Ryerse, Samuel

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Daniel J. Brock, “RYERSE (Ryerson), SAMUEL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ryerse_samuel_5E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Army officer, miller, office holder, judge, and militia officer; b. 1752 in Saddle River Township, N.J., son of Luke (Luyckes) Ryerse (Ryerson) and Johanna Van der Hoff, m. first Elizabeth Colwell, and they had four children, of whom a son and a daughter survived infancy; m. secondly 22 Jan. 1784 Sarah Davenport, née  Underhill, and they had ten children, of whom two sons and one daughter survived infancy; d. 12 June 1812 in Port Ryerse, Upper Canada.
    • and ” Samuel Ryerse’s forebears emigrated from Holland to America in the mid 17th century. They later moved to what became Bergen County, N.J. According to one family historian, on the outbreak of the American revolution Ryerse was imprisoned for his loyalty. He later escaped and joined the loyalist forces along with his younger brother Joseph. Samuel became a captain in the New Jersey Volunteers on 25 March 1777. During the next two years he played a conspicuous role in raids into his native province from New York City. 
    • The New Jersey Volunteers left New York City in September 1783, arriving in what is now the province of New Brunswick the following month. Ryerse and others in his battalion refused to settle on their designated block of land. Instead he apparently squatted in the vicinity of St Anne’s Point (Fredericton) until June 1784. Finally, in December 1786, he received 600 acres on the south bank of the Little River where he farmed and pressed, unsuccessfully, for compensation for his wartime losses. 
    • Ryerse was not happy in New Brunswick, thus he sold his land and by early 1793 had taken up residence in Brooklyn, N.Y.  In April he returned to New Jersey and purchased land in Morris County, but animosity lingering from the revolution prompted him to seek land in Upper Canada. In the summer of 1794 he travelled to Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake), where he met with Lieutenant Governor Simcoe. Ryerse decided to move yet again and returned to the province with his family in the summer of 1795.
    • Ryerse was the pre-eminent office holder in the area and played a leading role in the administrative and military affairs of the increasingly populous eastern portion of the Western District. With the formation of the London District on 1 Jan. 1800, he was appointed the first district court judge and, presumably, the first surrogate court judge as well.
  • United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7251
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41309837/samuel-ryerse