Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
August 7, 2025
“Mero Moto”
“These
were their settlements. And they kept good family records.”[i]
Don’t
forget to look for the title which is embedded in the chronicle.
FAMILY ALBUM
This is a busy time
for farmers; getting the hay in the barn for winter. The farm.
Not sure who is on the
tractor or the top of the load, but I think Mum might be in front of it.
AND I QUOTE (replies from the last newsletter)
From Kevin Hoeg:
I couldn't sleep last night so grabbed the phone and scrolled Facebook to the
wee hours. I was really enjoying your posts/pics.
Kevin
also sent me a couple of genealogy requests. Hardly anybody does that. So
tickled.
1924
to 1928
Those are the
years that our Holmes ancestors spent renewing relationships that had somehow
fallen by the wayside but with organization, letter writing, and challenging
travel – by hook or by crook – they managed to come together again. They
reacquainted and rediscovered their family ties. And then, one by one, they
died, and many of those ties died with them.
2024 to 2028
“New
Brunswick, George the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc. To all to whom
these presents shall come, Greeting. Know Ye that We, of our special
grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, have given and granted, and We
do by these presents, for Us, our heirs and Successors, give and grant .
. .” As
you know, I have been transcribing the grant to Isaac Ketchum et al.
Transcribing old documents is a learning process, and every transcription is a
next step. There is always something new to learn, whether in the words or in
the process. I
highlighted a few of these words and a phrase. I remember when “presents”
stumped me. I could tell, by the context, that they were not gifts. It is used
commonly in legal documents like grants, deeds, wills, and probates, and I’m
used to it now. Take off the last “s” and it makes more sense – those presents
are the people who are present, or in this case, probably the recipients of the
document/letter. “Et al” was a phrase I looked up in the dictionary once upon a
time - it means “and others.” In my mind, and sometimes I even say it aloud –
it’s become common. The puzzler in this grant was “mere motion.” What did I
ever do without google? I read several sources – the initial AI was the easiest
to understand. Basically, mero moto (Latin for mere motion) means doing
something voluntarily, without any pressure, influence, pr persuasion from another
person. The example given in several sources is of someone who leaves his/her
job of their own initiative. How
does this apply here? These Lower Canadian land grants were common after the
American Revolution. Like it or not, most of us in this group – at least those by
birth, not necessarily those who married into the family, are descendants of
Loyalists. Me – Loyalists et al – I also hail from the German planters, the
Irish, the Scottish, and the English Yorkshire settlers; maybe others. As I
look at some of your Facebook posts on July 1st and July 4th,
I just smile. So, King George the III – did he ever step foot in what became
Canada in 1867? I haven’t looked that up, but he would have had
representatives, called “Us” and “We” in this document, doing his work. “We”,
who have “special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion.” I recently read
some historical fiction about the history of Scotland. It is pretty intense,
but I am enjoying it. History is not “the good old days.” No where. Nobody. Peace
is limited to short periods of time. War is bloody and cruel. The English were
no better than any others. I smile at the phrase “special grace.” The Loyalists
came to Lower and Upper Canada with nothing but what they wore or carried on
their back, to land that, in this grant, was referred to as wilderness. There
were conditions they had to meet before the land could officially be called
their own. They did not have coal or mineral rights on their properties, and in
Nova Scotia, they had no rights to white pine trees (in 1784).[1] If they didn’t
pay their taxes, drain some of their swamps, clear some acreage, erect a
dwelling house, have neat cattle, etc, within certain time frames, their grant
could revert back to “US.” Their grace was, as I see it, their remuneration to
the Loyalists who fought for them, their conditional reward. It was land that
belonged to them (referred to as US) because they took it from the indigenous
peoples, generally by treaty, who they settled on reservations. They granted it
with the purpose of settling it – make something almost out of straw, so to
speak. Hence, the immediate need for blacksmiths, lumbermen, and other strong
men and women. People to plant, harvest, and populate. The Loyalists, who had
nothing or very little, had sacrificed all they held dear in the American
colonies, lost family members, some of whose families had divided loyalties.
There was cruelty on both sides – it was a time of war. “Us,
our heirs and successors, give and grant . . .” Who does that refer to? As I
read it, representatives of the Crown, their heirs and successors – present and
future elected officials. Not yours and my Canadian heirs and successors. Of
course, if we don’t make our mortgage payments and pay our taxes, what we have
can be taken away. That’s just common sense, and I don’t disagree with it, in
any time or location. Certain knowledge,
what does that mean? Legalese? Historical? Secrets? Mere motion – mero moto - Loyalists
petitioned for their land. Sometimes they received their grant, sometimes they
didn’t. But if they did, maybe it was not based on sob stories or pleas in a petition
– the representatives of the Crown granted what they willed, voluntarily. So,
maybe, maybe not. This is based on
my limited knowledge of history, gained not while I was in school but as a
family historian. Should any Canadian cousins disagree with me, please do. I
certainly have more to learn. I tried to write without bias. I do not have
issues with the monarchy I’ve known in my lifetime. In fact, I rather enjoy
them. I realize that, in times of war, cruel means and methods were used on all
sides. The British were no exception. I am proud to call myself a Loyalist
descendant, and I’m satisfied that Canada is now an independent nation and
continues to be part of the Commonwealth.
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
Part One: the Petition.
This has been sent to the editor of
“Generations,” to be included in the next issue, or the following. The land grant will be in the next
edition of Chronicles.
The Petition and
Land Grant for Isaac Ketchum and others in Sussex Parish, Kings, NB
Peggy Vasseur
The petition for this grant was made by Isaac Ketchum on behalf of
himself, Peter Ketchum, Samuel Ketchum, and James Hoyt in 1812. The grant they
received included William Johnston Stockton, Jacob Snider, George Snider, Elias
Snider, Isaac Ketchum, Peter Ketchum, Samuel Ketchum, James Hoyt, John
Davidson, and William Tidd. Of these men, Isaac, Peter, Samuel, and James
received lot #31. The grant is located in what is now known as Portage Vale,
Kings County, New Brunswick. I
am a direct descendant of Isaac Ketchum and James Hoyt. Grantees’
names are highlighted. Captain Isaac
Ketchum and Mary (Ketchum) Ketchum’s son, Peter Ketchum, was a
grantee.[ii] He did
not marry. Samuel Ketchum, grantee, was referred to in a future deed as
Samuel Ketchum Jr.[iii] I
believe Samuel Jr was the grandson of Jonathan and Hannah (Quintard) Ketchum
through their son, Samuel. Jonathan and
Hannah were the parents of Isaac’s wife, Mary, and therefore, Samuel Jr was her
nephew and Isaac’s more distant kin. Samuel Jr eventually sold his portion to
two sons of Elias Snider, Douglas and William. James
Hoyt III married Frances Ketchum, daughter of Captain Isaac and Mary
Ketchum. James and Frances Hoyt’s daughter, Charlotte Hoyt, married Daniel
Holmes. Daniel and Charlotte are my great-great grandparents. Their daughter,
Margaret Eliza, married William Oliver Snider, son of Elias Snider.
William and Margaret did not have children. Isaac and Mary’s daughter,
Deborah Ketchum, married Elias Snider, grandson of Johann and
Mary Magdelena (Lang) Schneider through their son, Elias Snider. Elias and
Deborah had, in addition to others, three children: Margaret, C Douglas, and
William. Their daughter, Margaret, married grantee John Davidson. Their
son, William, married Daniel and Charlotte Holmes’ daughter, Margaret Holmes. Jacob
Snider and George Snider were also descendants of Johann
and Mary Magdelena (Lang) Schneider. William
Johnston Stockton and William Tidd are of no relation
whatsoever to me, as far as I know. My current research
centers around the portion of the grant to Peter Ketchum, which was
deeded from the original grant by Isaac Ketchum, Samuel Ketchum Jr, and
James Hoyt III. See the first endnote. Peter Ketchum left
this property to the Diocesan Church Society for the benefit of the Church and
Clergy of Sussex Portage, after his three siblings and nephew, William O
Snider, passed away.[iv] Harvey E Doull purchased
the property, with the exception of the cemetery, from the Diocesan Synod of
Fredericton, in 1917, after the deaths of William and Margaret Snider.[v] The land
grant is in one long paragraph, which, for ease in reading, I divided into
paragraphs. They do not always end in a period. I left errors of spelling and
punctuation as is. Any transcription errors you find are mine; please let me
know of them.
The Petition
Ketchum, I & others
1812
To the Honorable Martin Hunter Esquire
President of his Majestys Council and Commander in Chief of the Province of New
Brunswick.
The Memorial of Isaac Ketchum Peter Ketchum
Samuel Ketchum & James Hoyt Humbly Sheweth
That Your Memoralists have been
Long Resident in this Province and have never Drawn any Land.
Your Memoralists beg they may be
Permitted to Locate Twelve Hundred acres of Land (or What Quantity Your Honor
may think right) at the Portage on the Westmoreland Road and that an order may
be Given for Surveying the Same and as in Duty Bound Will Ever Pray
Sussex
Vale Isaac
Ketchum
January
21, 1812 Peter
Ketchum
Samuel
Ketchum
James
Hoyt
George
Dunfield J.P.
Oliver
Arnold –
16th
March 1812 the situation
applied for in this
Memorial
is Vacant.
G
Sproule
Isaac
Ketchum
Peter
Ketchum
Samuel
Ketchum
James
Hoyt.
ask
land at the Portage on the Road leading from Sussex to Westmorland.
16th March 1812
2d
Octobr. 1812.[vi]
[1] Canadiana. Nova Scotia, Land Grant to Andrew Hogarth et al, 1784.
Accessed July 27, 2025. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.42651/4
[i] The Message. I Chronicles 4:33
[ii] FamilySearch. Canada, New Brunswick County Deed Register Book,
1780 – 1930. Kings County, Book U 1, Image 279, 280, Number 5144.Accessed
July 29.2025.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-63LS-F5T?wc=M69D-MNG%3A13841801%2C13841702%2C15569101%26cc%3D1392378&cc=1392378&lang=en&i=278
[iii] FamilySearch. County Deed Registry Book, U 1, Image 280,
Number 5147. Accessed August 2, 2025.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-63LS-69N?wc=M69D-MNG%3A13841801%2C13841702%2C15569101%26cc%3D1392378&cc=1392378&lang=en&i=279
[iv]
FamilySearch. County Deed Registry Book P 3, Images 93,94, Number
29,550. Kings County Deed Book 1875 – 1876. Will of Peter Ketchum. Accessed
July 26, 2025.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-64P7-SCW?wc=M696-NMQ%3A13841801%2C13841702%2C15351501%26cc%3D1392378&lang=en&i=92
[v]
FamilySearch. "Kings, New
Brunswick, Canada records," images.
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9NZ-4R1B?view=explore : Aug
4, 2025), Image 363 of 414; Service New Brunswick. Image Group Number:
004225735
See also
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9NZ-4R1B?view=fullText&keywords=Harvey%2CDoull%2CNew%20Brunswick%2CKings&lang=en&groupId=
[vi] Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Land Petition of Ketchum,
Isaac. 1812. Kings County. Microfilm F4175. Stamped “Legislative Library of
N. B. Mailed to me by Emily Leadbeater on October 25, 2024. Emailed to
me by Paula Glendenning on November 16, 2024.
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