Hunting the Hare: A Loyalist Spy Story

June 1798, the petition of John, Barnabas, William, Mary, and Katherine Hare, children of Lieutenant Henry Hare,  United Empire Loyalist, was received and read in the Executive Council of Upper Canada. The above claimed that their father was made a prisoner in the ‘late American War’ [Revolution] and hung as a spy.

The subsequent Council Order recommended 500 acres to be granted to each as children of a subaltern soldier -Lieutenant.[1] 

Henry Hare was born about 1742 in the Province of New York. His marriage of 15 April 1765 to Alida Vrooman is recorded at the Stone Arabia Dutch Reformed. Church.[2]

A decade later, Henry Hare is found refusing to enlist as a Patriot in the Revolution. He signed the “Declaration of the Grand Jury and Magistrates” in Johnstown, Tryon County, Province of New York, 16 March 1775, which declined entering in the “unhappy dispute between Great Britain and its Colonies.” Guy Johnson, John Butler, Sir John Johnson and other   freeholders also signed this document.[3]    

Henry Hare was employed under Sir John Johnson in the British Indian Department. This organization was established in 1755 and manage relations with indigenous peoples, encouraging them to be allies against the American Colonies. Henry was promoted to be a Lieutenant in Butler’s Service.[4] As a Spy, he travelled behind Patriot Lines and gathered intelligence for the British. Working with the Mohawks, he carried and destroyed important correspondence when caught and participated in raids against American settlements.

In 1778, Henry Hare was captured and imprisoned for seven months in Hartford, Connecticut Colony before escaping.[5]

“the inhabitants having discovered that many of these villainous Tories who had stirred up the Indians and been with them in fighting against us, were within the settlements, twenty-seven of them were, in January last, taken up and secured. Of these, eighteen were sent to Connecticut, the rest after being detained some time and examined were for want of sufficient evidence, set at liberty; they immediately joined the enemy and became active in raising the Indians in a spirit of hostility against us.”[6]  

Upon his freedom, he continued to work as a spy for the British.

"Captain Hare of the Rangers arrived here last night with a letter from Captain Butler," [excerpt of letter from Lt. Col. Mason Bolton to General Frederick Haldimand 30 Nov 1778][7]

"The news which Lt. Hare brings is that though the rebels in the fort at Cherry Valley were apprised of Captain Butler's being with the Rangers and Indians hovering about the frontiers with a design to make a descent on some places." [excerpt of letter from Taylor/Duffin to Lt. Col. Daniel Claus, 01 December 1778][8]

"I daily expect to hear from Lt. Henry Hare who is gone down to fort Hunter," [excerpt of letter from Major John Butler to Lt. Col. Mason Bolton, 24 May 1779][9]

"The Mississaugas are gone with them. Lt. H. Hare is with one party and young John Johnston with the other." [excerpt of letter from Major John Butler to Lt. Col. Mason Bolton, 05 June 1779.][10]

The above note of Henry Hare’s movements is one of the last in his short life. 17 June 1779, Henry returned to his family in the Mohawk river valley to celebrate his wife’s birthday. Two days later, 19 June 1779, he was arrested at Florida, New York and taken to General Clinton’s camp. A trial was held the next day in the tent of Colonel Gansevoort at Happy Hallow.

Excerpts from the trail of Henry Hare:

‘Canajoharie, 20 June 1779[11]

At a General Court Martial held Camp Canajoharie June 20, 1779 by order of Brigadie James Clinton, Whereof Colonel Peter Gansevoort was President

Thomas DeWitt, Isaiah Wool, Captain Lieutenant James Mclure,

Captains: Aaron Aorson, George Sytes, Cornels Janson, Henry Teabout, Philip Conine

Lieutenants: Thomas Macklin, Robert Parker, Elisha Harvey, Ezra Patterson

Member and Captain: Andrew Porter, Judge Advocate

Mr. Henry Haire appeared before the Court, charged with being taken lurking about the camp as a spy.

x

The prisoner being asked if he had taken the oath of Neutrality to the United States, answered that he did take the oath about the beginning of the year 1776, but that he had been taken prisoner by us a day or two before, and that in May 1776 he went with Sir John Johnson to the enemy and ever since that time has born arms against the United States of America…

x

Questioned by the Court:

Did you join the enemy voluntarily? Answer: Voluntarily

Do you hold a Commission under Colonel John Butler with the enemy? Answer: I hold and First Lieutenancy but left my commission at Niagara.

Is this the first time you ventured home to your family since you joined the enemy? Answer: This is the third time; the first time when returning I was discovered & fired on by a guard of the American Army near the Little Falls of the Mohawk River but got off clear, immediately when they fired at me I hid several letters that was sent with me by some in the neighbourhood where my family lived to their husbands who were with the enemy.

The prisoner being informed the court was ready to hear his defences says he has no defence to make but throws himself on the mercy of the court.

x

The court having considered the evidence and the prisoners own confession are unanimously of the opinion that the said Henry Hair is guilty of the charge and sentence him to be hanged by the neck until he is dead. ‘

Alida pleaded for her husband’s life saying he had a wife and seven small children to care for.[12] However, she was viewed as a spy too.

Henry Hare was sentenced to “hang from his neck until he was dead.”  He was hung on Academy Hill, Canajoharie, New York, 21 June 1779.[13]

Brigadier General James Clinton - in a letter to his wife, 06 July 1779, wrote the following: "....we apprehended a certain Lieutenant Hare and a Sergeant Newberry, both of Colonel Butler's regiment. who confessed that they left the Seneca Country with sixty three Indians and two white men, which divided themselves in three parties; one part was to attack Schoharie, another party Cherry Valley and the Mohawk River, part of the Mohawk River to take prisoners and scalps. I had them tried by a General Court Martial for spies, who sentenced them both to be hanged, which was done accordingly at Canajoharie.....as they were known to be very active in almost all of the murders that were committed on these frontiers. They were inhabitants of Tryon County, and each had a wife and several children who came to see them and beg their lives.”[14]

James Clinton informed George Washington of the execution of Henry Hare in a letter 26 June 1779.[15]

"Lt. Henry Hare and Sergeant Newberry, who set off for Fort Hunter the 4th, will have had the misfortune to be taken by the enemy and hanged as spies. We have lost in Mr. Hare a very active enterprising officer and the manner of his death is shocking." [excerpt from the journal of Richard Cartwright, 06 July 1779]f[16]

Alida Hare fled to Lower Canada (Montreal) and petitioned Governor Haldimand for support. She was granted an annual pension of twenty pounds Sterling for the remainder of her natural life.[17] She later petitioned to have Henry Hare added to the Loyalist Executive List of Honour so that her children could become eligible for land grants.[18]

To add this story is tradition and folklore that  surrounds

the burial of Henry Hare.

The Hare and the Snake

'A Tory, from Canada was apprehended & executed as a spy in the army commanded by Gen. James Clinton. His friends were gratified with his body for interment; and when the company was assembling in a cellar kitchen, a large black snake darted through the window, ran under the coffin, could not be found. It was felt that the devil was after his spirit. This affair made great noise, and the superstitious Germans interpreted it as an omen favourable to the Whig cause, considering the black snake as a devil, anxious to receive his victim and anticipating a delightful sacrifice."

[Davidson, Stephen, UE, ”The Hanging of Hare and Newbury: Part Three: Soon with His God,” online newsletter, United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada (www.uelac.ca/loyalist-trails/loyalist-trails-2021-51 : accessed 21 March 2025); citing Montgomery County, New York; typed manuscript.]

The hanging of Henry Hare and William Newberry was just one event in the 1779 summer campaign of James Clinton directed at the Haudenosaunee. At the hands of the Patriots, more than 40 villages of the Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga were destroyed and over 5000 displaced indigenous sought refuge at Fort Niagara. The campaign did not succeed in stopping the Haudenosaunee's attacks on Mohawk Valley settlements.

The family of Henry Hare, has become an ancestry for many Canadian families.

Henry HARE

born 1742 in Montgomery County, Province of New York

died 21 June 1779, Canajaharie, Montgomery, New York, USA

married 15 April 1765, Stone Arabia, Montgomery, Province of New York

Alida VROOMAN  

born 17 June 1747, Province of New York

Alida VROOMAN and Henry HARE had the following children:

i.             Ally (Volkje/Faulky) (1765-unknown) listed as family of prisoner Henry Hare

ii.            Lt. Johannes ‘John’ Hare (1766-1812)

born Stone Arabia, Montgomery, Province of New York died Upper Canada

                married Annatje Vrooman (1769-1855), had issue

iii.          William Hare (1766-1806)

                born Stone Arabia, Montgomery, Province of New York, died Lower Canada 

iv.           Barent ‘Barney’ Hare (1770-1852)

               born Stone Arabia, Montgomery, Province of New York,

died Montreal, Canada East

v.            Catarina ‘Caty’ Hare (1768-1831)

born Stone Arabia, died Osnabruck, Stormont, Upper Canada

married Johanna ‘David’ Summers (1767-1846) had issue 

vi.           Lt. Peter Hare (1769-1856)

born Stone Arabia, died Niagara, Lincoln, Canada West

often confused with Henry’s brother Peter. 

vii.         Mary ‘Polly’ (1771-1854)

                born Tryon, Province of New York died Williamsburg, Canada West

                married Captain Jacob Weegar (1755-1827), had issue

[1] “Upper Canada Land Petitions,” database with images, Library and Archives Canada, www.bac-

   lac.gc.ca : accessed  20 March 2025, images 394-398; entry for Catherine Hare (1798); citing LAC

   Film 1044; ‘H’ Bundle 4, Petition Number 14d.

[2] “U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989,” database with images,

   Ancestry.com, www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 March 2025, image 140 of 157; entry for Henry

   Hare and Alida Vrooman, marriage 15 April 1765; citing Holland Society of New York; Stone Arabia

   and Staten Island, Book 48.

[3] Smy, William A. (1994)“ The Butler Papers – Part I 1711-1777,” pdf archived online, Brock

   University Digital Repository, https://brocku.scholaris.ca/items/08e3e302-6821-483f-

   8cc7-056a5b62aacf : accessed 21 March 2025; page (unnumbered) from beginning 128;

   citing New York. Rivington’s New York Gazetteer, 06 April 1775.

[4] Smy, William A. (1994) “The Butler Papers – Part II 1778-1779,” pdf archived online, Brock University

   Digital Repository, https://brocku.scholaris.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/f02290e0-8fb5-4dc4-

   ba27-48efe66b3dd4/content : accessed 21 March 2025; page (unnumbered from beginning 182;

   citing British Library. Sloane and Additional Manuscripts, Add MSS 21765, Correspondence with

   Officers at Niagara and papers, 1777-1784; National Archives of Canada, Haldimand Collection,

   Microfilm Reel Number A-682.

[5] Smy, William A. (1994)“ The Butler Papers – Part II; 1778-1779,” pdf archived online, Brock

   University Digital Repository (https://brocku.scholaris.ca/items/a1f7e188-f75b-4e00-b054-

   e9baafa8d5f9 : accessed 21 March 2025; “List of Prisoners in the Hands of the Congress belonging

   to the Corps of Rangers Royalists and their families,”; page unnumbered from the beginning - 122;

   citing British Library. Sloane and Additional Manuscripts, Add MSS 21765, Correspondence with  

   Officers at Niagara, 1777-1784; National Archives of Canada, Haldimand Collection, microfilm  

   A-682.

[6] Ibid footnote 5;  “Extracts: from the New York Journal, 20 July 1778,”; pages unnumbered from the

   beginning - page 44; citing New York Journal, 20 July 1778.

[7] Ibid footnote 5; “Extract: Lieutenant Colonel Mason Bolton to General Frederick Haldimand, 30

   November 1778; citing British Library. Sloane and Additional Manuscripts. Add MSS 21756,

   Register of Correspondence with Officers Commanding at Michilimackinac and Niagara, 1777-

   1784; National Archives of Canada, Haldimand Collection, microfilm A-679.

[8] Ibid footnote 5; “Taylor and Duffin to Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Claus, 01 December 1778”; pages

   unnumbered from the beginning – page 95; citing National Archives of Canada. Claus papers, MG

   19, F1, Volume 25.

[9] Ibid footnote 5; “Major John Bulter to Lieutenant Colonel Mason Bolton, 24 May 1779”; pages

   unnumbered from the beginning – page 146; citing British Library. Sloane and Additional

   Manuscripts, Add MSS 21760, Letters from Officers Commanding at Niagara, 1777-1780; National

   Archives of Canada, Haldimand Collection, microfilm A-680. 

[10] Ibid footnote 5; “Major John Butler to Lieutenant Colonel Mason Bolton, 05 June 1779,” pages

    unnumbered from the beginning – page 46; citing New York Journal, 20 July 1778.

[11] Ibid footnote 5; “Extract from Captain Andrew Porter’s Journal, 20 June 1779, Canajoharie,” pages

   unnumbered from the beginning – page 159-160; citing Jay H. Jakovic, Ed., Captain Andrew

   Porter’s Journal, Dutch Settler’s Society of Albany Yearbook, Volume 44, 1972-1974; pages 6-10. 

[12] Greene, Nelson, “The story of old Fort Plain and the middle Mohawk Valley,” (Fort Plain, New York:

   O’Connor Brothers, 1915); page 72.  

[13] McKendry, Lt. William Henry (1798), “Journal of William McKendry “, personal journal, transcribed

   by Rev. Henry F. Jenks (Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Historical Society, May 1886);

   Volume 2, page 459; digitalized meeting minutes online, Jstor (www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/

   /25079647.pdf : accessed 21 March 2025).

[14] Ibid footnote 5; “Extract, Brigadier General James Clinton to Mrs. James Clinton, 06 July 1779,”

    pages unnumbered from the beginning – page 164; citing George Clinton. Public Papers of (Albany

   1901), Volume 5, page 122.

[15] Hastings and Holden, “Clinton Papers,” Hugh Hastings and J.A. Holden, eds. Public Papers of

   George Clinton, First Governor of New York 1777-1795, 1801-1804. 10 Vols. 1899-1914. Reprint.

   (New York: 1973); citing Volume 5, pages 122-123.

[16] Ibid footnote 5; “Extract from the Journal of Richard Cartwright, 06 July 1779,” pages  unnumbered

   from the beginning – page 164; citing New York State Historical Association Library, Cooperstown,

   New York. Journal of Lieutenant Richard Cartwright, Continuation of a Journal of an Expedition in

   the Indian Country, 1779.  

[17] Smy, William A. (1994)“ The Butler Papers – Part III. 1780-1782,” pdf archived online, Brock

   University Digital Repository (https://brocku.scholaris.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams /3ed2f93b-

   e69c-4d44-9b69-0a4eaa10247f/content : accessed 21 March 2025; pages (unnumbered) from

   beginning 25; citing British Library. Sloane and Additional Manuscripts, Add MSS 21774,

   Correspondence with Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Claus, 1777-1784; National Archives of Canada,

   Haldimand Collection, microfilm A-685.

[18] “Henry Hare Collection,” archives online, Library and Archives Canada (www.bac-lac.gc.

   ca : accessed 21 March2025); Land Petitions of Lower Canada, 1764-1841; RG 1 L3L,

   Microfilm C-2524; Volume 81, pages 40748-40752.