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News - Sir John Johnson War of 1812 Plaque Dedicated

On Thursday, 23 June 2016, four members of the Canadian Fencible regiment were honoured to participate in the unveiling and dedication of a plaque recognizing Sir John Johnson, colonel of the King's Royal Yorkers, for his participation in the War of 1812.

Major Dave Moore, Colour Sergeant Charles Baker, and Sergeant Keith Lindsey formed a colour party to take part in the ceremony. Mardi MacFarlane was also in attendance dressed in her finery to add another dimension to the event. Interestingly, all four Canadian Fencible members are also members of the King's Royal Yorkers, Sir John's regiment from the period of the American Revolutionary War. We were fortunate to have Albert Smith of the Canadian Voltigeurs present with us to act as guard to the colours.

All reenactors were invited by the Sir John Johnson Centennial Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada (UELAC) to enjoy lunch at a nearby sugaring off establishment with their branch members and people from a larger area who are interested in Loyalist heritage. Following lunch there were several speeches, wisely presented indoors rather than in the sun and heat of outdoors at the site of the burial vault.

At the conclusion of the luncheon, everyone drove the short distance to the site of the burial vault of Sir John Johnson and family members for the ceremony and unveiling of the new plaque. The burial vault was recently restored and in 2014 was rededicated.




Photo by Keith Lindsey


Our colour party marched down the path to the delight of those assembled and halted between the stones outlining the original foundation of the burial vault and the site main display board.



Photo by Mardi MacFarlane


In the photo below, the outline of the original vault foundation is shown by the stones on the ground. The vault had two rooms, front and back. Sir John and his wife were originally laid to rest in the back room. The other five members of Sir John's family were laid to rest in the front room.



Photo by Keith LIndsey


Mention was made of the site and past related activities, several people of the branch who were present were noted, the one founding member of the branch in attendance was recognized, and Major Moore showed great restraint limiting his remarks to a few well chosen words before unveiling the plaque. After the formal part of the ceremony, people mingled, examined the site and burial vault more closely, took many photos, spoke with the reenactors, and read the plaque. Albert Smith had an opportunity to explain the upcoming August event of the celebration of 350 years of the history of St. Jean-sur-Richelieu and to invite everyone to attend.



Photo by Mardi MacFarlane


The plaque unveiled recognizes participation by Sir John in the War of 1812 and his related leadership, work, and devotion to Canada. Even though during the time of the War, Sir John was advancing in age, he played an important role in the defence of Canada. He was commander of a local militia unit and offered significant advice to other commanders based on his experience and knowledge so the invading Americans could be defeated and Canada preserved.



Photo by Mardi MacFarlane


If you would like to read more about the burial vault project, visit the Sir John Johnson Centennial Branch web site.



Photo by Keith Lindsey

 

 

 

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