John Robert Grant

Captain John Robert Grant (1729 - 1790) fought in the American Revolution and then became an American Loyalist and the first British settler of Summerville, Nova Scotia.

Captain Grant was born in Strathspey, Scotland, along with John Small. Grant's wife Sarah came from the well-known Bergen family of New York.[1] They married on August 30, 1759 in New York.[2]

Grant fought in the War of the Austrian Succession and served in the 42nd Regiment of Foot (Black Watch) (the same regiment as Major General John Small who settled the neighbouring Douglas Township, Hants County after the war). During the Seven Years' War, he was in the 1758 Battle of Fort Ticonderoga, where he was wounded. He fought again in the American Revolution in the Battle of Long Island. He later became a Captain of a Queens County, New York militia.

He arrived in Nova Scotia on the transport SS Stafford, October 16, 1783 after evacuating his home in New York. He brought a significant number of slaves to Nova Scotia who are buried on his property. Captain John Grant died in Summerville in 1792 at the age of 64. The Grant homestead was on what now is called Loyal Hill.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, T. Watson (1903). Jack, David Russell, ed. "Loyalist History — John Grant". Acadiensis 1: 7–18. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bergen, Teunis G. (1876). The Bergen Family. Albany: Joel Munsell. pp. 259–261. Retrieved December 8, 2014.

Sources