Land Petition of Serjeant James Ross, 78th Regiment

An early 18th-century landscape unfolding near the serene Lake Champlain. The soft glow of dawn breaks through the misty horizon, casting a warm, ethereal light on the glassy waters. On the lake's edge, a small wooden boat is tied to a weathered dock, its mast leaning slightly as if it has borne witness to countless sunrises. A lone fisherman in period attire, complete with a tricorn hat and simple linen shirt, stands in the boat, casting his net into the tranquil lake. The shoreline is adorned with a few rustic buildings, their wooden facades painted in earthy tones, with smoke gently rising from their stone chimneys, hinting at the beginnings of a new day's activities. (Jeffrey Campbell, Lake Champlain, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Land Petition of Serjeant James Ross, 78th Regiment

To his Excellency Ld. Henry Moore [page cut off] Captain General and Governor in Chief in [cut off] the Province of New York and the Territories depending thereon in America, Chancellor and Vice Admiral of the same. In Council

Humbly Shewith that your Petitioner being entitled to two Hundred Acres of Land as a reduced or disbanded uncomanding officer having serv'd his Majesty in North America during the Warr as appears by Certificate And did by his Petition form presented to the Honourable Calwaller Colden Esqr: pray a grant for the said Quantity of Land that might be found vacant in this Province. And your Petitioner now prays, that the said Quantity of two Hundred Acres may be located in Improvable Land in the County of Albany on the East side of Lake Champlain to the North of the Lands Petition'd for by William Barron late Lieutenant; [cut off] along the said Lake and that he may have his Majestys Letters [cut off] for the same upon the Terms express'd in the Royal Proclamation.

And your Petitioner shall ever pray &c.

[signed] James Ross

21 : 66 [volume/page]

New York 22d June 1766

This is to certify that the Bearer James Ross served as Serjeant in the 78th Regiment commanded by Colonel Fraser & in Captain Donald McDonells Company, was afterwards discharged from the same & employed as a Clerk in the Hospital ~

[signed] Alexr. Fraser

Lieutenant in the late 78th Regiment

Cover sheet:
Serjeant Jam: Ross Petition for a Location on the Eastside of Lake Champlain
Presented 8th of July 1766

1766 July 18 Read in Council

Notes:
1. "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.

2. Considering Captain Donald McDonell's name appears as "killed in action" on 28 April 1760 at the Battle of Sainte-Foy, and that the serjeant's name does not appear on either the Regiment’s roster of invalid soldiers or the surviving muster rolls produced in 1763, his discharge from the army c.1760 is indicative of a three-year enlistment contract typically found among non-commissioned officers. A study of several regimental reenlistment rosters indicates soldiers enlisted for three years, or for “duration of war,” whereas commissioned officers found in the 42nd Foot renewed their commissions after four years.

3. Serjeant Ross may have clerked at the Hotel Dieu Hospital, Quebec, as this was the nearest medical facility to Governor James Murray's Quebec garrison. Further research would be needed to confirm. About 1764 Admiral Mabane (Surgeon to the Garrison), in correspondence with Governor Murray, estimated the hospital's yearly operating budget at £30 sterling for clerical services.

Sources:
New York State Department of State Applications for Land Grants, 1643-1803. Series A0272, volume XXI, p. 66. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

“Return of the officers, that were Killed, Wounded, Taken Prisoner, Missing &c, on the 28th of April 1760.” LAC, Northcliffe Collection: Series 1: Robert Monckton Papers :, Microfilm reel C-366.

Mabane to Murray, "Estimate of the Annual Expenses of His Majesty's Hospital in the Garrison of Quebec as near as they can be ascertained." 1764-65. LAC, Letterbook/Copie de lettres, 1763-1771, RG 4, C 2, vol. 1.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2021.