In this Episode, we talk with #NiagaraontheLake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and CEO and Curator Sarah Kaufman of the Niagara on the Lake Museum.  (Sarah is now Curator at the Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum as of January 2026.)  They both discuss the importance of the Town of Niagara on the Lake in the history of Ontario, Canada and in the #Warof1812 in particular. 

 Of great importance, they say, is to remember the past and the personal stories that help us remember our history.  The Lord Mayor hopes that future Lord Mayors may come to see that as well.

Gary Zalepa is the current Lord Mayor of the Town of Niagara on the Lake (since 2022) and previously served as a Town Councillor and Regional Councillor.  He has more than 30 years of business and volunteer experience (including as a hockey referee and coach) and studied Business and Political Science at Brock University.War

Sarah Kaufman was the CEO and Curator of the Niagara on the Lake Museum for 15 years.  She was responsible for the day to day operations as well as management, research and exhibits of the Museum’s collection.  She curated a number of exhibits on local history and the War of 1812.

Today we welcome Carl Benn, PhD, an Author and Professor of History to talk about the life of John Norton or Teyoninhokarawen.John Norton was an important war chief and diplomatic figure among the Grand River Haudenosaunee (or Six Nations Iroquois) in Upper Canada at the time of the War of 1812.

John Norton saw more action during the War of 1812 than almost anyone else, being present at the fall of Detroit; the capture of Fort Niagara; the battles of Queenston Heights, Fort George, Stoney Creek, Chippawa, and Lundy’s Lane; the blockades of Forts George and Erie, as well as a large number of skirmishes and front-line patrols.  Norton’s memoir on the War of 1812, annotated by Professor Benn, describes the fighting, the stresses suffered by Indigenous peoples, and the complex relationships between the Haudenosaunee and both their British allies and other First Nations communities. Professor Benn's deep knowledge and insight into the life and deeds of John Norton and the Six Nations of the Grand River is foremost; anyone interested in this topic will hopefully listen to our Podcast and read his book.

 Dr. Carl Benn joined Toronto Metropolitan University in 2008 as both a faculty member and Chair of the Department of History. Before then, he worked in the museum field for several decades, where he fulfilled senior curatorial and managerial duties, restored historical properties, curated exhibits and period-room settings, and produced educational and other public services. Dr. Benn’s extensive publications include six history books. His most recent is A Mohawk Memoir from the War of 1812: John Norton – Teyoninhokarawen (2019). In 2020, it won the Canadian Historical Association’s Clio Prize for the best book on the history of Ontario.  Currently he is writing a book on the history of the Royal Ontario Museum. 

Today we are joined by Stephen Wesley, a 14th generation descendant of Black Migration to Atlantic Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada.   Blacks migrated to Atlantic Canada after the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 as the British offered freedom to those who would fight with them against the Americans.  (White United Empire Loyalists (UELs) also left the US with black slaves, but these were eventually given their freedom.)

Stephen tells of the harsh early conditions and hardships:  the ability to survive was built out of grit..determination . faith...we're here now...this is our home now ..and we're going to make a life as best as we possibly can.

With the help of his Aunt’s book[1], Stephen traces his family tree to the present 14th generation of which he is a part.  He tells some surprising stories of his ancestors, including an early interracial marriage and of his great great grandfather who was denied the ability to fight in battle for Canada in WW1.

Given the wide diversity of people from all races, colours and backgrounds over the 14 generations in his Family Tree, he concludes by saying:  I see people around the world...different colours...different languages...but we're of the human race....and this story...my blood story. and most of ours  blood story .....tells us that we are all connected.

[1] Africa's Children A History of Blacks in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia by Sharon Robart-Johnson, Dundurn Press, (2009)

Additional Note:  The Canadian novelist Lawrence Hill wrote The Book of Negroes (2007), inspired by the 3,000 former Black African Slaves from America, many of whom were owned by White slave owners. The Former Black African slaves were given free land and housing by the British, in a Nova Scotia town called Birchtown, named after the original author of "The Book of Negros" British Brigadier General Samuel Birch.

Stephen Wesley was born on an army base in Northern Ontario, raised in Germany and educated in America.  He earned a Bachelor of Theology from Portland Bible College (1982-1986) and was initiated into  full-time ministry in Uganda, East Africa.  Stephen works with Beyond Borders Ministries in Hamilton, Ontario and has traveled and ministered widely, notably in Romania, Puerto Rico, Israel, Nigeria, Kenya, and Haiti. 

Today we talk once again with the late Donald E Graves, North America’s foremost historian on the War of 1812.Before his passing, Don sat down with us on location and covered a myriad of topics related to this pivotal time in North amerian History.  His knowledge of the period is encyclopedic and his has the best of colourful anecdotes that best illustrate the people and the situations they found themselves at the time.In this episode, entitled Life, Love and Death in the War of 1812, Don tells us of eating, drinking, entertainment, romance, death and dying, mostly with colourful anecdotes and surprising characters.

Donald E. Graves (1949-2025) was a Canadian historian specializing in military history, especially the War of 1812.  He is the author, co-author or editor of nearly two dozen books. including The Forgotten Soldiers’ Trilogy, three books (Field of Glory, Where Right and Glory Lead, and All Their Glory Past) which cover the major engagements in the northern theatre of the War of 1812.  He has been employed as a military historian by the Canadian National Historic Sites Service, the National Archives of Canada and
the Canadian Department of National Defence.

He was educated at the University of Saskatchewan and at Carleton University, where he took an MA in history.

Photo Credit:  Niagara Falls Museum

Photo Credit:  Title: A soldier's wife at Fort Niagara / engd. by T. Walker, 1860. [Old Fort Niagara, Library of Congress] This week Kate (Catharine) Emerson, Niagara County NY Historian, talks to us about the Turbulent Lives of Andrew and Betsy Doyle.  Kate recently carried out detailed historical research on primary sources, proving that Betsy (Fannie) was indeed a heroine in the War of 1812 and not a myth or legend as suggested by many who learned of her story. Betsy (a.k.a. Fannie or Mary) Doyle was born in 1790 in New York State and her husband Andrew in 1788 but as a British Subject in St Davids Ontario.  Andrew enlisted as Private in 1st Regiment of US Artillery on Feb 2, 1810 and was stationed at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY when the War of 1812 broke out.  In October 1812, Andrew took part in the invasion of Canada at the Battle of Queenston Heights and he was one of many soldiers captured by the British.  When British officers learned that Andrew had been born in Canada, he was treated as a traitor rather than a Prisoner of War and threatened with execution.  He was then sent to England and incarcerated in the infamous Dartmoor Prison. Betsy knew of her husband’s capture but would not see him again.  In November, when Fort Niagara and the British Fort George across the river fought in a fierce daylong bombardment, Betsy Doyle spent the day carrying red-hot cannonballs, called hotshot, to an artillery piece on the third floor of the French Castle.  And the year following in December, Betsy donned the accoutrements of a soldier and stood a turn at guard duty to embarrass the other timid militiamen.  When British forces attacked the Fort in the pre-dawn hours of December 19, Betsy fled with four children in tow, making her way to the U.S. Army Camp at Greenbush, near Albany, New York. When the War of 1812 ended and prisoners were released, Andrew Doyle returned to the United States but never located Betsy. Today, Betsy is honoured by a historical marker and two plaques on the third floor of the French Castle, very near the spot where she handed hotshot off to gunners on that turbulent day in November 1812.

Catharine (Kate) Emerson serves as the official Niagara County Historian in Lockport, NY, USA.  She is responsible for preserving and promoting the rich local history of the Niagara County Region.  Her role and activities include the handling of historical and genealogical research, public talks on local historical topics, participation in local heritage events and appearing on Podcasts! She was educated at Boston University from where she holds an MA in American History.

Today we talk with eminent War of 1812 historian Donald R Hickey about his latest book. Tecumseh & the Epic Conflict for the Heart of America.

Tecumseh ( c. 1768 – October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands.  Even though his efforts to unite Native Americans ended with his death in the War of 1812, he became an iconic folk hero in American, Indigenous, and Canadian popular history.

Tecumseh's war by contrast is commonly lost in the story of the War of 1812.  Tecumseh's war began seven months beforehand with the Battle of Tippecanoe in West Central Indian and ended 10 months the Treaty of Ghent closed out the war of 1812.  It took 20 treaties with 30 different bands to end Tecumseh's War.

There are several reasons for treating Tecumseh's war as distinct from the war of 1812:  1.  the cast of characters was overlapping but not identical; 2. Tecumseh's war was brought on by land session treaties imposed by the United States while the war 1812 by maritime issues (i.e. neutral rights); 3. the stakes were different (i.e. the settlement of lands in the Old Northwest); 4. the end to the British policy of cultivating Indians as a counter weight to the growing insurgency in the south.

Donald R Hickey is an award-winning author and historian.  Called the Dean of 1812 scholarship by the New Yorker, Don has written 12 books, including the highly acclaimed The War of 1812:  A Forgotten Conflict.  He received the Samuel Elliott Morrison Award from the USS Constitution Museum and has done extensive consulting for historical parks, museums, and government agencies.  His Website is  hickeyhistory.com 

On this Canada Day, Marinus talks to retired Professor of History and Author Dr Wesley Turner, on the Life, Career and Death of Sir Isaac Brock, the Hero of Upper Canada, who led British "Redcoat" Regulars, Canadian Militia and Indigenous forces against American Invasion in the Fall of 1812.  Brock was born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands in 1769 and joined the British Army at the age of 15.  In 1802 he was assigned to British North America and in 1811 as the President and Commander of the Province of Upper Canada.  He died prematurely at the age of 43 while leading a detachment of regulars and militia in an unsuccessful counterattack against American forces who had taken Queenston Heights on October 13th, 1812.

This week Donald E Graves, Canada’s foremost historian on the War of 1812, tells the story of two junior officers during the conflict, William J Worth, an American, and John LeCouteur, a British soldier from the island of Jersey.

William J Worth (1794-1849) was an American officer during the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican–American War.  In 1812 at the age of 18 he enlisted as a private and was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in March 1813. He served as an aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott, distinguished himself at the battles of Chippawa and Lundy’s Lane during the Niagara campaign and was promoted as a result.

John LeCouteur (1794-1875) from Saint Aubin, Jersey joined the 104th Regiment in Saint John, New Brunswick in June 1812.  With only 3.000 troops to defend 1,100 miles of frontier, Commander-in-Chief Geroge Prevost ordered this regiment to march 700 miles across difficult terrain in extreme winter conditions from Fredericton to defend Kingston in Upper Canada.  LeCouteur kept a detailed account of the march, which lasted from 21 February to 12 April 1813 in a journal.   LeCouteur later took part in the Siege of Fort Erie, the battles of Sackett’s Harbour and Lundy’s Lane.  His War of 1812 memoirs, entitled Merry Hearts Make Light Days, was published and edited by Donald Graves.

Donald E. Graves is a Canadian historian specializing in military history, especially the War of 1812.  He is the author, co-author or editor of nearly two dozen books. including Merry Hearts Make Light Days, the memoirs of John LeCouteur.  His others works include The Forgotten Soldiers’ Trilogy, three books (Field of Glory, Where Right and Glory Lead, and All Their Glory Past) which cover the major engagements in the northern theatre of the War of 1812.  He has been employed as a military historian by the Canadian National Historic Sites Service, the National Archives of Canada and.the Canadian Department of National Defence. He was educated at the University of Saskatchewan and at Carleton University, where he took an MA in history.

This week our guest is Zig Misiak, Author, Army Veteran and friend of the Six Nations.  They talk about the origin and development of the Six Nations Reserve along the Grand River and their participation in the War of 1812.  They focus on their differences in supporting the British in the War and the support of some Six Nations for the American side.  Finally they discuss the outcome of the War for the Indigenous and for the Six Nations in particular.

Zig Misiak is a highly respected, award-winning Canadian author of First Nations books and educational resources.  Zig has authored several children’s books on Indigenous culture as well as articles on the history of First Nations, including on the War of 1812.  Most recently he completed the biography of Jay Silverheels, “Tonto” from the Lone Ranger television series.

Zig has been a re-enactor across Eastern North America at major historical events e.g. Caldwell’s Rangers in the War of 1812; he is a Canadian Army Veteran (RHLI) Royal Hamilton Light Infantry and is the recipient of many awards and recognitions, incl. As President of Real People’s History.  Zig has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He lives in Brantford, ON not far from the Six Nations Reservation and can be contacted via his website https://www.canadianauthoreducation.com.

This week Marinus and Peter Meyler, local historian from Orangeville Ontario, discuss the remarkable life of Richard Pierpoint (1744–1838), a black slave who was abducted from his home in Senegal at the age of 16.  He fought with the British in Butler's Rangers during the American Revolutionary War and then in the War of 1812 in Upper Canada.  When Butler’s Rangers were disbanded at Niagara, he received a land grant and settled in the area.  At the outbreak of the War of 1812 at the age of 68 he helped form the Coloured Corps.  After the War the aged Pierpoint was granted land in present-day Fergus, Ontario.  Remarkably he fulfilled the required settlement duties while over the age of 80.

Peter Meyler is an author and historian and is the co-author of A Stolen Life: Searching for Richard Pierpoint, which tells the story of one of Ontario's first African settlers.  He has written numerous articles about Ontario's Black History, which have appeared in such publications as The Beaver and the Toronto Star.  Peter operates his own business providing forms management, graphic design and writing services and studied graphic design at Sheridan College in Oakville.