Recently, doing some light genealogical research, I discovered a trove of sources about my great (x5) grandfather and his family who remained loyal to the British government and served as artificers in the British army during the war. After the war, he and his family were evacuated from Penobscot to New Brunswick.
I have some questions. Some of the documents refer to him to being hauled into court:
At a Court of General Sessions of the Peace held at Pownalborough within and for the County of Lincoln, on the last Tuesday of September being the 30th day of said Monty Anno Domini 1777 Thomas Turner recognized in L50 and with him and with him [sic] Jonn Bartlett & William Cookson as Sureties in L25 each, conditioned that the said Thomas appear next Term to answer a presentment of the Grand Jury against him.
James Turner recognized in L50 and with him Thomas Turner & William Cookson as Sureties, in L25 each, conditioned that the said James appear next Term to answer to a presentment of the Grand Jury against him
Later, we hear of these people attempting to travel to Halifax and being impressed into a "rebel" (Patriot) unit before escaping:
"In the beginning of May, 1778, Thomas Turner, James Turner, Cookson, their brother in law, and John and Martin Carlo, two brother, set out on foot, with a design of travelling by land to Halifax, in Nova Scotia.
The met with a prodigious variety of hardships, obstacles and dangers in their journey, not to mention that perpetual dread of detection, which attended their route. At length, meeting with a number of rebel soldiers, their were constrained to enlist, but were honest enough to refuse the money will they should arrive at Machias. However, instead of proceeding directly to the place of rendezvous, they visited the famous Col Jones, and applied to him for advice and direction. This gentleman provided our adventurers with a boat, in form of a barge, in which they embarked without any knowledge either of the way, or of navigation. They however ventured to row along shore, in consequence of some general instructions, and then crossed over, by accident, to Grand Manan, and seeing land at a great distance, they set off at daylight, and continued to contend with a boisterous sea till after dark, without arriving at any shore. During all this tedious day, they were obliged to ply the oars with their utmost strength, till they were quite discouraged, and their vigour exhausted, but knowing that any relaxation of their struggles would be fatal, they continued their labours without ceasing, will after midnight, when they entered a bay, round which they discovered a large number of settlements. In this situation they were full of anxiety, for being ignorant in what region they had fallen, they were extremely uneasy lest this territory belonged to the rebels. But, upon inquiry, they perceived, to their inexpressible satisfaction, themselves withing the limits of Nova Scotia, and that they town before them was a settlement which belonged to the ancient French inhabitants. Here the inhabitants were kind enough to give them ample refreshment. This place being not far distant from Annapolis, they took the first opportunity of going thither, and from thence proceeded by land to Halifax, where they got into business. James Turner and Cookson are still in this town; Thomas Turner and John Carlo, at Penobscot, and Martin Carlo, at Lunenburg.
Shortly thereafter, they are found to be in default by the court for failing to appear. They then reappear as carpenters rebuilding Fort George after the American attack on New Ireland before settling in New Brunswick.
Can anyone who is more of an expert on Revolutionary America shed some light on what may have happened here? Were they fugitives who latched onto the British cause? Were they committed Loyalists who were being dispossessed by the Revolutionary government? And, once they got to Canada, what would their lives have been like?
It sounds to me exactly as it's described. These were a group of Loyalists "impressed" (i.e. forced into service) into a Patriot militia regiment. They escaped, and with the help of another Loyalist, "Col. Jones," who lent them a boat, they were able to immigrate to Nova Scotia in 1778.
The experience in early Canada was very much a pioneer life. 1778 is pretty early, too. Most Loyalists didn't go to Canada until 1783 or later, at the tail end of the war or even years after. Once there, it was probably what you'd expect. Most were farmers who cultivated the land. Being pioneers, they also had to clear it. The early years were spent developing infrastructure as well. They built themselves log cabins and, later, houses. They built mills, stores, churches, schools, and taverns. They began clearing roads and developing reliable transportation routes, including ferries and stagecoaches. They applied for land grants from the British government in repayment for their war service, and for the land they often lost in the United States. The British government provided some provisions to these "United Empire Loyalists," including farm equipment, seeds, muskets, even glass for windows for their cabins. In the earliest days, they provided food rations, too. Though, a common complaint was that the British government was often slow to act on giving out land grants, and stingy with the provisions and rations.
One of the most trying events early on was a failed crop in 1787 due to an unseasonably cool summer in Canada. This led to the "Hungry Year" or "Scarce Year" from the winter of 1787 through the following summer, which wasn't really alleviated until the next year's autumn harvest. The son of one of the Loyalists in Ontario who lived through it described what his parents had told him about it:
"We had the luxury of a cow which the family brought with them, and had it not been for this domestic boon, all would have perished in the year of scarcity. The crops had failed the year before, and the winter that followed, was most inclement and severe. The snow was unusually deep, so that the deer became an easy prey to their rapacious enemies, the wolves, who fattened on their destruction, whilst men were perishing for want. Five individuals, in different places, were found dead, and one poor woman also, with a live infant at her breast; which was cared for and protected."
A lot of Loyalists gave up and went back to the U.S. because of this, though many could not even if they wanted to, because they faced arrest/persecution for various actions they had taken during the war.
Helpful early on were the First Nations living in the area, who the British colonists established trading relationships with, mutually aiding each other in survival during tough times. The Six Nations, part of the Iroquois Confederacy living in (what's now) New York state, were also forced out of the U.S. at the end of the war, and moved to Canada as well. The British colonists established trading relationships with them, too.
The experience got better over time, and by the time of the War of 1812, the Loyalist experience wasn't too far removed from living in the countryside in the United States. Halifax was on par with one of the smaller cities in the States, and Toronto (still called York) was on its way. Kingston wasn't too far off, either. Quebec city and Montreal had been well-established before the Loyalists arrived, but Loyalists didn't go there because that's not where the British government wanted them to go. The government were trying to get the rest of Canada settled so that they could protect their remaining North American presence, so the land grants they offered were anywhere from the Maritime Provinces all the way west to Windsor, across the river from Detroit, but few were in modern day Quebec (called "Lower Canada" at the time). The Loyalists were mainly placed in the Maritime provinces, or along the coast line of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, or the northern banks of the St. Lawrence River west of where the French were occupied.
For a lengthier sketch than the above, you may want to try Loyalists, Pioneers and Settlers of the Maritimes: A Teacher's Resource published by the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada and available on their website for free.
The most thorough resource you'll find on the pioneer Canadian experience is Early Life In Upper Canada by Edwin C. Guillet. While it's ostensibly specific to Ontario (called "Upper Canada" at the time), a lot of the material applies to the Maritime colonies as well. I highly recommend seeking out a copy of this book if the subject interests you. It'll give you all the information you want, and more, on the early days of English-speaking Canada. Unfortunately, it's out of print, but you can usually find a used copy at a decent price (considering it's over 700 pages long) on Amazon or eBay. And of course, your library may have it, and if they don't, then you can probably get it free via interlibrary loan.
More specific to Nova Scotia is This Unfriendly Soil: The Loyalist Experience in Nova Scotia 1783-1791 by Neil MacKinnon. It's worth seeking out as a good resource to understand what happened to the Loyalists in that colony in the first decade after the war.
Another great resource is While The Women Only Wept: Loyalist Refugee Women in Eastern Ontario by Janice Potter-MacKinnon. Again, while it's specific to Ontario, it gives some insight into the female experience and the pioneer experience in general in post-war Canada.
Perhaps the most widely available resource is the recent broad overview told in Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World by Maya Jasanoff. This book tries to give the experience a more narrative view, by following the lives of a few specific Loyalists to their new refugee lives. It contains more than just the Canadian experience, but all the destinations that Loyalists immigrated to. However, a couple of the chapters do deal directly with immigration to Nova Scotia and the other Maritime colonies.
A good public domain resource that includes quotes from several first-hand accounts is United Empire Loyalists: A Chronicle of the Great Migration by W. Stewart Wallace, which has some material specific to the arrival of the Loyalists in Nova Scotia and the other Maritime provinces. A similar resource is Pioneer Life Among the Loyalists in Upper Canada by W.S. Herrington.
For entirely first-hand accounts, you may want to read "The Diary of Sarah Frost, 1783" (linked there on the page) and "The Narrative of Hannah Ingraham" (also linked there on the page), which are both very brief. Both women were Loyalists who came to New Brunswick during the Loyalist migration. Frost came as an adult while Ingraham came as an eleven-year-old child. Frost's diary was written as it happened, while Ingraham's account is recollected many years after the event.
Also of interest is the brief "Autobiography of the Honorable Henry Ruttan of Cobourg, Upper Canada". Ruttan was born in 1792 in Adolphustown, Ontario, about eight years after the town was founded--the second town in British Ontario, after the military town of Kingston. His parents were among the first wave of Loyalists who came there. While it's only a second-hand account when he describes his parents' arrival, it does give insight into the pioneer experience in that province, particularly his account of growing up there in Ontario before 1810. Ruttan was a veteran of the War of 1812 on the British Canadian side, and he recounts his war experience in the text as well. Later in life, he served in Parliament and as a county sheriff.
You may also be interested in these other brief Loyalist diaries and journals that specifically detail the black experience in early Nova Scotia. Many enslaved Americans fought for the British cause who promised them freedom, and these Loyalists went North in order to gain that freedom and apply for land grants. While they faced all the same difficulties of the pioneer life as their white counterparts did, they also faced discrimination that other Loyalists did not. For a lengthier study of their experience, you may want to read The Black Loyalists: The Search For The Promised Land In Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone 1783-1870 by James W. St. G. Walker, or From Slavery To Freetown: Black Loyalists After the American Revolution by Mary Louise Clifford.
Lastly, if you have an Ancestry account, you may also want to peruse the book Loyalists and Land Settlement in Nova Scotia. It's just genealogical information, but it does look like it contains info on the land grants in Nova Scotia of the Turners you mentioned.