“2025 UELAC National Conference”
July 10-13, 2025
Saint John, New Brunswick
Jump to: Introduction | Agenda | Registration | Conference Hotel | Host City
Agenda details: Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
The 2025 UELAC Conference Committee is pleased to announce that the 2025 UELAC CONFERENCE will be held in Saint John NB, July 10th-13th,2025. The conference will be hosted at the Delta Hotel in downtown Saint John beside the harbour.
Parrtown was located at the mouth of the Saint John River in Nova Scotia, Western Nova Scotia with a population of some 6,000. Parrtown welcomed 14,000 Loyalist refugees. It was renamed Saint John in 1785 when this new British Colony of New Brunswick was created. Saint John is the entrance point of New Brunswick’s Loyalist story.
Some of the highlights will be guest speakers Dr. Leah Grandy and Loyalist Trails contributor Stephen Davidson. There will be tours of Trinity Anglican Loyalist church, the Old Loyalist cemetery, The Black Loyalist History Centre, and the Loyalist House. The Gala Dinner will feature speaker and newly appointed honorary fellow Dr. Bonnie Hoskins. We will cap off the Conference with a Drumhead church service at Trinity Church with DeLancey’s Brigade.
There will be free time to tour downtown Saint John to take in the stores, restaurants, markets, the container village of artisans on the newly renovated harbour front. Details concerning registration will be announced soon, so mark your calendars now and join us for a great summer conference!
– Conference Committee
Agenda
Thursday, July 10
Registration at Delta Hotel
6:30 pm — Reception, featuring speaker presentation:
“Developments at Johnson Hall”
By Wade Wells
This presentation will focus on recently completed restoration projects at Johnson Hall, a New York State Historic Site, and discuss new research and programming initiatives along with the importance of Johnson Hall in telling the Loyalist story during the 250th anniversary commemorations.
Wade Wells is the Historic Site Manager of Johnson Hall State Historic Site, the 1763 home of Sir William Johnson and Molly Brant. He has served in several interpretive, operational and managerial positions at Johnson Hall and the Saratoga Region during his thirty-four-year career with New York State Parks.
Friday, July 11
9:15 am — Speaker presentation:
“Sailing to Sanctuary: Loyalists and their Evacuation Vessels”
By Stephen Davidson
It was the largest displacement of refugees in North American history, and yet it is a story that is largely unknown. Stephen Davidson’s presentation focuses on the evacuation ships that took Loyalists to sanctuary during and following the American Revolution. It’s an opportunity to discover the stories hidden in passenger lists, to appreciate the breadth of the loyalist diaspora, and to learn what resources are available for determining an ancestor’s evacuee experience. Romances, shipwrecks, measles, and revolution souvenirs are all part of what it meant to be a Loyalist seeking refuge in a time of war.
Stephen Davidson, UE – One set of Stephen’s Loyalist ancestors were aboard the Union, the flagship of the spring fleet that arrived at the mouth of the St. John River in 1783. His 1975 bachelor’s thesis on an aspect of Black Loyalist history became the basis for his contribution to Volume VII of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
In addition to submissions to the Loyalist Gazette and more than 795 articles for Loyalist Trails, Stephen’s research has appeared in multiple genealogy periodicals, a national children’s magazine, The Beaver, and a number of Maritime newspapers.
He served as a consultant for two websites created by the University of New Brunswick (Black Loyalists in New Brunswick and Loyalist Women in New Brunswick), spoke at two national historical conferences, served as Peter C. Newman’s consultant and researcher, and authored two books on Black Loyalists. Stephen and his wife live in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, where they raised two daughters and now enjoy the proximity of their two grandsons.
10:30 am — Speaker presentation:
“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 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.
11:15 am — Tour of the New Brunswick Black Heritage Museum, Host: Ralph Thomas. The Museum is located in the Mall which adjoins the Delta Hotel.
Afternoon — Free time to explore Saint John: restaurants, sea container village on the harbour, new renovated harbourfront.
5:00pm — Tour and Dinner at Trinity Anglican Church, “church of the Loyalists since 1783,” located ay 115 Charlotte St., a short walk from the conference hotel. Entertainment by Tim Blackwell, who plays tunes of the Loyalist era on a square piano. After the church entertainment, everyone is welcome back to the Hospitality room at the Hotel.
Saturday, July 12
9:00 am — Tour of the Loyalist House, located at 120 Union St., right behind the Hotel. The tour begins at 9:00 am for two initial groups of approximately 15 people, followed by two final groups at 10:00 am.
Loyalist House commemorates the first fifty years of the Loyalists in New Brunswick and the early artisans of Saint John to whom it stands a silent tribute. It is operated by the New Brunswick Historical Society.
Loyalist House was built by David Daniel Merritt, a United Empire Loyalist from New York. The house, finished in 1817, remained in the possession of several generations of the family until it was acquired by the New Brunswick Historical Society in 1959. It is a tribute to the excellence of the early craftsmen of Saint John.
In 1783 Thomas and Amy Merritt of Rye, New York emigrated to Saint John with their family from New York City. Thomas was a Loyalist, forced leave his home because he had signed a protest against the American Revolution in 1775. His son Thomas served in the Queen’s Rangers on the side of the British Crown and later moved to Upper Canada. Another son, David Daniel, built “the house on the hill,” now Loyalist House. David Daniel, who was nineteen when he arrived in Saint John, became an active member of the new community, prospering as the proprietor of a business near Market Square. According to family tradition, sometime after 1810 work began on a new residence for the Merritt family on the comer of Union and Germain streets. The house was completed in 1817.
The Merritt House, a fine example of Georgian architecture, is the oldest wooden building in Saint John which has not been structurally altered since it was built. It stands today almost exactly as it was in 1817. For more information, visit loyalisthouse.com.
11:30 am — Wreath-laying ceremony honouring the Loyalists at the Old Loyalist Burial Grounds; we will be assisted by re-enactors of Delancy’s Brigade, and the wreath will be laid at the grave site of Carl Stymiest’s Loyalist ancestor, Jasper Stymiest (1751-1826). The Burial Grounds is located up the street from the Hotel, about a 10 minute walk. After the ceremony we will take a tour of the cemetery:
The tour is called “I could tell 14,000 stories in this 4-acre patch, but I won’t.” We will tour the grounds, and stop at various points to discuss such things as why Market McLure’s husband’s name is missing from the market; how the Gold Tree got its nickname; why KC Irving’s statue is not front and centre, even though the company paid for the restoration of the grounds in the 1990s; the woman who jumped in the Bay of Fundy, and why she did it; and more. We’ll visit stone carver James Milligan’s slab monument, and discover his connection to Robbie Burns. We’ll examine and explain the difference between slab and above ground tombs, and actual tombs, identify some of the carvings, and explain why the particular designs were chosen. At the most elaborate tomb, we’ll explain why Judge Putnam needed wrought iron fence around his remains, and right nearby, the story of Christopher Billop will be shared using the very extensive epitaph carved on his marker. As time permits, other markers will be identified, and the story of two men who walked all the way from Florida to find a family member’s burial place in the Loyalist Burial Ground so they could settle an estate will be told.
In case of wet weather, the program will be moved to Trinity Church Bennett Room, or an alternate location, for a slide presentation about the only area of the city with a cluster of Loyalist dwellings, and the stories of these structures, and those who lived in them as first-generation settlers, will be shared. This will include personalities like Ward Chipman, Gabriel Ludlow, Charles MacPherson, Benedict Arnold, and the Jarvis and Hazen families.
About our tour guide: Using his Boy Scout background in hiking and storytelling, David Goss began a free to citizens and visitors Walk ‘n Talk program that highlights the city’s architectural and natural high spots in 1978; he has conducted about 20 programs annually since then. He has been a contributor to the Telegraph Journal, highlighting history, and interesting places to enjoy the city, since 1976. He has authored 26 books on local and provincial history, with the topics of Christmas and ghosts being the most popular. He is currently working on two new books, one of Bay of Fundy Legends and Folklore, and the second on How Christmas Developed in Atlantic Canada from 1794 to 1925.
Afternoon — Free time to explore Saint John
6:00 pm — Gala Banquet reception & dinner. Loyalist period clothing is encouraged. Dorchester Award and Sue Morris Hines Award winners will be honoured. With a speaker presentation by Dr. Bonnie Hoskins, a recently appointed UELAC Fellow:
“Why Drinking Establishments are Important Sites of Loyalist history: the Exchange Coffee House and the Mallard Tavern in Saint John”
Dr. Bonnie Huskins is an assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick at Saint John, and an adjunct Professor, Loyalist Studies Coordinator and Honorary Research Associate at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick. She teaches courses on the American Revolution and Loyalist history; Canadian history; immigration history; gender and women’s history; British Atlantic World; and pirates and-piracy in. world history. Dr. Huskins is a well-published author of books, a passionate Loyalist researcher, producing detailed articles and has conducted many Loyalist-related podcasts and in-person presentations. Dr. Huskins’ research has received funding from many history research sources.
Bonnie possesses a unique blend of expertise, passion, and dedication that makes her an ideal ally for the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada. Her extensive knowledge in Loyalist history aligns seamlessly with the historical context of the UELAC, fostering a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the Loyalists during the American Revolution.
Everyone will be welcomed in the Hospitality Room after Gala.
Sunday, July 13
8:30 am Meet and Greet breakfast
10:30 am, Drumhead Church service at Trinity Anglican Church with Delancy’s Brigade. Loyalist period clothing is encouraged.
The Drumhead Service is a tradition that dates back to the 1700’s. On the battlefields, there was often no way for soldiers to attend church, to worship and pray. Instead, the Padre or Chaplain would hold a “Drumhead Service” – creating a temporary altar on the field, using military drums draped with the regimental or National flags. Drumhead Services are still held, as a salute to those who fought on battlefields around the world, and made the ultimate sacrifice.
Registration
Registration for the conference is now open (using the same Google Forms process as last year) via the link below:
Please note:
- The registration form must be completed separately for each person attending.
- The early-bird fee for the entire conference is $300 until April 15; the regular fee is $350 after April 15.
- You are responsible for your own accommodations (registration for the conference does NOT include hotel bookings or reservations); for more information, see Conference Hotel.
If you need to submit your registration and payment by mail, you may print out the PDF registration form and fill it out by hand. Please make registration cheques payable to UELAC and send to:
Patricia Groom, UE
326 Lakeport Rd,
Colborne, ON
K0K 1S0
We look forward to seeing you in Saint John.
Conference Hotel
The conference hotel is the Delta Hotels Saint John by Marriott. Located in Brunswick Square in the midst of historic Uptown, the hotel allows you to easily walk to the city’s most popular attractions including Saint John City Market, New Brunswick Museum and King’s Square. It is directly connected to the Saint John Trade & Convention Centre.
Room rate: $184.00 plus tax (1 king size bed or 2 queen size beds).
Start Date: Thursday, July 10, 2025.
End Date: Sunday, July 13, 2025.
Last day to book: Monday, May 26, 2025.
- Book your hotel at the conference group rate (Deadline: Monday, May 26)
- In addition, you can book up to 3 days before and/or after at the same rate — to take advantage, book your conference dates first and then please email Mandy Currell at mandy.currell@deltasaintjohn.
com to place your reservation for additional nights.
During your stay, take advantage of the amenities: work up a sweat at the fitness center, then cool off in the indoor pool.
Address: 39 King St, Saint John, NB, E2L 4W3
Phone: (506) 648-1981
Website: www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ysjdb-delta-hotels-saint-john/
Saint John, NB
The Saint John area was nurtured by its first inhabitants, the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet, long before its European discovery. On a voyage in 1604, Samuel-de-Champlain named the St. John River in honour of St. Jean the Baptiste. Following the American Revolution, 14,000 American British supporters arrived, and in 1783 settled at the mouth of the St. John River. In 1785 this “Loyalist city” was incorporated by Royal Charter, making it Canada’s first incorporated city. Read more…
The Loyalist Man is an iconic sign located near the Reversing Falls in Saint John. It represents a Loyalist soldier from the American Revolution, as many of Saint John’s early settlers were Loyalists.
New Brunswick was first inhabited by First Nations like the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet. In 1604, Acadia, the first New France colony, was founded with the creation of Port-Royal. For 150 years afterwards, Acadia changed hands multiple times due to numerous conflicts between France and the United Kingdom. From 1755 to 1764, the British deported Acadians en masse, an event known as the Great Upheaval. This, along with the Treaty of Paris, solidified Acadia as British property. In 1784, following the arrival of many loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, the colony of New Brunswick was officially created, separating it from what is now Nova Scotia. In the early 1800s, New Brunswick prospered and the population grew rapidly.