Family Members in U. S. History (4): War of 1812

One metaphor for the history of the United States might be is that it is like a thick rope made up of strands that are the collective strands of all the individuals who lives made up that history. In that image, the rope is one that is continually changing in texture and appearance. The family genealogies reflected in American history from colonial times up until the writing of the Constitution have focused principally on those families whose roots go back to the English speakers of the British Isles. Specifically, Mary Beth’s family roots (the Burdettes and Lords) and the Northen family roots (Northen and Lewis), with occasionally reference to the Rita’s Roy family roots that stretch back into the French part of North America that became Canada. With the 1800’s the flood gates opened and almost everyone can find some family members who first made their way to the country. In fact, so much is going on at that point that organizing with an eye to history becomes a bit problematic. I’m suggesting two possible ways to look at the 1800’s: military events and immigration patterns. By military events, I mean the war of 1812 and the Civil War. A great many of the records from the 1800’s are connected with events that led up to or were connected with the wars. Immigrations patterns are based upon the fact that groups of non-British people voluntarily coming into this country tended to be concentrated during certain time periods. In the 1800’s these were principally people from German-speaking countries and Ireland. Most Americans of German and Irish descent trace their first American ancestors to this time. In the last decade of the 1800’s, though the door began opening even wider to include people of other European countries. (None of this, of course, addresses issues of those whose ancestors came involuntarily as slaves.) Both ways of looking at history (militarily and immigration) cover the same time periods, so I will be toggling between the two. Probably the only thing that most people remember about the War of 1812 is that it is when Francis Scot Key wrote the national anthem. Really, it was part of a much larger war in Europe, primarily between England and France. The United States got involved for two reasons. The first is that the British (and French) ships raided American ships to get supplies and commandeer men to fight in its army. The other reason is that most Americans (including our ancestors who were here) still lived east of the Appalachian Mountains in the original thirteen colonies. Americans wanted to moved past the mountains and occupy territory, but there was a problem - Native Americans were already there. Britain backed the rights of many of the Native American tribes and this did not sit too well with most of the colonial Americans. So President Madison declared war. The American army that fought in the War of 1812 was much closer to the armies that fought in the Revolutionary War than today’s army. Each state raised its own army and the men who joined had to supply their own weapons and provisions. Because of where the war took place many of our ancestors in Virginia probably took part. In Virginia, Edward Jones Northen was a captain in the 41st Virginia militia regiment, but most Northen ancestors who fought, such as Charles Henry Lewis (in the 37th Virginia miltia regiment) and Thomas W. Rice were privates. According to a document called “Records of Men in the U.S. Army Prior to the Peace of the Peace Establishment May 17, 1815,” Rice seems to have been involved in a number of battles but also put on trial for desertion and sentenced to hard labor for the duration of the war in 1814. It is likely that some of Mary Beth’s ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War also fought in the War of 1812, however, Maryland did not appear to keep many records of them. Ironically, the only one of her ancestors we have a direct record of fighting is William Lord of Enfield, Connecticut, whose father, Jeremiah Lord had fought with the Continental Army in the American Revoluion. Even though some American troops tried to invade Canada, the part that they invaded was called Lower Canada, which had been settled by the British. Those who lived in the area of Upper Canada (including Quebec), like Rita’s ancestors Jean-Raphael Roy dit Voisine and his wife Marie Louise Caron, did not participate in the fighting. They called themselves Canadiens and still identified more with the France and French culture than the British that Americans were fighting. Also living at the same time, in Karamouska, the village where Jean-Raphael and Marie resided, was another of Rita’s ancestors Jean Baptiste Oulette. Both men seem to have been farmers and not involved in the fighting. In fact, Jean Baptsite married Marienne Berube on November21, 1814, just was the War of 1812 was coming to an end in the United States. It is interesting to note that Jean Baptiste Oulette’s mother was Marguerite Roi, so the relationships between the Roy and Oulette families go back a long way - at least when they were living in Karamouska over 200 years ago. Many Americans at the time thought that after the War of 1812 those living in Canada would be eager to become part of the United States. This did not happen and the borders between the two countries stayed pretty much what they were. However, shortly after the war, in 1820, Maine became a state and just a few decades later, some of the Canadiens, such as Rita ancestors began moving down into that area.