John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806 Page 19

  Simcoe was furious that so many Queen’s Rangers had been ordered about by Dorchester. He had intended from the outset to use the regiment mainly to develop the country. Nevertheless, he was also in favour of fortifying Turtle Island, at the entrance to the Maumee, to block intruders from Lake Erie.22

  He resolved to go to Detroit and stay awhile. In September he left with a party, and Elizabeth was ready to set out for Quebec. On the night of the 12th she boarded the Mississauga, escorted by John McGill, now with the local rank of captain, for Kingston. With them went Molly, sister of Joseph Brant, who lived at Kingston. She had been visiting her daughters at Newark. “She speaks English well & is a civil & very sensible old woman,” Elizabeth wrote, scarcely hinting that Molly was well educated. While Mrs. Simcoe admired the “noble savage” she was ill at ease with a brown-skinned woman who behaved like a well-bred white lady. A fatiguing journey by bateau and caleche brought them to the home of Colonel Henry and Ann Caldwell at St. Foy on 24 September.

  After finding a house, Elizabeth embarked on a happy social life once more. She found Lord and Lady Dorchester most kind and helpful. Maria, Lady Dorchester, was the young, vivacious wife to the elderly soldier, and compatible. At a party the Caldwells gave on 12 October, Elizabeth met Colonel George Beckwith, Simcoe’s colleague during the Revolution, who was now the adjutant of the British forces in North America. Casually he mentioned that Mrs. Simcoe’s father was Colonel Thomas Gwillim. At that Colonel Caldwell remembered Colonel Gwillim well, While visiting England after General Wolfe’s death, he had stayed with Gwillim at his London house.

  On 11 January, Colonel Beckwith called and offered his congratulations on Governor Simcoe becoming a Major General in the Army. Beckwith also thought that an honour would soon be forthcoming. Elizabeth tried not to be too optimistic. Simcoe had deserved a title, but whether he received one depended on which way the political wind was blowing.23

  The person who would order the general’s regimentals from Simcoe’s tailor was Mary Anne Burges. In a letter dated 20 April, she repeated some preposterous gossip relayed to her by the Hunts. In the presence of someone they knew, Mrs. Graves had claimed that Mary Anne was pretending friendship for Elizabeth because she coveted General Simcoe. She informed the Simcoes that Reverend Edward Drewe had suffered a paralytic stroke while preaching. He was recovering, but Simcoe felt reconciled to Drewe’s remaining in England. A journey to Upper Canada was now out of the question. Mary Anne added more bad news. George Spencer, appointed captain lieutenant in 1791, was still very ill. He was going to Spain in the hope of a cure from the “native air.”24

  The Simcoes also learned that they had lost a good friend in Exeter. William Pitfield, the apothecary at the hospital, had died. The notice appeared in the Exeter Flying Post on 13 February 1794.

  SIXTEEN

  MAJOR GENERAL

  Simcoe meanwhile reached Fort Erie on 23 September and was on Turtle Island two days later. He marched with an escort to Fort Miamis, which was still unfinished owing to sickness. Major Campbell was also ill, and Captain Bunbury was in command. The governor sent for reinforcements from Detroit, which consisted of fifty Rangers. Back at Detroit he held a council meeting. Joseph Brant, who was present, criticised the British for not supporting the tribes. All Simcoe could do was promise to send a message to Lord Dorchester. He left on a ship and was back at Navy Hall by 18 October.

  He did not comment on his conclusions about the French residents. He probably discovered that they disliked the Americans more than the British. He would have met some rustic characters who worked for the Indian department. Matthew Elliott had a whipping post in front of his house for chastising his many slaves. Simon Girty, raised among the Seneca people, was more like them than his white ancestors. (Called “the white savage” by American frontiersmen, years later Kentuckians would come to the Canadian side of the Detroit River for the joy of spitting on his grave.) Alexander McKee’s mother was “of the country” as native women who married whites were called.

  On the 25th, Simcoe wrote to his “Dear Girls.” Mama, Sophia and Francis were in Quebec, but he expected that peace would come soon. He closed with, “Fear God & honour Mrs. Hunt & all who care for you.” To Charlotte on 8 November he asked her to have “Mr. Scadding” (Thomas) cut down trees “without mercy” to improve the view around Wolford Lodge. He would soon leave Newark for York, and round the lake to Kingston, to meet Mama, Sophia and “the little dog Francis … he thought himself so fine in his red stockings or leggings & Indian cloak that he acts as if he was twenty years old” but he was good natured.1

  By the time winter set in, concluding that General Wayne would not attack Detroit at the moment, Simcoe returned to York and ordered all Rangers to follow him.2 He mustered 400 Rangers, but not all were fit for duty. He had requested fresh recruits from England, but he was waiting for a reply. He had also advertised in Upper Canada, but few men would work for army pay when wages were higher for civilians in the labour-starved province. Jay’s Treaty, whereby the British-held posts would be evacuated, was agreed upon in November. Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Michilimackinac were declared on American soil. Simcoe assumed that garrisons would be reduced when the treaty was ratified, and he could again use his Rangers for developing the country. The military crises had passed with the defeat of the tribes at Fallen Timbers. Commissioners were now negotiating the surrender of a vast territory to the United States. The result, on 3 August 1795, would be the Treaty of Fort Greenville, signed by the Miami leader, Little Turtle, on behalf of the leaders of the confederation. Once the two treaties were in effect, peace would descend over the northwest.

  Meanwhile, in Devon, now that she was thirty and still single, Mary Anne had restyled herself Mrs. Burges. Like Elizabeth’s Aunt Elizabeth Gwillim at Whitchurch, “Mrs.” implied a women in charge of her own household. Simcoe had asked her to place an order for a major general’s regimentals with Mr. Cannon, his tailor, and to purchase books for his girls. Mary Anne replied that if a Captain Lowe could take them to Canada, that autumn or in the early spring they need not be insured. She had ordered books from a bookseller in Exeter who would send them to Wolford Lodge. The regimentals would cost £91, or £88 with a discount for prompt payment.3

  Mary Anne was then making arrangements to become the guardian of her three-year-old cousin, the Hon. Julia Valenza Somerville, youngest of nine children of Colonel Hugh Somerville. Both her parents had died in recent months, and Julia would go to Mary Anne. Her brothers and sisters were to live with other relatives.4

  Mrs. Simcoe’s return journey to Upper Canada was notable for the uncertainties of driving on frozen rivers. She had admired Lord Dorchester’s sleigh or “Dormeuse,” which featured a large windproof hood of leather that made it possible to keep warm inside. She ordered one for her own use. At Cap Madeleine they had to go two leagues above the usual crossing and “even then saw water on each side of the carriage.”5 On Lake St. Francis the driver drove very fast to get across unsafe ice before it could break apart. When they reached the home of Major James Gray, they found that the governor had been there the day before, but not finding them had returned to St. John’s Hall, an inn at Johnstown, where he and Major Littlehales had been staying for the past fortnight. At Johnstown, the administrative seat of the Eastern District, Simcoe had been conferring with local half-pay officers and other public servants on the needs of the St. Lawrence settlements. They had two fine rooms with good stoves. Outside the cold was intense, but the sky was a brilliant blue. By 20 February the Simcoe party left in the dormeuse and other sleighs for Kingston.

  On the 23rd, at Captain William Fraser’s in Edwardsburgh Township, snow began to fall heavily. Local men advised against setting out until the storm abated, but another guest maintained that they would have little difficulty proceeding. Since that was what the governor wanted to hear, they set off in light sleighs, leaving the heavy dormeuse to be fetched later. To oblige the governor, two men went ahead to “beat the w
ay & hasten our Journey.” At Gananoque the ice was extremely bad “so we drove as fast as possible as that is thought the safest way on rotten Ice.”6

  They reached Kingston on 1 March 1795. Elizabeth, ill at Johnstown, had recovered and she enjoyed driving with the governor as he inspected the Bay of Quinte, until a sudden thaw made it necessary to return to Kingston before the ice broke up. By the 21st, Simcoe was ill with the same infection that had stricken Elizabeth. He had to sit up in order to breathe, and Elizabeth stayed with him endlessly. She could find only a horse doctor; apparently the garrison surgeon was not available. Molly Brant, hearing of Simcoe’s distress, sent Elizabeth a root. She thought it was “calamus … which really relieved his Cough in a very short time.”7

  John Graves Simcoe was prone to respiratory allergies that made him susceptible to bronchial infections. Elizabeth did not specify how Molly Brant’s root was used. Grinding and boiling to provide scented steam is a possibility.

  By 12 May, Simcoe’s family was aboard the Onondaga, waiting for wind and watching the launching of the new government ship Mohawk which came down so fast that the passengers feared she would strike the Onondaga. They sailed on the 15th, rain pelting down. Their entry into the harbour at York was traumatic. The captain was not sober and Trader Rousseau was away. Impatient, Simcoe ordered a lieutenant of regulars who admitted he knew something about sailing to pilot the ship. He brought the Onondaga safely round the sandpit, a happy ending and reminder of the Simcoes riding into Exmoor without an experienced guide.

  They would soon have to leave for Newark for the fourth session of the legislature. Elizabeth took advantage of the short stay at York to visit Castle Frank, under construction on “Francis’s Estate.” On 4 June they celebrated the King’s birthday with a dance, and on the 6th, Francis’s fourth birthday, he gave a dinner for the soldiers’ children. On the 9th the nurses, children and servants left for Newark on the Onondaga. The governor and Mrs. Simcoe, with a small escort, would follow the shoreline in the North West Company canoe. They reached Newark early on 16 June, and before they had settled in they had to play host to some not overly welcome guests.

  The Duc de Liancourt-Rochefoucault was a French emigrant who had been living in England and was on a visit to North America. He arrived at Fort Erie on 20 June, accompanied by an Englishman, a French naval officer and a French marquis. The Duc had letters of introduction from the colonial secretary, now the Duke of Portland, and from George Hammond, the British ambassador in Philadelphia. Simcoe received then politely and offered them accommodation in Navy Hall, while he found out whether Lord Dorchester would allow them to enter Lower Canada. Elizabeth commented on the 22nd, “Their appearance is perfectly democratic & dirty” and she disliked them all. She was happier to see Mrs. John McGill (Catherine Crookshank), now settled in York in preparation for moving the government from Newark. Jay’s Treaty was ratified on 24 June 1795, but the evacuation of the forts would be delayed some months.

  The unwelcome guests were still there. The Duc de Liancourt, when writing his eight-volume Journal for philosophical and commercial observation, commented of Simcoe:

  In private life, Governor Simcoe is simple and straightforward; he lives in a miserable little wooden house formerly occupied by the Commissioners for the navigation of the lake. He is guarded there by four soldiers who come from the Fort in the morning and return in the evening. There he lives generously and hospitable without ostentation: his mind is facile and enlightened; he speaks well on all subjects, more willingly on his projects than on anything else.8

  Writing on 6 July, Dorchester, who actually apologised for inconveniencing Simcoe, told him to refuse a pass for the Duc de Liancourt. He did not want French, royalist or republican, among the French-speaking Canadians. The Duc left Newark for New York State on the 22nd. The legislature met on 6 July and the session ended on 10 August. The next day they dined with Mrs. Christian Tice, widow of Gilbert Tice, an officer in the Indian department. Her house was large, with a gallery along the front and plenty of shade trees, and far cooler than even the tents they had used above the Niagara River. Elizabeth asked Mrs. Tice if she could rent two rooms for a fortnight; the servants could stay in a tent nearby. Mrs. Tice agreed, and the governor could join them when he had the time. The stay lengthened into 2 October and the onset of a cold spell. They had enjoyed visits to the whirlpool below the Falls, and to Fort Chippawa, and on to Fort Erie for a council meeting with the native leaders. On the way, Simcoe fell ill, but he carried on as best he could. He went to Long Point in September, where a settlement was forming which he named Charlotteville, after the Queen. (Charlotteville became a township, and is now part of the town of Simcoe, in the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk.) On 13 October the Simcoes left to spend the winter at York, sailing aboard the Governor Simcoe.

  Elizabeth settled happily into the canvas houses, her main worry Simcoe’s continued ill health. From the start, the Duke of Portland vetoed many of his plans. Portland disapproved of county lieutenants, mayors and aldermen as decreasing the powers of the lieutenant governor. When Simcoe proposed incorporating Newark and Kingston, His Grace refused permission. Simcoe feared more danger of independence if he did not create an aristocracy to control the lower orders and set an example. Portland appeared to be preparing the province for eventual annexation to the United States, which may have been close to the truth. The new home secretary was not anxious to encourage the rise of a new British Empire where it could be so easily attacked.

  By November, William Berczy and his settlers were running out of steam. They had reached Lot 35, but Berczy was building up debts. Road building was just too costly to continue. In December, Deputy Surveyor Augustus Jones informed David William Smith, acting surveyor general, on 24 December 1795, “His Excellency was pleased to direct me to proceed on Yonge Street to survey and open a cart road from the harbour at York to Lake Simcoe.” Jones reported to the governor on 20 February that “Yonge Street was open from York to the Pine Fort Landing, Lake Simcoe.” The governor so informed the Duke of Portland on the 27th. The land was excellent and had been opened for settlers.9

  Meanwhile, the Simcoes were reading and re-reading letters from a packet that had come by sleigh from Kingston. In the packet was a long-missing shirt Charlotte had made for her father. Eliza and Harriet had written, but to Simcoe’s chagrin there was no letter from Charlotte for him, probably because he had never thanked her for the shirt. On 12 February he obliged. “Mama, a better judge, says it is well worked and shows industry.” He added, “Francis will be a fine plaything for you all.” He hoped Charlotte would make him fond of reading. Sophia did not “love her books” and he was looking for Charlotte “to mend her taste.” He expected to teach Sophia himself when he had time during the winter.10

  Dundas Street and Yonge Street might encourage settlement, but they were essentially strategic roads of military significance. Dundas Street was there to bypass Niagara. Yonge Street was to link York via Lake Simcoe and the Severn River to Georgian Bay. Simcoe had already seen Penetanguishene, a future naval base for the upper Great Lakes. Certain people, notably Richard Cartwright, complained that roads linking existing communities would have been of greater benefit, but he did not have the defense of the province in mind.11 Simcoe was planning to extend Dundas Street to York, and ultimately Montreal and Burlington as soon as he could make the arrangements.

  The governor was feeling daily more unwell, mainly because of frustrations, first with Dorchester, and then with both His Lordship and the Duke of Portland. He had not been allowed independent departments. Requests for more troops brought some twenty recruits from England for the Queen’s Rangers, a mere token. He had made a plan to establish a Canadian Regiment, to be raised by his half-pay officers. On 30 June 1794 he had submitted a list of officers for the regiment, and suggested that Captain Justus Sherwood (Loyal Rangers) and Lieutenant Hazelton Spencer (King’s Royal Regiment of New York) had the contacts to recruit companies in the U
nited States! Not only was Simcoe depending on Americans as his main source of settlers; he hoped to entice some to come as soldiers:12

  Dorchester was upset when Simcoe allowed Berczy’s workers government rations. Provisions were only for troops. Government ships were there for the use of the army. His Lordship had relented and for three months he allowed the Queen’s Rangers to work on civil projects, but then he changed his mind and forbad such work.13

  With the withdrawal of the British regular regiments, Dorchester informed Simcoe that 100 Rangers were to be stationed in two blockhouses, on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, and 100 more

  were to be at Niagara.14 A bitter Simcoe poured out his feelings in a letter of protest. He had never disobeyed an order, and had done his best to carry out all instructions he had received. He particularly resented Dorchester taking over his very own regiment, sent for a specific task that had the sanction of the British government.15

  On 18 April the family moved to the yet unfinished Castle Frank. Francis was not well, and Elizabeth believed that “a change of air” would improve him. They divided the large room with sail cloth, and pitched a tent in the inner part where they slept on wooden beds. They returned to the garrison when the time drew near to move to Newark for the fifth and last session of the legislature that could be held there. Soon after they arrived, the tiny community was plunged into mourning by the death of John Butler, the founder of the Niagara settlement and colonel of his famous Rangers. He was buried with full military honours in the family plot on 15 May, Whitsunday.16