USA > New York > Loyalism in New York during the American revolution > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
Under the resolution of September 21, no penalty severer than that of transportation could be inflicted, and this, in fact, was the form of punishment most frequently resorted to. Loyalists were sent west to Pennsylvania,5 several hun- dred were sent to New Hampshire,6 and others to Connecti- cut7 and Massachusetts.8 This was done at their own ex- pense. The most vicious and dangerous were confined in jail after transportation,9 but the rest were given certain free- dom on parole. Those less feared were imprisoned in the state or released on parole.1º Some were allowed to join the
1 Am. Archs., 5th ser., ii, 991, iii, 238, 257. * Ibid., ii, 883. 4 Ibid., iii, 265.
' Ibid., ii, 979.
' Four. of Prov. Conv., i, 1000; Am. Archs., 5th ser., ii, 979, 1314.
· Ibid., iii, 467-468, 469, 470, 471, 825.
1 Jour. of Prov. Conv., ii, 493, gives a list of loyalists sent to Connecticut at their own expense; cf. Am. Archs., 5th ser., i, 888, 989-990, 1004, 1391-1392, 1441, 1445, 1526-1530.
· Ibid., ii, 1314, iii, 1540-1541. 9 Ibid., 470-471. . 10 Ibid., 1540-1541.
122
LOYALISM IN NEW YORK [122
British, while others were forced to take the oath of alle- giance.1 Still other penalties were : imprisonment with hard labor,2 confinement in irons3 and enforced labor on the bar- racks.4 Those who sought to evade their penalties were treated more harshly.5
On October 19, a special committee of twelve was ap- pointed to co-operate with General Schuyler in the north, and it served for a month. Its mode of procedure resembled that of the general committee on tories. It used troops to suppress insurrections at Helleberg, on the Rensselaer manor, the Livingston manor and in Tryon county; and it tried and sentenced loyalists, impressed wagons and drivers and co-operated with the committees of Albany county and with other committees.6
Efforts, however, were made to treat the loyalists hu- manely. When sick, medical attendance was allowed them.7 Boys were ordered to be mildly treated.8 A starving loyal- ist and his family were fed.9 Again and again the families of loyalists were allowed to join fathers and brothers.1º Two men were named in each district to grant them passes. If loyalists were found outside their neigborhoods without passes after November 20, 1776, they were subject to arrest.11 Petitions were willingly heard and efforts were made to give the accused a fair trial."" When a Westchester county loyalist,
1 Am. Archs., 5th ser., iii, 1540. 2 lbid., 5th ser., ii, 683, iii, 302.
' Ibid., 1547-1549. Ibid., 302. 5 Four. of Prov. Conv., i, 743. 6 Am. Archs., 5th ser., iii, 561, 563-565, 566, 579, 588, 589; Your. oj Prov. Conv., i, 699-670, 701.
' Ibid., 654.
8 Ibid., 667.
9 Ibid .; cf. Am. Archs., 5th ser., iii, 234.
10 Jour. of Prov. Conv., 768, 802, 845, 846.
11 Ibid., 706. About 4000 blank passes were printed. Loyalists had to pay six pence for them. Cf. case of Lady Johnson, Am. Archs., 5th ser., iii, 1102, 1158, 1207, 1236.
12 Ibid., 1354, 1355, 1367, 1390-1391, 1434, 1452.
123
COMMISSIONERS ON LOYALISTS
123]
because of ill-health, asked for a release from prison, a physi- cian was ordered to examine him, and he was sent to a neigh- boring state.' These instances and others that could be cited, indicate that the principal aim of the whigs was to take from the loyalists, who were dangerous political ene- mies, their power to work injury. The desire for personal vengeance or for the infliction of undue or unnecessary pun- ishment also appeared in many cases, but it did not con- stitute the rule. The treatment which the loyalists received varied largely with the fortunes of war, and hence with the danger which was apprehended from them.
The committee adjourned December 31, 1776,2 and re- ported to the committee of safety a week later. On Febru- ary II, 1777, it was dissolved, and a new committee of three members was appointed to take its place.3 This new trium- virate succeeded to all the powers of the former body and carried on its work.4 It acted, however, under the instruc- tions of the legislature.5 A month later its membership was increased to five,6 and on August 28 four more assistants were added, making the number nine.
Early in 1777 it was felt that some distinction ought to be made between the dangerous loyalists and those who might be reclaimed.8 The commissioners on conspiracies, there- fore, were ordered by the Convention to send for all persons not guilty of treason, and to offer them an oath binding them to be faithful citizens of New York state and to reveal all plots against the liberties of America. Those taking the
1 Am. Archs., 5th ser., i, 1448, 1454. 2 Ibid., iii, 1555-1558.
8 Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 803. Egbert Benson, Jacobus Swartwaurt and Me. lancton Smith.
+ Ibid., 812, 828, 835. 5 Cf. ibid., 865, 872, 889, 898, 899, 968, etc.
6 Ibid., 827. Peter M. Contine and Joseph Strong were added.
" Ibid., 1050.
" Four. of Prov. Conv., i, 823; cf. ibid., 755, ii, 442-443.
124
LOYALISM IN NEW YORK [124
oath were to be discharged and given the "privileges of freemen." Those refusing for six days to take it were to be sent, with their families, wearing apparel and household fur- niture, to New York city, or to some other city held by the British. Those who refused thus to depart were to be im- prisoned and treated as "open enemies of this state," and those who failed to appear before the commissioners were to be considered "as having gone over to the enemy," and their personal property was to be sold for the benefit of the state.1
This meant hard work for the commissioners. Money was freely granted for their purposes,2 but the discretionary power to pardon or to dismiss prisoners placed heavy respon- sibilities upon their shoulders.3 Though the Convention was disposed to be lenient,4 yet on April 21, 1777, it ordered county and local committees to have all loyalists seized.5 On May 9th, hearing that many loyalists who had joined the British had been deceived and were desirous of returning to their allegiance, the Convention decreed that all "delin- quents" who should appear before any magistrate before July I and take the oath, should receive " a full and free par- don for all and every treasonable act."6 A few of the "de- luded " accepted the proffer, 7 probably fifty in all up to the beginning of 1778.
When the loyalists of any locality began an uprising, the Convention acted with speed and power. Early in May, 1777, came the rumor that the tories were preparing an out- break in Dutchess and Westchester counties, on Livingston manor and at points further up the Hudson.8 Two groups
1 Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 827, 855-856. 2 Ibid., 865, 1106.
3 Ibid., 844, 889. ៛ Ibid., 888. 5 Ibid., 899.
6 Ibid., 921.
* Ibid, 933, 935, 937, 939, 950, 958, 960, 965, 975, 976, 978, 991, 997, 1020, 1021, 1043, 1051, 1070, 1071, 1072, 1074, 1080, etc.
8 Ibid., 910-911, 918-919.
125
COMMISSIONERS ON LOYALISTS
125]
of three commissioners each were sent out to quell these movements, one to Rhinebeck and Livingston manor and the other to Dutchess and Westchester counties. They were empowered to call out the militia, capture or kill all loyalists found in arms, seize all other loyalists and execute all spies "in terrorem." If possible, the two groups of commission- ers were to unite and assist each other.' This was the sever- est action yet taken.2 When, somewhat later, reports of up- risings in Albany, Tryon, Charlotte, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ulster and Orange counties reached the Convention, even the county committees were instructed to call out the militia and to destroy all who were found in arms against the state.
To hold the large number of loyalist prisoners a well- guarded " fleet-prison " was established on the Hudson. In all parts of the state they were ordered to be arrested and sent to this prison at their own expense.3 The commissioners on conspiracies were ordered to have all loyalists who were confined in New England jails also sent to the "fleet- prison." + A warden, "victualler," commissary and clerk for the prison were appointed to look after them.5 The loyalists who escaped were to be charged with "felony," and, if proved guilty by the commissioners and a jury, executed at once.6 Others were to be tried and discharged if found innocent.7 When the British captured the forts in the Highlands, the prisoners were ordered to be sent to Hartford, Connecticut.8 On January 2, 1778, they were ordered to be brought back by the commissioners, exam- ined, pardoned if found innocent, or, if found guilty, impris- oned in New York jails.9
1 Ibid., 912.
1 your. of Prov. Conv., i, 909, 910, 911.
" Ibid., 908, 927, 967, 988, 991, 1034, 1036.
" Ibid., 968.
"5 Ibid., 973-974; cf. ibid., 920.
· Ibid., 908. 7 Ibid., 1054, 1067, Sept. and Oct., 1777.
Ibid., 1063-1064, 1105. 9 Ibid .. 1106.
126
LOYALISM IN NEW YORK [126
Shortly after the issue of the Declaration of Independence the Convention, as has been shown, had defined treason and affixed to it the penalty of death. But as yet there were no courts to try suspected traitors, and it was not deemed wise to entrust such duties to committees. For this reason many who were suspected or accused of treason "escaped with impunity." To meet the emergency the Convention re- solved, March 31, 1777, that all suspected traitors should be tried "by martial law," and, "if found guilty, should suffer death or other punishment at the discretion of a general court-martial of the continental army," provided, however, that no sentence should be executed till approved by the legislature.1
Trials by court-martial soon began.2 The Convention, on April 18, 1777, ordered that loyalists in Albany, Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties should be tried in this manner, and instructed the county committees to furnish evidence.3 On April 29 the Convention approved three death sentences against loyalist spies, but later commuted one + On May 3 a court-martial sentenced fourteen to death, one to imprison- ment during the war and acquitted five. Of the fourteen the Convention ordered General George Clinton to execute all but two.5 When commissioners were sent out to sup- press loyalist outbreaks the Convention ordered court-mar- tials to be organized on the spot, as in Albany courty and on Livingston manor.6 Of seventeen loyalists tried thus at Fort Montgomery, all were released by the Convention but two.7 By order of May 12 authority was given to the coun- cil of safety or to the governor to pardon loyalists who were under the death sentence.8 Executions at the hands of
1 Four. of Prov. Conv., i, 856-857, 859; cf. ibid., 898. 2 Ibid., 884.
$ Ibid., 889. ៛ Ibid., 904-905.
5 Ibid., 908-909.
" Ibid., 919. ' Ibid., 922-926, 929. 8 Ibid., 928.
127
COMMISSIONERS ON LOYALISTS
127]
courts-martial continued,' recantations and pardons, how- ever, being frequent. Imprisonment, branding on the hand, and fines ranging from $15 to $100 or more were common forms of punishment, and they were usually approved by the legislative power.2
On May 29, 1777, John Jay reported a plan for the estab- lishment of "courts of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery," for the trial of cases of treason, insurrection, un- lawful congregations, false allegiance, riots and other crimes.3 "To awe the disaffected," on September I, such a court was ordered held in Tryon county." But the prevailing method of trying loyalists charged with treason continued to be by court martial.
Meanwhile the commissioners on loyalists were continu- ally busy. They moved from place to place, and with their armed forces & were occupied in discovering and arrest- ing domestic enemies. Cases of treason were turned over to courts martial, but those who were guilty of less heinous offenses were tried, released, imprisoned, fined, forced to give parole or bond, or compelled to take the oath of alle- giance. Since many took the oath of allegiance only to avoid punishment, and still remained hostile at heart, the council of safety resolved that those guilty of violating the oath be " deemed guilty of felony without benefit of clergy."' It was also decided to permit deserters from the
1 Jour. of Prov. Conv. i, 969-970, 971-972, 974, 983.
' Ibid., 971-972. Other proofs of the death penalty are found in Revolutionary Reminiscences, 131-135, 199; Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 910, 912, 1085-1086; Jones, Hist. of N. Y., i, 61, note 1; Dawson, Westchester Co., 165, note 1; Thatcher Mil. Four., 79, 99, 409; Greenleaf, Laws of N. Y., i, 26-38; Public Papers of George Clinton, i, 391, 580, 584.
' Four. of Prov. Conv., i, 922-926, 929.
' Four. of Prov. Cong., i, 1053.
6 Ibid., 1030, 1034.
· Ibid., 872, 1030, 1045. " Ibid., 1040.
128
LOYALISM IN NEW YORK [128
British to take the oath,' but since, in spite of promises of of pardon, many of the loyalists clung to the British, and their families were only a burden to the state, every district committee was empowered to send the " families of traitors and rebels, with provisions, wearing apparel and bedding, to them."> Some individual loyalists were treated in like manner."
It was felt to be especially necessary to suppress domestic foes before coping with Burgoyne, who was coming down from the north. From every side loyalists were joining him. Be- lieving that many could be reclaimed, the commander of the northern army was authorized to pardon all who surrendered and took an oath of allegiance before October 1, 1777.' This was looked upon as a wise, humane act, but compara- tively few loyalists gave heed to the call.
The first month of 1778 saw an effort made for the ap- pointment of a third " committee for detecting and defeating conspiracies,"" but it was not until April 3, 1778, that it was actually created.6 The powers of the committee were renewed from time to time until August 30, 1781.7 This board was larger, and it was in existence longer, than either of the two former ones.8 It met for the first time April 13, and began work at once. By this time methods of procedure and forms of punishment had been well established by prece- dent or law. As formerly, a company of rangers was em-
1 Jour. of Prov. Cong., i, 1050.
2 Ibid .. 1078.
$ Ibid., 1093. " Ibid., 1040; cf. ibid., 1005, 1006-1011.
5 Votes and Proceedings of the Assembly, i, 38, 39, 41, 45.
6 Jour. of Assemb., i, 106, 107.
1 Ibid., ii, 21, 24. 25, 27, 28, 51, 53, iii, 22, 29, 30, 33, 36, 41, 47, 117. Cf. Laws of N. Y., i, 257. MS. Min. of Comsrs., ii, 89-90, and June 30, 1780 (no page).
8 Ibid., i., I. John McClung, James W. Master, Cornelius Humphrey, Wil- liam Willis, P. N. Wynkoop, Samuel Stringer, Jeremiah Rensselaer, Matthew Vescher, Isaac D. Fonda, John M. Beekman, Hugh Mitchell and Stewart Dean.
129
COMMISSIONERS ON LOYALISTS
129]
ployed to assist in its work.1 Money was supplied by the state.ª A clerk was appointed and correspondence was car- tied on constantly with the other committees throughout the state, with the legislature and with the governor.3 This committee took cognizance of robberies,4 counterfeiting 5 and murder,6 as well as of toryism ; it acted under all the laws which applied to former committees, and enjoyed all their privileges. Most of the sessions of this body were held at Albany. Beginning in 1778, the legislature passed a series of acts regulating the treatment of loyalists.7
The first work of the committee was to try the prisoners in the various county jails. The district committees were asked to furnish evidence against them, and the committees of Tryon and Charlotte counties were invited to meet with the general committee. Altogether over a thousand loyal- ists were tried and sentenced during the three years' exist- ence of this board of commissioners. The charges against them ranged from mere suspicion to the gravest treason. In a single month, April, 1778, one hundred and fifty-five cases were heard-most of the parties being accused of having been with the British. The penalties were far from uniform; over six hundred were released on bail, varying from £40 to
' MS. Min. of Comsrs., i, 35, 106.
' Ibid., i, 1, 50, ii, 89-90. The State Treasurer's Book shows that £55,789 was paid to these committees from 1777 to 1781-£6,857 in 1777, £28,430 in 1778, {9,946 in 1779, and £10,556 in 1781,-or about $139,500.
3 Ibid., i, 27.
· Ibid., 74, 77, 78, 90, 95, etc.
5 Ibid., 223, 224.
6 Ibid., 71, 74. The legislature even ordered the committee to care for the poor, and to send the families of tories who were with the British to join them. Ibid., 282.
1 Jour. of Assemb., 1, 90, 92, etc. Greenleaf, Laws of N. Y., i, 17, 22, 26, etc. On October 27, 1778, the Assembly passed an act which offered rewards varying from $300 to $1,200 each for the arrest of fourteen dangerous loyalists. Four. of Assemb., ii, 26.
130 -
LOYALISM IN NEW YORK [130
£5,000;1 some were closely confined ;2 a few were freed on promise of good behavior; and many were dismissed upon taking an oath of allegiance.3
After July, 1778, the oath of allegiance was made the supreme test. Many loyalists stubbornly refused to take it- about forty in July of 1779 alone. Most of them were former royal officers, lawyers, physicians and merchants.4 If violent and abusive, they were put in close confinement; if moder- ate, they were sent to the British.5 Rather than leave their homes, not a few recanted.6 Some of the obnoxious, who had bad records behind them, were not permitted to take the oath, even though they petitioned for it.7 These professed loyalists were used also to effect exchanges.8 It was not uncommon for the neighbors of a loyalist to petition that he might be paroled instead of banished.9 As late as 1782 the loyalists renounced allegiance to king George III and pledged their faith to the state of New York. Since the committee was not then in session,10 the oaths were taken in
1 In 1778 six were released on £40 bail, twenty on £50, one hundred and three on £100, eighteen on £200, one on £250, nine on £500, and one on £1000. In 1779 two were put on £50 bail, thirty-six on fico, two on £150, twenty-five on £200, one on £400, one on £300, sixteen on £500, one on £600, four on £1000, and three on £5000. In 178c one hundred and fifty were forced to secure £100 bail, thirty-one {200, one £400, sixteen £500, and three £1000.
2 In 1778 about seventy-five were imprisoned, the next year the number sent to jail was nearly eighty, and in 1780 perhaps fifty were committed to close confine- ment.
3 In 1778 sixty-two were released upon taking the oath of allegiance. The nun- ber in 1779 was only about forty, and in 1780 about fifty. MS. Min. of Comsrs., i, 240, has a copy of an oath signed by twenty loyalists. On page 242 there is another oath signed by sixteen.
4 MS. Min. of Comsrs., i, 108. See list given there.
5 Ibid., 108, 117, 122, 123, 124. 6 Ibid., 122. 7 Ibid., 127, 128.
8 Ibid., 158, 172, 176; Greenleaf, Laws of N. Y., i, 43.
" MS. Min. of Comsrs., i, 210-211.
10 The commissioners were authorized to act till the war was over, but the war really closed in 1781.
131
COMMISSIONERS ON LOYALISTS
131]
the presence of a justice of the peace.1 As the war drew to a close and it became apparent that the colonies would gain their independence, many a loyalist, whose natural conserva- tism, principles of loyalism, religion, material interests or hope of reward had led him to champion the royal side, was converted to the American cause. No doubt many of these changes were sincere, but others were prompted solely by base and.selfish motives.2
The Declaration of Independence of itself made no change in the county committees save to increase their power,3 and after the organization of the state government they were still continued. They were uniform in authority and procedure, but in nothing else. They often acted as county governments, while they continued to be vital parts of the inquisitorial machine. In organization they remained about the same as in 1775 and 1776. They had their presidents, clerks, doorkeepers, treasurers, and could control the militia. They received instructions from the legislature, conven- tion, committee or council of safety, or commissioners on loyalists.4 In turn they gave orders to local bodies. Both county and district committees were elected by the people, but in case they neglected to choose them, superior bodies were ordered to appoint them. The expenses of these com- mittees were paid by the state.6 Sub-committees were ap- pointed for special work, like carrying on correspondence.7 Until the first committee was appointed, in September, 1776, to
1 MS. Min. of Comsrs., i, 240.
' Cf. Rivington's Royal Gazette, July 7, 1779, which has a "hit " on loyalists who changed from one side to the other.
' Proceedings of Alb. Co. Com., i, 462-466.
' Cf. Am. Archs., 5th ser., i, 1413, 1539, ii, 339.
' Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 1096.
' Am. Archs., 4th ser., 1458-1459, 5th ser., i, 1413.
' Cf. Proceedings of Alb. Co. Com., i, 17.
I32
LOYALISM IN NEW YORK [132
have general charge of the loyalists, the county committees were kept unusually busy. When in doubt about what course to pursue, the superior bodies were consulted,1 and these could always veto the acts of the local boards .? In fact, the county committees had power only to arrest loyal- ists and institute preliminary hearings.
In the five southern counties the committees disappeared with the British occupation, and were never revived. In the northern counties they continued after July 4, 1776, but were overshadowed by the various state boards of commissioners. When an efficient civil government, both state and local, was established, the county committees gradually disappeared. The records of their proceedings after the close of 1776 are very meagre. The Albany county committee, however, was kept rather busy in counteracting the " desperate designs" and the " tory plots" which were being unearthed continu- ally.8 The jails were full, and many loyalists were sent to Connecticut.4 So overworked was this committee that the special committee sent to help General Schuyler was ordered to co-operate with it in suppressing the " disaffected."5 Troops had to be used to quell them." It was reported in 1777 that the loyalists took a sacred oath to remain neutral till the British arrived. Many were " wavering in their prin- ciples." On Livingston manor they outnumbered the whigs three to one.' Coxsackie, Cattskill, Lunenberg, Groetenboght, Kings and Helleberg districts were especially 1 Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 890-891, ii, 497: Am. Archs., 5th ser., i, 1146, 1408, 1484, 1523.
2 Ibid., 1453, 1472-1473.
' Four. of Prov. Conv., i, 666, 671, 694; Am. Archs., 5th ser., i, 338, 357, 500, 888, ii, 1143, 1169, 1206.
* Ibid., i, 888, 889.
5 Ibid., iii, 231, 266; Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 671, 688, 694.
6 Ibid., 666, 671, 706.
1 Am. Archs., 5th ser., iii, 231, 266; Jour. of Prov. Conv., i. 671, 706.
133]
COMMISSIONERS ON LOYALISTS 133
disaffected.1 The slaves could not be trusted and the In- dians were feared.2 Parties were joining the British all the time.' The people were afraid to molest them." The county chairman complained that it was better to be a tory than a whig, since tories were treated so leniently.5
The committees in Charlotte and Cumberland counties were not very active. In the former county there were loyalists on Onion river, at Skeenesborough and about Crown Point, but little more was done than to proclaim them as public ene- mies. The few cases tried in the latter county were by jury, with appeals to neighboring or higher bodies.7 The tories in Dutchess county, the hot-bed of " dangerous insur- rection," disarmed the whigs and awed the committee. That body told the Convention that it would take a standing army to enforce the acts of Congress.8 Cortland manor was very disaffected; the county militia could not be trusted, whig officers feared for their lives, drafting was impossible, and New Hampshire and Connecticut troops had to be called in.9 The inactivity of the district and county com- mittees in Dutchess county was severely denounced.10
Orange county continued under General Heath. Some loyalist officers fled to the British, others were publicly ex- posed, and a few were sent to the committee of safety.11
1 Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 694-695, 706, 707.
' Am. Archs., 5th ser., iii, 266, 574-575.
' Ibid., 586. + Ibid., 1076.
. Ibid., 574-575; Four. of Prov. Conv., i, 890-891.
· Am. Archs., 5th ser., i, 128, 239, 358, 488.
' Ibid., ii, 216-219. 8 Ibid., i, 1408, 1413.
' Ibid., 1404, 1408, ii, 1026, iii, 205, 238, 239; Jour. of Prov. Conv., i, 654, 666, 757, 758, 766; MS. Revolutionary Papers, vi, 359.
10 Am. Archs., 5th ser., ii, 352.
11 Jour. of Prov, Conv., i, 648, 667, 688, 719; Am. Archs., 5th ser., iii, 1169; Cal. N. Y. Hist. MSS., i, 351; Moore, Diary of Am. Rev., i, '290.
.
I34
LOYALISM IN NEW YORK [134
The committee of Tryon county had a hard role to play. It permitted some tories to return and treated others leniently, though they were constantly guarded.' Ulster county was comparatively free from loyalists. The Claverack committee, however, petitioned the Convention in 1777 for a company of rangers "to quell the disaffected."2 The committee in Westchester county was constantly occupied.3 The people were badly disaffected and the harshest measures were taken to render them harmless.'
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.