Where I Come From

My father and grandfather had a passion for the history of the Saver family. Saver is an odd name that you don’t see very often. In Eastern Ontario there are a few Savers and Savors, both from the same United Empire Loyalist family, the name changes in spelling dating to a contretemps between brothers going back generations. I will tell you that fascinating story in a future blog!

The Saver family originated in the rich agricultural land of the Palatine in Northern Germany, and they were staunch Protestants who gave refuge to the Huguenots fleeing from religious persecution in France. When the French King Louis XIV and his army invaded the Palatinate to punish its citizens, the Savers became refugees, first to England in 1708 where they were warmly received by Queen Anne. 

It happened that four chiefs of the Mohawk First Nation from what is now New York state were visiting the court and heard of the plight of the refugees. They offered the Queen a grant of land for them at the meeting of the Schoharie and Mohawk rivers. And in 1710 the Saver family sailed for North America, settling on the estates of Sir William Johnson where they owned their own farms, and also rented from the estate. 

During what came to be known as the American Revolution, the Savers understandably remained loyal to the British Crown. In the spring of 1776, they once again found themselves as refugees when their lands were stolen by their American ‘patriot’ neighbours. John Saver and his family joined Sir John Johnson’s company of soldiers who travelled to Montreal to join the war effort there. 

Following the war, in the spring of 1784, the family was resettled on lands allotted to them by the Crown along the St. Lawrence river: Lot 35 Concession 1 in what would be known as Matilda Township. These 200 acres were formally confirmed by the Crown in 1797. 

Here is a picture taken in 1966 of the first home built by John Saver. In the picture are me (largely hidden), my cousin Edward Rooney, Miss Helen Savor who lived on the first family property and a Savor niece whose name I don’t know. This cabin had become part of the out buildings of the farm and is now gone.   

This building was succeeded in 1812 by a beautiful stone house which remains on the property (which is no longer in the family). The present owners have restored it spectacularly. The British army and Canadian militia camped around this property the night before the battled of Chrysler’s Farm during the American Invasion in the War of 1812. Also in 1966 in the picture below you can see my grandfather, Byron Joseph Saver, and my father Byron Johnston (Jack) Saver standing with us. 

I reflect on the impact of the traumas experienced by this family, refugeed and resettled three times, before my family was resettled a fourth time during the creation of the Seaway. 

And how did a family of Protestant refugees become Roman Catholic? That fascinating story will be for a future blog!