John Crysler (July 24, 1770 – January 18, 1852) was a businessman and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. He was born in

Schoharie, New York Schoharie ( ) is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in and the county seat of Schoharie County, New York, Schoharie County, New York (state), New York. The population was 3,299 at the 2000 census. The Town of Schoh ...

in 1770, the son of German immigrants; the family name was originally spelled Krausler or Kruessler. His father served in the King's Royal Regiment of New York 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 ...

under Sir John Johnson; and John Crysler was a drummer boy with Butler's Rangers. They both settled in Williamsburgh Township after the war. Crysler operated a tavern, cut timber to supply the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

with masts and built

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

s and

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s. In 1804, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada representing

Dundas Dundas may refer to: Places Australia * Dundas, New South Wales * Dundas, Queensland, a locality in the Somerset Region * Dundas, Tasmania * Dundas, Western Australia * Fort Dundas, a settlement in the Northern Territory 1824–1828 * Shire of ...

. In 1806, he was appointed justice of the peace in the Eastern District. He served with the

Dundas County Militia The Dundas County Militia was a regiment of the provincial militia of Upper Canada that was raised in Dundas County, Ontario in the 1780s. The battle honours and legacy of the Dundas Militia are perpetuated by the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, becoming captain. The Battle of Crysler's Farm was fought on his property and his farm sustained heavy damage during the battle. He represented Dundas in the Legislative Assembly from 1812 to 1820 and from 1825 to 1828. In 1825, some of his employees were jailed for cutting timber on clergy reserves. He became lieutenant-colonel in command of the Dundas Militia in 1838 and led his regiment into combat at the Battle of the Windmill. He died in Finch Township in 1852. The village of Crysler was named after him. His son John Pliny served in the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

. The former location of his farm was submerged when the

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...

was built; a monument erected on the site of the battle was moved to

Upper Canada Village Upper Canada Village is a heritage park near Morrisburg, Ontario, which depicts a 19th-century village in Upper Canada. History Construction of Upper Canada Village began in 1958 as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway project, which required the ...

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crysler, John Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada United Empire Loyalists American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian people of German descent American people of German descent People from Schoharie, New York 1770 births 1852 deaths