Joseph (Pringle) Prindle (abt. 1754 - 1833)

Born about 17 May 1754 in New York [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Anna Marie (Springsteen) Pringle — married 14 Feb 1779 in Albany, New York

Descendants

Died 22 Sep 1833 at about age 79 in Richmond, Lennox, Upper Canada

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Joseph Prindle was a United Empire Loyalist.
UEL Status:Restored
Date: 2 Aug 1808

Biography

Early Life:

Birth
Joseph was born about 1754.
In search of sources - See "Research Notes" below

Residence - Skenesborough
Along with his father Joel, and three of his four brothers, Joseph Prindle is found on "A list of Inhabitants that were tenants of the Domain of Skenesborough from the Year 1759 Untile 1775." The settlement was founded by famous Scotchman, Col. Philip Wharton Skene in 1759.^[1]

Residence 1775
Joseph Prindle may have been a land owner in Bridport, Vermont, whose estate was confiscated by the State of Vermont, April 23rd, 1778. Bridport is 35 miles north of Skenesborough, NY. The Estate was purchased from the state for 50 pounds by John Strong Mary Greene Nye. Sequestration, Confiscation And Sale of Estates, 1941.

There is a story that in 1775 as the Revolution commenced "A Tory, who was a tenant in the house of a Mr. Prindle, set fire to the house and left, implicating Mr. Stone in the robbery and burning." See the Research Notes below.

Residence 1776
Joseph Prindle was a resident of Skenesborough, New York in December 1776 according to his statement in his Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application:
"That at the time he so enlisted as last aforesaid, he was a resident of Scheensbough, or Skeenesborough (now Whitehall) in the State of New York and that he joined said Colonel Gansevoort’s Regiment in Captain Grigg’s Company at Albany in the State of New York." ^[2]

Banished from Vermont 1779
If our Joseph Prindle is the land owner in Bridport, Vermont, on Feburary 26th 1779 an act was passed by the State of Vermont to prevent him and over a hundred others, including Col. James Rodgers of Kent from returning to the state under penalty of being "whipped on the naked Back, not more than forty, nor less than twenty Stripes ; which Punishment shall be inflicted, and the Delinquent shall be ordered to quit this State immediately. . . [or on return] he shall be put to Death." Mary Greene Nye. Sequestration, Confiscation And Sale of Estates, 1941.

This was enacted while our Joseph Prindle was serving in the 3rd New York Regiment of the Continental Army. This could explain why he chose to join Col. James Rodgers Rangers upon his discharge and return.

American War of Independence Service:

Service with the Continental Army:

Early in the conflict Joseph Prindle served as a volunteer in Captain Lee’s Company of New York Militia, and as an enlisted soldier in Captain Babcock’s Company, in Colonel Eason’s Regiment for six months, and for a short time he served in a company commanded by Captain O. Hand, in the capacity of a private soldier.

On the sixth day of December in the year 1776, Joseph Prindle enlisted in the third New York Regiment commanded by Colonel Gansevoort, he enlisted with Lieutenant Stockwell for three years, and served the first two years as a Sergeant, and the third year as a Sergeant Major.

At the time he enlisted he was a resident of Skenesborough in the State of New York, He joined Colonel Gansevoort’s Regiment in Captain Grigg’s Company at Albany, New York. The early part of his three year enlistment Joseph Prindle was at Albany and a part of the defense at the western New York frontier postknown at the time as Fort Schuyler (now called Fort Stanwix) on the Mohawk River. During the Saratoga campaign, Joseph was a member of the 3rd defending the fort against St. Leger's siege.

Sometime in the winter, after his enlistment, he was ordered to join Captain Blaker’s Company in the same Regiment, he served in Captain Blaker’s company until about the first of June 1777, when he returned to Captain Grigg’s Company and served Grigg's company until he was discharged in December 1779, at which time he was discharged as a Sergeant Major.

In the year 1779, the last year of Joseph Prindle's service with the Continental Army, he participated in what was called the Western Expedition, commanded by General Sullivan. The campaign ordered by George Washington, was "to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed. . . you will not by any means listen to any overture of peace before the total ruinment of their settlements is effected."

The 3rd Regiment, now with the New York Brigade, and now containing nine companies and a strength of 582 officers and men, invaded Iroquois Indian territory with Major General John Sullivan's expedition, devastating the western frontier area of New York near today's Finger Lakes, destroying more than 40 Iroquois villages and stores of winter crops. ^[3]

After being discharged and returning to his home he joined his father Joel Prindle and his four brothers in the King's Rangers.

Service for the Crown:

Joseph Prindle was a Private in Col. James Roger’s King’s Rangers and is a proven Loyalist, listed on the United Empire Loyalist database, along with descendants (etc)^[4]

Marriage and Children:

Marriage
Joseph Prindell and Anna Springsteen. Feb. 14, 1779. Joseph was serving in the Continental Army under General Gansevoort, at Fort Stanwix, when he married in Albany.

Year Book Holland Society of New York (1922/3) Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, New York Marriages — 1772 to 1779.
MARR. UPON BANNS:, Page 11 Feb. 7. Jochum V.d. Heiden and Elisabeth Smith. Feb. 14. Thorns. Foster and Nelly Bourrighs. Joseph Prindell and Anna Springsteen. Alexander McGriger and Betsy McVie. Feb. 16. Josua English and Elisabeth Brogden.
Event Date: 14 Feb 1779
Event Place: First Dutch Reformed Church, Albany, Albany, New York^[5]

Children
The William Reid book "The Loyalists of Ontario" records Joseph Prindle, residence in Richmond, and 7 children (not necessarily a complete list):

PRINDLE, Joseph of Richmond

• John of Richmond. Orders-in-Council 16 Nov 1807.
• Richard of Richmond. Orders-in-Council 16 Nov 1807.
• Simeon of Richmond. Orders-in-Council 16 Nov 1807.
• William of Richmond. Orders-in-Council 23 Feb 1808.
• Joseph of Richmond. Orders-in-Council 16 Feb 1810.
• Lois, m John Windover of Richmond 18 Sept 1810. Orders-in-Council 25 Feb 1812.
• David B. of Richmond. Orders-in-Council 26 Feb 1818.
^[6]

Resettling in Upper Canada

The first white man to settle in Richmond Township north of the Salmon River was Joseph Prindle, who with his wife took up land on the north bank about midway between what was later known as the villages of Roblin and Forest Mills. They were monarchs of all they surveyed, all the later settlers, paid homage to them as the pioneers of the north of Richmond. Their son, Joseph Prindle Jr, was the first white child born north of the Salmon River.

This river took its name from the great number of salmon which used to come up the stream. They managed to leap all the falls and rapids until they reached those at the site of Forest Mills, which were too high and swift. Great quantities of them would at certain seasons congregate at the foot of the falls, and it was an easy matter to scoop out a cart-load in a few minutes. This barrier they could not overcome, and none were to be had above this point. This fact distinguished these falls from all others upon the river, and before any mills were upon its banks they were designated as The Falls.

The second man to move into the northern wilderness was John Windover, who was married Lois Prindle, a sister of Joseph Prindle. He settled upon a lot about one mile north of The Falls and built a log house there in about 1825.^[7]

Death
Joseph Pringle died, At Richmond, near Napanee on September 22, 1833, aged 77 years and 5 months..^[8][9]

Notes

^[10]On Sunday, 40 descendants of the late Sidney and Edith Pringle, of Selby, met for a family dinner at the Wayfare Restaurant, Napanee. Besides an opportunity to visit and for the young people to get to know their cousins, they were entertained by Miss Jennie Pringle giving excerpts from her research into the history of the Pringle family.

Special attention was paid to the period of the American Revolutionary War when the patriarch of the family in Canada, Joel Pringle, or Prindle as he was sometimes called, joined the Royal rangers, together with all his sons, Joel the Younger, Timothy, William, Joseph and Doctor and fought to keep the American Colonies within the British Empire.

Since the men were away with the army, the women and children had to run the farms which were in Albany County east of Lake George. They were subjected to much harassment by the rebels and were finally forced from their land and they had to seek shelter in nearby Fort Edward at the south end of Lake George. Later, when the fort was about to fall into the rebel's hands, they again fled down Lakes George and Champlain to fort St. John's on the Richelieu River inside Quebec. They arrived there in July 1781 as shown on the ration list and remained until the close of the war and final dispersal of the refugees to permanent settlement.

The Pringle families had lost everything and they could not return to their homes, so they agreed to go with the rest of the Roger's Rangers to the Bay of Quinte area. At that time, it was an unknown wilderness, far from settled areas and difficult to reach on account of the rapids in the St. Lawrence River.

The Rangers and their families travelled up the St. Lawrence in batteaux, camping on the shore at night. On arrival in Kingston in June 1784; they drew lots from the deputy surveyor's hat. The grantee's name was written on the proper place on a map which the surveyor had and a ticket of location was given to him. A copy of this map may be seen on the wall in the United Empire Loyalist Museum at Adolphustown Park. The next thing was to find their future home in the wilderness. If it were on the water they were lucky as they could travel there by boat, but if inland, the forest made it difficult to reach. Major Rogers' Corps was assigned to Fredricksburg.

Joseph Pringle, the progenitor of the assembled group, drew a lot on the south shore where the Van Dyke farm is located now. William and Timothy were in the second concession of Fredricksburg. Additional and [sic] Doctor and his brother-in-law, John Dafoe Jr. shared a 200 acre lot on the south shore of Hay Bay in the fourth concession. The father, Joel and his eldest son, Joel the Younger, drew lots at the eastern end of Hay Bay in the fourth concession but they were never occupied by them. Joel moved to what was later Hallowell Township in Prince Edward and his son went to Loughboro Township in Frontenac County.

Owing to the need for more land for their growing families and also because they received further grants in other areas, many did not stay long on their original grants. Timothy's son, Timothy Jr. went to Marysburgh, while his eldest son also called Joseph, stayed on the original homestead until the 1840's when some went to Michigan and others to East Whitby. Other members of this large family went to Hastings County and the northern part of Lennox and Addington when the Colonization Road was put through. Doctor Pringle and his family also went to Prince Edward but the boys soon went on to Hastings and Daniel and Abraham finally ended up in Napanee.

Opened Township

Joseph, his family and some of his nieces and nephews practically opened up the Township of Richmond when it was surveyed as the 10th township. He moved from Fredricksburg to a farm on the Deseronto Road just wet of the Slash Road, where he built a two-story frame house which he ran as a country hotel. It was a busy corner where the inn stood and it was known as New Liverpool. It was thought it would become a shipping point for the whole area as the river ran deeply here, wharves had been constructed and higher up at Napanee Falls the stream was rapidly being choked by sawdust from the saw mill.

Joseph was active in many ways. He was an officer of the First Militia, formed in Lennox when the war of 1812 threatened, and he and all of his six boys -- William, John, Richard, Simeon, Joseph and David --saw service in the war. According to John Ross Robertson in the book, "The History of Freemasonry in Canada," Joseph Pringle was the first Worshipful Master of the Mason Lodge when it was organized in Napanee in 1812 and described him as a worthy man with a fair education, standing about six feet in height; a magistrate who had the courage of his convictions and assisted in the execution of his warrants. He was seriously injured by a blow to the head by club when assisting with the arrest of some fruit stealers and never completely recovered.

In his obituary in the "Christian Guardian", Oct 30 1833 issue^[11], his age was given as 77 years and five months and date of death the 22nd 'ultimo' and said that he was firm and impartial in his decisions as Justice of the Peace, indefatigable in the discharge of his duty as an Officer of the Militia, an indulgent parent and a good neighbour. It also said that he left to deplore his loss, six children, 54 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Joseph Pringle Obituary

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Research Notes

Birth Date Un-sourced

• 1753 Skeensborough, New York USA (no source)
  One of the Joseph Pringle (Prindle)s on the United Empire Loyalist database Profile of Joseph Prindle

• May 17, 1753 Skeensborough, Whitehall, Washington, New York, USA (no source)
  Joseph Pringle certificate application on United Empire Loyalist database Application for Joseph Pringle

• 17 May 1754 Albany, Albany, New York Colony, British Colonial America - FamilySearch profile for Joseph Pringle (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZFK-Z6M)
  4 sources are noted, but 3 are FindAGrave which has 1754 and has no source and also has the well documented death date wrong
  The 4th source is 'Canadian Immigrant Records, Part One' at Ancestry (so invisible to some) Has a great bibliography listed, but all they came up with was 'abt 1754' [3]

'Canadian Immigrant Records, Part One' Bibliography
[National Archives of Canada - http://www.collectionscanada.ca/index.html]
[National Library of Canada - http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ehome.htm]
[Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records Office - http://www.edu.pe.ca/paro/about.asp ]
[Public Archives of Nova Scotia - http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/]
[Provincial Archives of New Brunswick - http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx?L=EN]
[Archives nationales du Quebec (French-language site) - http://www.anq.gouv.qc.ca/]

Birth Place

• Skenesboro is the birthplace many trees have for Joseph, but it is written that Philip Skene started the settlement in 1859[4]. And a Washington County, NY history says:
  "The first settlement in Whitehall was made by a half pay English officer , Major Philip Skene . He brought with him about thirty families of settlers , and entered on this domain (and to which he afterwards obtained a title ) in 1761." [Johnson, Crisfield. History of Washington Co., New York: With Illustrations And Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men And Pioneers. Philadelphia: Everts & Ensign, 1878. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.18565556&view=1up&seq=757]

Bridport, Vermont Pringel Estate

• It is the old website "Bay of Quinte Schooner" that linked our Joseph Prindle to this estate on their page [SEQUESTRATIONS, CONFISCATIONS AND SALE OF ESTATES - State Papers of Vermont - http://web.archive.org/web/20030507222604/http://qschooner.com/vermontcon.html]
• The transcription that was copied by Lieutenant-Colonel H. C. Burleigh, M.D., C.M., U.E. of Bath ca. 1950, may be the 1941 book that is now online: Vermont. Office of Secretary of State, and Mary Greene Nye. Sequestration, Confiscation And Sale of Estates, 1941.
• Page 15 starts the April 23rd, 1778 Court of Confiscation proceeding held in Arlington, that the estate of Joseph Pringel of Bredport is mentioned along with estate owners all over Vermont - https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89058656166?urlappend=%3Bseq=19
• The VERMONT HISTORICAL GAZETTEER has stories about the founding of Bridport once a "Mr. Prindle" is mentioned in the first Volume of the online version on Page 17 (an excert is below) [VERMONT HISTORICAL GAZETTEER https://sites.rootsweb.com/~vtwindha/vhgix/index.htm]

"1775. The war of the Revolution commenced. A Tory, who was a tenant in the house of a Mr. Prindle, set fire to the house and left, implicating Mr. Stone in the robbery and burning. Mr. Stone, anticipating mischief, secreted himself among the bushes on the bank near his house, where he was discovered by the British, who fired upon him; but the volley of grape-shot struck among the trees above him. They also fired upon his house, and some of the balls entered the room where his family were. They then sent a boat on shore, captured Mr. Stone, and took him to Ticonderoga, where he remained three weeks." [Read more great stories: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~vtwindha/vhg1/0016_bridport.htm]

Sources

1. ↑ https://kenswhitehall.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/skenesborough-manuscript/
2. ↑ "United States Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NSCC-MMX : 11 December 2014), John Pringle, pension number S. 9992, service New York; from "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files," database and images, Fold3.com; citing NARA microfilm publication M804 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1974); FHL microfilm 971,978.
3. ↑ The 3rd New York Regiments 1775-1783 - A Brief Service History [1]
4. ↑ United Empire Loyalist database Profile of Joseph Prindle Accessed 2020.
5. ↑ "New York Marriages, 1686-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F637-B5Y : 12 December 2014), Joseph Prindell and Anna Springsteen, 14 Feb 1779; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 908,989.
6. ↑ Reid, William D. The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of the American Loyalists of Upper Canada. Lambertville, NJ, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973. Page 255 [2]
7. ↑ Herrington, Walter S. , History of the county of Lennox and Addington. Toronto : Macmillan, 1913. pp 205-206. [History of the county of Lennox and Addington - https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.65350/2?r=0&s=1]
8. ↑ obituary in the "Christian Guardian", Oct 30 1833 issue
9. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #104925410
10. ↑ The Napanee Beaver, December 8, 1970
11. ↑ also published in the Upper Canada Herald of Kingston, Upper Canada on Oct 23rd 1833 - Page 3 Col. 1

U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989 for Joseph Prindell. Image at Ancestry: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6961/42037_1521003239_0773-00123/85743?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/5353275/person/-1465587553/facts/citation/680342833955/edit/record

The William Reid book "The Loyalists of Ontario" records Joseph Prindle, residence in Richmond, and 7 children (not necessarily a complete list):

• John PRINDLE
• Richard PRINDLE
• Simeon PRINDLE
• William PRINDLE
• Joseph PRINDLE
• Lois PRINDLE
• David B. PRINDLE

• http://web.archive.org/web/20030515041939/http://qschooner.com/reid/d0002/g0000008.html#I3356

Acknowledgments

This person was created through the import of morton jan11.ged on 05 January 2011.