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The Loyalist Gazette, Spring 2021 Issue has been Mailed
The Spring 2021 issue of the Loyalist Gazette has been completed, printed and mailed.
The Gazette was delivered to Canada Post on Wednesday June 16 and the extras were delivered to Dominion Office. Jim Bruce’s personal copy arrived at his home on Thursday
Anyone who expects a paper copy but has NOT received it to a Canadian address by the end of June should notify Jim Bruce, Dominion Office, UELAC <uelac.office@bellnet.ca>
This issue is available in digital form to UELAC members in the Member’s section at uelac.ca and will remain there for a year before being moved to the public domain.

Butler’s Rangers and The Road Trip of 1787, Part Four of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
On Thursday, August 30, 1787, five veterans of Butler’s Rangers stood before the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists (RCLSAL) when it convened to hear petitions from the refugees who had settled in what would become Quebec and Ontario. The men had waited at least a week for their turn to speak to the commissioners, having journeyed 660 km from Niagara to Montreal in the hopes of receiving compensation for their losses during the American Revolution.
While the transcripts of the RCLSAL reveal the hardships that Butler’s Rangers endured during the war, details such as how the veterans travelled to Montreal and how they lived while waiting for their compensation hearings are totally absent. Did they camp out in the tents they had used during the revolution? Did they stay in local inns or find accommodation with old Loyalist friends who had settled in Montreal?
We know that the wives and widows of the Rangers testified before the RCLSAL. Did many of the men bring their entire families to Montreal or did they leave their children in the keeping of friends and relatives in Niagara?
Given that approximately a hundred Loyalists associated with the Rangers travelled to Montreal, what was the impact on the city’s economy and day-to-day life? The Rangers were not the only ones who made the journey to Montreal that August. What were the ramifications of hosting the RCLSAL for the ten months that it held hearings in the city? Perhaps one day, primary documents will surface to answer these questions.
John Dupue/Dupuy, who would serve as a witness for two other Ranger veterans, had been a farmer on the Susquehanna River before the revolution. Recognizing Dupuy’s leadership abilities, Connecticut’s Governor Jonathan Trumbull appointed him as a lieutenant in the colony’s militia in 1775. However, his service was short-lived as Dupuy was remembered by his witness Thomas Condet as being “one of the first men who joined the British troops”. Dupuy’s commitment to the crown was a costly one; local rebels confiscated his 900 acres of land, livestock, furniture and utensils.
Dupuy initially joined Butler’s Rangers and then went to work for the Indian Department that worked to maintain the loyalty of Indigenous allies. He also “was employed to go with intelligence from Niagara to New York”. The RCLSAL commissioners were impressed, noting that Dupuy “seems a very fine man, seems to have been very active”.
When Philip Bender stood before those same commissioners, John Dupuy testified on his behalf, verifying that he had joined the Rangers early in the revolution, had good livestock, and had “very good furniture” and a “chest of clothes and linen” taken by the rebels.
Bender told the commissioners how he had come to America from the German states as a child. Like so many of the Rangers, he lived in the Susquehanna Valley and joined Butler’s corps in 1777. He “could not stay without taking part with the rebels”. His testimony is interesting in that he stated that he “came with Loyalists of his settlement”, indicating that when loyal Americans sought sanctuary, they often did it in groups rather than as individuals. Private Bender was discharged from the Rangers in 1782 and settled in the Niagara region. The commissioners felt he was “a very good man — to be allowed as much as we can”.
Andrew Hoverland’s appearance before the RCLSAL was brief and contained many of the same elements as the claims of his fellow veterans. Described as “a poor honest creature” by the commissioners, Hoverland had been a German soldier in the Seven Years War who decided to settle in Tryon County. Following the Declaration of Independence, Hoverland “would not stay with the rebels” and joined the Rangers in 1778. He served for the duration of the revolution and settled in Niagara with his comrades.
James Jones gave the RCLSAL a more dramatic story. At the outset of the revolution, he and his wife had lived in Kingston, New York, a community on the Hudson River. Jones had been the clerk for the local militia, and it angered his neighbours that he did not join them in supporting the rebellion as so many militia companies did. Ulster County’s Patriots arrested Jones and kept him “close confined and in irons” for the first nine months of his imprisonment. He would not be able to get away to safety until 1780, after being a prisoner for three years.
Mrs. Jones stayed in Kingston where she was eventually forced to to give over the family’s land. It was then sold by rebels on the pretense that there was rent due on the property. Jones’ wife was able to sell some of their cattle before she was driven out of her home. The family furniture, livestock and 9 wagons worth of goods were “destroyed or plundered by the rebel scouts”.
Amazingly, Mrs. Jones was able to save one wagon-load of furniture that made its way to Niagara where her husband served with the Rangers from 1780 to 1783. With the end of hostilities, the Jones family settled at Ten Mile Creek. As they considered this case, the commissioners noted that Jones “seems to have suffered a great deal and appears a fair man”.
Lewis Mabee was a Ranger veteran who settled at Fort Erie at the end of the revolution. He had once owned 50 acres on the Mohawk River where he had built an “excellent house and barn and out buildings”. Like other Loyalists, Mabee later learned that his livestock, utensils and furniture had been sold by local rebels to fund their war efforts. Sometime after Mabee joined the Rangers in 1777, his goods and property were seized and his wife was “sent off”. Sadly, the story of how she made her way to Niagara (Alone? With children? With neighbours?) was not recorded or acknowledged.
Having heard the testimony of Dupuy, Bender, Hoverland, Jones and Mabee, the RCLSAL ended its hearings for August. Over the last 8 days, it had considered the claims of 24 Ranger veterans and one widow who had 22 witnesses speak on their behalf. It would take seven more days in September for the commissioners to hear the compensation claims of the remaining 10 Ranger veterans who had made such an amazing “road trip” to Montreal in 1787.
The stories of those who testified at the September hearings of the Royal Commission will be told in future editions of Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

The History of Toronto’s Lost Palace
John Strachan was born in 1778 in Aberdeen, Scotland and educated at St. Andrew’s University — a Presbyterian institution. He immigrated to Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1799, settling in Kingston.
In 1803, he converted to Anglicanism and became a priest. Appointed as the rector of the Anglican Church in Cornwall, he established a private school that eventually became the most important school in the town — educating the sons of some of the elite families in the province.
In 1812, he was invited to relocate to the town of York as rector of St. James on King Street East. He wasn’t impressed with the offer, but finally accepted after Sir Isaac Brock included the position of chaplaincy of the garrison and also of the Legislative Council…
Built between the years 1817 and 1818, Strachan’s home was among the first brick houses constructed in the town of York (Toronto). The house was in Georgian Style, similar to the Grange, which today is part of The Art Gallery of Ontario.
The Georgian style originated in Great Britain and was highly popular between the years 1750-1850. It was brought to Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists following the American Revolution. Read more…

JAR Showdown Over a Schooner: The Battle of East Guilford, the Final Engagement in Connecticut
by Matthew Reardon 14 June 2021
At dawn, on Sunday, May 19, 1782, “a large new schooner” moved steadily eastward across Long Island Sound. At the helm was Capt. James Hovey. Born about 1743, Hovey was a native of Stratford, Connecticut, and mercantile captain by trade. He remained in the trade throughout most of the war, frequently running merchant vessels, except in 1780 when he briefly entered the privateer trade. After partially financing the Connecticut armed schooner Swallow, Hovey was commissioned as its commander when it set sail in March 1780. The Swallow remained without a prize for over six months. In November, it made its first capture, the British sloop Polly, and sent her into Boston. Within a month, Hovey and the Swallow were themselves captured. Sent to Nova Scotia, they remained imprisoned there for several months before returning home.
Hovey and his crew set sail aboard the schooner about a day before May 19, 1782. On board their unarmed merchant vessel they had, according to one witness, about “400 Barrels of Flour.” Sailing down the Housatonic River, they turned the schooner into Long Island Sound and headed eastward in the direction of Rhode Island. Their final destination has unfortunately been lost to history, but as the sun began to rise, the crew prepared to pass in sight of Guilford on the Connecticut coast. Read more…

Washinton’s Quill: To Be Allied with Wisdom Is Immortality
John Carroll and Daniel Webster Assess George Washington
by Sarah Combs 18 June 2021
On Feb. 22, 1800, a crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Church, then the pro-Cathedral in Baltimore. They had come to hear Bishop John Carroll’s eulogy of George Washington. When Carroll spoke, he mourned the loss of a wise leader but reminded the crowd of the hope of resurrection. “To be allied with wisdom,” the bishop declared, “is immortality.”
…Carroll’s eulogy of Washington reflects the widespread gratitude of religious minorities toward Washington for his commitment to religious tolerance…
But the peace that Carroll praised in 1800 dissipated by 1812. The nation was then at war with England, a conflict that many politicians blamed on the trade disputes brought on by numerous embargoes enacted by the administrations that followed Washington’s. Daniel Webster, the newly elected Federalist representative from New Hampshire, was among those critical politicians….
…Webster’s desire for unity and peace was just as much present in 1812. In a July 4 address to the Washington Benevolent Society at Portsmouth, N.H., Webster lauded Washington’s “sober wisdom” that guided the nation through many troubling times without resorting to war. He cited Washington’s neutrality and impartiality as the pillars of virtue and bemoaned the current state of the nation. Read more…

JAR: Shifting American Indian Policy during the Articles of Confederation Era
by John DeLee 17 June 2021
While the Articles of Confederation are often viewed as a failed attempt at governing the newly independent United States, this period did provide for growth and development in the realm of how to properly interact with Indigenous American tribes on the lands east of the Mississippi River ceded by Great Britain. The interactions of the United States with Indian Nations, especially regarding American land claims, shifted from Arthur Lee’s belief in the “right of conquest” to Henry Knox’s policy based upon “justice and public faith” towards the Indian Tribes.
Arthur Lee during the War for Independence served as a diplomat for the United States and was elected as a Virginian delegate to the Continental Congress where he served on the committee for Indian Affairs and as one of the five commissioners to treaty with Indigenous Americans at Fort Stanwix and Fort McIntosh.
The Committee of Indian Affairs, of which Arthur Lee was a member, sent a report to the Continental Congress on October 15, 1783 noting that the Indians who allied with the British during the war were under obligation “to make atonement for the enormities which they have perpetrated, and a reasonable compensation for the expense which the United States have incurred by their wanton barbarity; and they possess no other means to do this act of justice than by compliance with the proposed boundaries.” While this report focused on the tribes in the Ohio valley and western New York frontier, similar sentiments were expressed in regards to the tribes all along the frontier of the new nation. This view, that the United States now owned the land after the 1783 Treaty of Paris and the Indian tribes were merely tenets upon American soil, drove many Congressional delegates to insist that “the Savages should without Compensation abandon Part of their Country to the United States who claim it by Conquest & as a Retribution” for Indian violence during the war. Read more…

Powder Horns at the DAR Museum
By Carrie Blough, DAR Museum, June 4, 2021
“I powder with my brother ball most hero like do conquer all.” Variations of this verse can be found engraved on many powder horns from the 18th century, including in the collection of the DAR Museum
Used as a waterproof vessel to carry the gunpowder needed to fire a musket, powder horns were often engraved with elaborate and imaginative designs, inscriptions, locations, maps and battles, all personalized to the owners’ experiences. Engraved and undecorated powder horns were made and used throughout the 18th and very early 19th centuries.
The DAR Museum has been collecting powder horns since 1915, when the Massachusetts State Society donated an undecorated powder horn that was used during the Revolutionary War. Since then, the museum acquired 28 more powder horns and has recently been able to purchase additional examples that help fill gaps in the collection. We are still looking to acquire powder horns with southern provenance, and horns owned by people of color to increase the representation among those we already have. Read more…
Submitted by Elsie Schneider

All Things Georgian: Women in 18th Century Politics — 1784 Election
As we all know the ‘well to do’ women of the Georgian era were regarded as objects of beauty that simply swooned and fainted at the sight of a gallant gentleman. They wore stunningly beautiful clothes and shoes and spent hours on their hair and beauty regime. They paraded around Georgian London, Bath, Brighton etc. in their finery and partied into the early hours, but on the whole, they were regarded as fairly vacuous creatures.
STOP RIGHT THERE!
OK, so we’ve done the whole film thing, now let’s move on and dispense with that image. If we’re being totally honest that is, to a certain extent, the stereotypical image held of women from that period as, let’s face it, they had very few, if any ‘rights’ during that time. Only those in what was regarded as the lower class, worked, the remainder were kept in comfort by their spouses or parents if not married, they had no voting rights, rarely any disposable income of their own unless they had inherited money that was solely for their use and their husband could divorce them with minimal discomfort on their part.
Whilst women were maybe not able to publicly ‘have a voice’ in the world around them and how it worked it, appears from reading the newspapers of the day that actually they took more than a passing interest in the arts, science and politics. Many of the names we have become familiar with over the years did, in fact, take a more active role in politics than we had at first assumed with many of them engaged in gathering support for their chosen politician during elections using whatever methods were at their disposal. Read more…

Borealia: Pandemic Methodologies Twitter Conference, June 24-25, 2021
In the past year, archives and libraries have closed (either permanently or periodically), non-essential international travel has been heavily discouraged or impossible, and anyone who can has been encouraged to work from home. In these circumstances, historians have had to adapt how they do research, perhaps relying more heavily on digital methods or developing more collaborative projects. Because so many of these strategic decisions have been made in the midst of crisis and, at times, as temporary emergency measures, there has been little discussion of what the historian-at-work looks like right now. How have personal experiences of lockdown, ill health, family caretaking, and working from home influenced how we write history? How is research being shaped by contemporary constraints and creative solutions? How does it feel to do historical research in our historical moment?
Conference Goals: Read more…

The Junto: Materializing Race: An Unconference on Objects and Identity in #VastEarlyAmerica
August 24 and 25, 2020 @1:00 PM EST both days (Zoom)
Proposals due by August 1, 2020
Organized by Cynthia Chin and Philippe Halbert
In a commitment to fostering nuanced interpretations of early American objects and meaningful dialogue on historical constructions of race and their legacies, we propose a virtual ‘unconference’ to share and discuss scholarship on the intersections of identity and material culture in #VastEarlyAmerica. This participant-driven, lightning round-style event will be held via Zoom, with two approximately two-hour afternoon sessions conducted in English. Energized by Dr. Karin Wulf’s call for broader, more inclusive histories of early America, we seek to promote a diverse cross-section of scholarship focused on North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean before 1830.
We welcome a variety of approaches and methodologies including historical, art historical, anthropological, archaeological, visual analysis, and experimental/experiential archaeological. Proposals should be… Read more…

Events:

Bay of Quinte Branch Commemorations June 20 War of 1812 and Loyalist Day

The Canadian Fencibles and the UEL Heritage Centre & Park are hosting the marking of eight War of 1812 Veterans at the St. Alban’s and UEL Memorial Cemeteries at 10am on Sunday June 20th.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84708746009
Meeting ID: 847 0874 6009

UEL Flag Raising at the UEL Memorial Cemetery in Adolphustown hosted by the Bay of Quinte Branch of the UELAC, Canadian Fencibles and King’s Royal Yorkers.
UEL Flag Raising Sunday 20 June 2021 at 1:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82887081100
Meeting ID: 828 8708 1100

US Army Museum” Revolutionary War Soldier’s Load” Wed 16 and 23 June

US Army Museum offers virtual field trips on “The Revolutionary War Soldier’s Load: Profiles of An Army,” examining the uniforms, equipment & weapons of Revolutionary War soldiers, Wednesday, June 16 and 23. Free, but optional donation. https://tickets.thenmusa.org/SelectDate.aspx

Fort Plain: American Revolution Mohawk Valley Conference, 6-8 Aug 2021

The American Revolution Mohawk Valley Conference includes 11 Speakers and a Bus Tour. Includes

  • Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy – The Architect of the British War for America: Lord George Germain
  • John Knight – Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion: The Elite Loyalist Regiment Fighting for the King
  • Todd W. Braisted – In Reduced Circumstances: Loyalist Women and British Government Assistance, 1779-1783

More details and registration

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

Last Post: LEE UE, Rev. Kirk Allan
The Rev. Kirk Allan Lee, 66, of Brookhaven, died on June 3, 2021, at Emory Hospital, from a brain aneurysm. He was born in Augusta, Maine, to Marie and Robert Lee. He received degrees from Rockford College, Illinois, and from Trinity College of the University of Toronto, where he received the Master of Divinity, and became a priest of the Anglican Church.
After having lived in Toronto for a number of years, he moved to Atlanta in 1994, and subsequently served part-time in many Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Atlanta. He also had a career with Merrill Lynch, serving as a Financial Advisor for over 20 years. Kirk fully retired in February 2020, with the hope of continuing his world travels once Covid restrictions were lifted. He and his partner David traveled all over the world, and were looking forward to seeing even more new places in the future. They also entertained extensively in their home, always enjoying the company of family, friends, and colleagues. Kirk was a proud member of the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada and The Order of St. John of Jerusalem.
Kirk was predeceased by his parents, and is survived by his partner of almost 30 years, David Fishburn, stepmother Evelyn Lee, brothers, step-sister, nephews, and cousins, all of Maine.
A memorial service will be held at The Episcopal Cathedral of Saint Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta on Saturday, July 17, at 3 PM. Memorial gifts may be made to Friends of Cathedral Music, 2744 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30305, or The Order of St. John, Suite 1070, 1850 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Posted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Kirk as a member of New Brunswick Branch in 1994 received his Loyalist Certificate as a descendant of Benajah Northrup UEL.

Last Post: SMITH UE, Ferne Doraine Henry
A past member of London & Western Ontario Branch UELAC, passed away on Friday, May 28, 2021, in Brantford General Hospital at the age of 96 years. She is survived by her sister, June Henry Klassen,UE, London, 5 children, 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Her United Empire Loyalist ancestors were both members of Butler’s Rangers, John Brown and Henry Smith. John’s name is commemorated in “The Brown Homestead” and Henry’s name is commemorated in the “Henry of Pelham Winery”, both in St. Catharines.
Ferne’s funeral will be a graveside service at Greenwood Cemetery, Waterford, Ontario, on Saturday, June 19th.

Addendum: George HAYWARD UE
Comments have been received since the Last Post for George in last week’s Loyalist Trail,
George was a strong developer of the Loyalist Heritage in New Brunswick. In 1976 he was one of the founders of the Fredericton Branch UELAC and he continued to offer leadership to the branch and the Association for many years. His role on the UELAC Burial Sites Committee contributed greatly to the success of this project.
Frederick H Hayward UE
George helped me prove my first Loyalist ancestor Daniel Smith and also my first Mayflower ancestor Stephen Hopkins. His work on Daniel Smith is now part of many of his published works which are available for free in the Hayward Collection on the public part of the NGB Genealogy Society. https://nbgs.ca/cpage.php?pt=227 Thank you George and sincere sympathies to his family.
John Noble

 

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