Frederick Frank Williamsburgh, at the time of the war lived upon the Susquehanna, and owned a thousand acres of land. He was a sickly man. His family consisted of a son eleven years old, and three daughters. One day he went some distance to a mill, taking his children with him, and leaving his wife and mother at home. That day the rebels made a raid, and he was taken prisoner from his children on the road; and coming to his barn, it, with all his grain was burned up. His wife and old mother sought safety in the woods, and the house was stripped of everything. The children arriving home without their father, found no mother, or grandmother, only the smoking ruins of the barn and the dismantled house. Frightened almost to death, and expecting to be killed before morning, they lay down on the floor. About midnight came a knock at the door; after a time they summoned sufficient courage to ask who was there, when it was found to be neighbor who had been hunted in the woods for three days and who was almost starved. He was admitted, and having slept for a short time, he proceeded to prepare a raft upon the river; upon this he placed some flour he had concealed in the woods, and the children, with himself, and floated down the river. But the morning brought the enemy, and they were taken. The children were conveyed to a place where they found their mother; but the father having been thrown into a prison, in three months his weak constitution succumbed to the cruelty of his prison house.
The family found their way to Lower Canada, after a time, living upon the rations dealt out from day to day from the commissariat department. They, after a time, went to Montreal, and one son, when twelve year old, enlisted. For a time he acted as tailor to the regiment, but subsequently became a favorite with the Colonel and was promoted. The descendants of this William Williamsburgh now live in Belleville.
Sergeant Daniel Wright was born in the city of London, 1741. He was sergeant in the 74th regiment. Sergeant Wright was present at the battle before Quebec, when Montgomery was killed. He settled in Marysburgh in 1784. He was commissary officer for the fifth township, and was subsequently appointed magistrate and then registrar, which office he held for upwards of thirty years. Was Lieut. Colonel in the Prince Edward Militia. “Old Squire Wright” was a man of education and gentlemanly deportment, strictly religious, and noted for his urbanity; he obtained the soubriquet of “Squire civil.” It is said he was never known to smile. Unlike other retired officers, it is said, he did not seek to acquire extensive tracts of land. Died April, 1828, aged eighty-seven.