In this issue:

 

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Viceregal patronage – Governor General Simon as Patron of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada

United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada:  Founded 1914 – “Preserving, promoting and celebrating the history and traditions of the Loyalist era in Canadian history.”

The UELAC Welcomes Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon as Patron

The United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada is honoured to announce that Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, has graciously accepted to serve as Patron of the Association.

This appointment carries profound significance for our national organization. As Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General, Her Excellency embodies the spirit of reconciliation, dialogue, and unity. These values reflect the essence of the Loyalist experience: resilience, loyalty, and commitment to building a diverse and enduring nation.

Her Excellency’s patronage is a mark of distinction that reaffirms the national importance of the Loyalist legacy within the Canadian story. It underscores the need to preserve and share this heritage.

The UELAC extends sincere gratitude to Her Excellency for her support and encouragement. With her distinguished patronage, we are inspired to continue our mission of education, remembrance, and heritage preservation for the benefit of all Canadians.

Bill Russell UE, National President, UELAC

Scholarship Challenge 2025: Great News… Update on 31 Aug
You did it!  More donations this week as of Friday 29 Aug, and the Challenge tally rises to $6,928.
Your donations have nicely surpassed our original goal of $5,000.  At Challenge 2025 see the status, who has donated and how to donate. Thank you!
To top that, based on these donations, our Matching Benefactor will add another $$3,392
And we know that that at least one more donation is on its way.

Congratulations. The extended challenge of #10,000 total has been surpassed:
Can we? Yes!
Dare we hope! We dared!
You did help….see Taking Advantage
and you can still add more until midnight Monday 1 September (cheques received in Sept will count too)

    Yes scholarships are of real value

Our scholars leverage every dollar.
At the moment, the UELAC program is supporting six Scholars in their research programs. Your donations make a big difference in our ability to help them. At Scholarship Challenge 2025, please make your last-minute contribution today.  We – and the scholars – appreciate your assistance.

Taking Advantage….and hit $10,000 $11,000 – only $280 more needed. 
Only $280 more needed. How can that be, you ask?
Our matching benefactor is on the hook now for donations above $3,500 (50%) with a multiplier starting at $4,500 (100%) and another (150%) for donations over $6,000. meaning that (s)he as of today will contribute $3,392.
We need only $680 more to hit $11,000
For each dollar more you donate, our benefactor gives $1.50. So if you collectively give another $280, the multiplier adds $420, totaling $700 and we are there.
Our benefactor is in big time; would you donate even “a few dollars” more? (A “fist full of dollars” not needed; it will all be “good”, no “bad” or “ugly”)
Sure you can.

Praying for Assistance: Two German  (Loyalist) Ministers:  Part Two of Two
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
The Patriots of the American Revolution were not known for their subtlety. Up until the summer of 1778, the Rev. John Michael Kern had been endeavouring “to keep his Congregation steady to their Loyalty“. In July, he had been summoned to attend the Committee of Conspiracy at Poughkeepsie. He refused to take an “oath of abjuration.” Unhappy with the royalist principles of their pastor, the rebel members of the Reformed Dutch Church in Wallkill, New York deposited a number of items on the doorstep of the Loyalist’s home in 1778.
When Kern opened his front door the next morning he found a staff, a pair of shoes and a loaf of bread. It was a not-so-subtle indication that the German-born clergyman and his family had been “banished within the British Lines“.
Kern subsequently sought sanctuary in New York City, where in 1783, he asked Sir Guy Carleton, the British commander in chief, for assistance. After a 20-year ministry, it was certainly not how the 53 year-old Loyalist pastor had expected his career in New York to end – “not with a bang, but a whimper”.
Born into a tailor’s family in Mannheim, Germany on August 31, 1730, John Michael Kern graduated from the University of Heidelberg at the age of 23. Ten years later, the Consistory of Heidelberg sent him to New York City to become the pastor of the city’s German Reformed Church on Nassau Street.
At this time, there was an ongoing conflict within the German Reformed Church in the Americas. One group, known as the Conferentie, wanted the church to maintain strong ties to the denomination back in Europe. The other –the Caetus– wanted to administer its own ecclesiastical affairs. (An interesting echo of issues that the American colonies had with empirical ties or self-rule.) Kern was sent to New York to further the Conferentie cause, which, like his loyalty to the crown, opposed independence. Kern ministered at the New York church for nine years, resigning for health reasons in 1772. He then became the pastor of the German Presbyterian Church that serviced Ulster County’s Wallkill, Benjwood, and Charlotte (now Montgomery, New York).
Known to his flock as Domine Kern (rather than Rev. Kern), he had the reputation of being a man of extraordinary learning. Nevertheless, his congregations were not pleased to discover that he felt that the colonies were not ready for independence. Given that his denomination on the whole was pro-independence, it is little wonder that Kern fell out of favour.
Upon receiving a letter of banishment from the local rebel committee on August 11, 1778, Kern and his family loaded up two wagons of worldly goods and made their way to New York City by the North River. Their loyalist principles had cost them a salary of £100 a year, a house, an orchard, horses, cows, sheep, and 160 acres of land.
A year after the German pastor’s banishment, Kern’s name appeared in Rivington’s Gazette. An ad that he placed on October 9, 1779 sought the return of his runaway slave. Sarah, a Black child, was only six years old. Like other ministers of this era, Kern’s understanding of Scripture failed to prevent him from participating in the enslavement of Africans.
In August of 1783, Kern, his wife, and their five children became part of Peter Grim’s Company 33, a group of loyalist refugees that included members of the German pastor’s congregation in New York. After disembarking from the Spencer at the mouth of the St. John River, the family remained in Parrtown, receiving provisions from Fort Howe until the spring of 1784.  The family then moved 40 miles up the St. John River, settling north of Gagetown with other German refugees.
Documents from this era do not detail how Kern fared over the next three years, but no doubt, he was busy building a home and clearing land along with other loyalist settlers. A probate record for Jacob Law, a fellow German from New York, lists Rev. Kern as one of the witnesses to his 1784 will.
On February 8, 1787, Kern appears in the records of the loyalist compensation board hearings. After recounting the abuse he experienced at the hands of rebels and listing his material losses, Kern testified that since he belonged to the reformed church, he could not “enjoy any living in the Established Church of England. He is therefore without any support in this Province.” A witness on his behalf noted that the German minister was “now in great distress for the necessities of life“.
With no compensation immediately being provided, Kern uprooted his family and left New Brunswick in hopes of serving the German community that had made their homes in Halifax, Nova Scotia. However, the Rev. Bernard Michael Housel, another New York Loyalist, was already ministering to the 15 German families who worshiped at St. George’s Church.
With no Reformed Churches in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia in need of a pastor, Kern decided to return to the United States, (in the words to one historian)”penniless and sick at heart“. Given that a number of Kern families lived in Tohickon and Indian Creek in Pennsylvania’s Bucks County, that may – or may not—have been a factor in the Loyalist minister deciding to serve the congregations there.
The last appearances of the Rev. John Michael Kern’s name occur in the baptismal records for these churches, beginning in December of 1787 and ending in March of 1788. Kern died suddenly on March 22, 1788 at age 57.
The German pastor who had been an influential leader during the American Revolution became a Moses figure in 1783 when he led almost 50 families from persecution to safety in New Brunswick. What became of those families will be told in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

The U. E. Loyalists of Norfolk County, Ontario
By Mrs. Sidney Farmer, the great-great grand-daughter of Colonel Donald McCall and of Captain Ehpraim Tisdale, and great grand-daughter of Jane Decew.
The first missionary seems to have been a Recollet Father — de La Roche de Daillon — who arrived in 1626.
From 1788, Norfolk was part of the District of Hesse. Not a forest tree had been felled in Norfolk County by a permanent white settler before 1790!
After the creation of Upper Canada in 1791, Norfolk County came into existence in 1792.
The Loyalist settlers arrived and many are mentioned, often with some notable item about them.
There are a few stories:
The wives of Captain Edward McMichael and William Cope, another U. E. Loyalist of most exemplary character, are the heroines of thrilling wolf stories.

    Mrs. Cope was carrying a pail of flour through the woods when she discovered a wolf following her. At first she thought of leaving the flour and running away, but, when she thought of her hungry children in the little cabin, she prayed for strength to go on, and for help to save the precious food; and when she fell exhausted at her own door, such is the power of God ! the wolf walked away without attacking her.
    Mrs. McMichael‘s escape was on horseback, with a child in her arms.
Even more thrilling is the account of Mathias Buchner‘s fight with a wolf in a cave. They were killing his sheep and, as he could follow their tracks in the snow, he resolved to enter their den. He prepared himself with a candle, musket and pitchfork. He placed the candle on the end of a pole and, shoving it in, crawled in himself.
He soon distinguished a pair of glassy eyes gleaming ferociously.
His life depended upon his first shot ! He aimed just below those glittering orbs, when, with a howl of pain, the animal sprang towards him and tore his coat off ; but he seized his pitchfork and succeeded in impaling him at the first thrust. A few more stabs and the wolf was silent forever.

The last portion is about the War of 1812-1814.   Read more…  (11 pages)

Calling all Mabee and Secord  Descendants Sat 27 Sept @1:00

The Grand River Branch  is holding a special event to unveil a plaque honouring our Loyalist ancestors, the Mabee & Secord families. See the poster which outlines the details and we would be so very pleased if interested people would attend. See poster…
We do hope some of the descendants of these families will join interested others.
Please let me know should you require any further information. Bill Terry UE terrybill766@gmail.com

250 Years Ago: The Invasion of Canada

Fort Frederick, (AKA Fort Charnisay) Saint John NB and the American Revolution 
Fort Charnisay National Historic Site of Canada, of which there are no visible remains, is located in Saint John, New Brunswick. Between 1645 and the early 19th century, the site hosted a succession of forts due to its strategic position overlooking the St. John River on the western edge of the city’s harbour.
Fort Charnisay was designated a national historic site of Canada because:

  1. between 1645 and 1775 it was the site of several French and English forts protecting the mouth of the Saint John River;
  2. originally a small wooden fort was built at this site by Sieur d’Aulnay de Charnisay in 1645;
  3. Fort St. Jean was built here in 1698 by Governor de Villebon and dismantled circa 1700;
  4. in 1749 Fort Menagoueche was built here, which was burned in 1755 during the Seven Years War;
  5. rebuilt as Fort Frederick in 1758 by General Monckton, it was abandoned and eventually burned by American privateers during the American Revolution.

Fort Menagoueche was destroyed when Lieutenant de Boishébert burned it while retreating from British Colonel Robert Monckton at the beginning of the Seven Years War (1756-1763), leaving Louisbourg as the sole French fortification in Acadia.
Monckton rebuilt the fort in 1758, naming it Fort Frederick.
American privateers destroyed this incarnation of the fort in 1775. The fort was repaired a final time in response to the outbreak of the War of 1812. The successive forts thus demonstrate the power struggles that took place in this region during the 17th and 18th centuries.  Read more…

Commemoration Ceremony Burning of Fort Frederick
On August 27th 1775, in the early days of the American Revolution, privateers intent on interrupting the flow of supplies from the mouth of the St John River to British forces in Boston, raided Fort Frederick at the mouth of the river, burned the Fort and captured the ship Loyal Briton . The crew of the ship, the members of the small garrison at their fort – with their families were taken prisoner. Many believe this was the beginning of the American Revolution right on our doorstep, in what is now Saint John , New Brunswick.
On August 27th 2025 DeLancey Brigade -Revolutionary War Re-Enactors hosted a Commemoration Ceremony along with historical maps and pictures, at the site where Fort Frederick stood in the past .
For pictures and more details visit New Brunswick Loyalists and DeLancey’s Brigade – Revolutionary  War Re-enactors on Facebook .
Angela Donovan UE, New Brunswick Branch, UELAC

from Lake Champlain
General Philip Schuyler orchestrated the plans for the attack on Canada, The force led by Brigadier General Richard Montgomery would advance up Lake Champlain towards Montreal.
    Between August 27 and Sept 3, 1775,

  • Advance to Île aux Noix: As reports indicated the British were fortifying Fort St. Jean, Schuyler, despite his declining health, joined Montgomery and the troops as they advanced up Lake Champlain to Île aux Noix on the Richelieu River.
  • Early Skirmishes: From Île aux Noix, American forces made initial forays towards Fort St. Jean, engaging in some minor skirmishes with British and Native American patrols.
  • War Council and Retreat: Faced with reports of strong defenses at Fort St. Jean, Schuyler initially held a war council and decided to retreat back to Île aux Noix.

The British Preparations
Governor Guy Carleton was keenly aware of the impending invasion from the south up the Richelieu River. His defensive strategy centered on holding Fort St. Jean, which protected the water route to Montreal.
Specific preparations included:

  1. Fortifying Fort St. Jean: The British had been reinforcing Fort St. Jean since May 1775. By the end of August, it was heavily defended by approximately 750 men, mostly British regulars from the 7th and 26th Regiments of Foot.
  2. Building a naval presence: To control Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River, the British had constructed the armed schooner Royal Savage, which patrolled the river. More vessels were being built to strengthen their presence on the lake.
  3. Stationing troops: Carleton assigned his limited regular forces to key garrison posts. Most were stationed at Fort St. Jean, while he personally oversaw the defense of Montreal with a smaller contingent.

Canadian (Canadien) response and division
The allegiance of French-speaking Canadians, known as Canadiens, was sharply divided, and many remained neutral. The British efforts to raise a loyalist militia were largely unsuccessful.

  1. Limited militia support: In late August, Carleton issued orders to local parishes to call up their militia. However, many of the men simply stayed home, and fewer than 150 were raised for the defense of Fort St. Jean.
  2. Pro-American factions: Some Canadians were openly sympathetic to the American cause. Merchants like James Livingston actively worked against the British, raising a local militia near Fort Chambly to aid the invaders.
  3. Indigenous allies: Carleton recruited about 100 Mohawk warriors to assist in the defense of Fort St. Jean and patrol its approaches. They engaged in a skirmish with the advancing Americans on September 6, briefly forcing a retreat. However, many Indigenous groups, including the rest of the Six Nations Confederacy, had been persuaded by American agents to remain neutral.

From Maine
Between August 27 and September 3, 1775, Benedict Arnold and his team were in the final frantic stages of planning and preparation for their secret expedition to Quebec. Arnold was in the Boston area, where he was assembling his force and securing supplies and transportation for the difficult journey through the Maine wilderness.

  1. Recruiting expedition members: Arnold, operating with approval from General George Washington, worked to assemble his 1,100-man expeditionary force.
  2. Securing transport ships: Arnold contacted Nathaniel Tracy, a merchant in Newburyport, Massachusetts, to acquire ships for the sea portion of the journey to the mouth of the Kennebec River
  3. Gathering supplies: Arnold made last-minute purchases of supplies
  4. Finalizing the plan: Having received General Schuyler’s agreement for the joint invasion plan on August 20, Arnold worked out the final details of the expedition.

British Preparations
In August 1775, the British were not aware of the invading group coming from Maine.

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Embarked…Sailing home. August 1783
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)
  • May 1783: departed Frederick MD for Springfield, Long Island
  • August 1783: Boarded ship at Denys’s Ferry

1783: Continuation of the Notable Occurences in the North American Field Campaign; Marching out of Captivity to Springfield on Long Island, in the Seventh and Last Year, Page 143

In the Month of August 1783
16 August. We again sailed well, with good southwest winds. Our helmsman said we had covered  sixty-three  degrees  and  had  twenty-seven  degrees  more  to  sail,  because  it  was reckoned that crossing the great ocean measured ninety degrees. This helmsman, who was a good  astrologer,208 had  seen  this  at  twelve  o’clock  noon,  by  the  sun,  with  the  help  of  his compass.
Today also, we received, each private, a Spanish dollar in pay.
17 August. We had a good west wind and  sailed  quickly.  I  went to  pull  and work on the ship.
18 August. The wind blew from the north, and the journey went quickly. Today on our ship a  sailor  was  put  under  arrest  and  locked  up  for  having  committed  theft.  Stealing  was  so prevalent that nothing was secure from the sailors anymore. They steal from us at night when we sleep, taking everything that they can find; therefore, we had to set out a few watch posts during the night. My beautiful silver tobacco pipe, which had cost me three Spanish dollars in New York, was also stolen.
19 August. We had a west-by-north wind and sailed rapidly.
20 August.  I  went  on  watch.  During  the  morning  we  had  good  north  winds.  At  noon, however, the wind became calm. However, during the evening a northwest wind arose, or as the sailors call it, a three-quarters wind; and the journey went quickly.
21 August.  We  sailed  with  an  advantageous  west  wind  and  in  this  twenty-four  hours traveled a great distance.
22 August. Northwest winds during the day, but rather calm; and our ship’s journey did not go swiftly.
23 August. The wind was contrary again. During the afternoon it became completely calm.
24 August. Again, we had better wind.
25 August. A northwest wind, but not strong. During the afternoon the wind strengthened and we sailed  swiftly.  During  the  evening  the  chief  helmsman estimated  that on  the  left we must  be  opposite  the  English  islands  and  off  Ireland.  Also,  on  the  right,  he  said,  lie  the Spanish Netherlands and the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal.
26 August. We had  northeast  winds,  but  not  strong.  At midday  it  became  almost  calm.  I went on work command.
27 August. We  had  good  southwest  winds.  About  one  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  a  young sailor, who had climbed  to the  crow’s  nest, saw the  land  of Europe for the  first  time, about which  we  were  not  a  little  pleased  and  thanked  God,  who  had  allowed  us  to  complete  this long trip on the sea so soon, and so fortunately, that already on the twenty-seventh we again saw the land of Europe. Therefore, we had crossed nine hundred German miles in twenty-four days, which was a short and swift sea voyage. At five o’clock  in the afternoon we could  all see the land from the upper deck of our ship and recognized  it easily. The young sailor who had first seen it and reported it to the ship’s captain received a tip of one English guinea. Our Captain von Quesnoy also made him a gift of a Spanish dollar. At night the commodore of the frigate  Emerald  gave  his  ship’s  crew,  marines,  and  sailors  fourteen  gallons  of  rum,  that  is, fifty-six  quarts,  to  drink.  They  held  a  frolic,  or  dance,  on  the  ship  the  entire  night  and  got drunk as pigs.
(to be continued)

Washington Crossing: A Tale of Two Parks 
by David Price 28 Aug 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
Along the banks of the Delaware River—in what is now Upper Makefield Township on the Pennsylvania side and Hopewell Township on the New Jersey side—lie a pair of preternaturally venerated sites, indelibly linked by their shared connection to one of the most notable military enterprises the world has ever known. That would be the legendary water-borne crossing by Gen. George Washington’s troops on Christmas night 1776—a traversal fraught with difficulty by “the force of the current, the sharpness of the frost, the darkness of the night, the ice which [formed] during the operation, and a high wind,” as described by one Continental officer, Maj. James Wilkinson. Prior to this undertaking, the Rhode Island Quaker turned warrior, Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, had mused, “I hope this is the dark part of the night, which generally is just before day.” The metaphorical dawn that ensued from the “Ten Crucial Days” campaign (December 25, 1776 through January 3, 1777) reversed the momentum of the war for independence just when it appeared the insurgent army—and with it perhaps the cause it embodied—was on the verge of collapse.
In the immediate aftermath of that endeavor and the ensuing victory over the German brigade occupying Trenton, Ambrose Serle, private secretary to Adm. Richard Lord Howe, expressed his concern that “it will tend to revive the drooping spirits of the rebels and increase their force,” and regretted that “it will detain me probably for a further space of time from my longed-for home, and the happy enjoyment of my family and friends.” Indeed. Reflecting on this turn of events from a more distant vantage point, the English historian Sir George Otto Trevelyan famously opined, “It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a period of time with greater and more lasting effects upon the history of the world.” And Lord George Germain, Britain’s secretary of state for North America and principal war strategist, may have best and most succinctly denoted the import of this episode in his penetrative observation to parliament in 1779: “all our hopes were blasted by that unhappy affair at Trenton.”
Down by the River: An Overview of the Two Parks
Although created at different times and independently of each other, the Pennsylvania and New Jersey parks that straddle the Delaware River serve to commemorate the same event and offer a variety of historical features that complement each other. They function as separate entities but are engaged in a collaborative effort to preserve and promote their much-chronicled legacy. Read more…


The Wrong Remedy “For Regulating the Government of Massachusetts”
by Bob Ruppert 26 August 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
The third and final debate for the bill, For Regulating the Government of Massachusetts, took place on May 2, 1774. The House of Commons unfortunately did not realize that they had arrived “at the Rubicon”; the question by the end of the day was on which side of the Rubicon would they find themselves. What follows here is the debate about this bill among members of the House of Commons, as recorded at the time.
Mr. John Dunning (MP for Calne):

There seems to me be a system of tyranny throughout the whole of the Bills which have been brought into this House . . . It now appears to me, that the inhabitants of Boston are much in the same condition as prisoners surrendering at discretion . . . I have not . . . nor do I see any overt act of treason stated in the preamble of this Bill, so as to authorize the severe punishments which it enacts .

Sir William Meredith (MP for Liverpool):

now, that the Americans [have] not only resisted the act of parliament, but laid violent hands on the merchant’s property, it was high time to regulate the course of justice .

Hans Stanley (MP for Southampton):

their submission to the laws of some country is necessary, as I cannot conceive the independence of an American colony to exist, whilst the balance of power remains in Europe, supported and protected by armies and navies . . . These people must resort to some state, and it must be to a Protestant one: and were they to unite themselves with any other state than this, they would meet a yoke and burden which they would not wish to bear.

George Byng (MP for Wigan):

It is said this measure is adopted to prevent bloodshed; is it then that you send armies there for that purpose?

Lord George Germain (Member of the Privy Council and MP for East Grinstead):

I should be sorry to be a supporter of those measures, which are termed wicked and tyrannical; but as I cannot think that this Bill has any such designs, I shall readily adopt it . . . America, at this instant, is nothing but anarchy and confusion

On May 6, it was read for the second time. and on May 11 the bill was read for the third and final time. That same day “It was resolved in the Affirmative.” King George gave his royal assent on May 20.
In the words of historian B. D. Bargar

The Charter was as sacred to the people of Massachusetts as the principle of parliamentary supremacy was to the British officialdom. Instead of moving closer to compromise, Britain and her colonies were heading in opposite directions. Since Dartmouth (the Secretary of State for the colonies) and his colleagues in the ministry failed to understand the nature of the disease, they applied the wrong remedy. Read more…

Book: Fighting for Philadelphia: Forts Mercer and Mifflin, the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Road to Valley Forge, October 5-December 19, 1777
Author: Michael C. Harris (El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2025)
Review by Gene Procknow 25 August 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
When examining the 1777 Philadelphia campaign, historians often skip from the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, in September and early October, straight to the winter at Valley Forge, overlooking the crucial events that took place in late 1777. In his new book, Michael C. Harris describes the land and naval battles between October and December 1777 that led to the British controlling the essential Delaware River supply route, which kept their army armed, fed, and clothed during the winter. Previously, the Philadelphia-area educator and public historian penned books about the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, as well as an overview of the entire Philadelphia campaign. Harris is also a contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution.
Key indicators of an excellent historical account include balanced, comprehensive interpretations, fresh and original insights, and the debunking of myths that have become deeply ingrained in the historical record. Harris hits the mark on all three counts.  Read more…

Advertised on 25 August 1775: ‘This is to caution all persons against trusting her on my account.’

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

 “This is to caution all persons against trusting her on my account.”

It was a familiar sight.  Advertisements about runaway wives peppered the pages of early American newspapers.  Husbands, like John Robie, took to the public prints to warn that since their wives, in this case Naomi Robie, “eloped” from them that those women no longer had access to credit.  “This is to caution all persons against trusting [Naomi] on my account,” John proclaimed, “as I am determined to pay no debt of her contracting from the date hereof.”  He presented himself as the aggrieved husband, yet his wife likely had her own version of the origins of their marital discord.  Running away may have been the best option to remove her from a bad situation.
When John placed his advertisement about Naomi in the August 25, 1775, edition of the Essex Journal, it ran immediately after a petition from “The FEMALE SUPPORTERS of LIBERTY” reprinted from the Newport Mercury.  “WHEREAS our country has long groaned under the oppression of a tyrannical ministry; and has lately been invaded by our enemies, who stained the land with the blood of our dear brethren,” the petition began, “THEREFORE we, the subscribers, are determined to defend our liberties, both civil and religious, to do the utmost that lies in our power.”  These women took a stand to defend their “liberties” in a manner considered acceptable. Read more…

Podcast: The North Carolina Regulator Movement
By Nathan Schultz August 2025 Ben Franklin’s World
Nathan is a public historian and the Site Manager at the Alamance Battleground State Historic Site in North Carolina.  He will explore why farmers in North Carolina’s Piedmont region organized against corrupt officials and land speculators in the 1760s. How those Regulators built their own democratic, agrarian resistance movement while still claiming loyalty to the British Crown. And, how the Regulator Movement culminated in a deadly confrontation at the Battle of Alamance in May 1771. Listen in…

Book: “All Ye That Pass By: Edmund Southworth Joins the Burgoyne Campaign” by Avellina Balestri
“All Ye That Pass By” is a historical fiction novel, the first in a trilogy by author Avellina Balestri, set during the Saratoga Campaign of the American Revolution. The story follows young Edmund Southworth, a Catholic man from England who, despite his faith, joins the British army under General Burgoyne to pursue opportunity. The book explores themes of faith, divided loyalties, humanity in the face of war, and the complexities of the historical period.
Avellina Balestri is a Catholic author and editor based in the historic borderlands of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Her stories, poems, and essays have been featured in over thirty print and online publications. She has published two books: “Saplings of Sherwood”, the first book in a Robin Hood retelling series, and “Pendragon’s Shield”, a collection of poetry.
The book is available at book sellers. Description excerpted from Amazon.ca

Everybody wants the Arctic. This map shows why
As international relations heat up, Canada is scrambling to secure its Arctic sovereignty
Map by Chris Brackley with text by Rob Huebert, 12 Aug 2025  Casnadian Geographic (2 min)
In the recent federal election, both the Liberal and Conservative parties identified threats to our Arctic sovereignty and security as a key issue facing Canada.
While these threats are not new, they’ve been intensified by Russia’s military actions and capabilities in the Arctic region and its war against Ukraine (both of which have been paid for in large part by its Arctic oil and gas production), as well as by China’s increased Arctic shipping and its launch of surveillance balloons over the North American Arctic and by the new political challenges of the American administration’s threats to annex Canada and Greenland. Read more…

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

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

  • Timothy Roax Jr.  from a certificate application by Linda Drake UE, From Maine, married to Hannah Gray, they settled in St. George Parish, Charlotte County, New Brunswick. Their daughter Mariah married Andrew Marvin LORD
  • Michael Dennison  from a certificate application by John Coyne UE. Michael was born c1763, served in Delancey’s Brogade and married Mary Crawford. They settled in New Brunswick and their son James Michael, b. 1785, d. 1845 at Saint Marys, York, New Brunswick, m. Abigail Manzer   

 

Events Upcoming

Gov. Simcoe Branch:  “The 1781 American Raid on Annapolis Royal” by Brian McConnell Wed 3 Sept at 7:30 ET

Brian will discuss the background, event, and aftermath and provide information about the men who guarded Annapolis Royal and Annapolis County including the 84th Regiment (Royal Highland Emigrants) and local militia.
Annapolis Royal was the most fought-over place in Canada. It was attacked 13 times during the 17th and 18th centuries by French, British, Indigenous, and American forces. This was the last time, a successful attack, and of particular interest today given the American President speaking of Canada becoming the 51st State. Details and registration…

St. Alban’s Centre:  “Fade Kings” band Sat 6 Sept 7:30

Fade Kings is a well-loved band from the County who perform a wide range of Soul R&B, Blues, Smooth Jazz and Yacht Rock music from the late 60s to the early 80s. Details…

American Revolution Institute: Author’s Talk—Republic and Empire: Crisis, Revolution, and America’s Early Independence Thurs 11 Sept @6:30 

Andrew O’Shaughnessy is a professor of history at the University of Virginia. At the time of the American Revolution, the British Empire had colonies in India, Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, Canada, Ireland and Scotland. The thirteen rebellious American colonies accounted for half of the total number of provinces in the British world after the Seven Years’ War.  Andrew looks beyond the familiar borders of the Revolution by exploring colonies that did not rebel – Quebec, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, India, the British Caribbean, Senegal and Ireland – to provide a broader history that transcends what we think we know about the Revolution. Details…

America’s History: Benedict Arnold Defends Lake Champlain – Bus Tour Fri 19 Sept 2025 @8:00-5:00

The tour departs from Fort Ticonderoga’s parking lot at 8 a.m. and includes an interpretation of the battle of Valcour Island from a nearby site, a visit to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and a boat ride thru the Narrows of Lake Champlain. This tour will demonstrate Benedict Arnold’s skill as a naval commander and hero of the Patriot cause as we visit land and”on the water” sites. We will see Valcour Island from the New York shore, visit the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum which has special exhibits related to Valcour Island, board the reconstructed gunboat, Philadelphia II and take a boat ride thru the Lake Champlain Narrows where Arnold fought a delaying battle with the British. Read more…  Note: This tour is on the Friday of Fort Ticonderoga’s American Revolution Seminar.

Fort Ticonderoga: Annual Seminar on the American Revolution Weekend Sept 20/21

This annual premier conference focused on the military, political, social, and material culture of the American Revolution regularly features scholars from across North America and beyond. Attendees can participate in person or join the conference from home via the Fort Ticonderoga Center for Digital History.  Read more details, schedule and registration…

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Impressive alter chair dedicated to memory of  Lieut. Col. James Moody, renowned United Empire Loyalist who died April 6, 1809, aged 64, located in St. Peter’s Church in Weymouth North, Nova Scotia.    Brian McConnell UE
  • Food and Related : Townsends

  • This week in History
    • 26 Aug 1765 Boston, MA The home of Lt. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson was attacked by a mob protesting the Stamp Act. They caused significant damage, destroying furniture, personal belongings, and valuable documents, and looting the property. image
    • 27 Aug 1769 New York City Merchants follow the example of their Boston counterparts & adopt a policy of non-importation of British goods as a protest against the Townshend Duties. They determine to maintain non-importation until the duties are repealed. image
    • 23-24 Aug 1775  On the night of August 23–24, 1775, during the event known as the “Raid on the Battery,” a group of American rebels, including members of the Hearts of Oak militia and Captain John Lamb’s artillery company, tried to seize cannons from the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan, New York. The New York Provincial Congress ordered this effort to secure the cannons and stop their use by the British.
      The HMS Asia, a 64-gun British warship anchored in New York Harbor, spotted the activity and fired on the rebel forces to interrupt the raid. Despite the bombardment, the Americans successfully captured several cannons—sources differ, with some saying 20 or 21 guns and carriages were taken, while others mention up to 23.
      The operation happened under the cover of darkness, and the Americans managed to haul the cannons to a safer spot, like the Common (now part of City Hall Park). During the attack, an 18-pound cannonball from the HMS Asia crashed through the roof of Fraunces Tavern, a significant Revolutionary War site today located at 54 Pearl Street.
      Among the raiders were Alexander Hamilton, then a young member of the Hearts of Oak, who showed bravery under fire, and Hercules Mulligan, who later became our favorite Tailor Spy (see my blog of the same name).
      This was New York’s first military action of the War for Independence—a bold early move by the rebel Americans. image
    • 27 Aug 1775, OUTER BANKS OF NORTH CAROLINA: A hurricane reaches land from the Atlantic Ocean; it will spend the next six days passing along the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, killing 163 people and destroying a man-of-war.
    • 28 Aug 1775, Ft Ticonderoga, NY, Expedition to liberate Canada begins with Gen Richard Montgomery assembling 1,200 men and sailing to Ile aux Noix on Lake Champlain. Few Canadians rallied. Poor supplies & a late start doomed the campaign. image
    • 28 Aug 1775 First USS Enterprise, a captured British sloop, embarks on expedition into Canada; fails at Quebec City. image
    • 28 Aug 1775, John Hancock and Dorothy “Dolly” Quincy married after a long engagement. The ceremony took place at Thaddeus Burr’s estate in Fairfield, Connecticut, during a furlough of the Continental Congress.
    • 29 Aug 1775, Gen. George Washington asked the Massachusetts government to impose price controls on firewood because the army quartermasters have complained of high costs. Read more…
    • 30 Aug 1775 Stonington, CT. In response to the local militia repelling a Royal Navy foraging party, the HMS Rose bombards the town, killing two residents.  image
    • 24 Aug 1776, American Gen Charles Lee informs Congress that Georgia was more valuable than suspected, with natural resources & proximity to the West Indies, it must be out of enemy hands. Lee recommended Continental Army send additional reinforcements. image
    • 25 Aug 1776, political philosopher David Hume dies in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although Hume died when the American Revolution was barely underway, his essay “Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth” influenced the ideas of the drafters of the federal Constitution in 1787.  image
    • 30 Aug 1775 Gen Phillip Schuyler approves Gen Richard Montgomery’s plan to invade Canada & moves north to join him with 500 reinforcements.  image
    • 26 Aug 1776, Washington ordered the dispersal of documents among the Hessians to induce them to desert the British army. He hoped the numerous Germans fighting for the cause could also help get them to come over. image
    • 26 Aug 1776 Long Island, NY Gen Washington crosses over to take command and reinforces Brooklyn Heights. British Gen Howe learns from a Loyalist informant of a gap in the rebel defenses & sends a column up King’s Hwy through the Jamaica Pass.  image
    • 27 Aug 1776, Long Island became the scene of a crucial Revolutionary War battle. General William Howe, leading the British forces, launched a fierce frontal assault on the American positions. Simultaneously, General Henry Clinton executed a brilliant flanking maneuver, striking the patriots’ rear with devastating effect.
      The American defenses, under General John Sullivan and Lord Stirling, faltered against the disciplined British and Hessian attack. Sullivan’s troops, caught in the open, were routed, while Stirling’s 1st Maryland and Delaware Continental Line stood firm, covering the retreat with heroic determination. Their disciplined volleys and bayonet charges slowed the British advance, giving remnants of the army a chance to escape to Brooklyn Heights.
      General Israel Putnam, in charge of the American defenses, struggled to coordinate a response as Clinton’s flanking force overwhelmed key positions. Despite his efforts, the American lines collapsed under Howe’s relentless pressure. Howe, sensing victory, ordered his forces to entrench and lay siege to the fortified American positions, confident that starvation would force General Washington’s surrender. Sullivan, captured amid the chaos, and Stirling, who fought bravely until overwhelmed, could not stop the tide.
      The 1st Maryland and Delaware Continental Line, though battered, earned lasting fame for their sacrificial stand. Their bravery bought critical time, saving Washington’s army from complete destruction. As night fell, Howe’s siege tightened, but the stubborn spirit of these regiments held the American cause together, setting the stage for a daring withdrawal across the East River.  image
    • 28 Aug 1776 Andrew Williamson & Gen Griffith Rutherford lead 2,000 NC & SC militia into the western mountains (Appalachians) to attack the Cherokee. image
    • 28 Aug 1776 Jamaica, NY British Gen William Erskine & 700 regulars overwhelm 100 NY militia under Gen Nathanael Woodhull  image
      29 Aug 1776 Captain Abraham Whipple, commanding the 24-gun frigate Columbus, seizes four British merchant vessels off the coast of New England. image
    • 29 Aug 1776 Gen Washington’s army retreats from Long Island in night fog. Fires burn to convince British the rebels remained. Col Glover’s Marblehead men ferry the men & equipt. through the night. Some 9000 men escape under the noses of Gen Howe’s pickets. image
    • 23 Aug 1777 Fort Stanwix, NY British forces under Lt Col Barry St Leger panic on the arrival of Col Benedict Arnold’s relief column. They abandoned the siege & their equipment & fled west. The western prong of Gen Burgoyne’s strategy is smashed. image
    • 24 Aug 1777 Ft Stanwix, NY. Gen Benedict Arnold writes Gen Horatio Gates, Cmdr. of Northern Dept., that the garrison held off a superior force. He dispatched Tuscarora and Oneida scouts after the fleeing British, who abandoned their baggage. image
    • 26 Aug 1777 General Cornwallis’s troops marched toward Philadelphia as part of Howe’s push to capture the American Capital. image
    • 23 Aug 1778 Portsmouth, England Adm Augustus Keppel’s fleet sails out to engage a French fleet under Adm Louis, comte d’Orvilliers, who turns his fleet south to the safety of the Bay of Biscay.  image
    • 25 Aug 1779 British Adm Marriot Arbuthnot pulls into New York harbor and relieves Adm John Byron as commander of the British fleet. Arbuthnot also brought transports carrying some 3K reinforcements for Gen henry Clinton’s army. image
    • 29 Aug 1779, Battle of Chemung or Newtown (today Elmira, NY), at the southwestern border with PA, continental forces under Gen John Sullivan & Gen James Clinton defeat a combined force of Loyalists & Indians led by Capt Walter Butler & Chief Joseph Brant.  image
    • 27 Aug 1781 Adm Samuel Hood arrives at Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay with 14 ships of the line, but finding no French fleet, he sails north to NYC to join Adm Thomas Graves and the main fleet. image
    • 27 Aug 1782 Lt Col John Laurens, former Washington aide and friend of Alexander Hamilton, died of his wounds sustained at Combahee Ferry, SC  image
    • 29 Aug 1782, HMS Royal George, a ship of the line anchored off Spithead, England, sinks. Over 900 were on board, including 300 women & 60 children. Royal George was preparing to sail with a relief force with reinforcements for Gibraltar. image
    • 24 August 1804 – Peggy Shippen (b. 1760) dies in London. The femme fatale from Philadelphia was at the center of an espionage triangle, connecting former beau and British spymaster Maj Andre with her husband, disgruntled American Gen Benedict Arnold.  image
  • Clothing and Related:
    •  I do love a pinked edge and a complex sleeve. This is a favourite, the detail of a 1760s lightly sprinkled floral brocade gown, pleated and ruffled in primrose yellow
    • France.  Casaquin, c. 1730-1750 (Fabric, c. 1720-1730)  Silk and gilt brocade.
  • Miscellaneous

Last Post: TAYLOR UE, Corlene Beatrice (Dwyer)
It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Corlene, at her home, surrounded by love in her 98th year.
Corlene was predeceased by her husband and the love of her life, Lawrence Edward (Larry) Taylor; by her parents, Leslie Read and Bessie Irene (Beyer) Dwyer, and by her brothers Leslie and David Dwyer.
Corlene was born at the family homestead, “Mayholme,” in Grantham Township. She attended Maywood School, the St. Catharines Collegiate Institute, and was a graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College (Macdonald Hall, University of Guelph) where she studied between 1946 and 1949. Corlene had an innate love of plants and gardening, which she acquired from her family and through her association with other farm families in the area.
After Corlene and Larry were married, they purchased property overlooking Lake Ontario near Beamsville. There they were early practitioners of organic farming, and generously shared seeds, plants, and produce with friends and neighbours.
Corlene grew up with the knowledge that her Loyalist ancestors were members of Butlers Rangers and among the first settlers in Grantham Township. This fostered her interest in local history and genealogy, and she could effortlessly recite connections with related families in Niagara and beyond.
During the late 1970s and early ’80s, Corlene worked tirelessly in her efforts to have the May-Clark-Seiler house, her ancestral home, designated and turned into a museum. Unfortunately, the house burned in October 1984.
In 2004, Corlene was awarded a Lifetime Achievement certificate by the Ontario Heritage Foundation “in appreciation of a lifetime of volunteer work to identify, preserve, protect, and promote our province’s rich heritage.”
A Celebration of Life will be held on September 5, 2025.
More details etc at Tallman Funeral Home
Noted by John Haynes UE, Col John Butler Branch

As a member of the Col. John Butler Branch, Corlene in 2003 proved descent from ten Loyalist ancestors: Robert Bessy, Jacob Bowman, Christian Bradt, Hentry Hainer, Richard Hainer, Williasm May, William Read, James Secord, Solomon Secord and Isaac Vollick.

 

 

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