Daniel Belding
and Mabel Bristol
United Empire Loyalists
and
Their Descendants
Note: The format had to be changed to make smaller web pages
that would be more convenient for those without high speed service. The family
history of Daniel and Mabel and their children and descendants is found on this
page with the exception of their descendants from the seven daughters of their
son David Belding and his wife Jane Thomas. The family of each of the seven
daughters is set out on seven separate pages which are linked to this page.
Click on the name of any of the seven daughters and you go to the page with
that daughter’s family history. At the bottom of each daughter’s page, there is
a link or URL to be clicked to return to this page for additional reading.
Thank you.
Forgive the errors and omissions for this is a work in progress.
Please provide your family information to correct errors and complete the
family history. If you have document, pictures, information, corrections, email or
write to the address at the bottom of the page. Any photos or documents will be
copied and returned in the same condition in which they were sent.
People who were of assistance include Norma Goggins, Doug
Belding, Ina Belding, Beryl Rutherford, Gordon Hargrove Miller, Pat Hargrove
Gillespie, J Lloyd and Bev Hargrove, Donald Hargrove, Clifford Hargrove, George
S Hargrove, Clint Jones, Vern Jones, Millie Wayne Urquhart-Cain, Addie Mawhinney
McCavour, Gordon Mawhinney, Betty Mawhinney MacDonald, Grace Mawhinney Waldron,
LeeAnn Hilsinger Lebuis, Mimi Parry Courtney, Alice McGowan, Marilyn MacDonald,
Margo Waldron, Harriette Dukeshire, Bina Trafton, David Page, Sandy Robertson,
Vicky Thomas, Marilyn Hepburn Ruth, Phyllis Koval, Dale Hunter, Lois Burrill
Hunter, Amalie Belding, Harold Milton Partelow and many others. The folks at
the archives in the NB Museum on Douglas Avenue in St John and at the reference
department of the St John Free Public Library were generous with their time and
advice. And Pamela Wood Waugh whose third great grandfather is Daniel Belding
laid the groundwork for this family tree with her research on Daniel and Mabel
Belding, David and Jane Belding and their children.
In the 220 years since Daniel Belding and Mabel Bristol arrived
in New Brunswick, their family has flourished both in New Brunswick and
elsewhere in North America. This paper identifies some 1500 descendants of the
couple and many branches such as the Hepburns and the Partelows have not been
explored in any depth. If you can be of any help, please provide any family
information that is not listed here or any corrections to be made.
Daniel Belding and Mabel Bristol
United Empire Loyalists
Daniel and Mabel Belding left their hometown of New Haven,
Connecticut to avoid the difficulties experienced by British Loyalists who
remained among the American Patriots who won the war for the independence of
the United States of America from Great Britain. The Beldings were members of
the Church of England in New Haven and, as such, they were branded Tories,
another word for Loyalists, especially if they actively supported the British
cause.
Family tradition has it that Daniel Belding was an officer on a
privateer hunting for American ships to capture so they could sell the ship and
its cargo and profit from the venture. A privateer was a privately owned vessel
that had a British license – Letters of Marque - to make war on America trading
vessels or any ship bound for an American port. Word of one’s involvement on a
British privateer would get back to your hometown in the colonies for the crew
and passengers of the captured ships were given their freedom to go their own
way. No one on the losing side of the war knew how long this harassment and
persecution would last.
As well, the British government was unable to gain any
concession for the Loyalists from the US governments in way of reparation for
their property confiscated during the war. The treaty was signed without a
reparations clause so the British government offered free land to all Loyalist
who wished to relocated to British North America which was Bermuda, Bahamas,
NS, QC and ON in those days. It was now better as a Loyalist to go to a new
British colony and seek one’s fortune there.
Daniel and Mabel Belding did just that and came to St John, NB
in 1784, the year after the war ended and the year in which New Brunswick was
created by the British government out of a large piece of the Nova Scotia
colony. They lived in St John for the next 20 years and then, after Daniel
Belding bought 770 acres at Chance Harbour from Charity French, they began
homesteading at Little Dipper Harbour and became the first permanent residents
of the area.
In 1793, Daniel Belding answered Lt Gov Carleton’s call to arms
at the beginning of the European wars and joined the Royal Artillery Volunteer
Battery to serve the guns protected St John’s Harbour. The men he served with,
even though they never saw action, reads like a list of the principal
merchants, traders and mariners of St John of that day. Clearly he was an
acquaintance of those operating the shipping business of the port. There are
newspaper records indicating that, after the Revolution, Daniel was a ship
master for the St John merchants who owned vessels and that he made numerous
trading voyages down to Boston, New Haven and New York, and even Barbados and
the Turks and Caicos on their behalf. The private records of merchant Munson
Jarvis show that Daniel Belding and his cousin Captain Felix Thomas insured
their vessels and cargoes with Mr. Jarvis. During the War of 1812, Captain
Felix Thomas was a partner with Munson Jarvis and others in the NB privateering
ship, the General Smythe. In April of
1783 at Huntingdon on Long Island, Henry Tisdale and Bradford Gilbert sold the
80 ton schooner Polly to Munson
Jarvis and Daniel Belding was a witness to the Bill of Sale. Because of the
family lore, it seems Daniel Belding was the master of this vessel after the
sale and may have been an officer on various ships owned by Munson Jarvis from
before the Revolution, most or all of which were likely to have been licensed
to privateer with British Letters of Marque.
As well Daniel operated as a trader in St John and had a trading
post on the mainland of Chance Harbour immediately east of Crow Island on the
eastern side of Little Dipper Harbour from 1795 and perhaps earlier. Daniel
maintained an account book with records of various transactions between 1797 and
about 1840. This book found its way to the archives of the NB Museum on Douglas
Avenue in St John. The account book shows that he did business with Captain
Charles Thomas, and Thomas Thomas Sr as well as a number of logging and mining
operations that were carried on in the Chance Harbour, Dipper Harbour and
Musquash in the early part of the1800s. Other records show that Daniel was a
soldier in Thomas Menzies Company of the NB Regiment after 1809 and during the
War of 1812, even though he saw no action in that capacity, although it is
another indication that he was a familiar of the loggers and sawmill operators
of Musquash during those early times for many Musquash men were in the Menzies
Company. Thomas Menzies had received a large crown grant at Musquash in the
time immediately following the peace in 1783, and he was part of a group of
well to do folk who were engaged in logging and sawmill operations in the area
from the earliest times.
From the sums of money mentioned in the account book, it would
appear that Daniel was well to do himself possibly from his proceeds from his
privateering days in the Revolution, or from shrewd trades made as a shipmaster
while he worked in that capacity for St John merchants.
After he moved to Chance Harbour, Daniel acted as a Harbour
Pilot for shipmasters headed for the Port of St John. In one year, the account
book shows that he made in excess of £ 50 from this employment alone. Daniel
cleared a substantial area for a farm and built numerous outbuildings. He kept
cattle, swine and horses. The account book indicates he traded in lobsters and
fish so this might have been part of his activity, or the fishing of others
that he bought and sold – he was in St John often enough as a ship pilot to
make such trading activities profitable – a 19th century ‘twofer’ if
you will.
Daniel and son David registered a 32’ schooner they called
“Little Bill” in 1816. They built it that year at Little Dipper Harbour. It was
single masted, one deck, 11’ beam. Doubtless they used in coastal shipping.
They continued the registration until 1830 although the registration lapsed for
unknown reasons for a short period in 1825 – the year David got married to Jane
Thomas.
A mariner or shipmaster who was a cousin of Daniel and Mabel,
Captain Felix Thomas, settled in Chance Harbour as well around 1825, the year
Jane Thomas married David Belding. [OBIT: Thomas, Felix Vital Statistics from
NB Newspapers Annotated by Daniel F. Johnson Vol 12 1847-1850 Item 1892 NB
Courier Oct 27, 1849: “Died Oct 4, 1849 at Chance Harbour in the Parish of
Lancaster where he resided these past 24 years Capt. Felix Thomas age 73 years
9 months. Interred Sunday Oct 7 at “that place” alongside the late Mr.
Belding.” END OBIT]. “That Place” is the Belding Cemetery on the south end of
the graveyard spit separating Belding Creek or Thompson Creek – take your pick
– from the main body of water that is Little Dipper Harbour. Felix Thomas,
assisted by David Belding, was granted 100 acres adjoining the Belding land on
the east including frontage on Belding Cove – actually roughly the east ½ of
the frontage on Belding Cove. Felix Thomas was a married man who lost his
daughter Elizabeth in late November 1823 according to the 27 Nov 1823 edition
of the St John City Gazette. And in the year 1840, the year he got his crown
grant for the Chance Harbour property to the immediate east of the Belding
lands, Felix Thomas lost his wife Sarah according to the 11 Jan 1840 edition of
the NB Courier. It’s compelling to say that Jane was the daughter of Felix
Thomas. No records have been found yet save that Thomas Thomas, another
relative, likely a son of Thomas Thomas Sr or Captain Charles Thomas, uncles of
Daniel’s wife Mabel and both Daniel’s cousins, being the witness at her wedding
to David Belding. The witness Thomas Thomas may have been Jane’s brother or
father. We’ll likely never know unless more records are found.
Daniel Belding, Mariner, St John Harbour Pilot, Trader,
Privateersman, Artillery Gunner, Soldier, Homesteader, Farmer, Fisherman, Husband
and Father, son of Jared Belding and Dinah Thomas, b. 29 May 1754, d. 8
December 1846 at Chance Harbour married at New Haven, Ct Mabel Bristol, b 10
Aug 1763 New Haven, d 29 Jan 1851 Chance Harbour, daughter of David Bristol and
Mabel Thomas, and they had children:
1.
Mabel Margaret Belding 18 Dec 1783 at New Haven, Ct, d. 12
Oct 1866 at Saint John, (middle Name from LDS) married 24 Nov 1802 at Saint John Alexander Hepburn b circa 1775
at Scotland, d 18 Nov 1842 at Musquash and they had children:
a.
Edmund
HEPBURN
b. Jane
HEPBURN b prior1814 at
Musquash, d unknown, married 13 Jan 1833 in Parish of Lancaster, Matthew
Partelow Jr, tailor, and they had children:
i.) Edmund ‘Ned’ Alexander Partelow, a
painter residing in the late 1860s according to the Hutchison’s Directory at 79
Duke St, St John, married Emily Belding and had children: See below or In the
matter of the Partelow family, see the work of William Rothwell but remember to save the URL
of this page as a Favourite so you can return to it
Jane HEPBURN b prior1814 at Musquash, d unknown,
married 2nd 1 Mar 1846 at St John, NB, David Woodill b 1811, d 14
Jan 1850 age 39 and he was “survived by his 2nd wife Jane and 12
children” residing on Princess St and he and Jane had children
ii.) William David Woodill b Mar 1846, 2
Aug 1923, married Milley Riley b Aug 1848 and had children
1.] Margaret Seaton Woodill b 9 Jan 1890 at
Lower Millstream, Kings County, married 9 Jul 1940 at Lancaster Parish, St John
County, Howard Janes
2.] Minetta May Woodill b 31 May 1888 at
Lower Millstream, Kings County married 4 Mar 1908 at Kings County, NB, Harry
Allan Kelly
iii.)
John Marvin Woodill b about Oct 1849, d 22 Jul
1863 age 13 years 9 months, funeral from his brother’s residence corner of
Carmarthen and St Andrews St
c. Jared
Hepburn, b Dec 1814 at
Musquash; d 1913 Eau Claire, WI, married 1st Julia Thomas of Mispec; married
2nd 20 Feb 1851 by Rev Alexander Stewart, Curate, at Trinity Church in St John,
Ann Jane Seabury b 1824, d 24 Jan 1862 age 38 years and buried Church of
England Cemetery on Thorne Ave, St John, NB. He was listed in 1865-67
Hutchinson’s Directory as living at Union n Charlotte, Saint John, and working
as a Block And Pump Maker being in partnership as Hepburn & Fitzmaurice,
Block and Pump Makers. Jared Hepburn married 3rd, Wednesday, the
26th,Nov 1862 at the residence of Mr. E. McNichol, by the Rev. E. B. DeMill,
both then residents of the City of St. John, Catherine Patience Murphy (nee
Hoyt/Hoit), on Catherine Patience Hoyt b 1839 at Letete, NB, d 15 Nov 1896 at
Eau Claire, WI ( her parents were Dennis Hoyt, b 1793 at Campobello, NB, d 6
Mar 1859 at Letete, son of Capt James Hoitt who died in NY in 1793 and
Elizabeth McNichol b about 1795 at Letete, (married about 1817 at NB) the
daughter of Neil McNichol b 1740 Stranaer, Scotland, d 1844 at Letete, and
Mercy Colby b 1760 at unknown, d 1856 in NB according to descendant Mayo
Martin) Jared Hepburn and Ann Jane Seabury had children
i.) Alexander Hepburn b. c 1852, d. 31 Jul
1872 married 6 Jun 1871 at St John, Martha Jane Fitzmaurice. He died in
unexplained circumstances that could have been murder. His funeral was well
attended by family and members of his fraternal organizations. She remarried 21
Jun 1874 William Lambert Talbot.
ii.) Charlotte Lottie Hepburn b. 12 Jun
1854, d. 9 Dec 1933, lifelong resident of St John, married 14 May 1873 Angus
Cameron b May 1844 (1901 Census; May 1849 1911 census) , d unknown, Stevedore
earning $400 a year in 1911, and they lived at 127 Broad St and had children
1.] Roy (Ron in 1901 Census) Hepburn
Cameron b. 23 Jan 1881 (Jan 1882 in 1911 census), mail clerk in a newspaper
office earning $480 per year in 1911, married 1 Jun 1920 at St John, Emma
Elizabeth Linton
2.] Jean Cameron b. 7 Nov 1884 (Nov 1885 in
1911 census)
3.] Ethell Lillian Cameron b. 2 Aug 1891
iii.)
Eliza Hepburn b. c Jun 1860, d. 5 Dec 1860
buried with mother in Church of England Cemetery, Thorne Ave, St John, NB.
iv.)
George Thomas Hepburn b. Jan 1862, d. 23 Oct
1862 buried with mother in Church of England Cemetery, Thorne Ave, St John, NB.
Jared Hepburn and Catherine Patience Hoyt had
children
v.)
Jared Alexander Hepburn Jr. b. c 1864,
probably d 1941 at Eau Claire, WI, married 26 Nov 1895 at St John, Jennie Tobin
b Feb 1876, d 21 Apr 1914 aged 39 and burial permit issued in St John for her
as Jane Tobin or Jane Hepburn, (she reported she was a widow in 1911 census but
the designation W had been changed a couple of times of the sheet by the census
taker before it became W. (Was she fudging because her husband left and went to
Eau Claire, WI to join his mother and father?) She was then living with the
children at 6 City Road, St John, next door to her parents who lived at 8 City
Road, and since she was listed as a shopkeeper, it was probably a shop at this
address since City Road was a thoroughfare in those days, and she gave her
religion as Episcopal) and had children
1.] Hattie May Hepburn b May 1900, married
19 Jun 1918 at St John, Jack Phillips Ryder
2.] Lancelot Lambert Hepburn b 1 Jun 1902
at St Stephen, went to NY and worked in the US for some years returning to NB
where he died Jan 1969.
3.] Eric F Hepburn b 1904, d 19 Aug 1910 at
St Stephen, NB aged 6 years as per St John Burial Permit
4.] John A Hepburn b Dec 1906,
5.] Lois Thelma or S Hepburn b 13 Jan 1908
(1911 census says Dec 1909)
vi.)
William Hepburn, Dentist, b Dec 1870, d after
1930, entered US 1873, married circa 1900 likely at Chicago Effie b circa 1978,
d after 1930 and they had children:
1.] Warren Hepburn b 1902
vii.)
Alexander Hoyt Hepburn, Physician, b. Jun 1874
at Eau Claire, WI married Edna Janet circa 1900 in Illinois and had children
1.] Grace Eleanor Hepburn b. c 1904
2.] James Hoyt Hepburn b 1902, d after
1930, married Francis M b 1905, d after 1930
viii.)
Mabel
L. Hepburn b. Dec 1879 married about 1910 in Eau Claire, WI, Frank Horstman
ix.)
Grace
D. Hepburn b. Apr 1881 married about 1910 in Eau Claire, WI, James Thayer
d. Ann
Hepburn married 19 May
1853 George Cosman of St John
e. Eliza
Ann? Hepburn b before
1848, d 1900 at St John, (was she the Ann Hepburn who married George Cosman?)
since she carried on business as Miss Eliza Hepburn in St John at 47
Germain St in 1867 and 1868 according to the Hutchinson’s directory and one
would assume she’d be at least 20 years old or more so most likely was a
daughter of Alex and Mabel Hepburn.
f. Mary
Hepburn b 27 Feb 1827
at Musquash, (at 1861 census reported 30 years old and living in West St John
with her husband) d 5 Oct 1919 at St John buried at Methodist Burying Ground,
Thorne Ave, St John, married about 1859 Joseph Daley b 9 Jul 1830 (at 1861
census report 32 years old) at Red Head by Mispec, NB d 20 May 1907 at St John.
The parents of Mr Daley were David Daley and Sarah Stanley. Sarah is a
Mayflower descendant. They had children
i.) Amanda E Daley aged 1 year at 1861
census, b 1860
ii.)Eveline Daley b 1863 (twin of Mabel)
iii.)
Mabel
Daley b 1863 (twin of Eveline)
iv.)
Carrie
L Daley b 1871
v.)
Blanche
Daley b 1873
vi.)