Nicholas & Mary Marcotte Hall
Nicholas Hall, became a resident and farmer of Lanark
County Ontario as a result of his service to the Crown. He served as a private
in the British 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers), after enlisting in
1807, to fight in the Peninsular Wars of the Napoleonic War. He was part of the
2nd Battalion, which was raised in Ireland, and served in England, Spain and
Portugal, participating in at least three major battles. He was wounded on Sept.
27, 1810 in Portugal. Record of his enlistment includes a description of him as:
5' 2 ¾" in height, age 17 (he was actually 16, but lied about his age)
fair completed, gray eyes, brown hair, coming from Roskeen Parish in County
Laois (Queens) Ireland and occupation of labourer.
After the Napoleonic War and coinciding with the end of the War of 1812, his
regiment was sent to Quebec Canada, arriving aboard the ship "Cathheart"
on August 3rd 1814, where he later participated in the Battle of
Plattsburg. After a brief time of service in Canada, the 88th
Regiment was ordered back to England, leaving in June of 1815. Nicholas however
stayed in Canada, joining the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles on Oct. 23,
1815. Men were recruited into the Glengarrys for the consideration of being
granted land concessions in Canada upon completion of their military service.
The Glengarry served in Canada primarily as a deterrent against any future
incursions by U.S. military forces. He continued service with the Glengarrys
until they were disbanded in Kingston, Ontario on June 24th 1816. On Nov. 2,
1816 he joined the 104th Regiment (New Brunswick Regiment) in Montreal and
served until his discharge on May 5, 1817 in Montreal. We can arguably surmise
that it was during his period of service with the 104th Regiment. In Montreal
that he met (Marie) Mary Marcotte, whom he married Nov. 11, 1822 in Perth
It also is known that Nicholas was a bit of a scalawag. He was one of the few
former soldiers who successfully petitioned for and was granted two land grants
of 100 acre each. He petitioned for his original land concession for service with the Glengarry Fencibles and was granted the same Lot 11 in the 4th
Concession of Bathurst, Ontario in which Lanark is located. Years later on Sept.
20, 1832 he again petitioned as a veteran of the 104th Regiment. In his petition there was a claim that he had lost his discharge by sending it
forward to claim his prize money, but the petition included a "certificate
of good character" authored by Lieut. Francis Cumming attesting to
Nicholas' service with the 104th. On Jan. 24, 1833, Nicholas was awarded a second 100
acre concession in South Sherbrooke.
One oddity of Nicholas and Mary’s deaths and burial’s is that Mary, a French Canadian Catholic who died July 4, 1864, is reportedly buried in the Anglican cemetery in Perth. Nicholas, who died March 3, 1872, was a member of the Church of Ireland and is buried in the Catholic cemetery in Westport, ON where he had been living with a daughter and son-in-law at the time of his death.
The Nicholas Hall children, in order of birth, were: William, Helenor, James, Nicholas and Collice.
Joe Hall - jhall@q.com Up-dated - 19 Nov 2009 Posted: 4 January, 2002.