Black Dutch

Black Dutch: Boutellier - Lewis
Descendants of Catherine Elizabeth Boutellier (1770 - 1847) and Henry Lewis (1760 - 1849)

Our Boutellier-Lewis family is what is known as a "Black Dutch" family. The "Dutch" part has nothing to do with Holland, by the way, it's just the way the English said and interpreted "Deutsch" which means they spoke German. The principality (independent) of Montbeliard FR / Mompelgard DE moved back and forth between France and Germany a few times (it's on the border), though it considered itself independent, and the inhabitants spoke German "Deutsch" and were Protestants, the French (France) at one time tried to impose Roman Catholicism on them, and likely also forced them to take French names ... so that's likely why their names are French but they spoke German when they arrived in North America, hence "Dutch", They fled their homeland because of religious persecution by Roman Catholic France, the British Crown which was Protestant at the time, helped them escape and brought them to safety near Halifax, where they settled at first in the Mi'kma'kik district of Sipeknekatik, Kji panupek aka St Margarets Bay.

"Black Dutch" is a term used for mixed people (People of Color, inclusive of African and Native American, European and "mixed") whose European ancestors had spoken German, like our Boutellier / Boutilier ancestors had.

Our ancestor Henry Lewis of Virginia was one of what today are known by some as "Black Loyalists", he fought with Charles Cornwallis' army of Free People of Color (inclusive of Africans, Native American allies, East and West Asians, and Mustee, Mulatto and others of mixed ethnicity), and newly freed and runaway slaves, considered Loyalists by the English Crown. His life partner was a woman of European ancestry, whose ancestors had spoken German - Deutsch, hence she would have been called "Dutch" by many North American anglophones.

Because we were people who did not discriminate against others when it came to choosing a life partner, at one time we would have been known as the "Black Dutch" by the Englishmen of Nova Scotia and Canada.

"Black Dutch" is a term pretty much like "Melungeon" for mixed-race people, at first outsiders use it against others in a derogatory fashion, but then the people themselves decide to use it for themselves, not as an element of shame, but as one of pride in their people (ancestors) and their community which historically has been tolerant of and welcoming to and inclusive of different others.

-- 29 May 2018 Red Knot

George Morley 1762 Boston

The George Morley mentioned below in the minutes is likely the grandson of George Morley I born 1682, that is, he is George Morley III b c 1725 d c 1766, whose father George Morley II b c 1705 d c 1757 appears on the 1753 census North Side (where the "Indians" were) Trinity Bay with wife and eight children (five sons and three daughters) and along with his brother Charles born c 1707 who appears to have disappeared from records soon after the census. Charles Morley may have died, along with his wife Mary Hurd, in one of several waves of smallpox epidemics that swept Trinity Bay around that time. There were apparently many Morley family deaths occuring there shortly before and during the nearby expulsion of the Acadians known as "The Great Upheaval", and many of those identified by the colonial government as Acadians who were expelled had been relocated to Boston as well as the 93 people from Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. It's worth noting that the Morleys and others fished in summers, but moved inland during the winter months and in the traditional way of Indigenous peoples, hunted Caribou to survive. They are asking here for help in returning in late October which would give them just enough time to move to set up their winter camp, or to join one already established, before the deep snows arrived.

Selectmen's Minutes, City Document No. 147, Vol. 19, (Boston) 1762.

[97] At a Meeting of the Selectmen, October 21, 1762.-:
Present Thomas Cushing Esq.
John Scollay Esq.
Benjamin Austin Esq.
Samuel Sewall Esq.
Mr. Sam P. Savage.
Ezekiel Lewis Esq.

The Honourable Thomas Hubbard & Thomas Hancock Esq. be a Committee from the Honble. His Majesty's Council. Represented, that Mr. George Morley and a great number of other Persons, lately come into this place from Newfoundland, had apply'd to the Governor and Council to help them, to a passage for themselves and Familys to Newfoundland being very desirous of returning there again the Committee therefore desired that the Select men would make enquiry into the Circumstances of those People, and Report the same as soon as may be.

The Selectmen accordingly made enquiry into this matter and having examined the said George Morley and others, find that there is about Nineteen Familys of the Newfoundlanders making in all Ninety three Souls; that they are in [98] Necessitous Circumstances, and not able to procure Employs that will support them, and consequently must be a great charge to the Province unless the Assistance they require should be afforded them - whereupon.

Voted, that a Memorial be drawn up and preferred to His Excellency Governor Bernard & the Honble. His Majestys Councill, respecting the Newfoundland Familys which was accordingly done, and is as follows - Viz:

Province of the Massachusetts Bay.

To His Excellency Francis Bernard Esq. Capt. General and Commander in Chief, in and over said Province, and to the Honourable His Majestys Council.

The Memorial of the Subscribers, Selectmen of the Town of Boston.

Humbly sheweth:

That the Honourable Thomas Hubbard Esq. and Thomas Hancock Esq. a Committee from the Honourable Board have desired your Memorialists to enquire into the Circumstances of George Morley [99]. And others, who lately came from Newfoundland Your Memorialists have accordingly made the enquiry and find they are truly necessitous Persons, and as they cannot meet with employ here are desirous to return but are not able to pay the passage of themselves and Familys, they therefore request some Assistance, which Assistance if not afforded them and they continue here during the Winter, great charge will thereby accrue to the Province; all which is humbly submitted to your Excellency and Honours wise consideration.

Signed by the six Selectmen above and also by Samuels Hews.

Boston October 25, 1762.
His Excellency Francis Bernard Esq.
At a Meeting of the Selectmen, October 25, 1762, PM.
Present (as above but excluding John Scollay).
[102]. Memo. of the Familys now in this Town who came from ye Land, with their Circumstances as taken from George Morley, the twenty second of this Inst. October.

George Morley, his wife & five children, not able to pay their passage to the Land.
Henry Radford, his wife & 6 children.
Walter Degrave, and sister.
Morgan Murphey, wife and 3 children.
James Winter, wife, father & Mother and a child.
John Marshall, his father & mother & 2 children.
James Clark, his wife & 8 children.
Joseph Pottells, his wife and 7 children.
Mary Greenlace, and four children.
James Howell, wife and 7 children (very poor).
Mary Worth, and two children (very poor).
William Pulling, and Wife.
William Stone, his wife and one child, not able to pay their passage to the Land.
Patrick Connell, and Wife.
Edward Freeman, and 3 children.
Joseph Newell, his wife and a child.
Andrew Murphey, and wife.
George Wood, his wife and 2 children.
William Whiting, his wife and 4 children.

Source

Links
More about the Acadians in Massachusetts
Commonwealth Museum - Le Grande Derangement: The Acadian Exile in Massachusetts 1755-1766

by L A Childress, 9 Mar 2018 updated and corrected, link added

Henry Lewis of Virginia

Henry Lewis of Virginia (1760* - 1849)

Cornwallis' army in Virginia was composed mostly of Free People of Colour***, and African American slaves who were promised their freedom if they fought as loyalists, as well as Native Americans*** who were allies of the British. Henry Lewis' name is included on a memorial erected to honour the "Black Loyalists" who settled in Nova Scotia. Further research indicates that Henry Lewis was one of the "Indian allies" considered to be loyalists by the British. He was more than likely descendant from Algonquian language speakers of the Powhatan Confederacy who had coalesced with the Saponi (Eastern Sioux).

Henry Lewis of Virginia signed up with the Royal North Carolina Regiment Feb 1781 at Hillsborough, Orange NC, which was part of Cornwallis' army in the American Revolution. The unit was formed in 1779 under Lieutenant Colonel John Hamilton. Cornwallis had raised the King's standard at Hillsborough 22 Feb 1781, which was the capital of NC at the time. It was there he put out a call for all who were loyal to the British Crown to take up arms and join his forces. The campaign over the spring and summer of 1781 culminated in his surrender at Charlestown 19 Oct 1781. As part of the condition of surrender, Cornwallis asked that the Native American*** allies who fought with him not be punished. However, this was denied on the grounds that loyalists were a matter for the civil government rather than the military. British troops were to be loaded on the sloop 'Bonetta' and sent to New York as prisoners of war. In order to protect the Native American allies, Cornwallis loaded as many of them as possible on the 'Bonetta' and sent them off as if they were British. Henry Lewis was among them. Henry Lewis remained in New York for over a year as a prisoner on parole, meaning he made a pledge as a prisoner not to engage in any military activity in exchange for his freedom within a fixed area.

With the end of the war came an exodus of the loyalists**. Henry Lewis' unit was mustered at St Augustine GA 26 Apr 1783 and plans were made for a large number of them to depart for Nova Scotia. Henry was a part of a group of some 329 officers and men under Major James Wright that departed in the fall of 1783 on the ship 'Nymph' which landed at Country Harbour, Antigonish County, Dec 1782. Major Wright secured a land grant at now Stormont. The initial petition includes 100 acres for Henry Lewis, however, he did not settle there. By Spring of 1784 he had departed for the Halifax, St Margarets Bay area (Kji panu'pek) where he married Catherine Elizabeth Boutilier (1770 - 1847) in 1788. This is where their first eight children were born (Catherine Elizabeth, Jane, James, John David, George, John, John William, and Frederick James Lewis). Between 1810 and 1811 they migrated to Cape Breton / Wunamakik where their ninth child (Michael Lewis) and tenth child (Joseph Joel Henry Lewis) were born.
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Notes
* Some have his birth year as 1758. Some also have his name as "Harry" (a nickname for Harold?) and have given him a middle name of "Phillip" and as well have elevated his rank to that of "Corporal" in the "British Army". NB: none of that is documented! (180712) Further, if he actually had been in the "British Army" rather than the Royal North Carolina Regiment (Cornwallis' army), he would have returned to the UK or been assigned elsewhere after he left the colonies. (180716)
** loyalists in this case Native American (Virginia and Carolinas) allies of the British. Indigenous peoples and Free People of Colour at the time may have been allies of the English Crown, and many were, individuals as well as nations, however they were never subjects, nor were they Englishmen, and they should be considered allies - in accord with various treaties - never loyalists. (180712)
*** Native American was not a term in use at that time, but Free People of Colour was in use, a term inclusive of Free Africans, East and West Asians, Indigenous peoples, and "mixed race" peoples, who were described with words such as Mestees, Mulattos, and Mustees by the Englishmen. (180712) In NS land records, Henry Lewis is described as Native of Virginia. See Henry Lewis Biographical Notes in this blog. (180716)

NB: this is not the same Cornwallis who put in the scalping bounty for "Indian" men, women and children who is pretty much universally hated by Mi'kmaq - but he is probably related.

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(first published in this blog) edited 19 Sep 2012, updated 25 Sep 2014
24 Jan 2013, returned here 15 Jan 2018, edited and updated 12, 15, 16 Jul 2018

Henry Lewis Biographical Notes

Biography

Henry Lewis (1760 VA-1849 NS)

Henry Lewis (and his son William) made several land petitions before receiving a Crown Land Grant (1812) at Forester Lake (619, next to George Boutellier, Certificate 865)

Cape Breton no.: 822
NSARM microfilm: 15791

Lewis, Henry 1812

Petition to Nepean: Petitioner, age 50, has lived in Nova Scotia the past 25 years. He has a wife and seven children. He asks a lot on the N.W. Arm, adjoining that of George Butelear [Boutellier].
Report of Crawle to Clarke: 200 acres on the northern shore of Ball's Creek. Plan.
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Cape Breton no.: 3036
NSARM microfilm: 15799

Lewis, Henry 1825

Petition to Wallace: Petitioner is a Native of Virginia, age 65, is married and has eight children. He served in Lord Cornwallis's army. He received a lease for 200 acres which he found unfit for farming. He purchased 300 acres of which the title to 200 acres is a crown lease. He asks a valid title. The land is on the south side of the N.W. Arm of Spanish River. He purchased the land from Henry Adams.
Note: approved.
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Cape Breton no.: 3037
NSARM microfilm: 15799

Lewis, William 1825 (this is John William Lewis b. 1803, son of Henry)

Petition to Wallace: Petitioner is a Native of this province, age 21, single. He asks a lot at Point Edward, where it is stated that 2000 acres lie at the disposal of the crown. His father served in Cornwallis' army. He has six brothers, three of whom have received 100 acres each. William Daly has applied for the same lot, but petitioner, in a second petition, explains his claim.

Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management
www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/land/default.asp

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Military

List of Cape Breton Loyalists has "Henry Lewis of Leitches' Creek NS b. c 1758 Virginia"... Served Lord Charles Cornwallis' army May to Aug 1781

"War for Independence, May - August 1781 Lord Charles Cornwallis, commander of British forces in the South..."

www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1313.html

Cornwallis' army in Virginia was composed of thousands of African Americans - Free and freed Blacks (slaves and inclusive of Maroons and Mulattos i.e. "mixed-race", East and West Indians, Virginia and Carolinas Native Americans, i.e. Free People of Color)... See

www.blackloyalist.info/cornwallis-and-the-siege-of-yorktown

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On the Crown Land Grant map apparently compiled 1840, the following children of Henry Lewis and Catherine Elizabeth Boutellier each have 100 acres west of Coxheath:

John David Lewis (b. 1797)
George Lewis (b. 1799)
James Lewis (b. 1793 / 1794)
William Lewis (b. 1803)

Source (see section 131) www.gov.ns.ca/natr/land/grantmap.htm

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Province of Nova Scotia, 16 Oct 1788

Know all Men by these Presents, that Henry Lewis and James Bouttellier farmers are held and firmly bound to John Parr Esq. Lieut. Gov. and Commander in Chief, in and over his Majesty's Province of Nova-Scotia, in the Sum of One Hundred Pounds, Lawful Money of Great-Britain to be paid to the said John Parr or his certain Attorney, Executors, Administrators or Assigns, for the true Payment whereof we bind ourselves and each of us, by himself for the whole, and every part thereof and the Heirs, Executors, and Admiistrators of us, and each of us, firmly by these Presents, seal'd with our Seals, dated the Sixteenth day of October in the twentyeighth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty eight.

The Condition of this Obligation is such, That, if hereafter, there shall not appear, any lawful let or Impediment by reason of Consanguinity, Affinity, or any other lawful means, whatever, but that the said Henry Lewis Batch Eliz Boutellier Spinsr may lawfully solemnize Marriage together and in the same afterwards to remain, and continue for Man and Wife, according to the Law in that Behalf provided. And if the same Marriage shall be openly solemnized according to the Form of the Book of Common Prayer, now by law establish'd and if the above bounden Henry Lewis & James Boutillier do save harmless the said John Parr and other his Officers whatsoever by reason of the Premises, then this Obligation to be Void, or else to remain in full Force and Virtue.

Sealed and delivered in the presence of

Henry Lewis
IMG his mark

IMG Jacques Bouteillier

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Elizabeth Boutellier and Henry Lewis marriage bond 1788 in Halifax County
novascotiagenealogy.com Historical Vital Statistics
Item can be found in Registration Year: 1788 - Book: 1700 - Page: 733

-- researched & compiled by Red Knot, 3 Mar 2012, updated 16 Jul 2018

For more about our family, see Mikmaki Morley tribe

1792-3 Census - St Margarets Bay - Halifax NS

ST MARGARETS BAY
1792 - 1793 Census
(arrangement & notes by L A Childress)

ORIGIN

~ Foreign Protestant ~

John ANDREWS, farmer, 2 cows
George BOUTILIER ¹, farmer, 6 cattle
Jacques BOUTILIER ¹, farmer 6 cattle
James BOUTILIER ¹, master [of] trading vessel, 6 cows
James Frederick BOUTILIER ¹, boatmaster, 8 cattle
John BOUTILIER ¹, farmer 6 cows
John BOUTILIER ¹
John George BOUTILIER ¹, farmer, 3 cows
Christopher DAUPHINEE, farmer, 6 cattle
George DAUPHINEE, master [of] trading vessel, farmer, 6 cattle
John DAUPHINEE, farmer, 3 cows
Adam FREDERICK, farmer, 2 cows
Gutlip HARNISH, farmer, 10 cattle
Christopher JANPARIEN
George JOLLYMORE, boatmaster, 3 cattle
James JOLLYMORE, farmer, 2 cows
James JOUDRAY, farmer, 20 sheep
Peter MARRIOTT, farmer 6 cattle
John MINGO ²
... SLAUGHENWHITE, 5 cows
Adam WANBOULT, farmer, 2 horses, 6 cattle
Christopher WANBOULT, boatmaster
Conrad WESTAVER, farmer, 2 cows

~ Hessian Veteran ~

John CLOYNE

~ Irish ~

J. P. BULXTLEY (?) Esq., farmer
Michael CARROL
John O'BRIEN, planter
John PHYLON, labourer

~ Loyalist ~

William ADAMS, farmer, 6 cattle
Hugh KELLY, farmer, 1 horse, 6 cows
Hugh M'DONALD, farmer, 4 cattle
William WOODIN, farmer, (?) cattle

~ Nfld Irish ~

William COULEN, labourer
James CROUCHER, farmer, 6 cattle, 20 sheep
Samuel CROUCHER

~ Scottish ~

James HEMLOCK, boatmaster, 8 cattle
James HEMLOCK, boatmaster
John HEMLOCK Jr., farmer, 10 cattle, 12 sheep
William HEMLOCK, farmer

~ Unknown or Not listed ~

William BARRY
Robert CADEY, farmer, 5 cattle
Hugh CALDWELL, farmer, 2 cattle
Waldron (?) CORNEY, farmer, 2 cows
Mathew DAMSEY (?), labourer
Nicholas FOLEY
James GRIFFITH, labourer
John HORNSBY, farmer, 3 cows
Henry LEWIS ³, farmer
John LORING, labourer
 Patrick M'GUIRE, labourer
George MARCHAND, 3 cattle
Nicholas MARRISHAL, farmer, 2 cows
George MOLLIER ⁴
John MOLLIER
William MONTGOMERY, farmer, 1 cow
William M(illegible)RE, farmer
Barney PHILKES, labourer
James STUDARDS (?)
John TROOP, 3 cattle

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~ NOTES ~

1 the Boutilier aka Boutellier originated in the Principality of Mömpelgard (Montbeliard). Much later the name was sometimes anglicised as Butler. The name translated from french means "bottler" (perhaps bottle-maker?).

2 John Mingo - Mingo is the english for Algonquin Mingwe which means "Iroquois". John Mingo aka John [Henry] Hendrick / Kendrick Mohawk (Kanienkehaka) was born ca 1728 in the Mohawk Valley (Kanienke), he died ca 1792-3 possibly at St Margarets Bay. It seems likely he's listed as a "Foreign Protestant" because his father was a German Palatine trader who spoke the "Dutch" i.e. Deutsch (German) language, and he was perhaps also baptised by the Dutch (perhaps he was one of the Mohawks who converted to Christianity).

Mingo, from the Algonquin word Mingwe meaning "Iroquois" should not be confused with Minga, from "Menegau" (Lunenberg NS) which is from German Maingau (Mainz) and was anglicised as Mentz, Mainz, Mintz, and Minga.

3 Henry Lewis b. ca 1758-1760 m. 16 Oct 1788 Catherine Elizabeth Boutilier / Boutellier.
NB: we haven't yet seen it documented that he is listed as a Loyalist as some would have it (later note, now we have found documentation). If he was, and was born in Virginia, he probably was a Free Person of Colour descendant of a Free African, see Black Loyalist: Cornwallis and the siege of Yorktown. Otherwise he may be a returning Acadian: Lewis is the anglicisation of Louis, Henry of Henri, and Henry Philip Lewis (as some have his name, although it is undocumented that he had a middle name Philip) had the names of three Kings of France, such names were often taken by L'nuk (Mi'kmaq) or given at their baptism. More about Henry Lewis of Virginia

4 George Mollier aka George Molley / Morley / [de Morlaix?] family goes back to (pre-colonial French and British) and it may be that Basque or Breton fisherfolk intermarried with Indigenous and lived at Ktaqamkuk (newcomer's "Newfoundland") +/- 100 years before the French "discovery". This George is probably the George Morley IV (1760-1804) who married Mary Kendrick (1769-1838), the daughter of John Mingo aka John Hendrick / Henry / Kendrick.

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This is from a text file arranged by "Origin" from the original "1792-3 St Margarets Bay Census" arranged by family name. This is the best transcription we could do from a very corrupt original (Gary Meade) found here: hubbardsheritage.ednet.ns.ca/images/d0017.jpg (2018 now archived here) Notes are by L A Childress (c)2010 (c)2018 all rights reserved, no commercial use
Edit: 16 Jul 2011 added link; updated notes & fixed links & removed now defunct links 30 Jan 2018; updated 10 Mar 2018; 14 Jul 2018

Tags: 1792, 1793, acadia, acadian, beothuk, black dutch, boutellier, boutilier, boutiliers point, breton, butler, cape breton, census, colonial, dutch, family, farmer, fisherman, fisherfolk, foreign, free african, free people of color, gagetown, genealogy, halifax, hendrick, henry, indigenous, indian, kanienkehaka, kendrick, lewis, loyalist, l'nu, maritimes, mikmaki, mikmaq, mingo, mingwe, mohawk, mohawk valley, mollier, molley, montbeliard, morley, munsee, native american, new brunswick, newfoundland, nova scotia, original, protestant, st margarets bay, wunamakik

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