This historical image depicts a British soldier turned settler unloading supplies with his family outside a log cabin in colonial North America. After the Seven Years’ War, British land grants offered to soldiers served as a powerful recruitment and retention incentive. These Crown-issued grants encouraged continued service and permanent settlement, helping maintain army manning levels while reinforcing Britain’s colonial presence. By promising land ownership and opportunity, the British military appealed to veterans seeking stability. This pioneer homestead scene illustrates how land incentives became a vital postwar strategy, linking military service with expansion, loyalty, and long-term population growth in British North America. (Jeffrey Campbell, British Soldier Land Grant Settlement After Seven Years' War, 2025)
Land Petition of Serjeant Alexander Fraser, 78th Regiment
Pursuant to an Order in Counsil from the Honourable Cadwallader Colden Esqr. Lieutenant Governor and Commanded in Chief of the province of New York and the Territories depending thereon in America Bearing Date the twentyfirst day of March Last past.
Surveyed for Alexander Fraser Late a Serjeant in his Majestys Seventy Eight Regiment of Foot and in Collonel Fraser's Company all that Certain tract or Parcell of Land situate Lying and being in County of Albany on the East side of Hudsons River Beginning at the Southwest Corner of a tract of Land Surveyed for Dugal McFarland Late a Corporal and runs thence East Sixty Chains and Seventeen Links then South Thrity five Chains Then Sixty Chains and Seventeen Links Then North Thirty vive Chains to the Place where this Tract first began Containing two hundred acres of Land and the usual allowance for highways.
Given under my hand this sixth day of November one Thousand seven hundred and sixty four
[signed]
Alexr. Colden Surveyor Genl.
Cover sheet:
6th No. 41
[one word illegible] 200 acres of Land on the East Side of Hudsons River for Alexr. Fraser late a Serjt in the 78th Regt & in Coll Frasers Compy
made out
Top row:
Dugald McFarland
Alexander Fraser, Serjeant, 78th Regt., Colonel Fraser's Company [north/south 35 chains, east/west 60 chains, 17 links].
Alexander Fraser, Serjeant, 78th Regt., Captain Hugh Fraser's Company
*Alexander Fraser, Serjeant, 78th Regt., Captain [Alexander] Wood's Company
Allen Cameron, Serjeant
Bottom row:
Bottom row:
John McIntire, Corporal, 77th Regt.
John Gibson. Serjeant, 77th Regt.
John Grant, Corporal
David McHo[?]key
Description: A Plot or Description of a Tract of Land Survey'd for Alexander Fraser Late a Serjeant in the 78th Regiment and in Coll Frasers Company Plotted from a Scale of twenty Chains in an Inch. [illegible] Alexr Colden Surveyor Genl.
18 : 94 [volume/page]
Notes:
1. Serjeant Alexander Fraser's name appears in Captain Alexander Wood's Company as one of the 170 discharged soldiers in America; however, his name does not appear on the company subsistence rolls produced at the end of the war.
2. "The Calendar of N.Y. Colonial Manuscripts Indorsed Land Papers; in the Office of the Secretary of State of New York, 1643-1803" (Albany: 1864) lists all documents on the first series of "Land Papers" as they were rearranged in 1819. There is an index to the personal names and to land tract names or geographical locations at the back of the volume. The series consists of applications for grants of unappropriated land by letters patent from New York Colony and State.
Works Cited:
18 : 94 [volume/page]
Notes:
1. Serjeant Alexander Fraser's name appears in Captain Alexander Wood's Company as one of the 170 discharged soldiers in America; however, his name does not appear on the company subsistence rolls produced at the end of the war.
2. "The Calendar of N.Y. Colonial Manuscripts Indorsed Land Papers; in the Office of the Secretary of State of New York, 1643-1803" (Albany: 1864) lists all documents on the first series of "Land Papers" as they were rearranged in 1819. There is an index to the personal names and to land tract names or geographical locations at the back of the volume. The series consists of applications for grants of unappropriated land by letters patent from New York Colony and State.
Works Cited:
New York State Department of State Applications for Land Grants, 1643-1803. Series A0272, volume XVIII, p. 94. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
© Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2020.
