Loyalist Country.
Today in Lennox and Addington, the Loyalist Parkway hugs the limestone shores of Lake Ontario, transecting the Townships along the front which were surveyed for the resettlement of Loyalists, exiled from the American Colonies by the Revolutionary War. The Loyalist burying ground in Adolphustown Park is a silent reminder of the exiles from the American Colonies.
In Great Britain's American colonies, discontent turned to rebellion in 1775. About twenty per cent of the population were Loyalists. They came from every colony and stratum of society. These loyal Americans supported Britain's royal cause for a variety of reasons from political or moral principles to expediency because of partisan pressures or the presence of opposing armies near their homes.
The political results of the American rebellion were the end of imperial unity and the creation of the United States. The human outcome was a large number of fearful, anxious and exhausted refugees. Beginning in 1783, about 40,000 Loyalists were evacuated at government expense to British North America, mainly through New York State. Others trekked overland to what is now the Province of Quebec.
These "Loyalists" included families and men from many of the disbanded Loyalist provincial corps raised during the rebellion to fight beside the British army. In 1775, British strategists had been convinced that the rebellion could be suppressed by British regulars assisted by German mercenaries. Despite the lack of official British encouragement, the Loyalists raised military units such as the King's Royal Regiment of New York and Butler's Rangers which were closely linked to the loyal Mohawks commanded by Joseph Brant.
In return for their loyalty and sacrifice, they received land grants of varying sizes and values depending on their rank in the Royal Provincials. The Loyal Rangers were granted land in Ernestown Township, the second battalion King's Royal Regiment of New York and the King's Rangers in Fredericksburgh, the Associated Loyalists in Adolphustown and Kingston Townships, some Royal Highland Emigrants and German mercenaries in Marysburgh and His Majesty's Loyal Mohawks at Tyendinaga.
Ahead of them was the formidable task of carving farms from the towering forests that ranged along the shores of the Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte. Most had lost all of their possessions. Edward Carscallen, a refugee who drew land in Fredericksburgh filed a claim for losses in 1787, stating he had lost "1 yoke oxen, 3 horses, 1 yoke steers, 1 cow, 11 hogs, utensils, cloathes (sic), furniture, tools, taken by the rebel Army on Burg's coming. "
Jeptha Hawley's 1785 log cabin, now covered with modern siding still stands at Bath and William Fairfield's imposing two-and-a-half story Georgian style house at Amherstview has been restored to interpret Loyalist architecture. William Fairfield Junior's 1796 house, although modified by later descendants, operates as the Fairfield-Gutzeit House at Bath.
Old Hay Bay Church On the shores of Hay Bay, the Methodist Chapel built under the direction of William Losee in 1792 still stands and has been restored by the United Church of Canada (left). For people living in isolation, church meetings became important social occasions. The Methodists held large quarterly and yearly services that attracted people from the Townships along the front.
One Sunday morning in August 1819, 10 young people drowned as they crossed from the north to the south shore of Hay Bay on their way to a quarterly meeting. This tragic event which happened 176 years ago is still vivid in local memory. An annual commemorative service is held each year on the third Sunday in August.
Obtain more information about the County's history from the South Fredericksbugh Heritage Committee
Courtesy of the Department of Economic Development,
County of Lennox & Addington, Canada.
www.lennox-addington.on.ca
John Hart
Marital Status: Total party of one man.
Year of Record: 1786
Reference: Transcribed from original documents held in the collection of the National Archives of Canada [Ottawa]: RG 19, vol. 4447, file 8.
Source/Event: Lists of Loyalists victualled at New Johnstown, Township No. 1, between 25th and 31st August 1786.
"Next came the five Cataraqui townships surveyed up to the Bay of Quinte. Michael Grass and his Associated Loyalists claimed Kingston; the rest of the Loyal Rangers settled Ernestown. The second battalion of the KRRNY shared Fredericksburgh with James Rogers’ King’s Rangers. Peter Van Alstine’s Associated Loyalists in Adolphustown consisted of several ancestral Dutch from the Hudson River, a contingent from the Hackensack River Valley in New Jersey and some pioneering Methodists and Quakers. What was left of the Royal Highland Emigrants settled Marysburgh along with a small band of Hessian soldiers who had fought in the war."
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume3/chapter4/80-end.htm
NJ Volunteers Campbell's Coy: Joseph Hart
Peter Ruton's 4th Battalion on NJ Volunteers commanded by Lt Col Abraham Buskirk included men from Bergen County, NJ
Jonathan HART
BIRTH: Southold,Long Island,,N.Y.
Family 1: Antie (Annetie) SLOT
DIVORCE: N
MARRIAGE: 7 SEP 1706, Hackensack,Bergen,Dutch Ref. Ch,N.J.
Margrita HART