Much has been written about the United Empire Loyalists and there are references elsewhere , as well as on this site, offering additional reading material on this subject. This Post is to give rise to discussion on various aspects of Leonard Slip’s Land Grants. Please feel free to comment.
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Leonard Slipp & his wife Elizabeth, along with their two daughters at the time, Magdalena and Catherine, arrived in Saint John (NB) in 1783 as part of the United Empire Loyalist mass immigration of the time. In total, throughout the mass exodus from the Thirteen Colonies (soon-to-be the USA), about 14,000 Loyalists came to this new maritime province that would soon become known as New Brunswick. (For further reading on this subject go to Anne Mackenzie’s excellent article A Short History of the United Empire Loyalist)
Most Loyalists left their previous land without their belongings, many of them having it all taken from them by the American Revolutionary government, including any money they had in the bank. Leonard & Elizabeth were able to bring some of their belongings, such as pewter candlesticks and a silver snuffer. It is rumoured that Leonard also brought a relatively sizable stash of money with him as well, as part of “a large amount of money made in a short amount of time”, coming from the tavern he owned on Long Island, New York. (No source for this, other than family Bibles and lore.)
This is all to give background to the Land Grants that the Loyalists were given to set up their new lives in this foreign, and (likely) somewhat inhospitable and undeveloped area they had arrived in. Just making it through the first winter, in a tent city in St. John, must have withered many a hardy soul.
Leonard’s first grant, in 1784, was for a portion of land “on each side of Salmon River” at the mouth of Grand Lake. His mother-in-law, Catherine Ryson ["Ritner" on documents of the time] was granted a piece of land adjacent to this. Upon investigation of this site, Leonard was apparently disappointed to find that it was “unsuitable for cultivation” and set about finding another piece of land more satisfactory to raising his growing family. [This is where it gets a bit tricky sorting out the 'what & where' and in which order Leonard accumulated his land, including the piece in what is now property owned by the current generation of Slipps.]
This following piece of information, sent to me by Lynn Godwin (August 2009), is a list from Natural Resources NB, found at Service NB, listing various Land Grants of the general time period. (Leonard Slip’s dealings have been highlighted)
NB Natural Resources Land Grants list, circa 1800. Note 3 different parcels for Leonard Slip
Note the 1784 entry/listing of Lot #25 on the Oromocto River, Gladstone Parish, Sunbury County, NB. Is this somehow confused with Lot #1 on the Salmon River, at Grand Lake? You wouldn’t think so, but stranger things have happened. Since there is no listing for the Grand Lake Lot here, and yet there is evidence of it (below), one has to wonder what is true and what isn’t.
In 1785 Leonard petitioned for Lot #58 on Long Island, in the St. John River, NB. At the same time Catherine Ritner applied for Lot #59, just south of the piece Leonard requested. That it was called ‘Long Island’ would suggested that other Loyalists from New York had already settled here.
The following document is a Petition made by Leonard Slipp to the Governor of NB at the time, Thomas Carleton. There is also a similar one for Catherine Ritner. When he sent this to me, Rick Crume noted: “I think Catherine was Leonard’s mother-in-law, Anna Catharina (Hauser) Reisner (abt. 1718-1812). Leonard was about 37 when he submitted his petition and Catherine about 67, “a widow with a family,” when she submitted hers.”
Source: New Brunswick, Crown Land Office, land petitions, 1785 McPherson, James - 1785 Smith, Josiah. Microfilm of original records in the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Family History Library microfilm 1,288,450
The Petition reads:
To His Excellency Thomas Carleton Esq., Governor and Commander in Chief of his Majesty’s Province of New Brunswick and the territories (?) therein Depending &tc. &tc.The Memorial of Leonard Slip, Humbly Therewith ~~~~~~
………………………………that Your memorialist having Drawn
Lot No.1, Each side of Salmon River Grand Lake, but the Land
being Unfit for Cultivation, Your Memorialist therefore prays
that Your Excellency will be pleased to Grant Him Lot No. 58,
on the West side of Long Island On the River St. John~~~~~
the said Lot being Not Improved and Your Petitioner [is?] in Duty
Bound shall Ever Pray November 10th, 1785 …………………………………………………………………….Leonard Slip
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In The Saint John Telegraph-Journal of September 16, 1943, historian Esther Wright Clark referred to Leonard Slip’s Land Grants briefly. An excerpt of this is available in an article by Rick Crume.
In short, Ms. Clark wrote: “He had evidently prospered sufficiently in New York to be able to purchase land, for he bought half of Lot 20, Gagetown, from the man who drew it, and would have liked to have the whole lot but was ordered to divide it with Hersey, a Pre-Loyalist settler.”
Just who this pre-Loyalist Hershey fellow is remains a bit of a mystery, as there doesn’t seem to be any record of him owning this lot (see below).
Loyalist Land Grants on & near Long Island, NB (circa 1800). Source: New Brunswick, Crown Land Office, description of land grants, vols. 1 - 2 , 1763-1832. Microfilm of original records in the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Family History Library microfilm 862,077
Note highlighting of areas of Leonard Slip’s Lots (Nos. 20 & 58). Also, Catherine Ritner’s (see earlier note) Lot No. 59 is adjacent to Leonard’s Lot. Rick Crume noted, “Leonard Slip and Catherine Ritner were each granted [lots] on Long Island, Queens County, New Brunswick on 14 July 1786. Leonard’s name is mistakenly transcribed as Stipp in the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick’s online index. ” You will note ‘Stipp’ was granted Lot No. 61, according to this information. This would likely be news to the owner of this lot.
Lot #20, as we can see in the map above, was actually a piece of land that was a part of property that was seemingly owned by a Richard Hewlett, not the Hersey that Wright refers to above, unless this is a typo or other circumstances came to bear of which we are not currently aware of. [This situation is yet to be resolved, as is the 200 acres beside the Oromocto River.]
Here is a current satellite view of Long Island. Note the straight channel north of Leonard Slip’s Lot No. 58, going into the pond/marsh. The snow to the West of the island, taken from another satellite pass during the winter. You can also find this image on Google Maps. [Can you find the Ducks Unlimited duck head on the south end of the island?]
Satellite Map of Long Island, New Brunswick (2004)
So the question arises: Where did Leonard have his establishment, the tavern/inn called ‘Blizzard‘? Was it on Long Island’s Lot No. 58? Or did he have it further north, across from his portion of Lot No. 20? Was it on the north tip of Long Island, on Richard Hewlett’s land? Or did he keep it on his own land?
It also brings other questions to mind: Where was his family’s home where he raised his 10 children? When did he purchase the Lot that has been in the Slipp family for over 200 years? And what was Lot No. 25 by the Oromocto River all about?
The community of Long Island lasted for some time, but as you will read in other Posts on this site, the spring freshets eventually had the community move to drier land. Nowadays it is used a bit for grazing cattle I am told, but there is little other activity here.
[To Be Continued]
Here’s some interesting information about the Oromocto River Land Grant contain in an email from Lynn Godwin, to marke slipp, 28 Jan 2010:
“Oromocto river grant- according to what I am reading*, in 1783-84 the Refugees were encouraged to get together and ask for grants together with one main grantee in whose name the grant was made. Each grantee was legally bound to the terms of the grant. It was cheaper for the Government that way. One of the conditions is that they had to drain at least 3 acres of swampy land in order to keep it. Seems to me that Carol said the land in that area is wet land which may mean they lost it. Wonder where that document would be? That might explain why the channel was dug beside lot no.58. and he got to keep it.”
This is *very* interesting information, Lynn. … As far as the draining of the wetlands go, it seems a bit unfair to have to drain 3 acres on a 10 acre plot (like Lot №58 on Long Island) and the same to hold true for 200 acres.
I expect Leonard might have looked at the land on the Oromocto River and found it, once again, lacking in terms of its agricultural potential…certainly since it is wetland, as Carol noted. There is also the potential that he wanted to continue to be a part of the community that came from Long Island, New York. I believe you had noted that it was Richard Hewlett, of Queenstown, NB, that gave the name of Long Island to the land “off the mouth of the Otnabog”.
*from a journal written by Robert Fellows and called ” The Loyalists and Land Settlement in N.B. 1783-1790″ ” A study in Colonial Administration. Provincial Archives of N.B.