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George Mustard (bef. 1772 - 1853)

George Mustard
Born before in Cromarty, Ross and Cromarty, Scotlandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , , , , , , , and
Husband of — married 1809 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , and
Died after age 81 in Markham, Ontario, Canadamap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Lisa Henderson private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 23 Nov 2015
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George Mustard served in the War of 1812
Service started:
Unit(s): 1st Regiment of York Militia, Canada
Service ended:

Biography

George was christened in 1772. He was the third eldest son of Alexander Mustard and Ann Munro.[1] He likely lived in Farness on the Black Isle, Ross and Cromarty as a child because his father lived there in 1795.

According to at least two credible sources [2] and [3]he was one of three Mustard brothers who left Scotland and settled in Canada. Some family researchers have confused memories of George’s son William (b. 1811 in Canada) with his long dead Scottish brother William (b. 1765) and mistakenly concluded that there were four brothers who emigrated. [4]

George left Scotland in 1800 en route to join his brother James who was then living in Pensylvania but was about to petition for land in Canada. In 1801 his brother paid a promissory note for his passage of 12 pounds sterling, which George had signed when leaving Cromarty.[5]

Unfortunately for George, he was on a ship whose eligible male passengers were press-ganged by His Majesty’s navy to assist with the Napoleonic war effort. There is an extant note from Halifax that George wrote to his brother James in Sep 1800, letting him know that he was well but had no idea where he was going. He asked him to notify their parents in Scotland what had become of him.[6]

He was employed by the Royal Navy for about five or six years but on a layover in the West Indies, he was able to leave the ship without permission in order to make his way to Canada to join his brother. It must have been a difficult time for both of them as it ruined and delayed their plans to begin farming together.[7]

It is unclear when George finally arrived at the destination he had been headed for in 1800. His brother seems to have sent a petition for a land grant for George in 1802, anticipating his arrival.[8] In George’s own petition for the deed to Con.5, Lot 29, Markham Township in 1839 he stated that he had been in Canada upwards of 30 years. This would make sense as his brother James erected a barn on his own property in 1809 and would have needed help doing it in this then sparsely populated region.[9] As well, George appears to have married his wife Sarah some time before 1810 as their second child was born late in in 1811.

Both George and brother James served with the York Militia and were on active duty during the War of 1812. They were at the bombardment of the Western Battery in Fort York and were taken prisoner by the American forces after signing the capitulation document in April 1813. A good contemporary description of this event mentioning them is[10] Lieutenant George and Captain James Mustard were marched to Pittsfield, Massachusetts and imprisoned for two years. They were marched back to their home base in the spring of 1815.[11]

During the War of 1812, George Mustard served as an ensign and lieutenant in the 1st York Militia. From Sept. 9 to 15, 1812, he served as an ensign in Capt. John Willson’s Co. [12]

From Oct. 17 to Nov. 24, 1812, he was on command for deserters as an ensign from Capt. John Willson’s Co. [13]

On Dec. 25, 1812, he was commissioned as a lieutenant. [14]

From Dec. 25, 1812 to Jan. 16, 1813, he served as an ensign in Capt. Willson’s Co. [15]

For the remainder of the war, he served as a lieutenant. From Mar. 25 to Apr. 24, 1813, he served in Capt. Reuben Richardson’s Co. [16]

From Apr. 25 to 27, 1813, he was stationed at York and was taken prisoner on the 27th. [17]

From Sept. 25 to Oct. 3, 1813, he served in Capt. James Mustard’s Co. [18]

From Jan. 25 to Feb. 24, 1814, he was employed in public service at York in Capt. Reuben Richardson’s Co. [19]

From Feb. 25 to Mar. 5, 1814, he served in a detachment employed in public service at York. [20]

From July 8 to 27, 1814, he served in Capt. James Fenwick’s Co. [21]

From Oct. 10 to 12, 1814, he was collecting wheat for the commissariat. [22]

George and Sarah farmed at Con. 5, Lot 29 in Markham township.[23] Son William recounted that he was the second son in a family of 12 children[24] but only 8 seem to have survived according to the records available. Birth records may be non-existent for this early period, but his surviving family can be reconstructed from stories, census records and death records of some children.[25] George’s 1854 estate record at Archives of Ontario in Toronto may also yield new information about his children that is currently not available.

George Mustard was a staunch Presbyterian and attended the nearby St. Helen’s Church. In 1848 he donated a plot of land on his farm for a new Free Presbyterian church which was called Melville.[26] George died Nov. 8, 1853 and was buried at Cashel Cemetery on the former site of St. Helen’s Church. [27]

Sources

  1. ↑ "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," database, FamilySearch [1] : accessed 14 December 2015, George Mustard, 17 Jan 1772; citing CROMARTY,ROSS AND CROMARTY,SCOTLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 990,579.
  2. ↑ Markham Historical Society, Markham 1793-1900,1979 Mustards entry, pp. 76- 77 [2]
  3. ↑ Case Study of a Historical site in the Rouge River Historical Watershed, Chapter 11, Appendix A pp. 28-33 of Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Rouge River State of the Watershed Report, 2007 [3]
  4. ↑ Cathy Mustard Hunt, Mustards of North America, 1984
  5. ↑ Promissory note for 12 pounds to Walter Ross, April 8, 1800 signed by George Mustard and receipt dated April 1, 1801 signed James Mustard, payment received by John Rose. A photograph of this double-sided note can be found on numerous Ancestry.com Mustard family trees but no one lists a source for it. ' ' (I suspect it is in the James Mustard Archive at Archives of Ontario, Toronto.~~~~) ' '
  6. ↑ Letter from George Mustard in Halifax to James Mustard dated September 23, 1800, again no source cited in Ancestry.com trees but likely the same as above.
  7. ↑ See footnotes 2 & 3 and also “Death of N. Mustard recalls an historic family background,” Stouffville Tribune, Feb. 10, 1944, p. 1 for versions of this story. Online at Ontario’s Historic Newspapers[4]
  8. ↑ Land petitions of Upper Canada 1763-1865, Check Mustard name in database at Library and Archives Canada and view digitized microforms under tab Land Records[5]
  9. ↑ See p. 109 of Markham history book, footnote 2 above
  10. ↑ Bulletin of the Campaigns 1813 as compiled by the London Gazette No. XLIII,pp. 445-450[6]
  11. ↑ War of 1812 Prisoner of War M list, p. 24 of 59 page pdf document[7]
  12. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10385, pages 135-137
  13. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 726-733 & 786-787 & Microfilm t-10385, pages 138-140
  14. ↑ > Homfray Irving, Officers of the British Forces in Canada during the War of 1812=15, Canadian Military Institute, Welland Tribune Print, 1908, online at http://ia600204.us.archive.org/19/items/officersbrit00irviri..., pages 63-64.
  15. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, page 805-806
  16. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, page 861-863
  17. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 1182-1183
  18. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, page 687
  19. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 1097-1098
  20. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 1104-1105
  21. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 1176-1180 & Microfilm t-10385, pages 57-59
  22. ↑ Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, pages 1158-1160
  23. ↑ 1837 Home District Directory for Markham township [8]
  24. ↑ History of Toronto and County of York, Ontario. Vol. 2c Blackett Robinson, p. 300 entry for William Mustard [9]
  25. ↑ The one and only census record for George is in the 1851 Census of Canada West, online in a transcript at [10] You can connect to the Library and Archives Canada image from there.
  26. ↑ See Markham History in footnote 2, pp. 141-142
  27. ↑ Gravestone at Find A Grave: Memorial #89314000

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Comments: 5

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Lisa (Ross) Henderson
Fred thanks so much for your work. I have seen the 1802 petition for land signed by George Mustard but assumed it had to have been signed by his brother James, given that George Mustard was supposed to have been in captivity by His Majesty's Navy for 5-6 years. But if you look at a 1944 newspaper story cited in my footnote 7, you will see information provided by George's grandson on his adventures. This report is likely more accurate than reports written by less connected relatives. The grandson's family believed that George was only press-ganged for a couple of years and that means he could have been in Canada in 1802 and applied for the land himself. They also believed that George was part of prisoner of war exchange in the 1812 war so he could have been on the payroll for the militia, while the POW record has him in Pittfield between 1813-1815. I think that this explains the discrepancies. The POWs were marched home in 1815 but George may have been long gone before then by reason of an exchange which wasn't noted.

Your detailed research has helped fine tune a story which usually has him in the navy for 5-6 years. Thank you.

posted by Lisa (Ross) Henderson
Blair-486 Fred Blair
On Sept. 13, 1802, George Mustard, a yeoman of Markham, made a land petition. He had recently arrived from Scotland and was the brother of James Mustard. He was recommended for 200 acres. <ref>Collections Canada, Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865), at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-110.02-e.php?&q2=29&interval=50&sk=0&&PHPSESSID=npfo6qij0n1rpue06msk2mqnj1, Microfilm c-2194, pages 749-753 </ref>

George signed this petition, it was received in 1802, and he declared that he was in Upper Canada at the time. Petitioners for Upper Canada Land Grants had to be in the province when the petition was made. There were some exceptions but these were mostly for tracts of land for groups of settlers like the Markham Berczy Settlers.

posted by Fred Blair
Lisa (Ross) Henderson
Thank you Fred for your work in adding the muster roll information. There are certainly date discrepancies with the POW record. Not sure about this but in the book called Markham, 1793-1900 in the entry about William Mustard, George's son, there is the assertion that after George was captured by the Americans in 1813 there was a prisoner exchange which allowed him to serve under various leaders until the end of the war. This reminiscence accords with the muster roll records. It is possible that George's name was still on the POW list but he had been exchanged earlier for someone else. I would note that George Mustard had a son born in 1812 or 1813 and his next known child wasn't born until 1819-20, indicating a considerable absence from home.
posted by Lisa (Ross) Henderson
Blair-486 Fred Blair
Added the remainder of militia service records from the War of 1812 in this document collection.
posted by Fred Blair
Blair-486 Fred Blair
I have added information to this profile as a project manager with the wikitree Upper Canada War of 1812 Project and linked it to the project pages. I am not related to this family.

Please email me, if you have questions about this war and other veterans and their families.

I may add more sourced militia records in the coming months. I will have records for Capt. James Mustard as well. There were date discrepancies here with the prisoner of war records.

posted by Fred Blair

Rejected matches › George A. Mustard

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Categories: Cromarty Parish, Ross and Cromarty | York Region Settlers | 1st Regiment of York Militia, Canada, War of 1812