Land Petition

Whereas their has by some means been a mistake in not Issuing a grant as it was intended by the Proprietors for the west half of Lot number thirteen in the second concession of the Military Tract in Hallowell

This is to inform the surveyor General or whomsoever it may concern, that Lieutenant Henry Young[6] Drawed the one half of said lot in his own right and that Jonathan Bowerman came by the other half under the commission, being allowed the south end, as the intention was between us the said young and Bowerman having between ourselves, Devided the lot acrossways, that Bowerman should have had a grant for the south end of said lot, and young for the north end, but as the grant has been issued, to him the said young for the west half of said lot, with an intention of giving Government, as little trouble as Possible, it is hereby jointly agreed between us that if government, will now issue a grant to Bowerman for the east half of said lot, it shall be to us satisfactory, and we will then Pass transfer deeds between ourselves so as to Devid said Lot as was intended.

This is to certify that I Israel Bowerman[11] have purchased from Lieutenant Henry young the one half of Lot number thirteen in the second concession of the military tract in Hallowell, and supposed it to have been the north end of said lot and have improved on said lot accordingly, and that the Grant being given to said young for the west half of said lot, I must take one from him accordingly it will meterialy inger me, and by no means correspond with my improvements on said lot, and further certify that if government will issue a grant for the east half of said lot to Jonathan Bowerman, that the matters can yet be made all right, between the Parties concerned by transfer Deeds between ourselves, and I John Striker[12] do also certify that I have Purchased from Jonathan Bowerman one half of the above mentioned lot, and supposed it to have been the south end of said lot, and have to conform with the above named Israel Bowerman on Improved accordingly, and am in every respect in the same situation as the south end of said lot as he is with the north end, and further we do hereby Jointly agree to the above proposals that Jonathan Bowerman may obtain a Grant for the east side of said Lot whereby all matters may be made right by the parties concerned.

In obedience to your Excellencys order of reference to us to report upon the Petition of Henry Young and Jonathan Bowerman

We have to state to your Excellency that the East half of Lot no. 13 in the 2^nd concession of the Military tract in Hallowell has been described for Lieut. John Howard[16] the west half of the same Lot described for Lieut. Henry Young under the authority of the General order in Council for the 19^th June 1795—agreeably to the portion of their respective honour on the plan

That by the 159^th claim of the Midland Commission in 1803—Jonathan Bowerman one of the present petitioners, claimed and was allowed the south or front half of the aforementioned Lot no. 13 but as the east and west halves thereof had been described as before stated, the south half allowed by the commissioners was under difficulty inasmuch as that tract is comprehended in the Descriptions which originally were made for Lieuts. Howard and Young.

But as the Petitioners signify that they will be satisfied if the east half be granted to Jonathan Bowerman, we see no difficulty or inconvenience in the way.

There is no deed presented in the name of John Howard for the E ½ of no. 13 in the 2^nd Con. of Halowell.

Whereas by some untoward circumstance there has been a Dificulty arisen in the surveyor Generals office respecting Describing the one half of Lot number thirteen in the Military Tract in Hallowell, so that Jonathan Bowerman can receive a grant for it as was allowed him under the commission as will appear in a Certificate hereunto annexed, which also Haves what will satisfy the Parties concerned if Permited agreeable there to

Excellency may be pleased to take the same into consideration. and Permit a deed to issue agreeable to the aforesaid certificate

Before the Land Commissioner which sat in July last I applied in the name of one Jonathan Bowerman and was allowed the East half of Lot number thirteen in the military tract in the second Concession of the Township of Hallowell in the issue of Lieut. Howard deceased. The object of my present application on the behalf of Mr. Bowerman, is that he may be allowed to receive his patent for the house without the three years situation clause under the following circumstances. About 20 years hence, his brother Israel Bowerman purchased from a Lieut Young the original monument of the Crown, the west half of the lesees[21] Lot, before the patents had passed[22] for either half the two brothers conceiving their land would be much better if divided across instead of Lengthways as originally ------ ----, ofered to divide it in the manner and applied to Mr David Branid then sitting for the Midland District to be allowed each to take out his patent in his own name for the front and rear halves instead of the East and West this was acceded to by the Land Board but through some mistake arising either from the Land Board not reporting to the Surveyor general the arrangement, or from the Surveyor Gen^l having overlooked the report, the patent for the west half was completed in the name of Lieut Young. ----- refused to surrender his patent in order that [the] mistake might be rectified and has since conveyed to Israel Bowerman and then left to Jonathan Bowerman to apply in his own name for the E. half as assured of. However, under a promise that as soon as he obtained the patent he would convey to his brother in such a manner as to complete the original agreement.

But as all patents now fail with the above mentioned clause the conveyance cannot be completed until the expiration of three years, which induces Mr Bowerman most respectfully to request thro’ you that his excellency would be pleased to direct the Secretary in impossing his Patent Court this clause under a conviction (perhaps an erroneous one) that it is intended only to prevent improper ---- of -----d before the settlement duly performed.

Under the faith of their original agreement and of the Sanction of the Midland District Land board, each party has built on the front and rear of their lot and should either [---t-][23] unfortunately die before the completion of this mutual agreement[24] it is feared [---]ision[25] would arise between the families and both respectable industrious farmers of the ------- ------ -----]sion Should it be required simple certificates can be had of the whole lot being under the highest state of cultivation with many valuable buildings on it.

The east ½ of Lot 13 in the 2^nd Con of the Military Tract Hallowell was allowed to Jonathan Bowerman in the 19^th claim in Com^nr report

& inscription thereof has been sent as usual to attorney General for his first which has not

Ordered that the patent to be completed for the East half of lot number thirteen in the second Concession of the Military Tract in the Township of Hallowell in the name of Jonathan Bowerman, under the 19^th claim of the Commissioner’s Report in July 1819 Shall be perfected without the clause of Restriction from sale for three years.

Ordered --- --- that to be completed for --- 1/2 of Lot no 13 2^nd Con of the military tract in W Township of Hallowell in name of Jonathan Bowerman under 19 Claim of Comm report in July 1819 shall be perfected without the clause of restriction from sale of 3 years

[1] This petition and its related records can be found in the Upper Canada Land Petitions RG 1, L3: Vol. 30 B Bundle 3, no. 138 (National Archives of Canada Microfilm C-1620); Vol. 35, B Bundle 8, no. 122 (National Archives of Canada Microfilm C-1622); and Vol. 43, B Bundle 12, no. 247 (National Archives of Canada Microfilm C-1625). The following transcriptions comprise fifteen photocopied, handwritten pages. All can be fairly easily read. However, the documents dated 1819 have holes and ink blotches that render some words unreadable.

[2] His signature. In the 1808 assessment of Hallowell Township, Prince Edward County, Jonathan had 380 uncultivated acres and 45 cultivated acres of land (http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/assessmt.htm, accessed June 20, 2002).

[3] Jonathan’s petition was made just four days before the expiration date of “Lord Dorchester’s bounty.” Regarding this bounty land, Lillian Gates writes:

Whatever official policy may have been intended, new settlers from the old colonies continued to swell the numbers of so-called loyalists to the new settlements, which, by the spring of 1787, were rife with discontent. John Collins, Deputy Surveyor General, and William Dummer Powell . . . were appointed by Dorchester as a commission of inquiry to investigate and quiet the unrest. The Deputy Surveyor went on this mission armed with the authority to grant settlers who had already improved their land a bonus of 200 acres. This grant was known as Lord Dorchester’s bounty. Dorchester’s avowed object in making these grants was to encourage the cultivation of the soil, but, since the bounty lands were to be bestowed only upon “real loyalists” of “Peaceable decent deportment” and were to be withheld from persons of “doubtful principles and reputations,” one suspects that his real object was to make it plain that the role of agitator would prove an unprofitable one. This promise of bounty lands was intended to hold good for a limited time only. In July, 1790, it was proposed in Council to receive no more applications for bounty lands since the “purpose” of the order had been achieved. However, in this case, as in many others to come, it was found difficult to end the life of a bounty regulation once it had come into existence. The Executive Council of Upper Canada later set August 1, 1797, as the time limit for receiving and hearing claims for Lord Dorchester’s bounty (Lillian Gates, Land Policies of Upper Canada, [Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1968] 17).

Since Jonathan writes in his brief petition that he has “settled and improved” his lands, which was one of the requirements for receiving this bounty land, it seems reasonable that he was applying for “Lord Dorchester’s bounty.” Furthermore, as a Quaker Jonathan would probably qualify for being a person of “peaceable, decent deportment” in the category of the “other settlers” who had received lands.

[4] Perhaps “same.”

[5] I.e. “recommended.’

[6] Henry Young enlisted in the KRRNY 12 Nov 1781. He had the rank of a Lieutenant in the Second Battalion on 16 Nov 1781, and had the same rank in Crawford’s Company, 25 Oct 1782. He had previously joined Loyalist troops as Lieutenant in Van Pfister’s Loyal Volunteers 15 June 1776, and with the same rank in LIC, 1 May 1781. He was “intended for Secret Service in 1779.”

“Henry Young was born in 1737 in New York, and a farmer, who at the age of eighteen joined the British army. He was present when General Abercrombie was defeated in his attack on the French fort now called Tyconderoga. . . . At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he again joined the British forces, this time under General Burgoyne, whom he accompanied on his march against Tyconderoga, captured in 1777. He was also with Burgoyne at the battle of Bennington, at Stillwater, NY, and witnessed his surrender at Saratoga. But he escaped being captured. . . . During the French and Revolutionary wars he fought in seventeen battles and was wounded but once, and then in his right hand” (Pioneer Life on the Bay of Quinte [Toronto: Rolph & Clark, n.d. [ca. 1904] 993). See also Ernest A. Cruikshank, King’s Royal Regiment of New York with additional Appendices and Muster Rolls; Toronto: Ontario Historical Society, 1931); and http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/UZ/YoungH.html (accessed May 12, 2002). In Gregory Palmer’s Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, CT: Meckler, 1984), Henry is listed as from “Hoosick, Albany County, New York,” and estimates his losses as “£582 Halifax” (955). Two Henry Youngs are listed in the 1808 Asessment for Hallowell Township. However, there is no way to distinguish between Henry “Sr” and Henry “Jr.” One has 325 uncultivated acres and 75 cultivated acres; one has 870 uncultivated acres and 53 cultivated acres (http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/assessmt.htm. Accessed June 20, 2002).

[7] His signature.

[8] His signature.

[9] His signature. Ebenezer Washburn had been a “sergeant of the Loyal Rangers” and “became a member of the Legislative Assembly for Addington and Lennox in 1801, 1807, and 1808” (Richard Preston, Kingston Before the War of 1812: A Collection of Documents [Toronto: University of Toronto, 1959] 214. He was from Rutland, Vermont and joined General Burgoyne in 1777. He was taken prisoner and “confined until after the capitulation at Saratoga.” He “moved to Canada in 1778, and served as a sergeant in Major Jessup’s Corps. He was at Yamaska in 1783” (Palmer, Biographical Sketches, 908). In 1808 Ebenezer was one of the largest land holders in Hallowell Township. He had 1150 uncultivated acres and 40 cultivated acres (http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/assessmt.htm, accessed June 20, 2002). He is also mentioned in Vincent Bowerman’s “Some Account of my Father” (11 mo. 2 1870). Regarding Jonathan and Thomas Bowerman’s trip to Montreal in 1810, Vincent writes: “Well we left Father [Thomas Bowerman] sick at Montreal, as it happened Ebenezer Washburn, Paul Washburn’s Grandfather was there and heard Father was acquainted and neighbors and he was coming home so he staid a day or two and took care of Father. . . . We were under the greatest obligation to Washburn for the care he took of him. Father had about $250 in gold with him, Washburn brought that all safe to us. . . .”

[10] His signature. Obadiah Cooper is listed in the Assessment of the Township of Hallowell for the Year 1808 (http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/assessmt.htm, accessed 27 May 2002). He had 200 acres of land, 160 of which were uncultivated, and 40 acres of which were cultivated.

[11] Israel was the younger brother of Jonathan, born 21 August 1777 near Verbank, Dutchess County, NY (Merton Yarwood Williams, “The Bowerman Family 1379 to the Present: English American Canadian..” Unpublished manuscript. Merton Yarwood Williams Collection, University of British Columbia Archives). He is listed in the 1808 assessment of Hallowell Township along with his brothersThomas, Stephen, Judah, Ichabod, and Gideon. He had 65 uncultivated acres and 35 cultivated acres. Thomas had 520 uncultivated acres and 80 cultivated acres; Stephen had 40 uncultivated acres and 60 cultivated acres; Judah had 65 uncultivated acres and 35 cultivated acres; Ichabod had 100 uncultivated acres and 50 cultivated acres; and Gideon had 1,500 uncultivated acres of land (http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/assessmt.htm, accessed June 20, 2002).

[12] John Striker was Jonathan Bowerman’s brother-in-law, and the brother of Martha Striker. In 1808 he had 60 uncultivated acres and 40 cultivated acres (http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/assessmt.htm, accessed June 20, 2002). John’s wife, Jemima Vincent, was the sister of Sarah Vincent, Jonathan Bowerman’s wife (Merton Yarwood Williams, “Letter to Mrs. Arthur F. Clubb, 26 July 1956” [Fond 4-2, Merton Yarwood Williams Archives, University of British Columbia]). Martha Striker and her husband Henry Harris had a daughter Mary (“Polly”), who would marry Jonathan Bowerman’s son John I. Bowerman.

[13] His signature.

[14] His signature.

[15] His signature.

[16]Like Henry Young, John Howard had been a Lieutenant in the 2^nd Battalion of the KRRNY and had been engaged in secret service duties. He was born in Ireland, but lived in New York before the Revolution. With his wife Mary and their four daughters, he was one of the earliest settlers of Kingston (Preston, Kingston Before the War of 1812, xlvi, 42, 50-51, 110, 357). By 1791 he was living on Amherst Island. Gregory Palmer lists him as “of Charlotte, Dutchess County, New York,” and says that he “had a farm consisting of 1,766 acres. Arrested by the Whigs on June 18, 1776, [Howard] was sentenced to imprisonment during their pleasure. However, he escaped in the spring of 1777 to the Royal Army; the following autumn, his property was confiscated and his wife and seven children were sent to New York. Howard estimated his loss at £70 New York” (Biographical Sketches, 404).

[17] William Chewett and Thomas Ridout.

[18] His signature.

[19] Transcription doubtful.

[20] Transcription doubtful.

[21] Conjecture.

[22] Conjecture.

[23] Probably “party.”

[24] Henry Young Sr. died in 1820, at 73 years of age. His son, Henry Young Jr. had died in 1812. By 1834 Israel was apparently living in Dunedin, Nattawasaga Twp., Simcoe County (http://www.waynecook.com/zclearview.html). Additional records related to Jonathan Bowerman’s petition can be found in the Heir and Devisee Commission’s records, so apparently problems related to this land transferal continued for some time.

[25] Probably “division.”

[26] Indecipherable signature

[27] Different hand

[28] Two indecipherable lines.

[29] Unclear. Possibly “MC.”

[30] Same name as in the previous document