52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 7 "Outcast"

When I think of outcasts in my ancestry, I think of my Loyalist ancestors, cast out of New York to New Brunswick after the American Revolution. My research has focused mainly on Michael Ogden and his son Jonathan Ogden, but my Clark and Morrell ancestors in New Brunswick were probably also outcasts.

Jonathan probably deserved his fate, since he did serve in the Loyal American Regiment (more about the LAR here) and fought against the colonial army. He was probably aboard either the Ann or the Apollo when  they sailed from New York to New Brunswick in the fall of 1783, after the formal end of the war, removing Loyalist soldiers from the new country that they had opposed. His father joined him in New Brunswick probably at a later date.

Michael and Jonathan were granted land in Long Island, Queens County, New Brunswick in July of 1786. 

I need to do much more proper analysis of Jonathan's service and the petitions and land grants for the Ogdens, Clarks, and Morrells. I could also see if any Clark or Morell ancestors served in any British provincial units. 

Ogdens and Tooles

I recently received an email about a DNA match from someone looking for information on Tooles in New Brunswick. I have Tooles in my family tree, but only as potential half-brothers to my 3rd great-grandfather Robert Ogden. I could not understand how we could share DNA.

Then the lightbulb finally lit. Our common ancestor is not a Toole, but is probably Mary Clark who was married to James Edward Toole, with whom she had four sons, and then Jonathan Ogden. The only evidence that Jonathan and Mary were Robert's parents was a book on New Brunswick Loyalists that listed him as a probable son. The book cited no sources for evidence of that relationship. Several online family trees list them as his parents, but none of them cite any evidence either.

I have been looking for evidence for some time now. All I had so far was Robert's Ontario obituary that said he came from a New Brunswick Loyalist family (Jonathan was a Loyalist) and a land sale between Robert and one of his potential half-brothers.

With the DNA evidence possibly tying the Tooles and Ogdens together through Mary Clark, I am now more certain of Robert's parentage. This means we are Ogdens descended from John Ogden of Rye, NY, an early settler from England in the colony of Connecticut and then Westchester Co., New York.

Time for a genealogy happy dance!