An Officer Indefatigable: James Andrews (1735-1780)

Ontario off Fort Niagara, 1780. Peter Rindlisbacher.
Source: Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston

Zeal. Diligent. Indefatigable. Esteemed. These words often appeared in letters that mention James Andrews. Andrews served as commander of four different vessels on the Great Lakes during the Revolutionary War but died when the Ontario sank during a sudden storm on October 31, 1780.

Andrews was born around 1735 in County Tyrone in the northern part of Ireland, however, it has also been suggested that he was from Argyllshire in Scotland. In 1756, Andrews joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer or "young gentleman" and served as a midshipman during the Seven Years War. In 1763 he passed his examination for lieutenant. In 1770, he was serving as a Master's Mate and Acting Lieutenant, but decided to leave the Royal Navy and seek employment on the Great Lakes.

HMS Royal William. John Cleveley the
Elder, 1760. Source: Royal Ontario Museum

In a letter to Governor Frederick Haldimand¹ dated October 3, 1778, Andrews mentions having "ample testimonials of my character from Captain Pigot."  This suggests that Andrews may have be at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 when Hugh Pigot (1722-1792) commanded HMS York, and at the Siege of Quebec in 1759 when Pigot commanded HMS Royal William.

Andrews's decision to become a mariner on Lake Erie was likely influenced by his brother Collin, a fur trader at Detroit. Collin was at Detroit as early as 1761 as his arrival at Niagara from Detroit was noted on August 6, 1761 in the journal of Sir William Johnson². In 1762, Collin was one of several merchants at Detroit who petitioned Johnson to be allowed in sell rum to the Indians. In 1767, he was arrested by Indian agent Jehu Hay for wintering with the Indians and for providing lodging for Indians at the fort. Captain George Trumbull, commanding officer at Detroit, intervened and dismissed the charges. In September 1770, Collin wrote to Sir William Johnson thanking him for lending £30 to his brother and paying off his brother's debt. Collin does not appear to have married, and died soon after the Revolutionary War.

James Andrews joined the Naval Department at Detroit and was given command of the General Gage on Lake Erie. The Gage was a topsail schooner of 154 tons launched at Detroit in 1771. Although built to carry 14 guns, the boat was primarily used to ferry troops, provisions and supplies for the government, and goods for merchants and private citizens. Later in her career the Gage was reclassified as a brig when her rigging was changed from fore-and-aft to square.

In a letter dated June 17, 1773, Andrews wrote to Major Henry Basset, commanding officer at Detroit, complaining about the lack of armament:

Tis also my duty as master of His Majesty's Schooner, the General Gage to acquaint you of her defenceless state having on board only eight useless Muskets without Pistol, Sword or Pike & only about two pounds of Powder, for the carriage guns. I therefore request Sir, that you will be pleased to order such quantity of small arms and ammunition as you shall Judge necessarie, and as soon as may be convenient, at least before we sail again for Ft. Erie. I need not Sir, further inforce the expediency of this to you, who is perfectly acquainted how very essential the Vessels are to the well being of Detroit & its dependencies.

Basset, unfortunately, was only able to provide the Gage with twelve muskets and bayonets. Later than year, however, he wrote Andrews a letter of introduction to Haldimand who was temporarily acting as Commander-in-Chief, North America:

The Bearer is a Gentleman who behaves with great propriety, is a good Sea Officer & is very much esteemed here. As such I beg leave to introduce him to your Excellency. The King's Vessels have brought up all provisions, stores &c. and are laid up for the winter. The Capt. has applied for my permission to to bring up his family, which I have granted, provided he's at Fort Erie by the first opportunity in Spring.

According to an unsigned letter in the Wisconsin Historical Society's Draper Manuscript Collection, Andrews was still in command of the Gage three years later. The letter, written by a rebel spy and dated April 2, 1776, describes the defences of Detroit and notes that there "are very few seamen and not one Gunner, they are generally dissatisfied with the Service, and will make a poor resistance."

Sir Frederick Haldimand
Joshua Reynolds, 1778.
Source: National Portrait Gallery

A "Return of Officers on the Great Lakes" dated October 1777 shows Andrews had been given command of the smaller Earl of Dunmore; a 106-ton topsail schooner "mounting 12 Guns and 4 Swivels." Haldimand's predecessor, Governor Guy Carleton, had placed Alexander Grant in charge of the Naval Department on the Great Lakes earlier that year, and Grant had taken over as captain of the Gage. Like the Gage, the Dunmore had been built at Detroit in 1771 with a frame of red cedar, and remained in service on Lake Erie after the war. A muster roll dated September 25, 1777 to March 24, 1778 shows a compliment of 14.

Dunmore had been previously commanded by Thomas Robison who had been given command of the snow Haldimand on Lake Ontario, and was the senior naval officer on the lake. When Robison retired from the Naval Department in November 1777 to become a merchant at Niagara, Andrews saw an opportunity to advance his career. In April 1778, Henry Hamilton, Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Fort Detroit³ wrote a letter of recommendation addressed to Carleton, unaware that Haldimand had recently taken over as Governor:

I take the Liberty of recommending to your Excellency's favor & protection Captain James Andrews who has since my arrival at this place acted with the greatest zeal, activity and diligence – as to his capacity in his Profession I can only say he has the reputation of a very intelligent & experienced officer. Should your Excellency be pleased to require an account of the navigation of the Lakes or other circumstances relating to his Profession, I have reason to think he will acquit himself to your Excellency's satisfaction & his own credit.

On May 25, 1778, Lieutenant Colonel Mason Bolton, the commanding officer at Niagara, wrote to Andrews saying that Governor Haldimand had reappointed Alexander Grant the Commanding Officer of the Naval Department upon the Lakes, and stating that Andrews would have command on Lake Ontario. Bolton therefore appointed Andrews "commander of His Majesty's Snow Haldimand and the Naval Department on Lake Ontario." Andrews moved from Detroit to Niagara and took up residence with his family at Navy Hall on the west side of the Niagara River.

The Haldimand, Roland Stevens

The Haldimand was a 150-ton snow (rhymes with cow) built at Oswegatichie (Ogdenburg) on the St. Lawrence River in 1771. A snow is a square-rigged vessel with two masts and a trysail-mast on the quarterdeck immediately behind the main mast. A "Return of His Majesty's Armed Vessels" dated January 1, 1779 shows she had crew of 34 men and was armed with 16 four pounders. Her deck was 23.2 metres in length and she had a beam of 7.3 metres. The Haldimand's main task was to transport troops, goods and provisions from Carleton Island to Niagara. She also carried private cargo for merchants at Niagara and Detroit, and Loyalist refugees and prisoners from Niagara to Carleton Island.

In a letter to Bolton dated August 27, 1778, Haldimand informed Bolton that he received a letter from Andrews, "wherein he desires to be appointed Commandant of Lake Ontario." Haldimand tells Bolton, "...you will acquaint him that from the favourable representation which have been made of him to me I consider him as the Commandant of the King's Vessels upon the Lake and depend upon his abilities and diligence for the care and preservation of them in all circumstances."

On the same day that Haldimand wrote to Bolton, Andrews had written a letter to Haldimand from Carleton Island describing his naval experience:

In May 1756, I entered a Volunteer in the Navy and served as Midshipman during the War. In 1763 I passed my examination for an officer, and in the year 1770 I served as a Masters Mate and acting Lieutenant. It being then a dead Peace, and no prospect of active service for promotions, and having an increasing family, I with great reluctance quitted my old favourite service and obtained the command of his Majesty's vessel on Lake Erie at the commencement of the rebellion of the colonies, Capt Lermoult and Lieut. Governor Hamilton gave me a commission. In October 1776 His Excellency General Carleton was pleased to send me a commission and in October 1777, he was pleased to order Colonel Bolton to give me the command on Lake Ontario.

Andrews further states that he served 14 years in the Royal Navy and "near eight years that I have commanded one of His Majesty's vessel of these Lakes."

A General Map of the Middle British Colonies, 1771
Source: Library of Congress

Andrews' formal commission as "Master and Commander of His Majesty's Naval Armaments upon the River And Lakes within the Province And Frontiers thereof" is dated October 13 1778. "His Majesty's Naval Armaments" on Lake Ontario, however, were few in number. In addition to the Haldimand were the snow Seneca, built at Oswegatichie in 1777 and commanded by Jean-Baptiste Bouchette, and the sloop Caldwell, built at Niagara in 1774 and commanded by William Baker, as well as two gunboats and a row galley.

The Haldimand Papers also contain references to the sloop Mohawk, notably in October 1780 when Sir John Johnson of the King's Royal Regiment of New York requested that the Mohawk join the Caldwell at Oswego in support of his raid on the Schoharie and Mohawk valleys. The Mohawk also appears in letters written to Haldimand by Captain Fraser at Carleton Island and Brigadier General Powell at Niagara following the loss of the Ontario. In the Haldimand Papers is a diagram of a vessel launched at Niagara on December 23, 1778 that is most likely the Mohawk.

Silhouette of James Andrews
Source: John Ross Robertson
Collection,Toronto Public Library

Following his appointment in May 1778, Andrews immediately set to work, and made several recommendations. Andrews pointed out the need for gunners and boatswains, for barracks and for a rigging and sail loft at Niagara, and requested that orders be given to enlarge the wharf at Navy Hall, "there being too little Water at the present Wharf to Careen large Vessels at, and it being too small for three Vessels to Winter at." Andrews also sought to have a vessel built at Niagara to replace the Haldimand.

The poor state of the Haldimand was the subject of several letters. On December 18, 1778, Andrews wrote to Bolton, "The Hull of the Snow Haldimand is in general in a very defective state; particular parts are too decayed and rotten, that I do not think she can be navigated next summer, without these being repaired." Two weeks later, Master Shipbuilder Jonathan Coleman reported to Bolton that he had examined the Haldimand and "find her to be in a very rotten decay'd state and condition."

Some repairs were made and the Haldimand continued in service the following spring. Writing to Governor Haldimand from aboard ship on May 1, 1779, his aide-de-camp Captain Dietrich Brehm reported, "the Haldimand being very bad and decayed by Capt Andrews's account who Commands her." Brehn goes on to describe Andrews as a "diligent good Seaman, and an Officer indefatigable for the good of the Services and therefore your Excellency will doubtless send him a Commission, or otherwise disputes may arrive between him and Mr. Bouchett, who thinks to have the Command, by promises of General Carleton."

Andrews remained in command of the Haldimand until the launch of the Ontario in the spring of 1780. In a letter to his brother Collin at Detroit dated July 16, 1779, he describes a typical voyage to Carleton Island:

Sail tomorrow with Mrs. Hay⁴, your old acquaintance Miss Molly Johnson⁵and Retinue, Prisoners, Loyalists, Horses, and the Lord knows what else.

The brig-sloop Ontario was built at Carleton Island and launched on May 10, 1780. In August 1778, Lieutenant John Shank (1740-1823) of the Royal Navy had established a shipyard at North Bay on Carleton Island. At the same time construction began on Fort Haldimand on the bluff overlooking North Bay. The shipyard initially produced whaleboats used in British raids that ascended the Oswego River. Work then began on three gunboats which were completed by the spring of 1779. Finally, construction began on the replacement for the Haldimand.

Plan of Carleton Island, 1810
Library and Archives Canada

Although classified as a brig-sloop, the 226-ton Ontario was rigged as a snow with a trysail mast. She had length of 24.5 metres with a 7.6 metre beem, and mounted 16 six pounders and six four pounders for a total of 22 guns.

Over the next few months Ontario made several voyages between Carleton Island and Niagara. On October 31, 1780, she sailed from Niagara with a detachment of the 34th Regiment of Foot commanded by Lieutenant Southwell Royce. With the detachment were the wives and children of some of the soldiers. Also aboard was Lieutenant Charles S. Colleton of the Royal Artillery, four Haudenosaunee, a civilian passenger, several other soldiers, and Lieutenant Colonel Mason Bolton who had been granted leave to return to England. It is also possible that the Ontario was transporting a number of prisoners of war.

In his letter to Governor Haldimand on the sinking, the new commanding officer at Niagara, Brigadier General Henry Watson Powell, states a sudden violent storm struck from the northeast on the evening of October 31. In Legend of the Lake, Arthur Britton Smith speculates that this storm was connected to the Great Hurricane of 1780 that killed well over 22,000 in the Lesser Antilles and wrecked numerous Royal Navy ships. The Great Hurricane, however, was last observed on October 20 southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland, and dissipated well before the Ontario sailed.

A more likely explanation is that Ontario was struck by an early "November gale." A few weeks after the sinking, Hannah Lawrence Schieffelin⁶ described in her journal her experience aboard the Mohawk during another storm:

With a favourable gale at first we bounded over the mighty map of waters that composes the Lake Ontario, and after three days sail came near our destined port [Niagara], when suddenly the wind blew with such violence in a contrary direction, that our Captain, who was a Frenchman of small knowledge in maritime affairs, left the vessel to the mercy of the winds and waves, and descended with his Men into the Cabin where they united the efficacy of alternate prayers and strong liquor to support their spirits, having first lashed fast the helm, and closed up the hatches. To add to our despondence, we knew that a new Ship, called the Ontario, commanded by a deserving officer of the name of Andrews, had perished but a fortnight before in the same place, with above ninety souls on board, on the very night in which she had left Niagara, having received on board Colonel Bolton, who had been relieved, at his own desire, by General Powell, and embarked with the joyful hope of revisiting his Friends, who he was destined to behold no more. It was supposed the port holes had been left open after firing the salute which occasioned the fatal catastrophe. This was announced to the Garrison by an Indian's finding the gratings of the hatches which was all the discovery that every was made.... The tumultuous waves rolled over the vessel, and dashed through the crevices of the Cabin into the bed where I lay. The return of day revived the hopes of our terrified Commander and brought some abatement of the storm, the mariners resumed their exertions, and finding we were near to Carleton Island, entered once more that harbour.

Governor Haldimand received news of the sinking in letters from both Brigadier General Powell at Niagara, and Captain Alexander Fraser, the officer commanding at Carleton Island. On November 8, 1780 Fraser wrote:

I am exceedingly sorry to inform Your Excellency that the new Vessel (the Ontario) is in all probability lost, and every person on board of her have perished. Amongst the rest Colonel Bolton, Lieut. Royce with the Detachment of the 34th which were at Niagara, Lieutenant Colleton of the Royal Artillery, and several other Passengers, together with Captain Andrews and all the Officers and Crew of the vessel. She sailed on the 1st Inst. in the afternoon. A most violent storm came on the same evening from the north east, wherein she is supposed to have overset or foundered near a place called Golden Hill, about thirty miles from Niagara, as her Boats, the Grateings of her Hatchway, the Binnacle, Compasses, Land glasses, & several Hats, Caps & different wearing apparel, & blankets were picked up along the shore by Col. Butler on his way from Oswego to Niagara. This account is brought by the Mohawk which is just arrived from above having search'd all the South side of the Lake without having made any other discovery of the Ontario. I have thought necessary to dispatch a boat to Canada immediately to bring Your Excellency as early tiding as possible of this misfortune, as it must affect the arrangements in this quarter. Captⁿ Andrews is an irreplaceable loss to the Department he belonged to.

The following year, Francis Goring, a merchant at Niagara, wrote to his uncle about the sinking of Ontario:

A very malancholy misfortune happened nigh here last fall. On the 31st Oct. a New Vessel called the Ontario sailed from here in the afternoon, and about 12 O-clock at Night a violent storm arose in which the vessel was lost and every soul on board Perish'd in number about 120, among which was Lt. Col. Bolton, who commanded this post, Lt. Collerton of Artillery, Lt. Royce of the 34th Reg't. About a week ago six of the Corps [copses] were picked about 12 miles from her and buried, which is all that has ever been seen. This was the finest snow that every sailed these Lakes and Carried upwards of a thousand Barrels.

The location of the wreck of the Ontario was unknown until 2008, when it was found by shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville using side scaning sonar and a remote underwater vehicle. Ontario was found largely intact lying on its port side in 150 metres of water, partially buried in silt, and covered in quagga mussels. Both masts were still standing and the crow's nests were intact. Part of the bowspirit remained. Several of the guns were visible, as were the two large anchors and the ship's bell.

Limnaid off Wolfe Island. Peter Rindlisbacher.

Construction of Ontario's replacement began almost immediately. Limnaid was launched in September 1781 and remained in service until 1793. In Greek mythology, a limnad was a type of naiad, specifically a naiad that lived in freshwater lakes.

The Haldimand, which had been laid up at Carleton Island after the launch of the Ontario, was returned to service while a replacement was built. She was finally taken out of service at Carleton Island in September 1782 and converted into a "sheer hulk" used in the refitting of other ships. A wreck in Carleton Island's North Bay has been identified as the Haldimand. Her keel and lower rib sections sit in about three metres of water. Underwater excavation in the summers of 1974 and 1975 located an ornate brass tomahawk head, a naval cutlass, clay pipes, and brass buttons from several British regiments including Butler's Rangers and the 8th Regiment of Foot.

Andrews was survived by his wife, Elizabeth Phillips, and their four children: Elizabeth, Isabella, Angelique, and Collin. Elizabeth Phillips, the daughter of John Phillips (1710-1773) and Anne Engs (1715-1775), married Andrews about 1767. Elizabeth's parents were both born in Boston, and had married there in 1734, so it is likely that Elizabeth was also born there. Both of Elizabeth's parents died at Quebec.

After her husband's death, Elizabeth and her children were allowed to continue living at Navy Hall. In April 1781, Haldimand wrote to Brigadier General Powell:

The merits of the late Captⁿ Andrews and the necessity of his widow strongly induce me to comply with your request in her favor, and some mode of relief shall be considered of for her. To assist in which, be so good as to learn from her what her views are with respect to her place of residence, disposal of her family &c., and in the meantime please to give her fifty pounds Halifax currency and draw upon Mr Dunn for it.

On May 24, 1781, Elizabeth wrote to Powell acknowledging the kindness of Haldimand and proposing to retire to L'Assomption near Montreal as the place best suited for the "education, maintenance, and welfare of her "four small children." In is interesting to note that Elizabeth's oldest daughter, Elizabeth, was about twelve so could hardly have be considered small. Elizabeth had settled at L'Assomption by July 1781 and in a letter to Haldimand's military secretary asked for a continuance of rations.

In July 1783 Elizabeth was at Detroit and later that year wrote to Haldmand reminding him of his promise to provide her a yearly pension. The following year, Elizabeth she returned to Niagara. A letter written by Haldimand's military secretary requested that her furniture be shipped to Niagara from Carleton Island. In November 1784, Haldimand directed Thomas Dunn, Paymaster General of the Marine Department, to pay Elizabeth £25 per year retroactive to the date of her husband's death.

In 1791, Elizabeth petitioned the Land Board of Hesse on behalf of her son, Collin, who was not yet "of age." In 1787, Collin had been granted 114 acres on Lake Erie to the east of the Detroit River. Elizabeth requested a certificate confirming the grant. A certificate was issued the following year, and in 1798, Collin received patent to Lot 85, Concession 1, in Colchester Township, Essex.

In 1793, Elizabeth submitted an Upper Canada Land Petition and was granted 2000 acres in Humberstone Township which she promptly sold to Queenston merchant and land speculator Robert Hamilton. Her four children later submitted petitions of their own and received 1200 acres each. In 1797 Elizabeth and her married daughter Isabella successful petitioned for an exchange of two town lots in Niagara. Elizabeth sold her town lot in October 1806 and moved to York to live near her daughter Angelique. After the War of 1812, Elizabeth made a claim for losses totalled £25 for her "entire wearing apparel" and a "large silver butter boat." An 1818 Plan of the Town of York shows Elizabeth owning a town lot adjacent the town lot of Angelique's husband.

Elizabeth's eldest daughter, Elizabeth Phillips Andrews was baptised at Holy Trinity, Gosport, Hampshire on June 26, 1769. She married Walter Butler Sheehan (1764-1806) about 1790. Walter, the son of William Sheehan and Anne Butler, was the nephew of Lieutenant Colonel John Butler, Commander of Butler's Rangers. During the Revolutionary War, Sheehan was detained by the American rebels along with his mother, aunt, and cousins until they were freed as part of a prisoner exchange in April 1780.

In 1780, Sheehan was commissioned an Ensign in the 8th Regiment of Foot. In 1783 he purchased a Lieutenancy in the 34th Regiment of Foot. Both regiments were stationed at Fort Niagara. Sheehan sold his commission in 1787. He briefly served as Sheriff of the District of Nassau, as well as Clerk of the Land Board for Nassau.

Sheehan-Puisaye House, Niagara-on-the-Lake

About 1794, Sheehan built a 1 1/2 story Georgian clapboard house in Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake). In 1799, the house was purchased by Joseph-Genevieve de Puisaye (Comte de Puisaye), a minor French nobleman who brought a group of French royalists to Upper Canada from England. Puisaye returned to England in 1802 and the house was converted into a store. During War of 1812 the house was used as a hospital survived the burning of Newark in December 1813. The house was moved to its present location on the Niagara Parkway in the 1960s.

The 1792 Return of Land Granted compiled by Deputy Surveyor Augustus Jones shows that Sheehan had received 800 of the 2350 acres he was entitled to. Much of the acreage granted to Walter and Elizabeth was immediately sold to others including Robert Hamilton. Sheehan also received a "gift" of 1200 acres on the Grand River from Joseph Brant but it was not until after Sheehan's death in 1806 that his sons settled the Sheehan Tract in what is now Dunn Township.

Elizabeth and Walter had seven children, six of whom were baptised at Niagara by Rev. Robert Addison.

Isabella Andrews was baptised at Gosport, Hampshire on 9 May 1771, and died on December 5, 1837 in Exeter, Devon. She married twice. Her first husband was Henry Ford who died in 1793. Little is known about Ford, however, there are several references to him commanding vessels on Lake Erie during and after the Revolutionary War, including the sloop Felicity and the schooner Dunmore.

One interesting source of information about Ford is a letter dated October 15, 1793 written to George Washington by Timothy Pickering. Pickering served in George Washington's cabinet as Postmaster General and at the time of the letter was commissioner to the Haundenosaunee.

It may be proper for me to say, that I think Captain Ford a man of honour. He is a very sensible man; and whatever information he communicates from Mr Shehan may be the more relied on, as they married sisters, and the families lived under one roof. Capt. Ford has come to the States for the recovery of his health.

Isabella and Henry had two daughters:  Isabella Ann and Eliza Archange.

Three years after Ford's death, Isabella married Lieutenant George Hill (1758-1824). George had been commissioned an ensign in the 5th Regiment of Foot in 1783 and had been promoted to Lieutenant in 1786. The 5th was posted to Canada from 1787 to 1797, and was at Fort Niagara from 1790 until the fort was turned over to the Americans in 1796.

At the time of his marriage George was Fort Niagara's adjutant. He was promoted to Captain in September 1796 at Quebec before the regiment returned to England in 1797. From 1800 to 1802 the regiment was at Gibralter, and from 1802 to 1803 at Guernsey. In 1803, George transferred to the York Rangers with the rank of Major. When the York Rangers disbanded in 1805, George transferred to the 85th Regiment of Foot which had been in Jamaica since 1802. In 1808 the regiment was withdrawn from Jamaica and in 1809 participated in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in the Netherlands. George died in September 1809, possibly from Walcheren Fever.

Both of Isabella's daughters married while in Jamaica. Isabella Ann married Charles William Hall (1768-1832) at St Andrew Parish on September 13, 1806. Her sister, Eliza Archange married Edward Pinnock Wallen (1770-1822) at St Catherines parish on September 9, 1806.

Angelique Andrews was born about 1773, and died in Toronto on December 22, 1842. She married James Givins (1759-1846) at Niagara on December 29, 1797. Givins had first come to Canada in 1775 with Henry Hamilton who had been appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Detroit.  While at Detroit, Givins learned to speak the Ojibwe language (Anishinaabemowin). He participated in Hamilton's attack on Fort Vincennes in 1778 but was captured when American forces retook the fort in February 1779. He spent most of the next two years as a prisoner in Williamsburg, Virginia before being freed in a prisoner exchange.

Givins was commissioned a lieutenant in the Queen's Rangers in 1791, and served at an aide-de-camp to Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. In 1797, he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Home District. Givins held various positions within the Indian Department until 1837. In 1803 when the Queen's Rangers were disbanded  he was made a captain in the 5th Regiment of Foot. Givins left the military shortly afterwards. At the outbreak of the War of 1812 he was given the rank of major and appointed aide-de-camp to General Isaac Brock. He was present at the Battle of Detroit in October 1812 and commanded a band of Mississaugas during the Battle of York on April 27, 1813.

Pine Grove, J. Ross Robertson
Collection, Toronto Public Library

In 1802, Givins built Pine Grove on the outskirts of the Town of York. According to J. Ross Robertson, when he visited the house in 1888 the floor boards still bore blood stains from when Angelique treated wounded Mississauga warriors during the Battle of York. In the aftermath of the battle, William Dummer Powell, a prominent citizen of York, found Angelique, "in great distress having been driven from her home by a party of plunderers who had threatened her life." After the war, Givins claimed more that £388 in damages including "the whole of the wearing apparel of Mrs Givins & 7 children," and one "Childs Cott with Dimity Curtains."

It is not clear when Collin, the only son of George and Elizabeth Andrews, was born. Collin is thought to have been sent to school in Scotland after the war. Collin was not yet "of age" at the time of his mother's 1791 petition, which suggests he was born after 1770. In his own petition dated September 29, 1796, Collin writes that he "had been hitherto prevented from applying for Land by reason of his absence from the Province in acquiring his Education." In March 1801, his sisters petitioned for his grant to be split between Elizabeth and Isabella stating their "late and only brother Collin died in possession of about 1100 acres in Townsend."

Although the General Gage, Earl of Dunmore, Haldimand, and Ontario never fired their guns in anger, these vessels and their commander played a critical role in supplying British forces at Fort Niagara and Fort Detroit during the Revolutionary War. And although she never met James Andrews, Hannah Lawrence Schieffelin provided a fitting epitaph in a letter to her father written shortly after her arrival at Niagara:

This Gentleman bore a distinguished character, as a good seaman, and as an honest man, and his loss is greatly regretted.

Notes:

¹ Lieutenant General Frederick Haldimand (1718-1791) was Governor of the Province of Quebec from 1778 until 1786. He temporarily served as Commander-in-Chief, North America from 1773 to 1774.
² Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet (1715-1774) was Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern District from 1756 until his death. His son, Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet (1741-1830) commanded the King's Royal Regiment of New York during the Revolutionary War.
³ Henry Hamilton (1734-1796) was appointed Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Fort Detroit in 1775. In February 1779 he was captured by George Rogers Clark at the Siege of Fort Vincennes and taken to Williamsburg, Virginia. Based mostly on hearsay evidence, Hamilton was accused by Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson of paying for scalps, and encouraging his indigenous allies to kill women and children. As a result he was treated as a criminal rather than as prisoner of war, and spent several months in irons. He was finally freed during a prisoner exchange in 1781. In reality, Hamilton had tried to mitigate the brutality of Indian raids by having British officers accompany the war parties and by telling his indigenous allies not to "redden your axe with the blood of Women and Children or innocent men. I know that men, kill men and not children. I speak to you who are men."
⁴ Julie-Marie Réaume (1748-1795) was the wife of Jehu Hay, an Indian Department official and militia officer at Detroit.
⁵ Molly Brant (1736-1796), step-sister of Joseph Brant and consort of Sir William Johnson, served as an intermediary between British officials and the Haudenosaunee.
⁶ Hannah Lawrence (1758-1838) was the wife of Jacob Schieffelin (1757-1835), an Indian Department official at Detroit. Hannah was from a Quaker family living in New York, and wrote seditious poetry about the British occupation under the pen name of Matilda. In 1780, she met and married Jacob who had escaped and made his way to New York after being taken prisoner at the Siege of Fort Vincennes in February 1779. Hannah accompanied her husband when he returned to Detroit after their marriage.

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