years. He reads
without spectacles, - in fact he has never used any. He reports that, years ago when they
supposed their end must be near, they sold their effects and went to live
with one of their children, but in course of time resolved to again keep
house for themselves and have been doing so, in their own quiet way for the
last six or seven years. Their oldest
son, they report, is now 86 years of age and their youngest past 57. We doubt if another similar record of such
great longevity and of so many years of married life can be found on
record. Their history gives another
illustration of the healthful and bracing climate of this section of
Canada. Lennox County has become well
noted for its Grand old men and noble old women. Additional Facts Regarding the Hiller Family Formerly
of Ernesttown Township Daily British Whig, Mar 8 1897 Henry S. Davy, Odessa, one of the Ontario license commissioners for
Lennox county, sends us additional particulars of the Hillier family, of
which mention was made two weeks ago. On account of their great age, and of
their having been now nearly eighty-seven years married - the oldest married
couple now known to be living in America, some have been inclined to doubt
the correctness of the dates. Mr. Davy, however, leaves no reason for doubts
on that score. He is a nephew of the old couple, and has had in his
possession the old German family bible in which the Hillier family record was
kept. Mrs. Jacob Hillier was Miss Sarah Davy, an aunt of H. Davy, and the old
family record shows that she was born a little east of Bath, near Mill Haven,
in 1792, and is therefore now 105 years of age. Her father, Peter Davy, came
into Upper Canada in company with Jacob Hillier, father of the present
venerable centenarian. They were brothers-in-law. Peter Davy died in
Ernesttown, a little north-east of Odessa. The elder Jacob Hillier died near
Odessa, years ago, at the advanced age of one hundred and six years and seven
months. He is yet well remembered by many residents of the township. His
eldest daughter, whose mother was killed by the Indians during the war, died
a few years ago, aged 103. Three of Mrs. Hillier's sisters also lived to a
great age. The last surviving one died in Odessa two years ago, aged
eighty-eight. Another died at ninety, and the third at ninety-three. A
brother also died at ninety-three; he was some years younger than the present
Mrs. Jacob Hillier, of Michigan. Mr. and Mrs.
Jacob Hillier were married at the old Davy homestead, lot thirty-six, fourth
concession of Ernesttown, some time before the war of 1812 and settled in a
log cabin near that place and remained there for years. During the war the
young husband was engaged in drawing provisions to Kingston for the soldiers,
and the young wife often cried for fear that he young "hubby" would
fall into the hands of the "Yankees." It was about that time their
first child was born. They lived in this humble cabin until nearly all their
children were born. H. Davy has still in his possession the hearth stone of
that cabin. The family afterwards moved into the township of Portland,
Frontenac county, where they remained until they moved to Michigan nearly
forty years ago. H. Davy has still in his possession some of the business
papers of the Hillier family, as his father transacted their legal business.
There is abundant evidence that their own statements regarding their great
age, their marriage eighty-six years ago, and their early history are
substantially correct. |
|
HENRY
HOOVER VISIT TO
THE OLD HOMESTEAD By Four
Ladies Whose Combined Ages Number 321 Years Daily British Whig Sept 10 1888 On Saturday last, three daughters of the
late Henry Hover, Adolphustown, a U.E. Loyalist, met at Mrs. Joseph B.
Allison's, also a daughter of Henry Hover. Their combined ages number 321
years, 7 months and 7 days. As the daughters of a U.E. Loyalist they each
drew 200 acres of land. Their respective names and residences are: Mary, wife
of the late Joseph B. Allison, Adolphustown; Margaret, wife of the late
Edward Squires, Eckford, West Middlesex; Eva, wife of the late Rev. C.R.
Allison, Picton, and Millicent, wife of Peter VanPatten, Picton. They are all
hale and hearty. They looked over the old homestead lot now the property of
George N. Harrison, a nephew. Looking at the old house, in which they were
born, they could see marked evidence of decay, but looking in front they
could see the Bay of Quinte with its waters as fresh and beautiful as in the
days of childhood. Henry Hover, their father, was one of the hardy men that
helped to cut the first trees of the forest and to turn the wilderness into
fields of husbandry. He suffered great privations and hardships during the
war. He was taken prisoner when a little over fourteen years of age, was
chained to an old man and there kept for eighteen months, until the old man
died. At the age of sixteen he was exchanged as prisoner of war and was then
attached to that command known as Butler's rangers. He was again taken
prisoner and subjected to great privations; yet through all he never
surrendered his devotion to the British flag, and after the close of the war
followed it into the woods of this country. His brother, who accompanied him,
was the first grown person that was buried in the old U.E. Loyalist cemetery.
Henry lived to a good old age, and died on the farm drawn by him as a U.E.
Loyalist. HENRY
HOOVER History of the Settlement of Upper Canada, Wm. Canniff,
1869 Henry Hover was quite a boy when the rebellion was
progressing, being about sixteen when the Declaration of Independence was
signed. Living along the Hudson, near New York, he went out one day for the
cows, when he was caught by some rebels and carried to Lancaster jail. After
being in prison for some time he was released, and permitted to go to New
York. He some time after, by some means, enlisted in Butler's Rangers, and
set out, with four others (one his brother), to traverse the wide country on
foot, from New York to Fort Niagara, the headquarters of the company. Lying one night under the trees, they were suddenly
attacked by a scouting party of rebels, by being fired upon. One was killed,
and the rest taken prisoners. Henry Hover remained in prison, in chains,
until the close of the war, nearly two years. The hardships and cruelties he
endured were, indeed, terrible. When he was taken prisoner he had on a pair
of linen trowsers; no others were ever given him.
They had nothing to lie upon but the cold brick floor, two persons being
chained together. Years after, a stranger called one day at Hover's in
Adolphustown. Hover not being at home, the man wrote his name, "Greenway,"
the man to whom Henry had been chained for many a weary day and month in
prison. Hover being released at the close of the war, reported
himself at Niagara, and was discharged with the rest of his company. He
received all his back pay, while in jail, and a grant of land at St. David’s
but his father, Casper Hover, a refugee, had settled in Adolphustown, having
come in Major VanAlstine's corps. Henry wished to see his parents, from whom
he had been so long separated, and sought a chance to go down from the Niagara
frontier. He entered on board an old "hulk," an old French vessel
coming down the lake, and so got to Kingston, which place he reached soon
after VanAlstine's company had settled in the fourth Township. Henry set out from Kingston on foot, along the bay,
through the woods. In time he arrived at the third township. He was
misdirected across to Hay Bay. Following its shores, he met Holland's
surveying party, who told him that he was astray, and put him on the correct
track. Henry Hover determined to remain at the bay, and was included among
the original settlers under VanAlstine, drawing land like the rest, being the
only one who did not belong to that company. He sleeps from his warfare -
from his long life of well-spent industry, in the "old U.E. Burying
ground," at the front, in Adolphustown. |
|
JOHN
HOWELL History of the Settlement of Upper Canada, Wm. Canniff,
1869 John Howell, a son of Richard Howell, from Wales, was born
in New Jersey in 1753. When 24 years old he took up his residence at Johnstown,
on the Mohawk river. At the commencement of hostilities, in 1776, he joined
Sir John Johnson's 2nd battalion, and was raised to the position of
sergeant-major. He remained in the army during the war, doing duty at St.
Johns, Coteau du lac and
at many other places. When his company was disbanded at Oswego, in 1782, he
came immediately to Kingston, and thence to Fredericksburgh, where he settled
upon his lot of 200 acres. By adhering to the loyal cause, Sergeant Howell
suffered serious loss in real estate. The pleasant town of Rome now stands
upon the land which was his. His valuable property was not yielded up to the
rapacious rebels without a legal effort to recover possession. The case was
in court for many years and Sergeant Howell spent $1,400 in vain efforts to
recover. No doubt it was prejudged before he spent his money. An event in Howell's life during the war is not without a
touching interest. Before joining the regiment, he had courted and won the
heart of a fair lady at Johnstown. While stationed at Coteau
du lac he obtained permission during the winter,
when hostilities were suspended, to go to Johnstown to obtain his bride.
Guided by seven Indians, he set out to traverse a pathless wilderness, on
snow-shoes. The wedding trip had its perils, and almost a fatal termination. On their return they lost their way in the interminable
woods, and soon found themselves destitute of food. For days they were
without anything to eat. One day they shot a squirrel, which, divided among
them, was hardly a taste to each. The thongs of their shoes were roasted and
eaten, to allay the pangs of hunger. At last they succeeded in shooting a
deer, which had well nigh proved the death of some from over-eating. Two of
the men were left behind, but they subsequently came in. Sergeant
Howell’s loss as a loyalist was great; but, so far as could be, it was made
good by Government. He drew 1,200 acres of land as an officer and the same
quantity for his family. At an early date after his arrival at the Bay he was
appointed Commissioner in the Peace; and subsequently he was made Colonel of
the Prince Edward Militia. Soon
after settling in Fredericksburgh, he built a windmill, probably the first
mill built by an individual in the Province. He afterwards sold it to one
Russell. The remains still mark the spot. He
finally settled in Sophiasburgh, while it was yet considered by the infant
colony as the backwoods of the settlement. He was a man of liberal education
for the times and was conversant with the Dutch and French languages and
understood the Indian dialect. From his former connection with the Johnson
settlement upon the Mohawk, and his close contiguity to the Mohawk Indians
upon the Bay, he held a high place in their regard. He often visited them;
and their chiefs as often paid him state visits. They often called upon him
to settle their disputes which he never failed to do by his sternness and
kindness combined. His presence was sufficient to inspire awe amongst them
when disposed to be troublesome which was increased by his long sword which
he would hang to his side. |
|
RICHARD
HUFF Was one of
a Splendid Group of the United Empire Loyalists Who Came to Canada in 1776 Daily British Whig Jan 17 1924 [NOTE: dates are as written in article] B.M. Wylie, 351 Westmorland avenue,
Toronto, writes in the Picton Times his forebears: My grandfather Richard Huff was eighteen
months old at the time the United States (thirteen colonies) declared their
independence July 4th 1776 and immediately thereafter left the
farm at Kattskills, where he was born, with his father, Solomon Huff and
family to make their way as best they could through the unblazed wilderness
of Northern New York State, towards Canada. They finally reached a point on
the St. Lawrence river (now Ogdensburg) where they crossed and ultimately
reached Fort Frontenac (now Kingston), late in the same fall. They were cared
for at this military post during the winter of 1776 and in the following
summer got land location in the Fourth Town of the County of Lennox and
Addington, Adolphustown, where Solomon felled trees and built a shelter for
his family. So my grandfather would then be about 2 ½ or three years old when
the family got settled, and therefore entitled to be classed as a pioneer,
and as such subsequently got allotment of 160 acres of land in the 5th
Town of Prince Edward county, North Marysburgh. The first “meeting house” or church built
in Upper Canada was on the farm of Paul Huff, uncle of my grandfather, and at
camp meeting held about the time of its dedication, eighteen young people
were drowned while crossing hay Bay, and grandfather assisted in recovery of
the bodies, he being then about eighteen years of age, and married to Sophia
Snider, aged fifteen; they both becoming members of the church during that
protracted meeting conducted by a
minister named Losee, or to be exact in wording the narrative I should say
elder instead of minister, viz.; Elder Losee, Elder Case, etc., for the
Reverend did not come into common use until years after. But be it understood
that these elders held full authority to solemnize marriage and administer
sacraments according to the Pilgrims’ polity, carried into Upper Canada by
the U.E. Loyalists in 1776-7 at Adolphustown. My grandparents were reared in this pioneer
element, subject to all the hardships of those early days, and the
impressions on their young minds gleaned from the traditionary stories of
their fathers and mothers as related around the log fires on the stone
fireplaces concerning their progenators were never effaced from their
memories, and ever formed subjects for conversation in their declining years,
and for hours they would enjoy reviewing these early scenes. |
|
THE
HUFFNAIL FAMILY The Last
of an Old U.E. Loyalist Family That Inhabited
South Fredericksburgh Township An
Historical Sketch By An Old Friend Daily British Whig Feb 26 1916 Napanee Feb. 26 – A.R. Davis, Toronto
writes in the Beaver: There passed away on January 16th,
1916 in Mohall, North Dakota, the last member of an old United Empire
Loyalist family of South Fredericksburgh, in the person of Mrs. Elsie
Huffnail, relict of the late St. George Detlor, in her 93rd year.
Deceased was one of a large family of daughters of Jacob and Jane Huffnail,
several of whom married and settled in their native township and
Adolphustown, each of them, like Mrs. Detlor, raising a large family, which
have now become scattered far and wide. Mrs. Detlor reared eight daughters, all of
whom were married, and spent her declining years with the youngest, Mrs. W.D.
Keenan, in North Dakota, where in 1900, this octogenarian filed on a
homestead and obtained her patent for 160 acres. She came of a sturdy race. Her grandfather, Andrew Huffnail,
who died in 1841 at the age of 70 as recorded in the old U.E.L. cemetery at
Adolphustown where he and his son, Jacob, who died in 1880 at the age of 83,
were buried, was only a lad of 13 when he landed with the first Loyalist
contingent that ascended the Bay of Quinte on that memorable day, June 16th,
1784, in the little cove adjoining the cemetery. Andrew “Huffnagle” must have
been an ambitious youth for we find in the old records in the Parliament
Buildings, Toronto, that he filed a U.E.L. claim not only in South
Fredericksburgh, adjoining No. 11, which became the family homestead, but
also in what has since become Prince Edward County and also in Hastings
County. Doubtless he became ashamed of his German
name in the new British possessions, for the records show that “Huffnagle”
disappeared, and the Anglicized name of Huffnail took its place, which after
enduring for several generations, has now disappeared forever. One of the sisters of Mrs. Detlor married
Thomas Carnahan, one of the large family raised on the adjoining farm to the
Huffnail homestead, but one member, Edward Carnahan, remains in the township
and he resides on the spot where the original Huffnail log shanty was erected
and where in succeeding years, a large frame house was built on a side hill
with a basement kitchen like a modern bank barn. This quaint old building,
familiar a generation or two ago to every one in the front townships, is now
unknown to all but a few of the older people who can remember the quiet,
honest, kind-hearted old farmer, Jacob Huffnail, who, leaning heavily upon his
strong cane, walked slowly around the premises and cordially greeted the
neighbors who saluted him in passing. Another daughter married John VanCott, and
subsequently Robert Peterson. The two VanCott sons moved to Manitoba, and the
Petersons have long since passed away. Another became Mrs. John Hazlett, and
raised a large family in Adolphustown, on what afterwards became the Hanlon,
and now the Johnston farm. None of the Hazlett family remain in the old
district. Those living are in various parts of the Western States and the
name has disappeared from the township records. Another daughter, Amy Ann, married
Archibald C. Davis, a grandson of Henry Davis, the Loyalist pioneer, who
homesteaded on lot 16 in the 2nd concession of Adolphustown, about
a mile west of the old Huffnail homestead. As was the universal custom of
those bygone days, a large family was raised in the Davis home on the south
half of lot 16, but the north half became barren, for there, Peter D. Davis,
living with his father and mother, after all the others members of a large
family had left the old roof tree, remained an old bachelor to his dying day.
But there was a husky bunch of seven boys and two girls in the family south
of the road and how their parents found enough food to satisfy their ravenous
appetites has always been a grave mystery to at least one member of that
brood. The gentle, heroic mother did her duty faithfully and well and
departed to her final rest at an early age, when the writer was but eight
years old. Dim but pleasant recollections remain of that good mother, who,
like all the other Huffnail women, and particularly Mrs. Detlor, was always
kind an considerate and deeply thoughtful of the comfort and happiness of
others. They doubtless inherited the characteristics of their father, Jacob
Huffnail, and it is to be devoutly hoped that the many good qualities of
those plain, honest, kind-hearted progenitors of our present generation may
be perpetuated in the lives of our children and grandchildren. Nelson Davis and his family and George and
Amy Ann still remain on the old Davis homestead and while the Huffnail name
has now disappeared after a period of 132 years, since the U.E. Loyalist
landing, the blood still prevails in the widely scattered families enumerated
above, and will continue to prevail for many generations. Thus it has been in
the history of many other names and families in our old County of Lennox, and
it would be well if some member of each family would trace back the history
of these grand old men and women to the beginning of life in this new
country, even in such a rough disconnected way as this has been done in order
that those coming after us may have some basis for tracing their ancestry
back through the period in which we live. After the great sacrifice of the noblest
and best of our young men has been made to preserve the heritage, which our
forefathers through privation and suffering obtained for us, we should at the
conclusion of the war, celebrate our victory, not only in welcoming home our
brave boys, from the front, but also in honoring the memory of those stalwart
pioneers who not only gave us birth, but a birthright to preserve and foster,
whose names, like that of the Huffnails, we had well nigh forgotten. |
