While Huntington resident Ephraim Oakes was taking part in the invasion of Canada (see previous post), another man, who hoped to get to Canada, was forced to stay in Huntington. Patrick Sinclair was a Scottish veteran of the Seven Years War, who was appointed by the King to serve in Canada. In 1774, Parliament had passed the Quebec Act, which among other things, extended the boundaries of the former French colony south to the Ohio River and west to the Mississippi. In April 1775, the King appointed four superintendents or lieutenant governors to four districts in western Canada. Sinclair was appointed to oversee the post at Michilimackinac, the Great Lakes region in what is now northern Michigan.[i]
There were no ships sailing from Scotland to Quebec, so Sinclair sailed from Glasgow to Baltimore in July 1775. He then made his way through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, arriving in New York on August 1. He outfitted himself as an Indian trader and planned to sail north to Albany on August 4 and then on to Oswego on his way to his post.[ii] The New York Provincial Congress learned of his presence and mission on August 3. Sinclair was summoned before the Provincial Congress where he confirmed his appointment as lieutenant governor. The Provincial Congress thought it would be “highly imprudent . . . to permit any gentleman under the influence of the British ministry to proceed to that post to exercise those offices, who might prejudice the Indians against the inhabitants of the United Colonies.” The Congress decided not to let Sinclair proceed to his post in Canada. Instead, he was to be restricted to Suffolk County, the part of New York State farthest from Canada. He was on his honor to “not take part in the present unhappy controversy between Great Britain and the United Colonies,” and he was not to leave Suffolk County without permission of the Continental Congress or the Provincial Congress. He so promised.[iii] It was not under house arrest, so much as county arrest.
The Provincial Congress sent him to Huntington and instructed the Huntington committee to “take care of and provide for” Sinclair.[iv] The Huntington Committee decided to have Sinclair stay with Captain John Squire, a mariner who lived on Wall Street. While Sinclair was his guest, Squire was one of the representatives from Huntington who met in Smithtown on September 5 to nominate officers for the Western Regiment of the Suffolk Militia.[v]
When he wanted to go to Lloyd’s Neck, Sinclair had to request permission from the Provincial Congress because the Neck was at that time part of Queens County. The Provincial Congress granted him permission.[vi]
It was reported that Sinclair caused no trouble and “no information was received of his entertaining sentiments unfriendly to the United Colonies.” Therefore, when, in March 1776, he requested permission to return to England, the Provincial Congress did not object. They did, however, relay the request to the Continental Congress, which granted its permission on March 22—coincidentally five days after the British evacuated Boston.[vii]
Captain Squire’s bill for boarding Sinclair from August 1775 to March 28, 1776 was £56, 10s, 7d.[viii] It is unknown if the bill was ever paid.
[i] Pamphlet entitled “Patrick Sinclair” by William L. Jenks published by the Michigan Historical Commission (1914), page 15-16.
[ii] Letter dated August 15, 1775 from Patrick Sinclair accessed at https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c11890/263
[iii] Journals of the Provincial Congress of the State of New York, Vol 1, page100
[iv] Huntington Town Records, Vol III, page 133
[v] Huntington Town Records, Vol III, page1
[vi] Journals of the Provincial Congress of the State of New York, Vol 1, page128
[vii] Journals of the Provincial Congress of the State of New York, Vol 1, pages 345 and 380
[viii] Huntington Town Records, Vol III, page 134, footnote
Huntington History 