Seely, Joseph

• DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Robert Lochiel Fraser III, “SEELY (Seeley, Seelye), JOSEPH,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/seely_joseph_5E.html
• DCB profile notes:
  • Militiaman; b. 1786, probably in western Quebec, son of Augustus Seelye (Sealey); m. with children; last known to be living in 1814.
  • According to Joseph Seely, his father had served under Jeffery Amherst during the Seven Years’ War and in a corps commanded by Captain James Campbell during the American revolution. The elder Seelye was on the United Empire Loyalist list for Lancaster Township, Upper Canada, but the family probably never resided there.
  • By 1801 they were in Elizabethtown (Brockville), where Joseph took the oath of allegiance the same year. Six years later he petitioned for 200 acres of land as the son of a loyalist and received a patent for a lot on Lake Gananoque in Leeds and Lansdowne Township on 24 March 1812.
  • Here Seely might have spent a life toiling in happy obscurity but for the intervention of the War of 1812. “As became a good subject,” he volunteered for duty and served nine months with the dragoons. He then enlisted in the 1st Leeds Militia, enticed by Captain Adiel Sherwood’s “promise of a Sergeants situation and rations for my small family.” The higher pay must have seemed a boon to a prospective young farmer and the supply of provisions essential to a family dependent upon the male to clear, sow, and harvest the land.
  • Seely’s hopes were quickly scotched. The promotion to sergeant was not forthcoming and the rations for his family were never issued. After serving briefly under McLean, Seely was transferred to the “Engineer Employ.” Aggrieved, dispirited, and no doubt anxious about his family, the young soldier deserted in late August. About 20 November he was captured “in the Enemy’s Camp” on the American shore by a party of Leeds and Grenville militia led by Captain Herman Landen.
  • Seely’s speech in his own defence did not attempt to prove his innocence but rather addressed the circumstances of the case. His loyalty was instinctive, inspired by the attachments of family and by traditions learned from a loyalist father: .” His motivation was simply a sense of injustice. All the conditions of his enlistment had been broken. Although he had been an acting sergeant for a few days, Seely’s application for permanent rank was rejected. The extra rations, which Landen stated were “the reason that many men with large families engaged,” were not delivered.” and ” The court found Seely guilty of desertion but acquitted him of the second charge. He was sentenced to be transported for seven years but in spite of Rottenburg’s approval of the court’s judgement he did not meet his fate. Rottenburg issued a “full, and unlimited Pardon”.
• Son of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7418
• Find a GRAVE: Cannot locate.