Johann Ernst Devoe UE (1726 - 1784)

Born 13 Feb 1726 in Germantown, Columbia, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Maritgen (Keller) Devoe — married 1 Feb 1749 in Germantown, Columbia, New York, British America

Descendants

Died 1784 at about age 57 in Saint-Jean, Quebec

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Biography

John Dafoe was born about 1725 - 1726. He was also known as Johan Ernst Defuh, John Devoe, John Defou, John Devoet, "Old Dayfoot".

Note

Note: This biographical information was obtained from several sources,

including material written by Brian Roberts for the 1987 issue of Dafoe Dynasty magazine and the WorldConnect database posted on www.rootsweb.com by Annie Meyer, updated on 5 January 2005.

The United Empire Loyalist pensioners lists give his age as 55 on March 1, 1781, (Haldimand Papers B-167; MG21, Public Archives of Ottawa, Canada), and his place of origin as New York.

Our first ancestor in Canada, who was also the first of our line born on this continent, was known in his youth as Johan Ernst Defuh. His father was Abrahm Devoe of Rhinebeck, son of the Swiss Palatine immigrant Daniel Thevou.

In later life Johan became John Defoe. His name was anglicized in the 1760s when Englishmen settled around him in the Hoosick Patent. Their records show him also as John Davoe, Devoot, Dayfoot, even Dayford, but his middle name is never used. (Middle names were common among German-speaking people then, but not among the English.)

In 1749, at about age 22, John married 20-year-old Mary Keller in Germantown, NY. Like him, she was a Palatine and spoke German as well as or better than English. The First Reformed Church of Germantown Marriage Register list his marriage: "Maritgen" "Johan Ernst Defuh, Abraba Defun ehilicher Sohn" and "Maria Keller, Conrad Keller ehiliche Tochter" ("lawful son" and "lawful daughter" in Hochdeutsh). Two of John's brothers also wed Keller girls.

Their son George was baptised at Germantown 9-1/2 months later. John and Mary (Keller) Dafoe had children baptised at the Albany (NY) Reformed, Schoharie (NY) Lutheran and at Germantown (Hunterstown) N. Y. Reformed Churches.

John and Mary were probably settled in the Hoosick Patent when son Conrad was born in 1753. Their few neighbours were Dutchmen and Germans whose land claims derived from the Van Rensselaer family. The area was on the frontier and was raided by Indians in the French and Indian War.

In 1760 New Hampshire's governor laid out the town of Pownal right on top of the Hoosick Patent. This move was part of a long border dispute that later gave rise to the state of Vermont. Lots were assigned, and there were lawsuits over New Hampshire vs. New York titles. When the King ruled in favour of New York, the two sides accommodated each other. John became a solid citizen of Pownal, was elected deer reeve and pathmaster, and built a grist mill near the town center.

But the argument erupted again as a subissue of the Revolution. Ethan Allen led the "Hampshiremen" who wanted independence from New York and saw independence from the King as a way to get it. John Defoe, as a New Yorker and an outspoken opponent of rebellion, was among the Loyalists rounded up and jailed in Connecticut in 1776. He escaped in 1777, probably in the general breakout that occurred when the prisoners heard they were to be shot the next morning.

John fought at Bennington that August with his sons George, Conrad and Abraham. George was killed; Abraham was captured and paroled; and John was captured and held. Again he escaped, this time to Canada. Col. Rogers (of Rogers' Rangers fame) authorized him to raise a company, and thus he is sometimes known as Capt Defoe. There is no record of such a company, however; instead he appears in the war record as a courier-spy on secret service, tracking through the forest between Crown Point and New York City. His wife, Mary kept one of the "safe houses" along the couriers' route.

On Christmas Eve, 1783, the King's Rangers were mustered out of service at St. John's, Quebec. John, Abraham, Jacob, Michael and Daniel Dafoe were all soldiers in the Rangers, as was Andrew Rikley, the husband of Mary Dafoe. John Dafoe Sr. (a courier) and Conrad Dafoe (in the King's royal Regiment in New York) left active service about the same time.

These Loyalists landed in their homestead townships along the St. Lawrence River in June, 1784.

Loyalist compensation hearings were held in Montreal in 1788. The family signed an affidavit that reads:

"This is to testify to the Commissioners of the American Claims that We the Heirs of John Dafoe deceased Do give up our Right and all Claim to the Losses which he Sustained in the Collonies By Reason of his Loyalty to the King and Parlement of Great Britton to John Dafoe, junr

Mary Defoe, wife to the deseased

Montreal 17th Feb'y 1788

Conrad Dafoe

Michael Dafoe

Abraham Dafoe

Dannel Dafoe"

The LOYALISTS LISTS from Haldimand Papers dated after September, 1783 & before May/June, 1784 by E. Keith Fitzgerald (1984) Return of Loyalists in Quebec, exclusive of those quartered & residing in the Upper Posts, p. 12: John Defoe - Pensioner; one woman; one femal between 5 - 12; Total 3 Ration per day: one

The Return of Loyal Rangers - Company of Pensioners (more commonly called Jessup's Rangers) shows on page 82: Jns Defoe from New York, farmer, incorporated man (recorder Eleanor Carleton Moult questions if this is John, Sr. who died in 1784 or John, Jr.)

The 1904 Bureau of Archives report, page 417: 22 Jan 1788 - Claim of John Dafoe, Jr. states his father (John Ernst) joined General Burgoyne and came to Canada; that he left a widow Mary Dafoe in Canada, sons Conrad, Michael, Abraham and Daniel, all on the Bay of Kenty. John Sr. had 200 acres in Hoosick for many years, wild land in the Patroon Patent; had cleared very little. also he had 30 acres in Pownall, with house and mill. (He had this as long as John Jr. remembered.) It was all cleared, with a good house & barn, a grist mill and orchard, etc. John Jr. cannot value the land, the mill was worth 300 pounds, the house 100 pounds Halifax Currency. His mother was turned out of the house which was then in possession of Capt. Sealy of rebel militia before John Jr. left the country. He had 3 horses, 3 cows, hogs, wagon wheels; these were sold at vendue. Everything else was plundered. Witness Alexander Nicholson knew John Sr.; said he was a loyal man. He knew his place in Pownall.

Assignment of Claims: "This is to sertify to the Commissioners of the American Claims that We the Heirs of John Dafoe Deseased Do give up our Right and all Claim to the Losses which he sustained in the Collenies By Reason of his Loyalty to the King and Parlement of great Britton to John Dafoe Junr. Montreal 17th Feby 1788." (signed) "Mary Defoe - Wife to Deseased. Conrad Dafoe. Michael Dafoe. Abraham Dafoe. Dannel Dafoe.

From "American Loyalist Claims", ref A013/12/154-158: "John Dafoe, Pownal, Albany Co., N. Y. Was a soldier in King's Ranger's. Memorial now of Third Twp, Cateroqui (sic) 16 Sep. 1787. Claim: House, 230 acres, grist mill, etc.

Evidences: Deposition 22 Jan 1788 Adelphistown by William Kelter that he knew the claimant, now deceased, who owned property claimed. Certificate 17 Feb 1788 Montreal by claimant's heirs surrendering their rights, signed by John Dafoe, Jr., Mary Dafoe, his wife, Conrod Dafoe, Michael Dafoe, Abraham Dafoe and Dannel Dafoe.

John Dafoe likely died between Feb - Sep 1784. In 1797, his friend Samuel Anderson J. P. swore as to the year and place. (See UCLP Vol 151, page 6d, RG1, L3, PAC) Anderson listed John's wife as a "widow" on 15 Sept. 1781, as quoted by Dr. H. C. Burleigh, UEL Genealogist, Bath, Ontario, 1972

As Conrad Dafoe later told it, John was a robust man but his rough life as a spy ruined his health. He died at St. Johns in 1784 of an unspecified illness. Strange as it may seem, it was probably malaria, which was then common in the inland river valleys of New York.

No portrait of John exists, but we may picture him as a tall sturdy man with a determined jaw --"the Defoe chin" that many of us have inherited -- and a ruddy complexion from being outdoors. Though he could not write his name, he was a successful man of affairs and confident in his own opinion. He had the courage to speak out for what was right and fight for it even when this totally disrupted his life. His descendants, whatever their national allegiance, can be proud.

Sources

• "U.S. Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1639-1989," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, New York > Germantown > Germantown N.Y., Book 81, page 483, Johan Ernst Defuh and Maritgen Keller entry;

• Lewis G. Proper, Proper Family History, Including Prooper, Propert, Propfer, Propper and Proppert (Rochester, N.Y. : the author, 1996), page 2, Marytjen Keller and John Ernst Defoe marriage information.

• http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/detail.php?letter=d&line=11
  

  Johann Devoe was a United Empire Loyalist.
  UEL Status:Proven
  Date: Undated

Family Data Collection - Individual Records

Name Johan Ernst Defoe Parents Abraham, Maria Catharina Devoe, Reiffenberg Birth Place NY Birth Date 1725 Marriage Place Hunterstown, NY Marriage Date 1 February 1749 Death Place St Johns Death Date 1784