George Chisholm UE (1752 - 1842)

Born 19 Jul 1752 in Parish of Croy, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Descendants

Died 5 Dec 1842 at age 90 in East Flamborough, Canada West (Ontario)

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Biography

Private George Chisholm UE served in the War of 1812
Service started:
Unit(s): 2nd York Militia
Service ended:

George Chisholm was a United Empire Loyalist.
UEL Status:Proven
Date: Undated

George Chisholm was born 19 July 1752 in the parish of Croy, Scotland. He was the second youngest of seven children born to John Chisholm and Janet MacGlashan. Croy is situated to the northeast of Inverness very near where the Battle of Culloden was fought on 16 April 1746. The family had lived there for at least two generations but it is not known why they were so far removed from the main clan holdings in the Glen Affric area. Life in the highlands after Culloden was pretty grim and Scotland, as a whole, was suffering from over-population. The Clearances had not yet reached the area but in the summer of 1773 George Chisholm joined some 400 other highlanders on the chartered ship Pearl and set off for the Port of New York. George settled in Kortright Township at the Head of the Delaware River in the Catskill Mountains.

Settled before US Revolutionary war: Province of New York, Kortright Township (New York State, Delaware County, Stamford-Bloomville-Kortright-Harpersfield)

Joined St Leger August 1777 with Capt John Macdonell KRRNY

To Burgoyne as carpenter after Oriskany.

Joined Capt Normand Tolmie Highland Volunteer Militia in 1778 at York Town.

He married Barbara MacKenzie (McKenzie), b. 1758, New York; d. 10 June 1824, East Flamborough, CW; daughter of William and Mary McKenzie, UEL list

Children :

Janet

Mary Christina

John

James

William

Barbara

George

Christy

Nancy

In 1783, George and his family joined about 2500 Port Roseway Associates and moved to what became Shelburne, Nova Scotia. During their seven-year stay in Nova Scotia, George and Barbara had four more children

In 1793 George petitioned Governor Simcoe for a Loyalist land grant and by Order in Council dated 11 July he was allowed 400 acres of the waste lands of the Crown. He and Charles King had already jointly purchased 600 acres on the north shore of Burlington Bay for which they paid £150 New York currency. His part of the land comprised lots 1 in Broken Front and 1st and 2nd Concessions of East Flamborough Township. The last of their children were born there: twins Christie, who died in infancy and Nancy who married Dr. A.K. McKenzie of Sandwich, Ontario.

George timbered his land, exporting barrel staves to England and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1796. He also served as the government negotiator with the Mississauga Indians for the purchase of the land to the east of his. In August 1797 this 3,000 acre parcel was granted to Joseph Brant for his services during the Revolutionary war. Brant called it Wellington Square.

In 1804 George Chisholm Sr. held a commission as a captain in the 2nd York Militia. Before the War of 1812 he was decommissioned. ^[1]

During the War of 1812, George Sr. served as a private in the 2nd York Militia. In 1812 at age 60, he had marched to Queenston Heights with his sons, John, William, and George Jr., but was not permitted to remain because of his age.

He served as a private from July 30 to 31, 1813 in Capt. Samuel Ryckman’s Company. He was determined to defend his country. ^[2]

On October 16, 1813, George Chisholm Sr. of East Flamborough Township, made a war claim for a boat delivered to Capt. Fitzgerald of the 49th Regiment who was stationed in the Government House on the beach in Saltfleet. The boat was to be used to convey troops from Burlington Heights to York but was never returned. On March 2, 1824, he resubmitted his claim. George Chisholm Jr. of East Flamborough Township certified the claim. ^[3]

After the war, George made a land claim, as a member of a flank company in the 2nd York Militia. ^[4]

On September 15, 1815, George Chisholm made a war claim as a resident of East Flamborough Twp. for losses caused by Indians encamped on his land from October 1813 to June 1814. He lost 283 trees, twenty acres of wheat, twelve acres of meadow pasture, a year’s income from the land, 200 apple trees, 1 000 rails burnt, and lost two cows, a two-year-old heifer, a horse, twelve sheep, and fourteen hogs. George King of East Flamborough Twp., Augustus Bates, Charles King, and Ephraim Land certified the claim. ^[5]

He died in 1842 at the age of ninety and was buried beside his wife in the family plot on Filman’s Point on the north shore of Burlington Bay. As he was a founding member of Barton Lodge in Hamilton, thirty-four fellow masons attended his funeral.^[6]

Buried - Canada West, East Flamborough Township (Ontario, Burlington) Family burial plot on a point of land reaching into Burlington Bay.

___________________________________________

Chisholm Veterans of the War of 1812

https://talespin.weebly.com/chisholms-of-ontario.html

George Chisholm Sr. was born 19 July 1752 in the Parish of Croy, Scotland, very near the Culloden Battlefield. He was the sixth child (fifth son) of John Chisholm and Janet MacGlashan. In August 1773 he set off for North America on the Pearl, leaving Fort William and arriving at the Port of New York six weeks later.

He had not long been settled in Kortright Township near the Head of the East Branch of the Delaware River in the Province of New York when the American Revolutionary War started. He joined Brigadier Barry St Leger and participated in the battle at Oriskany, New York, on 6 August 1777, following which he joined General “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne.

He was captured at Sugar Loaf near Fort Ticonderoga, escaped and made his way to New York City where he married Barbara McKenzie. Their first two children, Janet and Mary, were born there. When New York was evacuated in 1783, he was a Port Roseway Associate and helped settle what is now Shelburne, Nova Scotia. The next four children, John, James, William and Barbara, were born there. Conditions were not good in Shelburne and in 1791 the family headed west to the Niagara Peninsula in Upper Canada where his older brother, John, had already settled. They were among those who signed the Address of Welcome to Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe dated at Niagara 24 February 1792. By 1793 the family had moved to property in East Flamborough (now Burlington, Ontario) George Sr. and his partner Charles King had purchased. The last two children, Christy and Nancy, were born there.

For several years George Sr. had held a commission as captain in the 2nd Regiment of York Militia. The area around the head of Lake Ontario was part of the District of York at the time. At the outbreak of war in 1812, George Sr. marched off to Niagara with his sons but was not permitted to remain as he was too old (he was 60). At the threat of another invasion the next year, George Sr. stood ready again. “In the month of July 1813” wrote the major commanding the 2nd Regiment of York Militia, ”when the Enemy’s fleet appeared off Burlington Heights – he again shouldered his musket, headed a number of Volunteers and marched them to Burlington where he remained until the fleet disappeared.” He died on his farm on the north shore of Burlington Bay on 5 December 1842 at the age of 90. His wife had died in 1824.

His three remaining sons also held commissions in the same regiment. John, the eldest, was commissioned Captain of the 1st Flank Company on 10 May 1811. William was commissioned Ensign on 8 May 1811. George Jr. was a sergeant in the fall of 1812 and was gazetted Ensign on Christmas Day 1812. All three served extensively in the conflict. Their first action was at the capture of the fort at Detroit in August 1812 under General Brock. Some 3500 Americans were taken prisoner by a force of about 300 regular soldiers, 400 militiamen and, about 600 natives. William was chosen to replace the American flag with the Union Jack over the captured fort.

On the morning of the Battle of Queenston Heights (13 October 1812) the 1st Flank Company was stationed on the brow of the escarpment firing down on the invaders when General Brock was mortally wounded. Debatable legend has it that Brock’s last words were “Push on, brave York Volunteers”. The battle was fought over the property of George Sr.’s brother, John, who had been granted Lot 2 Niagara Township as a Loyalist. All three sons went on to become Lieutenant Colonels and commanded regiments of the Gore Militia which replaced the York Militia in 1818.

John had various businesses in Burlington and was Collector of Customs at Burlington Bay. He married Sarah Davis, daughter of William Davis and Hannah Philipse, and had seven children. They are both buried at St Luke’s Cemetery in Burlington.

William also had various businesses and founded what is now the Town of Oakville, Ontario, in 1827. In 1812 he married Rebecca Silverthorn, daughter of John Silverthorn and Esther Corwin. They had eleven children. Both are buried at Oakville Cemetery.

George Jr. took over the family farm on the north shore of Burlington Bay but lost it soon after his father’s death in 1842. He had pledged it as security for bank loans obtained by his brother William for a power project. When the Oakville Hydraulic Company failed, the banks foreclosed on the property. I am very proud to own my great-great grandfather’s sword and musket. Family legend has it that he carried the sword at Queenston Heights. The musket was presented to him by Sir Francis Bond Head, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, for his services during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion. While carrying the musket at the Battle of Montgomery’s Tavern a rebel shot at him.

The musket ball is still embedded in the stock.

George Jr. married Eliza McCarter, daughter of Oziah McCarter and Abigail Land. George Jr. and Eliza had seven children and are buried at St Paul’s Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Burlington.

The preceding information is from

THE OAKVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

JUNE 2006

Volume 40:

Number 2

________________________

GEORGE CHISHOLM

George Chisholm was born at Ley?, Invernesshire, Scotland, in 1752, and emigrated to New York in 1773. He joined the Royal Standard in the Revolutionary War, married Barbara McKenzie in 1778, came to Niagara in 1791, and settled on the north shore of Burlington Bay in 1794. No distinct account of the part he took in the war is recorded. Among his papers is an unsigned declaration that one Rose, presumably his brother-in-law, served in the war, and came to Canada with Captain John McDonell, which would indicate that Chisholm came with Rose. This information may, however, have come to Chisholm from his wife; the U. E. List contains the name of but one George Chisholm, and his place of residence is there described as in the Home District, agreeable to the presumption that the subject of this sketch is intended— with the additional note: "States a carpenter in Gen. Burgoyne's army." It will be remembered that many Provincials of this ill-fated army made their way to Canada after Saratoga.

George Chisholm received his commission in the Canadian Militia in December 1798, and in 1812 was not too old to meet the aggressor on the frontier of Upper Canada.

At Queenston Heights, he so signalized himself, in company with Capt. William Applegarth, also of the 2nd York, whose company, with Chisholm's, joined the flank company of the 41st Regt. in the decisive charge, that the names of these officers were mentioned in a general order.

In this battle, a son of George Chisholm, also named George, then a lad of twenty, was a sergeant in James Durand's company. His other sons were John, born in 1784; James, born in 1786, and William, born in 1788.

The second George died in 1872, and from his obituary in an Oakville paper, the following extracts are taken :

"Colonel George Chisholm died at the residence of his son, Capt. George Brock Chisholm, on the 31st ultimo, in the 80th year of his age. He was born at Fort Erie on the 16th of September, 1792, and was the youngest son of George Chisholm, senior, who was a U. E. Loyalist and settled on the north shore of Burlington Bay in 1794, and died there in 1842. Col. Chisholm took an active part in the War of 1812. He belonged to the 1st Flank Company of Volunteers and was present and fought at the Battle of Queenston Heights, when General Brock was killed, and took part in nearly all the battles that were fought at that time on the Canadian frontier. At the Battle of Lundy's Lane, he commanded a company. He was one of the party who went over with Colonel Bishop and burned what there then was of Buffalo. He was present when the Steamer Caroline was sent over Niagara Falls in 1837, and for several years after held the colors that were taken from the steamer before she took her leap; he afterward gave them to Captain McCormick, who was returning to England; but exacted from him a promise that he would always hoist them on the 29th of December-1837, he was gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel, and, in 1838 Colonel.

When the rebellion broke out in 1837, he proceeded with the late Sir Allan N. MacNab, with seventy-two volunteers, to Toronto (then York) and marching up to the City Hall they found the late Chief Justice Robinson standing sentry; he supplied the men with Government arms and ammunition. On the 7th of December, while crossing a field to dislodge the rebels from a piece of woods, a ball from the enemy struck the stock of his musket, partially splitting it, and remained embedded in the stock. Sir Francis Bond Head afterward presented him with this musket with an expression of appreciation of his services. * * * *

During the vigor of life he took an active part in the politics of his country and was always allied with the Conservative party. He was among the oldest members of the Masonic Fraternity in this part of the Country. His thorough knowledge of the Indian language enabled him to be of great service to the Government and people in early days when the Indians abounded in this part of the country.

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The above text was taken from:

The Gore District Militia of 1821-1824-1830 and 1838

The Militia of West York and West Lincoln of 1804,

with the Lists of Officers

TOGETHER WITH SOME HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

NOTES ON THE MILITIA WITHIN THE TERRITORY

AT PRESENT CONSTITUTING THE COUNTY OF WENTWORTH,

IN THE YEARS NAMED.

By H. H. ROBERTSON

The Griffin & Kidner Co. Ltd...Printers.

Hamilton

1904

Pages 16 &17

Sources

1. ↑ H.H. Robertson, The Gore District Militia of 1821-1824-1830 and 1838: The Militia of West York and West Lincoln of 1804…, Griffin & Kidner Co. Ltd, Hamilton, Ontario, 1904, page 13
2. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 180-181, 187-188, & 191-192
3. ↑ Collections Canada, The War of 1812: Board of Claims for Losses, 1813-1848, Microfilm t-1137, Pages 1015-1022
4. ↑ Wilfred R. Lauber, An Index of the Land Claim Certificates of Upper Canada Militiamen who served in the War of 1812-1814, Ont. Genealogical Society, Toronto, 1995
5. ↑ Collections Canada, The War of 1812: Board of Claims for Losses, 1813-1848, Microfilm t-1131, Pages 391-394
6. ↑ Article by George F. Chisholm, appeared in Hamilton Branch Newsletter Vol. IV #3 - December 2005

• http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/detail.php?letter=c&line=342
• http://vitacollections.ca/burlingtonhistoricalsociety/2827390/data
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Chisholms_and_the_Clearances