THE LOYALISTS IN QUEBEC
It was a tribute to the stability of British rule in the newly-won
province of Quebec that at the very beginning of the Revolutionary War
loyal refugees began to flock across the border. As early as June 2,
1774, Colonel Christie, stationed at St Johns on the Richelieu, wrote
to Sir Frederick Haldimand at Quebec notifying him of the arrival of
immigrants; and it is interesting to note that at that early date he
already complained of ‘their unreasonable expectations.’ In the years
1775 and 1776 large bodies of persecuted Loyalists from the Mohawk
valley came north with Sir John Johnson and Colonel Butler; and in these
years was formed in Canada the first of the Loyalist regiments. It was
not, however, until the defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1778 that
the full tide of immigration set in. Immediately thereafter Haldimand
wrote to Lord George Germain, under date of October 14, 1778, reporting
the arrival of ‘loyalists in great distress,’ seeking refuge from the
revolted provinces. Haldimand lost no time in making provision for
their reception. He established a settlement for them at Machiche, near
Three Rivers, which he placed under the superintendence of a compatriot
and a protégé of his named Conrad Gugy. The captains of militia in the
neighbourhood were ordered to help build barracks for the refugees,
provisions were secured from the merchants at Three Rivers, and
everything in reason was done to make the unfortunates comfortable. By
the autumn of 1778 there were in Canada, at Machiche and other places,
more than one thousand refugees, men, women, and children, exclusive of
those who had enlisted in the regiments. Including the troops, probably
no less than three thousand had found their way to Canada.
With the conclusion of peace came a great rush to the north. The
resources of government were strained to the utmost to provide for
the necessities of the thousands who flocked over the border-line.
At Chambly, St Johns, Montreal, Sorel, Machiche, Quebec, officers of
government were stationed to dole out supplies. At Quebec alone in
March 1784 one thousand three hundred and thirty-eight ‘friends of
government’ were being fed at the public expense. At Sorel a settlement
was established similar to that at Machiche. The seigneury of Sorel had
been purchased by the government in 1780 for military purposes, and when
the war was over it was turned into a Loyalist reserve, on which huts
were erected and provisions dispensed. In all, there must have been
nearly seven thousand Loyalists in the province of Quebec in the winter
of 1783-84.
Complete details are lacking with regard to the temporary encampments
in which the Loyalists were hived; but there are evidences that they
were not entirely satisfied with the manner in which they were looked
after. One of the earliest of Canadian county histories,[1] a book partly
based on traditionary sources, has some vague tales about the cruelty
and malversation practised by a Frenchman under whom the Loyalists
were placed at ‘Mishish.’ ‘Mishish’ is obviously a phonetic spelling
of Machiche, and ‘the Frenchman’ is probably Conrad Gugy. Some letters
in the Dominion Archives point in the same direction. Under date of
April 29, the governor’s secretary writes to Stephen De Lancey, the
inspector of the Loyalists, referring to ‘the uniform discontent of the
Loyalists at Machiche.’ The discontent, he explains, is excited by a few
ill-disposed persons. ‘The sickness they complain of has been common
throughout the province, and should have lessened rather than increased
the consumption of provisions.’ A Loyalist who writes to the governor,
putting his complaints on paper, is assured that ‘His Excellency is
anxious to do everything in his power for the Loyalists, but if what
he can do does not come up to the expectation of him and those he
represents, His Excellency gives the fullest permission to them to seek
redress in such manner as they shall think best.’
[1] _Dundas, or a Sketch of Canadian History_, by James Croil,
Montreal, 1861.
What degree of justice there was in the complaints of the refugees it
is now difficult to determine. No doubt some of them were confirmed
grumblers, and many of them had what Colonel Christie called
‘unreasonable expectations.’ Nothing is more certain than that Sir
Frederick Haldimand spared no effort to accommodate the Loyalists. On the
other hand, it would be rash to assert that in the confusion which then
reigned there were no grievances of which they could justly complain.
In the spring and summer of 1784 the great majority of the refugees
within the limits of the province of Quebec were removed to what was
afterwards known as Upper Canada. But some remained, and swelled the
number of the ‘old subjects’ in the French province. Considerable
settlements were made at two places. One of these was Sorel, where
the seigneury that had been bought by the crown was granted out to
the new-comers in lots; the other was in the Gaspé peninsula, on the
shores of the Gulf of St Lawrence and of Chaleur Bay. The seigneury
of Sorel was well peopled, for each grantee received only sixty acres
and a town lot, taking the rest of his allotment in some of the newer
settlements. The settlement in the Gaspé peninsula was more sparse; the
chief centre of population was the tiny fishing village of Paspebiac.
In addition to these settlements, some of the exiles took up land on
private seigneuries; these, however, were not many, for the government
discouraged the practice, and refused supplies to all who did not settle
on the king’s land. At the present time, of all these Loyalist groups
in the province of Quebec scarce a trace remains: they have all been
swallowed up in the surrounding French population.
The Eastern Townships in the province of Quebec were not settled by the
United Empire Loyalists. In 1783 Sir Frederick Haldimand set his face
like flint against any attempt on the part of the Loyalists to settle
the lands lying along the Vermont frontier. He feared that a settlement
there would prove a permanent thorn in the flesh of the Americans, and
might lead to much trouble and friction. He wished that these lands
should be left unsettled for a time, and that, in the end, they should
be settled by French Canadians ‘as an antidote to the restless New
England population.’ Some of the more daring Loyalists, in spite of the
prohibition of the governor, ventured to settle on Missisquoi Bay. When
the governor heard of it, he sent orders to the officer commanding at
St Johns that they should be removed as soon as the season should admit
of it; and instructions were given that if any other Loyalists settled
there, their houses were to be destroyed. By these drastic means the
government kept the Eastern Townships a wilderness until after 1791,
when the townships were granted out in free and common socage, and
American settlers began to flock in. But, as will be explained, these
later settlers have no just claim to the appellation of United Empire
Loyalists.