Antoine Amable Boileau (1734 - 1805)

Born 11 Jun 1734 in Chambly, Canada, Nouvelle-France

Ancestors

Husband of Marie-Louise Ursule Vigeant — married 23 Feb 1756 in Pointe Olivier (St-Mathias), Nouvelle-France

Descendants

Died 9 Feb 1805 at age 70 in Chazy, Clinton, New York, USA

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Biography

Flag of the 2nd Canadian Regiment

Lieut. Pierre Amable Boileau served with Second Canadian Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

History of the Boileau’s during the Revolution and among the first settlers of Clinton County from an article in the North Countryman, Thursday, August 30, 1975, by John A. Bilow.

Lieutenant Pierre Amable Boileau and Peter Blot-31 were among the first settlers on Kings Bay in the Hamlet of Coopersville, or Corbeau as it was known in the first years of the settlement. They were soldiers in the Revolution under Colonel Moses Hazen’s command known as “Congress’s Own Regiment” or the “Second Canadian Regiment."

Lieutenant Pierre Boileau was baptized at Chambly, Quebec. He was one of the ten known children of Rene Boileau and Marie-Anne Robert and was married to Ursula on May 17?? at St. Mathias, P.Q. a small town a short distance north of Chambly. Amable Boileau-115 a son of Lieutenant Boileau, served as a private in "Congress's Own" under Captain William Satterlee and after the war was married to Marguerite Fontaine. Of Peter Boileau the relationship to the other Boileaus is not known, nor is it evident to whom he was married. Peter served in both Captain Lawrence Olivier's and Captain Clement Gosselin's companies and it is believed that after the Revolution he went by the name of Peter Bleau.

When the American invasion of 1775 came, the Bishop of Quebec, His Excellency Jean-Oliver Briand, spared nothing to defend the interest of Great Britain. He forbade the administration of the sacraments to those Canadians who sided with the Americans and refused to retract their error. "Not only must you not marry, you must not even publish the banns of marriage unless you have promised before witnesses, which you will put on record, that the subject rues his past conduct and is ready to obey, all of which we charge, you to receive under oath, which shall be made by touching a crucifix...As to the sacraments, you will not administer them, not even at the time of death neither to men not women without retraction and a public reparation of the scandal; those who die in their stubborness, you shall not enter the church, which we order you to keep closed at all times, with the exception of the hours of the offices. You shall not receive stipends for masses to be said for the rebels. You shall not admit the Rebels to any ecclesiastical function.”

Then why did so many Canadians join the American cause? Just a few short years before the English had defeated the French and in the process had not spared them vexations of several kinds, including a loss of a great portion of their savings

To English dealers in the bills of exchange and warrants left by the former government. Possibly the Canadians felt that with American help they could become free of the English yoke and maybe even return to French rule. Gen. Schuyler was issued orders by Congress, on November 10, 1775, to raise a Canadian Battalion and by December 23 of that year one had been raised by Col. James Livingston. These men were recruited from the St. John’s and Chambly area of Quebec. On January 30, 1776 Congress voted to raise 1,000 additional Canadians, besides those under Col. Livingston's command, and on January 22, Moses Hazen was appointed to Command the regiment.

By the fall of 1776 Hazen's Canadian Regiment, already seemed to have acquired the title "Congress's Own." This title was given them as no state would claim responsibility for them or their actions. As a matter of fact, Congress deemed it improper for them to call themselves by that name, but it stuck.

On November 12, 1776 Peter Boileau enlisted under Captain Olivier and was the first of his name to do so. He would have served at the Battles of Brandywine September 11, 1777 and Germantown October 4, 1777.

Lieutenant Pierre Amable Boileau enlisted, according to muster rolls, in 1777, and as he advertised land for sale September 25, at Chambly it can be assumed that he enlisted late in the year. He is listed as an Ensign April 1778, and was promoted to Lieutenant in September 1778. The Lieutenant's son Amable, also shown as Abraham, would enlist in the spring of 1780 at Fishkill, N.Y. at the approximate age of fifteen years old.

In May of 1779, Colonel Hazen's regiment was ordered to march up the Connecticut River to Haverhill Corners in New Hampshire and from this point, a larger part of the regiment was employed during the summer to cut a road through the forest from Peacham towards Canada. This outstanding achievement came to be known as Hazen's Road. During this period on August 7 Ensign Ferriolle and Ensign Boileau were ordered by General Hazen with each of them a party of men to reconnoiter the country between Camp Haverhill Coos and Canada. They were also ordered to take prisoners if possible, even if they had to enter the settlements of Canada. Hazen changed his mind and orders the next day. "That I would not have them take any prisoners or discover themselves to the enemy in Canada on any account, but by all means to bring front Canada some of the Canadians to meet me in the woods," indicating a need by Col. Hazen for more troops, or for intelligence. January 1781 saw Lietenant Colonel William Hull boldly attacking a group of Loyalists, which outnumbered him, under Colonel Delaney at Morrisania. Hull captured more than fifty prisoners and did considerable but it was a covering party under Colonel Hazen which attacked the pursuers. This detachment killed and captured about thirty-five more men.

From these incidents one can picture these poor soldiers, lacking supplies and men and finally even government support, slogging from one end of the country to the other.

August 30, 1781 Hazen’s Regiment was it Dobbs Ferry to be in readiness for a swift march. By the end of September General Rochambeau, with the and American troops, laid the siege of Yorktown by land, while Admiral de Grasse and Comte de Harras laid siege by water. Octoberf 14th, Hazens regiment was on the right of a storming party at Yorktown commanded by Lt Col. Edward Antill, and with wonderful steadiness and discipline the redoubt was taken. La Fayette was later to command Hazen's regiment for holding a resolute right wing throughout the battle.

The war for the most part was decided at Yorktown, but as the war officially drew to a close the men of "Congress's Own" became known as the "French Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugees." They were spread from Fishkill to Albany in huts and shacks until government red tape allowed them lands that were granted in New York. In an act dated May 11, 1784, the State of New York granted this tract in the northeast and central parts of Clinton County to the Refugees from Canada and Nova Scotia. The lands were divided into 80 and 420 acre lots, except 5,000 acres, which were divided into equal parts, and these were granted to some of the officers and privates among Refugees.

Their story is one which has never been told, their privations and sufferings, people manipulating their finances, the government denying what was rightfully coming to them and a tag put on as ill natured and indolent

It has to be understood that these people were the victims of circumstance. They were governed by English Non-Catholics and there was a great deal of mistrust among the largely Protestant United States of the day. In a letter to Moses Hazen, dated December 18, l781 at Philadelphia even the Minister of War, Benjamin Lincoln, states "Many of those are aged and infirm, and may more probably be considered as public pensioners than active officers, for to reduce them on half pay in these states, must eventually starve them and their families into a determination to return to their own country where they will be well received and might even break that chain.”

Apparently, Mr. Lincoln cared little about the Refugees staying in the United States, even though Yorktown was Only yesterday. It would have been impossible for many to return to Canada without retaliation from the British. In effect, they had a price on their heads during these years and could only be welcomed by members of their own families, and Mr. Lincoln was not the only one to disregard their long service.

The Journal of Benjamin Mooers provides an accurate record of what was observed by Lieutenant Boileau, for he was with the group that came to Point Au Roche August 10, 1783. Hazen’s Regiment had disbanded in June 1783 and these notes recount the first permanent settlemeni in Clinton Count, after the Revolution. This job of helping to open up the wilderness was one of the Refugees’ greatest accomplishments. It had a great deal to do with the eventual settlement of Plattsburgh, as it opened the gates for more pioneers to come to this area. This was even before their own were secure.

When the main bulk of Refugees had arrived at Champlain by August 1786, most of the land had been surveyed by the land office. This large tract to be given to these men in known as the Canadian Nova Scotia Tract. Many of these lands were sold by the Refugees into the hands of the speculators. These poor people were reduced to the lowest degree of poverty and distress, and upon proper representations made to Congress a resolution was passed granting those Refugees who were elderly, infirm and unable to support themselves rations of provisions and other necessities, with the remarkable exception of run, soap and candles, thus leaving them dark, dirty and dry! During the year 1787, their wants were relieved at an expense to the government of $2,052.

This gives you a brief idea of the hardships the Refugees endured in the new wilderness. One can also imagine what a thorn in the side the British outpost at Point Au Fer must have been. To wake up in the morning and look across King’s Bay to see the enemy of so many years within a short distance and on American soil. Jacques Rouse registered many complaints of mistreatment by the British during the thirteen years after the Revolution ended.

A few facts have been accumulated about the Boileau family after they had settled in Champlain. At a meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of the township of Plattsburgh held on Tuesday, the first day of April 1788, Pierre Boileau was elected Commissioner for keeping in Repair, which may have been equivalent to a Road Commissioner or Superintendant.

An early land record in the Clinton County Court House shows that Lt. Boileau sold to William Bailey of Poughkeepsie his lots numbered 88 and 150 on February 4, 1791 for twelve pounds, sixteen shillings lawful money, this was equal to $32 of the times. Not a bad deal for Mr. Bailey considering it was 500 acres!

The Lieutenant's son Amable is shown in the 1798 assessment as having 40 acres of land on the Lake Shore between his brother in-law, Noel Belanger and Capt. Laurent Olivier's land. On this property he has one log house worth $10.00 and one log barn twenty feet by twenty feet worth $240. It seems likely that Private Amable Boileau settled, in Coopersville around 1795, as no record can be found of him living there before that time. An affidavit of March 4, 1839, presented by Julius C. Hubell for Amable Boileau to the United States Government states "he has resided in Champlain for the span forty four years past and previous there to he resided in Albany.

The Federal Census of 1800 lists Amable Boileau with one mate and One female of 45 years and up, Amable Boileau Jr. with one male under ten and one between 26 and under 45, and Peter Blowee with two male children under ten . and one female and one male of 26 and under 45.

On September 3, 1853, the petition of Joseph K. Boileau respectfully shows that Amable Boileau Jr. died on 20th day of August 1853 intestate leaving kindred entitied to his estate, named as follows: Amable, Joseph and Andrew Boileau; Mary, wife of Peter Dumas; Margaret, wife of Henry Sweet; and Sarah, wife of Augustas Ricky sole surviving children. Another petition presented by Abraham (Amable) Boileau, April 12, 1856 shows that Lieutenant Boileau Sr. had died of a gunshot wound February 9,1805 intestate the petitioner being a grandson of the said Lieutenant

Of the three sons of Private Boileau, Abraham and Joseph lived to and old age in Coopersville and Andrew, having moved to Ellenburgh in 1853, saw his name anglisized to Bilow. All of his dependants in the male line now carry that name.

Sources

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=demarce2&id=I11005
• U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900; Archive Publication Number M804
• U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; Continental Troops, Rank: ENSIGN
• Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968; Chambly, Baptism
• Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968; St-Hilaire, Marriage
• Clinton County, New York Deeds 1788-1804, Vol. A & B, 1791:493-495
• Fold 3 Profile-Pierre Boileau
• Index to French Canadian Revolutionary War Patriots, DM - "Canadian Participants in the American Revolution - An Index," by Virginia Easley DeMarce, 1980.
• Society of Cincinnati New York Chapter
• Canadian Participants in the American Revolution, An Index by Virginia Easley DeMarce
• Pierre Antoine Amable Boileau, Ancestor #A217350, © National Society Daughters of the American Revolution 2024 (The databases contain DAR proprietary information which should under no circumstances be redistributed to others, assembled, reproduced, published, or posted in any form whatsoever with the exception of the following: (i) DAR membership and supplemental applications; (ii) citation in genealogical scholarship; and (iii) citing a DAR patriot name and number in publications and on third party websites.) [1].