Loyalist Trails Newsletter 2021-03 (January 17, 2021)

In this issue:

 

  • Update on Loyalist Migrations
  • The Loyalist Postmaster of Newport, Rhode Island, Part Two of Four
  • JAR Book: Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution
  • JAR: The British Naval Signals Missions of 1781
  • Age of Revolutions: Loyalists and the Birth of Libraries in New England: The Marriage of Martin and Abigail Howard
  • Age of Revolutions: Friendship and Sociability: A Reexamination of Benjamin Franklin’s Friendship with Madame Brillon de Jouy
  • Jesse Fish and Fish’s Island – Part of the Samuel William Family Story
  • Borealia: New Brunswick’s Militia and Home Defence During the Great War
  • Events:
  • Additions to the Loyalist Directory
  • From the Twittersphere and Beyond

 

 

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Update on Loyalist Migrations
Visit loyalistmigrations.ca
Despite the many problems caused by Covid-19, the Loyalist Migrations project had a very busy 2020. The partnership between the UELAC and Huron’s Community History Centre received funding from a Partnership Engage Grant (part of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), which allowed us to hire two full time summer undergraduate students. Jacob Vanderhoeven and Natalie Boros have been hard at work researching and plotting the names and journeys found in the Loyalist Directory, the Book of Negroes, and other sources. We began the year with 451 loyalist families mapped and concluded 2020 with 1158 plotted with several hundred more ready to be added. The process for each journey is painstaking and time consuming, but we hope that by the end of this year we can double the number of loyalists mapped.
The project would like to congratulate Natalie Boros on her People’s Choice award for her presentation on Loyalist Migrations at Western University’s GIS Day Conference in November. Tim Compeau, project leader, will share more news about the project in the coming months, including updates for members at the annual conference in May as well as the Kingston and Brantford branches in November.
Loyalist Migrations has been overwhelmed by the support and interest shown by the UELAC membership. The project began and continues with the generous support of the UELAC. Individual members have also contributed hundreds of online forms containing information about their ancestors. Although we have not been able to reply to all of you individually, we will in due course map each loyalist or loyalist family submitted. Thank you so much for your support, interest, and patience.
If you have any questions or comments, please email Tim Compeau at tcompeau@gmail.com

The Loyalist Postmaster of Newport, Rhode Island, Part Two of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
You could be in a great deal of danger if you were known to be a Loyalist during the American Revolution. In the most extreme cases, you could be hanged as a traitor. Local rebels might tar and feather you or have you ride on a rail through town. Your property and possessions could be seized and sold at auction to raise money for the rebel cause. Patriots might chain you to the floor of the community jail, put you in the depths of an old copper mine in Simsbury, Connecticut, incarcerate you in a prison ship in Kingston, New York, or banish you from your home.
In the case of a 58 year-old Loyalist named Thomas Vernon, Patriots banished him and three other men from Newport Rhode Island for eleven weeks for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the rebel cause. This period of exile was later referenced in 1784 by one of Vernon’s companions when he sought compensation for his wartime losses in London. This lone reference to the four Loyalists’ banishment would normally leave historians with no choice but to speculate what might have transpired during such an exile.
However, as a man accustomed to keeping meticulous records, Thomas Vernon used his time in exile to keep a daily diary. A family member later published his diary, but as only 50 copies were ever printed, the story of the Rhode Island Loyalists’ banishment to Glocester was not widely known. Fortunately for historians, Sidney S. Rider later published Vernon’s diary –with explanatory notes– in 1881. For the first time in a century, researchers could discover what went on during Thomas Vernon’s 11 weeks of exile. No speculation required.
Vernon’s banishment began with an order from the Rhode Island assembly on Thursday, June 20, 1776. “Pursuant to the order of the Assembly, at 4 o’clock p.m., Whereas, Messieurs Richard Beale, John Nicoll, Nicholas Lechmere, Thomas Vernon and Walter Chaloner having been examined before this Assembly, and refused to subscribe the Test (test of loyalty to the Colonies) ordered by this Assembly to be tendered to suspected persons; and it appearing that while they continue in the principles by them avowed before this Assembly, they are justly to be deemed unfriendly to the United Colonies; it is therefore Voted and Resolved, That the Sheriff of the County of Newport forth-with remove the said Richard Beale, John Nicoll, Nicholas Lechmere and Thomas Vernon to the town of Glocester in this Colony, where they shall be permitted to go at large within the limits of the town, they giving their parole of honor to continue there until further orders from this Assembly.”
Compared to how other Loyalists were incarcerated, Thomas Vernon and his companions were treated in a very humane manner. His diary has no tales of atrocities, torture or abuse. Instead, we find a picture of the day-to-day life of four men under house arrest on a family farm. And at a distance of over 200 years, having a glimpse of what was ordinary in the later18th century is a very special privilege.
Stephen Keach, his wife, and their five children had a 500-acre farm just south of Glocester, Rhode Island. Besides the fact that they had sided with the Patriots, nothing is known as to how this family was chosen to house five Loyalists. After meeting Keach, Vernon wrote, “The man of the house and his family received us kindly. They appear to be very plain, quiet, inoffensive people, and willing to oblige us. We supped on bread and milk, and retired to bed after nine. The lodging is as good as this country affords.” The Loyalists’ living quarters are never described in the diary, but it seems that the men had rooms separate from the Keach family, perhaps in their barn.
The terms of the men’s “imprisonment” were very generous. Rather than being housebound, the Loyalists were free to walk in the surrounding countryside. On the second day of their stay, they hiked two miles to the Chepachet River. On Day Three, one of them planted his own vegetable garden. Later entries would recount afternoons spent fishing, reading, setting traps, making snuff, napping, creating powder horns, playing cards, reading or strolling (sometimes up to six miles) through the countryside.
Rhode Island’s government did not underwrite the cost of the “prisoners'” provisions; they had to pay for their food and drink out of their own pocket. Vernon noted that their “hosts” often dipped into the Loyalists’ food supply. “I must observe … that the whole family have almost lived upon our provisions for eight or nine days past. It seems they can digest Tories’ victuals very well, though they pretend that they can’t their company nor conversation.”
Whenever Keach went to nearby Providence, the Loyalists usually had a list of “necessaries” for him to buy on their behalf. One such shopping list included: a loaf of sugar, two pounds; rum per gallon, nine shillings; lemons, nine pence each and crackers, one shilling per pound. A portion of the prisoners’ food came from their families in Newport.
Vernon noted whenever the Loyalist “guests” had long conversations with their “hosts” and any visitors that came to the farm. Early in the diary, he wrote, “Our landlord inclined much to talk of liberty and the times. We endeavored to waive the conversation. It is amazing what false and erroneous opinions and ideas these people have entertained, and what is worse, is that it is impossible for the human mind to undeceive them, such is their prejudice.” But despite their political differences, near the end of their first week in confinement, Vernon wrote, “I have the satisfaction in saying that a perfect harmony subsists between us and the family.”
Life soon settled into a set routine, and so did the accounts in the Loyalist’s diary. Thomas Vernon began each of his entries with the time he awoke — usually around five. The fact that he often gave very precise times (4:40, 4:15, 5:10, 4:50) indicates that either the Keach family had a clock in their home or Vernon had a pocket watch. Served at seven each morning, breakfast was never anything more than a drink such as milk, coffee, tea or chocolate.
Depending on the day, the noon hour meal could be a combination of beef, stewed veal, greens, tongue, turnip, carrots, lamb, bread, cheese, gammon (smoked ham), squashes, chicken, string beans, salt fish, potatoes (rarely), whortleberries, rice pudding, dried apples, cucumbers or cabbage. However, Mrs. Keach’s standard serving was a meal of pork, corn and beans. Among other plants, the Loyalists grew radishes in their vegetable plot. The Keach family had never seen or tasted radishes before, “but they liked them very much” when Vernon let them try some.
The Loyalists’ evening meal was, like breakfast, very light. While usually just a serving of bread and milk, on occasions supper might include one the following items: boiled eggs, baked apples, cider, pudding, or peaches.
One of the sources of pleasure for Vernon and his companions was the making of punch. There are at least 14 occasions during his 11-week confinement when Vernon mentions punch in his diary. Limes were primary ingredients, but punch recipes could also include lemons, cherries or currants.
Bedtime was usually between nine and ten each night. After a month on the Keaches’ farm, Vernon was happy to record, “No bedbugs, and the first flea {seen} this morning since we have been here.”
More of Thomas Vernon’s diary will be explored in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

JAR: Book: Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution
By Don. N. Hagist, Foreword by Rick Atkinson.
Review by James Kirby Martin13 January 2021
Back in the 1950s, respected military commentator Walter Millis (1899-1968) stated that British soldiers at the time of the American Revolution represented “a class apart.” They were, “generally speaking, from the least productive elements at the two ends of the social scale.” Although “theoretically volunteers,” wrote Millis, “actually, they were the sweepings of jail, ginmills and poorhouses, oafs from the farm beguiled into ‘taking the King’s shillings’.”
Not so fast declared historian Sylvia R. Frey in her very readable statistical study, published in 1981, focusing on British soldiers serving in Revolutionary America. Frey put the dead beat lobsterback stereotype to rest in constructing an analysis of civilians who enlisted with “socioeconomic roles” that were “either permanently or temporarily displaced by changes in the English economy.” She explained that “the textile industry felt the impact of industrialization first and it was that industry which furnished most recruits to the service.” Frey went on to discuss the commonly-used practice of “beating up for volunteers” by recruiting parties that offered cash bounties in return for gaining enlistments. She also provided a social profile of the soldiers in service ranging from such key subjects as training, discipline, health and disease, and crime and punishment among other important matters.
Now, almost forty years later, we have a valuable new study by well-known historian Don N. Hagist regarding the same subject. This volume both reifies and expands the findings of Frey while dismissing the kind of ne’er-do-well portrait offered by Millis and others who commented earlier on the characteristics of eighteenth-century European soldiers. Hagist has spent years researching and evaluating surviving records regarding who the British soldiers were, where they came from, what their socioeconomic status and occupations were upon enlistment, and how they fared once in the Crown’s military ranks. Pointing out that much evidence no longer exists, Hagist concludes that regimental records, muster rolls, and other bits and pieces of information justify viewing the British rank-and-file soldierly as “an all-volunteer force, composed primarily of men who enlisted as a career rather than for a fixed term of service.” Read more…

JAR: The British Naval Signals Missions of 1781
by William W. Reynolds 14 January 2021
Richard Peters’ letter of October 19, 1781, to Gen. George Washington mentioned two missions to obtain copies of certain British naval signals and convey them to French Adm. Francois Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse. These signals have been discussed in numerous books and articles on Revolutionary War clandestine activities. During the five-plus years he was associated with the Board of War, Peters authored three-fourths of the extant letters from that body to Washington of which this one alone is both personal and particularly enthusiastic. Peters was clearly pleased with what he had accomplished and convinced of the importance of the signals. The letter contains numerous clues as to the circumstances of these missions and accordingly is quoted here with the addition of bold font where the two missions are mentioned:

By a Channell of Intelligence I have opened I can procure Access to Rivington’s Printing Office where there is a Person ready to furnish any important Papers as Intelligence! But the Person to bring it is the one I have employed & he in N. York will trust no other. I mention this to your Excellency that if you can think of any material Use to be made of this you will please to take Advantage of it thro’ me as it is confined to my Knowledge only which is the Reason of my personal Address to you. I some Time ago procured a Copy of the British Signals for their Fleet & gave them to the Minister of France to transmit to Compte de Grasse.I had again sent in the Person employed on the former occasion & he has brought out some addition[al] Signals & among them those for the Troops now embarked on Boa[rd] the Fleet on their present Enterprize to the Chesapeak to proceed in which they had fallen down to the Hook yesterday Morning . . . I have thought the Knowledge of these Signals to be so important that I have prevailed on Capt. McLean to carry them to Compte de Grasse with a Letter from the Minister to the Compte in which he is requested to transmit them if necessary by Capt. McLean to your Excellency. The Signals have been reprinted with no Alterations but the Change of the Name of Arbuthnot for Graves. The written Part was copied from the original given to be reprinted.
Should your Excellency have thought proper to interfere in Capt. McLean’s personal Affairs about which I some time ago troubled you he will bear anything you may be pleased to write on the Subject.

The first mission had taken place “some time ago,” a phrase Peters used again in the second paragraph to describe a letter he wrote on October 2, so the first mission probably took place during September 1781, a period that is confirmed by events to be described. Read more…

Age of Revolutions: Loyalists and the Birth of Libraries in New England: The Marriage of Martin and Abigail Howard
By Abby Chandler 13 January 2021
Martin Howard was a Revolutionary War era Loyalist from Newport, Rhode Island, while Abigail Greenleaf was the daughter of Stephen Greenleaf, the last Suffolk County, Massachusetts sheriff to receive a royal appointment for his position. Howard’s political beliefs led to a short exile in Britain in 1765 during the Stamp Act crisis and a permanent one following his second departure from North America in 1777. Abigail Greenleaf Howard shared her husband’s second exile until her return to Massachusetts in 1783 following Howard’s death and the end of the war. The Howards’ political beliefs dominated their personal geographies but their shared cultural interests in literacy and libraries continued to root them in New England, even as their lives were turned upside down. Howard served as librarian for the newly formed Redwood Library in his native Newport, Rhode Island in the early 1750s, while Abigail Greenleaf Howard helped found the Boston Library Society in 1794, an organization which later merged with the Boston Athenaeum.
The eighteenth century was a period of ever expanding intellectual interests which is often known as the “Age of Enlightenment.” Investing in libraries became a way for communities to publicly demonstrate their commitment to Enlightenment ideals, including the betterment of society, the exchange of knowledge, and the building of cultural discourses. Read more…

Age of Revolutions: Friendship and Sociability: A Reexamination of Benjamin Franklin’s Friendship with Madame Brillon de Jouy
By Kelsa Pellettiere 12 January 2021
For generations, Benjamin Franklin has remained a popular American figure due to his exploits as a scientist, inventor, and diplomat. However, Franklin’s exploits as a diplomat have received infrequent attention over the years. Thankfully, this infrequency has not hindered historians from recognizing Franklin’s diplomatic accomplishments, his difficulties in obtaining foreign assistance, his difficulties with his American compatriots, and Franklin’s appreciation for French women. Historians who study Franklin and early American diplomacy generally agree that Franklin benefitted from socializing with French women because they gave him access to French society, which in turn enabled him to use his reputation and popularity to gain support from the French public, acquire additional secret aid from the French government, and complicate British war objectives while integrating himself into French society. In recent years, Stacy Schiff and Jonathan R. Dull have advanced the argument that Franklin’s French-like behavior was a key component contributing to his success as a diplomat even though his behavior conflicted with the other revolutionary leaders’ ideas of accepted moral behavior. However, historians have not fully explored the diplomatic implications of Franklin’s friendships with French women or how Franklin’s relationships with French women affected his role as an emissary. Instead, they generalize about the scandalous nature of Franklin’s behavior in France and limit themselves by focusing almost exclusively on Franklin’s romantic interests in French women. In short, despite the excellent work of scholars who have written extensively on Benjamin Franklin’s nine-year diplomatic mission to France, historians have neglected to explore the intersection of diplomacy, gender, and friendship in the late eighteenth-century. Read more…

Jesse Fish and Fish’s Island – Part of the Samuel Williams Family Story
By Phil Eschbach
British citizen, Jesse Fish, was born in New York around 1725. He arrived in St. Augustine in 1735 as his father’s apprenticed clerk for the William Walton Exporting Company of New York, a concern with extensive trading routes and partners around the world. Young Jesse liked what he saw in St. Augustine and remained, as the Walton Company’s representative and became fluent in Spanish. In 1739, the Spanish, at war with the British, banned all Englishmen from St. Augustine and briefly imprisoned the loyalist Fish, who had remained in Florida. In 1748, with hostilities ended, Fish was again officially appointed the Walton Company’s agent in Florida. The Spanish still forbade activity with their former enemy, the British, but Fish, with his trading connections, succeeded in technically smuggling in food and supplies from primarily British America, as the Spanish “looked the other way.” These were the much-needed goods that Spanish Cuba could not provide to the local residents of Spanish East Florida.
Being a British citizen and a Protestant, Fish was not allowed to own property in Catholic St. Augustine. So, the Spanish gave him a 60-acre land grant on Anastasia Island, a barrier island across the river from town. This grant was on the river side of the island facing St. Augustine on an outcrop of land that came to be known as Fish’s Island, on which he built a house. He named it “El Vergel,” the orchard. It was a two-story dwelling, made of coquina rock, probably obtained from the local quarry. He especially endeared himself to the Spanish in 1762, when, during a severe famine, he smuggled much needed food and supplies from Charleston to St. Augustine’s starving population. As a result, he was granted the entire 10,000 acres of Anastasia Island in gratitude for his help.
At the cession of Florida to the British in 1763, all but a couple Spanish families fled Florida, mostly to Cuba, not wanting to remain under rule by their former enemies. The Fish family was the only non-Spanish family to remain in the new British colony after the transfer. Many Spanish residents entrusted their properties to Fish to try and sell to the incoming British settlers. Fish, partnering with John Gordon, assumed the deeds of over 185 houses and even more vacant lots, thus becoming one of the largest landowners in St. Augustine. They also claimed millions of acres along the Florida coast and along the St. Johns River. The new British Governor Grant refused to honor many of the questionable deeds Fish and Gordon claimed. In the ensuing years Fish attempted to sell the properties on behalf of his former Spanish clients but was only able to sell 111 properties and little was recouped of the remaining 47 lots and 156 buildings. His holdings by 1783 amounted to one third of the real estate in St. Augustine and half the city’s houses.
Meanwhile Fish developed his own property on Anastasia Island into a renowned agricultural plantation featuring an orange grove that became famous for its experimental citrus varieties that his trading company had procured for him from around the world. He cleared the fields, dug ditches and canals, and eventually planted over 3000 citrus trees, shipping oranges to Charleston and Europe. He also experimented with olives and dates. His citrus products became famous in the northern colonies as well as in England. He may be considered the father of the citrus industry in Florida. The growth of citrus in Florida was previously known but not harvested and produced to the extent that Fish was able to do.
Under British rule, the new colony was exempted from most taxes and quit rents for ten years. The crown, intent on colonizing and making Florida a productive territory, gave land grants to many British citizens who discovered that indigo, as well as citrus, grew quite well in Florida. Indigo, on the London mercantile exchange, sold for more per ounce than an ounce of gold. Land speculators descended on Florida to seek their fortunes.
During the American Revolution when Charleston was captured by Cornwallis, some 60 of the most fervid rebels of Charleston were sent to St. Augustine as prisoners and remained there under house arrest for almost a year. During this time, loyalist Fish felt sorry for the rebel prisoners and frequently sent them packages of citrus, for which they were exceedingly grateful. Interestingly, rebel Alexander Moultrie, attorney general of South Carolina was one of these prisoners. His brother, loyalist John Moultrie was Lieutenant Governor of British Florida in St. Augustine at that time! There is no record that they met each other, but surely they did.
Fish survived the British Period and died as a loyalist in 1790 during the Second Spanish Period and was buried on his island. This burial site also includes members of the Williams family (discussed in previous articles), who as Protestants during the Second Spanish Period, were not allowed to be buried in Catholic St. Augustine. Fish’s son Jesse, Jr. and daughter Phoebe inherited the property. Jesse, Jr. married his slave Clarissa and produced a daughter named Harriet Fish who married William Williams’ grandson Sampson, mentioned in a previous article.
The sixty-acre Fish Island was recently the center of a controversy over a proposed development, which locals opposed. The author was required to provide evidence that his ancestors were buried there, thus by state law, preventing the developers from building on a burial site. The project was denied and subsequently acquired by the Florida Land Trust to be preserved as a park.
In the next and last chapter concerning the loyalist Williams’ saga, I will discuss another loyalist who had dealings with the Williams’ family.
ENDNOTES:

  • “Florida Historical Quarterly,” #52, pg. 1, 4-7.
  • “Archaeological Data Recovery in the Northern Portion of 8SJ62NR Fish Island Plantation, St. John County, Florida,” Greg Smith, Brent Handley, Sidney Johnson, 2004, pg. 23-24.
  • Siebert, Wilbert H. The Flight of American Loyalists to the British Isles. Columbus: H.J. Heer Printing Oc., 1911, pg. 375.
  • Panagopoulos, E.P. New Smyrna, an Eighteenth Century Greek Odyssey. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966, pg. 74.

Borealia: New Brunswick’s Militia and Home Defence During the Great War
By Brent Wilson 6 January 2021
For most Canadians, military participation during the Great War meant overseas service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.), initially in Britain and then on the Western Front in Belgium and France. It is also generally understood that some of these Canadian volunteers had served with the militia, both before the war and during its early phases. What we often lose sight of is that many militiamen also served at home, fulfilling a range of more traditional roles. This trend underlines the wider story of how during the First World War the role of the Canadian militia shifted from its original home defence duties to service overseas and, with it, popular conceptions of what constituted legitimate military service, especially in wartime.
In the days leading up to the outbreak of war on August 4, 1914, many officers commanding New Brunswick’s various militia units received orders from Ottawa to place their troops on a war footing and prepare to send troops overseas. Several units contributed troops to the First Contingent of the C.E.F., including the 67th, 71st, and 74th Regiments, 3rd (New Brunswick) Regiment, Canadian Garrison Artillery (C.G.A.), 10th, 12th, and 19th Field Batteries, 1st (Brighton) Field Company, Canadian Engineers, and No. 7 Army Service Corps Company.
A few months later, some militia units provided troops for the Second Contingent. Read more…

Events:

Webinar/Meeting by Kingston Branch: St. Alban the Martyr UEL Memorial Church
Saturday, January 23, 2021, 2:00 p.m. Diane Berlet, church historian, and Axel Thesberg, Chair of the Friends of St. Alban’s, will speak about St. Alban the Martyr UEL Memorial Church in Adolphustown: its history and its future. The church was built in 1884, near the site where Loyalists landed in 1784. We will hear about the group’s plans for its preservation and re-imagined role in the community, now that it was deconsecrated in 2018.
Register ahead of time and Zoom will send you a Confirmation Email

Meeting by Sir Guy Carleton Branch: Genealogy Workshop – The Loyalist Certificate Application Process
Saturday, 30 January 2021, 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Given by Angela and Peter Johnson, UELAC Dominion Genealogists
The presentation will be by Zoom.
The link will automatically be sent to current members of the Sir Guy Carleton Branch, UELAC.
Visitors are welcome. You must register before Friday, 22 January at the Branch e-mail <carletonuel@hotmail.com>.

Additions to the Loyalist Directory
As time permits, we add information to the Loyalist Directory. The latest additions and updates are as follows:

  • William Ward Atwater from Connecticut settled in Manchester, Nova Scotia, information gathered by Andrew Payzant
  • Thomas Biggin (Biggan, Biggins) served in the Royal American Fencible Regiment and received land grant at Remsheg, Cumberland County, N.S. and at Belfast Village, Queens County, PEI contributed by Kevin Wisener
  • Israel Conkey from Boston, Massachusetts settled in Chester and Halifax, Nova Scotia, as submitted by Andrew Payzant
  • Thomas Merritt (Jr. and Sr.) of Westchester County, New York. Thomas Sr lived in Saint John NB. Thomas Jr. served in Emmerich’s Chausseurs and the Queen’s Rangers, settled first in New Brunswick but later moved to the Town of Niagara in Upper Canada. Their Story and Proving Descent From Them by Jocelyn Currie UE
  • Thomas Welch from Maryland settled first in Saint John NB but later moved to Long Point in what is now Ontario, from Branch records by Jo Ann Tuskin

Please help us build the directory by contributing more information for it. Contact loyalist.trails@uelac.org for instructions and guidance.

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

  • Happy Birthday to Brockville Recorder Newspaper. Two hundred years ago, the first edition of the Brockville Recorder hit the streets, making it the oldest newspaper in Ontario. When printer Chauncey Beach published the first edition of The Recorder 200 years ago, the “streets” that it hit were little more than dirt trails. Beach was encouraged by William Buell, a United Empire Loyalist and a founder of Brockville, to start the newspaper as a way of enshrining the community as the region’s hub.During its 200-year history, the paper operated out of 11 locations in Brockville, including the first, which was described as “Main Street opposite Samuel Clerk’s Tavern.” Read more…
  • Plaque to Patriot soldier in 5th Massachusetts Regiment, Rev. Israel Potter who enlisted at age 17, inside historic Goat Island Baptist Church in Upper Clements, Nova Scotia built 1810 & oldest Baptist Church in Province. First Baptist Church in Nova Scotia at Upper Clements and where Rev. Israel Potter, a patriot during American Revolution was buried. Watch short video. Brian McConnell UE
    • Brian notes that Rev. Israel Potter has a personal connection. He died at Potters Point, Upper Clements, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. His family acquired several hundred acres there where he farmed. I now live on a portion of those lands. Aside from my descent from a Loyalist it may be my closest connection to a veteran of the American Revolution. This veteran though was a Patriot who served for 6 months in the 5th Massachusetts Regiment at age 17. After discharge he went to Nova Scotia where his father and other relatives had already gone. Later during the War of 1812 he served as a Captain of local Militia.
  • This Week in History
  • Clothing and Related:
  • Townsends
  • Miscellaneous

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