Whitby Company, Part II

page 2 of Ely Playter's diary listing the men in the Whitby Company of the 3rd Regiment of the York Militia.

#           Names                       rank       arms and nature of                  remarks
                                                            musket/fusil  /rifle
24        John W. Covel           private
25        Phestus C Wolf             "             1                                      gone to the States
 (I am not sure the name is Phestus, Ely has terrible handwriting and he scratched this one out.)
26        Richard Martin           3rd                       1
27      George Willson                                                                    gone to States
not 100% certain he wrote Willson
28      John Groat (?)                                                                      moved to Darlington
26       Samuel Jemerson X      2nd
27      Charles Jemerson  X      2nd
31      William Dobb                                           1                        gone to Darlington
32       Elijah A. Webber X     3rd    
29       Henry Smith                 2nd
34      George Mc Gaham X     "
30       David Annice X           private                                 deserted from M. McRuther
31       David Dehart
32       Thomas Cross                                           1
33       Timothy Nightengale                        Over 50 years of age (applies to #31 to 35)
34       Thody Cole Snr. X
35       William McCue X
35       William McDue Junior X  3rd
37        Willard Hall                      1st
38        George Hall drafted         1st
            Adam Stefhour                              1                 1              over 50 years of age
39        John Quick                       2nd
40        William Farewell           3rd      
41        Ezekiel Crane                3rd
42        John Smith                                                                        over 50 years of age
            Benjamin Vernon

It must have been a challenge to raise an army when people did not want to fight.
Ely's diary is available at the Ontario Archives where it can be viewed on microfilm.
If you want to see it, bring some eye drops and a magnifying glass.

Muster Roll of the Whitby Company

     I have decided to come back and use the blog again since someone appears to be attempting to hijack the account. Rather than delete all of my articles, which I am sure someone out there is enjoying, I am going to also write about Canadian history. I have been spending a large amount of time sifting through various archival collections and I have found many gems that would be great to share with people. So, this is my first 'share': a muster list that will likely be a gift for anyone researching their family history in Southern Ontario.

     Ely Playter was a United Empire Loyalist and a resident of Toronto, then called York, during the War of 1812-1814. He kept a diary for most of his life. Unfortunately, he stopped writing for sometimes a year and a half around the time of the war, often when things got most interesting. He was a Lieutenant in the 3rd Regiment of the York Militia and in August 1812, he took a count of the men in his unit who showed up for muster. This is not on any conventional list, like the microfilms at the Library and Archives Canada because he wrote it in his diary. All spelling is as in his diary.

Here it is, transcribed

Muster Roll of the Whitby Company - Commanded by Lieutenant Playter, 3rd Regiment of York Militia on the (blank) day of August 1812-
                                                                                     arms, nature of
number   names                                            rank           musket/ Fusil/ rifle     remarks
1            Ely Playter                                Lieutenant    
2            Donold McAuther                    Ensign
1            Eleazer Lockwood      drafted   Sargt.
2            James Cole                              2nd Sargt.
3            Moody Tarewell                      3rd Sargt.
1            Jabes Lynde x                           Private                             2
2             Enoch Davis x drafted              3rd
3             John Still Gund            ditto        3rd                                   1
4             Henry Crawford             ditto         3
5             Caleb Crawford x           ditto         3
6             John Clawson x                               3                                1
7             William Groat                 ditto          3
8              Stephen Smith                                 3                                             nearsighted
9             Abel Crane                     ditto           3                                1
10           William Annice x                           1st                               1
11           John Stephens x                              3                         1                          sick
12           Jonathan Stephens                           3    
13           Joseph Stephens                              3                                           1
14           Russell Hoag Jones(?)  x                3
15           William Hall                                   1st
16            David Willson                                1st
17            John Dehart                                    2nd
18            Jacob Dehart                                  2nd                              1
19            Joseph Smith                ditto          2nd         
20            Henry McGahan          ditto
21            Thomas McGahan                                                                              delirious
22             Samuel Cole                                  2nd                                          1
23             James Huntington                          3rd  

I don't know whether the 'x' means that the man showed up for muster of was missing. Ely was frustrated at times at how few showed up when they were called so the low number of 'x's' could be the few who actually came. I believe the ditto is for 'drafted'. There appears to have been classes of privates. Playter never did comment further on Thomas McGahan who was 'delirious' although it would have been nice to know more. He wrote these entries for his own use and did not expect they would be so interesting to us 200 years later.
There is a second page which I will transcribe another day.

A Step Back in Time

    I have not been posting much lately because I have been immersed in researching genealogy. It has given me a new appreciation for the priesthood. Part of their job description was in being a witness to all events in their parish, something that many of them took very seriously and recorded everything and protected their registers with their lives. I only wish that some of them had better handwriting or that they all had access to good ink.
     Because of those men, many of us who do not have illustrious ancestors can trace our ancestry back a few generations more than one would think possible. Somewhere back in time, my ancestors became Protestant and records may be harder to come by. They also began travelling in search of religious freedom and some records went with them, some didn't. World War II was a huge factor in the destruction of records. I suspect with the European branch of my family, I won't get back very far at all.
    My husband, with his largely Catholic French Canadian background, has been interesting to research because there is so much out there to look at. Canada has not been subjected to any devastating wars after 1814 and even that war was very local. There were some minor skirmishes here and there with Fenians and some revolutionaries but these were little more than bar brawls rather than out and out war.
His family has been here since the beginning of the 17th century so I can take his genealogy back 10 generations without working very hard at it. They were caught up in the Indian Wars, the wars between the French and the English and, since they were Acadians, they were caught up in the Great Dispersal in 1755. They arrived as refugees in Quebec City two months before that city fell to the English. they lost their homes again when the seigneurial system was changed to the English system of land grants and they were unable to buy back their own farms. In all that turmoil, the priests held on to their records. Some were destroyed but an astonishing amount survived. It tells an amazing story. I am in awe of the difficulties they faced but they carried on. We think we have it so hard today.