Samuel Adams (Loyalist)

Samuel Adams
A woodcut of Dr. Samuel Adams, the future, British Loyalist and American Revolutionary War, military leader, of Adams' Rangers, who was publicly humiliated, in 1774, by being tied to a chair and hung, from the sign of, the Catamount Tavern, in Arlington, New Hampshire Grants, in present-day Vermont, for falling out of favor with, his enemies, the Green Mountain Boys, over land dealings, in early Vermont
Born	1730 (1730) Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut Colony, British North America, British Empire, present-day Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut
Died	January 1810 (aged 79–80) Edwardsburgh, Upper Canada, British North America, present-day Edwardsburgh, Ontario, Canada
Other names	Dr. Samuel Adams
Occupation(s)	Physician, surgeon, farmer, land owner, soldier
Years active	1777–1783
Children	4 sons; Gideon Adams
Military career
Allegiance	Great Britain
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1776-1777
Rank	Captain
Commands held	Adams' Rangers
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Lake Champlain Campaign (1776) Battle of Valcour Island (1776) Saratoga Campaign (1777) Battle of Saratoga (1777)

Dr. Samuel Adams (1730 – January, 1810) was a physician, surgeon, farmer, land owner, and loyalist soldier, from Arlington, Vermont.

Early life[edit]

Samuel Adams was born in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut Colony, British North America, British Empire, now Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, in 1730.

New Hampshire Grants[edit]

In 1764, he moved with his family to Arlington in the New Hampshire Grants. On several occasions, Adams served as representative and negotiator, for Arlington and the other surrounding towns.

Conflict with Green Mountain Boys[edit]

In 1774, Adams came into conflict with Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys for dissenting with their land title policy. After a brief trial, Adams' captors had him tied to a chair and hung from the sign post, of the Catamount Tavern, as a public humiliation.

American Revolutionary War service[edit]

In 1776, Dr. Adams was captured by Whigs, for his British Loyalist sympathies and he and his sons were imprisoned. Adams escaped and fled north, to Canada, reaching the British lines, in Quebec. Joining the King's Army, Adams served, during the Battle of Valcour Island, during Lake Champlain Campaign, in 1776 and raised an independent, Loyalist company, known as Adams' Rangers, which served, under British General John Burgoyne, in the Saratoga campaign of 1777. Four of Adams' sons served in his ranger company, with his eldest son Gideon Adams, acting as ensign.

Exile in British Canada[edit]

Following the war, Adams and his sons settled in the province of Upper Canada now present-day Southeastern Ontario, Canada alongside other disbanded British Loyalist troops and their families. Adams ran a tavern in Montreal, serving British troops and expatriates.^[1]

Death[edit]

In January, 1810, Samuel Adams died in Edwardsburgh, Upper Canada, British North America, British Empire, now Edwardsburgh, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 80.

References[edit]

• Adams, Robert Train and Douglass Graem Adams. A Family Record of Dr. Samuel Adams, United Empire Loyalist of Vermont and Upper Canada: The First Five Generations Descending from William Adams of Ipswich (1594-1661) and the Descendants of Dr. Samuel Adams of Arlington, (1730-1810). R.T. Adams, 1995.
• Fryer, Mary Beacock. Kings Men, the Soldier Founders of Ontario. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1980.
• Mathews, Hazel C. Frontier Spies; the British Secret Service, Northern Department, during the Revolutionary War. Fort Myers, FL: Ace Press, 1971.
• Palmer, Gregory. Biographical sketches of Loyalists in the American Revolution. Westport, CT: Meckler Publishing, 1984.

External links[edit]

• vermonthistory.org page on Samuel Adams with illustration