Marr Norfolk County Ontario

+2 votes
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My mother's family settled in Norfolk County in Ontario late 1700's.

Some lived on the Lynne Valley Road, in Marburg (aka Marrburg), near Simcoe.

Were they Loyalists?

Thank you, Bill Gatward
in Genealogy Help by William Eugene Gatward G2G Crew (720 points)

1 Answer

+1 vote

Hi Bill,

The first Loyalist settlers in Norfolk, (according to the Ontario Historical Society, c. 1900), arrived in 1793. The name Marr does not appear in the list they provide. (reproduced here). The name Marr also does not appear on the UELAC Loyalist directory, although being omitted from the list does not rule out being a Loyalist, and I can also see a possibility for confusion with old handwriting or phonetic spellings where the name could be rendered as Mann, Marks, Maher, or other names (link). I can also find no Loyalist Claims under the surname Marr on Ancestry.

Of the 62 Marr's that are enumerated in Woodhouse Township, Norfolk Co., in the 1851 Census of Canada, the eldest 2 Marr's living at that time, Lawrence Marr, 78 and David Marr, 61, were both born in the United States which means a Loyalist connection is possible, but simply being being born in what became the United States and moving to Canada near the time of the Revolution, does not a Loyalist make.

Perhaps most telling is the fact that in the "Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement" the sketch on the Marrs of Norfolk does not make any claim about them being Loyalist settlers. It gives the familiy's first arrival as Lawrence, aged 27 in 1800. It also says he he was accompanied by his wife and younger Brother David who was "not yet in his teens" and that they preceded Lawrence's father in arriving . Sounds like Lawrence and David described here are a perfect fit for the two individuals I mentioned i the preceding paragraph :)

This same book does give me a very clear idea where the family claim to being Loyalists originates. The book claims (unfortunately without sources) that Lawrence Marr's wife, Rachel, was the daughter of a Colonel Butler of the British army. Given the name, rank, and the proximity to the Niagara area, I might speculate they mean Colonel John Butler, (in)famously the leader of Butler's Rangers during the American Revolutionary war - but this could well be an erroneous assumption on my part - I'm not sure how many Colonel Butlers served in the British Army at that time. The major strike against this being the well-known Colonel Butler (who is known to have had a surviving daughter) is the statement "who lost his life in the conquest of Canada". The Colonel Butler of Butler's Rangers died in Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1796 of age and infirmity. Of course, the suspect statement could simply be the authors embellishment.

If Rachel was in fact the daughter of any Loyalist, she and all her Marr descendants to the modern day would also be United Empire Loyalists. 

You can read more of this book I have discussed above here: http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=182019

Also, whether they would hold any value for you or not I can't say, but you may be interested in knowing that there are Census records for Woodhouse Township for the years 1812 and 1829 (Library and Archives Canada Microfilm: H-1100).

by Rob Ton G2G6 Pilot (288k points)

In addition to the above:

A number of internet genealogies that I ran across for Lawrence Marr make mention of a 17 June 1778 issue of the Pennsylvania Packet (partial transcription here [link]) which mentions a Laurence Marr of Mount Bethel, PA who joined the British Army. I find it highly unlikely that the article is talking about the Lawrence Marr that settled at Norfolk, as he would have been 5 years old. This is at most an Uncle or Grandfather.

The Chronology of Long Point settlement [link] gives the earliest documented source of Lawrence Marr as a Deed Register, which places him in at Lot 1, Con 3 of Woodhouse Township in August of 1803, which makes sense with the claimed arrival of Lawrence in 1800. From what I have seen elsewhere in the province, many settlers would arrive and begin clearing land before having it surveyed and laying claim to it. The linked site also gives transcriptions of Land Petitions (not land claims) by a John, Joseph, and William Marr, who arrived at Stamford Township (not in Norfolk County) about 1799. (see this page)

As to the identity of Rachel Marr's father 'Colonel Butler'... From Everything I can find, The famous Colonel John Butler's only daughter was named Deborah and married one James Muirhead. I also wonder about the dates: if Rachel's claimed date of birth (~1778) is accurate then she would be born 26 years after her eldest brother Walter: certainly not impossible, but unusual enough to be highly suspect. If they are related, iIt would seem to me more likely for her to be the grandaughter of Colonel John Butler. Revisiting her father as Colonel Butler that gave his life in the conquest of Canada, one of John Butler's sons that served, William Johnson Butler, became a Colonel (actual rank held was Lieutenant-Colonel, but both are usually addressed as "Colonel"). Johnson Butler commanded the 4th Regiment of Lincoln Militia and died in service during the War of 1812. This fits with the claimed story of Rachel's origins.

Johnson Butler's birth is generally accepted at about 1760, so he would have been a about 18 when Rachel is believed to have been born - to me this is somewhat more believeable. The problem then is that the first known wife of Johnson Butler is Eve (Yates?) who he married about 1793 (if this source is accurate [link]) and the earliest child associated with him is a son John (bap. 1 Jan 1797, Scenectady, NY).

So once again we are left with the question of which Colonel Butler of the British Army is being claimed as Rachel's father?

There is also a land petition submitted by Naomi Marr, "wife of Lawrence Marr", and "daughter of Crispus Strowbridge, late of the township of Ancaster, District of Gore, a United Empire Loyalist..." Ref: Library and Archives Canada, Microfilm C-2190, Petition 272

This petition is annotated on the outside (page 241 of the digitized content) "The name of the petitioner's father is not one the U.E. List". The clerk that wrote that note probably didn't look for the variations Chrispus and Crispus, or for the surname surname of Trowbridge which the claims made by the father appear to have been filed under. Crispus Trowbridge is also mentioned in passing in the Trowbridge Family in America. [link]

According to the UELAC loyalist directory, Crispus Strowbridge is considered a proven Loyalist http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/loyalist_list.php?letter=s

I think the link through Naomi Strowbridge is the best documented Loyalist connection for the Marr family.

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