This article was first published on my RootsWeb site and is republished here, lightly edited, on 15 September 2026. If you have information to add or correct, please get in touch.
Details about Joshua Robins, who married Mary Blatchley, are sparse. Much of the information that follows is speculation based on a few facts, which I derived from a lot of research. Known sources are cited in the footnotes.
Joshua Robins was likely born about 1740 in New Jersey. Although the exact location of his birth is unknown, it is likely to be either Morris County or Hunterdon County. Joshua died in Ontario after 1817.1
He married Mary Blatchley sometime between 1760 and 1773 in New Jersey. She was born on 29 October 1742 in New Jersey.2 She was the daughter of Ebenezer Blatchley and Hannah Miller. Mary died before 1804, in either New Jersey or Ontario.3
The research of the Blatchley family recorded in History of Medicine in New Jersey: And of Its Medical Men, from the Settlement of the Province to A.D. 1800 states that Mary Blatchley had a sister, Sarah Blatchley, and that Sarah was the wife of Daniel Robins.4 The speculation is that Joshua and Daniel were brothers. I believe they were the sons of Joshua Robins of Hunterdon, Morris, and Sussex Counties, New Jersey.
1754: the earliest record
The earliest record I have found for Joshua was a court record in Sussex County, New Jersey, in 1754:5
Sussex May Session 1754
The King vs Charles McConnell
The Defendt Being Charged with this Indictment pleads Not Guilty
? Harrell — file May 30th 1754 — Russell Clerk(?) — ? Billa Vora ? — William Scholey? Foreman
The Grand Inquest for our Sovereign Lord King for the Body of the County of Sussex Being (then and then) Duly Charged Sworn and Affirmed upon the Respective Oath and Affirmation of at least twelve honorable and Lawfull men of the said County, Do present That Charles McConnell late of New Town in the County of Sussex aforesaid yeoman Being a person of a Turbulant, Malitious, and Malevolent Principal and Disposition and Designing Contriving and <?> and Jonathan Smalley to prejudice and Injure the fifth day of April in the Twenty Seventh year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith. At New Town aforesaid in the County of Sussex aforesaid and within the jurisdiction of this Court a Certain Roan Coloured Mare the property of the aforesaid Jonathan Smalley (then and there) <missing> with a certain knife or some other sharp weapon, did <missing> unlawfully wickedly and maliciously (in the Belly of the said Mare) Stab, Cutt and wound, By which said <missing> to the great damage of the said Jonathan Smalley <missing> and most purnatious [pernicious?] Example of all others in such case Delinquent and against the peace of our said Sovereign Lord the King that nowis his Crown and Dignity.
Harrell, AS Genl.
This record places both Joshua Robins [Sr.] and Joshua Robins Jr. in Newtown, Sussex County, in 1754, although it is unclear whether they were visiting or whether they lived there. They were also with Elisha Robins’s wife and daughter at the time the crime took place.
A few years later, in 1759, the Joshua Robins (who I believe to be Joshua Robins Sr.) and Elisha Robins of Sussex County were among names on a petition to Governor Jonathan Belcher and Council “from the inhabitants of Sussex County, on a frontier of the province next to Pennsylvania, asking that greater efforts be made to defend the province against the French and Indians.”6
The Joshua Robins and Elisha Robins signatures on the 1759 Belcher petition.
To me these signatures look like they were made by the same person. Perhaps one of them signed both names?
In any case, from this record I believe we can conclude that Joshua Robins Sr. and his family, which included sons Daniel and Joshua Jr. (who is the subject of this page), likely lived in Sussex County by 1759, if not earlier.
Sussex County records: which Joshua?
It is difficult to determine which New Jersey Sussex County records belong to the senior Joshua and which belong to the junior Joshua. However, using the estimate of 1740 as the younger Joshua’s birth date, I believe the following records belong to Joshua junior.7
1784: the estate of John Hazlett
1784, Oct 5. John Hazlett of Oxford twp., Sussex Co. Int. Adm’rs Sophia Hazlett and William White. Fellowbondsman: William Kerr, all of the same place.
1784 Sept 16. Inventory 123.14.4 made by Joshua Swayze and Joshua Robins. Lib. 26, p. 527.
Note: only Joshua Swayze’s signature appears in this record as “one of the appraisers.”
1791: the estate of Coonrod Woolweaver
1791, March 21. Coonrod Woolweaver of Sussex Co. Int. Adm’rs John Gibbs and Richard Gibbs. Fellowbondsmen: Peter Wolfe and Joshua Robins, all of said Co. Witnesses Wm. Beardslee and Wm. A. Anderson.
1791 March 15. Inventory 95.12.9. 1791 March 30. Remaining inventory 6.6.6, both made by Joseph Coats and Peter Wolfe. File 515S.
Joshua Robins’s signature on the 1791 Woolweaver administration.
1794: Ontario and the oath of allegiance
By 1794, Joshua was in Ontario, Canada. It’s possible that he went at the same time as his widowed sister-in-law, Sarah Blatchley Robins, who arrived in Ontario in 1793.
In June 1794, Joshua was one of several men who took the oath of allegiance:8
The June 1794 Upper Canada Land Board oath of allegiance entry.
Some of these men were probably well known to Joshua:
Ezekiel Younglove was in the 1st Battalion New Jersey Volunteers (a British Loyalist militia) with Jonas Johnson. In 1787, his Sussex County, New Jersey property was confiscated because of his support of the British during the Revolutionary War.9
Ephraim Hopkins and Peter Hopkins were the sons of Peter Hopkins and Mehitable Swayze. Peter died in 1785 in Sussex County, New Jersey.10 He was a well-known sympathizer with the Crown, and his brother Silas was a Captain in the New Jersey Volunteers. By August 1795, Mehitable (who sometimes used the name Esther) was in Ontario and petitioned for land.11 According to some researchers on the Internet, Mehitable married Joshua Robins sometime before 1811, when they appear together as husband and wife in a deed to sell property that belonged to Mehitable in Burford, Brant County, Ontario.12 I also found an 1804 court record in which a witness in the case said “He was at the house of [Joshua] Robins, frequently called the Widow Hopkins house.” Perhaps that means they were married by 1804.13 (See the full entry below.)
Jabez Collver (or Culver) was a Presbyterian minister in Morris and Sussex Counties, New Jersey, who was sympathetic to the British.14
Further down the same page is a notation about Joshua being an “old soldier” and that he received a land grant in Township 9 (Thorold) for lots 19 and 20 in the 8th concession.
The “old soldier” notation and the Township 9 land grant, June 1794.
By August 1794, concessions were eliminated in Thorold and lots 19 and 20 were renumbered as 159 and 160.15
1794 August 9th; August 16th. Entry #235. Joshua Robbins, Thorold twp., lots 159 and 160.
Source: Upper Canada Land Records, Assignments. Record group MF MS 81, Volume 050, page 26.
The patent was issued 16 May 1798: Joshua Robbins, 200 acres, lots 159 and 160.
Despite Joshua being called an “old soldier,” I haven’t found any evidence of him in any British regiment records. However, it is possible that they considered him to be “an old soldier” if he simply supported the British cause in ways that his fellow Loyalists were aware of — food, shelter, scouting, any number of activities.
1796: the Loyalist relief petition
In 1796, several men who considered themselves Loyalists, including Joshua Robins, petitioned the Crown to give them “relief.” Many of the men in this petition lived in Sussex County, New Jersey, during the Revolutionary War.16
The handwriting and spelling of “Joshway Robans” in this petition make me think that someone else signed the petition for him.
To his Exelency Peter Russel Esqr adminstering the Government and Commander In Cheife [sic] in and over his Majestys Provence of Upper Canada &c &c &c The Pettition of the Subscribers Humbly Sheweth
That your pettitloners were formerly inhabitants of the Now United States of amerIca and In life Time of the late Revolution by his most Gracious Majestye Declared to be In a State of Rebellion which To them was a Greefe and Vexantion and as thay Evere ware faIthful Loyolist and Never bore armes against his Majestye and as Soon As In their power alter the Treaty of Seperation Removed them Selves and famelyes Into thIs provence AND where us his Excelency Governor Simcoe in hIs Goodness Isued a proclamation in april Last whereby as we hoped Through the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the peace In Mickulmus Terme of this year Gave us Releaf In That unhappie Sittuation but as That Court Does Not Construe that proclematlon as we Expected We Most Humbly pray That your Exelency will Grant us Such Releafe In the Promeses as you in your Wisdom may Conceve our unhappi Circomstancs Merrets and that we may obtain the agreable protection and benefit of the above Said Proclimaton and your Pettltions as In Duty bound Will Ever pray. Newark 12th October 1796
Nathl Pettit · Timothy Skinner · Adam Green · John WilIson · Leonard Miesener · David Camp · Matthies Bugner · Jonathan Pettit · James Willson · Samuel willson · Andrew Willson · Andrew Pettit · Bassnett Dill (Dell) · Joshway Robans · Henry Buchner · Barthohmew Lunden · Jeremiah Lunden · Hugh Mullhalond · Jacob Smith · John Pettit · Steven Coon · Mical Coon · John Smith · Joseph Corwin · Chrarles Pettit · John Pettit · Henry Hixon · David Palmer · John Silverthorn · William Rymer · Henry Smith · James Nevills · Alex Markle · Thorns Sllverthorn · Jabez Collver SenIor · Adam Hagars · John Davis · Charles Cooley · Robert Davis · William Man · Thomas Davis · Asa Walterhouse · Elias Sloot · David Kern · Matthew Kemp · Ehenezer Kelly · John Mucclebone · John Green · Henry Chrysler · William Kitchen · Gideon Cooley Senor · Gershorn Carpenter · Calvin Cooley · Thos Matthews · Robt Thompson
1797: a petition refused
In 1797, Joshua made another petition requesting more land; however, it seems to have been rejected:17
Upper Canada Land book, Volume C, page 23. 2nd May 1797. Robins, Joshua.
Upper Canada Land Petition of Joshua Robins of Thorold, dated at Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) on 24 Jan 1797:
“Humbly sheweth That your Petitioner is a Loyalist and suffered for his principles — that he has been several years in the above mentioned Township, which he has very much improved — prays your Honor would be pleased to grant him an addition to the Land he has received (vizt 200 Acres) and your Petitioner as in duty bound will ever pray—” [Unsigned].
Added notation of Thomas Ridout, N.P.: “I do certify this petition was personally applied for, by Joshua Robins [Signed] T Ridout N.P.” Received at the Executive Council Office on 1 Feb 1797 and read in Council on 2 May. Ordered: the Petitioner has had the proportion granted to settlers.
1804: the fight at the Widow Hopkins house
In December 1804, Joshua was mentioned in a court case involving Peter Hopkins.18
Note: I’ve only seen a transcription of this record, and in that transcription Joshua’s name is written as Joseph. I believe this was an error on the transcriber’s part.
December 1804.
Asa Barton (alias Baton), habeas corpus on a felony, December 11, 1804; heard before William Dummer Powell, Niagara, December 17, 1804.
Evidence of Levi Cassady, Stamford, blacksmith, taken before William Dickson: deponent is a neighbour of Peter Hopkins and Asa Barton. There was a fight in July or August and deponent heard Hopkins say if it was in his power to get Barton he would put out his eyes, all he wished for was an opportunity of that kind and he’d be satisfied.
Evidence of Hugh Willson, Thorold, farmer, 4 December 1804: He was at the house of Joseph [Joshua] Robins, in Thorold. Two men — Ephraim Hopkins and Hermanus VanAlstine — were fighting. Peter Hopkins was there to promote it. Hopkins said to Barton “you are not Lord and Master here.” Barton said “I don’t want to be.” Hopkins: “if you want anything I am just the boy can give it to you.” Barton: “If you want anything of me, come over the fence with me.” Hopkins: “No, here is a pretty little spot.” Barton walked up and struck him. They clenched, Ephraim Hopkins said “damn him, Peter, gouge him and castrate him!” Peter Hopkins cried “enough!” and Barton let go. Deponent heard nothing that Barton gouged his eye.
Evidence of Asa Cartwright, Thorold, shoemaker: deponent heard talk at Peter Hopkin’s house, said he’d known a man in the United States had both eyes gouged and recovered his sight. After the fight he rubbed one eye and shut the other and could see as well as… [text missing.]
Evidence of Samuel Brown of Thorold, farmer: He was at the house of Joseph [Joshua] Robins, frequently called the Widow Hopkins house. Hopkins promoted a fight, marked a ring in the sod with a board for the fight.
Evidence of Simon Markson, Thorold, farmer: He saw Hopkins a week after the fight, who complained of a sore eye. Hopkins said he was more to blame in the fight than Barton was.
Alexander Stewart, counsel for the defense.
1809–1817: the land goes
In 1809, Joshua “sold” lots 159 and 160, which he received as his grant petition in 1794, to Blatchley Loyd Robbins (who was Joshua’s nephew). I say “sold” because there is no mention of money anywhere in the deed — but it doesn’t say it was a gift either. The property subsequently went to Blatchley’s son Joshua, and then was divided up among the rest of Blatchley’s children, with some sold to Elisha Howell.19
1812–1817. Between 1812 and 1817, Joshua Robbins (calling himself “Joshua Robbins Senior” — I believe to distinguish himself from Blatchley’s son Joshua) got 200 acres from Robert Hamilton: lots 181 and 182. How and when, I have no idea. According to the township map of 1812, Robert Hamilton still had the property at that time.
1817. In 1817, Joshua Robbins Senior “sells” the 200 acres originally patented to Robert Hamilton to Samuel Hopkins.20 Again, I say “sells” because there is no mention of money anywhere in the deed — but it doesn’t say it was a gift either. This Samuel Hopkins was married to a Prudence. He was the son of Mehitable Swayze Hopkins and Peter Hopkins, and he was supposedly born around 1783.21
The last record I have for Joshua is the 1817 Thorold tax list.22 His assessment was 0.4.5. He was listed between John Smith and Mary Clark.
His children
The number and names of Joshua’s children are unclear. Unfortunately, unlike his sister-in-law Sarah Robins, he did not have a petition that listed the number of children who accompanied him to Ontario.
I have identified two likely sons of Joshua. It is likely that Joshua had other children. However, without knowing when his first wife Mary Blatchley died, and without a will from Joshua, I have not yet identified them.
Job Robins
Born in 1773, likely in New Jersey. He married Mary Palmer sometime before 25 January 1804, when she petitioned for land as the daughter of a Loyalist and the wife of Job Robins. She was the daughter of David Palmer, a Loyalist from Sussex County, New Jersey.23
A map of Thorold dated 22 January 1794 shows Job Robbins on lots 78 and 101.24 However, patents for these lots, made in 1798, went to Ezekiel Younglove.25 Other notes about Job Robins are found in the Thorold township papers:26, 27
Robins, Job
On 20 Jul 1803, Acting Surveyors General Chewett and Ridout prepared a surveyor’s assignment for Job Robins of Thorold Twp., yeoman, for 100 acres of land in Lot 191, Thorold Twp., as per 51st Claim Niagara Commission 1803. Added note: Joshua Robins original nominee. (Thorold Township Papers 0457)
On 4 Nov 1803, the Executive Council of Upper Canada gave a grant to Job Robins of Thorold Twp., yeoman, for Lot 191, Thorold Twp., as per 51st Claim Niagara Commission Aug 1803. (Thorold Township Papers 0459)
Lot 191: By 1810, all 100 acres was owned by James Kenny. No record of how Kenny came to own it. James Kenny sold it to George Keefer 5 May 1810. Deed #1890.
Job died before 27 February 1834, when Mary petitioned for land a second time and stated she was the widow of Job and the daughter of David Palmer.28
John Robins
Born in 1785 in New Jersey. He married Tabitha Strowbridge, possibly 16 September 1806.29 He died between 1861 and 1871, probably in Dorchester, Middlesex County, Ontario.30 In 1804, when he petitioned the Crown for land, he lived in Thorold. He received property in Wainfleet in 1809.31 John and Tabitha lived in Thorold until about 1838, after which they moved to Windham Township in Norfolk County, Ontario.32
Source citations
Joshua Robins, last record found: Thorold 1817 tax list. Thorold Assessments and census 1817, 1835 & 1837, extracted for the 15th anniversary from Notes From Niagara, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1995, page 2. ↩
Ebenezer Blatchley family. History of medicine in New Jersey: and of its medical men, from the settlement of the province to A.D. 1800. Wickes, S., & Dickinson, J. (1879). Newark: M.R. Dennis, p. 152. ↩
In December 1804, Joshua Robins’s house was also known as the “Widow Hopkins” house. This likely indicates that Joshua had married Mehitable Swayze Hopkins before December 1804, and that Mary Blatchley passed away sometime before this date. Early Niagara District Court Records, Vol 1. Quarter Sessions 1787-1841, p. 37. ↩
Ebenezer Blatchley family. History of medicine in New Jersey: and of its medical men, from the settlement of the province to A.D. 1800. Wickes, S., & Dickinson, J. (1879). Newark: M.R. Dennis, p. 152. ↩
Joshua Robins [Sr.] and Joshua Robins Jr., witnesses in “The King vs. Charles McConnell.” New Jersey State Archives, Sussex County Court of Common Pleas, Indictments series 1754–1936, 1754–1778, Box 1. ↩
Joshua Robins and Elisha Robins among names on petition to New Jersey Governor Belcher from the inhabitants of Sussex County, dated 1759. Manuscript Collection–SAH: Oversized (New Jersey State Archives), Box 1-41, folder 5. Belcher petition (PDF). ↩
John Hazlett, 1784. Volume XXXV, Abstracts of Wills, 1781-1785. — Coonrod Woolweaver, 1791. Volume XXXVII, Abstracts of Wills, 1791-1795.↩
Upper Canada Land Board (1765-1804), Robins, Joshua. District: Nassau. Year: 1794. Description: took oath of allegiance. Volume 6, page 70. Reference RG 1 L4, microfilm C-14027. Canadiana Heritage. ↩
1st Battalion New Jersey Volunteers, Nealon’s Company 1780, royalprovincial.com. — 1787 Property Confiscations, Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, and Sussex, royalprovincial.com. ↩
Peter Hopkins will, #5558S, 1784-1786, Sussex Co., New Jersey. Unindexed wills of Sussex County, New Jersey, ca. 1760-1850, 5554 S – 5678 S. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm #589082. ↩
Mehitable (Esther) Hopkins petition, August 1795. Upper Canada Land Petitions, LAC “H” Bundle 2, Petition Number 146. ↩
Ronald Cox’s Ancestors, Cousins, and their allied families. Formerly at RootsWeb WorldConnect (database roncox, id I33420); WorldConnect was retired in 2023. ↩
Early Niagara District Court Records, Vol 1. Quarter Sessions 1787-1841, p. 37. ↩
Upper Canada Land Records, Assignments. Record group MF MS 81, Volume 050, page 26. For more information about the renumbering of Thorold lots, see And Jones Created Thorold by Alun Hughes, tbhs.ca/hughes/jones.html. ↩
1796 Petition to Crown, Nathaniel Pettit and others, Newark, Ontario. Volume 399, Bundle P Misc. 1797-1836, Petition 9. Reference RG 1 L3, microfilm C-2488. ↩
1797 Upper Canada Land Petitions, LAC “R” Bundle 3, Petition Number 98a. ↩
Early Niagara District Court Records, Vol 1. Quarter Sessions 1787-1841, p. 37. Brian K. Narhi, 2006. ↩
Welland Co. Ontario, Thorold Township, Old Series v.A (81-11151), 1798-1836, Memorial #9610. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170968. #9610, 1809 October 30: an indenture between Joshua Robins, yeoman of Thorold, unto Blackly Robins, yeoman of Thorold, lots 159 and 160, formerly 19 and 20 in 6th conc. of Thorold. Witnesses: Joshua Robins Jr. of Thorold, farmer, and Charles K. Fell of Pelham (recorded 14 March 1834). I believe this Joshua Robins Jr. is Blatchley’s son, born between 1794 and 1799. ↩
#7595, 8 Dec 1817, recorded 25 April 1829. Joshua Robins to Samuel Hopkins, 200 acres, lots 181 and 182. Abstract index books of Thorold Township 1796-1866. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170966. ↩
Peter Hopkins will, #5558S, 1784-1786, Sussex Co., New Jersey. Unindexed wills of Sussex County, New Jersey, ca. 1760-1850, 5554 S – 5678 S. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm #589082. ↩
Joshua Robins, last record found: Thorold 1817 tax list. Thorold Assessments and census 1817, 1835 & 1837, extracted for the 15th anniversary from Notes From Niagara, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1995, page 2. ↩
1794 Map of Thorold Township. Atlas of Early Pioneers of Niagara Peninsula, Corlene Dwyer Taylor, U.E., 2002, page 61. ↩
Lots 78 and 101. Abstract index books of Thorold Township 1796-1866. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170966. ↩
Job Robins, Thorold. Township papers, 1783-1870s, Thorah — Thornbury — Thorold — Thurlow (to p. 263). Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 1403161, pages 457 and 459. ↩
Lot 191. Abstract index books of Thorold Township 1796-1866. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170966. ↩
Tabitha Strowbridge to John Robins marriage date. (No source given.) Genealogy of the Trowbridge Family of Morris County, New Jersey, trowbridgemountain.info. ↩
John Robins, male, age 75, birth year 1786, birthplace Canada West, marital status widowed, home in 1861 Dorchester, Middlesex, Canada West, religion E Methodist. Film number C-1049-1050, page number 10. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns for 1861; Roll C-1049-1050. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1861 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2009. ↩
1809 Nov 10, patent to John Robins, Lot 31, 5th concession, 200 acres, north and south parts, Wainfleet. Abstract index books of Wainfleet Township 1796-1865. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170983. ↩
1838 Sept 15, #5775?, Isaac Howell to John Robins, S 1/2, 100 acres, lot 3, concession 6, Windham twp., Norfolk Co. Land records of Norfolk County, 1797-1953, Windham Twp., v. 10-11 (4668-7604, 9214-14302), 1847-1859. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 160708. ↩
This article was first published on my RootsWeb site and is republished here, lightly edited, on 15 September 2026. If you have information to add or correct, please get in touch.
Details about Daniel Robins, who married Sarah Blatchley, are sparse. Much of the information that follows is speculation based on a few facts, which I derived from a lot of research. Known sources are cited in the footnotes.
Daniel Robins was likely born between 1730 and 1740 in New Jersey. Although the exact location of his birth is unknown, it is likely to be either Morris County or Hunterdon County. Daniel died before 1793.1 Likely locations are Ontario, Canada, or New Jersey, or somewhere between them.
He married Sarah Blatchley about 1757 in New Jersey. She was born on 23 November 1739 in New Jersey.2 She was the daughter of Ebenezer Blatchley and Hannah Miller. Sarah died sometime between 2 April 1814 and 6 January 1835, likely in Thorold, Lincoln County, Ontario.3
The research of the Blatchley family recorded in History of Medicine in New Jersey: And of Its Medical Men, from the Settlement of the Province to A.D. 1800 states that Sarah Blatchley had a sister, Mary Blatchley, and that Mary was the wife of Joshua Robins.4 The speculation is that Daniel and Joshua were brothers. I believe they were the sons of Joshua Robins of Hunterdon, Morris, and Sussex Counties, New Jersey.
1773: Oxford Township, Sussex County
Daniel is difficult to find in any New Jersey records. However, in July 1773, I believe he lived in Oxford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. He appears in this tax list:5
“131 acres Dainnel Robins” — July 1773 Oxford Township, Sussex County tax list.
I have not found any land or deed records that correspond to this property. So I don’t know when or how he came to own it, nor can I find when the ownership went to someone else.
It is important to note that the location of the property changed county boundaries several times in a 125-year period. Oxford Township was part of Hardwick Township, and both townships were in the following counties in the years shown:
Burlington County, 1699–1714
Hunterdon County, 1714–1739
Morris County, 1739–1753
Sussex County, 1753
Warren County, 1824
1796: Sarah’s petition to the Crown
By 1793, Daniel had died, and Sarah Robins, with “3 sons and 3 daughters,” went to Ontario, Canada.6 On 6 May 1796, Sarah petitioned the British Crown for land:7
To his Excellency John Graves Simcoe, Esquire Lt. Gov and commander in Chief of the Province of Upper Canada In Council
The Petition of Sarah Robins of the Township of Thorold widow who came into the Province three years ago [1793] with three sons and three daughters and has never received any Land. Respectfully shews, That your petitioner is desirous to settle on the lands of the Crown in this Province being in a condition to cultivate and improve the same. That she is ready to take the usual oaths and subscribe the declaration that she professes the Christian religion and obedience to the laws and has lived inoffesively in the conuntry which she has left. Prays your Excellency would be pleased to grant her Four Hundred acres of land upon the terms and conditions expressed in your Excellency’s proclamation bearing date of 7th day of February 1792 or such other quantity of land as to your Excellency in your wisdom may think meet. And your petitioner as in duty bound will ever pray.
Niagara 6 May 1796
Recommended for 200 acres if not given before. Entered in Land Book B, page 90.
Received July 12 1796. Confirmed 8 October 1796 in Land Book B page 29
A warrant issued by William Dickson Esq 12 June 1806. Patent fee paid see within.
From this document, we know that she had at least six children. However, I believe she had at least two other sons who remained in Sussex County, New Jersey.
The two sons who stayed in New Jersey
Both of these men were on a militia list in Oxford Township, Sussex County, in 1793.8 They were:
MILLER ROBINS, born on 6 July 1758 in Oxford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. He married ?. He served in the U.S. military during the Revolutionary War and applied for a pension. He died between 1845 and 1853 in Lawrence County, Ohio.9
ABSOLOM ROBINS, born between 1760 and 1770. He died after 1800, probably around Hope, New Jersey. He married ELEN ?.10
The three sons and three daughters who went to Ontario
As for the “3 sons and 3 daughters” who went with her to Ontario, I believe they were:
Joshua Robins
Born between 1759 and 1765. He died in August 1799 in Thorold Township, Lincoln County, Ontario. One Ontario land record about this Joshua was full of very helpful information, including proof that John Clark (my ancestor) was the brother-in-law of Joshua, Daniel, and Blatchley Robins.11 A transcription follows:
Upper Canada Land Petitions, R [misc] 1–12 1797 445A, microfilm C-2804; RG1, L3, Vol 445a, R Bundle Misc, No. 10
To the Honourable the Governor in Council
The Petition of Bleaxy Robins Humbly sheweth
that your Petitioner’s Brother Joshua Robins next immediately older than your petitioner died in August last possessed of Lots no 190 and 191 in the Township of Thorold County of Lincoln as pr. Land Board Certificate Herewith—
That your Petitioner [esteeming?] himself lawful heir to this Land Now prays to transfer his Rights thereunto unto his Brother Daniel Robins as he firmly believes this was the wish & intent of his deceased Brother
& he prays your Honors to [?] that the deed may issue in the name of the said Daniel Robins—
And your Petitioner as in duly bound will ever pray.
Blachly Robins
Personaly appeared before one Robert Hamilton Esq a Justice of the Peace for the District of Niagara John Clark the Brother in Law to the above Blachly Robins who on oath declared that the said Blachly Robins was the Brother of the deceased Joshua Robins & next to him in decent — And that he was also persent when his said Brother in Law signed the forgoing Petition to Relingquish his Right of succession on favor of their younger Brother Daniel Robins.
his X mark John Clark
Sworn before me at Queenston Feb 28 1800 — Rbt Hamilton JP
Petition of Blachly Robins to the Honble the Governor [?]
[?] office 15 July 1802 — The certificate is to be returned to the Petitioner who is referred to the Commis. By Order of the Gov. James Green
[?] 14 Dec 1802 — To [?] over until it appears who was the Heir of Joshua Robins & for proof that he died intestate.
Mary Robins
Born between 1770 and 1780. She died after 15 July 1822 in Thorold, Lincoln County, Ontario.12 She married JOHN CLARK before August 1794, probably in New Jersey. He was born between 1760 and 1773 (he was likely 21 or older in 1794); he made a settler’s petition on the same day as his brothers-in-law Joshua Robins and Blatchley Robins.13 He died on 4 December 1812 in Ontario, Canada.14
Anna Robins
(This is a tenuous assumption. See the note that follows.) Born between 1770 and 1780. She died after 1836.15 She married JOB STROWBRIDGE. He was born about 1772 in New York. He died on 12 August 1836 in Thorold, Lincoln County, Ontario.16
Note: I have no concrete evidence that Ann (or Ana), wife of Job Strowbridge, is a sister to my ancestor Mary Robins. However, she gave testimony in the “Heir and Devisee” case for John Clark Jr., son of John Clark and Mary Robins, in which she said she knew John Clark before his marriage to Mary and that she was at the birth of John Clark Jr.17 I’m certain that John and Mary were married before they went to Ontario. So whoever Ann Strowbridge is, she would have had to know the couple before they married and before they moved to Ontario, and then moved to Ontario at the same time they did and stayed in close contact. These facts made her a likely candidate for the second daughter of the three who came with Sarah Robins to Ontario.
A transcription of that record follows. This is a lengthy file; the excerpt below is only the portion that provides the testimony of Anna Strowbridge.
1822 June–July. Second Heir and Devisee Commission Case Files, Case File Number 40-0536
…
And the said Ann Strowbridge as aforesaid being duly Sworn on Oath Depseth and saith that she is well acquainted with John Clark of the Township of Thorold in the District of Niagara Province of Upper Canada Farmer who Claims Lots Nos. 211 and 212 in the Township of Thorold aforesaid. That she Deposeth was present at his birth and hath been acquainted with him since a child until this day. And also swears that she knew John Clark late of Thorold deceased the Father of the present Claimant John Clark. And was acquainted with him before he was married and knew him well as a [? neighbor] until his death. And Deponent also says that she ? believes John Clark as aforesaid deceased and Father of John Clark no Claimant Died without having made any last Will and Testament. And that said John Clark the new Claimant is of the age twenty five years and is the eldest son and heir at law of his said deceased Father John Clark as aforesaid And further Deponent saith not.
Sworn before me at Niagara this 15th June 1822. Ralfe Clench, Commissioner, District of Niagara
[signed] Ann (her X mark) Strowbridge
…
Blatchley Loyd Robins
Born between 1760 and 1770. He died about July 1814 in Thorold, Lincoln County, Ontario.18 He married ANNA HANNAH (unknown maiden name). She died after 1817.19 He owned two lots, 158 and 194, in Thorold Township, Lincoln County, Ontario, that he received from the Crown.20 His will was written in 1814 but it wasn’t recorded until 1863.21
Sarah Robins
Born about 1775 in New Jersey. She died before 1851, likely in Windham, Norfolk County, Ontario. She married PETER BOUGHNER.22 He was born in 1770 in New Jersey. He likely died in Windham, Norfolk County, Ontario.
Daniel Robins
Born in 1777 in New Jersey.23, 24 He died after 1851 in Gainsborough, Lincoln County, Ontario. He married MARY ? before 1805 in Ontario. She died before 1851 in Gainsborough, Ontario. He received land from the Crown that was located in Wainfleet.25
The two Daniel Robinses of Gainsborough
There were two men named Daniel Robins who lived in Gainsborough Township, and they are frequently confused.
The Daniel son of Sarah Robins lived on “broken front” lot 7, concession 1 of Gainsborough.26
The other Daniel was born in New Jersey in 1765 and owned lots 11 and 12 in concession 2 of Gainsborough.27 He received those lots from the Crown. He had a brother Stephen and a sister Abigail, both of whom also lived in Ontario.28 Their remaining brother, Isaac, remained in Sussex County and later moved to Columbia County, Pennsylvania.29 These siblings were the children of Daniel Robins of Knowlton, Sussex County, New Jersey (who died there in 1802), and his wife Anne (maiden name unknown).30
Sarah’s land in Thorold
The land that Sarah received from the Crown was lots 192 and 193 in Thorold Township, Lincoln County, Ontario.
In 1806, the Thorold township papers documented that Sarah received her certificate of residence:31
1806. Thorold Township papers, pg. 000461
Sarah Robins — 13 June 1806 — Widow, lots 192 & 193 — Order in Council Oct 8 1796 — Survey paid, fiat #840 — Description 11086 — 13 June 1806 — Certificate of Residence 23 May 1805 — Book of letters No. 15, p. 2322
pg. 000464 — Signed letter stating Sarah had lived on the lots for 8 years: James Ryan, Blackley Robins, Fanny ?, Rebecky ?, Edward Topham, Aaron Dennis
1807: fifteen acres to John Clark
In 1807, she sold 15 acres of the south end of lot 193 to John Clark (Senior).32 The deed was not recorded until 1831; deed No. 1351.
Sarah Robins to John Clark deed, No. 1351, Bargain and Sale. Recorded the 22nd day of August 1831 at 9 o’clock, and on the oath of Daniel Robins. Signed Johnson Stewart, Dep Regr, for John Lyons, Register.
Upper Canada, Niagara District, To wit: Daniel Robins of the Township of Gainsborough in the said District yeoman ?——— oath saith that the said John Clark eldest son and heir at law to the late John Clark the grantee in the within named sign and seal the Memorial for the said Registry thereof and Sarah Robins the grantor sign and seal (and as her act and deed deliver said deed to which Memorial relate to the purposes therein mentioned and further trust he this Deponent is a subscribing witness to both Instruments. I hereby certify that I have administred the foregoing oath of proof to the above named Daniel Robins twenty second day of August 1831 at Niagara in said District.
Johnson Stewart, Dep Regr, for John Lyons, Register
A Memorial to be Registered pursuant to the Statute in each case made and provided of an Indenture of Bargain and Sale and bearing date the ninth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seven (1807) between Sarah Robins of the Township of Thorold County of Lincoln and Niagara District of the Province of Upper Canada widow of the first part and John Clark of the township county district and province aforesaid yeoman of the other part whereby it is witnessed that the said Sarah in consideration of the sum of fourteen (14) pounds lawful money of the said Province to her by the said John Clark in hand well and truly paid at or before the sealing and delivery thereof, the receipt thereof acknowledged hath granted, bargained, sold, aliened, released, conveyed and confirmed unto the said John his heirs and assigns all that certain tract or parcel of land containing by ?admeasurement fifteen acres situate in the Township, County and Province aforesaid which said fifteen acres of land were granted by ?Setters patent under the great seal of the said Province to the said Sarah Robins being in the South end of lot number one hundred and ninety three in the Township of Thorold which tract of land is described or otherwise known as follows, that is to say, Beginning at the South East angle of lot number one hundred and ninety three then North seven and a half chains then West twenty chains then South seven and a half chains then East twenty chains to the Beginning Together with all houses out houses, ?edices, buildings, orchards, gardens, woods, underwoods, ways, paths, waters, water courses, easements, profits, commodities, advantages, ?emoluments, and hereditaments, whatsoever to the said part or parcel of land and premises belonging or in any wise belonging or which to or with the same now or at any time heretofore have been held, used, occupied, accepted, reputed, or taken or known as part of a parcel or number thereof or of any part thereof and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents issues and profits, of all and singular the said thereby bargained and sold premises and every part and parcel thereof with the appurtenances and all the estate rights title interest property possession claim, challenge and demand whatsoever either in law or equity of her the said Sarah in and to all and singular the said premises and every part and parcel thereof.
TO Have and To Hold, all and singular the said tract or parcel of land hereditaments, and premises and with the appurtenances unto the said John his heirs and assigns to the only property use and behoof of the said John his heirs and assigns forever and to and for no other use intent or purpose whatsoever which said Indenture is witnessed by Caleb Hopkins late of the Township of Thorold in the Niagara District schoolmaster, Blachley Robins late of the same place deceased yeoman, and Daniel Robins of Gainsborough in the said district of Niagara yeoman and this Memorial thereof is hereby required to be Registered by me John Clark – son and heir at law the ?——— grantee herein named. As Witness m hand and ?seal as ?———ston, this 17th day of August 1831
Signed John Clark (Seal)
Signed and seald in the presence: ?Chas ? Leonard, Daniel Robins
1814: the Overholt hundred acres
In 1814, Sarah received 100 acres from Abraham Overholt, and on the same day she sold it to her son Daniel Robins. These deeds weren’t recorded until 1852 and 1835, and Sarah had passed away before 1835.33
1814 Apr 2, #497, Vol B, page 80. Bargain and Sale. Abraham Overhold and Elizabeth wife to Sarah Robins, 100 acres. (This deed was not recorded until 1852 Nov 7.)
1814 April 2, #10113. Bargain and Sale. Sarah Robins to Daniel Robins.
A Memorial to be registered pursuant to the Statute in such case made and provided of a Deed bearing date the second day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fourteen & Whereby Sarah Robins late of the Township of Thorold in the county of Lincoln in the District of Niagara in the Province of Upper Canada Widow deceased for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred pounds lawful money of the Province afsaid to her in hand paid by Daniel Robins of the Township of Thorold county District and Province aforesaid Yeoman hath given and granted unto the said Daniel Robins his heirs and assigns forever, all that parcel tract of land situate in the Township of Thorold in the County and District aforesaid containing by admeasurement One hundred Acres be the same more or less number 161 in the said Township of Thorold.
Together with all wood and waters there on lying and being under the reservations limitations and conditions there in after expressed which said One hundred acres are butted and bounded on the West side of Joshua Robins lots or may be otherwise known as follows that is to say commencing at the North East angle of the side respectively then running South fifty chains thence West twenty chains thenc North fifty chains and thence East twenty chains to the place of beginning in each line be teh same more or less.
To Have and To Hold all and singular the above granted premises and every parcel thereof with the appurtances unto the said Daniel Robins his heirs and ssigns forever which said Deed is witnessed by Abraham Overholt of the Township of Pelham Yeoman, Isaac Overholt of the Township of Thorold Yeoman and John Clark of the same place Yeoman all of the District of Niagara And this Memorial thereof is hereby required to be registered by me the said Grantee therein named Witness my hand and seal this sixth day of January in the year of our Lord 1835.
Signed and Sealed in presence of John Clark, Thomas Jennings
(signed) Daniel Robins
John Clark of the Township of Thorold in said District yeoman make an oath and saith that he saw the within named Sarah Robins the Grantor (now deceased) equate? and deliver forth purposes therein mentioned the Deed ? which be annexed is a Memorial also saw the within named Daniel Robins Grantee sign and sela the said annexed Memorial for the Registry thereof and further that he this Deponent is a subscribing witness to both Instruments. I hereby certify that I have administered the foregoing oath of proof to the said John Clark the Sixth day of January 1835. (signed) Thomas Jennings, Register for John Lyons. (signed) John Clark
Source citations
Sarah Robins Petition. Upper Canada Land Petitions, Volume 423, Microfilm reel C-2740, Petition R2/47. Sarah Robins was a widow when she went to Ontario in 1793. ↩
Ebenezer Blatchley family. History of medicine in New Jersey: and of its medical men, from the settlement of the province to A.D. 1800. Wickes, S., & Dickinson, J. (1879). Newark: M.R. Dennis, p. 152. ↩
Sarah Robins to Daniel Robins deed. Ontario Land records v.P-Q nos. 9790-10811, 1834-1836, Memorial #10113, 1814 Apr 2. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 0170157. ↩
Ebenezer Blatchley family. History of medicine in New Jersey: and of its medical men, from the settlement of the province to A.D. 1800. Wickes, S., & Dickinson, J. (1879). Newark: M.R. Dennis, p. 152. ↩
Oxford twp., Sussex Co., New Jersey, July 1773 tax list. Tax ratables, Sussex Co., 1773-1822. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 865491. ↩
Sarah Robins Petition. Upper Canada Land Petitions, Volume 423, Microfilm reel C-2740, Petition R2/47. Sarah Robins went to Ontario in 1793 with 3 sons and 3 daughters. ↩
#56 Absolm Robins and #58 Miller Robins, listed in the “from Township of Oxford” section of page 281. New Jersey in 1793: An Abstract and Index to the 1793 Militia Census of the State of New Jersey, page 281. ↩
Miller Robins Revolutionary War pension application. Veteran’s name: Miller Robbens; state: New Jersey; pension number R. 8,858; additional name: Miller Robins; GS film number 972054; affiliate publication number M804; digital folder number 004168361; image number 00020; affiliate identifier 14133312. “United States Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NSZ1-3ZF: 11 December 2014), Miller Robins, pension number R. 8,858, service New Jersey; from “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files,” database and images, Fold3.com; citing NARA microfilm publication M804 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1974); FHL microfilm 972,054. ↩
Absolom’s wife’s name was on their daughter Sarah’s marriage record when she married Israel Swayze. New Jersey, Marriages, 1678-1985: Israel Swayze and Sarah Curlis, married 25 Aug 1856 at Hope, Warren, New Jersey; groom’s father Joshua Swayze, groom’s mother Mary; bride’s father Absolum Robins, bride’s mother Elen. Indexing project (batch) number M02602-8; source film number 584584. “New Jersey Marriages, 1678-1985,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZG8-1P9: 12 December 2014); citing 584,584. ↩
“Blexley” Robins petition for brother Joshua Robins, deceased. Upper Canada Land Petitions RG1, L3, Vol 445a, R Bundle Misc, No. 10. Library and Archives Canada, microform digitization. ↩
1822: gave deposition in her son John Clark Jr.’s heir and devisee case. John Clark (Jr.), Second Heir and Devisee Commission Case Files, Case File Number 40-0536. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 1314010. ↩
John Clerk petition. Upper Canada Land Records, Assignments. Record group MF MS 81, Volume 050, page 28. ↩
Mary Clark (as widow). Military Pensions of Widows and Orphans. National Archives of Canada, RG5, A, 1, Vol 30, Reel C-4547. ↩
Anna Strowbridge named in husband Job Strowbridge’s will in 1836. Lincoln Co. Ontario Probate Records, Volume 4, p. 118. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 0579150. ↩
Job Strowbridge, buried in Fonthill Municipal Cemetery (Browns North). Fonthill Municipal Cemetery Browns North OGS #4631, Pelham Township, Welland County. The Ontario Genealogical Society, Niagara Peninsula Branch, 1997. ↩
1822: gave deposition in John Clark Jr.’s heir and devisee case. John Clark (Jr.), Second Heir and Devisee Commission Case Files, Case File Number 40-0536. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 1314010. ↩
1817 Thorold tax assessment list: Hannah Robins 0.6.10, between Garrett Teller [Ganet Tellen] and Jacob Ostrander (and near Mary Clark, likely widow of John Clark). Thorold Assessments and census 1817, 1835 & 1837, extracted for the 15th anniversary from Notes From Niagara, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1995, page 2. ↩
1794 August 9th; August 16th. Settler’s petition for property, Blackley Robins, Thorold twp., lots 158 and 194. Upper Canada Land Records, Assignments. Record group MF MS 81, Volume 050, page 28. Note: this was the same day that John Clark and Joshua Robins made their settler’s petitions. ↩
Blatchley Robins will, No. 11469. Written 3 July 1814. Recorded 8 June 1863. Welland Co. Ontario Land Records, Thorold Township, Old Series, v. E-F (10601-14228, 15-2829, 1-59), 1862-1868. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170972. ↩
“The Buchner and Boughners.” Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement: Or, Norfolk’s Foundation Builders and Their Family Genealogies. W. Briggs, 1898, page 28. Google Books. ↩
Daniel Robins, age 75, born United States, living in the household of Daniel Robins, age 41, born Canada. 1851 census; census place: Gainsborough, Lincoln County, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule A; Roll C_11736; Page 19; Line 22. ↩
Daniel Robins land petition says he was a native of New Jersey. Upper Canada Land Petitions, Volume 426, Microfilm reel C-2742, Petition R9/23. Library and Archives Canada, microform digitization. ↩
Daniel Robins land grant: 1809 Nov 10, patent to Daniel Robins, Lot 32, 5th concession, 200 acres, north and south parts, Wainfleet. Abstract index books of Wainfleet Township 1796-1865. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170983. ↩
1825: Daniel Robins of Gainsborough buys from Jacob Beam of Clinton lot 7, broken front, Gainsborough (#5220). Land records of Lincoln County, Gainsborough Township, v. A-B (36-10804), 1847-1860. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170123. Memorial #5220. ↩
Daniel Robins, settler’s petition for property. Upper Canada Land Records, Assignments. Record group MF MS 81. #1029 Daniel Robins, north halves 11 & 12 in conc. 2 Gainsborough, 200 acres. Assigned Newark 30 Sept 1795, Cert. Hon. Peter Russell. Age 30. Where born: New Jersey. Farmer. (With Stephen Robins, age 27, and William Dilce, age 27, all born New Jersey.) ↩
Sussex Co., New Jersey deeds (abstracted by Marshall Lake). Dated 2 Feb 1804 — grantor: Daniel ROBINS of Gainsborough Twp, Lincoln Co, ON, Canada; grantee: Isaac ROBINS of Knowlton Twp, Sussex Co, NJ; amount $100; 4 tracts (216 3/4 acres); previous owners: tract 1, Richard CLARK (4 1/4 acres) 15 Apr 1779; tract 2, Adam & Elizabeth SNIDER (143 1/2 acres) 7 Aug 1793; tract 3, Daniel VAUGHAN (57 acres) 2 Apr 1795; tract 4, William SWAGG (12 acres) 22 Oct 1802; witnesses John ARMSTRONG, Jacob ARMSTRONG. Notes: Daniel ROBINS is identified as an heir of Daniel ROBINS, late of Knowlton Twp, died intestate. Dated 19 Jun 1815 — grantor: Jacob VAUGHAN of Gainsborough Twp, Lincoln Co, ON, Canada (husband of Abigail Robins); grantee: Isaac ROBINS of Knowlton Twp, Sussex Co, NJ; same 4 tracts; witnessed 31 Jan 1816; witnesses Ira SHERER, Isaav READ; judge John ARMSTRONG. Notes: Jacob VAUGHAN is identified as an heir of Daniel ROBINS, late of Knowlton Twp, died intestate, and as the son-in-law of Daniel ROBINS, dec’d; wife of Jacob VAUGHAN: Abigail. Recorded 26 Jun 1824. ↩
Isaac Robins Revolutionary War pension record. United States Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NS8Q-WQQ: 11 December 2014), Isaac Robins, pension number S. 22954, service New Jersey; from “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files,” database and images, Fold3.com; citing NARA microfilm publication M804 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1974); FHL microfilm 972,063. ↩
Estate records for Daniel Robins of Knowlton, Sussex Co., New Jersey. Estate file #988S. Year: 1802. ↩
Sarah Robins, Thorold. Township papers, 1783-1870s, Thorah — Thornbury — Thorold — Thurlow (to p. 263). Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 1403161. ↩
Sarah Robins to John Clark deed. Welland Co. Ontario, Thorold Township, Old Series v.A (81-11151), 1798-1836, Memorial #1351. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170968. ↩
Abraham and Elizabeth Overholt to Sarah Robins. Welland Co. Ontario, Thorold Township, Old Series v.A-B (53-3777, 5-3306), 1847-1855, Memorial #497. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 170970. — Sarah Robins to Daniel Robins deed. Niagara District Ontario Land records v.P-Q nos. 9790-10811, 1834-1836, Memorial #10113, 1814 Apr 2. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm 0170157. ↩
John Smith Sr. was likely born about 1730.1 He was a Loyalist associated with Sussex County, New Jersey, during the American Revolution, and he died in New Brunswick, Canada sometime before 3 March 1797.2 The name of his wife has not yet been identified.
This is the first post in a series about this family. It introduces John Smith Sr., the children who can be identified from the surviving records, and the evidence connecting them across New Jersey and Upper Canada. A later post will examine the military evidence in detail, and another will address the several men named John Smith in Sussex County.
At least six of his children can be reconstructed from records created in New Jersey and Upper Canada: Eleanor, John, Mary, Elizabeth, David, and Cornelia Smith. Several Upper Canada land petitions identify him as John Smith, deceased, a U.E. Loyalist; some add that he served in the Jersey Volunteers or died in New Brunswick. Later probate and land records connect the children to one another and extend the family into another generation.3
Before members of the family began moving to Upper Canada, their documented home was Sussex County, New Jersey, probably in or near Oxford Township. Eleanor’s first husband, David Young, died there in 1780, and his probate record identifies him as a resident of Oxford Township. The younger children David and Cornelia Smith were still in Sussex County when they married there in 1796 and 1798, respectively.4
A John Smith appears in the 1773 tax ratables for Oxford Township, alongside Thompson Smith, Peter Smith, Moses Smith, and Christopher Smith. The other John Smiths in the surviving Sussex County ratables of that period were assessed in Montague and Knowlton townships.5
John Smith, underlined in red, in the 1773 Oxford Township tax ratables, Sussex County, New Jersey.
The Children of John Smith Sr.
Eleanor Smith
Eleanor Smith was born about 1758.6 She married David Young of Oxford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. After David’s death, she married Robert Thompson before 1797.7
David Young died intestate by 1780; his estate was inventoried in Oxford Township on 31 August 1780.8
Signatures of Eleanor (Smith) Young and Robert Thompson in the administration papers for the estate of her first husband, David Young, Oxford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, 1780.
In March 1797, Eleanor petitioned the government of Upper Canada for land. Her petition material identified her as Eleanor Smith, daughter of John Smith, and described her as formerly the wife of David Young and the current wife of Robert Thompson. Supporting evidence stated that her father had joined the Royal Standard and had died in New Brunswick.9
No children were named in David Young’s probate papers; however, Eleanor and David appear to have had at least one child, a son named David, who later appears in records in Ontario, Canada.10
A 4 September 1830 petition from inhabitants of Pelham Township describes David Young as a long-standing, industrious resident who had been clearing and improving Lot 5 in the Seventh Concession since 1824. Joseph C. Price and John Smith were among the men who signed in his support. The petition does not identify David Young’s parents, and the identity of the John Smith who signed is not independently established; it is nevertheless the one located Ontario record that places David Young within the Smith–Price friends, associates, and neighbors (FAN) network.11
Eleanor and Robert Thompson later had at least seven children: James, John, Jane, Andrew Heron, Alexander Garner, Ann, and Robert Jr. Eleanor appears to have died before 17 October 1822, the date of Robert’s will. She is not named in it, although the will carefully names the children and makes provisions for unmarried women in the household.12
Robert’s will names his eldest son James; his second son John; his sons Robert and Andrew Heron Thompson; his son Alexander Garner Thompson; and his daughters Jane McClelland and Ann Thompson. It also mentions Catharine London in a provision allowing her and Ann to use a room in the house while they remained single, but the text does not clearly identify Catharine as Robert’s daughter, so she is not included in the seven-child count.13
The distinctive name Alexander Garner may have honored Eleanor’s brother-in-law, Alexander Garner/Gardiner, the husband of her sister Mary Smith.14
John Smith Jr.
John Smith Jr. was born about 1760 and died between 22 August 1844 and 24 January 1845 in Pelham Township, Welland County, Canada West.15
On 2 January 1804, while living in Gainsborough Township, he petitioned the government of Upper Canada for land. He said that he had served in the Jersey Volunteers during the American Revolution and that his deceased father, also John Smith, was a U.E. Loyalist who likewise served in the Jersey Volunteers. At that time, John had a wife and six children; his wife’s name has not yet been identified.16
John Smith Jr.’s land petition, Gainsborough Township, 2 January 1804, stating that he and his deceased father both served in the Jersey Volunteers. Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 453, petition S6/63, Library and Archives Canada.
Later records clarify his position in this family. His sister Mary Smith Gardner’s land descended to a nephew identified as the eldest son and heir at law of her deceased eldest brother, John Smith of Pelham Township.17 John’s 1844 will styles him “John Smith Senr.” and names his eldest son John. The later use of Senior is compatible with a man called Junior earlier in life who eventually had an adult son of the same name.18
The petition was rejected. An annotation reveals the same identity problem faced by researchers today: “The Name John Smith of the Home District appears Three times on the U.E. List.” The name alone was not enough.19
The UE list actually yields four relevant entries when the man separately styled John Smith, Senr. is included. The annotation appears to have counted only the three entries recorded under the exact name John Smith.
The John Smith entries in the Home District U.E. List, as printed in Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884 (Toronto: Rose Publishing Company, 1885), Appendix B, page 256.
This same-name problem makes it necessary to compare the men rather than assume that any one U.E.-list entry belonged to the Oxford family.20
U.E. entry associated with New Jersey and 1777. Eleanor’s petition identifies her father as a Loyalist who died in New Brunswick; Mary’s petition and the certificate annexed to Elizabeth’s describe him as deceased without naming a place; John Jr. stated that both he and his deceased father served in the Jersey Volunteers.
Best fit for the elder Oxford/Sussex John Smith and the father of the reconstructed Gainsborough–Pelham family.
Formerly of Dutchess County, New York; came in 1786 with a wife and nine children. His petitions name sons William, John, and Joseph and daughters Eleanor, Hannah, Elizabeth, Lydia, and Anna.
A separate large family. It cannot be the Oxford father, who was deceased by March 1797 and reportedly died in New Brunswick.
The Grimsby Lot 16–Ancaster settler who said in 1793 that he arrived in 1788; his petition names sons Benjamin, Stephen, and John. Descendant accounts call him “Little John” and identify his wife as Anna Roy.
His Canadian land history is distinct from both the Oxford family and John Smith, cooper, on adjoining Grimsby Lot 17. His alleged Sussex County origin remains unproved.
The four entries therefore cannot be treated as interchangeable appearances of the same name. Only the “died at Brunswick” entry agrees with the father’s reported place of death, while the Gainsborough–Pelham petitioner uniquely combines Jersey Volunteers service with a deceased father of the same name who also served. The New Jersey senior–junior evidence, Oxford network, and petitions of the children complete a family pattern not reproduced by the other U.E.-list candidates.
John Smith Jr.’s 1804 petition stated that he had a wife and six children. Four of those children can presently be identified with varying degrees of confidence. John and James are directly named as sons in John Jr.’s 1844 will. Mary and Anna are not named directly as John’s daughters; their identifications rest on cumulative family-network and household evidence.25
Mary Smith, born about 1787;26 married Joseph Carter Price before about 1807;27 died 4 January 1862 at Fonthill, Welland County, Canada West.28
John Smith, born about 1794;29 married Catharine Schram, daughter of John Schram of Pelham, by July 1819;30 died 9 January 1863 in Pelham Township.31
James Snyder Smith, born about 1795; he may have had a son named William or Willson, born about 1839, although that identification remains tentative.32
Anna Smith, born about 1800;33 married a George Clark of Thorold and was later known as Anna Clark.34 She had at least three sons identified in the surviving records: John Clark, Richard Clark, and Nelson Clark—and possibly one daughter, Christeen.
Mary Smith’s identification is circumstantial, but the evidence forms a substantial family pattern. Her husband, Joseph C. Price, appears in several records with John Smith, and their sons included John Smith Price and David Smith Price. The 1862 probate of Mary Price the Elder identifies David Smith Price and Mary Price the younger as her children. A related 1868 land record identifies John Smith Price as Mary Price the Elder’s son and names his brothers and sisters; it also states that he died intestate without surviving children. These records establish the Price family structure directly, but no located record states that Mary Smith Price was John Smith Jr.’s daughter. I nevertheless believe that she was, based on the cumulative evidence.35
Anna’s identification rests on a particularly meaningful household connection. In the 1851 census of Gainsborough Township, James Smith was enumerated in the same household as Ann Clark, William Smith, and Richard Clark. The enumerator recorded James as a widower, as blind, and as born in the United States; Ann is recorded as born in Canada. A blind widower in his fifties sharing a house with a widowed sister and her nearly grown son is an arrangement families made, and the surnames, the birthplaces, and the composition of the household together support identifying James Smith as James Snyder Smith and Ann Clark as Anna Smith, after her marriage to George Clark. Richard Clark’s presence is consistent with his being Anna’s son. The census does not state that James and Ann were siblings, and its entries for Ann’s age and marital status are demonstrably wrong, so this remains circumstantial evidence rather than direct proof.36
The household of James Smith in the 1851 census of Gainsborough Township, Lincoln County, listing Ann Clark, William Smith, and Richard Clark under the same roof.
The 1861 census of Bayham Township, Elgin County, places John Clark, age forty-one, Mary Clark, age thirty-one, and an older “A. Clark,” age sixty-five, in the same household, along with George, William, and Mary J. Clark. This provides additional household evidence for identifying John Clark as another of Anna’s sons, although the census records only the older woman’s initial.37
The household of John Clark in the 1861 census of Bayham Township, Elgin County, including an older “A. Clark,” age sixty-five.
Nelson Clark’s later death certificate names Anna Smith as his mother and leaves his father unidentified, providing independent support for the identification of Anna Clark as Anna Smith. Taken together, these records make Anna a strong working identification as one of John Smith Jr.’s daughters and support the identification of three sons: John, Richard, and Nelson Clark.38
Nelson Clark’s Michigan death certificate, naming Anna Smith as his mother and leaving his father unidentified.
One additional possibility is worth preserving for future research: the 1851 Gainsborough census lists Christeen Clark, age twenty-two, in the household of Joseph Snyder. Her age is consistent with a possible daughter of Anna and George born about 1829, but no located record connects her directly to them.39
Christeen Clark, age twenty-two, in the household of Joseph Snyder — 1851 census of Gainsborough Township, Lincoln County.
The Snyder household may also be relevant to the unexplained middle name Snyder in James Snyder Smith’s name, although there is presently no direct evidence that John Smith Jr.’s wife was a Snyder. This is a research lead, not an identified child.
Mary Smith
Mary Smith was born 2 October 1766 and died at the Town of Niagara, Canada West, on 11 June 1845. She was buried in St. Mark’s churchyard.40
Mary was unmarried and thirty years old when she petitioned for land on 11 March 1797 as a daughter of John Smith, deceased, a U.E. Loyalist. Her petition register entry directly connects her application to her sister Eleanor’s household. Mary Smith and Eleanor Thompson appear consecutively in the register, and the “By Whom” column for Mary’s petition names Robert Thompson, Eleanor’s husband.41
Consecutive land-petition register entries D1414 (Mary Smith) and D1415 (Eleanor Thompson), 1797. Robert Thompson, Eleanor’s husband, is named in the “By Whom” column for Mary’s petition.
Mary’s claim succeeded. On 30 June 1801 the Crown patented to her the whole of Lot 12 in the 14th Concession of Burford Township, containing two hundred acres. She retained the property throughout her life.42
Between 1801 and 1824 Mary married Alexander Gardner or Gardiner of Niagara, a native of Perthshire and master mason in the Royal Engineer Department.43 Alexander died in 1824 at age sixty-five.44 Mary survived him by twenty-one years and appears to have left no children.45
Mary died intestate with a substantial personal estate. On 1 November 1845 administration was granted to David Smith of Gainsborough, identified as her brother and only surviving brother.46
Grant of administration in the estate of Mary Gardiner, 1 November 1845, to David Smith of Gainsborough, identified as her only surviving brother. Court of Probate, Canada West, Archives of Ontario.
Her Burford land descended separately; the later memorials identify the deceased John Smith of Pelham Township as Mary’s eldest brother and John’s son John as his eldest son and heir at law.47
A Burford Township memorial identifying John Smith of Pelham Township as Mary’s deceased eldest brother and his son John as heir at law. Lot 12, Concession 14, Brant County Land Registry Office.
Elizabeth Smith
Elizabeth Smith was born about 14 April 1769 and died 23 January 1823.48 The date of birth is calculated from the age recorded in a gravestone inscription; the cemetery location has not been independently verified. She married Robert Camp, whose surname also appears as Kemp. They were in Upper Canada by 1792 with two children.49
In a petition dated 25 April 1797, Robert Kemp petitioned for land on behalf of his wife, Elizabeth. He stated that he had come into Upper Canada in 1792 with a wife and two children, that he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of John Smith, a U.E. Loyalist, and that Elizabeth had never received land. He asked that she be granted 200 acres as the daughter of a Loyalist. The Clerk of the Sessions at Newark annexed a certificate to the petition describing Elizabeth as the daughter of John Smith, deceased, and stating that the justices were satisfied he had adhered to the Unity of the Empire and joined the Royal Standard in America before 1783. The certificate does not say where he died. It adds that Elizabeth then had three children, two of them born before 1789. The petition succeeded: a warrant for 200 acres was granted on 12 May 1797.50
Robert Kemp’s petition of 25 April 1797, made at Newark on behalf of his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Smith, U.E. Loyalist. Upper Canada Land Petitions, RG 1, L 3, vol. 268, bundle K 3, petition 5, Library and Archives Canada.
David Smith
David Smith was born 14 March 1775 and died 29 August 1861 in Gainsborough Township, Lincoln County, Canada West.51
He married Mary Kennedy in Sussex County on 21 January 1796. The marriage entry states that they were married “with the Consent of both their Parents being present.” The wording indicates that a parent or surviving parent for each party was present and consented to the marriage, but it does not identify those parents. It therefore does not establish whether David’s father, John Smith Sr., was still living in January 1796.52
The Sussex County marriage entry for David Smith and Mary Kennedy, 21 January 1796, recording that they married “with the Consent of both their Parents being present.”
David later stated that he came from New Jersey to Upper Canada in 1800. In 1804 he petitioned for land as a son of John Smith, deceased, a U.E. Loyalist who served in the Jersey Volunteers. David was then living in Gainsborough with a wife and five children. His claim, like his brother John’s, was rejected as “Not Privileged.”53
David Smith’s 1804 petition as a son of John Smith, deceased, U.E. Loyalist — endorsed, like his brother’s, “Not Privileged.” Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 453, petition S6/64, Library and Archives Canada.
David remained in Upper Canada. When Mary died in 1845, he was identified as her only surviving brother and served as administrator of her estate.
Cornelia Smith
Cornelia Smith was born about 177654 and died before 1819 in Upper Canada.55 She married William Shingler in Sussex County on 22 March 1798.56
The Sussex County marriage record of William Shingler and Cornelia Smith, 22 March 1798 — evidence that part of the family was still in New Jersey after other siblings had reached Upper Canada.
No land petition has yet been located for Cornelia or William, but later records preserve their connection to the Smith family. William Shingler witnessed an 1805 Gainsborough deed involving his brother-in-law John Smith, and John’s 1844 will refers to a mortgage involving William Shingler Jr. Cornelia’s 1798 marriage also shows that members of the family remained in Sussex County after other siblings had begun establishing themselves in Upper Canada.57
A later Michigan death record directly names Henry Shingler’s parents as William Shingler and Cornelia. Henry died in Genesee County, Michigan on 7 November 1870, aged 52 years, 11 months, and 21 days; that age calculates to a birth date of 16 November 1817. The record therefore provides direct evidence of at least one child of Cornelia and William and extends this Sussex County family into the next generation.58
A Family That Moved in Stages
The records do not describe a household that simply moved together after the Revolution. Instead, the family dispersed and gradually reassembled in British North America. Elizabeth and Robert Kemp were in Upper Canada by about 1792. Eleanor and Mary were there by the later 1790s. Cornelia was still in Sussex County where she married in 1798. David said that he moved from New Jersey in 1800. John arrived sometime before his 1804 petition.
Their father followed a different path. All three of the daughters’ 1797 applications describe him as deceased — Eleanor’s and Mary’s in March, and the certificate annexed to Elizabeth’s in April — but Eleanor’s is the only one that reports where he died. An addenda sheet for the Home District U.E. list contains the unusually specific entry “Smith. John who died at Brunswick” followed by “New Jersey 1777.” The entry does not explain the significance of the year 1777. Nevertheless, its combination of New Jersey and a death in New Brunswick agrees with what Eleanor’s petition reports.59
The Years Between 1783 and 1797
The surviving family records leave a significant gap in John Smith Sr.’s history. By 1797, his children described him as a Loyalist who had died in New Brunswick. They do not say when he arrived there, where he lived, what he did after the Revolution, or when he died. At present, his whereabouts between the end of the war in 1783 and the 1797 petitions remain unknown.60
One record may narrow the question, but only slightly. When David Smith married Mary Kennedy in 1796, the entry stated that “both their parents” were present and consenting.61 The wording indicates parental participation on both sides of the marriage, but it does not identify the parents who attended. Nor does it necessarily mean that all four biological parents were alive and present. The record therefore should not be treated as proof that David’s father, John Smith Sr., was still living in 1796. It could have been his mother.
The family’s report that John died in New Brunswick is historically plausible. At the end of the Revolution, British military units and Loyalist refugees were evacuated from New York to British North America. Thousands arrived in 1783 in what was then Nova Scotia, particularly along the Saint John River and the Bay of Fundy. Veterans of the New Jersey Volunteers were among the Loyalists who received land or settled in the region. New Brunswick was created as a separate province the following year.62
That larger migration explains how a Sussex County Loyalist might have reached New Brunswick, but it does not establish that John followed any particular regiment, transport, settlement party, or relative. Loyalists arrived as soldiers, discharged veterans, civilian refugees, dependents, laborers, and later migrants. Without a record naming this John Smith, the general history of the evacuation cannot fill the gap in his individual history.
Research in New Brunswick records has not yet produced a conclusive identification. The name John Smith appears repeatedly in Loyalist lists, land petitions, grants, military records, probate files, and local histories. Most of those occurrences contain too little identifying information to connect the man named with this family. A shared name, Loyalist status, or residence in New Brunswick is not enough, particularly when several unrelated men named John Smith were present in the province.
The New Brunswick search has not yet produced a document that connects any particular John Smith with the Sussex County associates, wife, children, occupation, or later Upper Canada family. Nor has a probate or land record been found that securely connects a New Brunswick John Smith with the children who later settled in Upper Canada. The search has therefore produced possibilities, but no identification strong enough to present as fact.63
For now, the defensible conclusion is limited: the family’s 1797 records identify John Smith Sr. as a Loyalist who served in the New Jersey Volunteers and report that he had died in New Brunswick. How and when he reached the province, where he settled, and what became of him between 1783 and 1797 remain unknown. The military evidence that may identify him before that gap requires a separate examination.
Notes
Estimated birth, about 1730. This is a working estimate based on John Smith Sr.’s reported service in the New Jersey Volunteers and the age he would likely have been during the American Revolution. No record of his birth has been located. ↩
Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 495, petition T2/52, Eleanor Smith Young Thompson, 3 March 1797, microfilm C-2833, Library and Archives Canada; digital image. The petition and supporting material identify John Smith as Eleanor’s father, a Loyalist associated with New Jersey who had died in New Brunswick. ↩
The reconstruction rests principally on the following records. Upper Canada Land Petitions, Library and Archives Canada: Eleanor Smith Young Thompson, vol. 495, petition T2/52, 3 March 1797, microfilm C-2833, cited in full at note 2; Mary Smith, vol. 449, petition S2/141, microfilm C-2806, images 986–989, dated or received 11 March 1797, digital images; Robert Kemp on behalf of his wife Elizabeth Smith Camp/Kemp, RG 1, L 3, vol. 268, bundle K 3, petition 5, 25 April 1797, microfilm C-2116, digital image; John Smith Jr., vol. 453, petition S6/63, microfilm C-2809, image 119, 2 January 1804, digital image; and David Smith, vol. 453, petition S6/64, microfilm C-2809, image 122, digital image, and vol. 462, petition S14/20, microfilm C-2814, image 725, digital image. Each identifies the petitioner as a child of John Smith, deceased, a U.E. Loyalist; John Jr.’s and David’s add service in the Jersey Volunteers, and Eleanor’s adds his death in New Brunswick. For the later records: Estate of Mary Gardiner, 1845, Court of Probate, Canada West, RG 22 / 6-1-A / GARDINER, MARY 1845, Archives of Ontario; digital image, FamilySearch, granting administration to her brother David Smith of Gainsborough; Estate of John Smith, 1844, Lincoln County Surrogate Court Estate Files, 1794–1859, RG 22-235, Archives of Ontario; and Burford Township memorials nos. 10, 549, and 646, registered 1853–1855, Brant County Land Registry Office, which identify John Smith of Pelham Township as Mary’s deceased eldest brother and his son John as her nephew and heir at law. Cornelia Smith is established not by petition but by her 22 March 1798 Sussex County marriage and the 7 November 1870 Genesee County, Michigan death record of her son Henry Shingler, cited in full at notes 56 and 58. ↩
David Young estate, inventory, 31 August 1780, Oxford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County Wills, 224s–333s, image 626, New Jersey, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1739–1991, database and images, Ancestry.com; digital image. David Smith and Mary Kennedy marriage return, 21 January 1796, Sussex County, New Jersey, performed by Justice John Axford; digital image, FamilySearch. William Shingler and Cornelia Smith marriage, 22 March 1798, Sussex County, New Jersey; “Sussex, New Jersey, United States records,” image 139 of 966, image group number 004541256; digital image, FamilySearch. These records place the family in or near Oxford Township and show that David and Cornelia remained in Sussex County after other family members began moving to Upper Canada. ↩
Oxford Township tax ratables, Sussex County, New Jersey, July 1773, New Jersey State Archives, Tax Ratables SAS00001, Book 1801; digital image, New Jersey Department of State. Also available on Family History Library microfilm 865491, image group 7895283. ↩
Estimated birth, about 1758. Eleanor was married to David Young by 1780, when his Oxford Township estate was inventoried, placing her marriage in the 1770s and her birth well before 1762. David Young estate, inventory, 31 August 1780, Oxford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County Wills, 224s–333s, image 626, New Jersey, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1739–1991, database and images, Ancestry.com; digital image. Her position before Mary (born 1766), Elizabeth (born 1769), David (born 1775), and Cornelia (born about 1776) supports an estimate in the later 1750s. No record of her birth has been located. ↩
Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 495, petition T2/52, Eleanor Smith Young Thompson, 3 March 1797, microfilm C-2833, Library and Archives Canada; digital image. The petition describes Eleanor as formerly the wife of David Young and then the wife of Robert Thompson, establishing both marriages by March 1797. ↩
David Young estate, inventory, 31 August 1780, Oxford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County Wills, 224s–333s, image 626, New Jersey, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1739–1991, database and images, Ancestry.com; digital image. The estate papers do not name children. ↩
Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 495, petition T2/52, Eleanor Smith Young Thompson, 3 March 1797, microfilm C-2833, Library and Archives Canada; digital image. The petition identifies Eleanor as John Smith’s daughter and states that her father had joined the Royal Standard and died in New Brunswick. ↩
The 1780 David Young estate papers do not name children; see note 8. The later identification of a David Young as a possible son of Eleanor and David is therefore tentative. A 4 September 1830 Pelham petition places a David Young within the Smith–Price network but does not identify his parents; digital image, FamilySearch. ↩
Petition of inhabitants of Pelham Township in support of David Young, 4 September 1830, Upper Canada Land Petitions, RG 1, L 3, vol. 552, Library and Archives Canada; digital image, FamilySearch. The petition is signed by Joseph C. Price and John Smith, but does not identify David Young’s parents or establish which John Smith signed. ↩
Robert Thompson, will dated 17 October 1822, and related memorial of exemplification registered 4 December 1834, Township of Niagara, Lincoln County, Upper Canada; will, digital image, and related memorial, digital image, FamilySearch. The will identifies Eleanor’s children but does not name Eleanor, supporting the conclusion that she had died before the will was made. ↩
Robert Thompson, will dated 17 October 1822, Township of Niagara, Lincoln County, Upper Canada; digital image, FamilySearch. The will names James, John, Robert, Andrew Heron, Alexander Garner, Jane McClelland, and Ann. It mentions Catharine London in a provision allowing her and Ann to use a room while single, but does not clearly identify Catharine as Robert’s daughter. ↩
Robert Thompson, will dated 17 October 1822, Township of Niagara, Lincoln County, Upper Canada; digital image, FamilySearch. The possibility that “Alexander Garner” honored Eleanor’s brother-in-law is an inference from Mary Smith’s later identification as Mary Garner/Gardiner and the memorial records for Mary Smith Garner and Alexander Gardiner. ↩
Estimated birth, about 1760. John Smith Jr.’s death occurred between 22 August 1844, the date of his will, and 24 January 1845, when probate was granted at Niagara. Estate of John Smith, 1844, Lincoln County Surrogate Court Estate Files, 1794–1859, RG 22-235, Archives of Ontario; copy from microfilm purchased from the Archives of Ontario. The will opens, “I John Smith Senr Township of Pelham District of Niagara Province of Canada West,” and names his eldest son John. ↩
John Smith, Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 453, petition S6/63, microfilm C-2809, image 119, Library and Archives Canada, petition dated 2 January 1804 and acted upon in March 1804; digital image. John stated that he had served in the Jersey Volunteers, that his deceased father John Smith was also a U.E. Loyalist who served in that corps, and that he had a wife and six children. ↩
Estate of Mary Gardiner, 1845, Court of Probate, Canada West, RG 22 / 6-1-A / GARDINER, MARY 1845, Archives of Ontario; digital image, FamilySearch. See also Abstract Index to Deeds, Burford Township, Lot 12, Concession 14, Brant County Land Registry Office, and memorials nos. 10, 549, and 646, together with the abstract index image, FamilySearch. The related Estate of John Smith, 1844, RG 22-235, Archives of Ontario, is a copy from microfilm purchased from the Archives of Ontario. Together these records identify John Smith of Pelham Township as Mary’s deceased eldest brother and his son John as Mary’s nephew and heir at law. ↩
Estate of John Smith, 1844, Lincoln County Surrogate Court Estate Files, 1794–1859, RG 22-235, Archives of Ontario; copy from microfilm purchased from the Archives of Ontario. The will styles the testator “John Smith Senr.” and names his eldest son John. The interpretation that this is compatible with an earlier “Junior” designation is genealogical analysis, not a statement made in the will. ↩
John Smith, Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 453, petition S6/63, microfilm C-2809, image 119, Library and Archives Canada, petition dated 2 January 1804; digital image. The petition was rejected as “Not Privileged,” and the annotation states: “The Name John Smith of the Home District appears Three times on the U.E. List.” ↩
Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884 (Toronto: Rose Publishing Company, 1885), Appendix B, p. 256; digital image, Google Books. The comparison table also uses the individual family and land records cited elsewhere in this post. ↩
Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884, Appendix B, p. 256; digital image, Google Books. The entry reads “Smith, John . . . Who died at Brunswick,” with “New Jersey 1777.” The archival addendum is identified as RG 5, A 1, vol. 259, p. 140850, Library and Archives Canada; digital image, FamilySearch. Two qualifications belong with this identification. First, the certificate annexed to Eleanor’s petition spells out New Brunswick, the province, while the addenda entry reads only “Brunswick” and pairs it with New Jersey and the year 1777; the British held New Brunswick, New Jersey, from December 1776 to June 1777, so that entry could describe a death there instead. The two records corroborate one another only if the addenda’s “Brunswick” is the province and its 1777 is the year he joined rather than the year he died. The latter reading is consistent with the documented 1777 enlistment of both John Smith Sr. and John Smith Jr. in the New Jersey Volunteers, but it is an interpretation of the compiler’s shorthand and is not stated in the entry. Second, of the three 1797 certificates issued by the same Clerk of the Sessions, only Eleanor’s names a place of death, and that certificate identifies her husband Robert Thompson as its bearer; the New Brunswick detail therefore rests on a single family informant rather than on independent knowledge. With those qualifications, the Brunswick entry remains the best fit for the reconstructed Oxford/Sussex family, since John Jr.’s 1804 petition identifies Jersey Volunteers service for both himself and his deceased father. See Eleanor’s petition, Elizabeth’s petition, and John Jr.’s petition. ↩
Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884, Appendix B, p. 256; digital image, Google Books; related petition abstracts, The Niagara Settlers. This John Smith, formerly of Dutchess County, New York, arrived in Upper Canada in 1786 with a wife and nine children. His large Grand River/Ancaster family is distinct from the reconstructed Oxford family, whose father was reported deceased by March 1797 and associated with New Brunswick. ↩
Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884, Appendix B, p. 256; digital image, Google Books. The Niagara entry reports service in the 78th Regiment at Quebec and later the 84th Regiment. That regimental history differs from the Jersey Volunteers service reported for John Jr. and his father in the 1804 petition; John Jr.’s petition. ↩
Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884, Appendix B, p. 256; digital image, Google Books. The Head of the Lake entry concerns the settler associated with Grimsby Lot 16, who reported arriving in 1788 and named sons Benjamin, Stephen, and John. Later accounts call him “Little John” and identify his wife as Anna Roy; see UELAC and R. Janet Powell, Annals of the Forty: Loyalist and Pioneer Families of West Lincoln, 1783–1833, no. 8, pp. 15–16, digital copy, FamilySearch Digital Library. His Canadian land history is distinct from the Oxford family, and the alleged Sussex County origin remains unproved. ↩
Estate of John Smith, 1844, Lincoln County Surrogate Court Estate Files, 1794–1859, RG 22-235, Archives of Ontario; copy from microfilm purchased from the Archives of Ontario. The will names sons John and James. John’s 1804 petition states that he had a wife and six children. Mary and Anna are not directly identified as his daughters in the located records; their identifications are based on the cumulative evidence discussed in notes 26–39. ↩
Price–Hutson Burial Ground, OGS no. 5750, Lot 256 BF, former Thorold Township, now Welland; transcription by Harold A. Fox, June 1983, Niagara Peninsula Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, ISBN 978-0-7779-3772-3; cemetery index. The derivative transcription reads “PRICE, Joseph C 1783–1842 (wife Mary 1787–1862).” ↩
Estimated marriage date, by about 1807, from the age of the eldest known son. John S. Price died 18 April 1860, aged 52, according to Fonthill Municipal Cemetery, Brown’s North, OGS no. 4631, Pelham Township, Welland County, p. 28. No record of Joseph C. Price and Mary Smith’s marriage has been located. ↩
Will of Mary Price the elder, Fonthill, dated 25 December 1861 and proved 16 January 1862, Surrogate Court of Welland County, registered copy, pp. 390–393; digital image, FamilySearch. The probate recites that she died on or about 4 January 1862 and names her children, including David Smith Price, Mary Price the younger, and her deceased son John S. Price. ↩
1851 Census of Canada West, Lincoln County, Gainsborough Township, Schedule A, roll C_11736, p. 68, line 9, enumerator Jacob Kennedy: John Smith, cordwainer, and Catharine Smith; digital image, Ancestry. This is the John Smith and Catharine Smith household—not the James Smith/Ann Clark household cited in note 36 or the Christeen Clark household cited in note 39. Ages at next birthday were 58 and 52, supporting estimated births about 1794 and 1799. ↩
Petition of Catharine Smith of Gainsborough Township, sworn 13 July 1819 in the General Quarter Sessions of the District of Niagara before Thomas Dickson; Upper Canada Land Petitions, “S” Bundle 12, 1819–1820, RG 1, L 3, vol. 460, p. 270, microfilm C-2813, Library and Archives Canada; digital image. Catharine stated that she was married to John Smith of Gainsborough and was the daughter of John Schram of Pelham, establishing the marriage by July 1819. ↩
Jeremiah Smith et al. to Joseph Smith, memorial no. 14229, indenture dated 2 December 1865 and registered 28 December 1865, Pelham Township, Welland County, book E, p. 18; digital image, FamilySearch. The memorial records John Smith the Elder’s death at Pelham on or about 9 January 1863, names his heirs, and identifies his widow Catharine. The identification of this man as John Smith Jr.’s eldest son rests on the chain of records linking Catharine of Gainsborough in 1819, the farm in John Jr.’s 1844 will, the 1851 Gainsborough household, and the Burford memorials. ↩
1851 Census of Canada West, Lincoln County, Gainsborough Township, personal census, p. 19: James Smith and William Smith, ages 56 and 12; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. The relationship is not stated, so identifying William or Willson as James’s son remains tentative. ↩
Estimated birth, about 1800. The 1851 Gainsborough census gives Anna’s age at next birthday as 43, while the 1861 Bayham census gives the older “A. Clark” an age of 65. Both identify her as Canadian-born. The estimate about 1800 best accommodates the age of her son John Clark and the family’s 1804 report of six children. 1851 Census of Canada West, Lincoln County, Gainsborough Township, personal census, p. 19, entry for Ann Clark; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. 1861 Census of Canada West, Elgin County, Bayham Township, enumeration district 5, p. 102, entry for “A. Clark”; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. No record of her birth has been located. ↩
Estimated marriage and husband identification. John Clark’s age of 41 in 1861 places his birth about 1820, suggesting that Anna married by about 1819. No located record names Anna’s husband. “George Clark” is a working identification based on the reconstruction of the Thorold–Pelham Clark family, in which George is the otherwise unaccounted-for son most consistent with this marriage. For John Clark’s age, see 1861 Census of Canada West, Elgin County, Bayham Township, enumeration district 5, p. 102; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. ↩
Joseph C. Price and John Smith, signatures on a 4 September 1830 Pelham petition concerning David Young; digital image, FamilySearch. See also the 25 April 1831 Pelham petition signed by both men, digital image. Mary Price the Elder’s 1862 probate identifies David Smith Price and Mary Price the younger as her children, digital image; an 1868 land record identifies John Smith Price as her son and names his siblings, digital image. These records establish the Price relationships but do not directly state that Mary Smith Price was John Smith Jr.’s daughter. ↩
1851 Census of Canada West, Lincoln County, Gainsborough Township, personal census, p. 19, lines 26–29: James Smith, born in the United States; Ann Clark, born in Canada; William Smith; and Richard Clark; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. James is marked widowed and blind; Ann is marked single, although Richard Clark’s presence and the children’s ages make parts of the enumeration unreliable. The household composition and surnames support, but do not prove, the identification of James Snyder Smith and Anna Smith. ↩
1861 Census of Canada West, Elgin County, Bayham Township, enumeration district 5, p. 102: John Clark, age 41; Mary Clark, age 31; and an older “A. Clark,” age 65, with George, William, and Mary J. Clark; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. The household provides additional evidence for identifying John Clark as one of Anna’s sons, but the older woman is recorded only by an initial and the relationships are not stated. ↩
Nelson Clark, Michigan death certificate; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. The certificate names Anna Smith as Nelson’s mother and leaves his father unidentified. In combination with the 1851 and 1861 census evidence, it supports Anna as a strong working identification among John Smith Jr.’s daughters and supports the identification of John, Richard, and Nelson Clark as her sons. ↩
1851 Census of Canada West, Lincoln County, Gainsborough Township, personal census, p. 130F: Christeen Clark, age 22, in the household of Joseph Snyder; digital image, Ancestry, subscription database. The census establishes Christeen’s age and household appearance but does not identify her parents or connect her directly to Anna Smith and George Clark. She is therefore a possible, unconfirmed child. ↩
Gravestone of Mary Gardner, St. Mark’s Anglican Cemetery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, read from a photograph; see also “Mary Smith Gardner,” memorial no. 233850644, Find a Grave. The inscription gives an age of 78 years, 8 months, and 9 days. Read with the 11 June 1845 death date recorded in the estate material, that age calculates to a birth date of 2 October 1766. ↩
Mary Smith, Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 449, petition S2/141, microfilm C-2806, images 986–989, Library and Archives Canada, dated or received 11 March 1797; digital images. The petition proper is at image 987 and the clerk’s certificate at image 989. See also the Upper Canada land-petition register, entries D1414, Mary Smith, and D1415, Eleanor Thompson, RG 1, C-I-3, p. 120; digital image, FamilySearch. The register places the sisters’ petitions consecutively and names Robert Thompson in the “By Whom” column for Mary’s petition. ↩
Crown patent to Mary Smith, 30 June 1801, Burford Township, Lot 12, Concession 14; Abstract Index to Deeds, Brant County Land Registry Office; digital image, FamilySearch. The index shows no conveyance by Mary during her lifetime. ↩
The marriage record of Mary Smith and Alexander Gardner/Gardiner has not been located. The relationship rests on Mary’s identification as Gardiner in her 1845 estate, digital image, FamilySearch, and the memorial records for Mary Smith Garner and Alexander Gardiner. The surname appears as Garner, Gardner, and Gardiner in different records. ↩
Gravestone of Alexander Gardiner, St. Mark’s Anglican Cemetery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, transcribed in Janet Carnochan, Graves and Inscriptions in the Niagara Peninsula, Niagara Historical Society; transcription published by the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum. See also memorial no. 69780216, Find a Grave. The inscription describes Alexander as a native of Perthshire and a master mason in the Royal Engineer Department, and records his death in 1824 at age 65. ↩
The conclusion that Mary left no children is inferential. Her 1845 intestate estate was administered by her brother David, and her Burford land descended to a nephew. Estate of Mary Gardiner, 1845, Court of Probate, Canada West, RG 22 / 6-1-A / GARDINER, MARY 1845, Archives of Ontario; digital image, FamilySearch. Burford Township memorials nos. 10, 549, and 646, registered 1853–1855, Brant County Land Registry Office. No record naming a child of Mary and Alexander has been located. Alexander Gardiner memorial, Find a Grave. ↩
Estate of Mary Gardiner, 1845, Court of Probate, Canada West, RG 22 / 6-1-A / GARDINER, MARY 1845, Archives of Ontario; digital image, FamilySearch. Administration was granted to David Smith of Gainsborough, identified as Mary’s brother and only surviving brother. ↩
Burford Township memorials nos. 10, 549, and 646, registered 1853–1855, and the Abstract Index to Deeds, Burford Township, Lot 12, Concession 14, Brant County Land Registry Office. The memorials identify John Smith of Pelham Township as Mary’s deceased eldest brother and his son John as her nephew and heir at law. ↩
Elizabeth Camp, Canadian Headstones, person record 452991; record and inscription. The inscription gives her death as 23 January 1823 and her age as 53 years, 9 months, and 9 days, calculating to an approximate birth date of 14 April 1769. The cemetery location has not been independently verified. ↩
Robert Kemp/Camp, petition for his wife Elizabeth, 25 April 1797, Newark, Upper Canada Land Petitions, RG 1, L 3, vol. 268, bundle K 3, petition 5, microfilm C-2116, Library and Archives Canada; digital image. Robert stated that he had come into the province in 1792 with a wife and two children and was married to Elizabeth. He signed “Robert Camp”; the docket and certificate spell the surname Kemp. ↩
Robert Kemp/Camp, petition dated 25 April 1797, Newark, Upper Canada Land Petitions, RG 1, L 3, vol. 268, bundle K 3, petition 5, microfilm C-2116, Library and Archives Canada; digital image. The petition identifies Elizabeth as the daughter of John Smith, deceased, and the certificate states that the justices were satisfied John had adhered to the Unity of the Empire and joined the Royal Standard before 1783. The warrant for 200 acres was granted 12 May 1797. ↩
David Smith, CanadaGenWeb Cemetery Project, person record 2358233; record. The record reports David’s birth on 14 March 1775 and death on 29 August 1861 in Gainsborough Township, Lincoln County, Canada West. ↩
Sussex County marriage return, David Smith and Mary Kennedy, 21 January 1796, performed by Justice John Axford; digital image, FamilySearch. The entry states that the marriage took place “with the consent of both their Parents being present.” ↩
David Smith, Upper Canada Land Petitions, vol. 453, petition S6/64, microfilm C-2809, image 122, and vol. 462, petition S14/20, microfilm C-2814, image 725, Library and Archives Canada; 1804 petition and later petition. The later petition states that David came from New Jersey to Upper Canada in 1800. ↩
Estimated birth, about 1776. Cornelia married on 22 March 1798 and appears at the end of the sibling sequence after Mary (born 1766), Elizabeth (born 1769), and David (born 1775). William Shingler and Cornelia Smith marriage, 22 March 1798, Sussex County, New Jersey; “Sussex, New Jersey, United States records,” image 139 of 966, image group number 004541256; digital image, FamilySearch. No record of her birth has been located. ↩
William D. Reid, The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of the American Loyalists of Upper Canada (Lambertville, N.J.: Hunterdon House, 1973), p. 67; digital image, Ancestry. Reid abstracts an Order in Council of 27 January 1819 under Walter Clendenning: “Rebecca, m. —- Shingler. O.C. 27 Jan 1819.” The later land records identify the unnamed Shingler as William Shingler: Crown patent to Rebecca Shingler for Lot 22, Concession 2, Erin Township, 2 May 1837; deed dated 28 February 1838 and registered 3 March 1838, memorial no. 87, book L; abstract index and registered memorial, FamilySearch. These records show that William’s marriage to Rebecca Clendenning occurred by January 1819, so Cornelia had died by then. ↩
William Shingler and Cornelia Smith marriage, 22 March 1798, Sussex County, New Jersey; “Sussex, New Jersey, United States records,” image 139 of 966, image group number 004541256, Sussex County Clerk, New Jersey County Court; digital image, FamilySearch (accessed 6 September 2026). ↩
Patrick McGaw and Hannah McGaw to John Smith, deed no. 5569, 23 December 1805, Gainsborough Township, Lincoln County, Upper Canada, land records, vols. G–H; digital image, FamilySearch. See also Estate of John Smith, 1844, RG 22-235, Archives of Ontario, which refers to a 3 November 1843 mortgage from William Shingler Jr. to John Smith’s son James. ↩
State of Michigan, Genesee County, record of deaths, p. 39, entry no. 1775, Henry Shingler, 7 November 1870; digital image, FamilySearch. The record gives Henry’s age as 52 years, 11 months, and 21 days and names his parents as William Shingler and Cornelia. ↩
Addenda to the Home District U.E. List, entry “Smith. John who died at Brunswick / New Jersey 1777,” RG 5, A 1, vol. 259, p. 140850, Library and Archives Canada; digital image, FamilySearch. The entry also appears in Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884, Appendix B, p. 256; digital image, Google Books. ↩
Upper Canada Land Petitions of Eleanor Smith Young Thompson, 3 March 1797; Mary Smith, dated or received 11 March 1797; and Robert Kemp on behalf of Elizabeth Smith Kemp, 25 April 1797, Library and Archives Canada. These records report John Smith as deceased by the time of the petitions but do not establish the date, place, or circumstances of his death. ↩
Sussex County marriage return, David Smith and Mary Kennedy, 21 January 1796, performed by Justice John Axford; digital image, FamilySearch. The entry does not name the parents who were present and therefore does not establish that David’s father was living on that date. ↩
Government of New Brunswick, “History,” describing the arrival of Loyalist refugees at the mouth of the Saint John River beginning in 1783 and the creation of New Brunswick as a separate province in 1784, Government of New Brunswick; and “New Brunswick: Our Stories, Our People—1783,” describing the evacuation from New York and the arrival of Loyalist refugees in the Saint John River valley, Government of New Brunswick. These sources establish the historical setting, not John Smith’s individual route or settlement. ↩
Research in New Brunswick records has located several men named John Smith but no record containing enough identifying information—such as Sussex County origin, named family members, occupation, associates, or a later Upper Canada connection—to identify one as the father of Eleanor, John, Mary, Elizabeth, David, and Cornelia Smith. This is a statement of the present research result, not proof that no identifying record survives. ↩
