Some Further Incidents Concerning Residents of Flamborough and Area During the Troublesome Months of the Mackenzie Rebellion 1837-1838

WEFHS August 6, 2021

Originally Published in Heritage Happenings, October 1986
These articles are reprinted as they were originally published. No attempt has been made to correct or update the content. If the topic interests you, we encourage you to do further research and/or reach out to us for any updates or corrections which may have been done since the original publication date.

Last heritage paper, in the conclusion to the article on the history of the Ireland family, a reference was made to Joseph Ireland’s participation in the 1837 Rebellion, when he had furnished a sleigh to transport volunteers who wished to assist in bringing the rebel, William Mackenzie, to justice. This paper, a list of that company of more than a hundred men from East and West Flamborough, Nelson Township and Wellington Square (Burlington) who left the area on 25 December 1837 and set out for Chippewa to aid in putting down the Rebellion.

Thomas Atkinson’s Sleigh:

Lieut. I Wetinhutt, Thomas Allison, Benjamin Tuck, Joseph Tansley, Joseph Hodson, Charles Drivers, John Atkinson, Sergeant Stephen Atkinson.

Joseph Birney’s Sleigh:

Lieut. T. Cooper, Joseph Pickett, John Smith, Wis. Hampshire, John Thom, William Easterbrook, James Anderson, Thomas Atkinson Jr.

Col. Chisholm’s Sleigh:

Thomas Tansley, Samuel McGregor, William Bastedo, Samuel Armour, George Bonsfield, John Kitchen, James Farrah, James Colson.

Peart’s Sleigh:

Sergeant William Earls, Robert Thompson, William Ross, Thomas Douglas, John Powers, Thomas Coones, John DeForest, Jr., Robert Forster.

McGregor’s Sleigh:

William Cartwright, John Easterbrook, Richard Dalton, Adam Camp, Patrick McGregor, William Armour, George Curry, Hiram Flewellyn, Hugh Wallace, Francis Wiseman, Joseph Burrows, John Halard, Jonas Vollick.

Bastedo’s Sleigh:

William McCarley, John Flewellyn, Edward McNiven, Jacob Bastedo, George C. Crooks, John A. Chisholm, John Coons.

James Wilson’s Sleigh:

George Vollick, Christopher Brandt, James McGuffin, John Dawson, William Gilmer, Edward Friars, William Kirby, John Kirby, Thomas Stubby.

John Haggerty’s Sleigh:

Sergeant John Bridgman, William Carrick, Elijah Myers, Philip DeForest, John Scott, Thomas Forster, James Anderson, James Scott.

McCarley’s Sleigh:

Allen McCarley, James McCarley, Andrew Armour, Michael Corray, Ensign David Bastedo, A. G. McCay, Sergeant Joseph Ireland, Quarter Master.

Ireland’s Sleigh:

Robert Morrison, George Patterson, Andrew Davidson, William Weir, Jacob Chapman, Jeremiah Douglas, John Sciers, Robert Miller.

Pettit’s Sleigh:

David Davidson, William Blanchard, James McMaster, Joseph Prentize, Joseph Martin, Billy Rumesly, William Williamson, Bright Nairbet.

John Hall’s Sleigh:

Daniel McCartney, John Williamson, James Stevenson.

The American Steam Packet Caroline, Descending the Great Falls of Niagara, after being set on fire by the British, Dec 29th 1837. with a distant view of Navy Island, Chippewa, & Schlosser, by J. Grieve

The volunteers met at Wellington Square on the morning of the 25th, reaching Lundy’s Lane the following day, and moving to Chippewa, a mile above the Falls, on December 27. Here they joined other men from the East and West Flamborough area who were members of the 2nd Regiment of the Gore Militia under the command of Colonel William Chisholm.

Although no records appear to exist documenting the activities of these volunteers at Chippewa, it is probable that they were witness to the capture of the little forty-ton steamer “Caroline” that was ferrying rebels across to Navy Island from the American side, and the subsequent burning of this boat in the Niagara River. The spectacular burning of the “Caroline” marked the end of Mackenzie’s Rebellion, and men returned home to families and to prepare for the spring farm activities following this incident.

As a result of the alarm caused by the Rebellion, there was a great outpouring of patriotism. Local militias were reorganized and strengthened–the 7th Regiment of the Gore Militia, composed of men from East and West Flamborough Townships, and the 11th Regiment of the Gore for Beverly and Puslinch Townships were formed.

References:

The List of men and sleighs was compiled and kept by an old Oakville family and reported in the Burlington Gazette 29 December 1937, a century later.

The Editor found the list in the Halton-Peel Branch O.G.S. Newsletter, November 1984.

Heritage Paper No. 22
“Heritage Happenings”, Newsletter of the Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society. June 1983.

Paylist of Officers, 2nd Regiment of Gore Militia, March 16, 1838. Public Archives of Canada.