George Adkin Hartley (1759 - 1812)

Born 1759 in Canterbury, Kent, England

Husband of Abigail (Estey) Hartley — married 21 Apr 1788 in Burton Parish, Sunbury County, New Brunswick, Canada

Descendants

Died 2 Sep 1812 at about age 53 in Woodstock, Carleton, New Brunswick, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Dale Dickinson [send private message]

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

Biography

This profile is part of the Hartley Name Study.

Sargent George Adkin Hartley of the King`s American Regiment born abt 1759, Canterbury, Kent, England (See Birth ) and died 1812, Woodstock, Sunbury County, New Brunswick, Canada. George married April 21, 1788, Sunbury County to Abigail Estey who was born in Maugerville, New Brunswick in 1767. Her parents were Richard Jr and Hannah (Hazen) Estey who were anything but Loyalists. Abigail died after August 1, 1812 and was a descendant of Mary (Towne) Estey who was hung as a witch at Salem on September 22, 1692, one of the clearest victims of that fanatic exercise in juris imprudence.

Born in England. ^{[citation needed]} Wounded several times while fighting as a Soldier in King George’s Guards during American Revolution. Granted Regimental land in Canterbury Parish, York County, New Brunswick, Canada.

George A. Hartley came to America at a young age from England. He was a soldier in the Guards Regiment and afterwards joined the King's American Regiment which was formed in the year 1777, mainly by the efforts of Governor Tyron of New York and his son-in-law, Colonel Edmund Fanning. The muster rolls for the regiment show that Hartley served under various captains throughout the American Revolution and rose to the rank of sergeant. Many of the disbanded officers and other ranks that had served in the King's forces during the war were granted land in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. About three thousand men came to the Saint John River watershed in September 1783. The land fronting on the Saint John River and lying between the Shogomoc and Eel Rivers was granted to former members of the King's American Regiment, their widows or sons. Captain Isaac Atwood, a cavalry company commander in the regiment, was a leading figure in the formation of the settlement and the first resident of the Parish of Woodstock, in which the community was then located, to be elected to the New Brunswick House of Assembly In the grant to Tristram Hillman and forty two others, dated August 17, 1787, Sergeant George Hartley was granted Lot Number Thirty, containing an area of two hundred and thirty two ( 232 ) acres. Many of the settlers were making improvements to their lots prior to receiving their Crown Grants and George Hartley was one of the first former soldiers to make improvements to his lot by clearing land for cultivation, constructing a home and outbuildings and making preparations for the place where he will bring his bride, the former Abigail Estey, and where his large family will be reared. A part of the life of George Hartley is found in the petitions he forwarded to Governor Thomas Carleton, the first Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick :- The Memorial of George Hartley and Solomon Teed, Sergeants in the Kings late American Regiment:-

" Most humbly sheweth, that your Memorialists are among the first settlers up the River on Block No. 4, where they have made every improvement in their powers. That since the Block has been resurveyed and altering the front has left a strip of land lying between them of twenty yards wide, which being too small for one to settle on will probably remain a nuisance for a number of years. That, as your Memorialists have cleared their fronts, it intercepts their view, and is a very good prejudice, not only in fencing and improving, but in shading what they had already cleared. Your Memorialists therefore pray for this strip of land, lying between Lots Nos. 28 and 30, to be equally divided betwixt them, and your Memorialists as in duty bound shall ever pray. "

Woodstock, signed: George Hartley 20 April 1787 Solomon Teed

Isaac Atwood applied his influence in the above request by including the following statement :- " Memorialists are very deserving characters and good settlers; their improvements are among the first so far up the River, and what their petition sets forth is an indubitable fact; therefore it is no impropriety in the request most sincerely join them in their Memorial. " signed : I. Atwood

The request was complied with in Council on August 7, 1787 A second land petition from George Hartley to Governor Thomas Carleton, dated October 12, 1802, points out :-

" That he was formerly a soldier in the Guards and afterwards in the King's American Regiment, and was severely wounded in His Majesty's service. That he is settled at Woodstock on Lot No. 30 of the regimental block; that he has resided there for 17 years being amongst the first of the settlers in that district. That he has now a large family and that his lot is stoney and not capable for cultivation to such an extent as is necessary for their support. That there are two lots of rejected lands on the same block commencing at the head of the Meductic Falls and coming down towards the foot thereof, near five miles above the Pouquiock ( Pokiok ), which might be improved by him to advantage and which is entirely uncultivated. Your Memorialist humbly prays permission to take possession of the said lots immediately in order that he may proceed in the cultivation of the same, and that he may be confirmed in his title thereto whenever your Excellency may think proper. "

The Survey General, George Sproule, made the following note on the above petition :- " The situation is vacant, November 20, 1802. " The two additional lots granted to George Hartley were known and described as Lot Number Twelve in the Third Division containing 230 acres, and located opposite the Meductic Rapids on the Saint John River, and below the mouth of the Shogomoc River; also the previously mentioned Upper Half of Lot Number Twenty Nine, in the First Division, and bordering on his first granted Lot No. 30 in the First Division. When the Reverend John Beardsley made his first missionary trip up the Saint John River in 1789 he called at the American Regiment's settlement where, on July 30th, he baptized Abigail Hartley and her eldest son, James. Abigail and George Hartley had a total of eleven children of which five were males. George Hartley lived only a few years after receiving the last two grants of land.. He died on September 2, 1812, at his residence on Lot Number Thirty in the First Division.^[1]

Notes

Birth - Miner Descent gives birth as Newcastle, Northumberland, England or Canterbury, Kent, England

Sources

1. ↑ Source, Province of New Brunswick Archive; MC776 John Carleton Hatt’s "A genealogical study of the Estey family of New Brunswick" Hatt-688 : : Estey by John Hatt

• McNeil sourced Family Tree, Ancestry Family Tree 11422786 by Marilyn Stewart-Evans Stewart-35389
• Sunbury County Marriage records Page 23

• Probate record Archives.gnb

• Family Search Tree

• Loyalist Info

• Archives.gnb

• NB Land Grant 1811

• Minerdescent.com