Wednesday, February 9, 2011

John Hillman and the Rebellion of 1837

Amazing what you can find if you keep on digging. It would appear that John Hillman (1819-1906) was in the militia.
West Kent Militia; 2nd. Kent Militia: St. Clair Volunteers Pay List, 1838.
This is taken from a transcription by the Lambton Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, 1989. The original is found in the British Archives.
The St. Clair Volunteers included men from Zone township. For John Hillman this is the right geographical area. In 1838 he was in Zone. An interesting footnote is that apparently he could not read or write. He made his mark !

2 comments:

Ezekias said...

This may just be my ignorance, but I thought that making your mark was done with an X. These marks look more like a +. Was that common, or was it just that the paper was turned toward the men at an angle?

William Bruce Hillman said...

First I have seen it as well. Could be any explanation. Could also be that whoever kept the record made the mark and then wrote the name in as well.