The Loyalist Collection

Munson Jarvis (1742-1825) was the son and oldest child, of Samuel Jarvis (1720-1783) and his wife Martha Seymour of Stamford, Connecticut. Samuel Jarvis served as the town clerk for many years, and Munson Jarvis was a silversmith in Stamford at the start of the American Revolution. Samuel and Martha Jarvis had ten children, and several members of their family, along with their father, supported the British cause. Because of their loyalty and "Tory" sympathies, they were called before revolutionary committees on several occasions. In 1776, Munson escaped to Long Island where he was active in recruiting men for the Prince of Wales American Regiment, and later established a business in New York. At the end of the war in 1783, he was forced to leave New York with the general evacuation of Loyalists, and settled in Saint John, New Brunswick, then part of Nova Scotia. His property in Connecticut was confiscated by the rebels but, eventually, he was partially compensated for his losses by the British government. In Saint John, he established a business as an ironmonger and hardware merchant. He insured ships and cargoes, and developed a successful trading business with England, the West Indies, the United States, and through the St. John River system, into the interior of the Province. He was appointed a justice of the peace, served as a member of the Common Council of the City of Saint John, and was one of the founders and first wardens of Trinity (Anglican) Church. In 1770, Munson Jarvis married Mary Arnold (d.1831) and they had three sons and one daughter. Two sons, William (1787-1865) and Ralph Munson (1776-1853), joined the family business, and the third son, Edward James (1788-1852), became chief justice of Prince Edward Island in 1828. Polly (d.1835), the only daughter, married Col. Robert Hazen. The brothers William and Edward James married sisters, Mary Caroline Boyd and Anna Maria Boyd, and the Collection contains a considerable amount of correspondence and a number of estate papers relating to the Boyd family. William Munson Jarvis (1838-1921) was the son of William Jarvis and grandson of Munson Jarvis. He was a barrister, and held a number of positions and appointments, including Lt. Col. of the New Brunswick Militia, and president of the St. George Society and the Board of Trade of the Maritime Provinces. Munson Jarvis was not the only child of Samuel and Martha Jarvis to choose the British side in the American Revolution, and at the end of the war be forced to flee to a British colony. His brother, John Jarvis (1752-1845) married Sarah Burwell and resided in Kingston, New Brunswick. Another brother, William Jarvis (1756-1817) married Sarah Owen Peters, and after a stay in England, was appointed the first provincial secretary of Upper Canada. Two sisters of Munson Jarvis were also Loyalists, Polly Jarvis (1747-1826) married Fyler Dibblee and lived in Maugerville, New Brunswick, and Martha (Jarvis) King (1748-1784) settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia.