Events Of The War Seen By The Harrington Family

From the Pioneer Society of Michigan:

"Soon after the war of 1812 broke out and the country was filled with hostile Indians. The government erected Fort Stevenson* establishing a military post there for the protection of the settlement. This fort was located about half a mile from Jeremiah's [Harrington's] farm."

*Near present-day Fremont, Ohio.

Marrying again in 1813 Jeremiah removed to Delaware [Ohio], where he continued farming. It was near this point, where the troops marching north, passed, and the prisoners captured at Perry's victory on their way to Chillicothe for safe keeping. Among the earliest recollections of Dauiel the subject of our sketch, are those of seeing the troops as they encamped in the open timber near his father's home.

Though it was after the war, I thought this biographical nugget was interesting:

In the fall of 1816 Jeremiah removed to the town of Delaware, occupying one half of a house, into the other half of which soon after, removed the parents of Rutherford B. Hayes.

In the spring of 1819...Jeremiah Harrington...started for Saginaw Bay, on a fur trading expedition... Daniel—then a mere boy of 12—was allowed to accompany them.  ...stopping first at Monroe, and then at Detroit, where Daniel well remembers seeing the naked chimneys standing on the Canadian side, as monuments of the destruction caused by the war of 1812 and 1814.

Hull's Proclamation To Canada

From Parks Canada - The War of 1812:

By WILLIAM HULL, Brigadier General and commander of the North Western Army of the United States.
A PROCLAMATION.

INHABITANTS of CANADA! After thirty years of PEACE & prosperity, the UNITED STATES have been driven to Arms. The injuries & aggressions, the insults & indignities of Great Britain have once more left them no alternative but manly resistance or unconditional submission.

[See link for the complete 12/13 July 1812 proclamation]

From Richardson's War of 1812:

Testimony For Land

 U.S. Congressional serial set:

The petition of Lydia Smith widow of Hosea Smith praying that a land warrant may be issued to her upon parole evidence for services of her husband in the war of 1812

Also the petition of Nicholas Thomas of Killingly in the State of Connecticut praying to be allowed to prove by parole testimony services in the war of 1812

Also the petition of Jotham Burnham and Dennison Grant upon the sam e subject Ordered That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims

Feb 25 1856

Absalom Brown

From the Absalom's Tree blog:

During the Creek Indian Wars of 1814, considered part of the War of 1812, Absalom served under Capt. James Tait (Tate), in Col. Stephen Copeland's 3rd Regiment of Tennessee Militia, which was at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.


There is a picture of Absalom Brown on his descendant's blog.  

I am not related to this family.

Some War of 1812 Papers Listed At The State Historical Society of Wisconsin

From the Descriptive List of Manuscript Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin:

From The New Encyclopedia of Social.....

During the War of 1812 Great Britain transported to England a number of American soldiers and seamen who had been captured and confined them in a prison on Dartmoor.  Ill-fed and neglected the men rebelled, and during a riot that ensued (April 6, 1815) seven of the prisoners were killed and thirty-five wounded.  The Prince Regent (afterward George IV) ordered an investigation, and on receiving a report of the incident severely censured the officers in charge of the prisoners of war.  A pleasant contrast was afforded by the treatment accorded to American seamen who, having been taken prisoners during several naval engagements, in 1815, were conveyed to Bermuda, where they kept in confinement, but where such Bermudians as were permitted to have access to them, extended "generous and tender sympathy" which "prompted the kindest attention" to the living and honored those who died during detention.

The Coast Guard Duties Of Plymouth Co., Mass.

From History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts:

A Thanksgiving Day post from a Plymouth, Massachusetts, source.

A Story For Young Readers

The Boy Officers of 1812 (a story for young readers).

A Mystery Solved

Historians now know what happened to heroine Betsey Doyle after the War of 1812. According to the Buffalo News article [Update December 20, 2012: bad link - try this one*]:

A nearly 200-year-old missing-person case has been solved by the Niagara County historian’s office.  Doyle was lionized for hauling red-hot cannonballs to gunners at Fort Niagara during a November 1812 cannon duel with the British forces in Fort George on the other side of the Niagara River.

*Emerson...recently found documents...that proved Doyle escaped the fall of Fort Niagara in December 1813 and made a winter trek of about 400 kilometres — with her children in tow — to a U.S. military camp near Albany, where she worked as an army nurse until her death in 1819.

Murray's Raid

A War of 1812 lesson plan, Misses, Mistresses, and Misconception, Women’s Roles in the Northern Theater Of the War of 1812, mentioned Murray's Raid, which was the first I had heard of it.

In late July into early August, a British force under Col. [John] Murray invaded the Champlain Valley (Murray’s Raid). Col. Murray’s men were met by a small American force that quickly dispersed.

 In spite of promises that personal property would be untouched, many citizens saw their property stolen, damaged, or destroyed. 

From The Pictorial Field-Book of the War....

After destroying the block-house, arsenal, armory, and hospital in the town, and the military cantonment (known as Pike's) near Fredenburg Falls, on the Saranac, two miles above the village, he wantonly burned three private store-houses, and plundered and destroyed private merchandise, furniture, etc., to the amount of several thousand dollars.

Having accomplished the object of his raid, Colonel Murray retired so hastily that he left a picket of twenty men, who were captured. He went up the lake several miles above Burlington on a marauding expedition, destroying transportation boats, and on his way back to Canada he plundered private property on Cumberland Head, on the Vermont shore, and at Chazy Landing.

Switching Sides

From the Pioneer Society of Michigan:

 The Tawas, Senecas and Wyandottes were the tribes who prior to Hull's surrender had been friendly but were encouraged by the English to commence hostilities.

"Seeing" The War of 1812

The War of 1812 played a pivotal role in the history of eyeglasses!

 From glassescrafter:

The first optical shop was established in Philadelphia in 1799 by John McAllister, Sr. Before the War of 1812, McAllister imported all the eyeglasses sold in his optical shop. Due to the trade embargo with Great Britain, he began making his own eyeglass frames in 1815. He and his son John McAllister, Jr., distributed the first astigmatic lenses in the United States.

An image of 1812-era Canadian/British soldier's eyeglasses here.

Potawatomis And Siding With The British

 From the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University:

The Potawatomi Experience of Removal


In particular the Great Lakes region posed difficult military problems because of the possibility that the Indians might ally themselves with a hostile European power. ...the Great Lakes tribes had easy access to British Canada. The Indians of the region had largely sided with the British both during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

In the Great Lakes region, the American government had to consider the unsettling possibility that should an Indian war occur His Majesty's army might directly or indirectly support the Indians.

Pond's Settlement Massacre In White County, Illinois

The Pond's Settlement Massacre entered in the Illinois War of 1812 Bicentennial Timeline:



Oct. 1812 ~ John Pond's wife & son killed, second son scalped (survived) at Pond Settlement in Indian Creek Township near New Haven

Minnesota In The War

 Some information from Veterans of the 'First Forgotten Conflict'.

Lessons From 1815

An opinion piece entitled "Lessons From 1815."

Honoring War of 1812 Veterans

 

Veteran's Day tribute video specifically for the War of 1812.

Nathan Towson And The 2nd U.S. Atillery Marched Towards Canada

 

 Portrait From Leading Events of Maryland History....

 
From  The British invasion of Maryland...:

  Within six weeks after the declaration of war Captain Nathan Towson of the 2nd United States Artillery, with a company of volunteer artillery from Baltimore City and County, marched north to take part in the Canadian invasion.  A little later the City of Baltimore sent nearly a full regiment of infantry under the command of Colonel William H. Winder, for the Canadian service, fifteen thousand dollars having been subscribed by the citizens for the equipment of the regiment.  On October 5, 1812, another company of a hundred men, under the command of Captain Stephen H. Moore*, marched from Baltimore to join colonel Winder's forces.

According to the Napoleon Series: War of 1812 Issue 9, Baltimore Volunteers:

*"Also en route to Canada was the Baltimore Volunteers, led by Captain Stephen H. Moore, which had had the distinction of being the only known Maryland state unit to take part in the invasion of Canada."

Wordless Wednesday - General Samuel Smith Of Maryland

From Leading Events of Maryland History:

Major General Samuel Smith

Lt. Nelles' Payroll - October 11th to November 11th In 1814

There's an image of the payroll list of the 4th Regiment of the Lincoln [Ontario, Canada] Militia, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Nelles, from October 11th to November 11th, 1814,  here.

One of the payees is Wm. McGaw, perhaps related to Jane (McGaw) McLean from whom my ancestor, William Howard, purchased the rights to her land.

A Precursor To War - The Battle of Tippecanoe

The Battle of Tippecanoe, fought on November 7, 1811, was a precursor of the War of 1812:

Book That Survived The Torching Of Washington, DC

From History.com, a short video featuring the sole surviving book, taken by Admiral Cockburn, when the British burned Washington:

Leonard White Or Isaac White For Whom White Co., IL, Is Named?

From Cemeteries of Gallatin Co., Illinois, Book 1:


Upon acquiring statehood in 1818 Illinois received title to the salt pro­ducing lands and continued the five leases signed in 1817. One lease was to Meredith Fisher and Willis Hargrave, another to Jonathan Taylor, another operator was James Ratcliff, another was Timothy Guard whose works were still oper­ating in 1832, and the last was Geo. Robinson who in 1816 purchased for $7,000 all the equipment and lease of Leonard White. (Deed book A of Gallatin County) Robinson had been county sheriff and White had resigned as militia captain in 1812 to accept an appointment as county judge.


Was it this Leonard White for whom White County, Illinois, was named? From the Illinois Second Judicial Circuit Court website:

[White County FYI] Named for [Captain] Leonard White, pioneer of Gallatin County, Major of the Territorial militia, member of the Constitutional Convention of 1818, State Senator in the second and third General Assemblies.[Veteran of the War of 1812]

Other sources stated that White County was named for Isaac White.  It was Isaac White who initiated the Masonic Lodge at Vincennes and it was he who died at the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811.

HMS Confiance

The HMS Confiance was Captain George Downie's flag ship on September 11, 1814.  It was surrendered to the American forces in the aftermath of the Battle of Plattsburgh.

Configuration of the Confiance:

Type:	Fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	831 bm
Propulsion:	Sail
Armament:	• 30 × 24-pounder guns • 6 × 32-pounder carronades • 1 × 24-pounder gun (on pivot mount)

For all intents and purposes, the vessel was still unfinished at the time of the battle, with some workmen, including riggers and carpenters, still laboring on her completion right up to the days before.

 From Shipwrecks of lake Champlain...:

...a brief article (1873)... describes the destruction by explosives of a hull identified as Confiance.

A ...sonar survey of the Whitehall area in 1982 did not turn up any large wrecks in the vicinity of the Poultney River's mouth, and a 1995 Lake Champlain Maritime Museum diver survey of the wreck site shown on the 1839 map revealed only a clean lake bottom. Thus, it is likely that Confiance, the largest warship ever built on Lake Champlain, no longer exists.

The Great Rope Carry And Other Tales Of Oswego, NY

From the Visit Oswego County (NY) website:

We have our own stories to tell about our role in the war, including the Battle of Oswego in 1814 and the Great Rope Carry that followed. Hundreds of our ancestors fought in battles along Lake Ontario to preserve this country’s newly-won freedoms.

The site also links to a blog commemorating heroes of the War of 1812.

Wordless Wednesday - A Baltimore Clipper

 From Leading Events of Maryland History:

A Baltimore Clipper

Fort Barbee

Fort Barbee was the name for the rebuilt fort at St. Marys, Ohio. There is a Hotel Barbee across the street from The Palm Building.  Because we're the Palms, this building was photographed, not Hotel Barbee!