This Veterans Day: A Grave Marker Dedication for War of 1812 Vet Sgt. Elias Breese

Today being Veterans Day, one of the greatest things we can do is marking the graves of out veterans.

From the September 29, 2021, Daily Telegram (Adrian, Michigan) "Grave marker  ceremony at Canandaigua Cemetery recognizes veteran's service in War of 1812"  by David  Panian.

Sgt, Elias Breese served under  Lt. Jacob Smartwood's regiment in General Mathew  Carpenter's 18th  Brigade of New York Militia during the War of 1812.  He and his wife, Deborah Bennett, came to Michigan when Elias' son, Solomon, moved here.  This information provided by Elijah  Shalis, webmaster of the Michigan Society of the War of 1812.

Shalis continued:  "More than 3,400 veterans of the War of 1812 are buried in Michigan.  Many moved here after the war for the land or with their children like Elias Breese and his wife."

Of interest, according to the article, Elias Breese is the third great grandfather of Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.

Saluting Our Veterans Today.  --Brock-Perry

Arkadelphians Honored for Their War of 1812 Service-- Part 1

From the October 10,2021, Sentinel Record  (Arkansas).

Neat name for a town.

The Baseline-Meridian Chapter, United Daughters of 1812 and the Arkansas General Society War of 1812 recently marked the graves of two War of 1812 veterans in Arkadelphia.

Assisted by the Sons of the American revolution and the Clark County Historical  Association, permission was obtained to mark the graves of Solomon  Spence Sr., buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, and John Browning, buried on private land at the Bozeman Cemetery.

Many War of 1812 veterans settled in Arkansas due to receiving Bounty Land for their service.

Over 6,000 Federal Bounty Land Grants  were allotted in Arkansas and although most did not claim the land, or sold it, it is estimated some 15% of the veterans did.

The Arkansas Society U.S.D. 1812 has been  searching for the grave sites of War of 1812 veterans buried in Arkansas since 1908.

--Brock-Perry

Coloured Corps-- Part 10: The Question of Land Grants

When land grants for service were distributed to veterans in 18 1821, those of the Coloured Corps received just 100 acres, half that of their white counterparts.  Many veterans did not settle the land they were given because it was of such poor quality.

Despite these inequities, the Coloured Corps defended Canada honorably, setting the precedent for future black military personnel.

A Colured Corps was again raised  in Niagara during the Rebellions of 1837-1838, one of several black military groups volunteering for service then..

Other unites were raised in Toronto, Hamilton,  Chatham and Sandwich (Windsor).

--Brock-Perry

Ancaster, Upper Canada (Now Ontario): A Question of Loyalists and Americans

From Wikipedia.

Ancaster was mostly a wilderness society before the War of 1812, with American farmers moving north searching for arable land, some French-speaking fur traders and British immigrants traveling southward.

Also traveling north  in substantial numbers and in substantial numbers, around 11787 with the incentive of inexpensive land grants were the United Empire Loyalists still loyal to the British crown who were fleeing from the United States after the American Revolution.

Britain's promise of free land brought many people from the United States to Ancaster and the area around it who did not have the loyalist feeling of the others.

This would eventually lead to a series of defections, accusations and treasonous actions during the War of 1812 that led to the largest mass hangings in Canadian history, the Bloody Assizes which took place in Ancaster in 1814.

--Brock-Perry

Veteran of 'Forgotten War' Honored in Illinois-- Part 1: Ashbel Rowley

From the June 6, 2012, Daily herald (Kane County)  "Veteran of 'Forgotten' War of 1812 honored in Sugar Grove."

Ashbel Rowley served two weeks in the Army during the war.  In 1855, Congress loosened its service time requirements for pension land grants for War of 1812 veterans and he got 160 acres of Illinois farmland for free.

At age 63, the farmer and carpenter moved to homestead near what is now Kaneville, Illinois, with his wife and several children.  He lived there until he died in 1864.  He is the only known War of 1812 veteran buried in Sugar Grove Township Cemetery.

Two Weeks for 160 Acres?  Pretty Good Deal.  --Brock-Perry

Grave of Hiram Simpson Marked-- Part 2: Saw Action art Fort Erie

Derrick Monument Co. of LeRoy and Ideal Burial Vault Co. of Corfu installed both stones.

Records show Hiram Simpson continually moving west from the time he was born near Glen Falls and then spent his childhood in Scipio, and then moved to Troupburg where he joined the New York militia.

He returned there after seeing action at Fort Erie, Ontario.  Later, he and Nancy and their seven children lived in East Pembroke.

Despite land grants in Iowa and Arkansas available to him, Hiram stayed in East Pembroke and died in 1867.  Wife Nancy died in 1881, a year after receiving the last allotment from the war's pension fund for widows.

--Brock-Perry

James Poage, Founder of Ripley, Ohio-- Part 2: Land Grants

From Touring Ohio.

James Poage, 44, arrived in Ohio by flatboat in 1804 to lay claim to 1000 acres of land he received for fighting for Virginia in the American Revolution in what was known as the Virginia Military District .  He came with his wife. 10 children and all of his possessions.

Poage was already a titled land owner in Kentucky as he surveyed in parts of Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois.    Back then, the lead surveyors were usually paid with land.  Plus, he was given the title of colonel, a title reflecting the dangers and military regimen of the surveying teams.

He was a former slave owner, but had come to abhor slavery and decided not to live in Kentucky, a slave state.  He moved his family to what became Ripley, Ohio, one reason why it became so important in the Underground Railroad.

--Brock-Perry

Black War of 1812 Veteran Honored-- Part 2

The new gravestone was paid for by the federal government. Richard Hill's grave is located alongside Portland's black Revolutionary War veterans at the cemetery located at Congress and Montfort streets.

Larry Glatz said that 20,000 white Mainers in the state militia were called upon to defend Portland in 1814. Another 5,000 served in the U.S. Army. Most of the federal troops were buried in unmarked graves.

Hill was born around 1792 and they're not sure if he was born in Portland or moved there later. Records show him in service in 1812 on Gunboat 47 with the New York Flotilla. It is believed that he was at Baltimore Harbor on September 14, 1814, when Fort McHenry was attacked.

After the war, he returned to Portland and worked as a common laborer. He was one of the city's 400 blacks who lived in neighborhoods at the foot of Munjoy Hill. At one point, he applied for and got 160 acres of government land in Ohio as a War of 1812 veteran. He never moved there and probably sold it to a land speculator at a fraction of its cost.

His son, Richard L. Hill, was a troubled young man. He robbed a boot store as a teenager and went to jail. After his release, he killed his father.

An Interesting Story. --Brock-Perry