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Militia Records In 1814 Lt. John Reid is arrested and released to continue his duties and then a year later is suspended "for knowingly passing counterfeit money" till the matter is resolved. Bob Campbell is a descendant of William Bell and Lt John Reid and he noticed in the index to the William Bell Papers reference to letters about the suspension of Lt John Reid. Curious, Bob and a group of researchers transcribed the letters and are happy to share this little story. This page has grown a little bit beyond the counterfeiting story to include another record associated with John Reid. More are welcome. Thanks to Bob Campbell, Joanne Close, Wayne McCurdy, Beverly Pulver, Lorene and Ian Sinclair and Arnold Weirmeir. Use these links to jump up and down this page.
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| 1. Background John Reed was born about 1762 to William Reed (1740) and Nancy Agnes Nesbitt. There were 4 sons, John, William, Samuel, and Solomon and together they possessed 600 acres in a block. According to a list of Officers John Reid was promoted to Ensign in 1807 and Lieutenant in July of 1812. He is named in a number of returns from 1812 to 1814 for the First Regiment of the Hastings Militia. In Hastings County Militia by Don Kellaway he is listed as a Lieutenant on 4 Apr 1815, just two weeks before the second letter. He is not listed as an officer in this 1818 muster roll. Records have not yet been found to indicate whether or not he was found guilty and stripped of his rank. Curiously there is a year between the letters suggesting the concern was not that urgent. Upper Canada did not have its own currency in 1812 and in fact most commerce was done through the barter system and British and American currency was always in short supply. The impossibility of using specie for military expenditures during the War of 1812 caused the army to develop a new domestic exchange system in the Canadas. Known as Army Bills, these notes were backed by the British Government. By 1814 the total authorized limit for these bills had risen to £1.5 million. At the end of 1817, when the system was terminated there were over £20 000 still unaccounted for. The army bill system worked well and notes circulated freely in Upper and Lower Canada. They brought a liquidity that had not existed before and merchants correspondence and account books show a shift to payment in cash rather than in kind. [Paraphrased from the excellent Planting the Province, the economic history of Upper Canada, Douglas McCalla, U of T Press, 1993, 32-33.] Perhaps it was counterfeit army bills that John Reid "knowingly" passed. He was charged with passing counterfeit money, not creating it. In the book The War of 1812, in connection with the Army Bill Act, James Stevenson, 1892, there is a short reference to counterfeit army bills on page 69. The 1812 History Project has posted this image of a $2 Army Bill. There is an excellent account of William Reid UE including 5 generations of descendants in Family, Yours, Mine & Ours by John E. Holden, Utah, 1999. A copy is available at the Canadiana Room, North York Library, Toronto (929.2 Holden) and the Quinte Branch OGS in Trenton. |
| 2. The Counterfeiting Letters Letter 1 [1054-55] Kingston 16 April 1814 Sir: It is the pleasure of His Honor Lieutenant You are not to need any I am Sir? Your odednt hble Servt John Ferguson Coll Commandg 1st Regt Hastings Militia [to] Lieutenant Coll Wm Bell Regt Hastings Militia Thurlow Letter 2 [1246] Kingston 18 April 1815 Upper Canada Midland District County of Hastings Militia Orders It having been reported to Me that Lieutenant President is known, on the Subject; And all other officers John Ferguson Colonel Commanding 1st Regemt Hastings Militia Source: These letters are held in the William Bell Fonds at the Lennox and Addington Museum and Archives and are usually found under Lennox and Addington Historical Society holdings. They were microfilmed in 1959 and copies are available at the Library and Archives of Canada, (RG9-D8-18, films M-210 and 211) and at the Archives of Ontario on films M-210 and 211. The Reid letters are in M-210. |
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OVERVIEW The documents below are about the sale of Lot 25, Concession 6, Thurlow to John Reid. In this case John Skinkle or Shinkle [spelled both ways] was granted the lot in 1789 and he sold it to John Reed in 1798. The sale was not registered so by 1810 John Reid had to make a "claim" to the Heir and Devisee Commission to prove his ownership and obtain a deed. However the principle witnesses Caleb Gilbert and Alexander Chisholm were deceased and the other, Lawrence Halsted, had left the Province. So two affadavits are included verifying the signatures of the two deceased witnesses, Caleb Gilbert and Alexander Chisholm and stating that Halsted had left. This is a good example of the process. Thanks to Lorene Sinclair for transcribing these records. THE 1789 GRANT Single Lot No 103 The bearer John Shinkle havin on the Given at the Land Board at Adolphustown To Mr. W.Alexander Aitken [all signed] Alexr Fisher Acting surveyor for the A. Macdonell Midland District P.V. Alstine V. ?? 16th Jany 1795 Certificate of the Acting Surveyor I assign to the bearer John Shinkle the lot No 25 Given at Kingston this 16th day of Alexr Aitkin ?? for the Midland District THE 1798 SALE Thurlow 19th March 1798 Be it Remembered that I within named John Shinkle do this day make over unto John Read all my Right property interest and claim to the within certificat as witness, my hand the above written Witness Present [signed his mark] John Shinkle [signed] Alexr Chisholm [signed] Lawrence Halsted John Shinkle maketh oath & sayeth that he this Deponent did exchange the Lands described in the within certificate with the Above named John Reed for a Warrant of Council for two hundred acres of Land. Sworn before me Sydney Aug 31st 1799 [signed his mark] John Skinkle Caleb Gilbert THE 1810 CLAIM Kingston, 26 Dec 1809 To all whom it may concern, be it known that I John Read of the Township of Thurlow yeoman will at or after the Expiration of thirty days from the date hereof lay my claim before the Commisioners appointed under and by virtue of an act of the Parliament of the Province of Upper Canada entitled “An act to continue an Act passed in the forty fifth year of his Majestys reign entitled an act to afford relief to those persons who may be entitled to claim lands in this Province as heirs or devisees of the nominees of the Crown in cases where no patent hath issued for such lands and further to extend the benefits of the said act” for the purpose of establishing my title to Lot No twenty five in the sixth concession of the Township of Thurlow in the Midland District and Province aforesaid containing two hundred acres as assignee of the late John Skinkle of the Township of Thurlow deceased who was the original nominee of the said land Dated at Kingston the twenty sixth day of December in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and nine Kingston 1 Febry 1810 I do hereby Certify that the Within Claim hath been Exhibited in the Office of the Clerk of the Peace for the Midland District for more than thirty days. [signed] Allen MacLean Clk of the Peace M. District TWO AFFADAVITS Affidavit S. B. Gilbert Samuel Birdsey Gilbert of the Township of Sydney Yeoman maketh oath and saith that he is well acquainted with the Handwriting of his Brother Caleb Gilbert and that the name of Caleb Gilbert his late brother affixed to the Acknowlegement of John Skinkle dated the Thirty first day of August 1799 and indorsed on the Back of a Certificate for Lot No Twenty five in the Sixth Concession of the Township of Thurlow is the Handwriting of the said Caleb Gilbert deceased. That the said John Skinkle is dead and that Lawrence Halsted whose name is subscribed as a Witness to the writing on the said certificate has left the Province of Canada. Sworn before me [signed] Samuel B. Gilbert the 21st day of May [signed] Allan MacLean Commissioner Affadavit William H. William H. Walbridge maketh oath and saith that he is well acquainted with the Hand writing of the late Alexander Chisholm from having seen him frequently write and believes that a Certain Writing purporting to be a Release from John Skinkle to John Reid of Lot Number Twenty five in the Sixth Concession of the Township of Thurlow is the handwriting of the said Alexander Chisholm and is written on the Back of the certificate for the said Lot and that the said Alexander Chisholm signed the Same as a Witness, his hand writing being set thereto and this deponent is satisfied and believes that the other subscribing witness to the said Writing has left the Province of Upper Canada being Lawrence Halsted Sworn before me [signed] William H. Walbridge the 21st day of May 1810 [signed] Allan MacLean Commissioner CLAIM ALLOWED A Search in the Surveyr We hereby Certify that the Name of John Shinkle is entered on the Deputy Surveyor (W. Aitken’s) Place and Schedule of the Township of Thurlow for Lot No 25 in the 6th Concession, Containing 200 acres moreorless, under the Authority of a Magistrates recommendation Dated 11 January 1795 for which no Description hath issued [signed] Chewett J Ridout Acty Surveyr Genrl To The Honorable The Commissioner on Claims to Lands etc etc (with the Notice) No 14 Notice Claim fee paid John Reid Received 9 June 1810 from Allen Mclean Esq [signed] Clerk to the Co Claim allowed [signed] Thos Scott Recd 9 June 1810 Claim No 23 See page 27 Thurlow 25C6 POSSIBLE CHILD Hiram, son of samuel P Cummins, farmer of Rawdon, bathchelor & Abigail daughter of John Reid, farmer of Turlow, spinster, were married by publication of banns on Thursday, the 26th of Dec 1822. Thos Campbell, ector. Witnesses: H? Philips, Nicholas Reid, Nesbit Reid Source: Parish Register, St Thomas Ch, Belleville, Marriages 1821-1827, 7-B-1, Anglican Archvies, Ontario Diocese, Kingston, personal files AA Belleville 5372-5609, 41 |
| 4. POSSIBLE ROOTS of William Reed and Nancy Nesbitt I am now pretty convinced that William Reed and Nancy Nesbitt's daughter SUSAN (John Reed's sister) did not marry Samuel Hough/Huff but SHADRACK HUFF, brother of early settlers Paul, Solomon and Angel Hough/Huff. Susanna (Reed) and Shadrack Huff had a son named Samuel, which I think is the root of the mistake made by early family tree compilers and perpetuated over the years. No family for Susan and "Samuel" were ever found by researchers and I think the reason was that they were looking for the wrong Huff and no Samuel was the right age!! When I looked into the Huff family instead, I found a Susannah Reed who married Shadrack Huff. Only one U.S. tree that I found had made the connection between"Susannah" and Susan, William and Nancy's daughter. Susan and Shadrack apparently died in NY but before they moved back there about 1810, Shadrack had a “Public House" probably in Napanee in late 1790s. The exciting thing here is that some Huff researchers have BIRTHDATE and PLACE data for Susan (source as yet unknown and am working on it) ... which gives us a place to look for the colonial American roots of William and Nancy Reed, the Holy Grail for local Reed researchers! ORANGE COUNTY NY, around Minisink, I think, banks of Delaware River. If we could find a marriage record for Susanna Reed it would certainly cement the idea. I have perused all the registers I can find here and am now trying to find access to NY records. It's possible that Susanna, probably the eldest girl, did not immigrate with Wm and Nancy, so maybe she married in NY. Source: email from Loene Sinclair, Feb 2015 |