LETTERS TO WEBSITE HOST
from
DESCENDANTS OF PATRIOT WAR PARTICIPANTS

Regarding Garret Hicks:

"I am writing for my friend, Marion Hicks Baker, who has poor eyesight and cannot use a computer. She lives in Onalaska, WI.

"Her GGGfather, Garret Hicks, from Jefferson Co. was one of the men who went to Canada in 1837 to help the Canadians. He was among those captured at the Battle of the Windmill and transported to Van Diemen's Land.

"She has some knowledge regarding his trip over on the ship "Buffalo," but is curious about how long he stayed there, and of course his treatment, and also his route home. She thinks the ship may have been the "Emily Ann". She is of the opinion that he did not return for several years and would like to know what happened from the time they were pardoned til he came home.

"Do you have any information regarding the return of the transportees? If you have time and would like to help her out, please E-mail me and I will relay the info to her.

"Thank you so much." Beverly McDowell [email protected]     July 1, 2004




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Concerning Edward A. Wilson

"I read your artical with great interest! My greatgrandfather was Edward Augustas Wilson. It really brought the history to life. thank you very much. Edward married in Tasmania, and lived in Oregon Territory where he prospered and raised a large family., He is buried in Pendleton, Oregon.   Bob Wilson "

A second letter from Bob:

"............ Here is what I know. He was born in upstate NY, and was at the Battle of the Windmill. 60 of them were sentenced to life at hard labor and shipped on the HMS Buffalo to Tasmania. After 2 years they were parolled to work outside the prison. He met and marrried an Irish girl, Mary Ann Sly. 2 years later, all of them were pardoned bythe Queen. They left on a whaling ship,got to the Sandwich Islands, (Hawaii) where their first child was born. Then on to Oregon Territory and settled near Umatillo. They had several more children,including my grandfather, Winfield Scott Wilson. He had quite a life, very productive...no more invasions! And is buried in Pendleton, Oregon. My sister, Dona found all this out on the internet."

[email protected]    Bob Wilson    May 4, 2004

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Regarding Nathan Whiting, one of the Patriot War participants, from Scott Nelson - January, 2004 (write me for last known e-mail address) - . Scott writes:

“I am related to Nathan Whiting. I have been working on my family genealogy for about 5 years and have been trying to find proof of the whiting connection. I have traced my genealogy from my self up to Nathan Whiting Jr. who was born between 1826 and 1828. I have not been able to find much on this Nathan son of Nathan Sr. and Rhoda Toles. I have been trying to dig up a marriage record or anything to link my Nathan with that Nathan Sr.

“The Younger Nathan was married to a woman named Harriet Adeline (last name unknown) both born in New York. The must have been married about 1846 or 1847. They migrated to Michigan and are first seen on the 1850 Michigan census for Calhoun county which lists Nathan:

“Calhoun County, Mi 1850

Nathan Whiting Head of household age 24 Farmer Born in New York b.1826

Harriet A. Whiting age 22 Born in New York b. 1828

Harriet A. Whiting age 3 Born in New York b. 1847

“Would you happen to have any information on This Nathan son of Nathan and Rhoda (Toles) Whiting?”

If anyone can help Scott, please write the webhost for his last-known address. Thank you.

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April 10, 2005:

Regarding Henry Shew, who is listed as “Henry Shaw (or Shew)” in the List of Participants of the Patriot War, I received the following letter from descendant, Victoria Windsor, (with carbon copy to Pete Shew). Contact sitehost for their last-known e-mail addresses.

 

“Shirley Farone,
“The articles and chapters of the Patriot War are most amazing history. I thank you for your posting. I would like to bring to your attention, one of the prisoners posted on Chapter 16 "Those Who Were Sentenced to Life Banishment at British Penal Colony in Van Dieman’s Land Henry Shaw (or Shew), 28, Philadelphia, transported."

Henry Shew was born 14 Oct 1809 we believe in Johnstown, Fulton County, New York, the son of Stephen Shew (1761-1841) and Susannah Wells. Stephen Shew was the son of the historic Godfrey Shew and his children of The Shews of Fish House xtracted from Jeptha R. Simms' The Frontiersmen of New York, Vol. II.

Henry Shew married Margaret Stata b. abt 1810 of Pennsylvania. They had one son Wilson Shew b. abt 1839 of Wilna, New York. Henry's story of the Patriot War was documented in Shew family history Page 61 in D & A of Jacob Dunham GENEALOGY book by Sophie Dunham Moore. Henry Shew's sister Catharina Shew, married Jacob Dunham.


“The following from family history:


“Story of how Henry Shew (1809) was taken prisoner in the "Patriot War" in Canada. After being held prisoner for 14 years he and another man named Wallace escaped. Upon returning to his home in Wilna, New York he found that his wife (Margaret Stata) had remarried thinking that he was dead. After visiting his kin he disappeared again without breaking up the home that had been established. His son, Wilson Shew, lived with Henry's brother, Jacob Wells Shew, in Hartford, Conn.

“Patriot War of 1837.

“This story reminds me of the letter you posted on your site of a prisoner returning home. You did not mention the name of the prisoner, but I wonder if it might be Henry Shew. I did not find 'Wallace' as named on your list of those captured.

“We (the Shew family Descendants) thought you might like to know that Henry's name is not Shaw but is in fact Shew. The Shew family has represented America in every war, with great sacrifices. We do not know where Henry Shew died, nor what happened to his son, Wilson. However, we continue to search for the lost and missing.

“Again, we thank you for this historical information and research in order that (6) generations later we can read about our American history."


“Victoria Windsor”

If anyone has information as to the identity of ‘Wallace’ or has more definitive information regarding the prisoner (Shew) who returned home to find his wife married, please write to the sitehost, or leave a message in my Guest Book. (by Shirley Farone)

ADDITIONAL INFO (sent to sitehost Feb. 26, 2006):
Henry Shew was a machinist and had a factory in NY
Henry Shew the 4th child of Stephen Shew b 1761-1762 Johnstown, Fulton Co. NY, and wife Susannah Wells b. 1777 Sullivan, Madison County, N.Y. married 1802/1803 Providence, Saratoga Co. NY, (10 children) both buried: Old Lake School House District cemetery in the town of Wilna, Jefferson Co. N.Y.

Henry Shew b. 14 Oct 1809 NY, d unknown, married Margaret Stata b. 1810 of Pennsylvania
Henry and Margaret had a son: Wilson Shew b. 1833 of Wilna, Champion, NY
When Wilson Shew's father Henry Shew was taken Prisoner in Canada for 14 years, Wilson lived with his father Henry's brother Jacob Shew. His mother Margaret Stata remarried.

According to 1850 census, Wilson, son of prisoner Henry Shew was living with his aunt Elizabeth Shew Vebber & uncle William Vebber, Sr. in Wilna Township, Jefferson Co, NY.

1850 Census Town of Wilna, Jefferson County, New York:
21 3 311 322 Vebber William 39 m Farmer NY
421 4 311 322 Vebber Elizabeth 38 f NY (Elizabeth Shew sister to Henry Shew)
421 5 311 322 Vebber Lowvicy 10 f NY
421 6 311 322 Vebber Susan J 8 f NY
421 7 311 322 Vebber William A 1 m NY
421 8 311 322 Shew Wilson 17 1833 m Laborer NY

TYPIST'S NOTE: I hve posted ancestral information for Henry Shew, as written by Sophia Dunham Moore and sent to me by Victoria Windsor. As Victoria states they are a bit difficult to follow. These accounts include the Shew family and the Sammons family. Click here for Ms. Moore's account.

May 18, 2007: Received a letter from Pete Shew of Stockport, Ohio. He wrote, "You'll also see my ancestor Henry Shew on the 1844 & 1846 lists from the Northern Journal." Pete and his wife, Marjie own Shews Orchard, 3915 S. Elliott Rd., Stockport Ohio, 43787 - website: www.ShewsOrchard.com. Pete has an avid interest in the Patriot War of 1837 and some really neat information regarding his ancestor, Henry Shew. Stay tuned.

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Patriot: Solomon Foster  and Henry Shew

Pilot of the United States, beheaded by a cannon-shot from the British steamer, Experiment, at Windmill Point, near Ogdensburg, N. Y.

Contact Les Lambert

Date: May 10, 2006

........Two of my ancestors (that I know of) were involved. Solomon Foster, my GGgranduncle, was killed by a cannonball while piloting the United States during the ferrying of men to the windmill......

Henry Shew, my GGGgranduncle, was captured and transported to Tasmania (Van Diemen's land).

I know virtually nothing of Solomon Foster, other than the circumstances of his death - not even his birthdate. Trying to remedy that, I have attempted to find where he is buried. Since his family was in Ogdensburgh in the 1830 census, and he is written up as a young man from Ogdenburgh in some accounts of the action, I presume he's buried there. But I haven't found any headstone for him in published lists for local cemeteries. (Cemeteries that I have searched on-line are those indexed by Ann Cady, at the St Lawrence County website hosted by Ancestry.com)

I am wondering if anyone in your area knows where Solomon Foster is buried??

Thanks, Les Lambert, Bend, OR

 

A second letter from Mr. Lambert follows, in part:

“........Solomon Foster is not on your casualties page, but he IS mentioned in the write-up here:

Chapter 11: Patriots Land On Canadian Soil, Excitement At Ogdensburg   The circumstances of his death are mentioned in the 12th paragraph of that page.

“I would agree that Mrs. Cady has done a terrific job with her cemetery listings - the amount of time and effort she must have spent appears staggering. But there are still some smaller cemeteries around Oswegatchie that apparently haven't had headstone inventories put online. I was hoping someone would know of an old paper-based inventory that hasn't been put online yet.....

“In a similar write-up "Reminiscences of Ogdensburgh", there's a bit more detail - see attached pages 68 & 69. Unfortunately, I didn't save the frontispiece of this to enable a proper citation, but it could probably be found again, if necessary. There's also an account of this in Mason's "History of St. Lawrence County" (1894), on page 184.

“In any case, the "Reminiscences" piece told me that the casualty was the younger Solomon Foster, born roughly between 1810-1816, and not his father the elder Solomon Foster (b. abt 1780-1784??), who also became untraceable at about the same time.”

Responding to sitehost’s statement that there was an Edmund Foster on the List of Participants of the Patriot War, Mr. Lambert continued:

“As to Edmund Foster "of Alexandria", I don't think he's related, unless he was Solomon's brother Cyrus (and going by a middle name I've never known). Sophie Dunham Moore wrote up the Foster family (pages 54-57) and did not mention an Edmund. The Fosters were near Fish House (Providence township of Saratoga Co NY) in 1810, near Johnstown (Florida twp of Montgomery Co NY) in 1820, and in Oswegatchie in 1830. Whether they ever lived in Alexandria, I have no idea. Cyrus was born between 1810-1820, so he might have been age 22 in November 1838. But I've found no trace of Cyrus, except in S. D. Moore's write-up, and as inscrutable numbers in the census.

I think the incident might have soured the Foster family on Oswegatchie; the next place I find them is in Hartland, Livingston Co, MI in the 1840 census, with Evalyn (Shew) Foster as head of household, and no Cyrus.....”

Mr. Lambert continued:

“I'd welcome contact with other researchers looking for information on Fosters. (One of my quests is to see if Solomon Foster senior is related to the Nathaniel Foster made famous by James Fennimore Cooper as Natty Bumppo!).....”

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Patriot: Elizur Stevens. Correspondence received from Don Reel of California. Letters written by Mr. Stevens before and after his banishment to VanDieman's Land may be found by clicking here.

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