Table Of ContentSO OBSTINATELY LOYAL
James Moody, in the dress uniform of an officer in the Loyalist provincial
regiment, the New Jersey Volunteers. Oil on canvas, London, circa 1784,
artist unknown. Courtesy of John Wentworth Moody, Ottawa
SO(cid:13)(cid:10)Obstinately
Loyal
James Moody
1744-1809
Susan Burgess Shenstone
PUBLISHED FOR CARLETON UNIVERSITY
BY MCGILL-QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY PRESS,
MONTREAL & KINGSTON, LONDON, ITHACA
Copyright © McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000
ISBN 0-88629-355-3
Printed and bound in Canada
Canadian Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Shenstone, Susan Burgess, 1927-
So obstinately loyal : James Moody, 1744-1809
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88629-355-3
1. Moody, James, 1744-1809. 2. United Empire loyalists—
Nova Scotia—Biography. 3. American loyalists—New Jersey—
Biography. 4. United States—History—Revolution, 1775-1783"
Biography. I. Title.
FC2321.41.M66 541999 971-6 02 092 C99-9OI44I-2
E278.M8 54 1999
Cover: BCumming Designs
Interior: Mayhew & Associates Graphic Communications, Richmond, Ont.
in association with Marie Tappin
McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the
Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development
Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities. We also acknowledge the support
of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program.
To Michael
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CONTENTS
Illustrations and Maps viii
Preface ix
I. New Jersey (1744-82)
1 The Early Years 2
2 "The Black Cloud Gathering" 14
3 What is a Tory? 24
4 "Disarming the Disaffected": The Power of Example 34
5 "To Terrify the Enemy": The Seasons of 1778 and 1779 51
6 "Lurking in the County," 1780 72
7 New York, 1780-82 93
8 Capturing the Mails: Spring and Summer, 1781 no
9 The Philadelphia Expedition: Autumn, 1781 124
10 Not with a Bang but a Whimper: Spring, 1782 135
II. England (1782-86)
II London: Settling the Past 144
III. Nova Scotia (1786-1809)
12 Arriving in Nova Scotia, 1786 168
13 Building Ships, 1786-87 180
14 Putting Down Roots, 1787-89 188
15 The Prosperous Years, 1789-92 204
16 The Official Years: The House of Assembly, 1793-99 221
17 A Second Military Career, 1793-99 240
18 A Second Session in the House of Assembly, 1800-06 257
19 The Weymouth Church and the Acadians, 1797-1809 271
20 Fading Out, 1806-09 287
IV. Epilogue
21 Family 298
22 Legend and Legacy 303
Bibliography 315
Index 326
ILLUSTRATIONS
1 James Moody Frontispiece
2 William Livingston 36
3 Brig. Gen. Cortlandt Skinner 38
4 View of Staten Island 47
5 View of Wyoming Valley 59
6 William Franklin 62
7 Sussex County Courthouse 76
8 Broadway from the Bowling Green 97
9 Page from Moody's Narrative 143
10 Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler 146
11 Rev. Jonathan Boucher 147
12 Freeing of Maxwell from Sussex County Jail 163
13 Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia 174
14 Digby, Nova Scotia 175
15 "An American Settlement or Farm" 192
16 Bishop Charles Inglis 199
17 Sir John Wentworth 215
18 Lady Wentworth 216
19 Governor's House and Mather's Meeting House 226
20 Prince Edward 229
21 Mme Julie de Saint Laurent 230
22 Halifax from George's Island 247
23 St. Mary's Church, Auburn, Nova Scotia 274
24 Elisha William Budd Moody 299
MAPS
1 James Moody's New Jersey 1776-82, with inset from
William Faden, 1777 1
2 James Moody's Nova Scotia 167
3 Manuscript map, Weymouth (Sissiboo) area, showing
Moody and other lots, c. 1816 181
PREFACE
THIS IS THE STORY OF JAMES MOODY, an American Loyalist hero from
New Jersey who later settled, and became a prominent figure, in Nova
Scotia. Famous in his own day, he deserves new recognition today. His
life gives us a picture of the Loyalist experience, from the turbulent
times of the American Revolution through to the subsequent refash-
ioning of a British colony to the north.
James Moody was a New Jersey farmer who believed that rebellion
was constitutional anarchy. He enlisted in a Loyalist provincial corps
and was sent out on special, often dangerous, missions behind the
Patriot lines. Suffering from what would later be called battle fatigue,
he went to England in 1782, just as the war was ending. There he
wrote and published his Narrative of his Exertions and Sufferings in the
Cause of Government since the Year 1776, a compelling story that
explained the convictions that had made him a Loyalist and chronicled
his exploits during the Revolution. Settling in Nova Scotia after the
war, he threw his energies into the new community, building ships,
working toward the establishment of an Anglican parish, representing
his county in the House of Assembly, enlisting again in the wars with
France, and more.
He was one of nearly sixty thousand Loyalist refugees from the
American Revolutionary War who settled in what is now Canada. As
Americans, they knew the land and understood its challenges. They
brought with them their political and civil institutions and worked to
remake a society that furthered the ideals for which they had been
fighting: a better society, they hoped, than the one they had left, a
society where there would be no need to rebel.
The story of James Moody gives us a glimpse of the American
Revolution from the other side. Through his Narrative, we gain an
insight into the issues that made this colonial war a civil war. Finally,
James Moody's experience in Nova Scotia provides a personal account
of the vision this second, transplanted, American society had of them-
selves and their attempts to make that vision a reality. Men like Moody
brought to the province new money and skills, a spirit of entrepre-
neurship, but also a sense of public service and political responsibility
that helped the province to grow and prosper on a sound institutional
base. Their legacy remains important to Canada today.
