Loyalist William How(e) of Kingston... Who Are Your Parents?

One of the many reasons I write these posts is to help me record my thoughts concerning research that either has me stumped or has been tricky to resolve. This post is about the former.

In my researching of The Fair Captive I was finally able to add the oldest son of Caleb How(e)¹ and Jemima Sawtelle, William. Based on various material I came across documenting the story of Jemima, it would appear that William was born about 1747.

Daniel Wait Howe, Howe Genealogies. This Volume Contains the Genealogy of John Howe of Sudbury and Marlborough, Massachusetts, Gilman Bigelow Howe, editor, (Haverhill, Massachusetts: Record Publishing Company, 1929), children of Caleb Howe and Jemima Sawtelle, p. 46; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/howegenealogiesb01howe/page/n7/mode/2up : accessed 27 May 2020).

Of course, once I recorded that information into my cousin-bait tree on Ancestry, hints started appearing for him including trees having him residing in what later became Kingston, Ontario, Canada. For those that know me, when it comes to my genealogy research one of my research mantras is "Trust know one, verify everything, and even if it's written in stone it might be wrong." So when I saw some people connecting William Howe to Caleb and Jemima Howe of Vermont as his parents I got very interested in finding out their sources and hopefully confirming (refuting would be OK also) that supposed connection.

The first possible clue from the Howe Genealogies is that William was a tory and went to Nova Scotia. That sounds like a Loyalist to me. But, much like his younger brother Caleb, my 5th great-grandfather, William appears to have fallen off the face of the Earth or at least disappeared from the United States of America. Even in Emma Lewis Coleman's work New England Captives Carried to Canada Between 1677 and 1760 During the French and Indian War, Vol. 2 beyond stating William's age when captured and then the ransom paid by Colonel Schuyler nothing else is mentioned about William. So my usually method of following a person from cradle to grave isn't going to work. Instead I'm going to start with the William Howe that ended up in the Kingston, Ontario, Canada area and see if the records about him mention anything about his parents or clues are offered up by the names of his children.

Several of the trees had images for land petitions made by his children and wife. The bottom of the images they had a source description like this:

Image from the bottom of the microfilmed image from Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865), H Bundle (1806-1807), RG1 L3 Vol 226, petition 71; Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-2046, image 55.

From that I knew that the source of these images was from the Library and Archives "Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865" database and archived microform collection. With a bit of searching I was able to create a table of those names of interest and the details needed to find them in microfim (the page number was added after I found the petition):

Surname	Given Name(s)	Place	Year	Volume	Bundle	Petition	Page(s)	Reference	Microfilm
HOWE	Mathew	Kingston	1798	224A	H 4	81	607-614	RG 1 L3	C-2044
HOWE/VANORDER	Margaret	Kingston	1806	226	H 8	71	55-56	RG 1 L3	C-2046
HOWE/GALLOWAY	Margaret	Kingston	1807	226	H 8	99	158-159	RG 1 L3	C-2046
HOWE/BUCK	Eve	Kingston	1808	226	H 8	112	217-219	RG 1 L3	C-2046
HOWE/DENYLA	Jane	Kingston	1809	226	H 9	44	475-476	RG 1 L3	C-2046
HOWE	Peter	Kingston	1810	226A	H 9	85	649-652	RG 1 L3	C-2046
HOWE	George	Kingston	1811	226A	H 9	92	682-684	RG 1 L3	C-2046
HOWE	John W.	Kingston	1849	247	H 5	44	237-271	RG 1 L3	C-2101
HOWE	Daniel	Kingston	1797	224	H 3	135	119-122	RG 1 L3	C-2044
HOWE	Margaret		1797	224	H 3	57	840-841	RG 1 L3	C-2043

Some of the entries, such as Eve Howe/Buck, Jane Howe/Denyla, and John W. Howe, I've not confirmed are connected to the William Howe family since they don't reference William How(e) directly. Since I wasn't planning on going down the rabbit hole of completely documenting this William Howe family I haven't dug into those names. In each case I retrieved the multiple pages for each petition to see what clues were presented aside from the family connection. I also referenced William D Reid's book The Loyalists In Ontario to aid in my searching where we find William Howe listed along with his children that were mentioned in the Orders-in-Council records:

William D. Reid, The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of the American Loyalists of Upper Canada, ( Lambertville , New Jersey: Hunterdon House, 1973), p.157, HOWE, William of Kingston; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/49231/: accessed 18 May 2020).

The petition for Margaret Howe/Vanorder was important since it established that Margaret was the daughter of Mathew Van order and the widow of William Howe. This will become important later on.

Upper Canada Land Petitions, 1763-1865, petition of Margaret Howe Widow of William Howe and Daughter of Mathew Vanorder, dated 24 Jan 1807; RG 1 L3, C-2046, images 55; Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

The petition signed by Matthew Howe and Daniel Howe dated 15 Jul 1797 also provided a few clues about William:

• he died about 1795,
• he had joined the British Forces and did Garrison Duty in the Embodied Loyalists at New York, and
• he arrived in the province, now known as Upper Canada, in 1783.

Upper Canada Land Petitions, 1763-1865, Volume 224, "H" Bundle 3, 1797, petition 135, for Daniel Howe; RG 1 L3, C-2044, image 120; Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

The separate land petition submitted in by his son Mathew in 1798 was interesting not from what was written but the response by the Land Board. In his petition he wrote:

"That your Petitioners Father served during the War as a Lieutenant of Embodied Loyalists and is Since deceased in this Country..."

Mathew even had statements from David Babcock and John Burnett attesting that William Howe served under Major Ward in Captain Hamilton's Company as a Lieutenant of Embodied Loyalists from the time of the Action of the Blockhouse. However, as you can see in the image below, the board didn't accept that proof his William's rank as a Lieutenant, "There must be better proof of W^m Howe's having been a Lieut".

Upper Canada Land Petitions, 1763-1865, Volume 224a, "H" Bundle 4, 1798, petition 81, for Mathew Howe; RG 1 L3, C-2044, image 614; Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

Yes, even with his rank not accepted, the petition of Mathew gives another clue about William:

• he was at the "Action of the Blockhouse".

It didn't take too much digging to find this action for it seems it was the Battle of Bull's Ferry that took place in New Jersey in Bergen Township along the Hudson River opposite New York City on 20-21 Jul 1780. A stockade, the "Blockhouse", was held by 70 loyalists commanded by Thomas Ward and successfully held off the attacks by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne and his men. Could William have been made a lieutenant and placed in the chain of command of these men? Possibly, but I've not yet seen any documents such as an after action report that substantiates the claim. The story of "The Block House in Bergen Wood" was told by Dr. H. H. Burleigh in an address on 3 Mar 1965 to the Bay of Quinte Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.

Based on these petitions we have William Howe in the New York City area in 1780s and he has been acknowledged as a Loyalist.

What can I find in New York City for that time?

Knowing the name of his wife, Margaret Vanorder, I put the following information in to the search on Ancestry:

• Surname: Howe
• Father's Name: William Howe
• Mother's Name: Margaret
• Born: 1777
• Collection: United States

I was pleasantly surprised when I got results from the "U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989" collection for baptisms of several children: Mathew (born 1774, baptized 1775), Mary Magdalen (1776), Daniel (1778), Margareth (1780). The baptism of Mathew was particularly interesting due to one of the sponsors:

"Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989," database and images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 May 2020), entry for Matthew, child of William Howe and wife Margareth; citing New York City Lutheran, Volume 1, Book 85, p 517 [stamped], New York City, New York.

I wonder, could this Matthew Van Orden be related to Margareth? Could he be the Mathew Vanorder listed in Margaret Howe's land petition?

A bit more digging through the records I find what appears to be record for the marriage of William How and Margareth Van Orden on 24 Sep 1770.

"Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989," database and images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 May 2020), entry for William How and Margareth Van Orden, married 24 Sep 1770; citing Holland Society of New York; New York, New York; New York City Lutheran, Vol III, Book 87, p 103 [stamped].

As an aside, I also came across the baptism of their first son, Robert Albert, in that collection. What got me was the note above the entry, "married in September 1770 Who can help it?"

"Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989," database and images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 May 2020), entry for Robert Albert, child of William Howe and wife Margareth; citing New York City Lutheran, Volume 1, Book 85, p 495 [stamped], New York City, New York.

Unfortunately, Robert Albert Howe was buried on 9 Sep 1772.

Based on what I found in this collection and in the land petitions and and Land Boards of Upper Canada, 1765-1804 databases the children of William Howe and Margareth Van Orden that were born in New York appear to be:

• Robert Albert (1770-1772)
• Elizabeth
• Mathew (1774-)
• Mary Magdalen (1776-)
• Daniel (1778-)
• Margareth (1780-)
• William (1783-)

Sons Peter (1786-) and George, which I found via other trees and records, appear to have been born after the family left New York City. Keep in mind that I'm not researching the family so I haven't kept looking for death dates for those that left New York. However, it seems that Mary Magdalen and Margareth may have passed away in New York since I haven't found them named in land or other Loyalist claimant documents. The burial registrations for the New York Lutheran Church that Ancestry has end in 1775.

Can we find this family leaving New York?

The baptism record from 1783 for their son, William, holds a useful clue.

"Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989," database and images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 May 2020), entry for William, child of William Howe and wife Margareth; citing New York City Lutheran, Volume 1, Book 85, p 585 [stamped], New York City, New York.

It appears that the family was still in New York in Oct 18, 1783.

After a bit of searching and following the various leads when sources were provided I came across the "HMS Amphitrite, Capt. Robert Briggs" under Wallace Hale's Fort Havoc pages hosted by the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. There recorded, along with the other passengers, was a William Howe and family:

Name	Women	Ch. above 8 years	Ch. under 8 years
Howe, William	1	2	2

If you have gotten this far, you know that I like to find the source of the documents, and if at all possible, save the images to my computer. The transcription stated that the information came from the Amos Botsford papers. That led me to the "Finding aid no. 525 to the Amos Botsford and Family fonds" on Heritage. I don't know about you but manually reviewing 536 images for a single line is a bit of a drudge. Lucky for us that there is a subject matter index for the fonds and for 19 Oct 1782 it had "Return of men, women and children arrived at Annapolis from New York (the list gives names of the men, with numbers of women and children)." and it could be found on page 108-111. A quick hop and jump and on page 111 near the bottom I found a William Howe and family.

Return of Men, Women & Children arrived at Annapolis from New York 19th Octr 1782, p. 111, MG 23, D 4 - Finding aid no. 525 to the Amos Botsford and Family fonds, microfilm H-1687, image 280; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network, Canadiana Héritage (heritage.canadiana.ca : accessed 27 May 2020).

Assuming that Elizabeth was born about 1772 (based on the gap between Robert and Mathew, and other trees on Ancestry), this would appear to be the right family consisting of William, his wife Margareth, Elizabeth and Mathew, and Daniel and William.

Only one problem!

If the baptism record for William Howe is correct then this isn't the family of William Howe and Margaret Van Orden. The family was still in New York City in 1782. Now it gets to be a challenge since there might be two Loyalist William Howe families floating around at this time in history in the New York area.

I next turned to the Loyalists landing page at Library and Archives Canada for ideas. The first place I checked was the Carleton Papers – Loyalists and British Soldiers, 1772-1784. After checking the various returned items one stood out:

Item: William HOW (27873)

Given Names(s): William

Surname: HOW

Gender: Male

Destination: Nova Scotia

Type of Document: Return of Loyalists

Date (yyyy/mm/dd) : 1782-09-22

Additional Information: LIST OF LOYALISTS FOR NOVA SCOTIA;WITH ONE WOMAN AND TWO CHILDREN

Place where the Document was Created: New York

Document Page Number: 5663 (2)

Fonds: British Headquarters Papers (Carleton Papers or American Manuscripts)

Microfilm: M-357

Reference: MG23 B1

Item Number: 27873

It is around the right time and place but the additional information only states with one woman and two children. We seem to be two children short. Regrettably, viewing this microfilm will have to wait since the M microfilms are only at Library and Archives Canada and it may be sometime before they reopen to the public.

However, is this referring to the other William How(e) that arrived in 1782? Might this be the family that is connected to the Caleb and Jemima Howe family and not the family that settled in the Kingston area?

I did find a William Howe/How of the New York Volunteers in the Loyalists in the Maritimes — Ward Chipman Muster Master's Office, 1777–1785 database at Library and Archives Canada. However, after viewing the record on Heritage in microfilm "Ward Chipman (senior and junior) fonds : C-9818" on image 426 it looks like it is written as "Wm Haws". But I can't discount it yet.

The next resource I checked was the Sir Frederick Haldimand (MG21) collection. The link to the index of Loyalists brought me to microfilm C-1475 on Heritage. It didn't take too much work to find the entries for How(e).

Name	Volume	Page	Film	Image	Notes
Howe, William	167	155h2	H-1654	1058	Sir William
Howe, William	167	156a	H-1654	1062	Sir William Howe
Howe, William	167	168	H-1654	1080	General How
Howe, William	167	353	H-1655	39	Refugees from New York at Sorell and Yamaska 25 Dec 1783
Howe, William	168	81	H-1655	196	Return of Disbanded Troops & Loyalists settled in Township No 1 Cataraqui Mustered 9th Oct 1784
Howe, Mrs.	166	161	H-1654	782	Dated 7 Dec 1783 at "Sorell" [Sorel, Quebec] signed by Will How

With much assistance from Lorine McGinnis Schulze's Olive Tree Genealogy post Finding a Loyalist in the Haldimand Papers (Loyalist Research Part 6) I was able to quickly determine which microfilms I needed to review on the Heritage site.

I knew I could discount the mentions of Sir William or General How but the other entries got my attention. Could they be the same William Howe family that settled in the Kingston area that we have been chasing?

I'm fairly certain that this is the family that we started with in Kingston.

Only one problem! (again)

And this is the really frustrating part of doing genealogy and family history research.

I'm still no closer to establishing that this William Howe that settled in Township No. 1 Cataraqui, now the Kingston area of Ontario, Canada, is the same person as the son of Caleb and Jemima (Sawtelle) Howe. Even worse, there may be another Loyalist William Howe family out there. It might be this other William Howe family that I need to be finding.

If anyone reading this can help me in the conundrum, please leave a comment. I'd like to hear from you.

Here is a list of some of the sources I consulted in addition to the ones I've mentioned or linked to in the body of this post:

• The Centennial Committee, The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784-1884. The Celebrations at Adolphustown, Toronto and Niagara, with an Appendix., (Toronto, Ontario: Rose Publishing Company, 1885), p.196, entry for Wm. Howe; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/cu31924028900475/page/n6/mode/2up : accessed 19 May 2020).
• "Herbert Clarence Burleigh fonds - Family files series - Howe." Supplied by Queen's University Archives, Kingston, Ontario. 2014; digital images, Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/hcbhowe2/page/n1/mode/2up : accessed 19 May 2020).
• Isaac W. Hammond, editor, The State of New Hampshire. Miscellaneous Provincial and State Papers 1725-1800, Vol 18, (Manchester, New Hampshire: John B. Clarke, 1890), p.495, ransom of William Howe and sundry express submitted by Colonel Schuyler; digital images, Google Books (https://books.google.ca/books?id=XfM7AAAAIAAJ : accessed 20 May 2020).
• Ontario Department of Lands and Forests : Loyalist List, microfilm C-2222; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network, Canadiana Héritage (heritage.canadiana.ca : accessed 27 May 2020).
• The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies - page for Loyal Refugee Volunteers History
• United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada website

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1. The spelling of the name "Howe" varies in the early documents and I have seen it recorded as "How" and "Howe". From this point on, I will generally be using "Howe" unless specifically referring to a document with a different spelling.