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| Adam Sheriff Scott painting of Loyalist Landing in Saint John |
The Nova Scotia colony at the time of the American Revolutionary War was a wilderness. It was sparsely populated with a combination of hardy settlers from England and France, New England settlers at Maugerville, indigenous peoples, Acadians who had managed to stay behind or return after their violent expulsion, and former British soldiers (like our Henry Hayward). The battle for American independence spilled into parts of the Colony, which saw attacks by Americans on outposts, farms, and anything else that would annoy the British. Privateers sailed the Miramichi, the Saint John River, and along the Atlantic Coast, disrupting business and the private lives of the colonists. This was a British colony, and while the indigenous peoples sided with both the British and the Americans, the colonists were decidedly British in their approach and orientation.
Those colonists in America who chose to support the
British side in the fight for American independence were known as
Loyalists. They were given assurances of
their ultimate victory, as well as protection of their life, livelihood and
property by the British Crown. It was
the height of British power in the world – the Empire had spread to all
corners, and certainly in the late 1700s no British citizen could have foreseen
the Empire’s defeat at the hands of American rebels. That is, however, precisely what happened,
and it left Loyalists no choice but to leave their homes and cash in on the
British promise of protection.
New York was the former British Headquarters, and
Loyalist refugees flocked there in droves to board ships that would take them
to safety. As Joshua Upham wrote to
Edward Winslow:
We shall soon be with you – everybody, all the World
moves on to Nova Scotia.
This is only slightly exaggerated: 35,000 people moved
into the Maritime region, 15,000 to Sunbury and Cumberland Counties. Loyalists moved from well-established
American colonies and cities where the families had lived in relative wealth
and comfort, to a wilderness – with land that had been undeveloped, and and no towns or amenitites. They would have
to not only make a home, but a community.
The first few months, for those who landed in the
summer, were a flurry of activity to build homes and construct the basic
elements of community. On May 10, 1783,
the ship Union arrived at Partridge
Island in Saint John harbour. The
Loyalists on board built quickly on Belleisle Bay, soon named Kingston. Those
who landed later at what would eventually become Fredericton were in for a
shock. They had a harsh winter with
unfinished homes and little in the way of supplies. It wasn’t until the early summer of 1784 that
the Loyalists celebrated the arrival of the first supply ship. Borders were changed between New Brunswick
and Maine, and some Loyalists had to move after they had already settled. This continuing uncertainty would
have made settlement complex: disputes
with the original settlers, changing borders, and the overall unsettling
feeling that everything they had thought would be true simply wasn’t.
There were more people moving there than ever before
in the history of that colony, necessitating dramatic action by the
British. This included the formation of
New Brunswick by Order in Council on June 18, 1784.
The Loyalists had a sense of entitlement as a result
of promises of the British Crown. They
lost everything: professions, livelihoods, homes, property, and many
lives. The settlers who had already been
in what was previously Nova Scotia Colony for years, were concerned about dispossession and changes to their community values. To them, the Loyalists were intruders with an
undeserved sense of entitlement: they
didn’t settle this wilderness originally; they didn’t fight through those first
dreaded winters without supply ships or outside help. Disputes about property ownership were
common, particularly if the original settlers had not adequately improved the
lots they had previously been granted.
Original Nova Scotia land grants had to be re-issued for the Colony of
New Brunswick. Imagine being an original
settler – you had done all of the work to create a new home, survived
privations and privateers, and now you find yourself arguing for what was previously
yours. This would have been the ultimate
insult, and certainly a threat to your way of life.
For a Loyalist to acquire land in the new colony, they
had to prove they were deserving of the protection of and compensation by the
British Crown. The average size of a
Loyalist grant was 100 acres to the head of the household (typically a man or a
widow), and 50 acres for each additional family member. Military personnel received more land and
their allocation depended on their rank.
Governor Parr was at first responsible for surveying the lots. Given demand from the incoming Loyalists and
disbanded British regiments, this surveying could not keep up. More concerns arose from existing settlers
about demand for their properties, and the colony had to move increasingly
quickly in order to stem unrest and ensure peaceable settlement.
For the colonial administration, they had a nightmare
on their hands: establishment of new
lots of land, keeping the peace, creating a new colony, and ensuring that only
those deserving received their land allocations. As a colonial administration, this was really
all done through the British government in London, with the Governor having
some authority for establishing clear title and surveying property. This was a slow process in the early weeks
and months of 1783, with Governor Parr of Nova Scotia setting out land and
authorizing Surveyor General Charles Morris the ability to lay out town lots in
Parr and Carleton (what is now Saint John).
Things started to improve with the coming of Governor
Thomas Carleton, who arrived in Saint John in November 1784 to establish the
new government. It wasn’t until January
1785, however, that the Government established a land committee that would
expedite Loyalist applications. The
committee screened applicants, resolved disputes, inspected improvements, took
over neglected older land grants, and dealt with land reserves for public,
military and naval purposes. Old records
were reviewed and either determined to be no longer valid (for example if the
land was undeveloped) or the grant was re-issued under the colony of New
Brunswick. Registrations, surveys,
allocations, inspections were all expedited under this new approach. George Sproule became the new Surveyor
General overseeing this mammoth task.
As a result of this work, between 1784 and 1790,
476,024 acres of land was given to Loyalists (in 1783 only 13 grants totalling
8,039 acres were issued). In 1786, at
the height of demand for resolution of tensions and settling of claims, the
land committee met daily and in this year 200,000 acres were surveyed and
granted to Loyalists. Another 184,000
acres was granted in 1787.
It is difficult to appreciate this effort today, when
we have electronic filing, geographic information systems, and a clear system
of land titles. The colonial government
had to do all the work of land management, community development planning,
dispute resolution, land surveys, and mapping beginning with little available
or accurate information, a brand new colonial administrative government, and a
population that was either impatient for reimbursement for their loyalty, or
angry about the incursion of this new population into what they considered
their territory, which they had previously worked so hard to claim. This was no small feat.
It should come as no surprise that our Hayward
ancestry includes Loyalists given our strong connections to New England and the
history we share with the former colonies of both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The surnames that I can definitely link to
Loyalists are: Currie, Fritch and Crawford.
William
Crawford (1730-1817) and John Fritch (1734-1812)
William Crawford (1730-1817) was born in Ireland and
came to Shrewsbury in the County of Worcester, Massachusetts Colony with his
father, John and his mother. When the
American Revolutionary War came, that part of Massachusetts became the subject
of attacks by rebel colonists against those who chose the British side. In this testimonial, heard in January 1787:
…when Troubles broke
out, (William Crawford) always took a part with the King. In January 1778 (he) went within the Lines,
had been condemned at a special Court for his Loyalty was sentenced to be put
on board a Guardship, but made his Escape and got to Rhode Island.
Heard
Jan 17 1787
Claimants needed to have witnesses to their claims,
and for William Crawford this was Colonel Williard, who swore that he had known
the claimant for many years:
No man has been more
Loyal or more ready to Assist the British Army.
He went with the Army as a Mechanic.
His Father had a Farm at Shrewsbury, it seemed a good pretty Farm, it
seemed a Comfortable place, thinks the Father and Claimant lived together.
In the meantime, the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Worcester Colony held a Court of Common Pleas in 1787 during which all of
William Crawford’s possessions were confiscated as he was an “absentee”, a term
used to describe those Loyalists who had left everything behind. On April 10 1782, William’s property was
probated as an absentee, and his creditors included his father, John Crawford,
who had presumably stayed behind.
William’s memorial account pleading for reimbursement and resettlement
in the colony of Nova Scotia says that he lost lands and buildings valued at
250 pounds sterling and personal estate in the value of 70 pounds sterling.
John Fritch also served in the Quarter Master
General’s Department in New York as a Wagon Driver. He arrived with his wife and six children in
New York from their home in Philadelphia on 21 November 1779. They were refugees of the war and had nothing with them: they petitioned for rations to
feed the family. George Fritch, John’s
son, supported the war effort as a wagon driver as well, and he settled on a
lot next to his father in Sunbury, New Brunswick. John
was described as a “diligent and trusty fellow.” He made his way from New York to the colony
in 1779.
John Fritch and William Crawford both arrived in New
Brunswick at the same time, and their names appear on the same land grant for
Loyalist petitioners (1784). They both worked
in the Quarter Master General’s Department. Indeed, their names share a grave monument,
commemorating their families’ bond through the marriage of their children Catherine Fritch and James Crawford.
Joshua
Curry 1741-1802
Joshua Curry’s role in the Revolutionary War was
dangerous and likely embroiled him in some of the more morally questionable
acts of the British perpetrated on American citizens. Before the war, he was a resident of New York
and the eldest child of parents Richard Curry and Elizabeth. Joshua married Eunice Travis before the war
broke out and they had six children at their home in Cortland,
Westchester.
Joshua and his family escaped his home, having
received “Insults and Abuses from the Rebels.”
Joshua watched the Rebels burn down the home of his neighbour Nathaniel
Merritt. Joshua himself lost 103 acres
of land with a house, barn and orchards, 10 cows, an ox, 6 young cattle, 55
sheep, and significant other agricultural fields, animals and tools.
Westchester suffered as it was the
forward posts of both armies. As a
result, the area was truly devastated after the war. Tryon himself was known for the brutal
destruction he wreaked upon Rebel and civilian targets along the coast, and in
New York. Joshua Curry’s role as guide
would have placed him in the thick of this fighting, watching his former
neighbours lose their homes and livelihoods, just as happened to him.
Joshua Curry and his family made their way to New
Brunswick after the war, and received a land grant. His son David married Dorothy (Dolly) Esty,
daughter of one of the original Maugerville settlers, Zebulon Esty.
Recently, Loyalist memorialists commemorated 223 years since the first landing of Loyalists in Saint John harbour. The flood of refugee Loyalist families changed the face of the Maritimes, creating a new Colony and government, and overwhelming the existing settlers. Our family's link to these Loyalists is strong, and within two generations, our Loyalist ancestors had inter-married with original settlers, New England transplants in Maugerville, and newer arrivals. There is no question that the coming of these refugees forever changed the colonies from what they were in the times of the original Indigenous inhabitants, the Acadians, and the later settlers.
Recently, Loyalist memorialists commemorated 223 years since the first landing of Loyalists in Saint John harbour. The flood of refugee Loyalist families changed the face of the Maritimes, creating a new Colony and government, and overwhelming the existing settlers. Our family's link to these Loyalists is strong, and within two generations, our Loyalist ancestors had inter-married with original settlers, New England transplants in Maugerville, and newer arrivals. There is no question that the coming of these refugees forever changed the colonies from what they were in the times of the original Indigenous inhabitants, the Acadians, and the later settlers.
