Reuben Alward
The Young Adventurer
by R. Robert Mutrie
by R. Robert Mutrie
In the early spring of 1812, Reuben Alward, aged about twenty-four years old, set out from his parents’ home on Lake Erie on the eastern edge of Humberstone Township, Welland County, Upper Canada. He headed westward for the Long Point Settlement, as Norfolk County was then known, and its promise of good farmland available for those willing to wrest it from the wilderness. First, he passed by Sugar Loaf, a hamlet later known to us as Port Colborne. The young adventurer then continued on past the settlements of Dunnville and Nanticoke and ended his 50-mile trek at Port Dover in Woodhouse Township, Norfolk County.
This might have been Reuben’s second trek although he wouldn’t have remembered the first. The Alward family migration from New Brunswick to the Niagara District occurred about 1788 right around the time of the young adventurer’s birth. The subsequent land petition of Reuben’s father, Daniel Alward, dated on 18 March 1797 stated, “That your Petitioner came to the Province 8 years ago and has rec’d one hundred and fifty acres only in Bertie- that purchased the Lot No. 3 - first Concession of Humberstone…”[1]
The original parental grant comprised 100 acres of land in Lot 25 Concession 2 and a half share in the adjoining Lot 25 Concession 1 from Lake Erie in Bertie Township. These properties were located west of present Ridgeway along Gorham Road and running north from Crystal Beach to the Garrison Road (now Highway 3).[2]
In an earlier generation, Reuben’s grandfather Daniel Alward Sr. also received a grant in Bertie Township, his being Lot 21 Concession 1 with the broken front on Lake Erie east of Ridgeway.[3] This became an unorganized community of cottagers named Thunder Bay for the crescent shaped indentation on Lake Erie. The elder Daniel died in 1800 or 1801 leaving a will dated on 23 January 1800 and filed with the registrar on 19 March 1801. He named his wife Jemima, and William, Hulder, and Daniel in the younger generation.[4]
During the 1790’s the younger Daniel Alward and his wife left their Ridgeway grant and raised their family, including his oldest son Reuben, on a property about five miles west in Lot 3, Concession 1, Humberstone Township on the shore of Lake Erie south of present Sherkston. It was from here that Reuben set out on his adventure.
Reuben Alward arrived in Norfolk County by the time of the April 1812 Woodhouse Township census in which he was listed singly.[5]
At this time the clouds of war were forming to the south. The hawks in Washington gained sway over the doves in disputes with England, most explosive of which was England’s seizure of American merchantmen on the high seas. The American expansionists harboured a desire to capture the Canadian colonies which appeared vulnerable to them. Both England and the United States engaged in troop build-ups along the border, including the two sides of the Niagara River. On 18 June 1812 the United States declared war on England. During the months that followed, local militia companies formed by the settlers in Upper Canada heeded the call to arms and marched to the frontier.
The men of Norfolk County mobilized several days ahead of the declaration. On 15 June 1812, Reuben Alward enlisted as a Private in Captain William McCracken's Flank Company of the 2nd Norfolk Militia raised in Woodhouse Township.[6] In November 1812, he marched with his company to guard his former home area on the Niagara frontier.
About five miles north of the town of Fort Erie a small stream called Frenchman’s Creek flows into the Niagara River. In the present one thousand block of Niagara River Boulevard stands a plaque describing a War of 1812 battle which included the men of McCracken's Flank Company. The plaque inscription reads:
“In an effort to regain the initiative lost at Queenston, the Americans planned a general invasion for 28 November 1812. Before dawn advance parties crossed the Niagara River to cut communications between Fort Erie and Chippawa and to silence the British shore guns. The attackers failed to destroy the bridge over Frenchman’s Creek and the batteries they had overrun were soon retaken by British reinforcements. After confused fighting the advance parties returned to the American shore. The main assault failed to materialize. The fiasco ended American hopes for victory on the Niagara Frontier in 1812”
American General Alexander Smyth amassed an army of 5,000 men on the eastern shore of the Niagara River with a plan to destroy the bridge over Frenchman’s Creek, a vulnerable point on the main road linking Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake to the north and Fort Erie in the south. He would then launch an assault on Fort Erie. Only 1,500 of his soldiers agreed to cross the river with General Smyth. The battle at the bridge resulted in an American retreat and ended their hopes of success in 1812.[7]
Although victorious, the fateful battle took a toll on the militia unit, in particular on a twenty-four year old man named Reuben Alward. On that fateful 28 November 1812 he was severely wounded in action.[8]
The British Military and Naval Records Index gives the following for Reuben Alward: “Private, 2nd Norfolk Militia, wounded at Fort Erie, 28-11-1812 admitted as Militia Pensioner.”[9]
Not long after, Reuben’s father Daniel Alward passed away in Humberstone Township. Probably aged only in his forties, Daniel outlived his father by just a decade when he met his end. He made out his will on 25 December 1812 and it was probated just over a month later on 10 February 1813. The bulk of the estate was left to his second wife and widow and their minor children, the youngest aged just one year old. Reuben was given the small sum of ten dollars.[10]
Although now disabled in his earlier service, Reuben re-entered the Militia in 1813, serving from 25 February to 24 March 1813 in Captain Abraham A. Rapelje's Flank Company also raised in Woodhouse Township.[11]
Following the end of the war, on 30 November 1815, Major Sir William Halton, Secretary to Governor Francis Gore wrote a letter to the Surveyor General of Upper Canada stating:
“the name of Reuben Alward, a Militia pensioner who was very severely
wounded in action with the enemy near Fort Erie in Nov 1812 to be inserted
on Crown Reserve Lot 11, Concession 11, Charlotteville Twp. as a wounded
militia man. A certificate from Colonel N. Coffin noted that Reuben was a
private in Captain McCracken’s Flank Co. of the 2nd Regiment of Norfolk
Militia from 15 Jun to 28 Nov 1812.[12]
For his service, Reuben Alward received a pension and a 175-acre Crown Grant comprising all of Lot 11, Concession 11, Charlotteville Twp, Norfolk County. This location sits along the town line of Charlotteville and Windham Townships close to the point where present Highway 3 bends north towards Delhi.[13]
Just over eight months later on 13 August 1816, Reuben Alward’s name again came before the Land Board of Upper Canada. He put forward a request to lease a Crown Reserve lot located across the road in Lot 20, Concession 14, Windham Township.[14] This 200-acre property was among those held by the Government of Upper Canada to be rented out to settlers thereby raising funds for the state. The petition papers included a mention of oak timber on the lot. His petition reads as follows.
“The Petition of Reuben Alward, a disabled Militia Man & Pensioner of Charlotteville in the London District - desirous of leasing Lot Number Twenty in the Fourteenth Concession of Windham...”
Attached was a deposition signed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Nichol of the 2nd Regiment of the Norfolk Militia:
“...I certify that Reuben Alward took and subscribed the oath of allegiance as prescribed by Law before me when he volunteered in the Flank Companies in 1812.”
[signed] Rob. Nichol, Lt. Col. 2nd Norfolk Reg.
The young adventurer did not remain long in Norfolk County, leaving just two years later according to a statement by Usual Willson who noted that he bought Reuben’s Charlotteville Township land grant for 15 shillings per acre in 1818. Following this Reuben returned to his home area and lived in Bertie Township. There are two post-mortem records of Reuben indicating that he died in Bertie Township in 1830 when he would have been about 42 years old. Perhaps his war injuries prevented him from developing his land grant and brought about his untimely end.
On 6 December 1839, Usual Willson filed a land petition noting his purchase from Reuben Alward and that “Alward left this part of the Country and died several years ago not having obtained the patent from the Crown for the said Lot [11 Concession 11].”[15]
“Usual Wilson, yeoman, purchased about 1818 from Reuben Alward, a militia pensioner - 15 shillings per acre. No patent taken out. Wilson lived there cleared about 75 acres - built house and barn. Shortly after purchased said Reuben Alward left this part of country. Joseph Wilson’s statement 30 Oct. 1839 of Windham he had seen a person calling himself George Alward and recently removed into Twp. of Charlotteville and representing himself as a half-brother to Reuben Alward. Also knows Jacob Cline of Malahide in London District who married a sister of Reuben.
Henry C. Dickout, Twp. of Bertie, Niagara District, acquainted with Reuben Alward (Allwood). Knows of his death and burial in Bertie Twp. some 8 or 10 years ago. He left no heirs. 22 Aug. 1830.”
In 1839, Effie Phillips of Bayham Twp. and her sister Jemima Cline of Yarmouth Twp. filed an Upper Canada Land Petition stating that they were “full blood sisters and only heirs at law” of Reuben Alward who died “10 years since intestate” and who held land in Lot 11, Concession 11, Charlotteville Twp. Nicholas and Silas Carter gave oath that the women were sisters of Reuben.[16]
Thus ended the life of the young adventurer, but not the family interest in Norfolk County. Reuben’s youngest half brother, John Alward was just an infant at the time of his father’s passing. As a youth he may have heard his older brother talk of the Long Point Settlement. About forty years after Reuben’s presence in Norfolk, John settled first along the northern boundary of North Walsingham Township then further south on Lot 6 Concession 6, Walsingham Township, Norfolk County west of the village of Walsingham Centre. His family continued in Norfolk well into the twentieth century.
Bruce Connor Johnson Jr. has been researching the Alward family for the past twenty years and has amassed an impressive collection of documents detailing the lives of the family ancestors from colonial times, and he has followed through the generations to the present. I am indebted to him for material used in the story of Reuben Alward. Among the documents he transcribed are the following two wills located in the collections of the Archives of Ontario Surrogate Registry for the Niagara District.
No. 257, Daniel Alward, Will, filed 19th March 1801
"In the name of God amen now as I Daniel Alward Senr (sic-Senior) is in helth (sic) and rember (sic) and not know how sun (sic - soon) it will pes (sic - please) god for to take me I am maken my Last will and testment this Day Juery (sic -January) twenth third one thousand Eight hunder. Am in good seine (sic -sane?) and rember first I give my soul to God that gave it me and and (sic) my body for to be bured (sic - buried) in a christian lik maner by my excuers first my funal (sic -funeral) charges for to be paid and all my onest (sic - honest) Depts for to be paid and I give all myplace and moules (sic -mules?) to my son Willam for to taker (sic - take care) of my Loven wife and my Dauter hulder (is this a daughter, Huldah?) is for to have hur hom (sic - her home) on the place as Long as She remain Single and have Liberty for to keep two cowes and one hoss. I give to my son Daniel teen Dolers (sic Ten dollars) for to be paid by my son William and my Loven wife Jemima Alward and Willam Alward for to be my Executers what I have set my hand and seal the day and year above written."
(signed) Daniel Alward Senr.
signed sealed in the person
of us
Mathias Haun Junr
Mathias X Haun Senr.
his mark
Peter Haun
"I Daniel Alward of the Township of Humberstone in the County of Lincoln and Province of Upper Canada being in a poor state of health, Calling to mind the uncertainty of life, and the mortality of my body, Being in perfect sound mind and memory I declare this to be my last will and testament, - first I direct soon after my decease my Funeral charges be fully paid by my executor, hereafter constituted and appointedby me also all my just and lawful debts as soon as possible out of such a part of my estate as I shall hereafter direct, my Estate Real to be disposed of and distributed in the following manner,
First I give and Bequeath to my son Rheuben Ten Dollars -
Second I give and bequeath unto my son Daniel Two Dollars.
Thirdly I give and bequeath uto (sic) my Three Daughters (namely) Jemima Cline, Affe Smith and minor Daughter Elizabeth Each one a cow and Two Sheep, Elizabeth to have hers at her Coming to the age. I direct that Twenty acres of my land off of the Front End be sold to Discharge my debts. I give and devise unto my wife Elizabeth One Equal Third of the Land thas left after the above said Twenty acres is sold, Together, with a loom and all my household furniture, and an Equil Third of my stock after the Before mentioned legacies are Taken out, which I give to her and her Heirs and assigns forever, with a full preveledge of my Dwelling house while my widow.
I give and devise unto my four sons namely George, Henry, James and John, to their Heirs and assigns forever the remainder of my Land and moveable property to be Equilly divided amongst them, when the Youngest Comes to the age of Twenty one or marriage - the Beforementioned Land being known and Described By part of The Front of Lot number Three, In Front in The Township of Humbertstone.
If my said wife should marry again Before the Children is of age the Childrens share to be Rented out for their use, which I leave to the descretion of my Executor, and If my said Children any of Them shild Decease Before they should Come In possession of Their Respective share If it be one of he four last named Boys, then his intended share be Equilly Divided among the surviving Three, and If one of the Girls their share Divided among the Girls in like manner.
I do constitute my brother in law David Baxter, and Brother William Alward, and Abraham Laing to be my sole Exectors Disallowing Revoking and disannuling all other wills by me In any wife named Confirming This and no other to be my last will and Testament, I Witness whereof I do hereby set my hand and seal This Twenty fifth Day of December In the Year of our Lord one Thousand Eight Hundred and Twelve.
Signed sealed and acknowledged In the presance of us
who were present at the Signing sealing and acknowledging the same"
(signed) Daniel Alward
(signature of witesses)
Daniel Abel
Dexter Kerrs?
John (X) Beach (his mark)
[1] Archives of Ontario, Upper Canada Land Petition of Daniel Alward, “A” Bundle 1
[2] Archives of Ontario, Abstracts of Deeds Register of Bertie Township, Volume A
[3] Ibid.
[4] Will of Daniel Alward (Sr), Archives of Ontario, Niagara Surrogate Registry, 1801, Doc. No. 257
[5] Yeager, William R. Woodhouse Township 1812 Census With Related Documents (1814-1836) Norfolk Historical Society (Simcoe, ON: 1978)
[6] National Archives of Canada, Charlotteville Township Papers, Record Group 1, CI-V, MS 658, Reel 074, Document Numbers 1250, 1252
[7] Parks Canada web site www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/fortgeorge/edu/edua1_e.asp
[8] Op. Cit.
[9] National Archives of Canada, British Military and Naval Records Index, C.703C, Record Group 9, I B 4; vol., I pp 9; see also Vol., 2, p. 3; 3; p. 25; 30
[10] Will of Daniel Alward (Jr), Archives of Ontario, Niagara Surrogate Registry, 1813
[11] Mutrie, R. Robert, “The Norfolk Militia in the War of 1812,” in The Long Point Settlers, Log Cabin Publishing (Ridgeway, ON: 1992), p. 252-256
[12] National Archives of Canada, Charlotteville Township Papers, Record Group 1, CI-V, MS 658, Reel 074, Document Numbers 1250, 1252
[13] AO Land Records Index Ref. 01 C13 132005 Surveyor General’s office location dated 30 Nov 1815
[14] Archives of Ontario Land Petitions “A” Bundle Leases, Document Number 34
[15] Archives of Ontario. Upper Canada Land Petition of Usual Willson “W” Bundle 22, Document Number 33
[16] Archives of Ontario, Upper Canada Land Petition of Effie Phillips and Jemima Cline“C” Bundle 22, Doc. No. 105