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Her Life Story - Sarah Dochstader Fradenburgh's Life Story as told by her
I was born on the 7th day of April 1800, in the old log house on the banks of the Grand River. In 1812 as a child of 12 years old I and my mother, we were both bewildered to know why things were being taken out of the house and we were being hustled into five canoes in the night. And a dark night it was, and down the river we went, and at daylight we were so far out in the lake we could but faintly make out any of the navy boats at the mouth of the river, my but it was a nerve trying trip across the lake, but the family, Mother, Father and five children, three boys and two girls all got across with our canoes. They said there was five canoes started out but two was never heard of.
Mother was forever telling of home and 1200 acres of land in Canada and it's mine she would say, and it was not my fault we had to leave it.
In 1829 I married Wilhelmus Fradenburgh and talked about the tract of land and mother urged me to come and go to Captain or Chief Joseph Brant* and tell him she did not rebel, and it was her property anyway, and I was her daughter and she wanted me to have it. Wilhelmus and I practised handling a canoe. John was born in 1830 and when he was two years old we chose a calm day, but at that time it took some nerve and hard work with a canoe. The canoe seemed so small when out in them waves. Wilhelmus said "I could handle the canoe much better than he could, and he would never of made it".What a relief it was when we got to the river. I knew the house as soon as I seen it.
We went to Brantford as soon as we got rested up. I was surprised how friendly the old chief was. He said as far as he was concerned the land was mine and belonged to me, but I would have to deal with the Crown. The Townships of Oneida, Seneca and Cayuga had been transferred to the Crown, and at that time Cayuga was being surveyed into lots. The concessions and sidelines were being run first. I will do all I can for you, but we must be quick, as the Government is advertising for settlers.
We were in suspense for five years, some one would get a claim before we got it settled, as it was a concession line was through the middle of our tract, and a side line through the one side of it. The Giffords claimed 100 acres where they had lived all the years they run the ferry and Louis Burwell took two hundred acres next to Giffords and James Givens had got one hundred acres on the west of the tract where the side line run through. So we only got 765 acres of the 1200. Oh if the boys could only realize what we went through to get it. They would appreciate it much better. In 1840 father, mother and my sister came back to live with us. We were in dread for Father's safety, so we went up to Brantford right away to plead for mercy, and the dear old Chief said "He is old and I am old, let him die in peace". Mother died the 1st of Feb. 1847 and Father died the 19th of July the same year. We buried them on a little knoll on the north side of the river where John planted his orchard. Then a few years later we had them moved to the Baptist Church Cemetery.
Question: Did your brothers ever come back to Canada?
Answer: Not to my knowledge.
Question: Who was or is John Dochstader who visits you from up the river?
Answer: He or they who come down to see us are distant cousins, just how close I don't know, but they are uncle John's family of Canboro, we are all cousins.
The end of her story.
*Chief Joseph Brant died November 24, 1807 and his son John Brant who succeeded him as Chief died of Cholera in 1832, so whoever wrote down the story must have assumed she meant Joseph Brant. There were several chiefs and she could have meant any one of a number. Joseph Brant would have been dead long before John Dochstader and his family fled to the U. S. in 1812.
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Rainham Builders
1800 - 1892 (91 years)