Monday, May 14, 2012

Scipio and British Aliens in 1812

I have done some research on Scipio and the War of 1812 as you can probably tell from my last couple of postings. June 18, 2012, marks the 200th anniversary of the tart of the War of 1812.
I obtained some information from the NYS Archives on Scipio during the War of 1812. There were Scipio residents loyal to the USA who fought in the War of 1812; some had already served their country in the Revolutionary War. They are a story I will write another day. Today, I’d like to tell you about the list I found of British aliens (non-citizens) who were required to register with the government due to the outbreak of the War of 1812. This was done per a notice from the Department of State dated July 7, 1812 regarding British aliens residing in the USA during the War of 1812.
Some Scipio men on that list are:
Timothy Reddy, aged 34 with 15 years in the USA, a tailor with a wife and 6 children. He had made no application for Naturalization, and was noted as being “in opposition to the administration.”
Joseph Varty, aged 55 with 1 year as a resident and a married farmer but no children. He had made no application for Naturalization and was noted as being “an inoffensive subject.”
Robert Wallace, age 50 and a 23-year resident, a farmer with four children. He had not applied for Naturalization and in the remarks it was noted he appeared “to be unfriendly to the administration.”
Edmund Wright, age 52 with 23 years in the USA, a distiller of whiskey with a wife and 5 children. He had made no application for Naturalization, but the comments reflect that he was reputed to be “an honest man with a respectable family, and a good friend to the American government.”
William McMillin, age 52 and 24 years in the USA. A farmer with no family and no Naturalization, he was noted as being “a stranger, but an inoffensive man.”
Patrick Brannan, age 66 and 12 years in this country. He had a wife and 4 children and was a farmer who made application for Naturalization in January of 1812. He was noted as being “a respectable subject and a good friend to the government.”
John Kellett, who was a 32-year-old farmer here for 6 years with a wife and 3 children. He had made no Naturalization application, and was noted as being “opposed to the present administration of the government.”
Thomas Cowen, who at age 34 had been here for 20 years. He was a farmer with a wife and 4 children. No Naturalization application, but noted as being “friendly to the American Government.”
Patrick McLaughlin, who was 28 years old and had been here for 5 years. He was a Distiller with a wife and child. He was noted as being “peaceable and well disposed.”
Lawrence Gaffany (Gaffeny?) who was 25 and had been in the USA for 9 years. A labourer with no family, he was noted as being “a respectable young man and friendly to the Government.”
John Flynn, age 22 and in the USA for 9 years. Also a labourer without a family, he was noted as being “peaceable and inoffensive.”
Joseph Bird was 27 and here for 1 year. A farmer but no family, he was noted as being “a respectable young man and inoffensive.”
Samuel Brannon, age 22 and here 12 years, had no family. It appears from the notations on the list that he was related to John Brannon, also on the list as age 18 with 12 years in the USA. Both were farmers, and the notes say the two young men are “sons of Patrick and friendly to Government.”

1 comment:

Lois and Brad said...

I am interested in learning more about the Edmund Wright in this article. I think he may be an ancestor. Is there any more information on his birth, wife, or children?

Many thanks,
loismayer@gmail.com