 | New
Jersey assessments for the late 1790s list John as a young adult
owning several acres, a few animals, and just before the move to
Canada, a slave. John, his father, and business associate Patrick
Haggerty convinced Upper Canada officials to increase their land
grants if they brought other settlers with them. The McCall party
brought few provisions with them and later said they would not have
survived their first winter here had it not been for the generosity
of Lucas Dedrick, who shared his fall crop with them. John's rough
and ready nature made him a conspicuous personage in the new
settlement. A physically imposing fellow locally famous for his
feats of strength, he was endowed with a coarse vein of humor, was
an expert marksman and hunter, and one of the best known characters
of him time. He and Martha settled on Lot 18, Concession 6,
Charlotteville. In 1801 Martha was granted an additional 200 acres
as the married daughter of a Loyalist. Sam Ryerse refused John a
captaincy in the local militia so John built a large boat and during
the War of 1812 put it and himself as Captain at the disposal of
British forces. He saw battle on several fronts, serving without pay
or reward at the urging of his father, because his
"circumstances allowed." In 1835, Captain James
FitzGibbon, late of Glengarry Light Infantry, testified at Toronto
that although he was not personally acquainted with John, he had
seen John in battle and concluded "he was one of the most
devoted and zealous of the country's defenders." After John
died Martha lived out her days in the home of her youngest son
Daniel.
* Conflicting with other records, 1852 Charlotteville Census list
Martha as 77, suggesting she was born circa 1775. This assumed error
has not been disproved. |
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