John Little, Loyalist 1747-1817

If you connect with this family or want further information, please contact Lance E. Little

Generation No. 1


1. JOHN1 LITTLE was born 1747, and died August 24, 1817. He married ELIZABETH LYTLE (?). 

Notes for JOHN LITTLE:

John Little was a loyalist at the time of the American Revolution. He was of Irish descent.

Burial: August 26, 1817, site in along Lake Erie, eroded into Lake


Children of JOHN LITTLE and ELIZABETH LYTLE (?) are:

2. i. ELEANOR2 LITTLE, b. Abt. 1770.

3. ii. ROBERT LITTLE, b. 1771, Maryland; d. 1846.

iii. THOMAS LITTLE, b. Abt. 1773.  Thomas was apparently unmmaried. He is said to have drowned while crossing a river (some say the Detroit River, while others suggest the Thames).

4. iv. JR. JOHN LITTLE, b. 1774; d. 1842.

v. MARGARET LITTLE, b. Abt. 1775; m. WILLIAM FORSYTHE, 1794, Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

vi. INFANT LITTLE, b. 1779; d. 1779.  Died at age of three months when killed by the Seneca Indians.

5. vii. ELIZABETH LITTLE, b. Abt. 1785.

6. viii. LT. COL. JAMES WILLIAM LITTLE, b. 1791, Michigan; d. 1853.

7. ix. SARAH LITTLE, b. Abt. 1793; d. 1837.

x. WILLIAM LITTLE, b. Abt. 1796; m. LUCY.

Notes for WILLIAM LITTLE:

List of children are from a document dated 29 May 1834 belonging to (at one time) Carl
and Cyril Little of Blenheim. At the time, William Little was of Shelby Township, 
Macomb County, T.M. [Territory of Michigan], U.S.A. Leonard Lytle considered
this William to be a contemporary to John Little the Loyalist, and not to be his son. 
The Loyalists of Ontario, by William D. Reid lists William as a son to John.

Under the laws of the Territory of Michigan in 1825, there were 26 persons 
elected to membership in the legislative council, and from that number, 13 were 
selected by the President of the United States. William was elected as one of the 6
 in 1835, but was not chosen as one of the 13.

Generation No. 2


2. ELEANOR2 LITTLE (JOHN1) was born Abt. 1770. She married (1) DANIEL 
MCKILLOP. She married (2) JOHN KINZIE 1800, son of JOHN MCKENZIE
 [MCKINZIE] and ??? ???. He was born 1763 in Quebec, Canada.

Notes for ELEANOR LITTLE:

A long standing tradition in James W. Little's (Eleanor's brother) family was that 
Eleanor was carried off by Seneca Indians in 1778 in the primitive American 
Frontier. The village chief, called The Cornplanter, who later fought for the British
 in the American Revolution, adopted and raised the girl. She first married 
Daniel McKillop who was killed in the Battle of Fallen Timber. She later married John
 Kinzie (or McKinzie), an Indian trader, and the family survived the Fort Dearborn (Chicago)
Massacre.   A movie, The Indian Captive, told this story with Shirley Temple playing 
the part of Eleanor Little.

 In 1978, Mary Lou Little of Blenheim, Ontario, wife of Murray Little, a great great 
grandson of James W. Little, confirmed this with Shirley Temple Black's secretary. 
(Notes taken from the work of Eva Watson and from "The First 200 Years" of Blenheim 
and South Harwich, by Alvun Armstrong.)

Notes for DANIEL MCKILLOP:

A British officer killed in the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Notes for JOHN KINZIE:

John Kinzie was a half brother to the Forsythes. Great detail of the Kinzie branch can
 be found in books referring to the Fort Dearborn (Chicago) massacre in 1812. John
 Kinzie was one of the earliest settlers and business men at the Fort and new village
 of Chicago. He played an intricate role in the city's early development and escaped
 the massacre. Two accounts and references to the family can be found in "The Story
 of Fort Dearborn,: by J. Seymour Currey, Chicago: A. C. McClurg Co., 1912; and 
"The Chicago Massacre of 1812," by Joseph Kirkland, Chicago: The Dibble 
Publishing Company, 1893.

Children of ELEANOR LITTLE and DANIEL MCKILLOP are:

i. 3.

ii. .

iii. MARGARET MCKILLOP, m. (1) LIEUTENANT LINAI T. HELM; d. 1817, Bath, 
Stueben County, New York; m. (2) LUCIUS ABBOTT, 1836, St. James Church, 
Chicago, Illinois.



Children of ELEANOR LITTLE and JOHN KINZIE are:

8. iv. JOHN HARRIS3 KINZIE, b. July 07, 1803, Sandwich, Ontario, Canada; d. 1862.

v. ELLEN MARION KINZIE, b. December 1805, Chicago, Illinois; m. ALEXANDER WOLCOTT.

vi. MARIA INDIANA KINZIE, b. 1807, Chicago, Illinois; m. GENERAL DAVID HUNTER.

vii. ROBERT ALLEN KINZIE, b. 1810, Chicago, Illinois.

3. ROBERT2 LITTLE (JOHN1) was born 1771 in Maryland, and died 1846. He 
married SARAH TUCKER, daughter of WILLIAM TUCKER and CATHERINE 
HASEL [HEYEL HEZEL HEYL]. She was born Abt. 1778 in Harrison Twp., Macomb 
Co., Michigan, and died in Harrison Twp., Macomb Co., Michigan.

Notes for ROBERT LITTLE:

Robert Little acquired a farm in Grosse Pointe, Michigan facing Lake St. Clair. He 
sold this farm in 1794. Robert settled on Harson's Island where he leased 
land. He then moved to land he owned near Mt. Clemens and lived there. He then 
returned to Harsen's Island where he acquired land near the North Channel. 
Arthur E. Little, son of Nicholas, still held the land in 1932. After the War of 1812, 
he refused to become a loyal American and was involved in gun fight defending 
Harson's Island for the British Crown. He received Crown Grants to land in Essex 
Co. and had numerous transactions there. He then moved to Walpole Island, 
which at the time was populated by whites. Later, the Canadian Government
 purchased the island to become an Indian reservation and he once again was
forced farther east, this time to Wallaceburg, Ontario. Robert was probably 
married a second time, this wife being the mother of Nelson and almost certainly 
Matthew. Sarah is said to have died 3 years after Hiram was born.

Notes for SARAH TUCKER:

The last three children of Robert Little may have been from a second marriage.

Children of ROBERT LITTLE and SARAH TUCKER are:

9. i. JACOB3 LITTLE.

10. ii. MATTHEW LITTLE.

11. iii. THOMAS LITTLE.

12. iv. ELIZABETH LITTLE, b. Abt. 1791.

13. v. GEORGE LITTLE, b. 1795, Territory of Michigan (Brittish); d. April 1876, 
Chatham Gore, Kent County, Ontario.

14. vi. WILLIAM LITTLE, b. Abt. 1797.

15. vii. ROBERT LITTLE, b. April 28, 1803, Baldoon Settlement, Ontario; d. July 04, 1878, 
Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan.

16. viii. NICHOLAS LITTLE, b. October 18, 1817, Harsen's Island, Michigan; 
d. August 12, 1895.

17. ix. HIRAM LITTLE, b. 1821, Michigan.

x. CAPTAIN NELSON LITTLE, b. April 06, 1833; m. (1) SALOME F. STONE, 1854; 
b. Vermillion, Erie County, Ohio; m. (2) MARTHA MATHERS OR MATTHEWS, 
Aft. 1883.



4. JR. JOHN2 LITTLE (JOHN1) was born 1774, and died 1842. He married 
MARY COLLIER 1807. She was born 1791.

Children of JOHN LITTLE and MARY COLLIER are:

18. i. JOHN S.3 LITTLE.

ii. WILLIAM LITTLE.

5. ELIZABETH2 LITTLE (JOHN1) was born Abt. 1785. She married (1) NICHOLAS 
LYTLE. She married (2) THOMAS MCRAE January 04, 1803 in Wayne County, 
Michigan, son of THOMAS MCRAE. 

Notes for ELIZABETH LITTLE:

It is probably this Elizabeth (Eliza) who later married Nicholas Lytle of Colchester.

Notes for NICHOLAS LYTLE:Nicholas Lytle was of Colchester.

Notes for THOMAS MCRAE:In 1809, Thomas McRae petitioned for a divorce, 
alleging that his wife had left him in 1807.

Children of ELIZABETH LITTLE and NICHOLAS LYTLE are:

19. i. SARAH ANN3 LYTLE.

ii. MARY LYTLE, m. ??? MCCONNESS, Bef. 1825.

iii. GEORGE LYTLE, b. September 20, 1809; d. May 08, 1810.

iv. WELLINGTON LYTLE, b. August 19, 1815; d. February 15, 1816.



Children of ELIZABETH LITTLE and THOMAS MCRAE are:

v. ALEXANDER3 MCRAE, b. Abt. 1803.

vi. THOMAS MCRAE, b. Abt. 1805.

vii. WILLIAM MCRAE, b. Abt. 1807.

6. LT. COL. JAMES WILLIAM2 LITTLE (JOHN1) was born 1791 in Michigan, 
and died 1853. He married CATHERINE MCGREGOR January 04, 1819. She was 
born 1801 in Essex County, Ontario, Canada, and died 1878.

Children of JAMES LITTLE and CATHERINE MCGREGOR are:

20. i. JOHN3 LITTLE.

ii. RICHARD LITTLE.

iii. ARTHUR LITTLE.

iv. MAY BE FOUR MORE CHILDREN.

v. JANE LITTLE, b. October 05, 1819.

vi. ELLEN ELIZABETH LITTLE, b. 1825.

21. vii. JR. JAMES W. LITTLE, b. Abt. February 1832; d. November 11, 1904.

7. SARAH2 LITTLE (JOHN1) was born Abt. 1793, and died 1837. She married 
JOHN MELDRUM October 06, 1812 in St. John's Church, Sandwich, Ontario, 
son of GEORGE MELDRUM and ANGELICA CHAPOTON. He was born Abt. 1788 
in Detroit, Michigan, and died 1829.


Children of SARAH LITTLE and JOHN MELDRUM are:

i. JANE3 MELDRUM.

ii. GEORGE MELDRUM, b. June 09, 1815; d. Bef. 1845; m. VICTORIA GREFFARD; 
b. January 03, 1817.

iii. ELIZABETH MELDRUM, b. July 08, 1816.

22. iv. MATILDA MELDRUM, b. December 25, 1818; d. October 08, 1886, Detroit.

v. JOHN T. MELDRUM, b. 1823; m. CATHERINE JOSEPHINE CAMPAU, May 10, 1852, 
Ste. Anne, Detroit; b. May 20, 1832, Detroit.

23. vi. ANNE MELDRUM, b. April 01, 1823, Detroit, Michigan; d. January 19, 1905, Holland, Michigan.