Oh, Canada!

An Interesting Mix
It appears that the rejection of Puritanism ran wider than religious conviction. The Dakin brood had a diverse and complex expression of loyalties and aversions. After Timothy became Quaker and moved with his wife Lydia to New Amsterdam (Dutch colony) there seems to be a partial change of direction in the next generation. Thomas, who was mentioned briefly in the last post, reverses field, at least in political pursuasion.

Heading North
A year after his mother's last child was born, twenty-five year old Thomas Dakin was married to Rebecca Hitchcock in near by Amenia, New York (1772). Rebecca was from the Connecticut coastal town of Norwalk some 25 miles south of Danbury. They began having children 8 years later with Daniel (1780). Three years later, with a second child in tow, the Dakins move from New York to Digby, Nova Scotia. There the rest of the Dakins were born in or around Digby: Isaac (1783), Jacob (1786), Rebecca (1788), William F. (1791), and Thomas (1796).


While today moves are often inspired by economic pressures, in these early years, as we have seen, families move in response to religious and political forces (which may also have economic implications). Thomas and Rebecca seemed to have moved to Digby, because they were Loyalists to the Crown.

A Political Flavor
In 1783, Admiral Robert Digby established Digby, Nova Scotia. The central theme of the new municipality was loyalty to the King (George III, no less). The movement at the time was called United Empire Loyalists and many American loyalists became part of the colony. Thomas' name appears among 300 others on a Land Grant of Confirmation for Digby February 20, 1784. As recently as 2008 there was a Dakin reunion in colaboration with 3 other families gathering 75 people from California, Texas, and other unlikely contributors to Nova Scotia. Even more surprising was that these families celebrated their Loyalist roots!

The Trades
The Nova Scotian Dakins that followed were particularly focused on shipbuilding out of near by Centreville and fishing out of Grand Harbour, New Brunswick. One of the oldest structures in Digby is still known as the Woodrow/Dakin House. For other interesting bits of history Google: Admiral Digby Museum.

The Next Generation of Canadian Dakins
The last of Thomas' offspring was, again, Thomas (b. Trout Cove, 24 October, 1796) The children seem to have taken turns being born either in Digby or Trout Cove, a near by town. Thomas married Eliza Morton (b 21, April, 1800) in May, 1822. Eliza was born in Digby Neck, another Digby spinoff. Their children consolidated their landings in one place: Centreville, NS. They were Lucy Ann, Charles Morton, Isaac, Silas, Robert Henry, Margaret Catharine, Albion Leonard, Solomon Morton, Thomas Allen and Mary Eliza (died as a child).

This is the Isaac We Are Looking For
This Isaac Dakin is the one we know from Laurel Glen. He was born in Centreville, Nova Scotia. but the next time we hear from him he is living in Stockton, California and courting a young woman named Laura Maria Jameson. Stay tuned.