Dr. James Boggs (22 January 1740, New Castle, Delaware County, Pennsylvania – 8 July 1830, Halifax, Nova Scotia) was surgeon who migrated from New York to Nova Scotia during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

.http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/extras/BOGGS-James/BOGGS-James-Family-Story-from-Robert-Rogers.pdf Boggs married Mary Morris in New York (1765) and they had eight children. (Mary's father was the former Governor of Pennsylvania and the Chief Justice of New Jersey,

Robert Hunter Morris Robert Hunter Morris ( – 27 January 1764), was a prominent governmental figure in Colonial Pennsylvania, serving as governor of Pennsylvania and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Early life and education Morris was born in ...

.) He practiced medicine in

Shrewsbury Township, New Jersey Shrewsbury Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 1,141, reflecting an increase of 43 (+3.9%) from the 1,098 counted in the 2000 Census, which ...

until the start of the

(1764-1777). He was the president of the New Jersey Medical Society. He left his family to escape being captured by Patriot forces in 1776 and went to New York. In New York he worked as the assistant surgeon at the General Hospital (1777-1783). He served as the surgeon for the 2nd Battalion of Brigadier General

Cortlandt Skinner Cortlandt Skinner (December 16, 1727 – March 15, 1799) was the last Royal Attorney General of New Jersey and a brigadier general in a Loyalist force, the New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Skinner's Greens, during the American Revolutionary W ...

. Throughout the war, Boggs would secretly visit his family. On one occasion, the Patriot forces searched the home, did not find him and ransacked it, carrying off most of the silver. In 1783, Boggs evacuated New York with his family and settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The British government awarded him 630 pounds for his losses. On 3 March, he was located at Port Matoon, where he was surgeon a detachment of troops. He then was posted to Halifax. He worked as a surgeon to the garrison until 1810. In 1802, he served the 29th Regiment. During that time he also served as surgeon to Prince Edward, residing at the Prince's Lodge. In 1824, James Boggs purchased the Lawrence Hartshorne small house lot in Halifax on the north east corner of Granville and Sackville Streets. His son Thomas would later purchase the Hartshoren home in Dartmouth. Mary Morris Boggs by Robert Field

Boggs died in Halifax in 1830 and as interred in the

Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia) The Old Burying Ground (also known as St. Paul's Church Cemetery) is a historic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Downtown Halifax. History The Old Buryi ...

References

{{reflist History of Nova Scotia Loyalists in the American Revolution from New York (state) Loyalists who settled Nova Scotia Guysborough Historical Society, Mark Haynes researcher Dr. James Boggs first moved to Guysborough, NS in 1784 and received a large lot of land on the Milford Haven River in 1785, lot 85, 216 acres. He built a house there which still stands today, maybe the oldest house in Guysborough County. His neighbour to the east was one James Bowie, blacksmith. Records indicate Dr. Boggs moved to Halifax by 1798, perhaps earlier. A son and daughter remained behind who continued to live in the house. His property along the Milford Haven R. was sold to Charles Nickerson in 1811. There is further information on Dr. Boggs in the book Guysborough Sketches and Other Essays by A.C. Jost (available through the Guysborough Historical Society)

See also

References