A brief history of Loyalist Rev. John Wiswall (1731-1812) and family of Massachchusetts, Maine and Nova Scotia

1.5" Long (not counting the bail), 1.25" Wide, and 0.125" Thick. Sold at Auction. This pendant is now property of the Maine Historical Society. Read about the acution here, it's a featured item in the article. Do a cntrl+f and type in wiswall to find it or go about half way down.

On the back of the Pendant it says (in order):

Mercy Wiswell Ob. 25 July 1775 AE+34
Bradstreet Ob. 30 Jan 1773 AE+4
Robert Ob. 10 June 1773 AE+2
Elizabeth Ob. 23 July 1775 AE+9

Historical Info and Provenance:

In researching it I contacted someone online with a lengthy Wiswell heritage on his online genealogy to see if he had more info. Though not his line, he did help me identify the people on it and that lead me to many many more sources.

Here is the various sources combined:

Rev. John Wiswall#
b.15 Apr 1731, Boston MA
m.31 Dec 1761 (Mercy Minot) in Brunswick, Cumberland Co., ME
m. Mar 1784 (Margaret Hutchinson) in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.
d. 2 Dec 1812, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia
buried at the church he built in 1791 Old Trinity Church in Middleton, Nova Scotia

First wife:
Mercy Minot (Wiswall), of Brunswick, Cumberland Co., ME
b.11 Jul 1733, Fort Richmond ME
m.31 Dec 1761 (John Wiswall) in Brunswick, Cumberland Co., ME
d. 26 Jul 1775 aged 34 (from pendant) in Boston after fleeing from Falmouth (details here)

Children were:
1.Peleg Wiswall / b. 1763 in Falmouth, ME / d. 1836, Nova Scotia
2. John Wiswall / b. 1765 in probably Falmouth, ME d. ???
3. Elizabeth Wiswall / b.1767, Nova Scotia* / d. 23 July 1775 aged 9 (from pendant) in Boston after fleeing from Falmouth (details here)
4. Bradstreet Wiswall / b.1769, Nova Scotia* / d.1773 / d. 30 Jan 1773 aged 4 (from pendant)
5. Robert Wiswall / b.1772, Nova Scotia* / d. 10 June 1773 aged 2 (from pendant)

* I have a theory about these dates... click here

Second Wife:
Margaret Hutchinson, of New Jersey
b. 1737
m. Mar 1784 (John Wiswall) in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.
d. 2 Dec. 1812 in Wilmot, Nova Scotia.
No children.

More Geneology/family trees at the Nova Scotia Eatons page where all the above names are listed and searchable - very cool.

The husband/father of the names on the pendant is Rev. John Wiswall, a Reverand who was evicted from the US in the (State of) Massachusetts Banishment Act of 1778 (Maine was part of Massacusetts then). After the death of his wife and daughter, his eviction from the new US, and subsequent stint as a british navy chaplin Wiswall was dispatched to Nova Scotia and built a church in Wilmot - it is still standing and he is buried there - their history page has some info.

Added 2014: Rev. John Wiswall's diaries are online now, and downalodable in PDF format. YAY!

---

New info I have found on the Bradstreet name listed on the Pendant:

WISWELL Rev John & Mercey

Children:
John S b 3 Mar 1765 at Brunswick bapt 16 June 1765
Elizabeth b 25 Jan 1767 bapt 2 Feb 1767[St Paul's Church at Portland MH&GR]

WISWELL, Bradstreet, a slave of Rev Mr Wiswall, bapt 25 Apr 1769 (Mr Wiswall had
three slaves baptisted) [St Paul's Church at Portland MH&GR]

NOTE: I think this is very curous information as in all other sources Bradstreet is listed as a son. The birth/baptisted dates point it's the same person. His name on the pendant with thier other children points to that as well. Did they THINK Of him as a son? Thinking of a slave as family member is a bit odd for the time. Is it?

---

Rev. Wiswall is mentioned in this history of Falmouth (Maine):

Excerpt: The records of the town previous to 1690, are not known to exist. In 1735, the people of New Casco petitioned for preaching, and in 1752, to be set off as a distinct parish Accordingly, in December, 1753, this parish was incorporated, in 1754 the church was formed, and in 1756 John Wiswall was settled over it. Rev. Ebenezer Williams labored here from 1765 to 1799. There are now two Congregational churches, a Free Baptist and a Methodist church in the town. Falmouth sustains a high-school, and is the owner of twelve schoolhouses valued at $7,000. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $688,527. In 1880 it was $769,470. The population in 1870 was 1,730. By the census of 1880, it was 1,626.

---

John Wiswall owned some land in Falmouth, here's some details:

James and Bethiah sold to Rev. John Wiswall of Falmouth 29 1/4 acres on Squttergusset Creek next to James' 90 acre grant for £121/13/14 on 15 March 1757.(6)

On 24 March 1757 James and Bethiah sold to Samuel Cobb Jr. of Falmouth, Gent. and Benjamin Lunt of Falmouth, shipwright for £480: "the farm I now live on... bounded by 20 1/4 acres that I lately sold to the Revd. Mr. John Wiswall on Presumpscott River & Squittergusset Creek with houses Barn Fences out houses & my Right in the school house..." The deed was witnessed by Enoch Freeman & Daniell Rolfe.

---

John Wiswall is descended from John Alden, and is listed on http://www.alden.org. I believe his family came over on the Mayflower as I find many references to Wiswells/Wiswalls in records there.

The Loyalist Collection at UNB Canada says:
Excerpt: John Wiswall was born in Boston, the son of the schoolmaster, Peleg Wiswall. He graduated from Harvard College in 1749 and taught school in the Boston area before becoming a congregational minister and settling in Brunswick (Maine), then part of Massachusetts. After converting to Anglicanism, he was ordained a priest by the Bishop of London in 1765 and went to Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) to a new Anglican congregation. In 1775 he was arrested because of his loyalty to the crown, escaped to Boston, and spent the next few years as a navy chaplain. He returned to England in 1781, and in1783 emigrated to Nova Scotia where he succeeded Jacob Bailey as the Anglican clergyman in Cornwallis. His mission also included Horton, Wilmot and Aylesford, but during the latter part of his ministry he concentrated his energies in Wilmot and Aylesford. His son Peleg Wiswall was elected to the House of Assembly and became a judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

---

John and Mercy’s son Peleg Wiswall became a Nova Scotian Supreme Court Judge and looked to be important in some Canadian/Indian issues:

http://www.lib.unb.ca/collections/loyalist/seeOne.php?id=458&string
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/mikmaq/archiveslist.asp?Search=cls8&SearchList1=all&TABLE2=on
Mentioned: http://www.cha-shc.ca/bilingue/addresses/1938.htm
Mentioned: http://www.ustanne.ednet.ns.ca/usr/gcboudro/Mi'kmaqs.html

---

A bio of Rev John Wiswall biography from the Library and Archives Canada (where his journals are archived) is below:

WISWALL, JOHN, Church of England clergyman; b. 15 April 1731 in Boston, Mass., son of Peleg Wiswall and Elizabeth Rogers; m. first 17 Dec. 1761 Mercy Minot of Brunswick (Maine), and they had four children; m. secondly March 1784 Margaret Hutchinson of New Jersey; d. 2 Dec. 1812 in Wilmot, N.S. The son of a well-known schoolmaster, John Wiswall graduated from Harvard College in 1749 and taught at various schools in the vicinity of Boston. In 1753 he began studying divinity under Jonathan Mayhew and other Congregational ministers, and for the next couple of years he travelled about Massachusetts as a supply preacher. Eventually, in 1755 or 1756, he was made minister of a Congregational church at Falmouth (Maine), then part of Massachusetts and literally a “frontier post.” Life here had its pleasures, for in 1761 Wiswall married Mercy Minot, a “tall and genteel” woman who had captivated him with her “lively blue eyes,” “graceful modesty,” and “indescribable sweetness.” Yet all was not domestic bliss. A week after his marriage Wiswall was “taken distracted,” and the following year he was placed in the care of a leading Boston physician, who attempted to cure his patient by confining him in a “dark chamber.” Notwithstanding this treatment, in early 1763 Wiswall regained his health and made his way back to Falmouth. Wiswall became the object of public abuse when in 1764 he announced his conversion to Anglicanism – a decision he defended on the grounds that there was no “essential difference” between the Church of England and the “congregational communion.” Newspapers as distant as New York commented on his conversion, and one-journal blamed his apostasy on the fact that he was “very much disordered in his upper House.” Wiswall, however, ignored his critics, and in late 1764 he travelled to England for ordination, sponsored by Benning Wentworth, the governor of New Hampshire. Ordained priest by the bishop of London in February 1765, Wiswall was back in Falmouth by the following May and ministered faithfully to his new Anglican congregation until the “publick Distractions” of the early 1770s. When he was arrested in 1775 he insisted that “not the severest punishment, not the fear of death” would shake his allegiance to the crown. Released on the understanding that he would remain in Falmouth, Wiswall broke his parole and travelled to Boston, arriving there in early June. He immediately appealed for assistance to commander-in-chief Thomas Gage*, but his petition yielded only an appointment as deputy chaplain to two regiments. To add to his misfortunes, his wife and one of his daughters died that summer. A disconsolate Wiswall wrote that “the sufferings and Persecutions I have Undergone: together with the rebellious spirit of the People has entirely weaned my Affection from my native Country – the further I go from it the better.” Made a navy chaplain in late 1775, Wiswall spent most of the next few years in wartime service. In 1781 he accepted a curacy in Suffolk, England, but within a year he was serving in a parish in Kent, and later still he moved to another parish in Essex. Early in 1783, after obtaining a temporary pension of £60 annually in compensation for his losses during the American revolution, he emigrated to Nova Scotia to succeed Jacob Bailey as the Anglican clergyman in Cornwallis. Wiswall arrived in Cornwallis in August and the following February was formally inducted as the clergyman of the parish, the ceremony being performed by Jacob Bailey. In March 1784 Bailey, now stationed in Annapolis Royal, married Wiswall to Margaret Hutchinson, a widow from New Jersey whom Bailey termed “very clever” and “sensible and . . . prudent in the management of family affairs.” As before, however, Wiswall was far from happy. Although he lived in a “decent house,” received an annual salary of £100 from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (to which was added a grant of more that £200 from the loyalist claims commission), and was married to a woman with “the gleanings of a very ample estate,” Wiswall felt just as poverty-stricken as the most humble of the settlers among whom he laboured. He also complained bitterly of the state of religion in his district. Besides facing opposition from his own congregation, some of whom criticized him as a “passionate man” and tried to eject him from the Cornwallis glebe, Wiswall had the difficult task of strengthening the Church of England in an area that was overrun with dissenters. Soon after arriving in Cornwallis he wrote that in his mission, which also included the settlements of Horton and Wilmot, Anglicans were greatly outnumbered by “wild enthusiasts” of every denomination. Whereas Wiswall was the only Anglican clergyman in the district, no fewer than six non-Anglican ministers – the most prominent being the Methodist itinerant William Black* – served Cornwallis and its surrounding settlements. With these rival preachers, moreover, Wiswall was not on the best of terms: he dismissed the Baptist Nicholas Piersons as an “illiterate shoemaker,” and he had to resort to the courts before a dispute with the Presbyterian clergyman James Murdoch over the ownership of the Horton glebe was resolved in his favour. In 1788 a bitter Wiswall wrote: “I regret that ever I came to this Country – I was wretchedly deceived . . . I am banished from my Friends – and doomed to lead a most laborious life, pinched with poverty and oftimes not knowing where to procure the common conveniences not to say necessarys of life.” Despairing that “the church should ever flourish in Cornwallis,” by the late 1780s Wiswall had begun concentrating his energies on the neighbouring communities of Aylesford and Wilmot. In 1789 he resigned his Cornwallis charge and was given responsibility for these settlements; he moved to Wilmot that fall. Even a change of scene, however, could not improve his spirits. Most of the people in his new mission were Baptists and Methodists, and soon Wiswall was complaining of “strolling, fanatical teachers” and their “deluded hearers.” His own flock refused to contribute to his financial support, claiming that a combination of apathy and physical infirmity was preventing him from discharging his duties. This charge seems to have had some basis in fact. Many years earlier the SPG had rebuked Wiswall for his lack of missionary zeal, and Charles Inglis, the Anglican bishop of Nova Scotia, made the same point in a letter of 179l. “Wiswall is an infirm man,” he wrote,“and rather incapable of that exertion which the state of the country requires – like too many of the Clergy here, he does not seem to have such notions of order, conformity to the Rubrics, & subordination as I could wish; nor of the necessity of vigorous exertions in the Clergy." Wiswall, for his part, resented Inglis’s criticisms and made no effort to change his ways. From the 1790s he seems to have spent more time cultivating his glebe than ministering to his parishioners. In 1796 he asked to be relieved of Aylesford, but on the recommendation of Bishop Inglis the SPG refused this request. Abiding by the society’s decision, Wiswall continued to serve his two parishes until 1801, when John Inglis*, the bishop’s son, was appointed to Aylesford. That same year Wiswall was seriously injured in a fall from his horse, and for the last decade of his life he was too crippled and frail to minister to his Wilmot flock on a regular basis. He died on 2 Dec. 1812, at the age of 81, and was buried near the Anglican church in Middleton. One of his sons, Peleg, was elected to the House of Assembly and later became a judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

This page ads some details to Wiswall's mysterious hospitalzation a week after marrying Mercy:

1761 sensory deprivation:
"In 1761, the Reverend John Wiswall (1731-1821) of Falmouth, Maine suffered what we would probably now call a "nervous breakdown". He continued out of his mind for nine months, after which he was referred to Dr Daniel Howe (born 1.5.1717, died 1.11.1797), a doctor in Andover, Massachusetts, who prescribed confinement to "a dark chamber". Cure was obtained in a few weeks." (Charles Outwin)

Research note: From the sounds of his later quotes he seems to be an unhappy man at odd with many things such as his own parish refused to support him and being repremanded for ignoring his flock later in life. I think perhaps he was manic depressive, bi-polar or even some flavor of schitzophrenic.

---

From complete text at: http://library.acadiau.ca/archives/acadia_archives/Wiswall.doc

Rev. John Wiswall fonds. – 1771 – 1812. – 1 v. of textual records Biographical information Rev. John Wiswall was a Church of England clergyman, born in Boston in 1731. He died in 1812 at Wilmot, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. He was married twice: first to Mercy Minot of Brunswick, Maine with whom he had four children, and secondly to Margaret Hutchinson of New Jersey. Wiswall was the minister at Falmouth in New England when the Revolutionary War began. As a Loyalist, he was forced to flee to Boston with his family and he lost his house and property. After a time as the minister for several churches in England and as a Chaplain aboard a British ship, he was sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to Cornwallis Township, Nova Scotia in 1783. He served in this area until his death in 1812Custodial HistoryThe identity of the donor of this journal cannot be determined with any certainty. The volume has been in the Archives’ holdings for a great number of years. There is a small possibility that it was donated by Rev. Edward Manning Saunders. In the Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, 1908, there is an article titled “The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wiswall, M.A.”, written by Saunders. He indicates in a footnote that “the chief authorities used in the preparation of this paper were….the MS journal of the Rev. John Wiswall. This consists of one large folio volume in a state of excellent preservation; it is in the custody of the Wiswall family, and has been drawn on largely.” Therefore it is possible that the journal might have been donated by Saunders (who died in 1916), or directly from the family.Scope and ContentFonds consists of one journal, covering the years 1771 to 1812.

---

Wiswall is mentioned for his part in the May 1775 Surrender of Captain Henry Mowatt who was released soon after only to return to Falmouth months later and wreak revenge for his capture (aka "kidnapping") to burn over 400 of town's buildings (about 3/4 of the town) to the ground in October 1775 PDF.

More info from the History of Brunswick webpage:

Excerpt:There were about fifty armed men, each wearing in his hat a small bough of spruce. Their standard was a spruce pole with the green top left on. Sentinels were posted around their camp, and several persons who chanced to pass that way were seized and detained. Pelatiah Haley was sent into town to obtain whatever information he might be able.

About one o'clock in the afternoon, Captain John Merrill, with two of the sentinels, while walking near the shore, saw Captain Mowatt with Reverend Mr. Wiswall, of St. Paul's Church, and his surgeon, land at Clay Cove. and walk up the hill. They compelled them to surrender, and immediately sent for General Thompson to receive Mowatt's sword. This he did, but returned it immediately. A number of prominent citizens of Falmouth visited the camp and urged the release of the prisoners. The "Spruce Company " were inflexible, but as night was approaching they concluded to march their prisoners to Marston's tavern. About nine o'clock the prisoners were released on a promise to return the next morning, General Preble and Colonel Freeman pledging themselves for them. The prisoners, however, did not keep good their promise.

Another source says:

Excerpt:"On seeking to load in the Presumscot River, the British encountered an aroused citizenry who seized their boats, guns, and men. Thus the mast ships were forced to sail without a cargo. Admiral Graves warned...that if the masts were not given up he would 'beat the town down about their ears.' In October [1775] this threat was made good. Captain Mowatt and his fleet bombarded the town of Falmouth [Portland] and reduced it to ashes."
---Quoted from page 43 of William H Rowe (1948) THE MARITIME HISTORY OF MAINE (NY: W W Norton & Co).

This page at MaineMemory.net has several letters about the Fire as well as letters from Mowatt himself giving the deadline before he lays waste.. er... dispensing justice to Falmouth.

---

Wiswall's parish in Falmouth is found (St Pauls, still there) thanks to a local community site which offers some more info including the tragic deaths of his wife Mercy and daughter Elizabeth:

Excerpt:"As the Revolutionary War began, Mr. Wiswell remained true to the vows of his ordination and left Falmouth with the British Fleet; however, his wife and children were not able to make it to the British Ships in the harbor. Later they were allowed to leave Falmouth with only bedding and limited rations, they were forced to walk to Boston and after their arrival they died as the result of exposure." It's about 110 miles one way, must have taken over a week with three children aged 9-13, if on foot.

The first stones were laid in 1867. By 1868, the first services were held in the new church, built to replace the building lost by fire just three years earlier near the corner of Middle and Exchange Streets. This began the lost association with Munjoy Hill that started with a small parish church and now continues as the church serves as the Anglican Cathedral for six New England states and New York. Saint Pauls long history began when the new Congregational Minister of The Third Parish in Stroudwater, District of Maine, fresh from Harvard College in Boston, announced to his parish that they would begin to worship according to the Rites of The Church of England. An altercation ensued between two parish members in regard to the new direction the parish was taking. Despite the differences within the church, the Revd. Mr. John A. Wiswell sailed to England and was ordained Deacon and Priest by the Bishop of London. Upon his return in 1763 the parish of Saint Pauls was formed. Mr. Wiswell was the First Rector and Missionary of The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The parish was now under the protection and the administration of the Bishop of London. The first parish church of Saint Pauls was located on the waterfront of 1763 and was near India and Fore Streets. It became one of the first churches to be built on the Portland waterfront near the towns piers. The first Wardens, or leaders of the church, were among Portlands leading citizens and included General Jedidah Preble, Colonial Militia, and Captain George Tate, Royal Mast Agent for the Crown. During his term as priest, the Rector Mr. Wiswell along with other clergy founded the First Library in Falmouth, now Portland and also formed the first school. They worked to provide services to the poor and destitute and the parish grew with many prominent citizens of the community as members. As the difficulties between the Colonies and the Crown grew graver, the clergy of the Church of England were looked upon with much suspicion. The first Rector of this parish did not improve his lot when he befriended Officers of the British fleet who arrived in Casco Bay to claim the cut trees for masts for the ships of the Royal Navy. Special vessels were constructed to transport the trees harvested in the District of Maine back the Royal Navy Yards in England. An incident in May of 1775 would increase tensions between mother England and the colonies. The Reverend Mr. Wiswell had taken a walk with Captain Henry Mowatt and his ships Surgeon in the forest on Munjoy Hill. Members of the local Militia captured them and the Captain and Surgeon would have been promptly dispatched if they had not the good fortune to be in the company of a clergyman. They were held for two or three days and then released on their word. This incident, along with the buildup of arms by colonial citizens, led to the bombardment and burning of the town by Capt. Mowatt in October of 1775. Among the four hundred and fourteen buildings destroyed in the attack was the original St. Pauls Church, then at the corner of India and Fore Streets. As the Revolutionary War began, Mr. Wiswell remained true to the vows of his ordination and left Falmouth with the British Fleet; however, his wife and children were not able to make it to the British Ships in the harbor. Later they were allowed to leave Falmouth with only bedding and limited rations, they were forced to walk to Boston and after their arrival they died as the result of exposure. The Reverend Mr. Jacob Bailey became the next Rector but only for a few months then he too left because of the treatment of Church of England Clergy by the citizens of the Colonies. He later wrote an eight-page letter from New Brunswick, Canada, describing the treatment of Loyalist Clergy in New England. The Parish now has a copy of this letter, given by the Restoration Contractor, Mr. Tom Thomsen, who also gave a set of early histories of Falmouth written in the 1800s. After the War for Independence, the emerging parish became part of the Episcopal Church in the new United States, which retained ties to the Church of England. This was again to prove awkward during the War of 1812. For sometime, the British Brig HMS Boxer under the command of Capt. Blythe, RN had been raiding settlements along the Maine coast. At anchor in Portland Harbor was the American Brig Enterprise, under the command of the 28-year-old Capt. Burrows. Approaching the harbor, the Boxer challenged the American vessel to an engagement, which occurred on the 5th of September 1814. Beginning at 3 PM and lasting for some thirty-five minutes the two vessels fought it out off Cape Elizabeth. Both captains were killed in the engagement, which ended when the Boxer struck her colors. The next day the American ship returned, with her prize, to Portland. With full military honors, both captains were laid side by in Eastern Cemetery on Munjoy Hill. The crew of the Boxer presented the rector of St. Pauls with the ships bible in appreciation for presiding over the funeral of their captain. The bible remains in the churchs collection today. Many of the founders of Maine and the young United States passed through the doors of Old Saint Pauls. The son of General Preble, one of the first Wardens of the Parish, Commodore Edward Preble, was a member of the Parish together with his family, and was Commander of the USS Constitution and later contributed much to the formation of the United States Navy. He is also buried in Eastern Cemetery on Munjoy Hill and his funeral was held at the parishs second building. When the commission for framing the Constitution of our State met, members of St. Pauls Parish were there. They were also responsible for keeping the name Maine and being sure we would be the State of Maine and not the Commonwealth of Maine. When the emerging Anglican Church of Maine came into being it was the Rector, The Reverend Petrus S. Ten Broeck who started the process of forming the Episcopal Diocese of Maine and the calling of the First Bishop of the Diocese, The Right Reverend George Burgess, who also served as Rector of Christ Church Gardner. The Reverend Mr. Ten Broeck was the first Secretary of the Diocese of Maine. Another Rector, The Reverend Arthur W. Little brought the Anglo-Catholic or Oxford Movement of 1833 to the Diocese. He wrote a book, Reasons for Being a Churchman, and dedicated it to the Parish of Saint Pauls Portland, Maine.

Details of Mercy and Elizabeth's deaths from The Reverend Jacob Bailey, Maine Loyalist: For God, King, Country, and for Self By James S. Leamon
Provided by HarperCollins through the Google Books: Click here to read it It disagrees with the above.

NOTE: Castle William was/is on an island in Boston Harbor so Mercy and Elizabeth did die in Boston as numerous reports claim, and we at last have a reason they died. It also says that they went as a family to Boston, and not just mercy and the children as other sources have said. I have to get Wiswall's journals yet, I'm becoming more and more interested in writing a fictionalized novel about them.

 

This link (pdf)says something different:

Jefferson embodied that hope when he called on Americans to realize their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Rev. John Wiswall did not. A graduate of Harvard and an Anglican pasto in Falmouth, Massachusetts, he was shocked to observe his neighbors split into hostile factions in 1775. The good parson tried to still their passions, but a mob damned him for a Tory and drove his family on board a British ship, whereupon his wife and daughter died from food poisoning. After the Declaration of Independence, Wiswall despaired and sailed, unwillingly, for England. Only God alone, he reflected, could still this ‘‘madness’’ because ‘‘the American people are altogether too free [ever] to be content with their happiness.’’

---

* The dates: After reading the bios I find I disagree with the some online genelogical sources that the children listed on the pendant were born in Nova scotia. It does not appear from the online soucres (I do not have the journals) that he arrived in Nova Scotia till after the deaths of his wife and daughter in 1775, his joining the Royal Navy later that year, a couple years at sea, and his the eviction from the USA in 1778.

Rev John Wiswall's biography implies that after 1765 he seems to have stayed put in Falmouth, ME (despite some traveling to England)

Ordained priest by the bishop of London in February 1765, Wiswall was back in Falmouth by the following May and ministered faithfully to his new Anglican congregation until the “publick Distractions” of the early 1770s. When he was arrested in 1775 he insisted that “not the severest punishment, not the fear of death” would shake his allegiance to the crown. Released on the understanding that he would remain in Falmouth, Wiswall broke his parole and travelled to Boston, arriving there in early June. He immediately appealed for assistance to commander-in-chief Thomas Gage*, but his petition yielded only an appointment as deputy chaplain to two regiments. To add to his misfortunes, his wife and one of his daughters died that summer.

Another bio mentions his "petitions to the British government and to the SPG requesting compensation for his losses during the American Revolution" when he was forced to "fleeing" to Boston in 1775 with his family when the revolution was heating up most likely for him being a Loyalist. No where in these timeframes does he appear to have been in Nova Scotia at this point in time, or before really either. And this line in on of the sources above seems to point that he might have been at sea during the tragic deaths of his wife and small daughter in Boston:

As the Revolutionary War began, Mr. Wiswell remained true to the vows of his ordination and left Falmouth with the British Fleet; however, his wife and children were not able to make it to the British Ships in the harbor. Later they were allowed to leave Falmouth with only bedding and limited rations, they were forced to walk to Boston and after their arrival they died as the result of exposure.

---

Publications and Books :

Microfilm: Acadia Univ. Arch. (Wolfville, N.S.), John Wiswall, journal, 1771–1812 (mfm. at PANS)

“Nova Scotia, 1784: a letter of Jacob Bailey,” ed. David Siegenthaler, Canadian Church Hist. Soc., Journal (Sudbury, Ont.), 19 (1977): 131–37.

Glimpses of Nova Scotia, 1807–24, as seen through the eyes of two Halifax merchants, a Wilmot clergyman and the clerk of the assembly of Nova Scotia, ed. C. B. Fergusson (Halifax, 1957).

Journals of the Rev. Thomas Smith, and the Rev. Samuel Deane, pastors of the first church in Portland . . . , ed. William Willis ([2nd ed. ], Portland, Maine, 1849).

“United Empire Loyalists: enquiry into losses and services,” AO Report, 1904: 172–73, 188.

Jones, Loyalists of Mass. Sabine, Biog. sketches of loyalists, vol.2. Calnek, Hist. of Annapolis (Savary). A. W. [H.]

Eaton, The Church of England in Nova Scotia and the tory clergy of the revolution (New York, 1891).

Fingard, Anglican design in loyalist N.S. Stark, Loyalists of Mass. (1910).

E. M. Saunders, “The life and times of the Rev. John Wiswall, M.A., a loyalist clergyman in New England and Nova Scotia, 1731–1821,” N.S. Hist. Soc., Coll., 13 (1908): 1–73.

The Reverend Jacob Bailey, Maine Loyalist: For God, King, Country, and for Self By James S. Leamon