[9]

[Colonel Wait's Account to General Sullivan.]

Mouth of Onion River, July 11th 1776.

Sr Arrived here four days ago, found here two rafts of timber, proceeded to a bay two miles north found one raft there drove on shore, gave orders to float it into the mouth of the river and form the whole into one raft. Went up the river to the mill which cannot be worked as the dam is partly gone. Found there as I judge about 1200 feet of good pine boards which can be purchased and delivered at the Falls 8 miles from this at five dollars per thousand. Likewise with little cost the mill may be put to work and the boards delivered by the inhabitants (could they be protected) as they have teams now on the spot, at the place and price above mentioned, returned last evening, found the rafts put together and this morning set them afloat to proceed to Crown Point, but on examining find a sand bar at about 100 rods distance from shore that cannot be passed with the raft, there is in the raft about 128 sticks of fine oak timber on an average I judge near 20 feet in length, and 15 inches in diameterif it should be necessary to carry it to the Point, I judge 20 battoes would tow it down with less trouble than it can go any other way.

Should I be continued on this command it would be more agreeable to have a detachment from one corps and that for a longer time, as the men here are not victualed only two days we shall stand in need of provision should we tarry longer as the men have been kept at the mouth of the river and have no convenience for cooking, they are short and some of them unwell, in particular Maj. Sedgwick who desires liberty to return

In case battoes are sent down after the timber it would be necessary that they should be furnished with cordage.

Yesterday about 12 o'clock discovered a large smoke on the west shore about five miles inland, supposed to be set by a party of the enemy, if so and they are going to the point, they will pass back of the mountain.

In my passage up the river found a party of near one hundred of Col. Warner's men who refused to go on the north shore to protect the inhabitants, and by their motion believe they have gone home by this time.

Likewise saw two men from the Cahoos plantations who say it is determined there to assist in building a line of block houses to this place, should it be agreeable they beg your Honor would inform them of what may be the resolve on that head and they will exert

their utmost to execute it. Should I continue here longer should be glad of a few candles. I shall now move from this up to the Falls and employ my people in getting down the boards to this place and wait your honors further orders.

Am with respect your honors most
Obt. humble Servt.
Joseph Wait

His Honor Gen. J. Sullivan.

[A list of the French Canadian names in Col. Moses Hazen's regiment, with corrections and pronunciation by C. H. Farnham, of Boston, Mass. The page and number of each name refer to Vol. XVII. of this series. ED.]

NOTE. These rolls evidently suffered from at least three causes of errors: 1. Imperfect recognition of sounds; 2. Defective phonetic representation of syllables; 3. Indistinct writing. It was inevitable that men ignorant of the French language should fail to recognize and represent some of the vowel and nasal sounds peculiar to that tongue, and that they should confound the labials b and p, f and v; the dentals t and d, s and c; the palatals 1 and r; the gutturals g soft and j, and c hard with g hard; and distinct writing was probably not more common then than it is now. These errors have been both puzzling and demoralizing to the editor; they have made it impossible to be perfectly certain of many names and they have led him to make some guesses that may seem at first sight to be rather far-fetched. These questionable names, however, are marked with a star that the reader may regard them merely as probable suggestions. But they are not wanting in some reasonable foundation, for they all are to be found in the Abbé Tanguay's genealogical dictionary of French-Canadian families, or among that people at the present day. It is probable that some of the men wished to hide. their identity, moved by the general policy of loyalty to England, which had been secured from the Roman Catholic church. At all events, one of them enlisted under a nickname, Prêt-à-boire, and another, Ossy (coming after another man also named François) seems to have turned himself into a joke, and Vinclair (clear wine) and Robinet (stop-cock) are very likely noms de guerre.

The phonetic representation of the pronunciation is made according to the system followed in Clifton and Grimaux's French and English dictionary. In French the emphasis or accent is so generally on the last syllable that it is thought unnecessary to indicate this feature of pronunciation. It may be further remarked that the FrenchCanadians have departed from the traditions of their mother-tongue in sounding the final consonant of nearly all their surnames.

C. H. FARNHAM.

Page and

Number

[A List of the French Canadian names in Col. Moses Hazen's Regiment.]

The Original Names.

François Raté* or Lantier* or Labbé *

Jean Dufranc* or Dufrène *

Jean Baptiste Lapierre

Charles Champagne

Joseph Chartier

François Chataigne

Thomas Capone

Jean Carré or Caron *

Jean Baptiste Apiere

2

Charles Champagne

Joseph Chartier

Joseph Dufranc or de France

Joseph Ducas or Dugas

Jean Baptiste Dupille* or Dupuis* or Dupré *

Joseph Dancosse or Dangosse

Maurice* Deplaine

François Ducros

Antoine Philibert

Pierre Lesage

Joseph Létourneau *

Antoine Lambert *

m. zhilbér

loui lôzôn

frânswa raté, lântyé, labé
zhân dufrân, dufrèn

zhân batist lapyèr
sharl shânpany

zhozèf shartyé

frânswa shâtèny

toma kapon

zhân karé, karôn

zhozef duka, duga

zhân batist dupil, dupui, dupré zhozef dânkos, dângos

môris deplèn

zhozèf dufrân, defrâns

frânswa dukro

ântwan filibér

pyèr lesazh

zhozèf létournô

antwan lânbér