Information on the Loyalists

Samuel Adams, born in 1730 in Stratford, Connecticut, became a physician and surgeon. He and his wife, Martha Curtis, left Connecticut in 1764 to relocate in the newly forming settlement in Arlington, Vermont. Within nine years, he had purchased 700 acres of land of which 130 acres had been improved and had built a house and barns for a large number of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. This was about 1773 and near the outset of the Revolutionary War.

The beginning of the Revolution found a large portion of the citizens of Arlington sympathizers of the British cause. Sooner or later many of the principal landholders and influential men of the town either voluntarily left or were driven out, and their estates confiscated by the New York government.

The land on which Samuel Adams had been established was involved in a controversy between New Hampshire and New York. In 1774 Adams was so active in his advocacy of the New York side, he drew the wrath of Ethan Allen and 'The Green Mountain Boys' and was subsequently arrested by Allen and carried to Bennington. After a hearing he was convicted as an enemy, and punished by being hoisted to the catamount sign of Fay's Catamount Inn and there suspended for two hours.

Ethan Allen was born on January 21, 1738 in the town of Litchfield, Connecticut, a son of Joseph and Mary Allen. Ethan was the oldest of eight children. Shortly after he was born the family moved to Cornwall, Addison County, Vermont. Allen spent a considerable portion of his life in the effort to achieve independence for what is now Vermont, commanding (1770-1775) an irregular force called the Green Mountain Boys, so named in defiance of the New York threat to drive Vermont settlers off the fields and "into the Green Mountains."

One of the characteristics of early American colonial life was that the vast abundance of land created many opportunities. However, there was no colonial power to regulate the distribution of this land. This creates a problem. When the land was bought and sold without any uniform surveying system the result was such that more than one person could, and did, claim ownership of the same parcel of land.

In many cases, two parties now owned the same land. This was a common problem for many owners of land grants in both New Hampshire and New York. Some of the speculators, including both Dr. Samuel Adams and Ethan Allen were aware of this issue but cared little. The reason for this was because of what these first speculators had planned for their grants. Those who originally bought the grants from the governors of New York and New Hampshire, generally as a result of favouritism on behalf of the governors in tending to secure support from the wealthy classes, who then became wealthy land speculators. They earned their livelihood buying and selling land. This industry was very lucrative when there was so much unsettled property available. With no colonial authority to regulate surveying practices, land was often sold with vague boundaries. These first, and favoured, speculators would then quickly sell their deed to a second group of speculators, the middleman. The second group would be looking to make a profit so they would find someone who was actually desirous to settle on the land. These settlers were often the third owners of the original land grant. They had no idea that there were other settlers in New Hampshire or New York who would also lay legal claim to the same land.

Ethan Allen joined the search for opportunity in the Green Mountains of the New Hampshire Grants, both as a speculator and as a settler in search of land to raise his family. Many New England families were packing up for the cheap land in the Grants. The reason for this was that the security of the family depended on how much land it had for its own use and for the descendants which may follow. Land was the source for food and a home. With each parcel of land a child inherited, there was less land for future generations, thus the need to acquire substantial land at the outset. Ethan had these concerns in mind when he went to the New Hampshire Grants to buy land. Yet he also realized that he could make a living from land speculation to provide for his family. This was why he fought the "Yorkers" so hard for Vermont's independence. If New York authority was allowed to do as it pleased in the New Hampshire Grants the Allen family would lose their land and therefore their liberty, a measure secured through land ownership.

Before Ethan moved to the Grants, there was some protest and resistance against New York. What Allen brought to the situation was a magnetic personality, strong leadership, and organizational capabilities. Here he ran into Dr. Samuel Adams of Arlington, Vermont, our subject, who had ordered some Grant settlers to buy from him a second time those properties now located in the disputed area and claimed by New York. Fearing a violent response to his demands, Adams armed himself with a pistol in each hand, and announced he was ready for anyone who would attack him. Ethan walked up to Adams, knocked the pistols out of his hands and hauled him off to Fay's tavern in Bennington. It was here that Dr. Samuel Adams suffered his most humiliating act. At Fay's Catamount Inn, being the headquarters of the Vermont government, courts, major decision making, and drinking establishments, Adams was found to be guilty and subsequently tied to a chair and set upon the Tavern's signpost overhanging the street. There he spent many hours in consideration of his ways while onlookers laughed and ridiculed him from below. It is said that our Samuel Adams then kept very much to himself for the next several years.

In the early part of the struggle an event occurred in Arlington involving Samuel Adams. It seems that at a nearby encampment of revolutionary forces, in the course of acquiring food for his troops, Colonel Warner sent out troops as usual for provisions. Colonel Lyon with a company, of whom David Mallory was one, started for the purpose of taking cattle from the Tories. Samuel Adams collected a company for resistance. Mallory and Adams were previously acquainted, both having studied medicine together. Adams warned Mallory of the probable consequences of taking cattle. Hard words passed, and they separated to execute their respective intentions. Colonel Lyon's company collected quite a drove of cattle and were driving them to West Arlington. On an island in the river where the cattle were about to cross, Adams and his men were concealed. As soon as Mallory appeared Adams showed himself and ordered him to stop. A threat was the only reply. Adams coolly said that in case himself was shot there were men ready who would instantly riddle him. Upon this Mallory raised his piece, but not being quick enough was instantly shot down by Adams. Just then a horn was heard calling laborers to dinner. This was taken as a signal for the gathering of the Tories. Lyon's men fled, and the cattle returned to their owners. Dr. Adams fled to Canada, and in 1778 his property was confiscated and his family sent within the British lines.

At the battle of Bennington it is said that men from Arlington were fighting on each side, and when Burgoyne surrendered five or six of the inhabitants of this town were among those serving in his army and made prisoners. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) Allen led the expedition that captured Fort Ticonderoga in the first colonial victory of the war (notwithstanding the fact that he and the Green Mountain Boys basically knocked on the door, walked in and took over, the inhabitants having previously fled in advance of Allen's arrival). He would soon thereafter attempt a badly planned, badly executed assault on Montreal which would result in his being imprisoned by the British and thus removed from further participation in the Revolution.

In July of 1775, several hundred American Loyalists had reached Montreal. Now the American Loyalists and the Quebec Loyalists joined to repel the advancing Allen and his Green Mountain Boys. On, or about September 25, 1775, Ethan Allen was forced to surrender his sword when the raiders were overpowered by the Loyalist forces. With Allen's defeat, militia volunteers sensed victory and poured into Montreal from the countryside eager to offer their services and anxious to push the remaining invaders from the province. No doubt our subject, Samuel Adams, felt avenged for the humiliation suffered years earlier at the hands of Allen when the notorious Allen was paraded through the streets of Montreal to a prison ship in the harbour, producing a sensation of victory in the province.

Allen was no military genius, rather an overbearing, loud-mouthed braggart. He was also a staunch patriot who apparently did not know the meaning of fear. More importantly, he had the loyalty of the Green Mountain Boys, as unruly a bunch of roughnecks as any in history. It is reported that the Reverend Nathan Perkins wrote in his diary, "Arrived at Onion River falls (present-day Winooski, perhaps more familiar as adjacent to Burlington, Vermont on Lake Champlain) and passed by Ethan Allyn's grave. An awful infidel, one of Ye wickedest Men Yt ever walked this guilty globe. I stopped and looked at his grave with a pious horror."

When the Revolution began, Dr. Samuel Adams and his sons, Major Gideon Adams (then a Lieutenant in the Loyal Rangers, Jessup's Corps), Andrew, Joel, Sam William, and James volunteered in the King's Rangers, joined the British forces despite the fact that Samuel's father and brothers were firmly on the other side. Although he had attempted to make arrangements for his father to receive his land, it was confiscated by the Americans and reported upon in the "Sequestrations, Confiscations And Sale Of Estates - State Papers of Vermont". The men of the family joined General Burgoyne as scouts while their families removed to Yamachiche in Quebec, but one of several refugee camps made available to the escaping Loyalist families.

Prior to the revolution Edward, Ebenezer and Joseph Jessup owned large properties on the west side of the Hudson river near Albany NY. They were early to join the British cause and in 1776 they used their influence to recruit British supporters to form a company for the defense of the colony. It was decided that Ebenezer, although second oldest, would be given command allowing him additional pay to support his family. With a small group of men they joined Sir Guy Carleton’s army at Crown Point. They were unable to raise a full company of recruits and were thereby attached to Sir John Johnston’s King’s Royal Regiment of New York 1st Battalion. It was with this group that they participated in one of the leading campaigns in the Revolution.

The plan was to defeat American forces using a three pronged attack. General Burgoyne was to drive south from Canada along the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain. He was supported by Brig. General St. Leger who would leave Oswego and push east through the Mohawk Valley capturing Fort Stanwix. General Howe’s army was to advance north up the Hudson Valley. When they met at Albany, the rebelling colonies would be cut in half and easier to defeat.

Burgoyne’s army included several Loyalist Forces. Lt. Col. Ebenezer Jessup led 270 men in his newly formed King’s Loyal Rangers. He "fought with spirit" alongside Capt. Peter’s Queen’s Loyal Rangers, The Loyal Volunteers led by Lt. Col. Francis Van Pfister, the American Volunteers led by Capt. Daniel McAlpin and several Independent Companies, one captained by Dr. Samuel Adams. It was a bitter campaign with heavy casualties. Peter’s Corps was all but wiped out at Bennington and Jessup lost more than half his men in various campaigns. Apart from St. Leger’s success at Oriskany, Burgoyne suffered heavy casualties as he struggled towards Albany. St Leger failed to take Fort Stanwix and his advance was stopped. Burgoyne lost valuable men at the Battle of Bennington. Without reinforcement from Howe he was unable to recover from further losses at Freeman’s Farm and he suffered final defeat at Saratoga on October 17, 1777. In the aftermath of this battle, the three Jessup brothers and Dr. Samuel Adams were among those who were paroled - that is released upon their word that they would not take up arms again against the Americans. The Loyalist companies returned to Canada greatly reduced in numbers. The muster roll of August 9, 1777, reports that Dr. Samuel Adams of Arlington arrived in Quebec soon after the Jessup's with four officers and 26 privates.

The exact date at which these Loyalist forces arrived into Canada in the autumn of 1777 after Burgoyne's defeat is uncertain. Some were taken prisoner and managed to escape; the less fortunate did not get to Canada until they were released at the close of the war. Many decided it would be prudent to take their departure during the interval between the surrender and the signing of the Convention - Burgoyne abhorred words like capitulation and surrender, thus the document he signed was known as the Saratoga Convention. With the signing of the Saratoga Convention, Burgoyne's forces were protected under Article 8, whereby all captured personnel were to be regarded as British subjects and therefore prisoners, to be treated according to the rules of war. All signed paroles to take no further part in the hostilities as a condition of being released. The forces captured at Saratoga were escorted under a flag of truce to Fort Ticonderoga and there handed over to the British garrison. Dr. Samuel Adams had no active officers included under the Convention and only 13 privates ready for duty. Those under the rules of the Convention included Adams, 1 other captain, 2 lieutenants and 1 ensign, with 28 rank and file.

On June 1, 1778, it was declared by the Loyalist headquarters in Quebec that the Saratoga Convention was no longer binding because the Americans had broken its terms. Dr. Adams men were quartered at Sorel, Quebec. By 1781, Dr. Samuel Adams, now age 51, had retired, and his forces were amalgamated into the second battalion of the King's Royal Regiment of New York.

Loyalist doctors were less influential than retired military surgeons. Dr. Samuel Adams was more notable for his activities as a Loyalist military man than for his professional work as a physician and surgeon. Not unexpectedly, the war years strained on Adams and he retired to keep an inn in Montreal, at Point-aux-Trembles.

With the presence of thousands of soldiers in the Montreal area after the war assured that certain occupations would be in demand, particularly the vendors of alcoholic spirits. It is reported that by 1779 some 27 persons were licensed to sell liquor in the Montreal district. Not surprising, Dr. Adams was among those so licensed. Adams was eventually struck off the 1/2 pay subsistence allowance he received as a former British officer once he became self-supporting.

Adams activities from then on for many years is obscure. The next we hear of Dr. Adams is in 1798 when Robert Prescott, Governor-in-Chief of Canada, 1797-1807, and his entourage were encouraged, upon a visit to the area, to stay at Dr. Adams inn for it was known to be "commodious and the entertainment was of a tolerable fashion".

At age 80 years, Captain Dr. Samuel Adams, having retired from his inn in Montreal, located to Johnstown to be closer to his sons and their families. There, in 1810, the Captain passed away from old age and is one of the first to be buried in North Channel Cemetery, Edwardsburgh Township., Grenville County. Of his wife, Martha Curtis, no records have been found. It is left to speculation that upon escaping from the rebellion she found her way with her family to Yamachiche and there waited out the war and the return of her husband, Captain Dr. Samuel Adams.

Samuel was a United Empire Loyalist, and held the rank of Captain Dr., being a physician and surgeon. When he located to Johnstown with Jessup's Rangers he received 1/2 pay as a loyal British Officer during the Revolutionary War. He and his family settled on Lot 7, Concession II, Oxford Township, in 1805. He is mentioned in the proceedings of the Loyalist Commission in 1788 at Montreal, whereupon he was provided with a certificate of service and loyalty.

Thadeus Leavitt, author of the "History of Leeds and Grenville", published in 1879, recounts a slightly different version of the demise of one Mallory at the hands of Dr. Adams in the following story from the Revolutionary War: "The first permanent settlers of Burritt's Rapids were the Burritt brothers-Colonel Stephen Burritt, Colonel Edmond Burritt, and Colonel Henry Burritt. The latter laid out Burritt's Rapids, on Lot No. 5 in the 1st Concession of Oxford. Colonel Daniel Burritt located on the north side of the Rideau, Lot No. 25, in the first Concession of Marlborough. The Burritts were known as staunch defenders of the British flag. Jemimah Ward, great-grandmother of Hamlet Burritt, was upon one occasion during the Revolutionary War, set to watch for the approach of Mallory's gang (a band of rebels who plundered Loyalist families in the vicinity of Arlington), as Mallory approached, Jemimah blew a horn: the result was that Dr. Samuel Adams shot Mallory dead. Her action in the matter becoming known to the Continental authorities (Samuel Huntington being the first president of the Continental Congress), the heroine was compelled to fly for protection to General Burgoyne's camp. Dr. Adams was also the great-grandfather of Hamlet Burritt, who now resides at the Rapids."

Regardless as to the exact intention and order of events regarding the sounding of the horn, the consequences for Mallory were the same.

The following is part of Dr. Adams petition for land, filed before the Losses Claims Commission on June 20, 1787, a testimonial by Reuben Hawley:

"Reuben Hawley of Yamaska being duly sworn deposesth & saith that he was intimately acquainted with Doctor Samuel Adams for a number of years before the rebellion commenced & was well knowing to his being a professed loyal subject in all companies and at all times from the beginning of the rebellion to the end of the war and was well knowing to the said Samuel Adams being under confinement for his loyalty and his sons being confined and paying fines and that said Dr. Samuel Adams was obliged to flea to the kings troops for refuge from the persecution of the rebels & that Dr. Samuel Adams paid fines &c, and afterward that the said Dr. Samuel Adams served in the campaign with Lord Dorchester upon the Lakes and afterward raised a scouting party and served with General Burgoyne during the whole campaign as Captain of the Rangers upon private scouts and after General Burgoyne's defeat the said Dr. Samuel Adams retreated into Canada with a large number of men under his dyrection besides his own Company & was at considerable expense with the sick &c."

The eldest son, Gideon, born in 1755 in Connecticut, served in Jessup's Rangers. In 1784, after the War, he was granted 2000 acres of land because of his rank and service. He took his land in Edwardsburgh, Oxford and South Gower Townships. He and his wife, Mary Ann Snyder, settled on the South Gower land; his sons staying in Edwardsburgh. In South Gower he became a notary public, magistrate and major in the Grenville Militia.

Another son of Samuel, Andrew Adams, was born in 1763, also in Connecticut. He served in the King's Rangers and received his land grant in Edwardsburgh where he settled with his wife, Rachel Froom. Rachel was the daughter of James Froom, who was also a Loyalist.

Notes Upper Canada Land Book C, July 4, 1796: "Adams, Samuel - Stating that he joined His Majesty's forces in Montreal in the 1776, in the spring 1777 he again crossed lake under General Burgoyne and by his order raised a company of Rangers and continued under his direction until his capitulation at Saratoga. Petitioner paid and clothed both them and officers of the said company without any assistance from government except forty guineas received from General Burgoune when he raised the company. Petitioner had one son a serjeant and four sons privates in the said company, and another son a serjeant in Colonel Jessup's Corps, that he never located any lands in the Eastern district where he resides, prays for land at Long Point, having only located 500 acres which the lieutenant holds. Referred to the Surveyor General to report."

From the book Lunenburgh, or the Old Eastern District, by J. F. Pringle, Judge County Court. Published in 1890, Appendix C. List of officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 84th Regiment, the King's Royal Regiment of New York, the Loyal Rangers (Major Jessup's corps), Butler's Rangers, etc., who settled in the eastern part of Upper Canada. The list includes members of the Adams family, the Bower family, the family of William Snyder, and the Van Camp family. Some years later, these families will have inter-marriages with the Adams and Huntington families. The Beach family settle first at Ernestown and some members subsequently remove to Renfrew County and are considered the first settlers and establish the Village of Beachburg, 1835, in Westmeath Township, and were soon joined there by members of the Huntington and Adams family. As noted previously, Gideon Adams married Mary Ann Snyder and his younger brother Joel married Margaret Snyder. Joseph Bower married Mary Ann Huntington, 1837, at Kemptville, and Joshua Hutchins Huntington married Mary Elizabeth Van Camp, 1861, at South Mountain, United Counties of Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry. The following are of some interest to the family:

Adams, Andrew, King's Rangers, settled in Edwardsburgh
Adams, Elijah Curtis, Corps not stated, settled in Eastern District
Adams, Erray, Corps not stated, settled in Eastern District
Adams, Gideon, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.)., Lieutenant, settled in Eastern District
Adams, James, King's Rangers, settled in Eastern District
Adams, Joel, King's Rangers, settled in Eastern District
Adams, Samuel, Captain under Gen. Burgoyne, settled in Eastern District
Adams, Sam William, King's Rangers, Sergeant, settled in Eastern District
Beach, John, Sergeant, settled in Johnstown District
Beach, Samuel, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.), settled in Ernestown
Bower, Adam, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.), settled in Ernestown
Bower, Caspar, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.) settled in Fredericksburgh
Snyder, Adam, King's Royal Regiment NY (Sir John Johnson's Corps.), settled in Cornwall
Snyder, Conradt, King's Royal Regiment NY (Sir John Johnson's Corps.), settled in Cornwall
Snyder, John, King's Royal Regiment NY (Sir John Johnson's Corps.), settled in Lancaster
Snyder, Jeremiah, King's Royal Regiment NY (Sir John Johnson's Corps.), settled in Lancaster
Snyder, Marcus, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.), settled in Ernestown
Snyder, snr, William, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.) Ensign, settled in Elizabethtown
Snyder, jnr, William, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.), settled in Elizabethtown
Van Camp, John, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.), settled in Matilda
Van Camp, Jacob, King's Royal Regiment NY (Sir John Johnson's Corps.), settled in Matilda
Van Camp, Peter, Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps.), settled in Matilda

From the book, The Loyalists of the Eastern Townships of Quebec, starting on p. 39:
"By the spring of 1784 several thousand people had made up their minds as to where their future homes would be located. Many took the opportunity to go west. Then there were those who preferred to live near the Atlantic Ocean. On June 9th 1784, 403 people left on the boats headed down the St. Lawrence to the Gaspé Coast. There was a sizable settlement already underway at Missisquoi Bay, much against government sanction.

In February 1787 a petition addressed to The Honorable Guy Lord Dorchester states: "the settlers of Sorel are not able to support their families on the small lots which have been granted them, 80 acres in or near the Village of Sorel, and they wish to take the balance of their land, 120 acres, in the area between Missisquoi Bay and Pike River or near the south branch of the River Yamaska. This is signed by nearly all of the settlers of Sorel. Their agent was Dr. Samuel Adams."

Further references:

From the book Early Ontario Settlers, by Norman K, Crowder (publ 1993 by Genealogical Publishing Co.) P. 54, Gideon Adams and James Froom, Sr. & Jr. are listed under the heading of "Return of Disbanded Troops and Loyalists who settled in Township. 6 (Royal Township, Edwardsburg), 13 OCT 1784. They are also listed on P. 103 in Muster Roll 9, a 1785 location list. The colonial government designated seven adjacent townships fronting along the north shore of the St. Lawrence from Cornwall on the east to Frontenac County on the west for the Loyalist soldiers and their families. A further three townships were set aside in Prince Edward County on the Bay of Quinte. In sum, these ten townships were known as the 'Royal Townships'. The process of Loyalist Land Grants was such so as to provide 200 acres fronting on the river and for those entitled to additional land, such grants were given behind the front, hence it became established as "front-of" or "rear-of" townships.

From the New Loyalist Index, by Bunnell (publ. 1989), an alphabetical listing includes James Froom, Sr. of Grenville as a Loyalist who received his land grant. That source is Family History of Loyalists & Their Descendants. Holdings of the United Empire Loyalist Ass'n. at Toronto.

From the same book: "Gideon Adams, b 1755 d 1834 m Mary Snyder, dau of Wm., Sr. From Arlington, VT. Settled: Edwardsburg. Lt. in Royal Rangers". Source: Loyalist Lineages of Canada 1783-1983, Toronto Branch of United Empire Loyalist Ass'n.

From the same book: Gideon Adams, estate confiscated by court 23 APR 1778, Arlington, VT. Source: "Vermont Confiscations & Sale of Estates" at the New York Library. Copied by Lt. Col. H. C. Burleigh MD, CM, UE.

[Information submitted by Ian T Fraser]