Saturday, September 20th at 1:30 p.m., there will be a commemoration and dedication of grave markers for three brothers who served with the 2nd Lincoln Militia in the War of 1812: Sergeant Mathew Haney, Private James Haney, and Private Leonard Haney. They were three of six sons of Isaac Haney, who served as the Warden of Pelham during that War. All three sons are buried at Hillside Cemetery, along with a younger brother, John.
The ceremony will be held at Hillside Cemetery, formerly Dawdies, 421 Canboro Road in Ridgeville, Ontario. The program will include members of the Honor Guard of the 2nd Lincoln Militia reenactment group, a convocation by Rev. Diane Walker of the Pelham Community Church, Len Fluhrer, a military historian who was part of the Sir Arthur Currie Project, along with other speakers and other descendants. People are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.
The grave markers reflect the service medals that these men were suppose to have received 200 years ago.
About the soldiers
Mathew Haney was born in 1788 and married Anna Maynes, the granddaughter of Loyalist Nicholas Outhouse and daughter of loyalist George Maynes. He entered service in 1812 as a private and rose through the ranks as gunner and sergeant. After the war, he took over his father's milling operations in Thorold. In later years, one of his sons, Henry R Haney, served as MP for the Monk Second Riding. Two other sons, Stephen and William, would own the firm that widened the Welland Canal. Another son, Mathew Fletcher Haney, would serve as a doctor and reeve in Humberstone.
James Haney, born in Thorold in 1791, entered service as a Private shortly after his brother Mathew and served to the end. His first wife, Elizabeth, died in 1829 and James married Mary Stringer as his second wife. He was noted as a builder and farmer and was one of the earliest settlers in Pelham.
Leonard Haney, born in Thorold in 1796, entered service as soon as he was old enough and also served during some of the most heated battles of the war, including Lundy's Lane. After the war, he married Elizabeth Maynes, the sister of Mathew's wife, and they had a large family, many of whom still live in the Niagara region and beyond. He was the first postmaster of Fenwick, and served as a Methodist Episcopal minister to Fenwick, Binbrook, and Gainsboro for over 30 years. Newspapers of that time wrote that his funeral procession was the largest gathering ever witnessed in the region.
Their father, Isaac Haney, received a crown grant in Thorold in 1796. He was a chain bearer for August Jones in 1788 when it was Township 9, Nassau and settled mostly by disbanded Butler's Rangers. Isaac owned woolen and carding mills, lumber mills, and flour mills in the region and his sons remained in the area. Other family members included two sons, Ebenezer Haney and Isaac Haney Jr. who were early settlers in Elgin, and John Haney, who settled in Pelham. Another family member, Elizabeth Haney, died in June of 1812 during the war.
Additional information on the Haneys and other 1812 Veterans can be found on the 1812Veterans.ca website. Additional information on the ceremony is available through contacting the Pelham Historical Society
