So Obstinately Loyal: James Moody, 1744-1809 PDF
Preview So Obstinately Loyal: James Moody, 1744-1809
SO OBSTINATELY LOYAL James Moody, in the dress uniform of an officer in the Loyalist provincial regiment, the New Jersey Volunteers. Oil on canvas, London, circa 1784, artist unknown. Courtesy of John Wentworth Moody, Ottawa SO(cid:13)(cid:10)Obstinately Loyal James Moody 1744-1809 Susan Burgess Shenstone PUBLISHED FOR CARLETON UNIVERSITY BY MCGILL-QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY PRESS, MONTREAL & KINGSTON, LONDON, ITHACA Copyright © McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000 ISBN 0-88629-355-3 Printed and bound in Canada Canadian Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Shenstone, Susan Burgess, 1927- So obstinately loyal : James Moody, 1744-1809 Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88629-355-3 1. Moody, James, 1744-1809. 2. United Empire loyalists— Nova Scotia—Biography. 3. American loyalists—New Jersey— Biography. 4. United States—History—Revolution, 1775-1783" Biography. I. Title. FC2321.41.M66 541999 971-6 02 092 C99-9OI44I-2 E278.M8 54 1999 Cover: BCumming Designs Interior: Mayhew & Associates Graphic Communications, Richmond, Ont. in association with Marie Tappin McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities. We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. To Michael This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Illustrations and Maps viii Preface ix I. New Jersey (1744-82) 1 The Early Years 2 2 "The Black Cloud Gathering" 14 3 What is a Tory? 24 4 "Disarming the Disaffected": The Power of Example 34 5 "To Terrify the Enemy": The Seasons of 1778 and 1779 51 6 "Lurking in the County," 1780 72 7 New York, 1780-82 93 8 Capturing the Mails: Spring and Summer, 1781 no 9 The Philadelphia Expedition: Autumn, 1781 124 10 Not with a Bang but a Whimper: Spring, 1782 135 II. England (1782-86) II London: Settling the Past 144 III. Nova Scotia (1786-1809) 12 Arriving in Nova Scotia, 1786 168 13 Building Ships, 1786-87 180 14 Putting Down Roots, 1787-89 188 15 The Prosperous Years, 1789-92 204 16 The Official Years: The House of Assembly, 1793-99 221 17 A Second Military Career, 1793-99 240 18 A Second Session in the House of Assembly, 1800-06 257 19 The Weymouth Church and the Acadians, 1797-1809 271 20 Fading Out, 1806-09 287 IV. Epilogue 21 Family 298 22 Legend and Legacy 303 Bibliography 315 Index 326 ILLUSTRATIONS 1 James Moody Frontispiece 2 William Livingston 36 3 Brig. Gen. Cortlandt Skinner 38 4 View of Staten Island 47 5 View of Wyoming Valley 59 6 William Franklin 62 7 Sussex County Courthouse 76 8 Broadway from the Bowling Green 97 9 Page from Moody's Narrative 143 10 Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler 146 11 Rev. Jonathan Boucher 147 12 Freeing of Maxwell from Sussex County Jail 163 13 Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia 174 14 Digby, Nova Scotia 175 15 "An American Settlement or Farm" 192 16 Bishop Charles Inglis 199 17 Sir John Wentworth 215 18 Lady Wentworth 216 19 Governor's House and Mather's Meeting House 226 20 Prince Edward 229 21 Mme Julie de Saint Laurent 230 22 Halifax from George's Island 247 23 St. Mary's Church, Auburn, Nova Scotia 274 24 Elisha William Budd Moody 299 MAPS 1 James Moody's New Jersey 1776-82, with inset from William Faden, 1777 1 2 James Moody's Nova Scotia 167 3 Manuscript map, Weymouth (Sissiboo) area, showing Moody and other lots, c. 1816 181 PREFACE THIS IS THE STORY OF JAMES MOODY, an American Loyalist hero from New Jersey who later settled, and became a prominent figure, in Nova Scotia. Famous in his own day, he deserves new recognition today. His life gives us a picture of the Loyalist experience, from the turbulent times of the American Revolution through to the subsequent refash- ioning of a British colony to the north. James Moody was a New Jersey farmer who believed that rebellion was constitutional anarchy. He enlisted in a Loyalist provincial corps and was sent out on special, often dangerous, missions behind the Patriot lines. Suffering from what would later be called battle fatigue, he went to England in 1782, just as the war was ending. There he wrote and published his Narrative of his Exertions and Sufferings in the Cause of Government since the Year 1776, a compelling story that explained the convictions that had made him a Loyalist and chronicled his exploits during the Revolution. Settling in Nova Scotia after the war, he threw his energies into the new community, building ships, working toward the establishment of an Anglican parish, representing his county in the House of Assembly, enlisting again in the wars with France, and more. He was one of nearly sixty thousand Loyalist refugees from the American Revolutionary War who settled in what is now Canada. As Americans, they knew the land and understood its challenges. They brought with them their political and civil institutions and worked to remake a society that furthered the ideals for which they had been fighting: a better society, they hoped, than the one they had left, a society where there would be no need to rebel. The story of James Moody gives us a glimpse of the American Revolution from the other side. Through his Narrative, we gain an insight into the issues that made this colonial war a civil war. Finally, James Moody's experience in Nova Scotia provides a personal account of the vision this second, transplanted, American society had of them- selves and their attempts to make that vision a reality. Men like Moody brought to the province new money and skills, a spirit of entrepre- neurship, but also a sense of public service and political responsibility that helped the province to grow and prosper on a sound institutional base. Their legacy remains important to Canada today.
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