An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America Part 19

Lt. |John Howard |Ireland |18 yrs.|Farmer; served 6 years last | | | | war, from 1755 to 1761, as | | | | soldier and | | | | non-commissioned officer | | | | in 28th Regt.

"RETURN OF THE OFFICERS OF THE LATE SECOND BATTALION, KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK."--Continued.

-------|-------------------|---------+-------+----------------------------- | | |Length | FORMER SITUATIONS AND Rank | NAMES |Place of | of | REMARKS | |Nativity |Service| -------|-------------------|---------|-------|----------------------------- Lt. |Jeremiah French |America | 7 yrs.| Farmer.

Lt. |Phil. P. Lansingh |America | 4 yrs.|High Sheriff, Chariot County.

Lt. |Hazelt'n Spencer |America | 7 yrs.|Farmer.

Lt. |Oliver Church |America | 7 yrs.|Farmer.

Lt. |William Fraser |Scotland | 7 yrs.|Farmer.

Lt. |Christian Wher |Foreign'r| 7 yrs.|Farmer.

Ens. |Alex. McKenzie |N.Britain| 4 yrs.|Farmer.

Ens. |Ron. McDonell |N.Britain| 3 yrs.|Farmer.

Ens. |---- Hay |America | 3 yrs.|Son of Gov. Hay at Detroit.

Ens. |Samuel McKay |America | 3 yrs.|Son of the late Capt. McKay.

Ens. |Timothy Thompson |America | 3 yrs.|Private Gentleman.

Ens. |John McKay |America | 3 yrs.|Son of the late Capt. McKay.

Ens. |---- Johnson |Ireland | 2 yrs.|Nephew of the late Sir Wm.

| | | | Johnson, Bart.

Ens. |---- Crawford |America | 4 yrs.|Son of Capt. Crawford.

Ch'p |John Stuart |America | 3 yrs.|Missionary for the Mohawk | | | | Indians at Fort Hunter.

Adjt. |---- Fraser |Scotland |10 yrs.|7 years soldier and | | | | non-commissioned officer in | | | | 34th Regiment.

Q.M. |---- Dies |America | 7 yrs.|Farmer.

Surg. |R. Kerr |Scotland | 8 yrs.|a.s.sistant Surgeon.[133]

The officers and men of the First Battalion, with their families, settled in a body in the first five townships west of the boundary line of the Province of Quebec, being the present townships of Lancaster, Charlottenburgh, Cornwall, Osnabruck and Williamsburgh; while those of the Second Battalion went farther west to the Bay of Quinte, in the counties of Lennox and Prince Edward. Each soldier received a certificate ent.i.tling him to land; of which the following is a copy:

"His Majesty's Provincial Regiment, called the King's Royal Regiment of New York, whereof Sir John Johnson, Knight and Baronet is Lieutenant-Colonel, Commandant.

These are to certify that the Bearer hereof, Donald McDonell, soldier in Capt. Angus McDonell's Company, of the aforesaid Regiment, born in the Parish of Killmoneneoack, in the County of Inverness, aged thirty-five years, has served honestly and faithfully in the said regiment Seven Years; and in consequence of His Majesty's Order for Disbanding the said Regiment, he is hereby discharged, is ent.i.tled, by His Majesty's late Order, to the Portion of Land allotted to each soldier of His Provincial Corps, who wishes to become a Settler in this Province. He having first received all just demands of Pay, Cloathing, &c., from his entry into the said Regiment, to the Date of his Discharge, as appears from his Receipt on the back hereof.

Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms, at Montreal, this twenty-fourth Day of December, 1783.

John Johnson."

"I, Donald McDonell, private soldier, do acknowledge that I have received all my Cloathing, Pay, Arrears of Pay, and all Demands whatsoever, from the time of my Inlisting in the Regiment and Company mentioned on the other Side to this present Day of my Discharge, as witness my Hand this 24th day of December, 1783.

Donald McDonell."[134]

There appears to have been some difficulty in according to the men the amount of land each should possess, as may be inferred from the pet.i.tion of Colonel John Butler on behalf of The Royal Greens and his corps of Rangers. The Order in Council, October 22 1788 allowed them the same as that allotted to the members of the Royal Highland Emigrants.[135]

Ultimately each soldier received one hundred acres on the river front, besides two hundred at a remote distance. If married he was ent.i.tled to fifty acres more, an additional fifty for every child. Each child, on coming of age, was ent.i.tled to a further grant of two hundred acres.

It is not the purpose to follow these people into their future homes, for this would be later than the Peace of 1783. Let it suffice to say that their lands were divided by lot, and into the wilderness they went, and there cleared the forests, erected their shanties out of round logs, to a height of eight feet, with a room not exceeding twenty by fifteen feet.

These people were pre-eminently social and attached to the manners and customs of their fathers. In Scotland the people would gather in one of their huts during the long winter nights and listen to the tales of Ossian and Fingal. So also they would gather in their huts and listen to the best reciter of tales. Often the long nights would be turned into a recital of the sufferings they endured during their flight into Canada from Johnstown; and also of their privations during the long course of the war. It required no imagination to picture their hardships, nor was it necessary to indulge in exaggeration. Many of the women, through the wilderness, carried their children on their backs, the greater part of the distance, while the men were burdened with their arms and such goods as were deemed necessary. They endured perils by land and by water; and their food often consisted of the flesh of dogs and horses, and the roots of trees. Gradually some of these story tellers varied their tale, and, perhaps, believed in the glosses.

A good story has gained extensive currency, and has been variously told, on Donald Grant. He was born at Crasky, Glenmoriston, Scotland, and was one of the heroes who sheltered prince Charles in the cave of Corombian, when wandering about, life in hand, after the battle of Culloden, before he succeeded in effecting his escape to the Outer Hebrides. Donald, with others, settled in Glengarry, a thousand acres having been allotted to him. This old warrior, having seen much service, knew well the country between Johnstown and Canada. He took charge of one of the parties of refugees in their journey from Schenectady to Canada. Donald lived to a good old age and was treated with much consideration by all, especially those whom he had led to their new homes. It was well known that he could spin a good story equal to the best. As years went on, the number of Donald's party rapidly increased, as he told it to open-mouthed listeners, constantly enlarging on the perils and hardships of the journey. A Highland officer, who had served in Canada for some years, was returning home, and, pa.s.sing through Glengarry, spent a few days with Alexander Macdonell, priest at St. Raphael's. Having expressed his desire to meet some of the veterans of the war, so that he might hear their tales and rehea.r.s.e them in Scotland, that they might know how their kinsmen in Canada had fought and suffered for the Crown, the priest, amongst others, took him to see old Donald Grant. The opportunity was too good to be lost, and Donald told the general in Gaelic the whole story, omitting no details; giving an account of the number of men, women and children he had brought with him, their perils and their escapes, their hardships borne with heroic devotion; how, when on the verge of starvation, they had boiled their moccasins and eaten them; how they had encountered the enemy, the wild beasts and Indians, beaten all off and landed the mult.i.tude safely in Glengarry. The General listened with respectful attention, and at the termination of the narrative, wishing to say something pleasant, observed: "Why, dear me, Donald, your exploits seem almost to have equalled even those of Moses himself when leading the children of Israel through the Wilderness from Egypt to the Land of Promise." Up jumped old Donald. "Moses," exclaimed the veteran with an unmistakable air of contempt, and adding a double expletive that need not here be repeated, "Compare ME to Moses! Why, Moses took forty years in his vain attempts to lead his men over a much shorter distance, and through a mere trifling wilderness in comparison with mine, and he never did reach his destination, and lost half his army in the Red Sea. I brought my people here without the loss of a single man."

It has been noted that the Highlanders who settled on the Mohawk, on the lands of Sir William Johnson, were Roman Catholics. Sir William, nor his son and successor, Sir John Johnson, took any steps to procure them a religious teacher in the principles of their faith. They were not so provided until after the Revolution, and then only when they were settled on the lands that had been allotted to them. In 1785, the people themselves took the proper steps to secure such an one,--and one who was able to speak the Gaelic, for many of them were ignorant of the English language. In the month of September, 1786, the ship "McDonald," from Greenock, brought Reverend Alexander McDonell, Scotus, with five hundred emigrants from Knoydart, who settled with their kinsfolk in Glengarry, Canada.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 101: Gentleman's Magazine, Sept. 30, 1773.]

[Footnote 102: Am. Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. II. p. 151.]

[Footnote 103: _Ibid_, p. 637.]

[Footnote 104: _Ibid_, p. 638.]

[Footnote 105: _Ibid_, p. 661.]

[Footnote 106: _Ibid_, p. 665.]

[Footnote 107: _Ibid_, p. 672.]

[Footnote 108: _Ibid_, p. 712.]

[Footnote 109: _Ibid_, p. 880.]

[Footnote 110: Stone's Life of Brant, Vol. I, p. 106.]

[Footnote 111: Am. Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. III. p. 1194.]

[Footnote 112: _Ibid_, p. 1245.]

[Footnote 113: _Ibid_, p. 1963.]

[Footnote 114: Doc.u.mentary and Colonial History of New York, Vol. VIII, p. 651.]

[Footnote 115: Am. Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. IV, pp. 818-829.]

[Footnote 116: Doc.u.mentary and Colonial History of New York, Vol. VIII, p. 668.]

[Footnote 117: See Appendix, Note J.]

[Footnote 118: Am. Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. VI, p. 447.]

[Footnote 119: _Ibid_, p. 643.]

[Footnote 120: _Ibid_, p. 642.]

[Footnote 121: _Ibid_, p. 644.]

[Footnote 122: _Ibid_, p. 511.]

[Footnote 123: Doc.u.mentary and Colonial History of New York, Vol. VIII, p. 683.]

[Footnote 124: Am. Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. VI. p. 647.]