Arent Stevens from Schenectady, NY to Canada

    While researching Selah Murray Stevens; I came across a rootsweb website, in which his parents are thought to be Aaron or Arent Stevens and Maria Krysler. And, a wikitree website, questioning the parents of John Stevens, and introduces  Arent (Aaron) Stevens, a loyalist who was hung for treason after the War of 1812 - two reasons for not including him in an American Family Tree…

rootswebhttp://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/STEVENS-NY/2005-06/1120138680  According to the research [this person has] done, Aaron or Arent Stevens and Maria Krysler show up as the father of Selah Murray Stevens born abt 1785 in Hudson, Columbia, NY; he married Eliza Helm born abt 1787. They had a son John Helm Stevens born Oct 1, 1835 who married Adelaide M Parsons born April 12, 1840 and had Carlton Charles Stevens on Oct 2, 1864.

Note (Jody Gray): I have Selah Murray Stevens, b. 1799 m: Eliza Helm in 1821; I have, John Helm Stevens m: Adelaide M Parsons… Carlton Stevens… Nowhere have I found a Selah Murray Stevens b. Abt 1785 in Hudson, Columbia, NY.

Wikitreehttp://www.wikitree.com/g2g/167938/stephens-immigrated-guilford-connecticut-parentage-question Parentage in question

[His] Stevens line goes to John of Guilford through Thomas, then Jonathan of Schenectady, then Arent Stevens, his son Nicholas, his son Arent, his son Johannes (loyalists so rest in Canada) Erastus , then John, then Louis, then John, then Ron, to me… Arent  (Aaron) land transfer documents linking Erastus to Aaron who, along with Nicholas had been in Butler's Rangers, Indian affairs (hung for treason, 7/20/1814).  

1.Thomas Stevens 1630-1685 m: Mary Fletcher *Kent, England to CT

2.Jonathan Stevens 1675-1730, Schenectady, NY
3. Arent aka Aaron Stevens 1702-1758

4. Nicholas Stevens 1734-1788, Schenectady, NY to Canada  *Butler’s Rangers *killed in service

5. Aaron aka Arent Stevens 1762-1814, Schenectady, NY (hung for treason); Ontario, Canada *Butler’s Rangers
6. his son, Nicholas Stevens 1785-1866, Schenectady, NY m: Sarah J Markle 1784-1865 *daughter of Frederick and Rebecca (Pickard) Markle
6. his daughter, Catherine Stevens 1796-? m: Solomon O. Markle 1792-1874 *son of Frederick and Rebecca (Pickard) Markle

Descendants - Stevens

https://www.geni.com/people/arent-Stevens/6000000016774452365 (Arent) STEVENS *doesn’t list all his children
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~johnsonnewyork/Stevens/StevensDescendents.htm  Descendants of Jonathan Stevens - begins with 3rd Generation, Jonathan Stevens b. 1675 m: Lea Cornelise Van Slyke…

Adams-Merkley Family Tree on Ancestry.com

1.Thomas Stevens 1630, Middlesex, England - 1685, Killingworth, Middlesex, CT. (geni.com)

2.Jonathan Stevens 1675 - 1730, Schenectady Co, NY. m: Lea Cornelise Van Slyke (rootsweb)

3. Arent aka Aaron Stevens 1702-1758 married (2/3/1726, Schenectady, NY) Maritie Hall. *Interpreter, agent, and messenger among the Indians for Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1756-1774. *note, he died before William Johnson and before the Revolutionary War.

4.Nicholaas Stevens UEL (United Empire Loyalist) 1734, Schenectady, NY. - 1788, Ontario, Canada. *and served with Butler's Rangers. Interpreter Indian Department (like his father before him). Married: Margarita Mebie.

5.Aaron aka Arent Stevens 1762, Schenectady, NY. -1814, Burlington Heights, Ontario, Canada (hung for treason). *Joined His Majesty’s Forces [1778], appointed Commissary in the Indian Department (continued until 1785). Source: Land Petition #91 *Evacuation to Canada [12/1/1783], Return of persons under description of Loyalists in the Indian Dept. Niagara *married (2/4/1785, Albany, NY), Maria Crysler. *[8/17/1795] He is the only surviving person on his Father’s Family; has located only 200 acres which he has improved, has wife and 5 children. Recommended for 500 acres, 2/4/1797. Petition #91. *Petition for 200 acres for Maria Chrysler Stevens [5/12/1796], Aaron Stevens, served as Commissary in the Indian Dept during the American War; has six children. Ordered 7/12/1796. Petition #30. *Land Petition [2/4/1797], was commissary in the Indian Dept. during the war; father and brother both served and died without receiving lands; petitioner has 6 children, two born before 1789; pleased to grant him such addition. Ordered 300, 150, 200 acres. Petition #169. *Error of spelling on U.E. list [6/20/1800], Ontario, Canada, Arent Stevens instead of Aaron Stevens (which is the Dutch way of spelling that name). [Signed Aaron Stevens]. Ordered necessary alteration. Petition #61. *Land Patent, 450 acres [4/19/1801], Whitby, Durham, Ontario, Canada. *Will of Aaron Stevens [9/18/1813], whereby be devised to his sons, Nicholas, Adam, William, Joseph, Samuel, Daniel and Alexander, and to his daughters, Margaret, Catharine, Mary Anne, Elizabeth, and one “unnamed” admitted to be Jane.

It is possible that Arent Stevens was the father of Selah Murray Stevens, however, he is not listed among his children… *Sources: http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/firstsettlers/si_sw.html; geni.com; rootsweb… About the Website, Schenectady Digital History Archive, Genealogies of Descendants of the First Settlers of Schenectady: from Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady, from 1662 to 1800 by Jonathan Pearson (Albany, NY: J. Munsell, 1873).

Aaron aka Arent Stevens, is said to be the father of 13 children - I have assigned numbers to the following list of children, but they are not in order by birth because I cannot find birth dates for several of them.

7th Generation, children of 6.Aaron aka Arent Stevens

6.son of Aaron, Nicholas Stevens 1785, Schenectady, NY. - 1866, Niagara, Ontario, Canada. Married, Sarah Jane Markle (5th great-aunt) 1784, Schenectady, NY - 1865, Stamford, Ontario, Canada; daughter of Frederick Markle and Rebecca Pickard (5th great-grandparents).

6.daughter of Aaron, Catherine Stevens 1796 - ? married: Solomon Osterhout Markle (5th great-uncle);  1792, Niagara, Ontario, Canada - 3/23/1874, Ontario, Canada; son of Frederick Markle and Rebecca Pickard (5th great-grandparents)

Note (Jody Gray): In previous research of our Merkley Branch, I ran into Loyalist ancestors who ended up in Canada after the Revolutionary War; I found I had already entered Solomon and Sarah Markle in our Adams-Merkley Family Tree.

Markle in Canada

Heinrich Felix Merckel b. 1643, Germany d. 1723, Ulster, NY

https://www.geni.com/people/Heinrich-Merckel/6000000006972325681?through=6000000006972406027

Johann Friedrich Merckel b. 1669, Germany d. 1735, Ulster, NY m: Anna Barbara Keater (Alman) b. 1690, Germany d. 1710, Ulster, NY, daughter of Hans Michael Motz and Anna Maria Pfeiffer (Piper)

b. 1647, Alsace, France *daughter of Hans Pfeiffer b. 1622, Germany

Wilhelm Markle (Merckel) b. 7/12/1722 m: Sarah

Frederik Markle b. 1756, NY m: Rebecca Pickard b. 1769

Sarah Markle b. 1784 m: Nicholas Stevens *brother, Solomon Markle m: Catherine Stevens, daughter of Arent and Maria Stevens

Note (Jody Gray): geni.com Markle information added by Kris Stewart (2012), she is the source I used for our Merkley, Descendants of Heinrich Felix Merckel...

Historical information: The Trial and Execution of Aaron Stevens; http://hamiltonhistoricalboard.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/1814-Historicity-LO-RES.pdf  War of 1812, Trials, Treason against the Crown, Executions

    Aaron Stevens is a 52 year-old government employee who ironically is descended from a long line of men who demonstrate loyalty to the Crown. He is married to Maria Crysler, and they are the parents of 13 children. He confesses to being a spy, is found guilty of High Treason, and is hanged. After his death, the government confiscates his land, but friends and neighbors purchase the land back and give it to his widow.

    Traditionally, the full punishment for a crime of Treason against the Crown is a public spectacle that includes several steps. The traitor is first "drawn" - tied to wooden palette, which is dragged to the gallows by a horse. The traitor is then hanged, but is cut down still alive to be emasculated and disemboweled. Next, the entrails are burned, and the body "quartered" by tying each of its four limbs to a different horse and spurring them in different directions. Finally, the body is beheaded, and the head publicly displayed on the end of a pike.

    When the trials conclude on June 21, 15 of the 19 accused stand convicted of High Treason, and face the severest possible punishment of being "drawn and quartered." The judges, however, delay carrying out the sentences until July 20 to give the 15 convicted traitors an opportunity to seek Royal Mercy. The Attorney General, along with the presiding Justices meet with the Provincial Executive Council, and decide that 7 of the 15 convicted men will be saved from execution. As well, it is determined that the condemned men will simply be "hanged", rather than "drawn and quartered." The seven "spared" prisoners are turned over to the Sheriff at Kingston, but en route three attempt escape, and one is successful. Of the remaining 6 prisoners, three die in prison of typhus, and the other three are pardoned and exiled from the Province of Upper Canada.

The Executions: British Justice in Colonial Canada On July 20,1814 at Burlington Heights the executions of the 8 remaining convicted traitors is carried out. Death by hanging and decapitation of these convicted traitors ends the Ancaster "Bloody" Assize.

    An account by John Ryckman, who saw the executions as a teenager: I saw eight men executed at a spot just the other side of Locke Street near Dundurn. A rude gallows was prepared with eight nooses, and the victims were placed in two wagons, four in each, and drawn under the gallows. They stood upon boards laid across the wagon, and after the nooses had been adjusted the wagons were drawn away and the unfortunate traitors were left to strangle to death. The contortions of the poor men so shook the loosely constructed gallows that a heavy brace became loosened and fell, striking one of the victims on the head and killing him instantly, thus relieving him from the tortures of the rope. After the men had been duly strangled, their heads were chopped off and exhibited as the heads of traitors.

    Adam Crysler, listed on the Muster Roll of Captain John Crysler's Company of the second regiment of Lincoln Militia, is married with 9 children. His wife testifies for the defense of John Johnson and Isaac Petit in the trials, but cannot testify in her husband's defense as, by law her testimony is presumed prejudiced. He is hanged just 8 days past his 40th birthday.

https://books.google.com/books?id=xBEwAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA719&lpg=PA719&dq=Nicholas+Stevens+Aaron+Stevens&source=bl&ots=TmKbL1_hid&sig=_JcIOAxBoZ0bWq6wqRr7qdiNcPk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPzeLCpbfMAhVssoMKHdcDCjoQ6AEIRjAL#v=onepage&q=Nicholas%20Stevens%20Aaron%20Stevens&f=false

The Municipal Reports, Reports of Cases arising under municipal and school laws of Upper Canada. Pub. 1863. *This Case provides, proof of land in in Canada; the children (potential heirs) of Aaron Stevens...

Pg 717) 7/10/1801, the crown granted this land by patent to Aaron Stevens. He was convicted of high treason during the war States of America, in 1814, and was executed. The statue of Upper Canada… made provision for vesting in commissioners all such estates of traitors as had been or might hereafter be attained by inquisition as forfeited to his Majesty, and for satisfying all debts and claims thereupon, and appropriating the remainder of what this might produce to certain public purposes. In 1851, an act was passed which recites that Aaron Stevens had been lawfully convicted and attained of high treason, and had suffered capital punishment; whereby his real property had become forfeited, and had been in part taken upon inquisition found in that behalf, and seized into the hands of the crown: that her Majesty had been pleased to signify her pleasure that his attainder might be reversed, the corruption of blood consequent thereon taken away, and no further forfeiture enforced against such of his estates as had not already been forfeited and disposed of: and it was thereby enacted, that the attainder of Aaron Stevens should be reversed; and the corruption of blood and forfeiture wrought by the said attainder are thereby avoided and taken away, “so far as the same shall or may in anywise affect such portions of the estate of him and the said Stevens, as have not already been declared forfeited, and been sold under authority of law; and such portions of the estate of said Stevens, not already forfeited and sold as aforesaid,” are thereby vested in the same persons and parties, whether claiming by will or otherwise, in the same manner and with the same and no other effect or consequences as to the rights of third parties, as if he had died without being so attained: “provided always, nevertheless,” the act says, “that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to or affect any goods or chattels, lands or tenements, actually sold or conveyed by the said Commissioners of Forfeited Estates under the said act or otherwise, or by any public officer of minister of justice acting on on behalf of the crown in that behalf; but all such goods and chattels, lands and tenements, shall belong to the same parties, and be dealt with in all respects as if this act had not been passed.”

    The last clause enacts that the act and the reversal of attainder referred to, shall be construed and taken in the most large and beneficial sense and manner in favor of the heirs and assignees of the said Aaron Stevens.

    This action of ejectment was brought on the several demises of a great number of persons, children and grand-children of Aaron Stevens, and the husbands of some of them; all claiming an interest under a will of Aaron Stevens, alleged to have been made on the 18th of September, 1813, whereby be devised to his sons, Nicholas, Adam, William, Joseph, Samuel, Daniel and Alexander, and to his daughters, Margaret, Catharine, Mary Anne, Elizabeth, and one “unnamed” admitted to be Jane, their heirs and assigns forever, all his real and personal property, to be equally divided among them; and directed that if any of them should die before his decease, then his or her share be equally divided among the survivors, after just and lawful debts are paid.

    He appointed his wife and three other persons to be executors of his will, one of whom was John Chrysler, his wife’s brother.

    At the trial, before Draper, J., at Toronto, the will was produced, and one of the sons of Stevens swore that, about eighteen years ago, John Chrysler, who had since died, gave it to him, telling him his father had left it with him; that he gave the will to a brother, who kept it till he died, when it got into the possession of another brother; and the latter swore that he kept it until the time of the trial. There were three subscribing witnesses, who had all died, and the proof of the signatures of any of them was very defective: indeed no witness gave an opinion as to any of the signatures but one, that of the subscribing witness John Daly; and it was on account of the unsatisfactory nature of his evidence that it was attempted to rely on the will as a document proving itself. The learned judge, however, thought that there was evidence sufficient, if believe, to prove the signature of the subscribing witness Daly.

    It was sworn that Nicholas Stevens was the eldest son and heir of Aaron Stevens, though some doubts were thrown upon his legitimacy, as being born before the marriage of his parents; but on that point there was no precise testimony.

    The defendant claimed under a deed made to him by this Nicholas Stevens, of the land now in question, on the 21st of Nov., 1831, in fee, registered on the 2nd of Dec, 1831, which was produced and proved.

    The defendant’s counsel contended that this deed, being registered, must be allowed to prevail against the will, which had not been registered; that such is the effect of the late Registry Act, although the title had not been before a registered title.

    And he relied upon the statue which was put in evidence, reversing the attainder of Aaron Stevens, as making it indispensable, before any persons could make title as devisees under his will, that they should shew that the estate which they claimed had not been forfeited under his attainder and sold; for that the set, by its very terms, in only made to affect such unsold lands.

    The learned judge overruled the objection to the divisees’ title grounded on the non-registry of the will; but, with consent of the parties, directed a verdict for the defendant, subject to the opinion of the court on the effect of the statute, who were either to direct a general verdict for the plaintiffs, or a verdict for the plaintiffs upon such demise or demises as they should think right on the evidence, in case of the lessor of the plaintiffs, or any of them, being found entitled to recover… We cannot say whether the jury believed the evidence respecting the will, not whether it satisfied them that the will was duly executed… Indeed it can hardly be said that there was evidence given sufficient to convince the jury of the handwriting of any one of the three witnesses to the will… It as further objected that the other two subscribing witnesses were not accounted for… When the will is thirty years old that is not necessary, for the presumption is that they are dead… There is no proof here of any one having seen this will more than eighteen years ago…

    Make it necessary that the plaintiffs, claiming as devisees of the attainted traitor, should shew as part of their case in the first instance that the lands they are claiming form no part of his real estate that has been forfeited and sold; that they have not been returned by the commissioners of forfeited estates as having been found by inquisition to have been forfeited to His Majesty, and sold as such by the commissioners.

    ...No evidence whatever was offered on that point, and we think therefore the verdict was rightly entered for the defendant. Rule discharged. 

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~johnsonnewyork/Stevens/StevensDescendents.htm Descendants of Jonathan Stevens - 4 Aaron (Arent) STEVENS m: Maria Crysler

3 Niclaas (Nicolaas) STEVENS b: Nov 14, 1734 in Schenectady Co. NY d: Sep 19, 1788 in Ontario, Canada

........................ +Margarita MEBIE d: Aug 04, 1764

............................... 4 Aaron (Arent) STEVENS b: Abt. Sep 18, 1762 in Schenectady Co. NY d: Jun 13, 1838

................................... +Maria CRYSLER

........................................... 5 Nicholas STEVENS b: Dec 28, 1785 d: in Ontario, Canada

............................................... +Sarah (Markle)

...................................................... 6 John STEVENS

...................................................... 6 Benjamin STEVENS d: in Ontario, Canada

.......................................................... +Susannah

...................................................... *2nd Wife of Benjamin STEVENS:

.......................................................... +Sarah Jane WALKER b: in Scotland

................................................................. 7 Mary STEVENS b: 1856

................................................................. 7 Harvey STEVENS b: 1857

................................................................. 7 James S. STEVENS b: May 28, 1859 in Ontario, CANADA d: Sep 25, 1947 in Torrance, CA

..................................................................... +Anna Jane SMITH

............................................................................ 8 Raymond U. STEVENS b: Dec 20, 1882 in Pittsburgh, PA d: Feb 16, 1965 in Youngstown, Ohio

................................................................................ +Mary Ann PRITCHARD

............................................................................ 8 Gertrude STEVENS b: 1887

............................................................................ 8 Mary Francis STEVENS b: 1894 d: Sep 25, 1947 in Torrance, CA

................................................................. *2nd Wife of James S. STEVENS:

..................................................................... +Nellie MURPHY

................................................................. 7 Benjamin STEVENS b: 1862

................................................................. 7 Jane STEVENS b: 1863

................................................................. 7 John Ingles STEVENS b: 1865

................................................................. 7 Sarah Janette STEVENS b: 1867

................................................................. 7 Fannie Maria STEVENS b: 1870

........................................... 5 Johannes STEVENS b: Oct 30, 1787

........................................... 5 Adam Crysler STEVENS b: Sep 11, 1789

............................................... +Eliza ANDERSON b: 1801 in Niagra Twp, Lincoln Cty, Ontario

...................................................... 6 Rebecca STEVENS b: Jun 20, 1825 in Ontario d: Sep 06, 1866 in Madoc Twp, Hastings Cty, Ontario

.......................................................... +Henry DINGMAN b: Mar 19, 1819 in Marysburg Twp, Prince Edward Cty, Ontario

........................................... 5 Joseph STEVENS

........................................... 5 William STEVENS

........................................... 5 Margaret STEVENS

........................................... 5 Catherine STEVENS

........................................... 5 Samuel Thompson STEVENS

........................................... 5 Mary Ann STEVENS

........................................... 5 Alexander STEVENS

........................................... 5 Daniel STEVENS

............................... *2nd Wife of Aaron (Arent) STEVENS:

................................... +Maria VAN SICKLER

........................................... 5 William Alexander STEVENS b: Sep 30, 1804 d: 1902

............................................... +Elizabeth VAN VRANKEN b: 1807 d: 1872

...................................................... 6 Aaron Richard STEVENS b: Mar 1824 in NY d: 1902

.......................................................... +Phoebe Marie HEDDEN b: Nov 1829 d: 1906

................................................................. 7 George H. STEVENS b: Aug 1848 d: 1928

..................................................................... +Cornelia M. BUTLER b: Aug 1852 in Ohio

............................................................................ 8 Elizabeth B. STEVENS b: 1877

............................................................................ 8 Edward R. STEVENS b: Jan 1882

................................................................. 7 Charles Henry STEVENS b: 1850

..................................................................... +Ida HAWKINS

................................................................. 7 Ida Elizabeth STEVENS b: 1852 d: 1945

..................................................................... +Simeon B. BEEBE b: 1833 d: 1927

................................................................. 7 Alfred STEVENS b: Mar 31, 1854 in Saratoga, NY d: Jun 20, 1890

..................................................................... +Hannah SAGER b: Mar 1854

............................................................................ 8 Peter Bradt STEVENS b: Mar 12, 1881 d: Apr 26, 1936

................................................................................ +Elizabeth Genevieve SMITH b: Dec 05, 1885 in Troy, NY d: Jan 26, 1932

............................................................................ 8 Alfred STEVENS b: Apr 13, 1886 d: Oct 14, 1887

............................................................................ 8 Earl B. STEVENS b: May 1889 d: 1972

................................................................................ +Clara W. b: 1890 d: 1989

................................................................. 7 David STEVENS b: 1856

................................................................. 7 Elsie Marie STEVENS b: 1859

..................................................................... +Charles Edward BUTLER b: 1857 d: 1901

................................................................. *2nd Husband of Elsie Marie STEVENS:

..................................................................... +Walter WELLMAN

................................................................. 7 Frank Richard STEVENS b: Jan 1861 in NY d: 1930

..................................................................... +Minnie KITCHEN b: Jun 1866

............................................................................ 8 Clyde V. STEVENS b: Aug 1891

............................................................................ 8 Ethel M. STEVENS b: Nov 1894

............................................................................ 8 Harold STEVENS b: May 1897

............................................................................ 8 Mabel E. STEVENS b: Sep 1899

*2nd Wife of Arent (Aaron) STEVENS:

............. +Mary GRIFFITHS b: 1719 d: Jul 02, 1794

.................... 3 Maria STEVENS b: Oct 20, 1750 in Schenectady, NY

........................ +John STUART

............................... 4 James STUART b: Jan 12, 1773

............................... 4 Catarina STUART b: Sep 23, 1774

............................... 4 Arent STUART b: Aug 23, 1777

............................... 4 Abraham STUART b: Dec 12, 1781

............................... 4 Judith STUART b: Oct 13, 1783

............................... 4 Nicolaas Stevens STUART b: Jan 25, 1789

................................... +Isabella WATSON

........................................... 5 Catherne STUART b: Bet. 1804 - 1808

........................................... 5 Mary (Polly) STUART b: Feb 15, 1810 d: Oct 06, 1887

............................................... +Sylvester CRAIG

Chrysler, Maria (Stevens)

Mentioned in the Upper Canada Land Petition of Aaron Stevens dated at Niagara on 12 May 1796 [using a pre-printed form with fill-ins]

“The Petition of Aaron Stevens, late Commissary in the Indian Department, whose wife Maria Stevens is Daughter of Adam Crysler late Lieut in the Indian Depart, & has received 200 acres in his own Right—Respectfully shews, That your petitioner is settled on the lands of the Crown in this Province, being in a condition to cultivate and improve the same. That he has taken the usual oaths, & is ready to subscribe the declaration, that he professes the Christian Religion, and obedience to the laws, and has lived inoffensively in the country. Prays your Excellency, would be pleased to grant him 200 acres for his wife, and a further allotment for himself & family upon the terms and conditions expressed in your Excellency’s proclamation bearing date the 7th day of February, 1792, or such other quantity of land as to your Excellency in your wisdom may think meet. And your petitioner as in duty bound will ever pray.” [Unsigned] Added note: “Petitioner has Six children” Read in the Executive Council on 12 Jul. Ordered wants the certificate. [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “S” Bundle 2, Petition Number 30]

Certificate of Ralfe Clench dated at Newark on 4 Feb 1797 attached to the Upper Canada Land Petition of Aaron Stevens

“The Bearer Mr Arent Stevens served during the late American War, as Commissary to the Six Nations Indn Dept at this Post, his Father Nicholas Stevens as Interpreter, his brother Mr. John Stevens as Secretary, both of whom died since the war and both in the service at their deaths—The Bearer is married to the daughter of the deceased Lieut Adam Chrysler, who served as Lieutenant in the Six Nation Indn Department and died since the war. —had two Children previous to the year 1789. [Signed Ralfe Clench, Clerk of the Peach &c HD” [Upper Canada Land Petitions LAC “S” Bundle 2, Petition Number 169b]

Historical Information: Canajoharie and Mohawk Valley; included as it pertains to the historical “characters” - Arent Stevens, Sir William Johnson, Joseph Brant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canajoharie,_New_York

Canajoharie, a town in Montgomery County, NY; settled as European-American jurisdictions, named for the historic Mohawk village by the same name. Anglo-Europeans began settling in the area around 1730… Because the Mohawk and three other Iroquois nations were allied with the British during the Revolutionary War, they were forced to cede most of their lands in New York after the United States victory.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Brant  Joseph Brant (1743-1807): a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution… he met many of the most significant Anglo-American people of the age, including both George Washington and King George III… His sister, Molly Brant, was the consort of Sir William Johnson… During the American Revolutionary War, Brant led Mohawk and colonial Loyalists against the rebels… after the war, he relocated with most of his people to Canada to the Six Nations Reserve...

Other notes for Arent Stevens (b. 1702), son of Jonathan (b. 1675) *not Arent aka Aaron b. 1762 (hung for treason): He owned lands, and for some time resided at Canajoharie (refer to the Historical entry, above) http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/firstsettlers/si_sw.html Schenectady Digital History Archive ARENT, son of Jonathan, m. first, Maritie, dau. of Willem Hall, Feb. 3, 1726; she d. Dec. 23, 1739, in her 42d year; he m. secondly, Mary Griffiths, wid. of Lieut. Thomas Burrows, Feb. 4, 1749/50; she d. July 2, 1794, a. 75ys.; he d. May 15, 1758. Arent Stevens, for more than 20 years before his death, acted as an Indian interpreter, and was often employed by Sir William Johnson in negotiations with the different tribes. He owned lands, and for some time resided at Canajoharie.

Arent Stevens, interpreter, agent, and messenger among the Indians.... for Sir William Johnson, Baronet, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1756-1774...

The History of Montgomery County. Names of Patents or Tracts,

Stephens Patent, Arent Stephens, July 16, '42 (1742), 1,200 Northampton. Northampton Pt. http://threerivershms.com/beerslandgrts.htm The Town of Johnstown (Fulton County).... The following entry, History of Fulton County, covers Arent Stevens and the Kingsborough Patent, 10/19/1752.

Historical Information: https://books.google.com/books?id=3QNIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA325&lpg=PA325&dq=arent+stevens+Fulton+County&source=bl&ots=wviBpq3jIW&sig=vM-sf0vZcAJLlFK_FkVz6YqY2yI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzjOy_m7fMAhVlt4MKHVIqCWAQ6AEIMTAD#v=onepage&q=arent%20stevens%20Fulton%20County&f=false History of Fulton County: Embracing Early Discoveries. Pub 1892. (pg 324) Introduces, Arent Stevens (b. 1702) interpreter, agent, and messenger among the Indians; Sir William Johnson, Baronet, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
The territory, part of which forms the site of Gloversville and purporting to be 20,000 acres, was purchased of the Indians, 10/19/1752, by Arent Stevens and nine others; and with the confirmation of that purchase by the governor, 6/23/1753, begins the feudal tenure of the Kingsborough farms.

    The original Indian deed, the petition for confirmation, and the grant by the government, may still be seen in the office of the secretary of state… The above mentioned grant is absolute and without reserve, but it is neither made to Arent Stevens and his associates nor to Johnson [Sir William Johnson, Baronet, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1756-1774], who probably paid the price of purchase; but to “our said most gracious sovereign King George the Second,” in whose name Stevens and Douw Fonda in behalf of the rest, had made the purchase… The purchasers represent the average population in the neighborhood. They were Arent Stevens, Barent Vrooman… Arent Stevens was his [William Johnson] interpreter, agent, and messenger among the Indians.... [the deed] called the “Kingsborough Grant.” ...How long Arent Stevens and the ten held the property is not known… All titles in the valley then rested upon royal grants… but Kingsborough, purchased by Stevens in 1752, has been confused with Kingsland, granted to Sir William as a special reward in 1769… The government was already jealous of the large landholders, of whom Johnson, even before the Kingsborough tract was granted, was chief, and hence license to purchase Indian lands in parcels was only obtained with difficulty, which indeed in 1763 became, by proclamation of the governor, an absolute prohibition, so that Johnson’s Kingsland estate only came into his possession by special grant as an exceptional reward for brilliant service.

    The landholders of Gloversville may be amused to know that their property was originally granted by King George “to be holden of us and our Heirs and Successors in free and common Soccage [a feudal tenure, under which the rent is fixed and definite] -it bound Johnson to the king, and he in the same manner bound himself the tenants to whom he granted leases as of our Manor of East Greenwich, in the county of Kent, yielding at our Custom House, in our city of New York, on the feast of Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, commonly called Lady Day, the yearly Rent of two shillings and sixpence for each and every hundred acres, except the highways,” and that it was forbidden to cut trees above a certain size, or shape suitable for the knees of vessels, all of which were reserved for the king’s use in shipbuilding.

    ...A body of men to which the strictest personal dependence was perfectly familiar, and which was separated in language and religion from all other inhabitants of the valley, was ready to begin tenantry. They were Gaelic speaking Highlanders, who, after the ruin of the Pretender’s cause at Culloden, had been exiled to America. They had been treated cruelly, and did not forget the lesson they had learned, but in the breaking up of their clans and the loss of their hereditary chiefs they were ready for the control of a man like Johnson. [Macaulay in his history of England], after drawing a vivid picture of the Highlands before 1745, expressly compares the inhabitants who were the ancestors of the Kingborough men, to American savages. An observer, he says, would have found the character of the Highlanders “closely intermingled the good and bad qualities of an uncivilized nation. He would have found that the people had no love for their country or for their king; that they had no attachment to any commonwealth larger than the clan, or to any magistrate superior to the chief. He would have learned that a stab in the back, or a shot from behind a fragment of rock, were approved modes of taking satisfaction for insults. He would have heard men relate boastfully how they or their fathers had wreaked on hereditary enemies in a neighboring valley such vengeance as would have made old soldiers of the Thirty Years War shudder. He would have been struck by the spectacle of athletic men basking in the sun, angling for salmon, or taking aim at grouse, while their aged mothers, their wives, and their tender daughters were reaping the scanty harvest of oats. Yet even here there was some compensation. It must in fairness be acknowledged that the patrician virtues were not less widely diffused than the patrician vices. A gentleman of Sky or Lochaber, whose clothes were begrimed with the accumulated filth of years, and whose hovel smelt worse than an English hog-sty, would often do the honors of that hovel with a lofty courtesy worthy of the splendid circles of Versailles. When the English condescended to think of him at all, and it was seldom that they did so, they considered him as a filthy savage, a cut-throat and a thief. A Macdonald or a Macgregor in his tartan was to a citizen of Edinburg or Glasgow what an Indian hunter in his warpaint is to an inhabitant of Philadelphia or Boston. Artists and actors” (in the sentimental period afterwards) “represented Bruce and Douglas in striped petticoats. They might as well have represented Washington brandishing a tomahawk and girt with a string of scalps.” The Macdonalds, from which clan many of Johnson’s Kingsborough tenants came, were among the most powerful and warlike of all the Highlanders. To them belonged some of the wildest valleys and most inaccessible retreats of Scotland; also the Western island, Sky and Mull, the valleys of Ben Nevis, and the Grampian Hills. Their chieftain claimed the proud title of “The Lord of the Isles” and hated the Campbells who had usurped it. A maiden of their name and race, Flora Macdonald, had gained fame by aiding the escape of the Pretender after Culloden, while the son of an exiled clansman became one of the Marshals of France.

Pg 329) Johnson and His Sway… served him equally well when dealing with his Highland retainers. Their faithfulness to his son in the dark days of the Revolution is really a tribute to the father’s genius. The feudal period, however, was brief (less than twenty years), but while it lasted, the Kingsborough farms were held by loyal followers of the chief, sturdy fighters and unquestioning partisans…. [they had to clear the land… we hear nothing of schools or even of religious service (they were members of the Roman Catholic church but unorganized in the northern colonies)... houses were log huts].

    For Johnson… those were glorious and heroic days. He became a great military hero and led the savages to the defence of British interests. Assisted by the New England men he won the famous victory at Lake George, and also captured Fort Niagara… At last Fort Niagara fell and then Quebec. The troops came home again and Johnson… began to build his house on the land he had bought ten years previously of Arent Stevens… To picture life during the peaceful days of the Kingsborough settlement we cannot do better than to follow the children of these same Highlanders to their quiet Nova Scotia villages… it is isolated from the world, and they are Gaelic-speaking Scotchmen still… faithful adherents to the Roman Catholic faith, farmers and fishermen whose simple self-dependent life presents a striking contrast with the feverish activity of the outer world.

    ...The democratic spirit was rapidly increasing in the Mohawk valley, and while loyalty to the king was in common parlance, there were open threats of opposition to his advisers. The Albany Congress of 1754 had opened the eyes of the colonists to the possibilities of strength in union, and race prejudices helped the growing discontent.... Johnson died [1774, at Johnson Hall and his home was seized as Loyalist property by the State of New York; there was an exodus of Loyalists to Canada, including the remaining Johnson family, during and after the Revolution. The Battle of Johnstown, 10/25/1781 was one of the last battles of the war. The victory of Colonel Marinus Willett's American forces effectively ended the fighting in the Mohawk Valley *http://www.fultoncountyny.gov/index.php?word=departments/historian.php]… [his] degenerate son hesitated, temporized, and at last broke his parole, and fled to Canada, and with him went the loyal Kingsborough tenantry.... It may seem strange that the Highlanders who had fought so fiercely to overthrow George Second, should be so ready to take up arms for George Third, but it was really true to character. They cared little for the government, but everything for their leader… they were Johnson’s men, and where he went they followed. In the barbarous forays by which Sir John Johnson laid waste his native valley, and killed his former friends and neighbors, they bore a congenial part. Disguised as savages they shot and scalped, enacting the Indian role with more than savage spirit, and rendering the names of Johnson and Kingsboro detested in the valley.

    In May, 1777, the final Tory exodus took place. The men of the settlement had gone to Canada with Sir John in his precipitate flight the year previously, but the women and children remained, and the settlement became at once a center of information and the base of supplies to the enemy. Spies and messengers came and went.... a nest of treason… [they could not kill women and children] but it was decided to remove them to a place where they could do no harm… Jacobites in Scotland, and Tories in America, they had twice joined their fortunes with a sinking cause.

    All the vast estates of the Johnsons were confiscated. The innocent suffered with the guilty. There were to be no more great holdings in the Mohawk country, and no more “loyal tenants.” Thenceforth the freeholder took the place of the soccager, and democracy expelled feudalism.

Sources, Loyalists in Canada

https://sites.google.com/site/niagarasettlers/petitions-chewett-to-claus

Niagara Settlers. Land Petitions of The Niagara Settlers.

http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/loy/overview.shtml

Olive Tree - Loyalists Genealogy. *Butler’s Rangers… The settlements in Canada by religion and military officers... By 1784, Loyalists could return to the U.S.A. without fear of persecution or physical assault, and many did. Those who stayed in Canada were granted land… Aaron Stevens was first granted land 7/10/1801.

Blog Post (Historical Misc): Loyalists

http://historicalandmisc.blogspot.com/2016/05/loyalists.html

The Loyalists of Massachusetts… Pub. 1910 -Biographies: James Murray. Colonel John Murray Athol Family" of Scotland,  *Robert Paddock, Zachariah b. 1636, Deblois Family, Stephens. John (Stephens/Stevens), Stevens. Aaron…

Linked to Blog Post (Gray-Piper): Ulster Sails West http://gray-adamsfamily.blogspot.com/2016/03/ulster-sails-west.html  History of Fulton County: Embracing Early Discoveries. Pub 1892. Includes the “character” of the Scotland Highlanders who were tenant farmers of Kingborough under the supervision of Sir William Johnson. They were Gaelic speaking Highlanders, who, after the ruin of the Pretender’s cause at Culloden, had been exiled to America. The Macdonalds, from which clan many of Johnson’s Kingsborough tenants came, were among the most powerful and warlike of all the Highlanders.

Note (Jody Gray): 10/2/2016, I made changes to this Blog Post after receiving family records that provided the parents of Selah Murray Stevens. Refer to Blog Post: Descendants of Airard Fitz Stephens, b. 1036. connects the Stevens and Helme Family by marriage of Selah Murray Stevens to Elizabeth aka Eliza Helm
http://gray-adamsfamily.blogspot.com/2016/06/descendants-of-airard-fitz-stephens.html … Stephens/Stevens Family Lineage: (father to son)