Ohio History Journal

"REFUGEES TO AND FROM CANADA AND THE REFU-

GEE TRACT."

 

BY EDWARD LIVINGSTON TAYLOR.

All that part of the City of Columbus which lies east of the

Scioto River and between Fifth Avenue on the north, and Steel-

ton on the south, a distance of four and one-half miles, is on

what is known in law and history as the "Refugee Tract," which

was, as we shall hereafter see, set apart by the government for

the benefit of "Refugees from Canada and Nova Scotia." This

territory comprises at least nine-tenths of the wealth and popu-

lation of the City of Columbus. Every title to property within

these limits goes back to and is based upon this Refugee grant,

and it is safe to say that very few of the various owners of these

valuable lots and lands have any accurate knowledge of the origin

of their titles or the occurrences which brought about their origin.

 

 

The common thought which prevails in the public mind of

the present day is that during the Revolutionary war the people

of the colonies were as a unit in opposition to the rule of Great

Britain, and actively supported the efforts of the Colonial army

in the struggle for independence. Nothing could be further

from the truth, and this general impression could not now exist

but for the reason that our American youths have for a hundred

and twenty years been taught American patriotism, and have

been imbued with American sentiments and ideas and have ob-

served the wonderful growth and development of our country,

until they have come to assume, as a matter of course, that no

considerable number of residents in the colonies could but have

been enthusiastically in favor of the revolt against the mother

country and in favor of a free and independent government. It

is fortunate that this has been the case, but the assumption is

wholly against the facts of history.

3 Vol. XII-3           (219)

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220       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   The truth is that there was in this country at that time a fearfully bitter and relentless party hatred and strife existing between what was, at that time, called the "Loyalist" or "Tory" party and the "Patriot" or "Whig" party. It is next to impossi-

ble at this distance of time to conceive of the malignant fierceness of party feeling or of the cruel persecutions which each party in- flicted upon the other, as opportunity afforded. There was little or no moderation exercised by either party in their treatment of each other. It was in fact a life and death struggle between them. The "Loyalist" or Tory party constituted at least one- fourth, if not one-third of the entire population and were dis- tributed somewhat irregularly throughout the colonies. In many

• 2
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         221

 

places they were in a majority and controlled public sentiment

and action, and inflicted upon the Patriots all manner of perse-

cutions and confiscated or destroyed their property at will. That

this was in retaliation in many if not most instances is probable,

and it may be assumed that they may have felt, justified in their

acts for the reason that the "Patriots" inflicted upon the "Loy-

alists" all manner of persecutions and humiliations in many spe-

cial instances and generally throughout the colonies where they

had the power.

The strength of the Tory party which developed at the be-

ginning of the Revolutionary War was composed of the crown

officers who had been sent out to America by the English Gov-

ernment, many of whom were unworthy and worthless at home

and of course were unworthy and worthless in their new rela-

tions. They were disignated by the term "place-men." Some

of them were worthy and discharged their duties with fidelity,

but even they did not escape the appellation of "Ministerial tools."

Then there was the clergy of the Established Church, who were

appointed by British authority to manage the affairs of the es-

tablished church in the colonies. These constituted a very re-

spectable and important class of much influence both in religious

and secular affairs. They were as a rule a cultivated order of

men and their influence was necessarily great and they were al-

ways loyal to the British authority from which they received

their appointments and support, and to which under all ordinary

circumstances they owed allegiance.

Then there were many of the principal merchants and large

property owners of the time in this country who gave their sup-

port to the Tory party for the reason that it accorded with their

interest, if not indeed with their actual sentiments. These pow-

erful elements united formed the strength of the Tory party,

which first was developed and centralized about the City of Bos-

ton, in the early stages of the war, but which soon spread through-

out the colonies.

 

 

The formation of the Whig and Tory parties began during

the administration of Governor Hutchinson, who was the Eng-

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222       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

lish provincial or colonial governor of Massachusetts at and

prior to the commencement of hostilities. In May 1774 Governor

Hutchinson was succeeded by General Gage, who was clothed

with both military and civil authority.

With the coming of General Gage with his English soldiers,

four regiments strong and which strength was subsequently

greatly increased, the Tories in and about Boston manifested

themselves in a very positive and often aggressive manner.

Those who lived in Boston felt confident of the power of the

English government to protect them and many who lived with-

out the boundaries of the city from fears, either actual or imagi-

nary, flocked into the city to seek protection of the British

army and here for a time they felt that they were entirely se-

cure. They further felt sure that within a short time the patri-

ots whom they considered rebels against a lawful government,

would be subdued and punished and probably be beheaded or put

to the sword and have their property and estates confiscated.

The sentiments and feelings of the extreme Tories at the time

may be considered as well expressed by a prominent Tory wo-

man-Madame Higginson-who declared that "It would be a

joy to her to ride through Americans' blood to the hubs of her

carriage wheels." Another Tory said he "hoped that the rebels

would swing for it." Another "wanted to see the blood stream-

ing from the hearts of the leaders." Another described the patri-

ots "As more savage and cruel than heathens or any other

creatures and it is generally thought than devils."

 

 

The feelings and expressions of the Whigs were scarcely

less immoderate and intolerant, and they certainly did every-

thing to persecute the Tories in every way possible short of tak-

ing life. Their conduct was often tumultous and at times riotous.

Many Tory officers were threatened with violence and in some

cases violence was actually administered to compel them to re-

sign their "commissions." In one case one Israel Williams, one

of the thirty-six "Mandamus Counsellors" appointed by the au-

thority of King George, the Third, "although old and infirm, was

taken from his home at night by a mob and placed in a house

• 4
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         223

 

with the doors and chimneys closed and smoked for several

hours," and thus compelled to resign his office. It was said with

exceeding grim humor that "they smoked old Williams into a

Whig."

 

 

But this was not the worst form which the Whigs adopted

in the persecution of the Tories. The common and accepted form

of punishment was "tar and feathers," which prevailed to a more

or less extent throughout the colonies. Sometimes they tortured

their victims upon a liberty pole, and sometimes ducked them in

a convenient pond or stream; and one Tory complained "that he

was hoisted upon the landlord's sign and there exposed in com-

pany with a dead catamount." Sometimes the Whigs were sat-

isfied by simply warning an obnoxious Tory "that the law of tar

and feathers had not been repealed." The Tories were some-

times unlawfully taken by force and imprisoned; and sometimes

the unfortunate victim was made to "sit upon a cake of ice to cool

his loyalty." In some places a Tory could not even secure the

services of a blacksmith to shoe his horse, or have his corn or

wheat ground at the mills, or have other necessary labor per-

formed for him. The Tories were equally intolerant when they

had the power.

 

 

As soon as the British army took possession of Boston and

afterwards of New York they began to imprison and maltreat

the active Whigs. They treated those who had been active

against them with whatever cruelty or indignity they could in-

vent, and as an illustration a Long Island Whig was "compelled

to wear a coil of rope about his neck with assurance that he

would be hanged the next day." In short each party was quick

to learn intolerance from the other and to actively exercise it.

 

 

In New York and the New England colonies religion and

sect became badly involved and mixed up with politics and party

feeling and became an element which greatly heightened and in-

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224       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

tensified the feelings between the two parties. Where either

party had the power and control they often among other wrongs

desecrated each others churches and places of worship. It was

not infrequent that they used each others churches for barracks,

hospitals and guard houses, destroying the furniture and commit-

ting many acts of vandalism. In some cases they even used these

places of worship for the stabling of horses and the like, and

sometimes burned andentirely destroyed them.

 

 

Thus the religious feeling between the Puritans and the

Episcopalians - established church men - was intensified to the

last extent and they used in speaking and writing of each other

the most obnoxious and disrespectful language. The Tories de-

scribed the Whigs as "great Puritans but without religion" and

"as hypocritical fanatics." While the Puritans were equally in-

sulting and unjust in their writings and speeches concerning the

representatives of the established church. In the more south-

ern colonies this religious feeling was not nearly so marked and

bitter and in that region many Episcopalian Bishops and minis-

ters of the established church were strong patriots. But in New

York and the New England colonies, it was perhaps the strong-

est of any single element which served to create animosities and

hostilities between the parties and tended to strengthen and en-

courage their outrages and persecutions of each other.

 

 

The conflicts at Lexington and Concord took place in April,

1775, and the animosities which had been rapidly growing, at

once burst into flame. The Loyalists began to flee from New

York and New England to Canada, and Patriots in Canada began

to seek refuge in the colonies. In New York state Col. Allen Mc-

Lean and Guy Johnson collected a band of soldiers mostly Scotch

tenants of the Johnsons and went over to Canada where they

became auxiliary to the British force. The next year (1776) Sir

John Johnson, who lived in Central New York, and who had

great influence with the Mohawk Indians as well as with the

Loyalists organized about three hundred of the latter and with

• 6
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         225

 

them and all the Mohawk Indians fled to Canada. He was given

a colonel's commission by the British and authorized to raise two

battalions of five hundred men each, which he soon accomplished.

These forces with others of the same nature were very effective

and aggressive on the New York frontier and fought the bloody

battles of Oriskany and Ft. Stainwix (the present site of Rome, N.

Y.) at the last of which they were defeated and driven back into

Canada. But they returned again in a few months and with

their Indian allies, the Mohawk Indians, devastated the Wy-

oming Valley. They with many other Loyalists, were with Bur-

goyne, and on his defeat and surrender were forced to flee again to

Canada, where they continued their bitter partisan border warfare

during the entire war, and as the result of the war was against

them, they finally became a part of the vast number of perma-

nent "refugees to Canada."

 

 

On the other hand there was a considerable number of res-

idents in Canada who sympathized with those in revolt against

British rule in the provinces. Prominent among them was Col.

James Livingston, who had been born and educated in New

York, but had located in Montreal with the view of practicing

his profession as a lawyer. His family, the Livingstons, both in

New York and New Jersey, were strong patriots and active and

determined supporters for the war of independence and he was

in accord with their views and principles.

In the summer of 1775 it was determined to send an expedi-

tion to invade Canada with a view of terminating British do-

minion over that province. The command of the expedition was

given to General Schuyler and General Richard Montgomery.

The failing health of General Schuyler under the extraordinary

strain which was placed upon him, threw the active command

upon General Montgomery. General Montgomery had married

into the Livingston family, and so this added relation tended to

strengthen, if possible, the patriotism of Colonel Livingston and

his eagerness to assist in the invasion. With great energy and in

the face of difficulties and dangers he succeeded in get-

ting together three or four hundred Patriots in Canada mostly in

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226       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

and about Montreal, and with them hurried over the borders to

the State of New York, where they joined Montgomery's army

in the invasion of Canada. This band of refugees greatly as-

sisted at the capture of Montreal, St. Johns and other points

along the St. Lawrence river, and was with Montgomery in the

assault on Quebec where that gallant officer lost his life on the

last day of December, 1775.

After the disaster at Quebec, Colonel Livingston withdrew

along with the colonial army to the state of New York and

served as a colonel of his command throughout the entire Revolu-

tionary War. His command largely consisted of Patriots from

Canada, who were treated by the British authorities as outlaws

and became in name and in fact "Refugees from Canada."

 

 

As we shall see further on, more than one-half of all the

refugees to Canada were from the State of New York and nearly

all the refugees from Canada to the Colonies were originally

from the state of New York and the New England States. Col-

onel Livingston and the members of his command were excep-

tionally familiar with the territory and the situation of affairs

and from their special knowledge well fitted to cope with and

defeat the refugees to Canada and their Indian allies who were

operating against the colonies under different commanders and

so naturally came to be the objects of their most bitter and re-

lentless hatred. A heavy price was set upon Colonel Livingston's

head but he was so fortunate as never to fall into their hands al-

though through his whole long service of seven years he was in

large part opposed to Colonel Johnson and other commanders of

the Canadian refugee army, which with their British and Indian

allies constantly hovered along the Canadian border and threat-

ened and often pillaged the patriotic settlers of northern and

central New York. The Mohawk Indians were the constant and

active allies of the Tories in all this frontier warfare.

The property and estates of Colonel Livingston and other

patriots who had fled from Canada were confiscated and long

subsequently he and others received partial compensation for

• 8
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         227

 

their losses in grants of land in the "Refugee Tract," on which

the City of Columbus now stands.

 

 

 

The first great exodus of refugees after those who had early

fled across the borders to Canada, was at the evacuation of Bos-

ton by General Howe, in March, 1776. During the occupation of

Boston by the British Army from the coming of General Gage in

May, 1774, to the evacuation by General Howe, March, 1776, a

period of nearly two years, that city had been the hotbed of

Loyalism. During that period of occupation the Loyalists had in

many ways been a burden to the British commanders but on the

other hand they had rendered much service and assistance to

the British Army and had so linked their fortunes with the Brit-

ish cause that they could not now be abandoned to the mercy

of the victorious Patriots. There was at the time of the evacu-

ation by the British army a large number of small sailing ves-

sels in the Boston harbor and in these the Loyalists were allowed

to escape. Many of these small vessels were loaded with such

effects as the Loyalists could get together in great haste and

confusion and under the escort of three English men of war they

sailed away for the inhospitable and dreary and almost uninhab-

ited coast of Nova Scotia. It was the inclement stormy month

of March and the suffering of men, women and children in these

overcrowded vessels on a tempestuous sea, was such that noth-

ing could add to their misery. They were about a thousand in

number and among them thirteen of the thirty-six members of the

famous and detested "Mandamus Council." It is not probable

that any of them returned to their original homes, although they

must necessarily have lived under the hardest conditions in their

new country and but for the aid given them by the British gov-

ernment at least many of them must have perished. The Brit-

ish were never again in possession of the City of Boston and

much of the properties and estates of the refugees therefrom were

confiscated or destroyed.

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228       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Throughout the entire war refugees were fleeing to Canada

from the Colonies, and from Canada to the Colonies, but it is not

within our purpose to narrate these migrations in detail, but only

to notice the more important events, and the results.

The next great exodus from this country after the evacuation

of Boston by the British army, was at or near the close of the

Revolutionary War. When General Howe, defeated and humili-

ated, sailed away from Boston with his army in March, 1776, it

was not known where he would next appear; but New York was

generally thought to be his objective point. This was the opin-

ion of General Washington, and he at once commenced moving

his army in that direction. Events proved the correctness of his

views and wisdom of his action, for in the last days of June,

Howe's fleet appeared in the waters of the harbor of New York.

He proceeded to disembark his troops on Staten Island, but made

no active demonstration until August when in a general action

he defeated the colonial army and took possession of the city

and surrounding country, which was held by the British until

the end of the war and was not completely evacuated by them

until late in the year 1783, a period of seven years. During all

that period New York was to the Loyalist what Boston had been

-a safe harbor of retreat to which they flocked in great num-

bers from all quarters while thousands of Patriots fled early from

the city and found homes and places of refuge as best they could

and where they could in the surrounding country. The homes

thus deserted by the Patriots were filled by the Tories who flocked

to the city to secure protection of the British army. Thus the

population of the city almost entirely changed from Patriots to

Loyalists.

 

 

Great numbers of Loyalists enlisted in the British army.

Prof. Flick, who has made a most thorough and careful examina-

tion into the details concerning the refugees of New York and

has published the result of his researches under the title of

"Loyalism in New York," after giving the details, sums up the

total enlistment of New York Loyalists in the British army as

"at least 15,000 and in the navy 8,500, making a total of 23,000

• 10
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.          229

 

Loyalist troops" from that state alone. He further says, "This

was more than any other colony furnished and perhaps as many

as were raised by all the others combined." He further states

that "the New York Loyalists fought in every battle on New

York soil and in most of the other battles of the war and were

repeatedly commended for their gallantry." These figures en-

able us to understand how it was that so vast a number of persons

became refugees from New York at the end of the war.

 

 

Prof. John Beach McMaster, professor of American History

in the University of Pennsylvania, in his excellent work, entitled:

"With the Fathers," states that "the record shows that the num-

ber of refugees who left New York in 1783, was 29,244 persons,

men, women, children and servants who went off never to

return." And Professor Van Tyne in his recent excellent work,

entitled "The Loyalists in the American Revolution" (page 293)

makes the same estimate.

They for the most part went, or were rather sent to different

points on the coast of Nova Scotia. But some of the wealthy and

most conspicuous went to England, in part for the purpose of

living under the King's government to which they were devoted,

and in part to be better able there to press their claim for ser-

vices to the British cause and for material loss they had suffered.

Those who had means and did not want to be arbitrarily trans-

ported to places to which they did not want to go made up parties

and chartered their own vessels and went to places of their own

choosing. But this class was quite limited.

 

 

The great body of Tories who had not been active and con-

spicuous were allowed to remain in this country, but it is the

estimate of Prof. Flick that the total exodus of refugees from

the Colonies during and at the end of the war to various places

amounted to at least 60,000 persons. Most of these went to

Canada and Nova Scotia and became permanent residents thereof.

Each of these refugees carried with them a heart filled with hatred

for the country from which they had been exiled, and for the

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230       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

people who had compelled their exile, and although more than

a century has passed that feeling is still dominant and controlling

in the minds and hearts of many of their vastly increased num-

ber of descendants now living in Canada.

 

After a time a few of these refugees returned, having had

sad experiences and great sufferings. Some of them were al-

lowed to remain but others were scourged and beaten and other-

wise maltreated and compelled to again leave the country. They

returned from Canada and Nova Scotia only because they could

not endure the hard conditions of life in those provinces where

they had suffered almost untold hardships and deprivations.

There was nothing else to induce them to return as they had

been socially ostracized and their properties and estates had as a

rule been confiscated or destroyed.

 

As an illustration of the extreme feeling on the part of the

Patriots against the prominent and active Loyalists the cases of

a Mr. Roberts and a Mr. Carlisle, prominent citizens of Phila-

delphia, may be cited. These gentlemen had been active sup-

porters of the British cause while the British army was in occu-

pation of Philadelphia. When that city was evacuated by the

British army they remained behind, thinking to remain in their

old homes and enjoy their families and estates. They were

seized and tried by a civil tribunal and condemned to be hanged,

which sentence was mercilessly carried out, although the wife

and children of Mr. Roberts went before the Continental Con-

gress and supplicated for mercy for their husband and father.

 

 

 

When Charleston was evacuated by the British army near the

end of the war, some "3,000 Loyalist inhabitants left then or

had left prior to that time for Jamaica, St. Augustine, Halifax

or New York." When about the same time Savannah was evacu-

ated some 7,000 persons besides the soldiers left that city of

which number 5,000 were negro slaves of wealthy planters.

Most of these went to St. Augustine, Florida. Although the

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"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         231

 

wealthy planters, the slave-holding class, led in the Tory move-

ment in the southern colonies, yet a considerable element in the

organized Tory bands in Georgia and the Carolinas were of

the criminal classes of all kinds, grades and characters. They

flocked to the Tory standard for protection from their crimes.

They cared nothing about the principles involved and in fact many

of them were too ignorant to correctly understand them and too

vicious to care, and were indifferent to them. None of these

became refugees to Canada and when those colonies had been

reconquered from the British, near the end of the war most of

this class fled to the wilds of Florida, then under British domin-

ion, and some to the wilderness of the back country where they

assimilated with the Cherokees, Creeks and other Indian tribes.

Here they were able to actively continue their criminal lives and

practices. These vicious, depraved and desperate men were re-

sponsible in large part for much of the destruction of life and

property of the settlers in that region for many years following.

 

 

 

When Benedict Arnold betrayed and deserted the American

cause and fled from West Point, where he was in command of the

American forces, to the city of New York, he was rewarded for

his treachery, by a commission as Major General in the British

Army of Occupation, and authorized to organize a regiment of

Americans, which meant Tories and dissatisfied soldiers then in

the continental army. He issued a proclamation to the "officers

and soldiers of the continental army," which was intended to-

secure desertions from that army as well as to secure accessions

to the British forces from those who had not to that time actively

engaged in arms against their country. The result was, that

within a short time he organized a force of 1,600 royalists and

deserters and was sent by sea to Virginia to assist British Gen-

eral Howe in that section of the country. He was exceedingly

bold and active in his new relations and command, and did great

damage and created great destruction in Virginia both of life-

and property. Among other of his desperate acts was the burn-

ing of the City of Richmond with all its rich stores of merchan-

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232      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

dise and such continental army stores as were found there. He

also planned to capture Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of

Virginia, but his attempt failed.

In June, 1781, he returned to New York, when he was placed

in command of an expedition against the people of his native

state, Connecticut, and was in command at the terrible massacre

at Ft. Griswold, near New London, which further heightened

his infamous fame.

 

Arnold had left his Loyalist soldiers behind him in Virginia

and they were of the forces surrendered by Lord Cornwallis at

Yorktown. Cornwallis wished to make provisions for them in

the terms of the surrender, but this General Washington refused.

It was finally agreed in order to relieve the embarrassment, that

a British ship might "depart for New York with such troops

as Cornwallis might choose to send with it," and in this vessel

the unfortunate Tories and deserters were huddled and per-

mitted thus for the time to escape. This escape was, however,

only temporary, for on reaching New York they became a part

of the great body of those who would have to flee the country,

and they with the others were ultimately compelled to flee to

Canada and so became and were recognized and treated by the

British government as "refugees."

 

 

It is greatly to the credit of the English government that

it did all that could reasonably be done under the adverse cir-

cumstances which obtained at the time to alleviate the unfortunate

condition of the fugitive Loyalists. On the other hand the obli-

gations were great. Many of the Loyalists had rendered constant

and substantial assistance to the British cause and many more

had served in the British army and greatly helped to fight their

battles and gain their victories, and had suffered with them in

their defeats, and now in their final defeat were doomed to exile

from their homes and country, and so the obligations were im-

perative on the British government to do all that could be done

to assist and provide for these, their unfortunate friends and

allies. Every dictate of honor and humanity required this. It

• 14
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.        233

 

was of course impossible to fully relieve their sufferings and

hardships or to adequately compensate them for their material

losses.

This was equally the case with our own government in re-

spect to the refugees from Canada. Nothing could compensate

them for the hardships they endured to say nothing of the ma-

terial losses which they suffered. But the refugees from Canada

had the consolation of a triumphant result in their favor after

seven years of cruel war and almost unequaled hardships and

sufferings, and that was a mental and heart satisfaction if

nothing more. They felt that their cause was just and had

triumphed, and that they were at last vindicated; and still more

that a new system of popular free government had been estab-

lished which might prove to be of the greatest good not only

to Americans in the present but to humanity in all future time.

The results have justified their fondest expectations, as it will

now be generally conceded that the establishment of a free

and independent government in America was one of the most

fortunate events which has occurred in the history of the hu-

man race.

 

 

 

At the close of the Revolutionary War there were millions

of acres of unsurveyed and unoccupied lands in Canada and

Nova Scotia, suitable for cultivation when cleared and improved.

Surveying parties were at once sent by the British government

to different parts, to lay them out into tracts of various dimen-

sions to be granted to the refugees. In the meantime food,

clothing and shelter was provided until they could clear the land,

establish homes and become self-supporting. Professor Flick

states that "In upper Canada 3,200,000 acres were given to Loy-

alists, who settled there before 1787." Building materials, tools,

and implements for clearing and cultivating lands were dis-

tributed. Garden and farm seeds were given. A cow was given

to every two families. A bull was provided for each neighbor-

hood. Professor Flick further says, "Before the Canadian Loy-

alists were established on a self-supporting basis, perhaps

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234       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

$4,000,000 had been expended in surveys, official salaries, clothing,

food, tools, and stock." In addition claims for losses of real and

personal property and for debts and income were presented by

the Loyalists in the sum of about $50,000,000, of which perhaps

30 per cent. was finally paid. Professor Flick closes his elabor-

ate detailed statement as follows: "The total outlay on the

part of England during the war and after it closed, for the

loyalists in food and clothing, in temporary relief and annuities

in establishing them in Nova Scotia and Canada, in money com-

pensations, amounted to not less than $30,000,000."

 

This does not include the enormous grants of land. The do-

nation of these millions of acres of land and the expenditure of

these millions of money, although forced on the English govern-

ment by the hard circumstances of the times, proved a benefit and

blessing as it secured a rapid development of the resources of these

provinces and strengthened in most positive and enduring man-

ner the loyalty of the inhabitants to the British Crown which

now after a hundred and twenty years and the passing of more

than three generations, seems but little if at all abated. The

staunchest and most loyal adherents of the British Crown now

in Canada and Nova Scotia are descendants of the refugees.

 

While the English government was dispensing these boun-

ties in so prompt and ample a manner our own government was

doing little or nothing for the patriots who had fled from the

British provinces and cast their lives and fortune with the Ameri-

can cause. Of course our colonies were poor in purse, credit

and resources after seven years of war and could not at the

time respond promptly or adequately to the just demands of

the patriots from Canada. Moreover we had at the time but

little more than a titular government. However as early as April

23, 1783, notice was taken of the subject arid the following reso-

lution was passed by Congress:

 

"Resolved, That the memorialist be informed that Congress retains a

lively sense of the services the Canadian officers and men have rendered

the United States and that they are seriously disposed to reward them

for their virtuous sufferings in the cause of liberty.

• 16
 

"Refugees To and From      Canada," Etc.           235

 

That they be further informed that whenever Congress can consist-

ently make grants of land they will reward in this way as far as may

be consistent the officers, men, and other Refugees from Canada."

 

Two years later (April 13, 1785) Congress passed the fol-

lowing resolutions in respect to the refugees from Nova Scotia:

 

"Resolved, That Jonathan Eddy and other Refugees from    Nova

Scotia, on account of their attachment to the interest of the United States

be recommended to the humanity and particular attention of the several

states in which they respectively reside, and that they be informed that

whenever Congress can consistently make grants of land they will reward

in this way as far as may be consistent, such Refugees from Nova Scotia

as may be disposed to live in the Western country."

 

So the refugees from both provinces were placed upon the

same footing, and their claims subsequently considered and dis-

posed of on the same basis.

But it was not until fifteen years after the close of the war

that any active steps were taken and eighteen years before any-

thing substantial was accomplished. On April 7, 1798, an act

was passed, the first section of which was as follows:

 

SECTION 1. "Resolved, That to satisfy the claims of certain persons

claiming lands under the resolutions of Congress, of the twenty-third of

April, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and the thirteenth

of April, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, as Refugees from the

British provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia, the secretary of the depart-

ment of war be, and is hereby, authorized and directed, to give notice, in

one or more of the public papers of each of the states of Vermont, Mas-

sachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, to all persons

having claims under the said resolutions, to transmit to the war office,

within two years after the passing of this act, a just and true account

of their claims to the bounty of Congress.

SEC. 2. "That no other persons shall be entitled to the benefit of the

provisions of the act than those of the following descriptions, or their

widows and heirs, viz.: First, those heads of families, and single per-

sons, not members of any such families, who were residents in one of the

provinces aforesaid, prior to the fourth day of July, one thousand seven

hundred and seventy-six, and who abandoned their settlements in conse-

quence of having given aid to the United States or Colonies, in the Rev-

olutionary War against Great Britain, or with intention to give such aid,

continued in the United States, or in their service during the said war,

4 Vol. XII-3

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236         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

and did not return to reside in the dominions of the King of Great Brit-

ain, prior to the twenty-fifth of November, one thousand seven hundred

and eighty-three. Secondly, the widows and heirs of all such persons

as were actually residents, as aforesaid, who abandoned their settle-

ments as aforesaid, and died within the United States, or in their service,

during the said war. And thirdly, all persons who were members of

families at the time of their coming into the United States, and who,

during the war, entered into their service."

SEC 4. "That, at the expiration of fifteen months, from and after

the passing of this act, and from time to time thereafter, it shall be the

duty of the secretary for the department of war to lay such evidence of

claims, as he may have received before the secretary and comptroller of the

treasury, and, with them proceed to examine the testimony, and give their

judgment, what quantity of land ought to be allowed to the individual

claimants, in proportion to the degree of their respective services, sac-

rifices, and sufferings, in consequence of their attachment to the cause

of the United States; allowing to those of the first class, a quantity not

exceeding one thousand acres; and, to the last class, a quantity not ex-

ceeding one hundred; making such intermediate classes as the resolutions

aforesaid, and distributive justice, may, in their judgment, require; and

make report threeof to Congress."

This act laid the foundation of future action, but it was

not until February 18, 1801, eighteen years after the close of

the war, that any provision was actually made for compensations

for the refugees. On that date Congress passed the following

act, which was the first provision actually made for the refugees:

 

SEC. 1. "That the surveyor general be, and he is hereby, directed

to cause those fractional townships of the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth,

nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second ranges of town-

ships, which join the southern boundary line of the military lands, to be

sub-divided into half sections, containing three hundred and twenty acres

each; and to return a survey and description of the same to the secretary

of the treasury, on or before the first Monday of December next; and

that the said lands be, and they are hereby, set apart and reserved for

the purpose of satisfying the claims of persons entitled to lands under

the act, entitled 'An act for the relief of the Refugees from the British

provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia.'

SEC. 2. "That the secretary of the treasury shall, within thirty days

after the survey of lands shall have been returned to him as aforesaid,

proceed to determine, by lot, to be drawn in the presence of the secre-

taries of state and of war, the priority of location of the persons entitled

to lands as aforesaid. The persons thus entitled shall severally make their

locations on the second Tuesday of January next, and the patents for the

• 18
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         237

 

lands thus located shall be granted in the manner directed for military

lands, without requiring any fee whatever."

 

As before stated the land set aside by this act was four and

a half miles wide from the line of present Fifth Avenue to

Steelton in the city of Columbus, north and south, and east

from the east bank of the Scioto river about forty-eight miles.

It was intended to extend to the west line of the division of

land known as the "Seven Ranges," but it was never surveyed

that far for refugee purposes. The tract as surveyed for that

purpose contained about 136,000 acres. The part in Franklin

County was all embraced in Montgomery and Truro Townships.

These two townships extend from the east bank of the Scioto

to the east line of Franklin County and were four and one-half

miles wide from north to south. Both of these townships were

named by refugee influences; that of Montgomery by Judge

Edward C. Livingston, whose father as has been stated was with

General Montgomery when he fell at Quebec and who was a

refugee from Canada; and Truro by Robert Taylor who came

from Truro, Nova Scotia, and was the fourth settler in Truro

Township.

Under the act of 1798 which provided that proof of claims

might be made in advance of any lands being selected for the

benefit of refugees, only about fifty claims were made and al-

lowed amounting in all to 45,280 acres. This limited number

can be accounted for only for the reason that there was no cer-

tainty what provision, if any, would be made, and if made no

certainty that the land granted would be of any value or worth

owning. So many made no claims, and others who made claims

failed to prosecute them.

 

 

When by the act of February 18, 1801, the tract of land to be

appropriated was determined upon, it was found that it was

located in the then wilderness of central Ohio, unsurveyed and

uninhabited and of no known value. It was a long, difficult and

dreary journey from New York or New England and even from

Pennsylvania through the wilderness to reach these lands, and

• 19
 

238       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

in the almost twenty years which had elapsed since the close of

the war, many, who had just claims had obtained permanent homes

in those states which they did not desire or were too advanced

in years to leave to venture into the far off wilderness. Some,

who had valid claims, had died and as the records show, grants

were issued to their heirs. Others not desiring to come into the

wilderness sold their lands for what they could get, some to

speculators, some to enterprising young men, who wished to try

their fortune in the new country. Quite a number of the descend-

ants of those who had established their claim and possibly a few

of the original claimants took possession of their grants. A

number of descendants of the refugees are still living on and own

these lands after the passing of a hundred years. A notable ex-

ample of this is the venerable Robert N. Livingston now living

on his farm, on the banks of Alum Creek, just east of the city of

Columbus, where he was born eighty years ago. The land which

he owns and occupies came to him from his father, Judge Edward

C. Livingston, who received them from his father, Col. James

Livingston, to whom the original patents were issued. No deed

of alienation has ever passed for these lands. Others of the

descendants of Col. Livingston still own considerable portions

of these refugee lands.

 

 

Under the act of April 7, 1798 about fifty claims were estab-

lished by proof and accepted by the commission designated under

section four of that act and the amount of land awarded amounted

to 45,280 acres. But the land had yet to be surveyed and selected

and this required another year of delay, so that it was not until

the year 1802, twenty years after the close of the war, that any

of the claimants had their land set off to them or received any

benefit or relief.

 

By an act of March 16, 1804, the time for proving claims

was extended for two years; and by an act of February 24, 1810,

time was again extended for two years. Under these extending

acts seventeen claims were established and under an act of April

23, 1812, these claimants were awarded land to the extent of

• 20
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.          239

 

11,500 acres out of the refugee lands. The total number of claims

established under all the acts of Congress, were 67 in number

and the total amount of land awarded was 56,780 acres, con-

siderably less than one-half of the land set off for that purpose.

The small number of claimants is easily accounted for. It was

twenty years after the war before the first grants were made,

and thirty years before the second grants were made. Seven

years of war and twenty years of hardship and struggle, had done

their work. Of the 17 claims established under the acts of 1804

and 1810, but three were to original claimants. The others had

passed away and the patents were issued to their heirs. The relief

granted was both late and inadequate.

 

 

By an act of April 29, 1816, "All lands which had been set

apart for Refugees and not located," were attached to Chillicothe

district (land office) and directed to be sold as other public lands

-not to be sold for less than two dollars per acre and thus all

the lands of the Refugee tract which had not to that time been

granted, were disposed of as other public lands.

 

 

 

Mention has been made of the proclamation of Benedict Ar-

nold, when he deserted to the British cause intended to induce

desertions from the colonial Army and to secure the deserters

to enlist in the British cause. As heretofore seen he was but too

successful in his nefarious purpose. But this was not the first

proclamation of that kind nor the most effective and disastrous.

Early in the conflict the British government issued a proclama-

tion inviting with liberal promises of gold and other rewards,

officers and privates to desert the American cause and enlist in the

British service. This proclamation was in force through the war.

The effect was very demoralizing to the colonial army and dis-

couraging to the patriots of the country. Under the hard cir-

cumstances which obtained as to food, clothing, pay and hardships

generally in the colonial army, desertions on the part of certain

classes of recruits were easily induced and became discourag-

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240         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ingly frequent. Washington was greatly grieved on account of

these numerous desertions. The British government and the Tory

party in this country thoroughly believed that the loyalists were

in such force and strength that with small assistance on the part

of the English army the rebellion would surely and speedily be

overthrown; and further that many in the Colonial army were

anxious to desert and would do so if any inducement was offered.

In this view and belief the British government in 1776, issued

a proclamation inviting and encouraging desertions from the

Colonial army, the effect of which may be judged by the state-

ment of Joseph Galloway the leading Tory and trusted British

agent who testified that 2,300 deserters from the Colonial army

came into his office at Philadelphia, one-half of whom were Irish,

one-fourth English and Scotch, and the rest, Americans. The

promise of English gold had a disastrous effect on many of the

colonial recruits and greatly depleted the Colonial army.

To meet this movement on the part of the British, the Conti-

nental Congress on August 14, 1776, passed a resolution as fol-

lows:

"BOUNTIES TO FOREIGN DESERTERS."

"WHEREAS, The parliament of Great Britain have thought fit by a

late act, not only to invite our troops to desert our service, but to direct a

compulsion of our people taken at sea, to serve against their country;

Resolved, Therefore, That these states will receive all such foreigners

who shall leave the armies of his Britannic majesty in America, and shall

choose to become members of any of these states; and they shall be pro-

tected in the free exercise of their respective religions, and be invested

with the rights, privileges, and immunities of natives, as established by

the laws of these states; and moreover that this congress will provide

for every such person fifty acres of unappropriated lands, in some of these

states, to be held by him and his heirs in absolute property.

"That this congress shall give to all such of the said foreign

officers, as shall leave the armies of his Britannic majesty in America,

and choose to become citizens of these states, unappropriated lanes, in

the following quantities and proportions, to them and their heirs in abso-

lute dominion. To a colonel, 1,000 acres; to a lieutenant colonel, 800

acres; to a major, 600 acres; to a captain, 400 acres; to a lieutenant 300

acres; to an ensign, 200 acres; to every non-commissioned officer, 100

acres; and to every officer or person employed in the said foreign corps

and whose office or employment is not here specifically named, in the

like proportion to their rank or pay in the said corps."

• 22
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.             241

 

The remarkable result was that while many thousands de-

serted from the Colonial to the British army at all periods of the

war and so ultimately became refugees to Canada, there seems

to have been but a single desertion from the British to the Colo-

nial Army, who made any claim under this resolution and his

name was Nicholas Ferdinand Westfall. On the 27th of March,

1792, Congress passed an act, the 6th section of which is as fol-

lows:

 

SECTION 6. "That there be granted to Nicholas Ferdinand Westfall,

who left the British service and joined the army of the United States,

during the late war, one hundred acres of unappropriated land in the

western territory of the United States, free of all charges."

This seems to have been the only grant made in pursuance

of the preceding resolution.

• 23