Who Were the Loyalists?
Background information

Biographies of the Loyalist Era

Colonel Henry Ruiter, Loyalist

Other names for Henry were Hendrick Ruiter and Hendrik Ruyter.

• Born: 1739 (or 1742 ?), Hoosick, Rensselaer County, NY
• Baptized: 26 Sep 1742, Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, Albany County, NY
• Married (1): 16 Aug 1763, Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, Albany County, NY
• Married (2): 1784, Pownal, Bennington County, VT
• Died: 1819, Ruiter's Brook (Dunkin), Potton Co, Quebec, Canada
• Buried: Ruiter's Brook (Dunkin), Potton Co, Quebec, Canada

Henry Ruiter was born in Hoosick, New York, near Albany, in 1739. He died in the village of Ruiter's Brook, now known as Dunkin, Quebec, near Stanstead, in 1819.

He came from a Palatine family. The Palatines were people who came from a part of Europe where Dutch and German families had mixed together. His grandparents were born in Prussia, a place in Germany. They came to America in about 1710 with about 3000 other Palatines. His parents were born and died in New York state. He and his first wife, Rebecca Taat Datt, who he married in Albany in 1763, had nine children, 5 girls and 4 boys. The family belonged to the Dutch Reform Church of Albany. Many of them were baptized and/or married in that church.

Henry, and his brother John, stayed loyal to the British side at the start of the American Revolution, as did many Dutch and German families in the Albany, New York area and the area of Vermont just to the east. In 1777, he was forced to hide in the woods outside his home in Pitts Town, N.Y. for three months while revolutionists tried to capture him for his political beliefs. While they tormented his wife and their children, he managed to join the Burgoyne's British soldiers. He probably fought in the battles of Bennington and Saratoga. He escaped to Canada after Benedict Arnold's defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga. He later returned to the Albany area to recruit other Loyalists. He got them to join Major James Roger's Corps of Rangers, a British militia group. They fought with the British regular army and were headquartered in St. John's (St. Jean), Quebec on the Richelieu River.

By 1780, Henry Ruiter was leading his own Company of militia. They fought in battles at Fort Anne, N.Y. and Fort George (Lake George, N.Y.). Captain Ruiter's Company, one of three of Roger's Rangers companies, helped the army by spying on the rebels. They captured local rebel leaders, guarded prisoners of war, scouted, and delivered messages. They helped build defenses and forts. They saved loyalist families by helping them escape to Canada. His wife, Rebecca, and 6 of their 9 children were one of these families, arriving in St. Jean after being moved by the Army. The family was near starving to death. Finally in 1781, the Rangers took part in General Barry St. Leger's attacks along Lake Champlain. They were disbanded at the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783.

In 1781, Henry's wife Rebecca died in St. John's (St. Jean). A few years later, around 1783-84, he was remarried to Katherine Friot. She came from Pownal, Vermont, near where he had fought in the Battle of Bennington in 1777.

Henry Ruiter settled in Dunkin, a town along the Mississquoi River and near Mount Sutton. Many other Loyalists, like his brother John, settled there too. The land was just across from the Canadian-American border and just east of Mississquoi Bay, the northern part of Lake Champlain. Governor Haldimald tried hard to discourage their settlement so close to the border. He feared that the Loyalists' loyalty might change if the Americans attacked again. But, the Loyalists stayed there and were able to get legal ownership of their land. Ruiter finally got the legal grant for his farm in 1803. He went on to build several saw and grist (lumber & grain) mills in the area. Ruiter soon became "well off" because of the money he made from his mills, selling land, farming and his military pension.

He also served in the military again. In 1785, he served in the Militia in Fredericksburgh, just north of Cataraqui (now Kingston, Ontario) with many of his former fellow Rangers. They had settled there after the Revolutionary War. He also served in the War of 1812 against the Americans; he was a Lieutenant Colonel in command of the 2nd Battalion of the Eastern Townships militia.

Henry Ruiter died in Ruiter's Brook (Dunkin, Quebec) in August 1819 at the age of 78. His second wife Katherine died the same year in December. They left behind 8 daughters, 7 sons and their families.

Click here to see Henry Ruiter's family tree.

Click here to see present day images of Ruiter's Brook (Dunkin, Quebec).