Hyatt, Gilbert

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Marie-Paule R. LaBrèque, “HYATT, GILBERT,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hyatt_gilbert_6E.html
  • DCB profile:
    • Township leader, office holder, and jp, b. c. 1761, probably in the colony of New York, son of Abraham Hyatt and Merriam Hills; m. Anna Canfield, likely in Arlington, Vt, and they had five sons and a daughter; d. 17 Sept. 1823 and was buried two days later in Sherbrooke, Lower Canada.
    • Abraham Hyatt was living in Schenectady when the American revolution broke out. He joined the loyalist side, and in 1777 he enlisted in Major-General John Burgoyne’s army with his two sons, Gilbert and Cornelius. Both sons served with the King’s Loyal Americans, in which Gilbert was a corporal.
    • After Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga the Hyatts may have gone to the province of Quebec, and then returned to the United States. A number of the Hyatts’ compatriots had taken refuge in the region around Lake Champlain and, relying on what the king was offering, hoped to obtain there both assistance and lands. Petitions were circulated, and when the Treaty of Paris in 1783 sealed their exile the Hyatts signed them. Their requests met with a categorical refusal from Governor Frederick Haldimand, who wanted to fortify the border and move the American refugees away from it. This decision was maintained, despite the newcomers’ stubborn insistence. They were told to join their former officers at Sorel or St Johns (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu) and remove to the Bay of Quinte (Ont.) or Baie des Chaleurs; if they did not, their rations would be cut off on 10 May 1784 and their homes destroyed.
    • Even when faced with these punitive sanctions, Hyatt remained near the Rivière de la Roche with the malcontents who persisted in claiming the right to stay where they were. On 29 March Hyatt sent in a petition soliciting Ascot Township for himself and 204 associates.This was a judicious choice, because the township, located at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers, had considerable resources of waterpower and a large potential hinterland. After selling his property at Missisquoi Bay, he managed with the help of Josiah Sawyer, of Eaton Township, to cut a 40-mile road through the woods so that he could bring his family and other settlers to Ascot. There he built his first settlement, which by 1794 was already viable.
    •  Gilbert Hyatt had the qualities of a true pioneer and leader. In reserving for himself the site of Sherbrooke, he had shown proof of vision. His courage enabled him to found a settlement that he saw grow from a simple hamlet to become the chief town of a judicial district shortly before his death. Fortune and fame eluded him, but his name deserves to be remembered and to be better known.
  • Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4140
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