John Walden Meyers (January 22, 1745 – November 22, 1821) was an Upper Canada businessman and United Empire Loyalist. He was born Johannes Waltermyer in

Albany County, New York Albany County ( ) is a county in the state of New York, United States. Its northern border is formed by the Mohawk River, at its confluence with the Hudson River, which is to the east. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 3 ...

on January 22, 1745. He was descended from German immigrants. When the American Revolutionary War began, he left home for Quebec, reportedly receiving bear meat from a friendly native tribe en route. In 1777, he joined the army of Major-General John Burgoyne and served as a recruiter for the loyalist forces, also collecting information for the British and carrying dispatches. In 1781, he led an unsuccessful raid on the house of Philip Schuyler. Later that year, Meyers became a captain in

Edward Jessup Edward Jessup (December24, 1735February3, 1816), together with his brother Ebenezer Jessup (July 1739 – 1818), was a large landowner in present-day New York State before the American Revolution, and later a soldier and political figure in Upp ...

Loyal Rangers The Loyal Rangers, or Jessup's Loyal Rangers, was a volunteer regiment of Loyalists in the American Revolution established in 1781 by the amalgamation of several smaller units, including the King's Loyal Americans. They were commanded by Major Edw ...

. After the war, he was offered a land grant and first settled on Lake Champlain, but was later forced by the British to move further north along the north shore of Lake Ontario in 1785. He was named a justice of the peace in 1788. In 1790, he settled in Thurlow Township where he built a gristmill near the mouth of Meyer's Creek, now the Moira River. He had one of only two brick houses in Ontario at the time. The community that sprung up there, first known as Meyer's Creek, was renamed Belleville in 1816. Meyers also built a sawmill,

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

and brick kiln and established a trading post at Meyer's Creek. He built boats and provided transportation between the area and

Kingston, Upper Canada Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toront ...

and Montreal, Lower Canada. Meyers later helped prepare a report for the township in response to the questionnaires distributed by Robert Gourlay and his son attended Gourlay's convention in York, Upper Canada in 1818. When United Empire Loyalists fled to Canada they often brought anyone they had enslaved with them. John Myers was no exception - "he enslaved four black people, including two children, for at least 11 years. The father’s name was Obadiah Levi, the mother’s name has been lost to history and the children’s names were Joseph and Betty Levi." As a result of this knowledge, a local school's name was changed so that it no longer honours him. He lived to the age of 76, dying of fever in Belleville on November 22, 1821.Kiil Toivo (1978). Redcoats and Loyalists Toronto: Natural Science of Canada Limited. `

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyers, John United Empire Loyalists 1745 births 1821 deaths People from Albany County, New York Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople