June 18, 1812 – February 18, 1815

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Click on the Map above to tour our Niagara County War of 1812 historical sites!

Image of the death of General Brock at the Battle of Queenston Heights by John David Kelly

October 13, 1812, an invasion into Canada was launched from Lewiston, setting the tone for the brutal war of 1812.
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​December, 1812, the British and their allies invade Lewiston. The dead were thrown into houses and the village was burned. Those who were able to flee ran from a legion of raiders and would be dead had the Tuscarora Nation not stalled the invaders in their pursuit.
​They halted their escape just long enough to warn the Widow Forsyth and beg her to follow them to the depot in Orleans... but she chose to stay.
​As the ruins of Lewiston were covered in snow and the livestock of her neighbors starved in the cold winter's nights, the Widow Forsyth and her two children remained.
​Her Tavern became an outpost where she took on the company of Sargent Ezra Warren and from there her kitchen supplied the garrison at Hardscrabble.
​Her town and her county were nothing more than ghost towns for two years and she and her children lived and farmed until reinforcements would be sent to retake Lewiston. Youngstown would not be reclaimed until the war had ended and it would take years more to rebuild the desolated villages of Niagara.
Mary and her family remained in the tavern and steadfast as she was, she is buried there as well.
​This is our War of 1812 story.

​If we caught your interest, come visit us and we will tell you more.

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Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie by Thomas Birch