Niagara Settlers¶
Pioneer Settlement
Ontario¶
Ontario has a long tradition of welcoming peoples of many nationalities dating right back to our first settlers – the United Empire Loyalists. Even two hundred plus years ago, in the 1780’s and 1790’s, we had a multi-cultural, cosmopolitan province. The ethnic origins of our first settlers included German, French, English, Swiss, Portuguese, Irish, Scottish, Prussian, Dutch and African. Some descended from families who lived in the American Colonies for generations; others had been there for just a few years. A number came directly to Canada from the old country, making a diverse mixture of customs and languages.
Even many of the Indians had been non-native to this province, having lived in New York, then serving with the Loyalist forces. The government officials of the day had to search carefully to find a few scattered tribes of the Mississauga and other nations from whom they purchased the land here.
The primary occupation ran decidedly to agrarian, followed by merchants, tanners, tailors, innkeepers, blacksmiths, barristers, millers, physicians, shoemakers and numerous others. Many combined their trades with farming.
Post-War Settlement¶
As is often the case of immigrants today, those of the late 1700’s fled their earlier homes as refugees of war. At that time, they faced the War of the American Revolution and its aftermath. Then as now, Ontario’s lure came as a haven for the war weary and the peaceful. Although these me
n and women derived from many different backgrounds, all had one thing in common during those formative years of the late 1700’s. They felt a deep rooted desire to live with the orderly laws and security they had known under the British Crown in pre-Revolutionary times, now promised in Canada.
Many immigrants could be described as peaceful farming and business folk alarmed by the mob scenes that occurred in the larger American cities prior to and during the Revolution. They had been alienated by the wanton destruction of the urban and rural property of those suspected supporting the British cause both during and after the war. Anyone who did not espouse either side militarily became accused of Loyalist leanings by the republicans and fell under ostracism in their community. Also, after the Revolution, further uncertainty developed as the federal Congress of
the United States struggled to establish its identity in the face of demands for individual states’ rights. Further, the unsavoury threat existed of yet another war with Britain espoused by elements of the American population. The United States proved not to be a place congenial to the peaceful immigrant from the “Old Country” to set down roots. The peaceful immigrant required a land devoid of the political and religious wars that rent the Europe of their forebears.
The earliest of the immigrants to Canada came as discharged soldiers who served in the Loyalist corps during the Revolution, with their families. Having fought against neighbours and even near relatives in the British cause for many years, they afterwards found themselves unwelcome in their home communities. Many had already moved their families to the military encampments during the war and their property had been confiscated.
Canada, as vast as it is known to be today, at that early post-war period of the early- to mid- 1780’s, offered but few settlement destinations. On the Atlantic seaboard, the Loyalists found the land in many parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rocky and difficult to cultivate – a crucial problem in a largely agrarian society. Many a prospective settler cleared a part of his government grant only to discover the soil unsuited to crops. Some either returned to the United States or went elsewhere.
Quebec, which at that time comprised all of the territory west of the Maritimes, still had the old seigniorial system of land ownership and French civil laws guaranteed to the inhabitants by the Government of England under the Quebec Act of 1763. In this system, an individual settler could not own his land outright, a prospect alien to the ways that had developed in the colonies to the south.
In present Ontario, relatively small pockets of surveyed lands developed along the Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers and along the north-eastern shore of Lake Ontario during the 1780’s. These all went to the men of a few Loyalist regiments, among them Butler’s Rangers, the Indian Department, the King’s Royal Regiment of New York and others.
As a result, many Loyalists adopted a wait and see attitude and remained in the United States, enduring the fines, confiscations and taunts that came their way despite a clause of the Treaty of Paris which specifically forbade such treatment.
Niagara Frontier¶
At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the Niagara Frontier on the west shore of the Niagara River in present Ontario, Canada was an unbroken stretch of wilderness. It became the logical refuge for the displaced Loyalists forced by their refugee circumstances to find a new home. Many of the patriarchs were veteran soldiers who had served in Butlers Rangers, The New Jersey Volunteers and the Indian Department to name three. The families predominantly came from New York and Pennsylvania but many originated further afield in New England, New Jersey and Maryland. The initial search for farmland, starting as early as 1781, ranged along the Niagara River in the eastern part of Niagara and Stamford Townships and then further south into Willoughby and Bertie Townships. Villages of merchants and tradesmen grew up around Fort George (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in the north, Fort Erie in the south and Queenston and Chippawa in between. The settlements were joined by the Portage Road winding along the cliffs overlooking the Niagara River gorge. Potts Ancestors settled in Willoughby Township.
The grants of 200 acres or more to the new settlers soon depleted the available land in these townships. During the late 1780’s and early 1790’s their grown sons looked further west to the newly surveyed second tier of townships—Grantham, Thorold, Crowland and Humberstone.
Maps¶
Willoughby Township¶
Willoughby Township in Welland County is the rural southern portion of Niagara Falls, Ontario, between the village of Chippawa and the boundary with Fort Erie. Included is historic Navy Island in the Niagara River and the site of the Battle of Chippawa, fought between British and American forces on July 5, 1814.
European settlement began in the 1770s and 1780s, with Willoughby mostly uncleared and covered in thick forests and marshes. These first settlers were United Empire Loyalists escaping the American Revolution. More groups of pacifist Pennsylvania Dutch families arrived in the 1790s. The 19th century saw increasing settlement, mainly by German-speaking farmers from Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, and other German regions attracted by cheap land as well as Freedom Seekers travelling the Underground Railroad to escape slavery in the Unites States.
Potts, Jacob
On 17 May 1802 the Crown granted to Jacob Potts a patent for 200 acres all Lots 14 & 15 Concession 5 from the Niagara River, Willoughby Twp.
On 13 Sep 1802 (Reg 26 Sep 1822) Jacob Potts sold to Samuel Street & Thomas Cummings 200 acres all Lots 14 & 15 Concession 5 from the Niagara River, Willoughby Twp.
Upper Canada Land Petitions¶
Potts, Jacob
Upper Canada Land Petition of Jacob Potts dated on 7 Oct 1796
“Humbly shews- That your Petitioner has been settled some time in the Province since the year 1789 – and in the Township of Willoughby before the Lands were surveyed, Having been authorised by the Land Board to look out Lands for himself & family – which consists of a wife and six children—that since the survey of the above mentioned Township your Petitioner finds that his Improvements- consisting of a Dwelling House and twenty acres of cleared Land, falls on Lots No 14 & 15- in the 5th Conn on which the name of E. Dean have been since entered- He prays your Honor would be pleased to confirm him in the possession of the said Lot – & also to grant him 200 additional acres- as his Family is large – And your Petitioner as in Duty bound will ever pray – [Unsigned] Added note of Thomas Ridout N. P. “I do hereby certify that the Petition was made out upon the Personal application of Jacob Potts [Signed] T Ridout N. P.” Received at the Executive Council Office on 8 Oct 1796 and read the same day. Ordered referred to the Surveyor General to report.” Subsequent order: “The Acting Surveyor General having reported the Petitioner improved under the sanction of the Land Board on Lots No 14 & 15 in the 5th Concession of Willoughby before the appropriation to Ezra Deane – he is to be confirmed in those lots including his improvements. [Upper Canada Land Petitions NAC “P” Bundle 2, Petition Number 18]
Certificate of William Dickson dated on 29 Aug 1796 attached to the Upper Canada Land Petition of Jacob Potts
“I do hereby Certify that the Bearer, hereof Jacob Potts, late from Maryland; now of Chipawa Creek, appeared before me this Twenty Ninth day of August 1796, and took the Oath of Allegiance to His Majesty and signed the Declaration [Signed] William Dickson JP” [Upper Canada Land Petitions NAC “P” Bundle 2, Petition Number 18]
Undated Upper Canada Land Petition of Jacob Potts of the Township of Woodhouse, Yeoman received at the Executive Council Office on 19 Feb 1803
“Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner is the eldest Son of Reynard Potts, deceased, who obtained an order of Council on the 22nd July 1797 for 200 Acres of the waste lands of the Crown as a Settler. Wherefore as Your Petitioner is the Heir of the said Reynard Potts, deceased, he prays that your Excellency may be pleased to order the Deed do issue in the name of Petitioner. And in duty bound Petitioner will ever pray, [Signed] Jacob Potts” Received at the Executive Council Office on 19 Feb 1803. No Executive Council order on the petition. [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “P” Bundle 3, Petition Number 31]
Notation dated 16 Jul 1817 attached to the Upper Canada Land Petition of Jacob Potts
“Mem. for S. G. O. 16 Jul ’17 Raynard Potts was granted 200 acres (under L. B. C.) 31 July 1797 order issued in ’99 – Q if any Location” “neither Order or location is found in the S. G. O.” [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “P” Bundle 3, Petition Number 31b]
Land Board Certificate issued to Reynard Potts dated on 12 Apr 1794 (using a pre-printed form with fill-ins)
“The Bearer Reynard Potts having on the 12 day of Apr 1794 preferred to this Board a Petition addressed to His Excellency the Governor in Council for a grant of Two hundred Acres of land in the Township of [blank] in the District of Home We have examined into his loyalty and character and find him duly qualified to receive a single Lot of about two hundred Acres, the oath of fidelity and allegiance directed by law having this day been administered to him by the board, in conformity to the fourth article of the Rules and Regulations aforementioned. Given at the Board at Newark this Twelfth day of April one thousand seven hundred and Ninety Four To Augustus Jones Acting Surveyor General for the District of Home. [Signed] R. Hamilton, D W Smith, J Butler” Read in the Executive Council on 22 Jul 1797. Ordered recommended for 200 acres, if not granted before. Confirmed 31 July 1797 [Initialed] P. R. [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “P” Bundle 3, Petition Number 31c]
Potts, John
Deposition of John Potts dated on 16 Nov 1796 attached to the Upper Canada Land Petition of Thomas and Mary Welch
“Upper Canada Home District} To Wit On the Sixteenth Day of November Seventeen hundred and Ninety six, personally Came and appeared before me John Burch Esquire, one of His Majestys Justices of the Peace for the District aforesaid, John Potts of thirty two Years of Age, who being first Sworn on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, Deposeth and Saith That he this Deponant was well acquainted with Mrs Mary Welch’s Family who resided in Harford County in the former Province now state of Maryland. That Thomas Mitchell, Father to the said Mary Welch, was to this Deponants Certain knowledge a true friend to the British Government during the late American War. This Deponant further Saith upon his oath aforesaid, that the said Thomas Mitchell in the time of the late war aforesaid, suffered much in his property by fines Trible Taxes &c on account of his Loyalty And further this Deponant Saith not [Signed] John Potts Sworn Before Me the day & date as Above [Signed] John Burch J Peace” [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “W” Bundle 4, Petition Number 69b]
Potts, Reynard
Mentioned in the undated Upper Canada Land Petition of Jacob Potts of the Township of Woodhouse, Yeoman received at the Executive Council Office on 19 Feb 1803
“Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner is the eldest Son of Reynard Potts, deceased, who obtained an order of Council on the 22nd July 1797 for 200 Acres of the waste lands of the Crown as a Settler. Wherefore as Your Petitioner is the Heir of the said Reynard Potts, deceased, he prays that your Excellency may be pleased to order the Deed do issue in the name of Petitioner. And in duty bound Petitioner will ever pray, [Signed] Jacob Potts” Received at the Executive Council Office on 19 Feb 1803. No Executive Council order on the petition. [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “P” Bundle 3, Petition Number 31]
Notation dated 16 Jul 1817 attached to the Upper Canada Land Petition of Jacob Potts
“Mem. for S. G. O. 16 Jul ’17 Raynard Potts was granted 200 acres (under L. B. C.) 31 July 1797 order issued in ’99 – Q if any Location” “neither Order or location is found in the S. G. O.” [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “P” Bundle 3, Petition Number 31b]
Land Board Certificate issued to Reynard Potts dated on 12 Apr 1794 (using a pre-printed form with fill-ins)
“The Bearer Reynard Potts having on the 12 day of Apr 1794 preferred to this Board a Petition addressed to His Excellency the Governor in Council for a grant of Two hundred Acres of land in the Township of [blank] in the District of Home We have examined into his loyalty and character and find him duly qualified to receive a single Lot of about two hundred Acres, the oath of fidelity and allegiance directed by law having this day been administered to him by the board, in conformity to the fourth article of the Rules and Regulations aforementioned. Given at the Board at Newark this Twelfth day of April one thousand seven hundred and Ninety Four To Augustus Jones Acting Surveyor General for the District of Home. [Signed] R. Hamilton, D W Smith, J Butler” Read in the Executive Council on 22 Jul 1797. Ordered recommended for 200 acres, if not granted before. Confirmed 31 July 1797 [Initialled] P. R. [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “P” Bundle 3, Petition Number 31c]