Lt. William Ruttan(1759-1843): The Loyalist
William Ruttan was born on April 2,1759 in Schraalenburgh, N.J. and baptized on the 24th of June, 1759. He was the eleventh of twelve children born to Willem Ruttan and Maria Demarest. His family were some of the first settlers to the Dutch "New Netherland", which is now New York and New Jersey.
When the American Revolution began, both William and his brother Peter became active volunteers for the British cause. William was appointed a lieutenant and Peter a captain in the New Jersey Volunteers. After being wounded and returning home, William married Margaret Steel, on 10 June 1782 in New York. At the end of the war, their properties were confiscated by the newly formed United States government and they were compelled to flee to the wilds of Upper Canada, to find safety and protection under the British flag. The two brothers and their families sailed together from New York in 1783 and spent the winter in a refugee camp in Sorel, Quebec.
William and Margaret spent that long and dreary winter in their thin tents at Sorel, and early next Spring toiled up against the rapids and rapid currents of the St. Lawrence - a weary month’s voyage, landing at Adolphustown on the 16th day of June, 1784. William and Margaret had a child with them in Sorel but not on arrival at Adolphustown, June 16, 1784. A notation on the muster roll at Adolphustown states that the child had died in the preceding year. In the old record of the Crown Lands Department, now in Toronto, there is a list of the names of those to whom the original land grants were made in Adolphustown. William Ruttan is put down for lot 18 of the first concession, a farm of 200 acres upon the front of the township near the Bay of Quinte shore.
William and his brother Peter were active in the community and both contributed to the building of the Hay Bay Methodist church in 1792, with twenty others, and they were among the largest subscribers - William for £10 and Peter for £4.
Although the church was five or six miles from his residence, William and Margaret would take a flaming pine knot in hand and set out, followed a blazed path through the forest. The people along the line, when they saw the torch of their class-leader coming, would fall in rank, all bearing torches, singing as they went.
William served in various town leadership roles throughout the years, including "Path Master and Fence Viewer" in 1796, "Collector" in 1802, and "Overseer of Highways" in 1805.
In the list of the families residing in the township, found in the Town Meeting records of 1794, William Ruttan is put down as having then a family of five persons, one man, two adult females, and two boys. William and Margaret had eight children together, all born in Adolphustown: Peter William born in 1787, was one of the first white children to be born there. Peter W. married Miss Fanny Roblin, also a native of Adolphustown, and purchased 400 acres of land from John S. Cartwright, near Northport, Prince Edward county, where he lived and died. His brother Daniel was born in 1790. William and Margaret’s son, Henry Ruttan(born 1792), became Speaker of the Provincial House and later, Sheriff and Judge of Northumberland County. Abraham, the fourth son, was born 1798, followed by their only daughter Elizabeth in 1800. She married Mr. Hugh C. Thompson, editor and proprietor of the Upper Canada Herald, and a prominent man in Kingston for years. Matthew born in 1802, eventually joined the First Lennox Militia and his daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Victoria married Dr. Archibald Mitchell. Jacob (1806), and Charles Stuart (1808), make the final two children.
William and Margaret's children, as the sons and daughters of Loyalists, were also entitled to land grants; there are many records of petitions submitted between 1797 and 1831 by Ruttans for land in the areas of Addington, Prince Edward, Peterborough, York and Northumberland. Descendants went on to settle in many regions of present-day Ontario.
In the year 1822, William and Margaret joined the newly built Anglican church in Adolphustown, named St. Paul's Church( now St. Alban's). William, with his whole family regularly attended, until his death on October 11, 1843. His wife Margaret died four months after in February 1844. They are both buried in the cemetery adjacent to St. Alban’s, in the village of Adolphutown.
As he lived so he died, a loyal, a pious, and an honest man. His grave marker adds: “I God; Honour the King.” (1 Peter 2:17)
In the United Empire Loyalists Memorial Church in Adolphustown, there is a memorial placed on the wall of the church with his name and a small biography.
References
When the American Revolution began, both William and his brother Peter became active volunteers for the British cause. William was appointed a lieutenant and Peter a captain in the New Jersey Volunteers. After being wounded and returning home, William married Margaret Steel, on 10 June 1782 in New York. At the end of the war, their properties were confiscated by the newly formed United States government and they were compelled to flee to the wilds of Upper Canada, to find safety and protection under the British flag. The two brothers and their families sailed together from New York in 1783 and spent the winter in a refugee camp in Sorel, Quebec.
According to an article written by Maude Benson(a grand-daughter of William) in 1901 for McLean's magazine,
"Mr. Ruttan possessed an exquisite old violin, richly decked with silver, and on more than one occasion had enlivened life for his neighbors, both at Adolphustown and during that dreadful winter spent by the exiles at Sorel."
Willam and his wife Margaret were very pious, and having no access to ministrations of the Church of England, they decided to join the Methodist Society. The Rev.William Losee, like all the Methodists at that time, considered such music a snare of the devil. He told Mr. Ruttan that as he had become a class leader he must do away with the violin. They argued over the violin for a length of time until Mr. Ruttan ended up destroying the rich old instrument in his great old fire place!William and his brother Peter were active in the community and both contributed to the building of the Hay Bay Methodist church in 1792, with twenty others, and they were among the largest subscribers - William for £10 and Peter for £4.
Although the church was five or six miles from his residence, William and Margaret would take a flaming pine knot in hand and set out, followed a blazed path through the forest. The people along the line, when they saw the torch of their class-leader coming, would fall in rank, all bearing torches, singing as they went.
William served in various town leadership roles throughout the years, including "Path Master and Fence Viewer" in 1796, "Collector" in 1802, and "Overseer of Highways" in 1805.
In the list of the families residing in the township, found in the Town Meeting records of 1794, William Ruttan is put down as having then a family of five persons, one man, two adult females, and two boys. William and Margaret had eight children together, all born in Adolphustown: Peter William born in 1787, was one of the first white children to be born there. Peter W. married Miss Fanny Roblin, also a native of Adolphustown, and purchased 400 acres of land from John S. Cartwright, near Northport, Prince Edward county, where he lived and died. His brother Daniel was born in 1790. William and Margaret’s son, Henry Ruttan(born 1792), became Speaker of the Provincial House and later, Sheriff and Judge of Northumberland County. Abraham, the fourth son, was born 1798, followed by their only daughter Elizabeth in 1800. She married Mr. Hugh C. Thompson, editor and proprietor of the Upper Canada Herald, and a prominent man in Kingston for years. Matthew born in 1802, eventually joined the First Lennox Militia and his daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Victoria married Dr. Archibald Mitchell. Jacob (1806), and Charles Stuart (1808), make the final two children.
William and Margaret's children, as the sons and daughters of Loyalists, were also entitled to land grants; there are many records of petitions submitted between 1797 and 1831 by Ruttans for land in the areas of Addington, Prince Edward, Peterborough, York and Northumberland. Descendants went on to settle in many regions of present-day Ontario.
In the year 1822, William and Margaret joined the newly built Anglican church in Adolphustown, named St. Paul's Church( now St. Alban's). William, with his whole family regularly attended, until his death on October 11, 1843. His wife Margaret died four months after in February 1844. They are both buried in the cemetery adjacent to St. Alban’s, in the village of Adolphutown.
As he lived so he died, a loyal, a pious, and an honest man. His grave marker adds: “I God; Honour the King.” (1 Peter 2:17)
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| Kingston Chronicle & Gazette, Oct 25th, 1843 |
In the United Empire Loyalists Memorial Church in Adolphustown, there is a memorial placed on the wall of the church with his name and a small biography.
References
-Henry N. Ruttan, UE, A Part of The Family of Ruttan 1590-1986 (Ottawa: Emery Publishing, 1986).
-From the Early Ruttan Families, the old-time records by Thos. W. Casey from the “Napanee Beaver” June 28, 1901
-UEL Memorial Tile, St. Alban's the Martyr UEL Memorial Church website, Biographies
-Benson, Maude, "Historic Adolphustown", July 1st, 1909, Busyman's Magazine, McLean's Publishing Co. Toronto
-Adolphustown, Minute Book of Meetings 1792-1894
-From the Early Ruttan Families, the old-time records by Thos. W. Casey from the “Napanee Beaver” June 28, 1901
-UEL Memorial Tile, St. Alban's the Martyr UEL Memorial Church website, Biographies
-Benson, Maude, "Historic Adolphustown", July 1st, 1909, Busyman's Magazine, McLean's Publishing Co. Toronto
-Adolphustown, Minute Book of Meetings 1792-1894
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