John Jacob Pickel Sr. UEL (bef. 1743 - aft. 1822)

Born before 1743 in Albany County, New York [uncertain]

Husband of Catherine (Church) Pickel — married 1756 in Claverack, Albany County, New York

Descendants

Died after Feb 1822 after age 79 in Sutton, Brome-Missisquoi, Quebec, Canada

John Pickel was a United Empire Loyalist.
UEL Status:Proven
Date: 21 Jan 1783

Biography

John Pickel was probably born before 1743 and likely lived around Claverack, NY close to Hudson City in Albany County (now Columbia Co) in New York.^[1] According to Weldon Pickel's book on Sherwood & Pickel loyalists and UEL land claims, he and his 3 sons John Jr., Jacob and Christopher all enlisted on the side of England in the Revolutionary War. Birth date and location are discussed below but records seem to conflict.

John may have been the brother of a Thomas born around 1737 near Claverack; this Thomas had a son Thomas Jr. borne about 1761 who later lived around Alburgh and Highgate, VT and married a Hannah Anna Mellius. This may have been the Hannah "Pickle" who had about 6 children by common-law husband Johnathan Hayden in Highgate. He drowned in Lake Champlain about 1801 and she appeared in the 1814 records of Alburgh as a widow with 2 children including Richard who may have been John's son born after he died. See "History of Alburgh" by Allen Stratton and this information: Minutes of a special Town Meeting for Alburgh,VT. To see if inhabitants of the town will pursue any measures against the town of Highgate,VT for bringing into this town HANNAH PICKLE & her 2 children, which were deemed Paupers in Highgate, VT. A Mr. Thomas Reynolds was given money by the town to take care of "Widow Pickle & a boy Richard Pickle--signed by Consider Hammond & the town treasurer---order dated 1814.

At a special town meeting held Dec. 5, 1818, the town agreed to give a Mr. John Doty $ 500.00 to take & support, care for Hannah Pickle,alias Hannah Hayden, a Pauper belonging to the town of Alburgh, from this day forward, during her natural life. (Land & Misc.Records,Alburgh,Vt....Book # 7,

He likely married Catherine Church (maybe, her maiden name is not actually sourced) by 1756 with the following children^[1]

• Jacob PICKEL UEL 1757–1842
• John Pickel Jr. UEL 1761–
• Christopher Pickel UEL 1766–1850
• Elizabeth Pickel ???1773– (if this is the Elizabeth Bechtel who married George Shufelt and had son Johannes b. 28 Dec 1797 in Claverack then she was probably born about 24 years earlier, total speculation)
• Peter Pickel ??? - A Peter Pickel b.1782, at Caldwell Manor in 1804 and who settled in Sweetsburg, Brome-Missisquoi and had son Abram plus other children by wife Amy Church is documented but seems to be born to late to be the Peter of this couple, perhaps a grandson?) Amy Church supposedly the daughter of Captain John Church Sr., another UEL (see bottom of profile).

Weldon Pickle gives the John's wife's name as Catherine Church. The Kinderhook, Lithligo (Livingston), Claverack and Brome-Missiquoi church records contain mixes of Pickel, Church, Sweet and Shufelt (Zufeld) records marrying and witnessing each other's baptisms and these names appear near each other on censuses from 1790 through 1842 in both countries.

Note that some family trees give Catherine's maiden name as Roseman or Rossman seeming based on the 1794 baptism in Claverack, New York of a daughter Elizabeth "Bechtel" to John and Catherine Rossman.^[2] While Weldon Pickel did say that John and Catherine Church had a daughter Elizabeth, by 1794 they were apparently not living in Claverack, they were in Dunham, Brome-Missisquoi or one of the surrounding villages (Sweetsburg, Brome Township etc) and in any case, John Pickel Sr (UEL) would have been about 64 in 1794, his wife Catherine presumably close to that age. This younger John may, however, have been the John Jr. UEL, son of this profile.

German-Born Pickel vs. American-Born Pickel

There was also a John Pickel or Pickle who married Mary Anne Sieber(t) aka Siver about 1779 who served in Sir John Johnson's 2nd Battalion during the war. He was younger, possibly born about 1743 and was from Williamsborough, Tryon County, New York before the war but was of German birth according to his UEL land claim and other documents. His land claim is completely distinct^[3] from that of the John Pickel Sr. of Kingsbury, NY:

365. Evidence on the Claim of John Pickle, Late of Williams Borough, Tryon County, New York. Claimt sworn: He was a soldier in Sir John Johnsons 2nd Batal in 1783 & send a claim to England by Cap. Gummersal & afterwards to Halifax. He is a native of Germany. He was a soldier in the Royal Americans the war before last, 1775 he lived at Williamsburgh. He did not join the B. Army until 1780. He says that he was directed to remain at home to give assistance to Scouts &c.

Says that he never joined the rebels in any respect & was in consequence disarmed and confined. When he came in he joined Sir Johns 2nd Batal.

He now resides at the Bay of Quinte..

This John enlisted 25 Aug 1780 and appeared in a Tryon County court record: On March 1, 1779 Abraham Hodge II and William Gibson were ordered to appear before Tryon County Court of Common Pleas Justices Isaac Marselis and David McMaster on a charge of stealing a horse from John Pickle. (Abbott Collection Mss #338)

He went on to live (and die) at Kingston and then Fredericksburg, Ontario, Canada (Johannes Christophel Pickle of Fredericksburgh was interred 17 Feb. 1803. Rev. John Langhorn's Register, Anglican Diocese of Ontario) and apparently had these children:

1. John Pickle 1772– (born Tryon Co, NY)
2. Katherine Pickle 1773– (Tryon, married 3 March 1789 • St Warburg's, Fredericksburgh, Ontario, Canada Johannes George Peter Schryver; "The Loyalists in Ontario" by William D. Reid pg. 276)
3. Nancy Pickle 1788– (Fredericksburgh, ON, married John Black of Ameliasburg 3 Apr 1803)
4. Susannah Pickle (bap 1808 in Fredericksburgh)…would have had to be adult baptism
5. Henry Pickle "of Fredericksburg"

Daughters Nancy Black and Susannah Pickle appeared in a UE Rolls list of children of Loyalists who "had Warrants issued" both on 25 Feb 1806

We also see him here:

• Name: John Pickel
• Marital Status: wife and three children
  1. Occupation: Bruns. Tr. [Troops]
• Year of Record: 1787
• Reference: Transcribed from (film of) original documents held in the collection of the National Archives of Canada [Ottawa]: RG1, L3, vol. 170, pages 82799 to 82801, reel C-2558
• Source/Event: Lower Canada Land Papers. Memorial from 72 disbanded German soldiers to Guy Lord Dorchester requesting the granting of land. Signed at Montreal September 15, 1787.^[4] (search for Pickel)

Note that the Brunswick Troops who mostly fought in the battles of Saratoga and surrendered under General John Burgoyne were sent from Germany to aid British troops as part of an existing treaty. However, when this John appears on a 1787 petition for land written by John Church, he is listed as having a wife and 3 children as well; as stated above without sourcing he may have arrived in America and then married in 1779.^[5]

This John submitted a followup land claim 17 Jul 1789 from Kingston, Frontenac, Ontario:

To his Excellency the Right Honourable Guy Lord Dorchester Captain General Governor & Commander in Chief of the Colonies of Quebec, Nova Scotia and new Brunswick & their dependencies (?) - Vice Admiral of the same (?) Captain General and Commander in Chief of all his Majesty's forces in said Colonies & in the Island of Newfoundland. The Memorial of John Pickle private in late 2nd Batt Royal Yorker Humbly Sheweth --

That your Lordship's Memorialist have received is first allowance of lands, Humbly prays that your Lordship's bounty may be assigned to him in the Seventh Township

And your memorialist shall as in duty bound ever pray

John Pickle

Kingston July 17th 1789^[6]

In fact, searching for Upper Canada land claims by Pickle, all of his children appear including Nancy as Black/Pickle, Katherine as Pickle/Schriver as well as John Jr. and Henry.

This information is included because there is so much confusion about the Pickel/Pickle/Bechtel family especially since both had a John Sr. and John Jr, both were in NY before the war and both ended up in Canada.

Bechtel Vs. Pickel

German Reformed Church records in the area of Claverack, Hudson and Kinderhook were mostly transcribed and published by Arthur C.M. Kelly. In all those books that this author has reviewed, Kelly indexed "Pickel" and "Pickle" as "Bechtel" even when they were originally spelled as "Pickel", "Pigtel" or any other variation. The appearances of "Bechtel" seem to come from the Kinderhook baptism records of children of this Jacob and Mary New, and of the Claverack baptism of Elizabeth Bechtel mentioned above. The name was clearly spelled "Pickel" in other contemporaneous documents such as land claims and censuses. Why he made this consistent substitution is not yet known, possibly just convenience and consistency. In any case, this Pickel family clearly seems to be Germanic in origin based on attendance at these German-language churches and later Canadian census entries describing them as German. Possibly they were part of the Palatinate migrations, their origin is not yet known.

From at least 1772 to 1777 John apparently lived near Kingsbury, Albany Co (now Washington), New York about 80 miles north of Kinderhook where he had a farm (for at least 5 years before the war according to a witness for his claim) as described in his Loyalist Claim of 1788.^[7] This claim mentions 3 sons (of John) but does not give their names; Weldon Pickel names them as John Jr., Christopher and Jacob.^[1] and adds son Peter and daughter Elizabeth. It is uncertain whether all 3 sons lived with their father at that time but the youngest (Christopher) was born about 1766 so likely at least he did. Early census records for NY have not turned up this family yet. Page 72 of the "Asa Fitch Papers" (see references) include a testimonial by a Jacob Bitely describing the burning of several Kingsbury farms by British Major Christopher Carleton (11 Oct 1780) which supposedly included the farm of "one Pickles, some 4 or 5 miles from Sandy Hill on the road to Fort Ann". However, since these Pickels were Loyalists, it does not make sense that their farm would have been burned. Possibly non-Loyalist relatives, or the farm was burned accidentally?

John is listed as arriving in Cowansville in 1778 by Weldon Pickel^[1] and appears in the 1782-83 muster list of 245 "persons of Kings Rangers" in Canada so his exact date of arrival is uncertain. The complete record appears as:^[8]

• Name: John (Sen) Pickle
• Year of Record: 1782-83
• Reference: Transcribed from original documents held in the collection of the National Archives of Canada [Ottawa]: RG 19, vol. 4447, file 36.
• Source/Event: Memorandum -- of the names of the whole 245 Persons of the King's Rangers -- collected from the Muster Rolls and paylists of Maj. Rogers's, Capn. Pritchards and Capn. Ruiters Co. in the years 1782-83. Signed 6 Jan 1802.

John Pickel Sr, John Pickel Jr and "Christn" (likely Christopher) Pickel all appear in a 1783 muster roll of the Kings Rangers commanded by Major James Rogers quartered at St. Johns 21 Jan 1783 (page 102)^[9] John is listed as age 40 (born 1743) from Germany, John Jr as age 22 from Duchess Co, NY and Christopher as age 17 from Duchess Co, NY. Lengths of service were 2 years 2 months, 2 years 4 months and 2 years 8 months respectively meaning Christopher joined when 15. Note that at this time, Germantown NY was in Duchess County.

If this is the correct family, then John Sr.'s first son Jacob was apparently born when his father was only 15 or 16. Possibly this was a typo on the age and it meant to say age 49?^[10]

A history of the Brome-Missisquoi settlement by U.S. loyalists after the revolutionary war includes many mentions of Gilbert Hyatt and a few of John "Pickell" and others who initially settled at Coldwell (Caldwell) Manor (later St. Georges de Clarenceville in Brome-Missisquoi) in August 1784 and petitioned the government for supplies and housing.^[11]

On 15 Feb 1788 John filed a land claim describing his farm in Kingsbury and the property and animals he lost to the rebels. He was listed as "of Albany County", said he was at St. John's in 1783 (one of the main emigrant gathering places) and was born in America. He claimed 3 sons (un-named), said he joined the British Army in 1777, and served in Maj. Rogers Kings Rangers, matching the above information except for place of birth. He stated that he was currently at "Coldwell's Manor", later named Clarenceville (next to Alburgh, VT where his sons appeared in the 1790 census and in town records). The claim was witnessed by Daniel Beedle.^[12]

John (Sr. or Jr.) and Jacob appear in a story related in "History of the Eastern Townships" page 209 (see references) about treeing a bear whereupon Jacob attacked the bear with his hands to prevent it killing one of their dogs. The story is set in Sweetsburg (next to Cowansville which annexed Sweetsburg in 1964) in it's "early days"; John Church UEL settled there in 1799 so this story may have occurred in the 1790s or early 1800s.^[13]

On 29 March 1802 John (no Sr/Jr listed) and Jacob Pickel appear on the list of original grantees of Sutton (next to Brome and Dunham) on page 175 of History of Eastern Townships.^[13] It seems that this is more likely to be John Sr. than John Jr if John Jr. was the one who married Catherine Rossman back in Claverack by 1794, but this cannot be known with certainty.

Catherine Pickel died as "wife of John" about 21 Feb 1822 (the date she was buried), burial listed in the Dunham Church of England where future Pickel generations were baptized and married.^[14] John Church and Tryphena (or Poryphena, it has been transcribed both ways) Shufelt witnessed her burial. This may have been the John Church Sr. born 1757 in Claverack (also unsourced); supposedly he had a sister Catherine who married William Shufelt (also unsourced) and supposedly John's wife Tryphena was named Huntington (unsourced). Or maybe John Church married Tryphena Shufelt and she signed her maiden name when witnessing Catherine Pickel's burial. So in that case, Catherine Pickel may have been John Church's sister. All speculation so far...

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Ancestors and Descendants of the Sherwood and Pickel U.E. Loyalists in Canada Author Weldon U. Pickel page 54
2. ↑ U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989 New York Claverack Claverack, Vol II, Book 8 https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6961/42037_2421401574_0605-00088
3. ↑ 2nd report of the Bureau of Archives for Ontario 1904 https://archive.org/stream/report02archgoog#page/n428/mode/2up
4. ↑ https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3798
5. ↑ Land Petitions of Lower Canada, 1764-1841 http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/land/land-petitions-lower-canada-1764-1841/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=69505&
6. ↑ Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865 http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/land/land-petitions-upper-canada-1763-1865/Pages/List.aspx?Surname=Pickle&
7. ↑ UK, American Loyalist Claims, 1776-1835 for John Pickell AO 12: American Loyalists Claims, Series I Piece 029: Evidence, New York, 1787-1788 https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/3712/40939_307351-00194/11845
8. ↑ Canadian Immigrant Records, Part Two https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3798
9. ↑ Rolls of the Provincial (loyalist) Corps, Canadian Command, American Revolutionary Period Mary Beacock Fryer, William A. Smy https://books.google.com/books?id=w64dKXtyIQMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
10. ↑ War Office Records: Returns of Detachments and Companies of the Kings Rangers and Loyal Rangers stationed in Lower Canada. National Archives of Canada: Microfilm Reel No. B-2867 (MG 11, W.O. 28/10), page 142
11. ↑ The American Loyalists in the Eastern Seigniories and Townships of the Province of Quebec by Siebert, Wilbur Henry, 1866-https://archive.org/details/americanloyalist00siebuoft/page/36
12. ↑ UK, American Loyalist Claims, 1776-1835 for John Pickell AO 12: American Loyalists Claims, Series I Piece 029: Evidence, New York, 1787-1788 https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/3712/40939_307351-00194/11845
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Contributions to the history of the Eastern Townships...by C. Thomas https://archive.org/details/cihm_41414/page/n219
14. ↑ Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 Dunham Church of England 1822 https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1091/d13p_32440399/8953918

• Contributions to the History of Eastern Townships by C. Thomas Call Number 971.46 H2t 1989 at Family History Library
• Kings Rangers site http://rogersrangers.org/kings/index.html
• "The Asa Fitch Papers Volume 2" compiled by Dr. Asa Fitch, transcribed & edited by Laura Penny Hulslander kept at Washington Co, NY Historian's office