William George Crane (1771-1834)
Veteran of the War of 1812-14
By Sandra Sales
George Crane was born in Scotland in
1771. In 1803, at 32 years of age, he was in Upper Canada after retiring from
the British Army. By May 6
th of that year, he was in York (now
Toronto) when his path crossed with another ex-military man, Thomas Talbot.
This Thomas Talbot had left England early in February in possession of
instructions from the Colonial Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor granting
him 5,000 acres of land and permission to establish an agricultural settlement
in the wilds of Upper Canada.
Talbot was heading for a stretch of land on
the north shore of Lake Erie. Some of this area had been surveyed by 1803, but
skilled people would be needed to build an infrastructure for the settlement.
He offered George nine dollars per month to work for him and George accepted. (Source:
The Talbot Papers.) As they made
their trip from York to Niagara and further up the lake they were joined by
three other employees—William Powers, Samuel Rogers (hired May 11
th
in Niagara for $9 per month) and Patrick Whealand (hired in New York on the 6
th
of April for $11 per month)—as well as Deputy Surveyor William Hambly. On
May 21, 1803, they landed at a spot which Talbot named Port Talbot. This was the heart of the countryside that became
home to George Crane for the rest of his life.
George Crane worked at Port Talbot for three
years as Talbot prepared for his first settlers. George was part of a crew that
cleared the land and, despite the stumps, planted crops such as corn and
potatoes. He may have done any number of tasks. There is even an entry in the
Talbot Papers giving George money for
the soleing of Thomas Talbot’s shoes. He may have helped with the construction
of buildings, such as cabins, barns, a blacksmith shop, a cooper shop and a
sawmill, when a carpenter and his apprentice were brought from Niagara in 1804.
The staff continued to grow as Talbot hired domestics. One of these was
Isabella Findlay from Glasgow, Scotland, who helped the housekeeper, Mrs.
Powers. Isabella and George married, and in 1806 the couple became the Talbot
Settlement’s first settlers. He was 35 years of age and she was about 19.
George and Isabella were allotted Lot 15 on
Concession 11, about four miles up the lake at a point of land called Plum
Point, visible from Port Talbot. Their settlement duties would have been to build
a log house, clear the land and the road allowance in front of the lot, and
plant crops
within two years. The deed to the property could then be obtained with the
payment of a fee. Talbot likely provided
them with seed for wheat, barley, peas and oats. They may also have planted
Indian corn. George and Isabella started
their family with
William,
born on the 20
th of December, 1807 (baptismal record), and Charles
in 1809, by which time neighbours had started to arrive a little farther west.
George and Isabella added to their family with Peter in 1810, and by 1812 they
were expecting Anthony. Then the War of 1812-14 broke out.
There were many names of note in
the War of 1812. While George Crane wasn’t necessarily one of them, he is representative
of the men who needed to fight to preserve their farms, families and community.
In an agricultural community such as Port Talbot, citizen soldiers for the most
part lacked any formal military training. General Isaac Brock, chief in
command of the British military in Upper Canada and acting Lieutenant-Governor
of the province, was anxious to correct this deficiency. Brock “called for the
formation of unpaid volunteer companies called flank companies that were to be
armed, accoutered, and partially trained,” who could “provide a body of loyal
young men that could be called on in an emergency.” Men were
put into flank companies only after they had mastered the basic duties of a
soldier, generally after at least one year of service with their regiment. The
requirement for both fitness and experience meant that they consisted mostly of
men in their late twenties to early forties. (Source: http://stevendbennett.wordpress.com/essays/the-militia-myth-in-the-war-of-1812/)
Even then, Colonel Talbot, commissioned
on February 27, 1812, had trouble recruiting volunteers. Farmers
felt they couldn’t leave their harvests and families. Most of the settlers in the
Talbot Settlement were the same age as George Crane. They had young families
and were just starting to clear the land. Nonetheless, George Crane volunteered
in 1812. He had previous military experience with the British Army and became
part of the Flank Company 1st Regiment Middlesex Militia.
On August 11th,
1812, Major General Brock was on his way to capture Fort Detroit. He was transporting 350 militia volunteers who had boarded boats at Port Dover, including the 1st
Regiment Middlesex Militia, when inclement weather forced them to pull their
boats on shore and spend the night on the beach at Port Talbot. The Middlesex
Regiment also participated actively
in the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, Niagara, on July 25th 1814 and at the Battle of
the Thames.
Besides these engagements, there
were worries at home. At first, the
small community was not greatly affected, but that changed over time. The
sparsely populated settlement was attacked several times in 1813, and the raids
in the summer of 1814 were unrelenting as American soldiers and sympathizers
marauded along Lake Erie between Detroit and Brantford, raiding homes, burning
mills and crops, and stealing horses. On September 9, 1814, General
McArthur, accompanied by Andrew Westbrook, invaded Port Talbot with 600
undisciplined mounted Kentucky soldiers, 50 U.S. rangers and 70 Indian allies.
In the absence of Talbot and the militia, the settlement was completely
plundered: The grist and saw mills and many houses and barns were burned, crops
and livestock destroyed, and all the flour in the settlement ruined. The
settlers were left with little but the clothes on their backs. The community
never fully recovered from the destruction.
As a result of a raid by Captain Walker on August 16, 1814,
George Crane put in a claim for a horse, cow, cash, gown, muslin, great coat,
cloak, gloves and a gun.
George Crane served as a Private
under both Captain Gilman Willson and Captain David Secord in 1812. He served as a Sergeant under Captain
Leslie Patterson (1813-1814), Captain Gilman Willson (1814), and Captain
Leslie Patterson (1814, 1815). He received a Land Claim Certificate which
meant he was entitled to make a land claim for his service.
Source: http://www.elginogs.ca/Home/ancestor-indexes/military/war-of-1812-veterans
|
After the war the family continued to grow to 11 children in all: Isabella,
1814; Marie, 1816; Hannah, 1818 (baptismal record); Susan, Feb 25 1820
(baptismal record); Jane, 1822; Alexander George (baptized May 15th
1825); and Adam, September 5, 1826. Eventually, members moved away. William
went to the Oregon Territory, Charles to Rockford, Illinois and others married
and moved off the home farm.
George Crane died intestate in August of 1834 at the age of
64 and Isabella died on October 24, 1854 at the age of 67. George was buried on
the farm overlooking the lake. Isabella was buried in St. Peter’s Anglican
Church Cemetery, Lakeview Line, Wallacetown, Dunwich Township where there is a
memorial to them both. Their oldest son William inherited the farm.
Colonel Thomas
Talbot speaking to the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada
“Colonel Talbot has the honor of stating to the Loyal and Patriotic
Society that on the 16th of last month the enemy, amounting to upwards of one
hundred men, composed of Indians and Americans painted and disguised as the
former, surprised the settlement of Port Talbot, where they committed the most
wanton and atrocious acts of violence by robbing the undermentioned fifty heads
of families of all their horses and every particle of wearing apparel and household
furniture, leaving the sufferers naked and in the most wretched state” - dated
at York, September 2, 1814
There is a sluggish,
little stream in Dunwich, which at certain
periods may be said,
without too great a stretch of the imagination, to flow into Lake Erie. At
other times it is quite stagnant, being dammed back by a sandbar across its
mouth. The isthmus thus formed is dry and solid, a thoroughfare for men and
teams, until a stiff south-easter comes along and unceremoniously tears open
the channel again.
On either side are lofty
cliffs of sand, extending for many miles along the shore. Here and there they
overhang the lake, which is constantly gnawing at their feet. Huge fragments
fall from the top directly into the water. The process has been going on for
ages, and thus the lake grows ever wider and shallower. At times a tall tree
will remain for years, clinging to the very edge with its roots almost bare of
soil. But at last it yields, and topples over. If it strikes the cliff-side, it
remains reversed, its top buried in sand, its roots tending skyward. But the
lake gnaws steadily below. Sooner or later the inexorable current seizes its
reluctant prey.
The creek is bordered by
rich, though narrow, flats and verdant hillsides. Enough of the forest still
remains to diversify the landscape, which forms one of the most picturesque
bits of scenery along the lakes.
It was at the mouth of
this little stream that Colonel Thomas Talbot landed with four followers on the
21st day of May, 1803. He seized an axe, and with his own hands chopped down
the first tree, thus formally inaugurating the new settlement. Since that day
the spot has been called Port Talbot, the stream Talbot Creek, and the region
the Talbot Settlement. From it extends the Talbot Road, eastward to Fort Erie,
and westward to the Detroit River.
Source: James H. Coyne
The Talbot Papers p.33
Sec. II., 1907. 3.
2020 Update : To learn more about what the Toronto Public Library does and the newest information about the Toronto Public Library Guide visit https://citylib.ca/
Through the War of 1812 Graveside Project, Private William George Craneand others will be remembered with a ceremony in St. Peter's Anglican Church Cemetery on Sunday, July 12 at 1pm during Backus-Page House Museum's Living History Weekend July 11-12, 2015
Congratulations to the winners of our raffle draw.
June is going to be a very lucky month for Tyrconnell Heritage Society and Backus-Page House Museum. With your help we could win $10,000 that would be put towards a Summer Kitchen addition on the back of the museum.
