Researching The Perth Military Settlement

In 2013, I did a presentation on The Perth Military Settlement covering the years 1816 to 1823.  This presentation covers why the military settlements were established, where they were generally located, who this action involved, what the expectations were, the kinds of records that we can hope to find, and where we can find the records.

There were a number of reasons why the military settlements were established.  This was a period of time that Britain had a lot on its plate.  The war in North America was over, the Napoleonic Wars were winding down, there was an economic downturn.

 

War is an expensive proposition.  Once the war is over, there are soldiers who are no longer needed to fight battles and the economy has to change from providing military supplies and food to a peace time economy.  Every country goes through this after a war.  Towards the end of the War of 1812, some of the regiments from the European theatre could be released to go to the aid of Upper and Lower Canada.  Prior to that time, there were regular force regiments in Canada.  They, along with the militia forces were able to fight a more defensive war.  Once they were joined with more regiments from Europe, they were able to become more aggressive.  To thank the participants, both regular force and militia, everyone who fought on the side of the British were entitled to land grants, the amount of acreage depending on the rank.

In 1815, soldiers in the British army regiments that did not go to Canada were being released from their military service.  Many of them became Chelsea pensioners.  Because of this, it was costing the government a lot of money and these soldiers needed jobs which were non-existent. It actually gave the government significant savings to pay for passage to Canada for a former soldier and his family, providing them with food, tools, and land.  In return, Britain had a next to ready-made loyal army in the event of another incursion from the United States. During the war of 1812, some of the loyalists were not so loyal.

The Military Settlements were established in 3 main areas, along the St Lawrence River, around Kingston and the Bay of Quinte, and in the Niagara Peninsula.  A 4th area was considered.  This was around Detroit, but the land ended up being turned over to the Americans.  As I have alluded to earlier, the veterans from the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic War were provided with necessities.  Civilians also moved into the area at the time, but they were provided with land at a price for 100 acres.  Some purchased land from the soldiers who had filled their obligations and found that they did not want to continue either because of the work involved or the land was not good land.

From this point onwards, my remarks will pertain to the military settlement at Perth.

The first military settlers in Perth arrived approximately 1816.  My 4x great-grandfather Jean Baptiste Fournier and his family arrived at this time.  His son, Jean Baptiste Jr was also entitled to a land grant and he got the other 100 acres of the lot that his father was assigned.

As I said before, the amount of land depended on the rank the veteran had.  Officers received anywhere from 100 acres up to 400 acres, the higher the rank, the more acreage the veteran got.  Sergeants received 200 acres and any rank under sergeant received 100 acres.  Everyone received food for a year, and implements for clearing the land and growing a crop.

The settlers were expected to do 4 things before the grant was finalized.  They had to live on the land for 3 years, they had to build a cabin to live in, they had to clear a specified amount of land in that 3 years and they had to start growing crops.  They were also expected to keep up their military training and report for military duty in times of threats of invasions.

How did I become interested in the Perth Military Settlement?  Well, last spring, I was finding that the information about my family was not exactly how my mother told me.  She said that either her grandfather or her great-grandfather came out from Ireland.  Through the census records, I found that her great-grandfather was actually born in Canada.  This is a pedigree chart of my Farrell line starting with my great-grandfather.

Last spring, I found a book that headed me in the direction that I am now travelling with this family.  

I did not pay a lot for this book, under $2.00.  I did not know why I needed this book until I came to this page.  

I have not found a copy of the book entitled "Upper Canada Located Settlers" yet, but the appendix has given me a lot of information.  This first part of the appendix is an index to make it easier to find the information on your family.  It is arranged alphabetically and gives you the page number and the line number that your information is on.  By turning to the page number and finding the line number, you find more information.  It gives the Regiment that your ancestor was part of, the number and sex of persons in the family, the location of the grant, and the authority that entitles the grant.

Now, as you can see, Edward Farrell was a member of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoons.

There was 1 adult woman and two males over 12 that accompanied him.  From his burial record, from St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, we learn that his wife's name was Elizabeth Leonard.  

From one son's marriage record, we know that the son's name was George and he married Bridget O'Keefe in Montreal Basilica in 1822.

We strongly suspect that the other son's name was Bernard, but we have not yet been able to confirm it.

As you see, I had to go outside the Perth area to find the information.  The same situation arises with Jean Baptiste Jr.

He married Frances Lalonde in February of 1817 by the Rev. Wm. Smart.  I found their marriage information in a book listing Brockville marriages.  The Rev Smart was not a Roman Catholic and neglected to pass the information onto the Roman Catholic church.  Because of this, when Father John McDonald moved to Perth in 1823 to become the first parish priest, he had no record of their marriage and insisted that they be married again.  So, Jean Baptiste Jr and Frances were married twice.

There are a number of things that you need to know when searching for records for Perth between 1816 and 1823.  The first thing that you need to know is that there was no clergy in Perth until 1823.  Circuit clergy from the different churches took turns and were to note what church that the family belonged to.  They then performed any necessary ordinances, such as baptisms, marriages, and burials.  When they arrived back at their home church, they were to inform any other churches of the work that was performed on their behalf.  The other thing is that if somewhere seems to be to far away for the record to be, check anyway.  I saved myself a lot of heartache when I was Algonquin College.  I had asked for any information on Perth prior to 1823.  The librarian was going to take away a book on the Brockville marriages, but I asked to keep it.  That's when I found Jean Baptiste Jr's and Frances' marriage information.

One thing that I have not made mention of yet is the Johnstown papers.   These are yearly census records for each township from 1816 to 1823 and a couple more years before 1841 when the federal census started.  Not all of the census records have survived.  The 1817 census is a nominal census and most of the rest are head of household or agricultural census records.

I have a list of places that you can look for records for this time period:

• ·       Lanark County Genealogical Society Library - I did not find much personally, but you might find more than I did

·       Archives Lanark for some wills, and land records - I have to go back there, one day was not enough for me.
·       Algonquin College, Perth Campus - They have a good section on local and family history.  Again, I need to go back, I haven't looked at a quarter of their holdings.
·       Local churches
·       Roman Catholic Archives in Kingston, Montreal, Brockville, Ottawa, etc.
·       Anglican Archives in Ottawa - they are only open on Mondays and Tuesdays.  You need to call ahead.
·       Anglican Archives in Kingston, Montreal, Toronto
·       Local libraries in the small towns where your ancestors lived
·       Library and Archives Canada - you can use their website first to determine what you want to look at.  Some things are online through their website
·       Ontario Archives - Again, you have to prepare for your trip by visiting their website.  A lot of their information is online or on microfilm that you can order via Inter-Library Loan to a local public library

Again, I want to thank you for this opportunity to share the information that I have found thus far regarding the Perth military settlement.

The following is a picture of the original cabin built by Edward Farrell and his sons.