In this issue:

 

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2025 UELAC Conference:
The conference has lots to do — see Conference 2025 details.

“Finding Loyalists in the Maritimes and Beyond: Getting the Most Out of Your Research”
By Dr. Leah Grandy

Leah will discuss how to approach researching individual loyalists from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and the types of sources and documents she recommends, which will also likely be applicable to other areas of Loyalist settlement in what became Canada. She will also go over “best practices” for researchers from the perspective of someone who works at a library and archives.

Leah Grandy, PhD
Leah Grandy holds a PhD in History and has been working in libraries and archives for more than 15 years. Her specialties include Atlantic Provinces History, New Brunswick History, Sport History, Loyalists, Genealogy, Palaeography, Working with Primary Sources, and Newspapers. She has been involved in a number of digital history projects such at the “New Brunswick Loyalist Journeys” story maps, “Atlantic Loyalist Connections” blog, and the New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project. She frequently assists UELAC members in their research journeys, and a has a number of the Loyal/Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers in her own family tree.

Hear Leah on Friday July 11 at 10:30 in Saint John, NB.

Hope to see you there…

UELAC AGM for Members: AGM Package Now Available
A comprehensive package of materials for the AGM is now available in the Members’ Section at uelac.ca – member logon required. This package contains

  • The informaiton previously available, such as registration, notice of meeting etc.
  • Reports by the many committees
  • Financial reports
  • Nomination details for the Board of Directors and Awards
  • and more

Registration:
Registration by members is required to attend the AGM; the deadline for members attendance is 18 May
Deadline for proxies varies according to the status of the proxy-holder, the first deadline is 28 April.

Please review the package and understand better the scope of the effort by many volunteers to keep UELAC running, and of the many projects being managed by the various committees.

William Augustus Bowles: A Complicated Loyalist. Part Two of Two
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
At the end of the American Revolution, hundreds of Loyalists who had homes in the rebellious southern colonies initially sought sanctuary in the West Indies and East Florida. The latter — once a Spanish colony– had been in British hands since 1763, but with the conclusion of the war had been given back to Spain. Florida’s Loyalists were forced to seek refuge in the West Indies, Nova Scotia, and Great Britain.
Among those who found refuge in the West Indies were members of Indigenous tribes and William Bowles, a young Loyalist who had wives from both the Cherokee and Creek Nations.
According to historian Will D. Thomas, Bowles settled in Providence, where – by partnering with John Murray, the governor of the Bahamas—he hoped to sell arms and trade goods to Indigenous allies in East Florida. But beyond establishing a business venture, Bowles had also set his sights on becoming a leader of the Creek people.
When a council meeting of Seminole and Lower Creek nations was held at the Chattahoochee River basin in Georgia in 1789, Bowles declared himself the estajoca (chief and director general) of the Creek Confederation. He vowed to go to Great Britain to obtain formal recognition of the Muscogee Nation – an Indigenous nation along the Gulf of Mexico’s northern shores, situated between American and Spanish territories. In his memoir, Bowles claimed that 20,000 warriors had made him their ambassador to King George III. It was a bold move for a 26 year-old white man born to parents in Maryland.
It is difficult to determine Bowles’ motives. Was he simply making sure that his business interests in the Bahamas had a secure trading partner along Florida’s gulf coast? Having lived among the Creek and Cherokee for many years, was he seeking nationhood to protect the people that had made him one of their own? Or was he simply a vain young man, greedy for power and influence?
Whatever his reasons, Bowles along with five Creek and Cherokee followers set sail for Britain from the Bahamas in 1789. Their ship only got as far as Halifax, Nova Scotia. There, Bowles was able to persuade John Parr, the colony’s governor, to draw on funds to enable his party to sail for Quebec City to confer with an old acquaintance. Three years after serving as the British commander-in-chief in New York City, Sir Guy Carleton was now Lord Dorchester, the governor–in-chief of the British North American colonies. Bowles sought out Dorchester, hoping to win his favour for the idea of an Indigenous state.
Historians at Princeton University note that “Dorchester was skeptical and told Bowles that he could neither advise him to proceed to England nor to return home… but in the end, he advanced £100 to replenish their exhausted funds” in July of 1790.
By November of that year, Bowles and his party of 5 Indigenous men were in Great Britain. Carrying the flag of the Muskogee Nation that he had designed, Bowles sought out the protection of the king and his country.
A chance encounter with Benjamin Baynton, a loyalist veteran who had fought alongside Bowles in Florida, led to the 1791 publication of a pamphlet-size memoir of Bowles’ life. Titled Authentic Memoirs of William Augustus Bowles, Esquire, Ambassador from the United Nations of Creeks and Cherokees to the Court of London, the pamphlet was just one means that Bowles employed to make his case for the official recognition of an Indigenous state.
Clearly aware of how to make a name for himself, Bowles had his portrait painted by Thomas Hardy, a noted British artist in the same year that Baynton published his memoir. Most renowned for his portrait of Joseph Haydn, Hardy’s work would one day grace the walls of the British Museum. While it is hard to fathom how Bowles secured the services of such a talented artist, it is no surprise to learn that he had Hardy paint him in traditional Creek attire.*** He also was able to be mentioned within the pages of the Gentleman’s Magazine, a monthly journal for Britain’s educated public.
The historian Maya Jasanoff notes that Bowles managed to secure some limited backing from the crown. “At the time, the conventional wisdom was that the United States would probably fragment and the British were looking to improve their position in North America.”
By December of 1791, Bowles had returned to Creek country in East Florida, and brought himself to the attention of Thomas Jefferson by describing himself as “having received powers from the British government” as its representative and agent. British officials in the United States were quick to inform the American government that Bowles’ claims were “wholly groundless“.
Meanwhile, Bowles denounced an earlier treaty made between the United States and the Creek in 1790, urging his Indigenous followers to work with northern tribes to secure better terms for themselves from the American government.
In January of 1792, Bowles was acting more like a profit-seeking trader than a diplomat. After he led a raid on a trading post, Spanish authorities arrested him in February. It was the beginning of the end for the ambitious Loyalist.
Incarcerated in Havana at first, Bowles spent the next seven years as a prisoner in Cuba, Spain, and the Philippines. When his prison ship was sailing for Spain from the Philippines off of West Africa, Bowles managed to escape and found refuge in Freetown, Sierra Leone – a settlement established by Black Loyalists from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia just half a dozen years earlier.
After making his way to England, Bowles returned to Florida in 1799. He declared Muskogee an independent and sovereign nation — and announced that he was its director general and commander in chief.
If Bowles had had his way, Muskogee would have included portions of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Its capital was Miccosukee, near present day Tallahassee, Florida. However, Bowles’ bold declarations received limited recognition.
On April 5, 1800, Bowles declared war on Spain, but by 1803 he no longer enjoyed any form of British support. The United States and Spain conspired to end Bowles’ reign. Lured to a council meeting in Tuckabatchee, Alabama by George Washington’s Indian agent, Bowles was captured and sent to the Spanish governor in Pensacola, the site where all of his adventures in Florida had begun 20 years earlier.
Spanish officials put William Bowles in prison in Havana, Cuba. Three years later he died – a death that, like Bowles’ life, has a variety of versions. One account claims that he lost all hope of release, refused to eat, and died in December of 1805. Another describes his death as a suicide. Others claim he was poisoned or mistreated.
The historian David Dean concludes his examination of Bowles’ life, saying that he was “42 at the time of his death, having spent 26 years living on the edge; his dream of an independent country for his adopted Creeks dying with him … Having dared much, he lost it all in the end, and though there is much to be complained of in William Augustus Bowles’ character, certainly two things can be said in his defense: He remained loyal to Britain until the end, and he certainly did not lack courage. Loyalty and Valor do not a bad epitaph make.”
(Thanks go out to Bertrand Roehner for bringing Bowles to my attention. –S.D.)
*** portrait of William August Bowles
 To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

The Extraordinary Genesis of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York, 1776
by Stuart Lyall Manson 8 Apr 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
In 1776, the Declaration of Independence charted a new autonomous path for thirteen of Britain’s North American colonies. One of the document’s many allegations was that British authorities had “excited domestic insurrections amongst us.”[1] While its context largely pointed towards Native Americans, another inspiration for this grievance may have been the embodying of Loyalist regiments in 1775 and 1776. Eventually thousands of colonists joined these military units to preserve the North American portion of the British Empire. Two weeks before the enactment of the Declaration of Independence, one of these Loyalist regiments was formed under extraordinary circumstances: The King’s Royal Regiment of New York commanded by Sir John Johnson.
Ironically, the unit was founded not in the colony of New York, but rather in Québec, also commonly referred to as Canada. In the early summer of 1776, Québec Gov. Guy Carleton was completing the colony’s liberation from a Rebel army. The year before, a force under generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold had invaded Québec, conquering the settled areas up to the walls of the City of Québec. In the spring of 1776 a British relief force arrived, which ousted the occupiers in an ensuing campaign. At the tail end of this operation, Carleton unexpectedly encountered New York resident Sir John Johnson and 200 of his refugee neighbors near Montréal.
Johnson was a large landowner in the Mohawk River area in the colony of New York, and more importantly, a notorious Loyalist. He and his weary group had just escaped a grim situation in central New York, whose Loyalist and Rebel factions were hurtling towards civil war. Soon after meeting Johnson near Montréal, Carleton wrote to Secretary of State for the Colonies, George Germain, relaying intelligence conveyed by the refugee Loyalist leader: “He represents to me that there are considerable numbers of people, in the part of the country he comes from, who remain steadily attached to His Majesty’s Government and who would take up arms in its defence had they sufficient protection . . . in the meantime they suffer all the miseries that the persecuting spirit of the rebels is able to inflict upon them.” Read more…

“The Flockey” Jacob Zimmer’s Story of Captivity at the Hands of McDonell and Crysler, Based on his Firsthand Account
By Mark Stolzenburg, Schoharie County Historical Society
NOTE by Mark: Please find attached an adapted version of my recent article from the Schoharie County Historical Review and the map that accompanies it. In it I offer a firsthand perspective from the Loyalist camp of Adam Crysler and John McDonell in the Schoharie Valley in the days before the Battle of the Flockey. It adds some newly documented detail to Gavin Watt’s 2013 “The Flockey, 13 August 1777, The Defeat of the Tory Uprising in the Schoharie Valley.”
Jacob Zimmer’s petition of March 1781 to the NYS Assembly is valuable as an American Revolutionary War firsthand historical account. The narrative tells us about his captivity with the Tories (Loyalists) during the Schoharie Valley Loyalist uprising that culminated with the Battle of the Flockey. The recently uncovered handwritten document, now at the NYS Archives, was originally intended to prove to the legislators that Jacob’s brother, William, was with John McDonell’s and Adam Crysler’s Tories against his will in August 1777 in the upper Schoharie Valley. Jacob sought to protect his brother, a convicted Loyalist, from state confiscation of his farm. In doing so, Jacob narrated a statement that provided enough details to convince the Assembly that he was indeed there as a prisoner himself and witness to his brother’s situation in the Tory camp. My transcription of Jacob’s actual statement, as sworn before Assemblyman Isaac Vrooman, is attached to the original article in the Schoharie County Historical Review as an appendix.
Jacob’s story, which follows here, is the likely scenario of his capture and three- or four-days’ captivity with the Tories based on the observations he presented in his statement. I have tried not to make Jacob’s story a retelling of the Battle of the Flockey. It should be looked at as incorporating Jacob’s firsthand perspective into the description and timeline that Jeptha Simms, Gavin Watt, and Jeff O’Connor have documented for events leading up to the engagement at the Flockey. Currently accepted spelling of names has been used to be consistent with other authors. Read Jacob’s Story…

The Loyalists who built Digby’s first Methodist Church
By Brian McConnell, UE *
Although the first church built by the United Empire Loyalists who settled Digby, Nova Scotia
was Trinity Anglican, a church was started a few years later by their children which was
Methodist.
The origins of Methodism in Digby are traced to missionaries who served the Black Loyalists
there in the 1780s. Freeborn Garretson, the American Methodist evangelist visited the town in
1785 soon after its founding. William Black, the “father” of Methodism in the Maritime
provinces remained some weeks in the area. Through their work a Methodist Society was set
up in Brinley Town, an area outside Digby occupied by Black settlers. Some had been members
of the Black Pioneers, a regiment that was part of the British cause against the American rebels
during the American Revolution.
The Methodist Society totaled 78 persons. By the summer of 1786 there were 66 of African
descent. However, in 1792 when over a thousand persons sailed from Halifax to Freetown in
Africa to establish the colony of Sierra Leone many of the Methodist Blacks of Digby were
among them. Read more…

Father Pierre Gibault, Revolutionary Priest
by Steven M. Baule 10 April 2025 Journal of the American Revolutionary
The Revolutionary War in the Ohio and Upper Mississippi River Valleys is generally looked upon as a side show to the main conflict along the Atlantic Seaboard. However, the impact of the forces in the Old Northwest Territory was much greater than their small size could have anticipated. Historian Pauline Peyton posited that had the British retained the Old Northwest Territory, Chicago and Detroit might be two of the great cities of Canada and the Louisiana purchase might never have happened. Without the accomplishments of the western patriots, the United States might have retained a decidedly Atlantic Seaboard character and Manifest Destiny may not have driven the political conversations of the nineteenth century. George Rogers Clark’s Illinois Regiment of Virginia Troops is generally given most of the credit for establishing American claim to the Old Northwest through the capture of Kaskaskia (now Illinois) and Vincennes (now Indiana), but the initial capture of both formerly French colonial villages was in part due to the efforts of Pierre Gibault, a French Canadian priest.
Clark raised his Illinois Regiment in early 1778. On July 4 he and his forces arrived outside of Kaskaskia. A former French colonial outpost, Kaskaskia was a small community that had been the site of the last British garrison in Illinois. When Clark and his men arrived they found no British soldiers present. They captured the acting British governor, former French army officer Philippe-François de Rastel de Rocheblave. The citizens of Kaskaskia were told to remain in their homes while the Americans secured the village. They now had to prepare to capture Cahokia to the north along the Mississippi River. The local parish priest, Pierre Gibault, came to Clark along with five or six “aged citizens” to ask to permission to gather for mass in the local church. Clark appears to have won over Gibault at that meeting. Gibault was then able to calm the Kaskaskians as well as assist Clark’s force on securing Cahokia without bloodshed. Historian Joseph J. Thompson offers a slightly different and more detailed version, writing that Clark’s spies Ben Linn and Samuel Moore reached Kaskaskia and engaged with Daniel Murray, a local trader, who assisted in building support for the American cause prior to Clark’s arrival. Murray had notified Gibault of the impending arrival of American troops and was asked to ensure the French inhabitants would be docile, if not supportive of the Continental troops.
Pierre Gibault was born on April 7, 1737, in Montreal, Quebec. His grandfather Gabriel Gibault and his wife appear to have emigrated to Quebec from France sometime after 1663. His father and namesake Pierre married Marie-Joseph Saint-Jean at Sorel in 1735.[3] Pierre was their first child.[4] According to the Rev. J Sassevile, after Gibault completed classical studies at the seminary of Quebec, he travelled for some time in the “countries of the west,” probably meaning the current Great Lakes region. Read more…

Book Review: Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment
Author: Sheilah D. Vance (Havertown, PA: Brookline Books, 2025)
Review by Gary Ecelbarger 7 Apr 2025 Journal of the American Revoluition
As the crow flies, the region west of Matson’s Ford and known as “The Gulph” loomed a mere dozen miles northwest of Philadelphia. The nearly weeklong encampment of George Washington and the Continental army at the Gulph in the middle of December linked the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777 with the 1777–1778 winter/spring encampment at Valley Forge. Due to this “bridge” between two more famous events, the encampment is usually relegated to mere sentences or no more than a few paragraphs in Revolutionary War historiography.
Unlike the six months at Valley Forge, the six days at The Gulph are devoid of strong tradition. Primary sources generated from and about the encampment are understandably sparse in comparison to Valley Forge. For example, nobody knows where individual brigades tented; in fact, no one knows exactly where George Washington headquartered (three homes existed as candidates for his quarters).
Sheilah D. Vance attempts to correct this oversight in the literature with Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment. This reviewer recommends this book for filling the void and doing so with a trove of wonderful excerpts and images. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: POW: Marching again – A Soldier’s Life. February 1782
From a Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
This excerpt from the diary of Johan Conrad Dohla (170 pages).

Major Moves during Johan’s deployment:

  • March 1777: Depart Germany
  • 3 June 1777: Arrive New York, then Amboy NJ
  • November 1777: To Philadelphia
  • June 1778: to Long Island
  • July 1778: To Newport RI
  • October 1779: to New York
  • May 1781: to Chesapeake Bay (Yorktown)
  • October 1781: to Williamsburg
  • January 1782: to Frederick MD (about 40 km west of Baltimore)

1782: Continuation of the Noteworthy Occurences in Our North American Campaign, and Especially the Captivity in the Sixth Year. Or the Year of our Lord 1782. Page 123

In the Month of February 1782

1 February. All the English prisoners staying here were transported away. They went to Lancaster in Pennsylvania. The two Hessian regiments moved out of the poorhouse and into one of the barracks here.
4 February. Sergeant [Georg] Sticht, of Colonel von Seybothen’s Company, received thirty blows from the broadsword and fourteen days in gaol because he refused to remove his stock.
13 February. The local city major and commandant of prisoners, Baily, held the first roll call, or muster, of us.
15 February. Private Taubald of Quesnoy’s Company, arrived here. He had been gone from the barracks in Virginia since 17 December 1781. He had spent this time in Maryland, not far from Middletown, where he was employed by an inhabitant. He arrived sick and was immediately sent to the poorhouse, to our field hospital at that place. Private Schwab supposedly is also in this region.
17 February. Church was held in our barracks, and Chaplain Wagner preached a sermon.
19 February. Private Bayer, of Quesnoy’s Company, died in the poorhouse.
27 February. Private Beck, of Quesnoy’s Company, was put in the jail for having stolen a copper kettle in the city.
28 February. We received flour, which our officers bought, three hundred pounds per company, at two pence per pound. This we will have to pay when our money arrives. During this month, the States of Holland recognized the independence of the United States of North America.
On the whole, this month was raw and cold. Frequent epidemics occurred, and bugs and lice in great numbers appeared in our tattered clothing.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 11 April 1775: ‘The Sign of the NEGRO BOY..’

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

11 April 1775

“The Sign of the NEGRO BOY.”

The April 11, 1775, edition of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal carried seventeen advertisements about enslaved people. Several offered enslaved people for sale. Jacob Valk, a broker who regularly advertised, noted that “NEGROES of different Qualifications” were “daily for SALE” at his office. Valentine Lynn sought to sell “Seven healthy, stout NEGROES,” including “a good boatman,” a “handy” domestic servant, and five “field slaves.” Robert Goudey announced that he “will dispose of, by private contract,” nearly three dozen enslaved people, “among whom are carpenters, coopers, wagon drivers, plough men, and house” maids. Prospective purchasers could presumably examine those enslaved people, just as they could examine any of the eleven Black men and women “Brought to the Workhouse” and imprisoned there until their enslavers claimed them.
Other advertisements certainly enlisted readers in examining Black bodies closely to determine if they matched the descriptions of enslaved people who liberated themselves by running away from their enslavers. Read more…

Loyalist Quarterly Newsletter March 2025, by Paul J. Bunnell UE
Published since 2004, the March 2025 issue is now available. Seventeen pages, it features:

  • Editor’s Comments
  • Support Loyalist Trails
  • UELAC 2025 Conference
  • Conference Hotel
  • Saint John, NB
  • Introduction of UE Member Chief/Elder Paul “Gwilawato” Bunnell, UE
  • And Outline of the Loyalist Quarterly Newsletter
  • Book Review
  • The Traitor’s Homecoming: Benedict Arnold’s Raid on New London, Connecticut, September 4-13, 1781
  • Canada–United States Relations

NOTE: Paul Bunnell’s loyalist ancestor, Benjamin Bunnell served in Arnold’s raid in 1781 as a Colonel in the American Legion raised by Arnold. He recommends this updated version of this historical event.

Vol. 22 Part 1 March 2025 Quarterly Issue “In Publication since 2004”
Editor: Paul J. Bunnell, UE, Author, Koasek Abenaki Chief; BunnellLoyalist@aol.com; 978-337-9085, 49 Pleasant St., #106, Alstead, NH 03602
The Only U.S. Newsletter Devoted to The study of The American Loyalists
Subscription Rate: $22 U.S. $24 Can. — (March, June, September, December issues)

Cod moratorium: How Newfoundland’s cod industry disappeared overnight
A bountiful cod industry is pictured on a 1920s map. Decades later, a moratorium would change everything.
By Michela Rosano, 11 July 2022, Canadian Geographic
An ocean breeze whistles through a broken window pane, floating a tattered curtain. Once-cheery crimson paint is now just a whisper on the house’s salt-worn siding. The front door has blown off, leaving a hole like a gaping mouth.
Motor along Newfoundland’s meandering coastline, and you’ll find similar scenes in hundreds of ghost towns — relics of the cod fishery that put food on the table for almost 500 years. That way of life came to a grinding halt on July 2, 1992, when federal fisheries minister John Crosbie made a televised announcement from a hotel in St. John’s: commercial cod fishing was banned on the East Coast for at least two years. In that instant, the province’s fishers, many with parents, grand-parents and great-grandparents who had fished the seas, were told to find something else to do. Read more…

Loyalist Certificates Issued
The publicly available list of certificates issued since 2012 is now updated to end of March 2025.
When a certificate is added there, it is also recorded in the record for the Loyalist Ancestor in the Loyalist Directory.

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

Entries which have been added, or revised, this week.

Carl Sneyd recently received a Loyalist certificate to John William Shaver was born in 1739 Rhineland, Germany, He served in Butler’s Rangers and resettled on Lot 50, Concession 2, Ancaster Township, Wentworth, Upper Canada. His spouse was Mary Magdalena HONE, b. New Jersey, m. 1782, d. 27 Mar 1836 in Ancaster Township, Upper Canada.. A son Henry Shaver, b. 1789 Jun 28 (NJ), d. 1857 Jun 30 (Ancaster Twp, Canada West), m. 1782 Mary Roelufson (b. 1795 Aug 27 in NJ, d. 1857 Jun 30 in Ancaster Twp, Canada West)

Michael Mallery is providing information about Loyalists who served with the Prince of Wales American Volunteers.

  • Pvt. Enoch Bear first appears on the ship St. Lawrence Muster Roll March 26, 1777. He resettled at Saint Mary’s Parish, York County, NB. Wife’s name was Ruth, she was the widow of Gardener Gifford. She petitioned for ‘Old Soldier of the Revolutionary War Pension’, she was 88 years old in 1840, she was still receiving the pension in 1848.
  • Pvt. John Barrett a native of Ireland first appears on ship Marlin muster as part of the Expedition against Fairfield March 1, 1777. Appears in Captain Daniel Lyman’s light infantry company on August 1777 Muster Roll. He was on Guard during the October 1777 Muster Roll. He was sick in Cantonments at the time of the December 1779 Muster Roll. He was taken prisoner at the battle of the Cowpens on January 17, 1781. He and his wife Maria had sons John, Nathaniel and Walter, On October 5, 1784 he was granted 100 acres, in Block 2, in Nashwaak River, Sunbury County New Brunswick.
  • Cpl. John Baronhawk The 2nd Battalion of the Prince of Wales American Volunteers never fully formed; it was often called Hierlihy’s Corps or Independent Companies. John Baronhawk first appears in Hierlihy’s Company, enlisted September 1777. He served with York Volunteers. In 1778 the Independent Companies were shipped to Halifax and then to the Island of Saint John where they remained until incorporated into the Nova Scotia Volunteers in 1782. On July 21, 1784 a report on the men who have settled or preparing to settle at Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He had already drawn 12 months provisions. He was 40 years old, and that he was granted 100 acres and that he is absent and not certified. On October 18, 1784 he was granted 200 acres in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Events Upcoming

Kawartha Branch: “Museum and Curator programmes at Fleming College” today Sunday 13 Apr 2:00 ET

Dr. Amy Barron, will discuss the Museum and Curator programmes offered at Fleming College, what students learn, the new museum collection and when it is available for viewing. She will also talk about how people can protect and preserve their special paper records.
Her presentation will provide a great opportunity for planning a follow-up visit by our Members to see the exhibits that her students have developed to educate people about the Peter Robinson settlers in our area, that is on display at the Peterborough Museum on Armour Hill until 15 June.
In=person in Room 3 at Activity Haven, 180 Barnardo Avenue in Peterborough, or join online (zoom) Meeting ID: 832 7500 3277 Passcode: 296394.

Toronto Branch: “investigative genetic genealogy to solve mysteries” Wed 16 Apr 7:30 ET

Lauren Robilliard, a full time investigative genetic genealogist working for Toronto Police Service will speak on zoom about how TPS uses investigative genetic genealogy to solve mysteries in criminal cases and unidentified human remains cases. Members will also discover what they can do at home to help solve a cold case.
Lauren Robilliard, adopted shortly after birth, uncovered her own biological roots in 2018, igniting a passion for helping others navigate their own family mysteries using DNA. Since then, she has assisted over 300 adoptees and individuals searching for biological relatives with genetic genealogy. In her role with TPS, Lauren has helped solve 12 unidentified human remains cases and contributed to the resolution of six criminal investigations.
Register with torontouel@gmail.com

American Revolution Institute: A Hanger Sword Owned by Massacusetts Minute Man James Taylor Fri 18 Apr 12:30

Deputy Director and Curator Emily Parsons discusses an American-made hanger sword carried during the early months of the Revolutionary War by James Taylor, a minute man from western Massachusetts. A native of Pelham, Taylor was an ensign in Capt. David Cowden’s company of minute men when it answered the Lexington Alarmon April 19, 1775. Two months later, Taylor participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill. During these battles, Taylor carried his hanger, a secondary weapon for infantrymen to supplement their musket. This Lunch Bite will explore the design and use of this weapon, as well as Taylor’s military service and how he experienced the opening months of the Revolutionary War. Register here…

Hamilton Branch: “A Political Death in the Family’ by Tim Compeau, Thurs 17 Apr 7:30 ET

At St. Matthew on-the-Plain, 126 Plains Rd. E., Burlington starting at 7:30 p.m. In person and on Zoom.
Dr. Timothy Compeau is an assistant professor of history at Huron University in London, Ontario and author of many books. He is the project director of Loyalists’ Migrations in partnership with the UELAC. He is currently an Honorary Fellow of UELAC.
Dr. Compeau will be speaking on “A Political Death in the Family: A Connecticut Loyalist (Joel Stone) in War and Exile”.
To register for in-person or for zoom, email Pat Blackburn, uepat624@gmail.com

Kingston Branch: “Redcoats, Loyalists, a Privateer and… a Patriot?” Sat 26 Apr 1:00

Kingston and District Branch, United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada (UELAC) will meet on Saturday, April 26th at 1:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, 137 Queen Street (doors open at noon); or if you prefer on Zoom (starting 12:30 p.m.). Cheryl Levy, PCGLS, speaks on “Redcoats, Loyalists, a Privateer and… a Patriot?” A graduate of the International Institute of Genealogical Studies, Cheryl’s research uncovered intriguing, forgotten family connections to the American Revolution. She aims to help others research their own family histories. For the Zoom link, visit Kingston-Branch. All with an interest in Canadian history are welcome!

St Albans at Adolphustown: Concert, Dance Music from 50’s to 80’s Sat 26 Apr 7:30

By The Reasons, formed in 1980 and are based in Prince Edward County. Dance music from the 50s/60s/70s/80s, from Elvis, Dion,The Beatles, CCR to Trooper and Bryan Adams, there are songs for everyone.YAt St. Alban’s Centre. Buy tickets $25 (at the door $30)

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • “Quicquid aut facere aut pati”was Latin Motto of 84th Regiment (Royal Highland Emigrants) meaning “Whatever is to be done or endured”. It is on the brass badge on cartridge box.
    Also appearing on badge is a Thistle, the number 84 and Latin phrase “Ne me impune lacassset” meaning “No one assails me with impunity”.
  • Gravestone from 1783 at Fort Point, on the west side of Shelburne Harbour NS, across from Lower Sandy Point. It was originally called Point Carleton, in honour of Sir Guy Carleton. The name of the place was later changed to Fort Point.
  • A very happy #TartanDay to everyone celebrating their Scottish heritage around the world! 󠁢󠁳󠁣On this day in 2005, the Wallace Sword was taken to New York City to be part of the Tartan Day celebrations️. It was the first time in 700 years that the sword had ever left Scotland.
  • Food and Related : Twonsends

  • This week in History
    • 10 Apr 1737, Orange County, New York. Revolutionary War spy Nathaniel Sackett was born. By 1777, he was serving in the New York Provincial Congress. Sackett was assigned to the New York Committee for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies— a counterintelligence effort aimed at suppressing Loyalist resistance in New York. Later that year, General George Washington recruited him to develop an intelligence arm for the Continental Army. Sackett established tradecraft, tactics, and techniques for the new service and recruited spies to monitor the British activities in New York. Few of his agents produced valuable intelligence, and Washington eventually dismissed his spymaster. However, Sackett also brought on a young officer named Benjamin Talmadge, who ultimately succeeded him with much greater effectiveness. image
    • 5 Apr 1764 London. The Sugar Act received royal assent. The American Revenue Act of 1764 imposed taxes on sugar and molasses. Outraged merchants started to organize a boycott. image
    • 9 Apr 1768, Customs officials attempt to board John Hancock’s ships without a warrant. Hancock refused & had an officer ejected from the ship, igniting a legal battle over search and seizure rights. This would contribute to the outbreak of the Revolution. image
    • 12 Apr 1770 London. Bombarded by complaints from merchants, Parliament repeals the Townshend Duties and allows the Quartering Act to expire, but Prime Minister Lord North retains the levy on tea image
    • 5 Apr 1775 Mass. Provincial Congress adopts 53 Articles of War. Derived in large part from the British Articles of War. The Preamble enunciates the colony’s rejection of rebellion & treason but provides a long list of grievances against the HM government. image
    • 8 Apr 1775 NC Royal Gov Josiah Martin loses control of the colonial assembly & dissolves it & fearing the reaction, moves his family to NYC image
    • 8 Apr 1775 Boston, MA. Patriot leaders Samuel Adams & John Hancock left the city after spies warned of impending trouble. At Concord, Paul Revere alerted them that the British were planning to take action against the town to seize the powder and weapons. image
    • 3 Apr 1776, Philadelphia, PA. Congress authorized privateering vessels, which would carry commissions or letters of marque and reprisal, to seize British ships. Their impact at sea would significantly surpass that of the actual U.S. Navy throughout the war. The Navy possessed 64 ships, while U.S. privateers operated 1,697 vessels image
    • 4 Apr1776 Charlestown, MA. The body of patriot leader Dr Joseph Warren, killed at the Breed’s Hill in 1775, was discovered by his brothers Ebenezer & John Warren. Identified by the golden wire attaching two false teeth Paul Revere had made. image
    • 6 Apr 1776 Block Island, British Captain Tryingham Howe, commanding the 20-gun frigate HMS Glasgow, damages the sloop Cabot and USS Alfred under Commodore Esek Hopkins, eluding the rest of the American squadron and escaping to Newport, RI. image
    • 6 April 1776, Philadelphia. The Continental Congress passed a significant trade act that opened American ports to trade with all nations except Great Britain. This resolution effectively declared economic independence from Britain by allowing American merchants to engage in commerce with countries like France, Spain, and the Netherlands while prohibiting trade with British entities. It was a bold move aimed at weakening British economic dominance over the colonies and fostering alliances with other nations, particularly given the escalating American Revolutionary War. This act marked a pivotal step toward establishing the colonies as a sovereign entity capable of managing their own international trade relations. The act was driven by economic, political, and strategic factors amid the growing conflict with Great Britain. Some key causes included the Navigation Act and other restrictions imposed by mercantilist British policies; the British blockade and other punitive measures since Lexington and Concord; the growing sense of independence; the need to build alliances; and the pursuit of economic self-sufficiency. image
    • 7 Apr 1776 Virginia Capes. After a four-hour battle, Captain John Barry’s 16-gun brig, USS Lexington, captures the sloop HMS Edward. It was the first Royal Navy vessel taken in an engagement. image
    • 9 Apr 1776 Philadelphia, PA Continental Congress adopts a resolution mandating an end to the slave trade. image
    • 9 Apr 1776 Christina Creek, Delaware Bay. British brig HMS Betsy seized by American schooner, Wasp. image
    • 10 Apr 1777 Paris. US representative Silas Deane recruits Marie-Joseph du Mortier, Marquis de Lafayette, and Baron Johann de Kalb for service in the Continental Army. image
    • 11 Apr 1777, Philadelphia: The Continental Congress appoints Dr. William Shippen as the director-general of the Medical Service of the Continental Army. He had previously submitted a plan to reorganize the medical service, which Congress approved. image
    • 5 Apr 1778 Displeased with the “convention” signed by Gen Horatio Gates at Saratoga, Continental Congress allows Gen John Burgoyne & staff to depart Boston for Britain. Still, most of his “convention army” is marched into captivity in the southern states. image
    • 8 Apr 1778 Paris, France. John Adams took over from Silas Deane on the American commission representing US interests. Deane had been recalled to America following a charge from diplomat Arthur Lee, who accused him of misappropriating funds. image
    • 9 Apr 1778 Continental Congress appoints Jeremiah Wadsworth commissary general of purchases with the mandate to improve the inefficient Commissary Department. image
    • 10 Apr 1778 Brest, France. Capt. John Paul Jones, commanding the 18-gun sloop USS Ranger, sails for British home waters on an extended raid. image
    • 11 Apr 1778 Toulon, France. A French squadron of 12 SOL & several frigates under Admiral Charles-Hector Comte d’Estaing sailed out to sea. A dilemma for the British Admiralty: defend the home islands or prevent the French from operating in the Americas. image
    • 3 Apr 1779 Madrid. Spanish Foreign Minister Conde de Floridablanca offered to mediate peace between France and Britain, guaranteeing Spanish neutrality provided that Britain returned Gibraltar to Spain. Britain rejects the offer. image
    • 8 Apr 1779 Philadelphia, PA General Benedict Arnold marries Peggy Shippen, the daughter of a prominent Loyalist. Her ties to British intelligence officer Major John Andre would result in espionage & treason. image
    • 1 Apr 1780 Charleston, SC The British besiegers close the ring further, breaking open a parallel (trench) within 800 yards of the city’s defense works. image
    • 7 Apr 1780 Charleston, SC. After arduous marching, a 750-strong Virginia brigade under General William Woodford evades British forces and slips into the city. However, they would soon march into captivity when the city fell. image
    • 10 Apr 1780 Charleston, SC. American Gen Benjamin Lincoln decides not to slip his forces from the noose tightening around the city. When the 1st series of parallels (trenches) is complete, British Gen Henry Clinton calls for surrender. He refuses. image
    • 11 Apr 1781 Fort Balfour, SC. Partisan raiders under Col William Harden captured the garrison, taking 90 prisoners. image
    • 4 April 1782 London. Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham, appointed General Guy Carleton as commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. He issued instructions to avoid offensive operations against the Americans, prepare British forces to depart the thirteen former colonies, and support Loyalists who wished to emigrate to other British possessions. Britain would not cede the Western posts, creating a major challenge for the US for years. Minor actions and skirmishes would continue until the British evacuated New York City later in the year. Carleton emerged from the shadows that engulfed him after his failed invasion of New York in 1776 and Burgoyne’s failed invasion in 1777. He was always a highly competent and professional officer and did a credible job of winding down the war. image
    • 12 April 1782 Paris, France. Peace negotiations began between American Commissioner Benjamin Franklin and British representative Richard Oswald. The other U.S. representatives were unavailable, but Franklin deftly pursued American independence, Newfoundland fishing rights, and Mississippi River navigation rights. Franklin and the other commissioners overcame a series of hurdles, counterproposals, and dissimulation by the British representatives, who pulled out all the stops to limit American interests and independence. image

 

Published by the UELAC
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