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Petition to the Crown in the City of New York
Made: October 16th, 1776 in New York City
asking to: ' Restore the City and County to his Majesty's Protection and Peace '
list of signers
This document was made in between
- The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on Tuesday, August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in the present-day Brooklyn, New York. Date: Tuesday, August 27, 1776 and
- The Battle of Fort Washington was fought in New York on November 16, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. (Washington Heights, New York 40°51′10″N 73°56′17″WCoordinates: 40°51′10″N 73°56′17″W )
In other words, the British seemed to have had the upper hand already and New York City was about to fall. Also to be remembered: After Washington's defeats: "American prisoners were later marched through the streets of New York City, facing the jeering and mockery of the city's large Loyalist population. Most of the prisoners were interned in British ships in New York harbor, where over 2,000 died of disease, cold, or starvation in the bitter winter. Approximately 800 survived to be released in a prisoner exchange the following year"... This crowd would have been made up of many of the people who signed said Petition the month before.
Many of those who signed were, or had been German Lutherans but were now in some respects convinced of the supremacy of the British Crown.
Read, for instance ,of the disposition of the Lutheran minister of the Swamp Church, just a few blocks from the extremely Loyalist Trinity Church.
http://trappehistoricalsociety.org/refuge-from-the-war/
It was the Mühenbergs who helped establish the Lutheran community on Manhattan. Now (1776), many turned their souls toward a faith that relied on George III of England for leadership.
Johann Balthasar Daesh and Johannes Miller (married to a Spingler) are two examples of such Lutherans.
These were the most trying of times. It is hard to establish where family allegiances lay and for what duration. Many families changed allegiance carefully attentive to which side was doing better.
Church connections
While Church of England parishioners of lower Manhattan were almost to a one Loyal, such was not as predominant in the Province of Pennsylvania. See the profiles of church leaders in the geni project: https://www.geni.com/projects/Church-of-England-Episcopal-Church-panoply-of-Colonial-Pennsylvania-Province/4485851 for comparison
Citation in Graveyard but not in Geni tree
- John Davan (see: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10304037/margaret-davan ) this is his dau. Margaret at Trinity churchyard
- John was a leatherdresser at the sign of 'Crown & Breeches' next door to Robert and John Murray (also Loyalists) and of Murray Hill fame. This was on Queen St. note: for an earlier leatherdresser of Queen St. see John Smith, leatherdresser, patron of Henry and Baltis Spingler.
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12098341/samuel-ellis (see note pg 125 of petition
- DEATH 9 Sep 1798 ; BURIAL Trinity Churchyard