First Edition Published April 8,
2016
Second Edition Published May 15,
2017
Third Edition Published April 5,
2020
Copyright by Fred Blair
Changes and additions are in
blue text.
April 1, 1814
At York
A census reported that 691 people
lived in Town of York and an additional 730 lived in York Township.[1]
At Dover
American raiders attacked the Town
of Dover on the north shore of Lake Erie.
Sixteen-year old Amelia Ryerse’s mother pleaded with the men to spare
her home as she was a widow with young children. As the other buildings had been used as
barracks by the British and the mill supplied them with flour, the Americans
burned all but the house.[2]
At Oxford
Andrew Westbrook, an Upper Canadian
who had joined the Americans, had made his last raid in Middlesex County in
January. He returned this month and
raided the Village of Oxford. He captured
Sikes Tousley, an old rival. Sikes had
been in bed but during a struggle he managed to bayonet Andrew in the thigh.[3]
Andrew recovered enough to lead
another raid in August.
April 2, 1814
In Nova Scotia
Vice Admiral Cochrane declared that
any Americans fleeing to the British possessions to the north would be received
as free settlers. As a result of the
proclamation 2000 slaves fled to Nova Scotia and were settled there at Hammon
Plains.[4]
April 4, 1814
In Belleville
Captain John W. Meyers of the
Hastings Militia lived in a settlement at the mouth of the Moira River, which
later became the City of Belleville. The
19th Dragoons had been billeted in the community and four men stayed
in the Meyer’s house hold. While drunk,
two of the dragoons demanded provisions from Mr. Meyers while he was in his
bedroom with his wife. Meyers threatened
them with his pistol and the men withdrew from the room. After Meyers had bolted the door the men
returned with swords and broke through the door. Meyers fired his pistol during the attack but
he was cut on the neck. He and his wife
were beaten with clubs and Mrs. Richardson, who was also staying in the house,
received a severe head wound. A corporal
arrived on the scene and disarmed and arrested the dragoons.[5]
John W. Meyers was a Loyalist born about 1745 in Albany County,
New York. There were several variations
in the spelling of his name as it became more anglicized. His wife, at the time, was Polly Kruger, born
about 1765. By 1790, he had settled on
Meyer’s Creek (Moira River) and built a dam and a mill. He later added a distillery and an inn. His enterprises enabled the community to
prosper and develop. He was also
involved in fur trading and shipping on his vessels that sailed to
Montreal. He built one of the first
brick houses in Upper Canada with bricks he produced on one of his farms. He was a captain in the Hastings Militia from
1798 to 1812.[6]
In York
In York, Attorney General John
Beverley Robinson had a list of 60 suspected traitors that he would like to
bring to trial but only enough evidence to try 30. Unfortunately, most of the more serious
offenders had fled to the United States.
In prison awaiting trial, he had looters captured by vigilantes in the
London District, residents from the York area who had stolen government stores
or who had encouraged militia men to obtain American paroles, and some men from
the Niagara District who had aided the Americans. The trials would begin in Ancaster Township
at the Head-of-the-Lake on May 23, 1814.
The local men included Calvin Wood,
Elijah Bentley, and Gideon Orton. [7]
April 12, 1814
In Kingston
Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond
declared martial law in Upper Canada to allow his troops to procure needed
supplies. At one point the supply of
flour in the Kingston stores had diminished to less than that required to bake
one day’s ration of bread for the garrison.
An investigation two weeks later
revealed that there was no surplus of flour and livestock in the eastern
districts of the province.[8]
April 14, 1814
The warships, Prince Regent and
Princess Charlotte, were launched from the Kingston Dockyard. They proceeded to blockade the American fleet
in Sacket’s Harbor and capture Oswego.
The British had restored their control over Lake Ontario.[9]
April 16, 1814
In Northumberland County
Private George Elsworth of the Northumberland Militia had an
accident while serving and received a pension after the war for the resulting
disability.[10]
April 18, 1814
In Upper Canada
The British and Americans exchanged
parole lists. Upper Canadians were still
reluctant to muster for militia duty.[11]
April 20, 1814
District Commissioners, Samuel Smith
in the Home District and Samuel Hatt in the Niagara District, were granted
money to improve roads and bridges.[12]
April 24, 1814
The militia of Upper Canada were
informed that a mutual release of prisoners and men on parole held by the
British and Americans had been arranged.[13]
April 26, 1814
The exportation of wheat, corn,
grain, meal, flour, beef, and pork was prohibited from May 1st to
November 1st.[14]
In Kingston
The Kingston Gazette published a
notice that naval stores were being embezzled from the Naval Yard and that a
reward of $100.00 would be paid upon conviction to anyone who apprehended and
delivered the perpetrators into custody.[15]
April 28, 1814
In Elizabethtown Township
Elenor Kilborn made a war loss claim
on this day. Her husband, David, had
abandoned his wife and 13 children the previous fall to join the
Americans. Most of the children were not
old enough to earn a living and were dependent on their mother. The Commissariat Department in Prescott had
taken 2 horses, a sleigh and double harness, 3 tons of hay, and a pair of two-year
old steers from the Kilborn farm. She
had been refused payment for the items taken and had been threatened with the
loss of her additional 2 cows, 10 sheep, and swine. The claim was rejected because her husband
had joined the enemy.[16]
April 30, 1814
In York
Amos Smith of Scarborough was
charged with selling liquor without a licence.
In court, he suggested that the Americans would soon take possession of
the province and he would not need a licence then.[17]
In Ancaster Township
Most of Benjamin Smith’s diary
entries for this month were too faded to read.
They celebrated Easter on the 10th.
Samuel Gordon was buried on the 27th.[18]
Upper Canadian Service Deaths
Private John McGrath, Prince
Edward, disease, April 30, 1814,
Sources:
[1] The Fife and Drum, The Newsletter of The Friends of
Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 18, Number 1, March, 2014, page 4.
[2] Dianne Graves, In the Midst of Alarms: The Untold Story of Women and the War of
1812, Robin Brass Studio Inc., 2007, pages 286-287.
[3] D. R. Beasley, “WESTBROOK, ANDREW,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography,
vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed February 24,
2017, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/westbrook_andrew_6E.html.
[4] Christine Jack, In Sickness and in Health: the Black Refugees at Hammonds Plains, winter
1827, Atlantic Loyalist Connections, accessed Feb. 19, 2017 at https://loyalist.lib.unb.ca/atlantic-loyalist-connections/sickness-and-health-black-refugees-hammonds-plains-winter-1827
[5] Boyce, Gerald E., Historic Hastings, Hastings County
Council, Ontario Intelligencer Limited, Belleville, 1967, page 38.
[6] Dictionary of Canadian Biography, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/meyers_john_walden_6E.html, accessed Apr. 5, 2018.
[7] George Sheppard,
Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social
History of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press,
1994, pages 165-166.
[8] George Sheppard,
Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social
History of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press,
1994, pages 117-118.
[9] The Fife and Drum, The Newsletter of The Friends of
Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 18, Number 1, March, 2014, page 4.
box MU 2192, Ontario Archives, Toronto.
[11] George Sheppard,
Plunder, Profit, and Paroles: A Social
History of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press,
1994, page 95.
[12] Ernest Alexander Cruikshank, Documentary History of
the Campaign Upon the Niagara Frontier, In 1812-14, Vol. 9, Lundy’s Lane
Historical Society, printed at the Tribune Office, Welland, 1908, page 307,
accessed April 27, 2014, at www.ourroots.ca.
[13] The Fife and Drum, The Newsletter of The Friends of
Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 18, Number 1, March, 2014, page 4.
[14] Ernest Alexander Cruikshank, Documentary History of
the Campaign Upon the Niagara Frontier, In 1812-14, Vol. 9, Lundy’s Lane
Historical Society, printed at the Tribune Office, Welland, 1908, pages
308-309, accessed April 27, 2014, at www.ourroots.ca.
[15] Linda Corupe, U.E.,
Upper Canada Justice, Early Assize Court Records of Ontario, Vol. 2, 1810-1818,
transcribed and indexed 2008, page 394.
[17] The Fife and Drum, The Newsletter of The Friends of
Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 18, Number 1, March, 2014, page 4.
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