Jacob Markle, UE b. Oct 1745 Stone Arabia, New York, USA d. Jun 1816 North Stormont Township, Ontario, Canada

1745 - 1816 (70 years)

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Name	Jacob Markle
Suffix	UE
Born	Oct 1745	Stone Arabia, New York, USA
Gender	Male
Died	Jun 1816	North Stormont Township, Ontario, Canada
Person ID	I29689	Family Tree
Last Modified	16 May 2020

Father	Heinrich Merckel, b. 1691, Haßloch, Rheinland-Pfalz, Deutschland , d. 1781, Stone Arabia, New York, USA (Age 90 years)
Mother	Maria Estes, b. 1706, Deutschland , d. Stone Arabia, New York, USA
Family ID	F14494	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Maria Nugent, d. North Stormont Township, Ontario, Canada

Married 1758 Stone Arabia, New York, USA

Children

+	1. Jane Markle, UE, b. 1765

Last Modified 16 May 2020

Family ID F14436 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Event Map

	Born - Oct 1745 - Stone Arabia, New York, USA
	Married - 1758 - Stone Arabia, New York, USA
	Died - Jun 1816 - North Stormont Township, Ontario, Canada

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Pin Legend : Address : Location : City/Town : County/Shire : State/Province : Country : Not Set

Notes

The Life of Jacob Merkil of Osnabruck
Jacob Merkil came from Stone Arabia in Tryon Co. (now Montgomery Co.) NY. The area had been settled by Palatine immigrants in the early 1700's but his father probably arrived around 1730. Jacob lived comfortably. He was well situated on a good farm with 97 acres of cleared fields. He also had part shares in a mill erected on his large woodland property.
However as the American Revolution began, Jacob's Tory politics now put him at odds with some of his more rebellious neighbours. They jailed Jacob on 3 different occasions. He was forced to join the local militia, but managed to avoid any combat. He was eventually driven from the province of New York and all his property was confiscated. He took refuge in Connecticut for most of 1777. Afterwards he left the rebelling colonies and retired to Canada with Sir John Johnson's men where he began life as a refugee.
Jacob joined Johnson's Corps in 1780 and served with them until 1784 when they were disbanded. As a Loyalist he was granted lands in the Township of Osnabruck situated on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River.
Jacob was active in establishing Aultsville, as the centre of the township would become known. He was the first deacon of the Presbyterian congregation and along with Richard Loucks organised the building of the original church and hiring the inaugral minister. The church opened for services on the Centre Commons of Osnabruck on the 9th of August 1795. A graveyard called the Woodlands East Cemetery was also established alongside. Rev. William Bell wrote the following in 1817 in a series of published Lettsers:
Many of the congregation of Osnabruck are Dutch people, who were settled here when discharged from the army at the end of the American revolutionary war. The church stands on the banks of the St. Lawrence, thirteen miles above Cornwall, and ninety-seven from Montreal. The edifice is not large, but is neatly fitted up, though it has been a good many years built.
Jacob also erected the first grist mill for the town at the foot of the Long Sault Rapids. He received a special dispensation from the Executive Council for this in 1794. When he grew into an old man, Jacob tried twice to sell his grist mill. His first attempt at selling the mill failed and he bought it back 3 years later. He made a final sale in 1810.
In 1816, Jacob wrote his will. Dispensing his estate among his large extended family, some of his worldly possessions were to make their way back to the United States and into the hands of nephews and great nieces. Mary Finck, the daughter of American Revolutionary hero, Major Andrew Finck, was also to receive a portion of Jacob's estate. Her brother Andrew A. Finck Jr. had purchased Jacob's lands "under confiscation" 40 years earlier. Strangely, Jacob made no mention of his daughter Jean and her husband Donald McDonnell in his will.
Having helped to establish the hamlet of Aultsville, Jacob was buried in the Woodlands East Cemetery in 1816. Aultsville never grew larger than 400 citizens in the next 150 years. Most notable among its industries was a large cheese factory.
In 1956 with the St. Lawrence Seaway almost completed, the village of Aultsville was intentionally burnt to the ground. A hydro dam had been erected downstream and shortly afterwards the land on which the town had stood was submerged under water. Many inhabitants had relocated to a new village named Long Sault. Jacob Merkil's tombstone was relocated to a cemetery on higher ground, however his earthly remains now lie 20 feet under the surface of Lake St. Lawrence.
--Posted 03 Sep 2013 by Ancestry member: sheilamac50