Background
Henry Munro was born in 1730, Scotland, the son of Robert Munro of Dingwall, near Inverness, and Anne Munro, both connected with the landed gentry.
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Henry Munro
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also known as
Harry Munro
Education
Munro attended the University of St. Andrews, where he took the degrees of bachelor and master of arts, after which he studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh.
In 1773 Henry Munro had been awarded the honorary degree of master of arts at King's College, New York, and in 1782 the University of St. Andrews conferred upon him the degree of doctor of divinity.
Career
In 1757, Munro took orders in the Church of Scotland and purchased the chaplaincy of the 77th Regiment of Highlanders, which proceeded in the same year to America. He served in this capacity for a period of six years, seeing much active service. He accompanied the regiment on the expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1758, was present at the taking of Ticonderoga and Crown Point in 1759, and at the capture of Montreal in 1760.
He later served in the West Indies with the forces which took Dominica and Martinique. His health being undermined by yellow fever, Munro obtained leave to return to New York, where he arrived about the close of the year 1762.
With the coming of peace and the reduction of his regiment, he left the military service and for a while made his residence at Princeton, New Jersey. During this period his religious views appear to have undergone a change and he decided to become a member of the Church of England.
Munro proceeded to England toward the end of 1764 and was ordained on February 10, 1765. Returning to America in the same year, he became missionary at Philipsburgh (now Yonkers), to which position he had been appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
Early in 1768 he removed to Albany, where he became rector of St. Peter's Church and also missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Munro was appointed chaplain to the military garrison at Albany in July 1770.
From 1768 until the Revolution, he was active in that portion of the New York frontier extending from Albany to Fort Stanwix. He preached in the frontier settlements and exercised considerable influence among the Indians, particularly the Mohawks. He seems to have worked in close understanding with Sir William Johnson, with whom he occasionally corresponded.
Being a Loyalist in his sympathies, Munro was seized and imprisoned at Albany late in 1776 or early in 1777. He succeeded in escaping in October 1777 and joined the British forces in Canada with which he again served for a time as chaplain. He returned to England in 1778 and in 1783 went to Scotland, where he resided until his death, which occurred on May 30, 1801, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Achievements
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Henry Munro was a noted chaplain in the British Army, who became a missionary to the Mohawk people during the 18th century. As a veteran of the French war, Henry Munro was granted a considerable tract of land between the Hudson and Lake Champlain, which he was endeavoring to settle on the eve of the Revolution. He received a grant from the British government by way of compensation for the loss of his property in America.
Politics
Henry Munro was a Loyalist in his sympathies.
Connections
Henry Munro was married three times. The name of his first wife is unknown; his second wife was Miss Stockton of Princeton; while his third, whom he married on March 31, 1766, was Eve Jay of New York, sister of Chief Justice John Jay. By her he had a son, Peter Jay Munro.
