Is Onslow Company a militia?

[Red-Coat]

And he could have quoted just about any source he read. I've made some mistakes by quoting things from genealogical sources because they aren't always easy to verify. My own genealogy, if I relied on some published older works, is incorrect and was only ever straightened out in recent times to overcome what some has written down years ago. I've always been curious about this name. It seems possible; yet it is not verifiable. It's no shortcoming on your end. We can only use what is at our disposal. For all we know the OI story could be the source of someone's idea that there was a Simeon Lynds related to the Archibalds. Miller may not know why he's encountered the detail. It does remind me of the multiple families who claimed John Smith as their ancestor at times in the past.

The existence of Simeon Lynds is not in doubt and his family genealogy with the relationship to Colonel Archibald can be verified from the Nova Scotia, Cornwallis [township], record of births, marriages and deaths, 1720-1885. Unfortunately the older records are not digitised online but physically stored as microfiche and more determined researchers than I have used those records to build his story.

He’s also mentioned in Census, Property Assessments and Poll Taxes records, but you need an account to view the details (I hate that genealogy research has become so commercialised, with monopoly of that data).

What is very much in doubt is that he was a doctor and that seems to have arisen as a mistake or misunderstanding. Given that the key dates for his life and family are detailed and that he was in Onslow in the relevant period, it would be a remarkable coincidence for his connection to the Oak Island story to be pure invention.

 

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[SSR]

The existence of Simeon Lynds is not in doubt and his family genealogy with the relationship to Colonel Archibald can be verified from the Nova Scotia, Cornwallis [township], record of births, marriages and deaths, 1720-1885. Unfortunately the older records are not digitised online but physically stored as microfiche and more determined researchers than I have used those records to build his story.

He’s also mentioned in Census, Property Assessments and Poll Taxes records, but you need an account to view the details (I hate that genealogy research has become so commercialised, with monopoly of that data).

View attachment 2186045

What is very much in doubt is that he was a doctor and that seems to have arisen as a mistake or misunderstanding. Given that the key dates for his life and family are detailed and that he was in Onslow in the relevant period, it would be a remarkable coincidence for his connection to the Oak Island story to be pure invention.

If that's the case then we can consider what I have said to be an interesting coincidence only. Certain other things that are coincidental have to be chalked down to invention. If these people did not invent the recognizable details in this story the only individual that could have set that up to look that way in any quantifiable way is Charles Morris, who may have been influenced by Erasmus Philips prior to 1760. There is no possibility Morris surveyed in 1762 and just guessed right when the island was divided as it was in a way that is totally consistent with the numerical details of this story. It is possible to get carried away in trying to assess what is invented and what is not. What may work in the Archiblad's defense is that they seemed to actually believe what they were peddling at the American Masonic conferences. Haliburton, for his part, thought it was ridiculous as a suggestion. That it aligned so closely with the currents of Biblical prophecy in the 1840s is damning. What I would never allow for is the idea that prophecy is real. It can be made to appear that it is real, though. After the 1860s the story quickly moved in other directions which follow other currents in pop culture (Kidd, Francis Bacon...).

 

[Armchair detective]

Red coat
In post #6 you say that by 1789 Colonel Robert Archibald was in residence in Halifax.
There has ALWAYS been a newspaper in Halifax since the 1700's. It seems likely that Robert would be mentioned, and perhaps any business ventures as well. (For those of you who are looking to fill in past history of the Colonel)

 

[Red-Coat]

Red coat
In post #6 you say that by 1789 Colonel Robert Archibald was in residence in Halifax.
There has ALWAYS been a newspaper in Halifax since the 1700's. It seems likely that Robert would be mentioned, and perhaps any business ventures as well. (For those of you who are looking to fill in past history of the Colonel)

So, are you questioning whether Robert Archibald existed at all, or just whether he was in Halifax (County)? Or just musing in general that there must be more information to be had?

Archibald’s family tree, life events and known locations where he resided are well documented in official archives. As I said earlier, Nova Scotia’s early archives are not all available online, but the microfiche copies of the original paper records can be consulted. Genealogical researchers and descendants of his family have already done exactly that.

He's listed in the Nova Scotia 1770 Census records as resident in Truro, Colchester County which is about 20 miles from Middle Musquodoboit, Halifax County where he was living in 1789.

Are there any digitised records of Halifax newspapers to be had online? If there are, have you searched them and failed to find mention of Archibald?

[P.S. in an earlier post I wrongly assumed (without checking) that the Captain David Archibald listed as one of the Onslow Company participants might be his brother but I have now checked the family tree and David was one of his sons, documented as born in Truro on 2 April 1775]

 

[Armchair detective]

Just musing.

Coupla details.

First thanks to all who are sharing their research. I get the feeling that maybe this mystery can be solved.

I read that Colonel Robert had a father David. Is this true? Captain David?

There seems to be a list of participants in the OI legend - seen it twice.
Colonel Robert Archibald
David Archibald
Sheriff Harris
Where did this list come from? Why are they together on this list?

Thinking that newspapers seem to be the only surviving records of events between 1780 and 1820, I googled for papers operating then AND NOW. Halifax had continuous coverage, but there is a question whether it was the same operation under different mastheads.
"Nova Scotia Royal Gazette, pub 1801-1843".
If memory serves examples of paper were shown, but not a digital archive (need to recheck).
If no digital archive, copies may exist either on microfilm or even original papers, but I would guess access to them (papers) would be limited.
Still might be worth a phone call to see if such archives exist.

I view Colonel Robert as the tipping point of all searches after him - his was the first pick that turned imagination into a reality.

So it becomes important to determine whether Colonel Robert was ensorcelled or a hoaxer, hence my interest in his history.

Buried in Iceland? Are you sure? Seems more likely he was taken home to his ancestral Ireland. (Just comparing notes).

 

[Armchair detective]

And a Happy New Year to all.

 

[Red-Coat]

Just musing.

Coupla details.

First thanks to all who are sharing their research. I get the feeling that maybe this mystery can be solved.

I read that Colonel Robert had a father David. Is this true? Captain David?

There seems to be a list of participants in the OI legend - seen it twice.
Colonel Robert Archibald
David Archibald
Sheriff Harris
Where did this list come from? Why are they together on this list?

Thinking that newspapers seem to be the only surviving records of events between 1780 and 1820, I googled for papers operating then AND NOW. Halifax had continuous coverage, but there is a question whether it was the same operation under different mastheads.
"Nova Scotia Royal Gazette, pub 1801-1843".
If memory serves examples of paper were shown, but not a digital archive (need to recheck).
If no digital archive, copies may exist either on microfilm or even original papers, but I would guess access to them (papers) would be limited.
Still might be worth a phone call to see if such archives exist.

I view Colonel Robert as the tipping point of all searches after him - his was the first pick that turned imagination into a reality.

So it becomes important to determine whether Colonel Robert was ensorcelled or a hoaxer, hence my interest in his history.

Buried in Iceland? Are you sure? Seems more likely he was taken home to his ancestral Ireland. (Just comparing notes).

Colonel Robert Archibald’s father was indeed named David, but he was a Major, not a Captain (at least in later life) and, in any case, he died on 9 November 1779 (more than 20 years before the Onslow Company was formed in 1803). Robert had eight children, one of whom was also called David. As I said earlier, the Captain David Archibald listed as a participant in the Onslow Company is likely to be this son who was born 1775 and died in 1843.

Several genealogy websites, including ‘FamilySearch’ say that Robert himself was buried in Iceland, but without providing further details.

Likely, they have all drawn on the same source for that belief. ‘Iceland’ may indeed be an error of transcription for ‘Ireland.’ I find that many online digital records have been compiled from OCR scanning of paper documents and frequently contain errors from the software misrecognising individual letters, particularly when the original record is hand-written or in a fancy typeface.

‘Findagrave’ has no burial record for Robert in either country (or anywhere else). It’s the most comprehensive archive for burials but by no means complete, and tends to be more heavily biased towards American burials.

The Onslow Company list came from (or via) the researcher and TV personality Paul Troutman whose father worked with Robert Dunfield alongside Dan Blankenship in the 1960s and was a partner in the 1965 Oak Island excavation. How reliable it is I don’t know but it is said to have been derived in part from accounts given in 1848 to Robert Creelman of the Truro Company by John Smith and Anthony Vaughn Jr.

Happy New Year to you to.

 

[SSR]

Just musing.

Coupla details.

First thanks to all who are sharing their research. I get the feeling that maybe this mystery can be solved.

I read that Colonel Robert had a father David. Is this true? Captain David?

There seems to be a list of participants in the OI legend - seen it twice.
Colonel Robert Archibald
David Archibald
Sheriff Harris
Where did this list come from? Why are they together on this list?

Thinking that newspapers seem to be the only surviving records of events between 1780 and 1820, I googled for papers operating then AND NOW. Halifax had continuous coverage, but there is a question whether it was the same operation under different mastheads.
"Nova Scotia Royal Gazette, pub 1801-1843".
If memory serves examples of paper were shown, but not a digital archive (need to recheck).
If no digital archive, copies may exist either on microfilm or even original papers, but I would guess access to them (papers) would be limited.
Still might be worth a phone call to see if such archives exist.

I view Colonel Robert as the tipping point of all searches after him - his was the first pick that turned imagination into a reality.

So it becomes important to determine whether Colonel Robert was ensorcelled or a hoaxer, hence my interest in his history.

Buried in Iceland? Are you sure? Seems more likely he was taken home to his ancestral Ireland. (Just comparing notes).

There's no mention of anything of interest going on at OI in two published works (1820, 1829) that touch on the happenings and folklore of this specific area. The earliest sources for a "treasure" associated with a depression under a tree in Mahone Bay is from the Hobson's Nose accounts of ca. 1830. Almost every detail about the origin of the OI story is back dated at a much later time and could be assumed to be given by two of the principals in the story that have an interest in it keeping alive (as to not be sued for actually defrauding the public). None of the details can be corroborated, and the 1795 account of discovery is clearly a total fabrication. What seems to be informing a lot of this fabrication are the details in Masonic/Biblical legends. Who the first people are who started this is likely someone with some degree of knowledge of those. If it goes back to the planning and surveying period we are talking about Charles Morris and his historical links to Erasmus James Philipps. With those two there is a clear possible link to the idea that the NA colonial project was influenced by the same sort of symbolic considerations. In all cases it seems to suggest that there is a desire to bring a story to OI for consideration by the public. It's a story that invites an exploration into the roots of Christianity that necessarily leads to the consideration of old Hebrew legends. The fact we have geometry and symbolic numerology thrown into the mix is a dead give away, imo.
An important question is : Is there anything there that is actually surveyed and relatable to the 1762 survey as opposed to something being produced after that is sympathetic with it.