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War of 1812
George Kuck and
the War of 1812
Guylaine Pétrin chronicles her research into a British loyal subject and veteran
of the War of 1812.
THE WAR OF 1812 was the cause of
much migration between Canada
and the United States. From 1791
to 1812, most of the migration to
Upper Canada was from American States, many of the settlers
retained Republican sympathies
and were considered “disaffected”
by the Upper Canadian authorities. In a a previous article, published in Internet Chronology, I
explored the problems encountered by John Diver of York Township and Markham, after the War
of 1812, because of the desertion
of his 16-year-old son from the
militia. The following is an
example of a British loyal subject
who found himself migrating to
New York after the War due to his
guilt by association.
George Kuck was born in
December 1791 in London, England to Gerhard and Mary Kuck.
He came to 1Canada with his parents in 1807 , via New York. His
father, Gerhard Kuck, was born in
Hanover, but he lived over 30
years in London, where he married the English-born Mary
Trimmer in 1788. In his 1807 petition, Gerhard Kuck describes himself as a druggist and chemist. He
and his son were well-educated,
and Gerhard engaged in business.
Gerhard Kuck received two valu-
able mill seats on the Humber
river, lot 18 and 19 in Etobicoke
Township. In addition, Gerhard
Kuck bought lot 14, in the first
concession on the Bay in York
Township, from the widow of
John Cox, the original grantee
from the Crown. He seems to have
lived East of the Don, not far from
the Town of York.
Gerhard Kuck brought with
him 500 pounds sterling, which
was no small amount in 1807. In
addition, the British consul in
New York City, Thomas Barclay,
who recommended the Kuck
family described the 16-year-old
George as a fine lad, with a good
George Kuck baptism at St Dionisis Backchurch, London.
Source: Ancestry.com. London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812.
Family Chronicle • January/February 2012 17
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War of 1812
head for figures, and a good education. This family was the kind of
loyal British settlers that the
Upper Canada government
wanted. They had no problems
petitioning for land and patenting
it.
Gerhard Kuck died in July
1812, and he left all his property
to his wife, Mary, and to his son,
George after her death. He did not
put restrictions on her remarriage,
but he did not want any property
to be left to a second husband
after her death. In the case of
George’s death without heirs,
Mary Kuck was free to will her
property as she wished.2
In March 1812, 21-year-old
George Kuck petitioned for land
on his own behalf, which he
received in Scarborough Township, including two lots on the
Rouge River, just south of
Markham Township. Young
George Kuck was a sergeant in the
3rd York Militia under Samuel
Ridout, and in December 1812, he
received a commission as an
Ensign in the 3rd York Militia3.
This commission in the Militia
demonstrates that he was wellrespected in Upper Canada. In
1814, George Kuck was selected as
pathmaster from the Don Bridge
to the East Township Line on
Kingston Road. The pathmaster
was a fairly responsible position,
since it entailed making sure that
statute labor on the road was done
by settlers.4 George Kuck also
worked as a clerk in the House of
Assembly of Upper Canada in
1810 and 1812.5 Young George
Kuck had a bright future in Upper
Canada. His fellow clerks in the
House of Assembly rose to prominent positions after the War.
Then in October 1815, George
Kuck and his mother suddenly
sold their land in York Township
and moved to New York and settled in what would later become
Kuckville, Orleans County.
What happened? What caused
the British-born George to move
to the US?
A partial answer was found in
a collection called the Upper
Canada Sundries at the Library
and Archives Canada, but available on microfilm in many major
18 Family Chronicle • January/February 2012
First page from the UCLP of Gerhard Kuck in 1807. This collection is at LAC,
but available on microfilm from LDS.
libraries and from the LDS. This
collection is one of the best
sources available for research on
the civilian population during the
War of 1812. Letters to the Lieutenant-Governors, on all kinds of
topics can be found, but in this
case, there is a lot of information
about the trials for treason and
petitions for pardons found that
were related to George Kuck and
his neighbors.
In a letter written from
Lewiston, NY on 26 December
1815, George Kuck6 asks for a
pardon for himself and his
mother, on charges of harboring a
deserter, namely a man named
Matthias Brown, and not
appearing in court on those
charges.
So George Kuck and his
mother absconded to the United
States, rather than face the court.
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They probably feared having a
judgement against them that
would take away their property
and possibly their liberty as well.
One has to remember that the
Bloody Assizes of Ancaster, where
eight Upper Canadians who
joined the American army had
been hanged, was still fresh in the
mind of the population.7
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person in York” and of “an indifferent character”. It seems that the
only time Valentine Efnor came
back to Upper Canada was when
his in-laws died and Catherine
inherited the land.
The Kuck family and the
Brown family were neighbors in a
sparsely populated part of York
Township. Other neighbors were
wife Eve died. Catherine continued to live in the house where
her parents had lived.
The War of 1812
In 1812, George Kuck joined the
3rd York Militia, while Matthias
Brown was a private in the Militia.
Matthias Brown deserted in April
1813 and joined the Upper Canadian Volunteers, a unit of
Matthias Brown
Upper Canadians who
But who was Matthias
fought on the American
Brown, and why did they
side in the Niagara Disharbor him? As it turns out,
trict under Major Joseph
Matthias Brown became
Willcocks12. Why did
Mary Kuck’s second husMatthias Brown choose to
band, before October 1820,
fight for the American and
when they sold the land in
Joseph Willcocks?
Etobicoke township that
Matthias Brown had
Mary Brown, formerly
already bought land in the
Kuck, had inherited from
Holland Purchase as early
her husband.8
as 1812, in what is now
Matthias Brown, also
Carlton, Orleans County.
known as Matthew Brown,
His move to New York
was the only son of Fredwas probably planned
erick Brown and his wife,
before the war was
Eve. Frederick Brown came
declared.
from Pennsylvania before
In November 1815,
September 1793. On 2 Sepafter the war had ended, a
tember 1793, he received the
writ was issued against
location for lot 13 in the 1st
Matthias Brown for High
concession of York TownTreason, due to his armed
ship, just east of the Town
participation against the
of York. He patented this lot
state and King George the
in 1804. According to his
Third.13
daughter, Catherine, FredIn 1816, Matthias
erick Brown had joined the
Brown was found guilty of
Royal standard during the
High Treason in absentia,
American Revolution, but
and his property in York
so far no records have been
Township was forfeit to
found.9
the Crown. Since the land
Frederick Brown and his
was so close to the Town
wife had one son, Matthias,
of York and quite valuborn in 1785 in PA, and one
able, it was subdivided in
daughter, Catherine, born
lots of 10 to 20 acres to be
around 1784 in PA.
sold for market gardens.
In January 1808,
This land is now the area
Catherine Brown married
around Logan Avenue
Petition
asking
for
a
pardon
by
George
Kuck
dated
1820,
Valentine Efnor10, a printer
from Lake Ontario to Danfrom the Upper Canada Sundries at LAC.
of the Town of York. They
forth Road. Both his
Available on microfilm from LDS.
had one daughter named
brother-in-law and his
Catherine. Valentine Efnor petisister tried to reclaim the very
the Ashbridge family, the Playter,
tioned for waste land from the
valuable land, but without sucthe Skinner, etc.. Their houses
government in 1809, but he was
cess.
were probably located close to
unsuccessful. He bought a town
Kingston Road, which was the
lot on Hospital Street in 1809, and
Life in New York
major thoroughfare from the Town
then he moved to Quebec City,
Matthias Brown and Mary, forof York to Kingston. It is very
where he was still a resident in
merly Kuck, lived quite happily in
probable that the families knew
1820.11 Valentine Efnor was
Orleans County, NY for the next
each other quite well. In early
described by John Beverley
35 years. Matthias continued to
1814, Frederick Brown died intesRobinson as “a well known
acquire land. It does not appear
tate and three months later, his
Family Chronicle • January/February 2012 19
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War of 1812
that they had any children. In the
1830 census of Carlton, Orleans
County, a male between the age of
10 and 14 is living with them, so
there is a possibility that the
couple had a child, but no other
record could be found, either of
his death or marriage.
Mary Brown died in March
1852, and she was buried in
Carlton. After her death, Matthias’
sister, Catherine Farnham, widow
of John Farnham, and earlier
Above: Picture of Kuckville, provided
by Hollis Ricci-Canham, Town
genealogist of Carlton, NY.
Left: Accounts of the House of
Assembly of Upper Canada with
George Kuck working as a clerk, as
reproduced in the Bureau of Archives
Report in 1911.
widow of Valentine Efnor, came to
live with him in Orleans. Her
grandsons by her daughter,
Catherine Efnor, Almeron and
Valentine Wilson came to live with
Matthias as well. In 1856, Matthias
sold part of his land to Almeron.
In 1857, Matthias Brown died and
was buried in Carlton next to his
wife Mary. They had been
together for close to 40 years. In
spite of the age gap, they must
have been a happy couple.
Matthias Brown left all of his
property to his sister, Catherine
Farnham, who continued to live
with her two grandsons, first
Almeron Wilson, and then, after
he moved to Michigan, Valentine
Wilson, until her death in August
1883.
George Kuck was reluctant to
follow his mother in exile, but
given the guilt by association, he
probably had to leave. George
Kuck asked twice for a pardon
from the government. Finally, he
gave up, and sold his remaining
land in Upper Canada and settled
in Orleans County for the rest of
his life. George Kuck built a grist
mill, and a general store, in what
would later be known as
Kuckville. He converted to
Methodism and later, became a
20 Family Chronicle • January/February 2012
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respected elder and preacher.
Kuckville was named in his honor,
when he became the first postmaster. He was thus described in
1894:
“One of the most influential
men who came to what was to be
Carlton, was Rev. George Kuck in
1815. He built a large frame grist
mill, opened a general store, built
a warehouse, and an ashery, and
worked as a farmer. Later he
became licensed as a preacher, and
a postmaster at West Carlton. He
was a man of good education, fine
natural ability, foremost in
reforms, advancements, temperance, morality and religion.”14
His qualities as businessman
and his education, which had
early been recognized by the
British consul in New York City,
became assets and brought about
his prosperity in New York.
George Kuck married Electa
Fuller in 1819 and they had a large
family. Some of his descendants
are still connected to Kuckville.
So, even though most of the
settlers who migrated back to
American states after the War of
1812 were American, some were
not and when an ancestor moved
around that time, it is often that
the cause will be found in the
Commission for Forfeit Estates.15
Guilt by association was quite
strong after the War of 1812, and it
would have been difficult for
George Kuck to remain in the
Town of York with a step-father
labeled a traitor. Upper Canada’s
loss was New York’s gain.
Footnotes:
1
LAC. RG 1 L3. Upper Canada Land Petitions. Volume 270. Bundle K8. Petition 21.
Petition of Gerhard Kuck 1807. Microfilm
C-2117.
2
AO. RG 22-305. York County Surrogate
Court estate files. Estate of Gerhard Kuck.
Microfilm 638 reel 88.
3
William Gray, Soldiers of the King : The
Upper Canadian Militia 1812-1815. (Erin,
Ont. : Boston Mills, 1995), 71.
4
Christine Mosser, York Upper Canada Minutes of Town Meetings and Lists of Inhabitants
1793-1823. (Toronto : Metropolitan Toronto
Library Board, 1984), 102. The original of
the Town Minutes are kept in the Toronto
Reference Library Baldwin Room, but a
transcription with an index is available
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Page 5
Children of George Kuck (1791-1868) and Electa Fuller (1794-1858)
• George Cash Kuck (1820-1820)
•Reuben E. Kuck (1823-1860)
• Emily Minerva (1823-61) husband, Charles G. Beckwith (1821-99)
• Electa J. (1827-1873) husband, Reuben K. Goold (1830-73)
• Elbert E. (1829-1894) wife, Mary Jemima Comstock (1834-1900)
• Frederick (1832-84 ) wife, Elizabeth Goold (1837-1903)
• Elizabeth (1834• George W. (1836-1901) wife, Anne E. (1846-1907)
• Julius Anson (1839-1916) wife, Rachel A. Dunham (1851-1922)
online on the Toronto Reference Library
website.
5
Eighth report of the Bureau of Archives for the
province of Ontario 1911. (Toronto : L.K.
Cameron, 1912), 368. Available Early Canadiana Online. Also Ninth report of the
Bureau of Archives for the province of
Ontario 1912. (Toronto : L.K. Cameron,
1912), 91. Available Early Canadiana
Online. It is probable that George Kuck
was employed for longer in the House of
Assembly.
6
LAC. UC Sundries. Volume 26, pp. 1155511557. Microfilm C-4546 Summary of a
letter written by George Kuck to ask for a
pardon for himself and his mother.
7
William Renwick Riddell. “The Ancaster ‘
Bloody Assizes’ of 1814” in Ontario Historical Society. Papers and Records Volume
20:107-127. A partial transcription of this
article is online at http://archiver.rootsweb.
ancestry.com/th/read/UNITED-EMPIRELOYALIST/2001-08/0997319665.
8
AO. RG 61-65 Old York deeds. Vol. 8 pp.
346-348, Deed 3817, 3818, 3819 of George
Kuck and Matthias Brown to John Shaver
of Ancaster, Wentworth County, U.C. and
Jacob Smith, of Etobicoke. Microfilm #5911.
9
Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper
Canada, from January 14 1846 to 20th of April
1836. (Toronto: Mackenzie, 1837), 66.
Available at Early Canadiana Online. In
1836, Catherine Brown Efnor petitioned the
House of Assembly of Upper Canada for
compensation for her father’s land. She
claimed that since Mathias Brown had left
the Province before her father’s death, he
was barred by law from inheriting the
land, and she should have been the heir at
law. A special committee agreed with her,
but the House did nothing, probably
because they had more pressing issues.
10
Valentine Efnor consistently wrote his
name Efnor, but in records about the family
the name appears as Efner, Effner, Effnor,
Effanor, etc.
11
LAC. Upper Canada Sundries. Vol. 48, pp.
23629-23633, microfilm C-4605. This very
detailed petition of Valentine Efnor, printer
of Quebec City gives much details about
the Brown family of York.
12
For a transcription of a muster roll of the
Upper Canadian Volunteers, see OliveTree:
www.olivetreegenealogy.com/mil/1812/data_
willcocks1813.shtml
Many of the Canadian Volunteers received
land grants from the American Congress.
13
AO. RG 22-143. Court of King’s Bench
records of high treason trial of 1814. Rex v.
Matthias Brown. The original papers of
Matthias’ trial are in the Archives of
Ontario. He was accused of taking arms on
July 26 1814 in Stamford Township, District
of Niagara. The witnesses for the Crown
were Rosannah, Hannah and Mary Ferris,
probably of the Loyalist Ferris family of
Niagara.
14
Isaac Smith Signor, Landmarks of Orleans
County, New York. (Syracuse : D. Mason,
1894), 97.
15
E.A. Cruikshank , A study of disaffection in
Upper Canada in 1812-5 (Ottawa: Printed for
the Royal Society of Canada, 1912) This
important book available on archive.org
describes the various aspects of disaffection
in Upper Canada, from desertion to
treason. It includes an alphabetical list of
persons with land in Upper Canada who
withdrew to the United States. Not all of
the names were found guilty, but often persons found it difficult to obtain services
such as land and patents after they had
been charged.
Thank you to the Carlton Town Historian
and the Carlton Town Genealogist for their
help in researching the family of
FC
George Kuck.
Guylaine Pétrin is a reference
librarian and researcher in
Toronto. She enjoys researching
stories about migrating ancestors.
She is currently researching
traitors and deserters from the
War of 1812. This is her second
contribution to Family Chronicle.
Family Chronicle • January/February 2012 21