Patience Rose, teen loyalist: a not-forgotten heroine of Saratoga.

What was your female Loyalist ancestor doing during the American Revolution? It could be an adult of any age who did something to aid the troops, but what about one who was yet in her teens?

Patience Rose, daughter of Mathias Rose Sr. of Saratoga, is an example of one who showed her loyalty before being forced to leave America for good. She was about age fifteen when Rebel forces confiscated her father's farm in 1777. Her father joined a unit of the Loyal Rangers under Col. Jessup in hopes of defeating the enemy. However he was one of thousands who were captured at General Burgoyne's defeat.

But what was it that Patience did that proved her loyalty at that time? The answer to that was given some thirty-eight years later in a sworn statement made before the Land Board Commissioner for Prince Edward County, Upper Canada by the elderly, retired, Major Henry Young UE.

At the time of the Battle of Saratoga, Henry Young UE was a Lieutenant in the King's Royal Regiment of New York. In his statement dated 2nd February 1816 he declared that Patience (then Rose) "did venture her own fife sundry ways" in aid of His Majesty's Forces. He further claimed that Patience, through her assistance, had saved his life along with the lives of many more troops. Undoubtedly she was of valued assistance to the troops, being a Saratoga resident. She and other young people would have known the lay of the land--little nooks, crannies, hiding places--from having hunted for wild berries and from playing hide-and-seek.

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Very likely Patience had spotted some American troops attempting to hide out for an ambush. Whether this was during an early skirmish with the Americans or during the final battle at Saratoga is not known. But certainly Patience was on the spot to report any enemy activity to the nearest Loyalist commander.

For almost thirty years prior to 1816, Patience and her husband, Philip Switzer UE, had resided in Prince Edward County, in South Marysburgh Township. The whole family was well known by Henry Young UE. When he learned that Philip was seeking to have a vacant piece of land next to his own, Henry provided a character reference that he believed would assist the family. Henry had not forgotten the deed of Patience's youth and so he was there to repay her for her past life-saving effort.

After being filed in 1816, Philip's land petition document lay dormant until being filmed by the National Archives of Canada. Then it remained virtually unnoticed until this writer began looking specifically for land petitions made by him.

As I printed each page of the land petition for my records, little did I realize that it contained such a true gem of information. On the last page I was about to discover that my fourth great grandmother was a teenage heroine in the American Revolution--for the Loyalist side!

Now, after the passing of two hundred and thirty years, Patience's bravery can again be remembered. The question I pose to readers is: How many more were there just like her?