| Biographical Note |
- Garret Dykeman Loyalist 1741_1813 Gerrit Garret Dyckman, son of Jacob Gerrit Dyckman and Rebecca Vermilyea,was born March 4, 1741 in Westchester County, New York and died 19 Jun1813 in Lower Jemseg, Waterborough Parish, Queens County, New Brunswick,Canada and is buried in 20 Jun 1813 in Saint John Cemetery, Gagetown,Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada married Bef. 1769 in White Plains,Westchester County, New York, Eunice Ann Hatfield, daughter of GilbertHatfield and Tamar Brundage, who was born 09 Nov 1740 in White Plains,Westchester County, New York and died 16 Nov 1808 in Queens County, NewBrunswick, Canada and is buried in Gagetown, Queens County, NewBrunswick, Canada. Came to New Brunswick on the sailing ship, 'Neptune' in 1783 with hiswife, Eunice Ann Hatfield and children that were born in New York (morechildren born in New Brunswick). Garret fought in the United Empire Loyalist War, was taken prisoner,escaped to New Brunswick in 1783 and the government gave him a lot ofland at St. John, New Brunswick. He later moved to a town up the rivercalled Jemseg and a lot of his descendants still live there. Gerrit Dykeman spelled his name 'Garret Dykeman', the spelling hisdescendants have used. He was the second child and oldest son in Jacoband Rebecca's large family of eleven children. Twice he is recorded as sponsor at baptisms in the Sleepy Hollow DutchChurch, where he himself was baptized. In 1760, when but nineteen yearsold, he was witness when his youngest brother Petrus was baptized. Fiveyears later he and Rebecca Dykeman (probably his sister) witnessed RachelMarteling's baptism, daughter of Daniel and Marie. He must have been areliable young man, perhaps with a reputation for piety. His marriage to Capt. Abraham Hatfield's niece allied him with the Toryor Loyalist group at White Plains. Capt. Hatfield's tavern was agathering place there for these respectable conservative people. At the beginning of the Revolution, Garret was a man of thirty-five,father of several children. He served in the First Regiment, WestchesterCounty, Militia. He may have been a person of some influence, for likesuch prominent Loyalists as Frederick Philipse and the Reverand SamuelSeabury, he was seized and sent from his home a prisoner, probably toConnecticut. This would account for the statement that came from NewHaven, Connecticut. Garret's descendants should read the absorbing story of Loyalists andtheir settlement in Nova Scotia (which then included New Brunswick) inthe book, 'The Loyalists of New Brunswick' by Esther Clack Wright (afirst edition copy is in the possession of Donald Raymond Coy in Seattle,Washington.) She tells of the dismay with which they received news ofthe peace terms while in New York, of their despair as they readResolutions passed by many towns outlawing all who had served theBritish, and of their final realization that there only choice was 'tosubmit to the tyranny of exulting enemies or settle a new country'. Somewho ventured outside British lines returned with stories of brutalattacks made upon them, and many knew that their property had beenconfiscated. It was a tragic time. Small wonder that bitterness and despair mark the letter written byBenjamin Hilton, a Loyalist lawyer, in New York to States M. Dykeman inLondon, dated 'N.Y. 2 July 83': 'The fatal Moment which I have long expected is at last arrived - we areundone and ruined, even, beyond Hope - May the execrable Agents andManagers of this inglorious Peace be for ever execrated by their God andtheir Country - Thousands have emigrated and thousands are still toemigrate to Canada and Nova Scotia - I expect to sail soon for the latterPlace . . . There is no Asylum for us in any of the States - not aRefuge, however harmless or inactive he may have been is allowed toremain in the Country - almost every Town and Precinct on the Continenthave formed themselves into Committees and passed Resolves the most harshand inflammatory of the Return of this deluded, and most unfortunateClass of human Beings. Many who went out (of the city) in Consequence ofthe Preliminary Articles to remain a year were whipped and scourged andobliged to return. All we have to hope for is that the Madness andIntoxication which pervades the whole Continent and the ClashingInterests of the different States will be their Ruin and bring about afavorable Revolution. Already they talk of an Expedition of Mexico andPeru, and the New England States of a proportionate Share in the WesternTerritory of America, which Virginia claims under the vague Expressionsin her Charter, God I hope, for the Happiness & Advantage of bothCountries will interpose his power and bring about a Reunion. Alreadyhas the sacred Congress been insulted by 6000 of the Pennsylvania Linewho clamorously demanded their Pay, but without effect, in consequence ofwhich that august Assembly have moved to Princeton where perhaps theexpect more Peace, which God forbid.' Some thirty thousand Loyalists eventually left the States for Nova Scotiaalong. The British government helped them in every way they could. Itoffered them land (tax free for a number of years) and transportation.It provided them with woolen and linen cloth, shoes, stockings, mittens,axes and spades, as well as tents and a year's food supply which waslater extended. The exiles needed this demonstration of goodwill. Thesegood people, many of them accustomed to a very comfortable standard ofliving, were soon to face not only the hardships of primitive life in acold and undeveloped country bur also frustrating privations brought onby inefficient management. They were leaving their homeland in spite of a discouraging reportreceived by Commander-in-Chief Carlton from Gov. John Parr of Nova Scotia. A loyalist group, however, had already sent a delegation to look over thecountry for settlement. Its report gave heart to the emigres in New Yorkand led many of them, including Garret Dykeman, , to decide on the St.John River district. Here was wonderfully fertile land in the intervalealong the river, uplands that supported cattle raising, and access toup-river settlements on the navigable St. John. The St. John, it wasreported, was about the size of the Connecticut or Hudson and had asplendid harbor on the Bay of Fundy which was free of ice year around,Parr Town (later renamed St. John) was situated on the harbor at themouth of the river. (As of the present, the spelling of Dyckman changedto Dykeman is not known.) With some three thousand others, Garret and his family migrated to theSt. John area in 1783. An original manuscript list of Parr Town grantees shows that a grant forLot 660 in Parr Town was recorded in Garret's name April 20, 1784. Thisland is situated on the south side of St. Geoge's Street, now KingStreet, East, and was to become an important residential street. A town lot was not considered part of the two hundred acres or moregranted families for their support, so we find Garret in 1786 petitioningthe New Brunswick governor for such acreage. At that time he was ofQueen's County, New Brunswick Province. This Province, which includedthe St. John River area, had been set off from Nova Scotia, August 16,1784. The place where he 'set down with his family' became Jemseg, WaterboroughParish, some fifty miles or more up the St. John River and near GrantLake. Apparently the Govenor granted his petition, for in his will hebequeath lots 5 and 7 to his son Gilbert H., who owned adjoining land. Jemseg Creek inhabitants, including Garret, Gilbert H., Jacob, and MosesDykeman, addressed a memorial to the Lieutenant Govenor on June 21, 1797,reminding him of the government's promise to grant five hundred acres toeach family. They expressed their willingness to take their allotmentsin the rear of their lots and hoped the government would consider theirrequest. A memorandum on the back of the petition notes that the desiredland was part of a grant already made to Spry and others. As Gilbert H.wrote years later that he had never received a government grant, thisrequest may have been refused. Garret was a pew holder in St. John's Church at Gagetown, a settlementacross the river on the west bank, now the county seat. This church wasbuilt in 1790 and consecrated two years later. His wife Eunice and theirtwo elder sons, Gilbert H. and Jacob, all adults, were baptized thereAugust 28, 1792, and their daughter Ann and son Joseph H. followed in1795. Here also his two elder sons were married. Garret died on or about June 19, 1813, in his 73rd year and was buriedJune 20 in St. John's churchyard. His will, dated May 29, 1815, andproved June 27, 1813, shows that he had prospered: 'I give and bequeath to my son Gilbert - Lots number five and sevenadjoining to where he now lives and I likewise give unto my said sonGilbert - the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds - likewise I give andbequeath to my son Jacob - the sum of one hundred pounds likewise I giveand bequeath to my son Moses -- the lots number twenty two and twentythree lying on the neck of Intervale in the said Parish -- likewise Igive to my son Moses -- the sum of sixty pounds and to my c\\son JosephHatfield -- I give and bequeath my homestead containing three Lots numbereight, nine and ten together with the building horse team and farmingutensils thereunto belonging he paying out one hundred pounds theremainder of my stock I give to be divided between my four sons anddaughters Rebecca and Ann--I give all my household furniture and onehundred pounds to be equally divided among the two and my own personalapparel I give to be divided equally among my two sons Gilbert and JacobExecuters of this my last Will and Testament-- (signed) Garret Dykeman.' Witnesses to the will were Abiather Camp. William Springer, Jur, and JohnTitus. His sons, Gibert and Jacob sold his land lot P 660 in St, John to VincentWhite, May 13, 1820. St. John's churchyard, in Gagetown has only one Dykeman monument, small,of brownstone and with old fashioned lettering. It is broken off andlying on the ground. Under it lay Eunice (Hatfield) Dykeman, thegrandmother of all our Loyalist Dykemans. To one side the faint shape ofa grave and a rough foot stone showed where her husband Garret was buried.
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1741 - 1813 (72 years)
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