User:Michael Biggar/Robert Biggar-Ontario (Canada) Pioneer

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Robert Biggar-Ontario (Canada) Pioneer... new article content ...

Robert Biggar was the eighth, and youngest child of Herbert Biggar and Agnes Coulthart and was born 2 April 1761 near Dumfries, Scotland.. Robert was church educated but was not ordained. Because of the lack of prospects (being the youngest child), he and his wife Mary Lauder sought their own fortune in North America under the auspices of The Pulteney Association (a Scots American company). This company, following the Revolutionary War, was engaged in developing and settling a large tract of land in New York state.

During the early 1790's, the Biggars, together with two daughters Agnes and Mary and one son William as well as a nephew James, settled first in Bath, New York.. Subsequently, eight other children were to be born to the Biggars including Charles, who was born at Bath, N.Y. 7 January 1797. Robert Biggar provided his skills in land dispute resolution as well as those required of pioneer life to this young community. Life was very demanding for all who were engaged in settling virgin territory.

It was during this seminal period that the Biggars met a number of colonial and aboriginal personages who would influence their lives including: John Hamilton (a prosperous merchant, founder of the city of Hamilton, Ontario and later a magistrate); and Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) the able, and well connected Mohawk leader, and other influential Mohawks. John Hamilton's son Robert would marry Mary Biggar, and Joseph Brant would sell land to Robert Biggar for his new homestead.

In the late 1700's, following the Revolutionary War, the British colony of Canada received a substantial influx of settlers including many Mohawks. One band under the leadership of Joseph Brant was granted a tract of land, by the colonial government, along the banks of the Grand River in Ontario. In the early 1800's the Biggars left Bath, N.Y. for the Niagara frontier settling initially in the Queenston area. There, the family bore witness to a number of battles during the War of 1812. These included the battle of Queenston Heights (13 October 1812) and that of Stoney Creek (6 June 1813). Following these engagements, the Biggar family participated in the removal of the dead from the battlefields with their family wagons.

After peace had been restored, the Biggars purchased land from Chief Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) at Mount Pleasant, Ontario in 1816, and built their pioneer home that still stands today.

Robert Biggar died 30 April 1836, predeceased by his wife Mary ten years earlier.