loyalist in the American Revolution

[louisg]

My ancestor was granted land in Nova Scotia as part of the British Legion grant in 1784. His name does not appear in the muster rolls of the Legion but there is someone with the same last name in the said muster rolls of the Legion. That someone is recorded as a prisoner early in the war and most likely died with other in his group. Were the family of deceased soldier of the British Military granted the land that would have been granted to the said deceased soldier? Would a son have been recorded in the grant list in place of his father the deceased soldier?

[Gordon Craig]

louisg,

 

Good question.  This is outside my main interest but intrigued me.  Where was the land grant located?  The only thing that I could find in Library and Archive Canada was a list of Loyalists granted land in Chester Nova Scotia when their units were disbanded.  These land grants had to be applied for.  Land grants in Chester were granted to coloured men who had served in Loyalist units.  Others could have been granted land there as well.  Since your relative is thought to have died and perhaps he would have had to apply for a land grant and couldn't your question is a very valid one.  I'll keep poking around the LAC and see if I can find anything else.  The LAC has been closed for access by researchers in person for some time and they are having problems with their search software so I can not hold out too much hope of additional data.  I'm the one who assigned the name to the attachment.  The hand writing is not very legible but there appears to be a number of different units with men assigned land grants in Chester.

 

Regards,

 

Gordon

[louisg]

Gordon,

Thanks for the reply and your research. My ancestor Henry Stine was granted 1/2 lot at Port Mouton, Queens Co. NS. His name does not appear in any of the muster rolls of the British Legion, but a Lewis William Stine in on the muster rolls as a prisoner Feb 1781. The Legion was at the battle of Cowpens in mid Jan 1781 and most of the soldiers were taken prisoners. The said henry Stine got only 1/2 a lot of land and not a lot like most other soldiers on the grant list. I think it could be an indication that Henri was not a soldier but a parent of a soldier. Also found a widow of another deceased soldier on the grand list of Port Mouton and found the document of sale of that land that she owned in the settlement of Guysborough (settlement founded by the soldiers of the British Legion) which also indicate to me that the direct families of soldiers were probably granted the land that should have been awarded to the soldier.

Thanks again,

louisg