Ruiter, Henry

  • Find a Grave Biography:
    • Henry, and his brother John, stayed loyal to the British side at the start of the American Revolution. In 1777, he was forced to hide in the woods outside his home in Pitts Town, N.Y. for three months while revolutionists tried to capture him for his political beliefs. While they tormented his wife and their children, he managed to join the Burgoyne’s British soldiers. He probably fought in the battles of Bennington and Saratoga. He escaped to Canada after Benedict Arnold’s defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga. He later returned to the Albany area to recruit other Loyalists. He got them to join Major James Roger’s Corps of Rangers, a British militia group. They fought with the British regular army and were headquartered in St. John’s (St. Jean), Quebec on the Richelieu River.
    • By 1780, Henry Ruiter was leading his own Company of militia. They fought in battles at Fort Anne, N.Y. and Fort George (Lake George, N.Y.). Captain Ruiter’s Company, one of three of Roger’s Rangers companies, helped the army by spying on the rebels. They captured local rebel leaders, guarded prisoners of war, scouted, and delivered messages. They helped build defenses and forts. They saved loyalist families by helping them escape to Canada. His wife, Rebecca, and 6 of their 9 children were one of these families, arriving in St. Jean after being moved by the Army. The family was near starving to death. Finally in 1781, the Rangers took part in General Barry St. Leger’s attacks along Lake Champlain. They were disbanded at the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783.
    • In 1781, Henry’s wife Rebecca died in St. John’s (St. Jean). A few years later, around 1783-84, he was remarried to Katherine Friot. She came from Pownal, Vermont, near where he had fought in the Battle of Bennington in 1777.
    • Henry Ruiter settled in Dunkin, a town along the Mississquoi River and near Mount Sutton. Many other Loyalists, like his brother John, settled there too. The land was just across from the Canadian-American border and just east of Mississquoi Bay, the northern part of Lake Champlain. Ruiter finally got the legal grant for his farm in 1803. He went on to build several saw and grist (lumber & grain) mills in the area. Ruiter soon became “well off” because of the money he made from his mills, selling land, farming and his military pension.
  • United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7193
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17058989/hendrick-ruiter