Ontario People 1796-1803 Genealogy Book

Description

Ontario People:  1796-1803
With Introduction and Index by Norman K. Crowder
E. Keith Fitzgerald
Hardbound volume totaling
261
pages. Book is in excellent condition. Just what you need  for genealogy research. Per the publisher;
After the American Revolution, several thousand families  came to settle in the western part of Quebec, later called Upper Canada, then  Canada West and today Ontario. These settlers were former members of American  Loyalist regiments, discharged British and German servicemen, and some civilians  and refugees. They were offered grants of 200 acres of land on condition that  they take an oath of allegiance and remain loyal to the British regime. The  military and Loyalist arrivals who had come earlier received larger grants,  generally in relation to their services to the Crown, their rank or status, and  family size.
All settlers received certificates showing the location of  the lots on which they were to clear land and build houses. First, however, it  was necessary to establish who had the right to obtain title deeds, and in 1796  a proclamation was issued that required Loyalists and others to surrender their  certificates in exchange for title deeds and to make a statement under oath in  the district court as to their right to hold them.
Subsequently, thousands of settlers appeared before the  magistrates in district courts throughout Upper Canada. The magistrates provided  additional information in the records, which have been preserved in the National  Archives of Canada and are usually called the District Loyalist Rolls of 1796.  These rolls have been carefully transcribed for the first time by Dr. E. Keith  Fitzgerald, who has supplemented the 4,000 entries with further data from his  own research. Details supplied by the settlers, the magistrates, and by Dr.  Fitzgerald now provide a rich source of information on the early inhabitants of  Ontario. Some entries show, for example, relationships, deaths, military  service, maiden names of married women, and remarriage of widows.
The author of
Loyalist Lists
, published in 1984 by  the Ontario Genealogical Society, Dr. Fitzgerald points out that these important  rolls are undoubtedly the initial source of the Old United Empire Loyalists  List, and while both books appear to have a common core, it is not surprising  that they complement each other.
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