James Kerr

     James Kerr was born in December 1754 at Dumfriesshire, Scotland; Supposedly, James Kerr was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. In search for proof of this, Hoddam Parish records were searched for a sign of Kerrs in or around Ecclefechan. A baptism for James s/o Thomas Kerr, merchant of Ecclefechan, was dated 16 Dec 1754. From James' own letter to Nicholas Olding in 1826, he said he entered his "72nd year last December" giving us a birthdate of December 1754. The Kerrs were not prevalent in that area, so this could prove to be a much needed baptism. Family lore has dictated that the father of Captain James Kerr was also a James Kerr, but no evidence points in that direction. No baptisms were located to substantiate the births of Jennet, Mary and Margaret Kerr whose birthes were said to have occurred in Ecclefechan.¹ He was the son of Thomas Kerr. James Kerr was baptized on 16 December 1754 at Hoddam Parish Records, Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.¹ He married Elizabeth Brown, daughter of John Brown and Margaret Rozelle, on 10 July 1782 at New York. James Kerr died on 6 June 1830 at Amherst, Cumberland Co, Nova Scotia, at age 75; DIED - At Amherst, on the 9th inst., James Kerr, Esq., in the 76th year of his age. Colonel Kerr was a native of Dumfrieshire, and served as Captain in the Queens Rangers, on the continent of America, during the whole of the Revolutionary War, during which he was distinguished by the repeated acts of bravery, and by the friendship and confidence of the highest officers in that service. He subsequently settled in Kings Co., N.S., where he was appointed a Colonel of Militia and where his memory will long be cherished with the greatest respect. He lost three sons and 1 daughter, and has left a wife and twelve children , and a large number of grandchildren to mourn the loss of an affectionate parent. - ACADIAN RECORDER, of 26 June 1830, Plate 3, col 4.

He may have been staying with his son, Joseph, who lived there. His widow, Elizabeth went back to Cornwallis, where she died in 1840.² He was buried at Old Burying Grounds, West Amherst, Cumberland Co, Nova Scotia.
     Family lore [Hannay letter] also tells us that James Kerr had other family who went south and served on the American side during the Revolution. Nothing was located in Patriot records, but Loyalist records show a John Kerr owned and commanded the schooner "Fanny" in Virginia, sailing with dispatches to Norfolk, later going to New York. He had also been present at the seige of Charlestown with the Light Infantry [PAC, A.O. 13, Vol 32, pages 114-115]. James Kerr's own Memorial [PAC, A.O. 12, Vol 14, Reel B1157, p. 112] records show he "was living in Norfolk when the troubles broke out. He went thither from Scotland in 1773 to a brother -".
Soon after the war broke, James Kerr joined the British forces, receiving a commission in November 1776 as a lieutenant. James was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine, near Philadelphia, on 11 September 1777 and his Captain, Robert Murden, was killed. James was promoted to Captain on September 20th, 1777.

Near Haddonfield, New Jersey and Coopers Ferry on 2 March 1778, he was assigned the duty of guarding the wagons while the Rangers were on a foraging expedition.

At Crooked Billet, Ney Jersey on 1 May 1778, he was assigned to form a defensive position in the abandoned quarters of the American Brigadier General John Lacy and and barricade them in case of a misadventure by the Rangers during their attack on Lacy. The attack resulted in a rout of Lacy's forces and in the capture of their baggage wagons by the attached cavalry under Capts Richard Hovenden and Jacob James.

At the Battle of Springfield, New Jersey on 23 Jun 1780, during the British withdrawal from Springfield, he was assigned the task to cross a rivulet, on th eother side of which the enemy were approaching to set up an ambuscade. He was instructed to give a well directed fire and recross to join the rest, should the enemy reach that position. He did this successfully and the enemy restricted itself to firing from a distance until the British withdrawal to Elizabethtown resumed.

Capt Kerr had some 30 men under him present at the surrender at Yorktown 19 October 1781. He then became a prisoner on parole, went on half pay and returned to New York.

While in New York he married Elizabeth Brown on the 10th of July in 1782. They must have soon after removed to Scotland, where, his first three daughters were born in Ecclefechan [letter dated 16 June 1908, James Hannay (grandson of Mary Kerr Salter) to John Kerr]. Several documents dated in March 1786 show the Kerrs and Mrs. Brown were in London and making arrangements for their return to Nova Scotia.
James Hannay's letter to John Kerr says the Kerrs first settled near Fox River in Parrsboro. James had, indeed, received a land grant of 700 acres there in 1786. Soon after their arrival in Nova Scotia, James purchased land in Cornwallis, and the family took up residence there. James Kerr practiced medicine there, and was also a Colonel of Militia and a justice of the peace. Again, according to Hannay, the family stayed there until about 1810, when they removed to Parrsboro and took up residence on the old property. They stayed there at least 15 years. While there, James' mother-in-law, Margaret Brown passed away, and his daughter Jennet and her children moved in after being widowed.

According to Hannay, Robert Salter told him that James Kerr was tall, "very dignified, kindly and considerate".^3,4