“Loyalist Trails” 2009-28: July 12, 2009

In this issue:
London’s Forgotten Loyalist: Part II A Loyalist Daughter and Wife — © Stephen Davidson
Col. John Butler Bust Unveiled on Canada Day
The Jacob Bowman Family During the American Revolution
Heritage Canada Foundation Releases 2009 Top Ten Endangered Places and Worst Losses Lists
Additions to the Loyalist Directory
Last Post: Bruce Emerson McCallum
Queries
      + George Barnhart’s Sister-in-law, Sara Sluyter

Articles

London’s Forgotten Loyalist: Part II A Loyalist Daughter and Wife — © Stephen Davidson

Of the 100,000 refugees who were forced to leave the United States at the end of the American Revolution, only one is buried at St. Margaret’s, the parish church for the House of Commons. Barnardus La Grange had been a successful attorney in New Brunswick, New Jersey until his loyalty to the crown compelled him to seek sanctuary within the British lines. He lost his income, his house, and his lands, but this loyalist’s greatest losses during the revolution were the deaths of family members at the hands of rebel soldiers.

When Barnardus La Grange gave his daughter Frances to be married on Sunday, April 4, 1773, he could never have imagined that her happiness would completely evaporate within a mere four years. The new son-in-law was Edward Vaughan Dongan, a twenty-four year-old lawyer from Rahway, New Jersey. Within a year, Edward and Frances had a son. However, the bright days of domestic bliss were all too quickly overshadowed by the looming clouds of war.

Patriot neighbours knew Dongan to be a loyalist and “treated him very ill”. On one morning in 1775, he was pulled from his bed to sign an oath of allegiance to the rebel cause, but like his father-in-law, Dongan refused. He joined Sir William Howe’s British troops when they marched into New Jersey in July of 1776, and became a prisoner of war a month later. After his release, Dongan was made an officer in the third battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers.

By the spring of 1777, Edward and Frances Dongan and their young son were stationed on Staten Island, the home base for the New Jersey Volunteers. In April, Dongan donned the Volunteers’ distinctive uniform, a green coat with white trim. Just as the rebels contemptuously had called their British foes the “redcoats”, they would refer to their loyalist counterparts as “the Greens”.

The Volunteers made raids throughout New York and New Jersey, becoming a great nuisance to the Continental Army. Vowing to rid themselves of the loyalist regiment, the rebel general, John Sullivan, led 2000 soldiers in a predawn attack on Staten Island on August 22, 1777. Sullivan’s men quickly surprised and captured two loyalist battalions. They then proceeded to burn 35 tons of hay and a barn, giving a New Jersey loyalist refugee time to warn the 3rd and 6th battalions of the advancing rebels.

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Dongan and his Third Battalion were attacked by the Second Division of the Continental Army. After the rebels twice made “a shew of attacking them”, they withdrew. Not willing to let the enemy get away so easily, Dongan sent Brigadier General Skinner word that his men were in pursuit of the rebels.

A New York newspaper would later describe the loyalist soldiers as attacking with “an intrepidity and perseverance that would have done honour to veterans”. 300 rebel soldiers were taken prisoner, including 21 officers. Among the New Jersey Volunteers, 84 were missing, and 5 had been killed. One of the 7 wounded that day was Edward Vaughan Dongan. As he lay bleeding, Dongan had no way of knowing that his wife and son were in mortal danger.

Usually the wives and children of soldiers were far from the battlefield, but should they be near the fighting, it was understood by both sides that soldiers’ families were not to be harmed. But this was not the case on August 22, 1777.

When husband’s battalion was retreating from Sullivan’s rebel soldiers, Frances and her son remained behind. The advancing patriot army, however, was intent on more than just a military victory. Plunder and rape were also on their minds. Frances Dongan took her three year-old son by the hand and fled into the nearby woods. The rebels chased her through the trees and swamps. She did not escape. Rebels raped Frances before the eyes of her young son.

Having taken their pleasure, the rebels abandoned Frances and her son in the woods. She eventually made her way back to the New Jersey Volunteers’ base only to discover that her husband was dying. Edward had been shot, Frances had been raped, but their young son had been wounded as well. He had witnessed a horrible attack on his mother and was then exposed to the elements as they had tried to hide in the swamp. It was all too much for the toddler. He died three days after the assaults on his parents. Within hours of hearing of his son’s death, Edward Dongan breathed his last.

As Frances saw to the burial of her loved ones at New York City’s Trinity Church, a newspaper recorded that Edward Dongan “a young Gentleman of uncommon Merit, both as a Man and a Soldier, is since dead of his Wounds. His Loss is greatly regretted, and his Memory will ever be dear to all those who had the Pleasure of his Acquaintance.”

Frances went to live with her father and teenaged brother who had fled New Jersey to find refugee in New York City. In the spring of 1783, Barnardus La Grange, Frances, and James took passage to England, the destination for most of the revolution’s loyalist refugees. A year later, accompanied by her father and Brigadier General Skinner, her husband’s commanding officer, Frances Dongan stood before the members of the compensation board to tell her story. Despite all that she had suffered in being raped by rebels, Frances only recounted how her husband had been killed in action and that her child had died on the same day.

Although her Edward had made 200 pounds sterling a year as an attorney, he received more as colonel in the New Jersey Volunteers. Nevertheless, the British government awarded Frances a mere 40 pounds sterling a year when her husband was recognized as a loyalist in December of 1784.

Barnardus La Grange, London’s forgotten loyalist, also appeared before the compensation board. His fate –and the stories of those he knew well– will be told in the next edition of Loyalist Trails.

To secure permission to reprint this article, contact the author at {stephendavids AT gmail DOT com}

Col. John Butler Bust Unveiled on Canada Day

Despite a forecast of rain, glorious hot sun drew great crowds to the unveiling of the Col. John Butler bust in Niagara-on-the-Lake as part of the festivities organized by the Friends of Fort George and conducted by Ron Dale.

Members of the Col. John Butler in period dress were treated like celebrities by the parade bystanders along Queen Street as well as those gathered at Simcoe Park. Tourists from as far away as Chile, Columbia and Italy clamoured for photographic opportunities with the Loyalist descendants, and Zig Misiak and Scott Patterson of Butler’s Rangers. The scarlet coat of CJBB member and NOTL Volunteer of the Year, Dr. Richard Merritt also served as a major attraction for photo ops.

Prior to the main event, I presented Dr. Elizabeth Oliver-Malone with a certificate of Associate Membership on behalf of the Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch. A long-time member of both the Branch and the Niagara Historical Society, Dr. Malone has actively pursued the enhancement of Col. John Butler as the founder of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Her sheer determination and boundless energy encouraged the local committee to mark the original Butler homestead in the St. Andrew’s Glen area, create the park on Balmoral Drive and last year, erect a cairn. This bust by Ruth Abernethy will top off the cairn later this summer. For an image of the bust of Col. John Butler see the Penny Coles article from the Niagara Advance.

As three prior Col. John Butler Branch outdoor events had been conducted under a variety of umbrellas, I personally appreciated the opportunity to participate in full sunshine.

Click here for pictures.

…FHH

The Jacob Bowman Family During the American Revolution

My great-grandfather emigrated from Germany in the reign of Queen Anne. He settled near the Mohawk river, at a creek that still bears his name (Bowman’s Creek). My grandfather, Jacob Bowman, joined the British army in the French war; at the conclusion of peace he was awarded 1,500 acres of land on the Susquehanna river, where he made improvements until the revolutionary war broke out. The delicate state of my grandmother obliged him to remain at home, while nearly all that remained firm to their allegiance left for the British army.

He was surprised at night, while his wife was sick, by a party of rebels, and with his eldest son, a lad of sixteen years of age, was taken prisoner; his house pillaged of every article except the bed on which his sick wife lay, and that they stripped of all but one blanket. Half an hour after my grandfather was marched out, his youngest child was born. This was in November. There my grandmother was, with an infant babe and six children, at the commencement of winter, without any provisions, and only one blanket in the house. Their cattle and grain were all taken away.

My father, Peter Bowman, the eldest son at home, was only eleven years old. As the pillage was at night, he had neither coat nor shoes; he had to cut and draw his firewood ha1f a mile on a hand-sleigh to keep his sick mother from freezing; this he did barefooted. The whole family would have perished had it not been for some friendly Indians that brought them provisions. One gave my father a blanket, coat and a pair of mocassins. A kind squaw doctored my grandmother, but she suffered so much through want and anxiety that it was not until spring that she was able to do anything. She then took her children and went to the Mohawk river, where they planted corn and potatoes; and in the fall the commander of the British forces at Niagara, hearing of their destitute situation, sent a party with some Indians to bring them in. They brought in five families: the Nellises, Secords, Youngs, Bucks, and our own family (Bowman), five women and thirty-one children, and only one pair of shoes among them all. They arrived at Fort George on the 3rd of November, 1776; from there they were sent first to Montreal, and then to Quebec, where the Government took care of them – that is, gave them something to eat and barracks to sleep in. My grandmother was exposed to cold and damp so much that; she took the rheumatism, and never recovered.

In the spring of 1777 my father joined Butler’s Rangers, and was with Colonel Butler in all his campaigns. His brother, only nine years old, went as a fifer.

But to return to my grandfather, Jacob Bowman: his captors took him and his son to Philadelphia, where he was confined in jail eighteen months. An exchange of prisoners then took place, and they were sent to New York; from there he, with his son and Philip Buck, started for their homes, not knowing that these homes they never would see again, and that their families were far away in the wilds of Canada. The third evening after they started for their homes, they came to a pond, and shot some ducks for their supper. The report of their guns was heard by some American scouts, who concealed themselves until our poor fellows were asleep, when they came stealthily up and fired. Six shots took effect on my uncle, as he lay with his hat over his ear. Five balls went through it, and one through his thigh. My grandfather and Buck lay on the opposite side of the fire. They sprang into the bushes, but when they heard the groans of my uncle, grandfather returned and gave himself up. Buck made his escape. They then marched off carrying the wounded boy with them.

They were taken to the nearest American station, where grandfather was allowed the privilege of taking care of his wounded son. As he began to recover, grandfather was again ordered to abjure the British Government, which he steadfastly refused to do. He was then taken to Lancaster jail, with Mr. Hoover. They were there fastened together by a band of iron around their arms, and a chain with three links around their ankles, the weight of which was ninety-six pounds; and then fastened by a ring and staple to the door. In that condition they remained either three years and a half or four years and a half, until the flesh was worn away and the bones laid bare four inches.

Men, women, and children all went to work, clearing land. There were none to make improvements in Canada then but the U.E. Loyalists, and they. with their hoes planted the germ of its future greatness. About this time, my father with his brother returned from the army; they helped their father two years, and then took up land for themselves near Fort Erie.

My father married the daughter of a Loyalist from Hudson, North River (Mr. Frederick Lampman); he was too old to serve in the war but his four sons and two sons-in-law did. They were greatly harassed, but they hid in the cellars and bushes for three months, the rebels hunting them night and day. At length an opportunity offered, and they made their escape to Long Island, where they joined the British army. One of his sons, Wilhelmus Lampman, returning home to see his family, was caught by the rebels within a short distance of his father’s house, and hanged because, as they said, he was a Tory.

At the restoration of peace, the whole family came to Canada. They brought their horses and cattle with them, which helped to supply the new country. They settled in the township of Stamford, where their descendants are yet.

My father settled on his land near the fort; he drew an axe and a hoe from Government. He bought a yoke of yearling steers; this was the amount of his farming utensils. Mother had a cow, bed, six plates, three knives, and a few other articles. It was the scarce year, on account of the rush of Loyalists from the States. who had heard that Canada was a good country, where they could live under their own loved institutions, and enjoy the protection of England.

The amount of grain that the U.E. Loya1ists had raised was hardly sufficient for themselves; still they divided with the new comers, as all were alike destitute. After planting corn and potatoes, they had nothing left. My father cleared two acres, on which he planted corn, potatoes, oats and flax; his calves were not able to work, and he had to carry all the rails on his shoulders until the skin was worn off them both. This was the way he made his first fence. In the beginning of May [1789], their provisions failed; none to be had; Government promised assistance, still none came. All eyes turned toward their harvest, which was more than three months away; their only resource was the leaves of trees. Some hunted ground nuts; many lived on herbs; those that were near the river, on fish. My father used to work until near sun-down, then walk three miles to the river, get light wood, fish all night, in the morning divide the fish. carry his share home on his back, which they ate without bread or salt. This he did twice a week, until the middle of June, when the moss became so thick in the river that they could not see a fish; still they worked on. and hoped on every day. My father chopped the logs and they had milk for their breakfast, then went to work until noon; took their dinner on milk; to work again till night, and supped on milk. I have frequently heard my mother say she never was discouraged or discontented; thankful they were that they could eat their morsel in peace.

Their only crime was loyalty to the Government which they had sworn fealty to. The God of Heaven saw all this, and the sword of vengeance is now, in 1861, drawn over the American people (now they know how to appreciate loyalty), and will perhaps never be sheathed again until they make some restitution for the unheard-of cruelties they inflicted upon those most brave and loyal people.

At the close of the war they were liberated. Grandfather was sent to the hospital for nearly a year, but his leg never got entirely well. As soon as he was able to wa1k, he sent for his family (it had been eight years since he saw them): they had suffered everything but death. Coming in the boats from Quebec, they got out of provisions and were near starving. He never had his family all together again. He drew land near the Falls of Niagara, where he went to work in the woods, broken down with suffering, worn out with age; his property destroyed his land confiscated, and his family scattered; without money or means, and worse than all, without provisions. Still, to work they went with willing hands and cheerful hearts, and often did he say he never felt inclined to murmur. He had done his duty to God and his country; his own and his family’s sufferings he could not help. Theirs was not a solitary case; all the Loyalists suffered. The Government found seed to plant and sow the first year; they gave them axes and hoes, and promised them provisions. How far that promise was fulfilled, you well know; they got very little; they soon found that they had to provide for themselves.

As soon as the wheat was large enough to rub out, they boiled it, which to them was a great treat. Providence favoured them with an early harvest; their sufferings were over, and not one had starved to death. They now had enough, and they were thankful. Heaven smiled and in a few years they had an abundance for themselves and others.

I have no memorandum to refer to. I have just related the tale I have often heard my parents tell, without any exaggeration, but with many omissions I have not told you about my father’s sufferings in the army, when, upon an expedition near Little Miamac, he and some others were left to carry the wounded. They got out of provisions: went three days without anything to eat except one pigeon between nine. I will give you his own words. He says: The first day we came to where an Indian’s old pack-horse had mired in the mud; it had lain there ten days in the heat of summer; the smell was dreadful; still some of our men cut out slices, roasted and ate it; I was not hungry enough. The next day I shot a pigeon, which made a dinner for nine; after that we found the skin of a deer, from the knee to the hoof. This we divided and ate. I would willingly, had I possessed it, have given my hat full of gold for a piece of bread as large as my hand. Often did I think of the milk and swill I had seen left in my father’s hogtrough, and thought if I only had that I would be satisfied’

Such were some of the sufferings of my forefathers for supremacy. They have gone to their reward. Peace to their ashes !

Yours, respectfully, Elizabeth Bowman Spohn

P.S. -One thing more I must add: My father always said there never was any cruelty inflicted upon either man, woman or child by Butler’s Rangers, that he ever heard of, during the war. They did everything in their power to get the Indians to bring their prisoners in for redemption, and urged them to treat them kindly; the officers always telling them that it was more brave to take a prisoner than to kill him, and that none but a coward would kill a prisoner; that brave soldiers were always kind to women and children. He said it was false that they gave a bounty for scalps. True, the Indians did commit cruelties, but they were not countenanced in the least by the whites.

E. S.

N.B.-To this 1ast statement of Mrs. Spohn’s it may be added that it is also true that the Indians were first employed by the Revolutionists against the Loyalists, before they were employed by the latter against the former. The attempt to enlist the Indians in the contest was first made by the Revolutionists. Of this the most conclusive evidence can be adduced.

E. R.

As published in The Loyalists of America and Their Times: From.1620 to 1816. by Egerton Ryerson, D.D., LL.D. Chief Superintendant of Education for Upper Canada, in two Volumes, Vol. II 2nd Edition p265 – 270

[submitted by Rod MacDonald]

Heritage Canada Foundation Releases 2009 Top Ten Endangered Places and Worst Losses Lists

The Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) has released its Top Ten Endangered Places and Worst Losses Lists drawing attention to a total of 17 architectural and heritage sites in Canada either threatened with demolition or already lost.

The Top Ten Endangered Places List, compiled from nominations received as well as from news items that HCF has been following and reporting on throughout the year includes:

The David Dunlap Observatory and Park, Richmond Hill, Ontario, a scientific and cultural landmark associated with Canada’s international accomplishments in the field of astronomy–threatened with development

Vancouver’s Pantages Theatre–the city’s oldest vaudeville house–heading for landfill

Bellevue House, Amherstburg, Ontario, a National Historic Site connected to the War of 1812–a scandalous case of demolition by neglect

– Quebec City’s Franciscan Sisters Missionary Chapel–the finest example of neo-baroque décor in the province–praying for a miracle

Moncton High School, New Brunswick, magnificent sandstone landmark, victim of province’s lack of commitment to existing schools

Dominion Exhibition Display Building II, Brandon, Manitoba–monument to agriculture and National Historic Site–hovering on the brink of collapse

– Quebec’s Grenville Canal, one of the oldest military canals in Canada, desperately seeking funding

St. Mary’s Community School, Saskatoon–the oldest Catholic school in the city–destined for landfill in order to create a “green” space

Crowsnest Pass Mining Complexes and Coleman’s Historic Downtown, Alberta, home to designated historic mining sites suffering from neglect, vandalism and development pressures

Heritage Conservation Districts in Ontario–landmark Ontario Municipal Board decision threatens integrity of provinces more than 90 designated heritage districts

Click Backgrounders for the full story and photographs.

Topping the Worst Losses List is the historic Alma College in St. Thomas, Ontario tragically lost to fire just hours after the local MPP met with Premier McGuinty’s chief of staff about its preservation. Examples of historic places needlessly destroyed by the wrecking ball are plentiful: Ontario leads the country with this dubious distinction. Items lost include:

– the heritage-designated Erie Street United Church in Ridgetown

– Muskoka’s Modernist Marygrove Resort

– The iconic Bens Deli Restaurant in Montréal

– Edmonton lost its oldest apartment block, the elegant Arlington Apartments

– Weyburn’s massive Souris Valley Hospital in Saskatchewan

– Halifax’s Violet Clark Building, the last wooden “sailortown” structure on Water Street

Click Worst Losses for more information.

The Heritage Canada Foundation is a national, membership-based, non-profit organization with a mandate to promote the preservation of Canada’s historic buildings and places.

Additions to the Loyalist Directory

As time permits, we add information to the Loyalist Directory. The latest additions and update is as follows:

– Keller, Frederick from Jim Keller with certificate application

[editor’s Note – I think this is the first Loyalist for which we have two certificate applications posted, each through different children of the loyalist]

Last Post: Bruce Emerson McCallum

McCALLUM, Bruce Emerson, U.E. – In ardua tendit – He has attempted difficult things. Bruce passed away suddenly, after a valiant fight, in Hamilton at the McMaster Medical Centre on Friday, June 26, 2009. His humour and spirit will live on in the hearts of his family and many friends. Bruce is survived by his wife Janet (nee Smith): his daughter Laura (Jeff) Hood and their children Joshua and Jessica: his son Blair (Sue) McCallum and their children Carson and Sadie of Kenora. He was predeceased by his wife Bonnie. Always curious about life and willing to take on new challenges, Bruce explored careers in various fields such as managing the Farm Research Stations at the University of Guelph, Teaching, Farming, Printing and Travel. Bruce was an energetic and tireless volunteer within the Guelph Community.

…Mette Griffin

Queries

George Barnhart’s Sister-in-law, Sara Sluyter

A Johannes Berenhart is listed by many as the husband of Sara Sluyter — the same Sara Sluyter that we believe was the wife of Henry Lou(c)ks. Johannes Berenhart could have been Johann Jacob, a younger brother of the George Barnhart about whom Richard Ripley wrote in Loyalist Trails. Could Sara have married both, or are there two different Sara’s?

…Luren Dickinson

Reply

Luren asked simply for proof that the Sarah Sluyter who married Johann Jacob Barnhart (aka John Barnhart b. 08 Jun 1745 in Wappingers Kill, Dutchess County, New York), was a different person from the Sarah Sluyter who married her ancestor Henry Loucks. This John Barnhart was a brother to George Barnhart UE whom I described in the article in the previous issue of Loyalist Trails. This John Barnhart is also a UE, as found in Sons and Daughters of American Loyalists, as follows…

From SDAL, page 16…

BARNHART, John (no wife named) – children shown here…

Mary m. ————- Steinhoff of Woodhouse, OC 17 March 1801.

Catherine, m. Peter Pelkie of Bertie. OC 15 May 1805.

Frederick of Woodhouse. OC 7 May 1811.

John Barnhart UE’s dates were : b. 08 Jun 1745 NY, d. 1824 in Hagersville, Norfolk, Ontario.

Luren stated that her Sarah Sluyter was born 1764. I have not specifically researched Henry Loucks, so I worked on the files for the wife of John Barnhart, to see whether the same woman might have married Henry Loucks as well as John Barnhart.

Specifically, I had researched (on behalf of a Steinhoff descendant) a daughter of John Barnhart and Sarah Sluyter, named Mary Barnhart (b. 1776, New Pfalz, Ulster, New York – d. 10 Jun 1872 in Woodhouse Township, Norfolk, Ontario). This girl married Frederick Steinhoff UE (b. New Jersey 1772, d. 26 May 1842 in Woodhouse, Norfolk County, Ontario). Here, in part, are some Steinhoff UE Credentials…

1. Frederick was a son of John Steinhoff UE; there are many records supporting this parentage, too detailed to list here, but note the following brief summary, from the Norfolk County Archives… Petition of “John Stinehuff Loyalist” requesting land to his excellency John Graves Simcoe, UCLP “S” Bundle 1/143, 1792-1796, RG 1, L 3, Vol. 448;

2. a petition of John Steinhoff requesting land; along with a statement of : “Petition of John Stinhoff, Recommended for 200 acres in addition…”, Upper Canada Land Petition “S” Bundle 1/94, 1792-1796, 26 June 1795, Vol. 448;

3. a page listing of a “Sitnoff, Jacob” and “Steishoff, John” from ‘The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784-1884 …”, (John Steinhoff had a son called Jacob Steinhoff, and other sons He is also recorded as “John Stoneheap”. More examples of spelling issues with our German Loyalist forebears.)

As to Mary Barnhart UE, daughter of John Barnhart UE & wife Sarah Sluyter, the wife of Frederick Steinhoff UE, note the following records, all from Norfolk County, Ontario…

* Land Petition… 9 March 1801, Woodhouse; daughter of John Barnhart, of Woodhouse, U.E., in the Home District, moved to Woodhouse; wife of Frederick Steinhoff. (1851 Census at Woodhouse… Mary Steinhoff, 74 (W), Jacob 49, Mary 35.)

* Individual: Steinhoff, Mrs. Mary – Event: Buried – Year: 1872 – Place: Potts Cemetery, Woodhouse Township Province of record source: Ontario. (Source: Transcript of the Potts Cemetery, Lot 3, Concession 5, Woodhouse Township. Publisher: Norfolk Historical Society; Publication place: Simcoe; Publication year: 1979; Volume/Page(s): 3)

* Individual: Steinhoff, Mary – Event: Living – Year: 1833 Place: Woodhouse Township – Province of record source: Ontario; County of record source: Norfolk – Comments: Widow. (Source: Wills of the London District 1800-1839.; Editor: William R. Yeager; Publisher: Norfolk Historical Society; Publication place: Simcoe, Ontario; Publication year: 1979; Volume/Page(s): 23)

So. Here is what emerges.

Mary Barnhart (UE) was born 1776 as shown in the records above. So, the Sarah Sluyter who was born in 1764 and married Henry Loucks, could not likely have been the mother of Mary Barnhart, as she would have been only twelve years old when Mary was born. While there is a remote possibility that this could be the case, contextually it is not possible. These German immigrant families of New York had very set patterns. The men generally married at about 28-35, to girls who were about 19-23 years of age.

Sarah and John Barnhart had several more children, the last born 1799. Many of this family later ended up in Woodhouse and other townships of Norfolk County. Researchers who have delved into this geographical area, will know that Long Point was a hub for Loyalists & their growing families, who resettled, sometimes for the second or third time, in the years between about 1790 and 1810. Colonel Thomas Talbot drew on this reserve of settlers to provide soldiers for the War of 1812, and to spread settlement, with towns, roads, clergy services, schools, farms, orchards, and more, throughout the London District. It is a wonderful greenhouse for a major founding cluster of early Canada, and their stories should be told in Canadian history courses. If only all of these stories were politically correct!

In fact, I discovered the birth record for Sarah Sluyter who married John Barnhart. She was born 17 July 1759 at the Reformed Dutch Church, Shawangunk, Ulster, New York. She was daughter of Nicholas Sluyter (b. NY 05 Mar 1704) and a wife whose surname I could not immediately locate, but whose first name was Margaret. Nicholas Sluyter & wife had a daughter named Annatje Sluyter baptised on 08 May 1746 in, guess where, Zion Lutheran Church, in Loonenburg, Greene, New York. Readers of my article on George Barnhart UE, will recognize, that this is the very town and church where many events in the life of George Barnhart took place.

Therefore, without looking at Henry Loucks and his wife, a family which I have not researched, I was able to answer Luren’s question. They were two different girls.

…Richard Ripley UE