Gibson in Hamilton, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Robert Land (1738-1818)
Hamilton Pioneer
Photographed By Tim Boyd
1. Robert Land (1738-1818) Marker
Robert Land settled near this site as early as 1784 as a refugee of the American Revolution. A Pennsylvania magistrate and farmer, Land joined Joseph Brant's Volunteers as a courier, scout and Loyalist recruiter. Captured and sentenced to death for treason by an American military court in 1779, he escaped and narrowly avoided recapture in a bloody ambush the following year.
Burned out by American patriots during the war, his family fled to New York City where the youngest Land child died at the age of three. The eldest son, John, was captured by patriots and spent the war in jail. Another son, Abel, survived an Indian gauntlet.
Land's wife Phoebe, 1733-1826, and family were evacuated to New Brunswick at war's end while Land was stationed at Fort Niagara. By 1791, the family was reunited at the Head-of-the-Lake. Their Loyalist land grants would eventually total more than 1,000 acres and include all the area between Wellington Street and Sherman Avenue, from the Mountain to the Bay.
Land farmed, fished, hunted and worked as a wood turner. The log cabin he built close to this site was replaced after his death by a two-storey, brick residence built by his family, called Landholme, which survived until 1928.
Robert Land is buried at Hamilton Cemetery.
Erected by
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Settlements & Settlers • War, US Revolutionary. A significant historical year for this entry is 1784.
Location. 43° 15.521′ N, 79° 50.617′ W. Marker is in Hamilton, Ontario. It is in Gibson. Marker is at the intersection of Barton Street East and Sanford Ave. North, on the right when traveling west on Barton Street East. The marker is in Woodland Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Hamilton ON L8L 2Y8, Canada. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Woodlands Park (a few steps from this marker); The Place of Firsts (approx. 1.4 kilometers away); Canada’s First Birth Control Clinic (approx. 1.6 kilometers away); Stewart Memorial Church (approx. 1.7 kilometers away); Hamilton CN Station / La gare du CN de Hamilton (approx. 1.9 kilometers away); Sir John Morison Gibson (approx. 1.9 kilometers away); Christ’s Church Cathedral / La Cathédrale de l’Eglise du Christ (approx. 1.9 kilometers away); The North Drill Hall (approx. 1.9 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hamilton.
Also see . . . The Story of the Land Family. A 1958 article on the Land family from the Journal ”Wentworth Bygones”
The enquirer into the beginnings of settlement at the Head of Lake Ontario(Submitted on April 20, 2023, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)
quickly finds that the firstfour Britishers to settle on the south shorePhotographed By Tim Boyd, April 20, 20232. Robert Land (1738-1818) Marker
of the Bay, now Hamilton Harbour, on land now part of the City of Hamilton,
were: Richard Beasley, Robert Land, Charles Depew and George Stuart. That
was within a few years, more or less, of 1782. In point of interest the
romantic story of Robert Land and his family is outstanding, and the purpose
of this review is to relate briefly some of the main traditions and
associations that concern them.
Photographed By Tim Boyd, April 11, 2021
3. The Land Family vault in the Hamilton Cemetery.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 22, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 20, 2023, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 72 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 20, 2023, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
