Percifer Carr (also given variously as ''Parsifer'', ''Persifor'', ''Persefer'' and ''Persafor'' Carr) (died 1804) was a British allied

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

living in what is now

Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The county's population center is Oneonta. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word m ...

around the time of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Carr served as a

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

with

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

William Edmeston in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

and was later employed as an agent for Edmeston and his brother Robert in establishing claims on tracts of land on the eastern bank of the

Unadilla River The Unadilla River is a river in the Central New York Region of New York State. The river begins northeast of the hamlet of Millers Mills and flows generally south to the village of Sidney, where it converges with the Susquehanna River, which d ...

just west of

George Croghan George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Cou ...

's Otsego

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

near what is now the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of South Edmeston in the Town of Edmeston. Carr was then made caretaker for these tracts, which became known as '' Mount Edmeston'' (also known as ''Edmeston Plantation'', ''Edmeston Manor'', ''Carr's Garden'', and commonly ''the Carr farm''). The Edmeston brothers returned to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but sent a number of settlers, likely including some Irish

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as paymen ...

s, back to their estate. In 1773, William returned to Mount Edmeston to personally supervise its development, and by 1775, its population was nearing 100. With the advent of the Revolutionary War, Edmeston, now a British

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, was detained by American

patriots A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

in the eastern part of the state and Carr continued to manage Mount Edmeston. But, as a known

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

, he was suspected by patriots at Cherry Valley and German Flatts of selling provisions to

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in what is today Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain du ...

. In September 1778, a group of Native Americans who were allied with the British, mistakenly set Carr's house on fire and carried him and his wife to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

through the Niagara region. At least one account has stated that Carr was treated very poorly, having been forced to lie down in steams to allow his captors to use his body as a

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

. Carr and his wife returned to Mount Edmeston in 1783. Major Edmeston who had returned to duty in Europe, hired Carr to rebuild his estate, but in 1788, Robert Edmeston returned to America and fired Carr. John Tunnicliff, an influential farmer in the area, tried to mediate the dispute, but, as Tunnicliff reported in a letter to William Cooper, his efforts proved fruitless, even though Carr's friends and neighbors signed an affidavit testifying to his "frugal & industrious" dealings on behalf of his landlord. Carr's direct appeal for relief to William Edmeston, on the grounds of old age and a "State of absolute Penury", was equally without success. Finally, however, a small piece of property was secured for him, and Carr remained in Otsego County until his death in 1804, when he was buried on John Tunnicliff's farm near Schuyler Lake.

References

Pioneers of Edmeston, Otsego County, New York.
* William Edmeston's 1767-1769 letters to Percifer Carr * Joseph Brant's 1777 and 1778 letters to Percifer Carr {{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Percifer Year of birth missing 1804 deaths People from Edmeston, New York Northamptonshire Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of the French and Indian War