John Coffin Of Boston And New Brunswick, Canada

The American Loyalists included a biography of John Coffin of Boston, who fought for the British in both the  Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

He was a son of Nathaniel Coffin, Cashier of the Customs, and a brother of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, of the Royal Navy.  A warm and decided Loyalist he volunteered to accompany the royal army in the battle of Breed's or Bunker's Hill and soon after obtained a commission.
He retired to New Brunswick at the close of the contest, with the rank of major, and received half pay. In the war of 1812 he raised and commanded a regiment which was disbanded in 1815.
He died at his seat, King's County, New Brunswick, in 1838, at the age of eighty seven.
Notwithstanding his choice of sides in the Revolution, he never lost his interest in the "old thirteen," and he remembered that he was "Boston born," from first to last.

Coffin family chart from The Baronetage of England, Or the History of the English Baronets ..., Volume 5,  By William Betham.  John Coffin was the son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Barnes) Coffin.

Straits And Island Of Michilimackinac

A drawing of the Mackinac area of Michigan from The geography and history of British America and of the other colonies of ... by John George Hodgins:

Entries about the Mackinac area in the war here, here, here, and here.

Portraits Of Valor

A War of 1812 related  article, Portraits of Valor, in the Ohio State Parks Magazine was found via a tip from Dorene!  Thanks, Dorene.

Ohio had an instrumental role in the Great Lakes theater of the War of 1812, and many pre-war events, too.

British Captain Francis Michael Dease

From the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, by Lyman Copeland Draper, 1889:

 

He [Capt. Francis Dease] figured at the capture of Prairie du Chien.  He was rather a young appearing man in 1814... .  He may have commanded at Prairie du Chien under orders of Col. Dickson in April 1814 before the arrival of Americans... . 

Capt. Francis Michael Dease, as I learn from his nephew, John Dease, of Pembina Co., Dakota, was born at Niagara, Aug. 10th, 1786.  He seems to have taken part in the capture of Mackinaw from the Americans in 1812; probably served with Col. Robert Dickson on the Maumee in 1813; and shared in the capture of Prairie de Chien in 1814.

He was never married, and died on Red River, now Manitoba, Aug. 15th, 1865, at the age of seventy-nine years.

Battle Of North Point

A portrait from The Battle of North Point: a poem commemorative of September 12th, 1814..:

Battle details here.

Huntsville Militia At The Battle Of Horseshoe Bend

From the Early history of Huntsville, Alabama, 1804-1870, Huntsville sent four companies with General Andrew Jackson to fight at Horseshoe Bend.  Two companies (under the command of Captain Jack Moseley and Captain Gray) also went from Huntsville during the War of 1812.

Samuel Huntington's War Of 1812 Collection

The finding aid for the Samuel Huntington War of 1812 Collection was drawn from a source Dorene of Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky featured entitled OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository.

An excerpt from the Samuel Huntington War of 1812 Collection, 1811-1816:

Schedule of Samuel Huntington's Lands in the State of Ohio, 1811
Rations of a private servant to be allowed in the officer's subsistence acct., 1811
William Butcher's account from August 3, 1812 to February 3, 1814, 1812
Notes on the examination of the accounts of Samuel Huntington, late District Pay Master Northwest Army parts 1 and 2, 1812

Congressional Edition, Volume 147 (1826):

Petition From The Committee Of Bristol County, Massachussetts

From the Louisiana Digital Library, America At War  -  A Petition from the Committee of Correspondence of Bristol County, Massachusetts, dated March 25, 1813:

From Page 4 of 4

Westward Ho! Link To MI Territory Post

"Before that time [War of 1812] and afterward, Americans pushed westward on foot, on horseback, by keelboat and canalboat and riverboat and lake steamer, even by the infant railroads, until they created new states and a new society between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi."  From THE NEW NATION GROWS, VolumeTwo, by Paul M. Angle.

 

keelboat

Post-War - The Effect Of The War Of 1812 On Michigan

From the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society's Historical collections, Volume 22:

From the organization of the [Michigan] territory in 1805 to the war of  1812-15, little progress was made, materially or morally.  The settled portion of the State continued to be a narrow strip along the Detroit river.
The war of 1812 brought an epoch in the history of the community.  In the first place it brought the presence of a large military force from Ohio and Kentucky, mostly of American birth and traditions, many of whom remained in the country permanently, and all of whom left an impress upon it.

Artifacts And The The Peale Museum

From Maryland In The War of 1812, Rembrandt Peale and the Peale Museum, which was opened on August 14, 1814, during the War of 1812:

Peale’s museum became the first to display the relics of Britain’s naval arsenal for the curiosity for those who had heard, but not seen a British shell or Congreve rocket, so eloquently noted in “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

David Hunt - One Of The Mutineers

PHILIP PIPKIN - A TENNESSEE MILITIAMAN by Lt Col William Philip Pipkin, told of the trial in Mobile, Alabama, of the deserters and mutineers. A letter to Major General Andrew Jackson dated September 4, 1814, addressed the issue.
The regiment was assembled at Fort Jackson and departed 11 November for the Fort Pierce and Fort Montgomery areas. On 27 November the regiment was ordered to Mobile for the trial of the alleged deserters and mutineers.
Muster roll.., of Pipkin's regiment, including David Hunt, a subject of the Mobile, Alabama, trial (court martial).

Fort Jackson 4th September 1814
Majr Genl Jackson
                  Sir:

I also enclose you a copy of charges exhibited against David Hunt a private in Capt. Mebane's company. Understanding that the law requires a General Court Martial in capital cases, would therefore wish you to convene one as soon as possible, hoping that an early example may have the desired effect of preventing a farther progress of mutiny.

A Congressional resolution proposed in the aftermath of the trial and executions (also found here):


1. Resolved...[soldiers] of the First Regiment of West Tennessee Militia, commanded by Colonel Philip Pipkin, who were tried, sentenced, and executed, in pursuance of the proceedings of a Court Martial, convened, and holden at Mobile, by order of Major General Andrew Jackson, on the 5th day of December, 1814— were tried, sentenced, and executed, in contravention of their rights as citizens of the United States, and in derogation of the Constitution and laws of the land.

Mutiny details from the Nile's Register which published the Adjutant General's General Order dated January 22, 1815, from the Headquarters of the Seventh Military District, regarding the trials, including that of David Hunt.

More Congressional analysis of the mutineers and their punishments here.

The surname Hunt in Tennessee and also in Huntsville, Alabama, is of interest to me.

Was DeGarmo Jones A Drummer Boy?

George C Bates says that DeGarmo Jones was a drummer boy in 1812.

"Sudden and quick in quarrel, with a temper requiring a curb bit, Mr Jones was a sort of western Vanderbilt, with a great big head enlarged views interesting industry, who saw far ahead into the future, and had he lived longer, would have cut deeper and deeper into the tablet of time his career, for he was a most public spirited, enterprising, go ahead man." 

He was born in Albany, N.Y., November 11, 1787, married Catherine H. Annin and came to Detroit in 1819.  He died November 14, 1846.  SOURCE:  The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 2



Did DeGarmo Jones carry a drum similar to this one?  Or was he a sutler?

 

DeGarmo Jones was a successful businessman who was also a mayor of Detroit in 1839.

The Heroism Of Kitty Knight

Kitty Knight was mentioned in the publication Kent's Part In the War, 1812-1814.

"The previous year (1813) the British had burned Havre-de-Grace and Frenchtown at the head of Chesapeake Bay."  "They then went into Sassafras River and burned both Georgetown and Fredericktown - incidentally bringing to light the heroism of Kitty Knight."

Is the Kitty Knight House haunted?

Compact History Of The War Of 1812

The War of 1812 by Harry L. Coles was published in 1966.  The book was described as such:

"This compact history of the war attempts to separate myth from reality. Professor Coles narrates the main operations on both land and sea of the three-year struggle. He examines the conflict from the British (and Canadian) as well as the American point of view, relating events in America to the larger war going on in Europe."

Portrait Of The Battle Of Plattsburgh

From A List Of Pensioners.., a (partial) portrait of the Battle of Plattsburgh:

Veteran Job Austin Died In Michigan

 From the New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial....

 Job Austin

"He served in the War of 1812, at Plattsburg, and on Lake Champlain.  He died while on a visit to Michigan at his daughter Esther's home."

CHILDREN:  William, Esther, Rebecca, Huldah, Elijah; Henry

United States Census, 1850

Name: Esther Campbell

Residence: Bellevue, Eaton, Michigan

Calculated Birth Year: 1800

Birthplace: Vermont

Gender: Female

Samuel Campbell M 43y

Esther Campbell F 50y

Edward Campbell M 16y

Warren Campbell M 14y

Henrietta Campbell F 12y

Fletcher Campbell M 6y

Amanda Campbell F 4y

Esther (Austin) Campbell in the 1860 census.

Michigan Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995

Name: Esta Campbell

Gender: Female

Death Date: 21 Jan 1873

Death Place: Bellevue, Eaton, Mich

Birth Date: 1799

Birthplace: Vt

Occupation: Housekeeper

Marital Status: Married

Father's Name: Austin

Father's Birthplace: Vt

Mother's Name: Austin

Mother's Birthplace: Vt

Retrieving The Flag

The Tuesday, March 9, 1920, edition of the Flint Journal, contained the following article on Page One:

KENTUCKY COMMISSIONS 1812 DESCENDANT TO GET FLAG BRITISH CAPTURED

Frankfort, KY - March 9 - James Buchanon, Louiville a descendant of Col. Wm. Whitley commander of the Kentucky volunteers in the battle of the Thames in Michigan in the war of 1812, will go to England as a commissioner of the state of Kentucky in bringing back the Kentucky battle flag which was lost at that battle.

The upper house of the general assembly yesterday appropriated expenses for Mr. Buchanon's trip.

The battle is commonly called by historians "the massacre of the River Raisin" because a majority of the Kentuckians were killed and scalped by the Indians after they had surrendered to the British officers under an unfulfilled promise of protection from the Indians.

The British Army At Mackinac Island

British Army At Mackinac Island, 1812-1815, a $3.00 book described in Discover Mackinac History.

"The War of 1812 plunged the fledgling Michigan territory into its most perilous period. Its few small towns all experienced the war first hand, but none more so than Mackinac Island."

Pre-War - President Madison Inaugurated March 4, 1809

A timeline from the General Society of the War of 1812:  The first item was actually a pre-war event.

1809 President James Madison inaugurated, March 4

A Canadian Historical Perspective Of The War Of 1812

1812, the war and its moral: a Canadian chronicle By William Foster Coffin, was written from the Canadian point of view and published in 1864.

"The management of the Ordnance Lands in this Province has thrown me upon the scenes of the most notable events of the late war. It has brought me in contact with many of the surviving actors. It has revived early recollections of my own."

"Canada in 1812 cared as little as at present for a war with her powerful neighbor but as at present cared not to evade it. The war of 1812 was no Canadian quarrel. It was forced upon the Canadian people and fought upon Canadian soil to gratify the antipathies of two nations too like to be loving."

"The war indeed was at the bottom no quarrel between governments. The governments of the day were but the instruments of the time. The real cause of strife was to be found in the temper of the people. It was a personal turn up between Jonathan and John Bull."

Captain Willis Hargarve

From The Hargrave & Flanders Connection website:

Willis Hargrave...who had been active in the Kentucky Militia and was a lieutenant in 1797 and a captain by 1803, engaged his service in the War of 1812 mostly guarding settlements against native attack.

Willis Hargrave's daughter-in-law, Mahulda Ann Bourland, was also married to William Roark, son of Michael and Nancy (Evans) Roark.  William Roark's sister, Eleanor E., was my ancestor.