Bloody Assize Court (Oyer and Terminor), 1814-1818
Is anyone interested in discussing an historical case study on "High Treason"? My transcriptions are lengthy, but if interest is high, perhaps it would be worthwhile to post?
A few years ago, I quite accidently discovered the lost court case records for the Assize Court Hearing (Oyer and Terminor), 1814 to 1818. These are the original scroll transcriptions, complete with ribbons and wax seals.
Petition on my behalf to the Ontario Supreme Court for a copy of my ancestral court case took about one year, but proved successful in the end, yielding permission to copy the entire court proceeding. In the meantime I have conducted some research and discovered some very interesting case law points of interest, including a three day debate concerning these cases arguing the nature of "high treason", within the US Congress on these very court proceedings, and a thesis by Honourable Ontario Supreme Court Judge, William Riddell (1929).
To begin with, the index card (records currently located in the Ontario Archives) was misfiled behind the misfiling of my early family records. The family records themselves followed a pre-1900 index system, but the Assize Court record index was clearly misfiled, and had to occur post 1953 when they were transferred from the Osgoode Law School vault to the Ontario Archives. Judge Riddell's thesis places a footnoted reference to another family ancestor (MPP 1792), which is more than a little curious.
I have translated the clerical script of my ancestor's case, and have also received a legal opinion on the court proceeding itself, from present day British magistrates who have researched ancient British law on my behalf.
Some points of interest:
1) British law in 1765 allowed anabaptist the ability to give testimony via "affirmation". This wasn't allowed in these Assize Court proceedings, and not available to Upper Canadians until 1830. British Lt. Gov. Drummond had to wave "martial law" to allow the Upper Canadian Legislature the mandate to conduct the court case under local jurisdiction, yet no record has been found for the suspension of "Martial Law" in 1813 or 1814. In the Overholtzer case, the absence of "affirmation laws" had a direct impact on the indictment of innocent citizens. Though the King's pardon came too late to save Overholtzer's life, his lands were still confiscated and his family evicted there from.
2) In my ancestor's case, the sole witness for the Crown was the enemy officer, Col. Cyrenius Chapin of the NY militia. Curiously he would receive a large land grant near Fort Erie in 1818.
3) An 1851 court challenge was dismissed when the government refused to release details of this Assize Court to the challengers. An opinion is revealed in Hon Ontario Supreme Court Judge William Riddell's thesis on this case.
4) The US Congressional debate on the nature of "High Treason" reveals insight as to when a government defaults it's obligations from its citizens through "abandonment".
5) 10,000 Upper Canadians would apply to the US for refugee status in 1818. This represented a full 1/7th of the population of that time. The Niagara Peninsula's "Great Discontent of 1818" which history records, but to date has no definition, may well have centered around Assize Court decisions and its effect.
6) The US Congressional debate would reverse a previous negative Congressional decision about offering Land Grants to US soldiers. This reversal opened up the US midwest to mass migration, launching the next phase of Jefferson's "Manifest Destiny", which would also issue "Land Warrants" to Canadian Refugees.
Is anyone interested in discussing an historical case study on "High Treason"? My transcriptions are lengthy, but if interest is high, perhaps it would be worthwhile to post?
A few years ago, I quite accidently discovered the lost court case records for the Assize Court Hearing (Oyer and Terminor), 1814 to 1818. These are the original scroll transcriptions, complete with ribbons and wax seals.
Petition on my behalf to the Ontario Supreme Court for a copy of my ancestral court case took about one year, but proved successful in the end, yielding permission to copy the entire court proceeding. In the meantime I have conducted some research and discovered some very interesting case law points of interest, including a three day debate concerning these cases arguing the nature of "high treason", within the US Congress on these very court proceedings, and a thesis by Honourable Ontario Supreme Court Judge, William Riddell (1929).
To begin with, the index card (records currently located in the Ontario Archives) was misfiled behind the misfiling of my early family records. The family records themselves followed a pre-1900 index system, but the Assize Court record index was clearly misfiled, and had to occur post 1953 when they were transferred from the Osgoode Law School vault to the Ontario Archives. Judge Riddell's thesis places a footnoted reference to another family ancestor (MPP 1792), which is more than a little curious.
I have translated the clerical script of my ancestor's case, and have also received a legal opinion on the court proceeding itself, from present day British magistrates who have researched ancient British law on my behalf.
Some points of interest:
1) British law in 1765 allowed anabaptist the ability to give testimony via "affirmation". This wasn't allowed in these Assize Court proceedings, and not available to Upper Canadians until 1830. British Lt. Gov. Drummond had to wave "martial law" to allow the Upper Canadian Legislature the mandate to conduct the court case under local jurisdiction, yet no record has been found for the suspension of "Martial Law" in 1813 or 1814. In the Overholtzer case, the absence of "affirmation laws" had a direct impact on the indictment of innocent citizens. Though the King's pardon came too late to save Overholtzer's life, his lands were still confiscated and his family evicted there from.
2) In my ancestor's case, the sole witness for the Crown was the enemy officer, Col. Cyrenius Chapin of the NY militia. Curiously he would receive a large land grant near Fort Erie in 1818.
3) An 1851 court challenge was dismissed when the government refused to release details of this Assize Court to the challengers. An opinion is revealed in Hon Ontario Supreme Court Judge William Riddell's thesis on this case.
4) The US Congressional debate on the nature of "High Treason" reveals insight as to when a government defaults it's obligations from its citizens through "abandonment".
5) 10,000 Upper Canadians would apply to the US for refugee status in 1818. This represented a full 1/7th of the population of that time. The Niagara Peninsula's "Great Discontent of 1818" which history records, but to date has no definition, may well have centered around Assize Court decisions and its effect.
6) The US Congressional debate would reverse a previous negative Congressional decision about offering Land Grants to US soldiers. This reversal opened up the US midwest to mass migration, launching the next phase of Jefferson's "Manifest Destiny", which would also issue "Land Warrants" to Canadian Refugees.
