Word of the events at Lexington and Concord reached the Essex
County expatriates along the St Johns River by late April or early
May. Many had brothers or fathers among the Minutemen and
there was sentiment among many to join the rebellion. There
was a 12 man committee formed to write resolutions in support
of the rebels and to declare their desire to be henceforth part of
the state of Massachusetts. (At this time, Massachusetts included
most of what is now the state of Maine so extending the border
north into Canada would have seemed possible.) The committee
sent two delegates to Boston with familiar family connections: one
was Asa Perley and the other Asa Kimball.
The two men were well received and sent back to Maugerville
with arms and ammunition for the cause. But the attempt to win
control of the province was doomed by the failure of a series of
futile attempts to seize Fort Cumberland and other points along
the river as are detailed here. One of the rebels was the Pastor of
the Maugerville church Seth Noble and this might have been the
cause of some trouble among the congregation. A new covenant
fwas drawn up in 19 Jun 1779 and Moses Coburn and his wife
Hannah are among the names that appear upon it.
The rebel movement in New Brunswick ultimately faded away
and in 1783 the Essex County settlers faces an influx of expatriate
American Loyalists and after a period of uneasy adjustment the
area settled down back into the business of everyday life. Moses
Coburn and Hannah Burpee raised two sons and their descendants
lived for the most part around Sheffield, New Brunswick, Canada.
Three of them also were named Moses.
I wonder if my ancestor Moses Coburn ever met or corresponded
with his Canadian kinsmen and namesakes?
I’d like to credit the Sunbury County RootsWeb Site where I found
much of the information in these last few posts.
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