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| Peter Shewfelt was born about
1771. His parents were probably Jacob and Lydia Shewfelt but that
is not proven. It has been thought that his parents were Johannes
Zufelt
and Sarah Freer. In fact, in a book called "Our Folks a History of the
Shufelt Family" compiled by Henry B. Shufelt and published in 1929 on
page 186 it says that "without doubt....... son of Hannes Zoufeld and
Sarah
Freer". If either Jacob or Johannes was his father, he is
the
grandson of Johann Wilhelm Zufelt and Anna Marie Stahl. Not much is known of Peter before he came to Ontario about 1796. On May 7, 1796, he petitioned for land in Ontario. The petition mentioned he came from Sussex, New Jersey. There was a recommendation for approval that the land be granted and that he receive the land dated July 12, 1796. The petition reads as follows: Niagara 7 May 1796. PUBLIC ARCHIVES OF CANADA. Land Petition S. 1797. No. 69. To his Excellency John Graves Simcoe, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, and Commander in Chief of the Province of Upper Canada, &c, &c, &c. IN COUNCIL The Petition of Peter Sheufelt, from Sussex Court New Jersies who has never received Land, Respectfully shews, That your petitioner is desirous to settle on the lands of the Crown in this Province, being in a condition to cultivate and improve the same. That he has taken the usual oaths, 8; has subscribed the declaration, that he professes the Christian Religion, and obedience to the laws, and has lived inoffensively in the country which he has left. Prays your Excellency would be pleased to grant him two hundred acres of land upon the terms and conditions expressed in your Excellency's proclamation bearing date the 7th day of February, 1792, or such other quantity of land as to your Excellency in your wisdom may think meet. And your petitioner as in duty bound will ever pray Following is a write up that explains some of the geography of the area in Ontario to which Peter came. The Shewfelt Family of Hamilton by A.
Gordon Carter 15 February 1984.
At the beginning of the
nineteenth century, land in Upper Canada was offered to developers and
settlers. Many of the settlers moved up the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers in
New York State, along the south shore of Lake Ontario to the Niagara
Frontier and on to the western end of Lake Ontario. Included in this
group of settlers were the Shewfelt, Kester, Forsyth and Ryckman
families who settled in Hamilton for short time before moving on to
Central Ontario South and East of Lake Simcoe. Several stories have
been passed on about the members of these families and their
adventures. This note has been written to explain the geography of the
Hamilton and some of the historic events of that time and how they
relate to these stories.One of the earliest records of our family in this area is petition by Peter Sheufelt, from Sussex County, New Jersies for 200 acres of land filed at Niagara on 7 May 1796. There is no known record of where he settled, however another petition dated 19 July 1851 dealing with his grant was filed in Nottawasaga, Simcoe District (County). What is now the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth was formerly the City of Hamilton. It was surveyed as Barton Township by Augustus Jones. The story of the surveying and settling told on page 21 of "A Mountain and a City" by Marjorie Freeman Campbell. The survey lines have remained as some of the principal streets of the City. The "Bay", as Burlington Bay is called, was originally known as Lake Geneva until it was renamed by Governor Simcoe. This is the area in which LEONARD KASTER SHEWFELT was born in 1802. The present Dundurn Park and Dundurn Castle are the present principal features of the area. A family story that has been passed down by word of mouth tells of LEONARD'S being captured by Indians and being tied to a stake. He was just about to be burned when his father and uncle rode over the hill and rescued him. An interesting parallel to this story is told in "A Mountain and a City" on page 16 of a girl who was found wandering in the bush by RICHARD BEASLEY after she, too, had escaped from the Indians. The book goes on to explain that kidnapping was a tradition among the Indians as a means of replacing children of their own. This area is just to the west of the present site of McMaster University. Who was the uncle in this story? That would be difficult to determine, however Peter's brother, William, was very likely in the area, and if MARY is indeed the daughter of LEONARD KESTER who is buried in Markham, then the uncle may have been one of her brothers, MICHAEL, GEORGE, PHILIP or JACOB who were presumably there also. A second story that I was told by my grandmother, Isobel Wilson Naylor, was that her grandfather had seen the BATTLE OF STONEY CREEK in the War of 1812-1814 from the mountain. I was told this before I moved to Hamilton in the summer of 1947. The Battle took place in the dark, early in the morning of June 7, 1813 at Stoney Creek, just east of Hamilton. The "Mountain" is the Niagara escarpment which runs east and west through Hamilton. There are two possible observation points. One is at the end of Fennell Ave. on Mountain Brow Blvd. and the other is near the site of the present CHCH-TV transmission tower. Mrs. Campbell says that "from far and near residents flocked to view the battlefield" p. 41 (the day after). Reports of the battle refer to the base camp being at Burlington Heights near the present site of Dundurn Castle and a night march from there to the battlefield. It is possible that LEONARD walked along with the troops. I wonder what Mary would have thought of that? He would have been 11 years old. My grandmother and her sister Rachael both had opportunity to visit with their grandfather LEONARD during their childhood since Austin Wilson, their father, owned the farm adjacent to LEONARD'S farm at Armow (Lot 18 concession 6, Kincardine Township). They lived there until Austin moved west in 1880. Isobel would have been about 7 years old at the time. Peter married Mary (Anna Maria) Kester around 1800. She had come to Ontario with her father (Leonard Kester) and family. Peter and Mary had six children born in Wentworth County. Peter probably fought in the was of 1812. A later land petition mentions that he had been a soldier for many years. There is a break in the children's births between 1812 and 1817. Perhaps he was away as a soldier and then went on ahead of his family to find land further west. By 1817 the family had moved to Brock Township, Ontario County. There were six more children born to them while they lived in Brock Township. About 1851 some of the Peter Shewfelt family moved west once more. When Peter tried to sell his land he found that it had not been registered in his name, so he had to once more petition for land. The1851 census was taken in the spring of 1852. Peter was listed with his son Joseph as age 86 (That would make him born about 1765). His land petition dated 1851, says he is near 80 years old. This would put him born closer to 1770. His tombstone said he died 1853 age 83, which would put him again about 1770. |