In this issue:
- Scholarship Challenge 2022: Multiplying UE Scholar Opportunities
- UELAC Dominion Office, Library & Archives Update
- The Loyalist Three Rs Revisited: Returnee Robert Fowle, by Stephen Davidson UE
- Walter Butler–The Dastardly Loyalist
- On the Road Again: En Train De Marcher–Frenchmen Travel Through Delaware
- Nathan Tidridge Speaks at Canada History’s History Forum
- Book: Biographical Dictionary of Enslaved Black People in the Maritimes
- Query: Information About Jeffery Jenkins
- Snuff and Snuff-Boxes in the 1700 and 1800s
- Washington’s Quill: Confederation Series, Volume 4 (2 April 1786‒31 January 1787)
- UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
- Upcoming Events
- Editor: Significance of 795
- From the Twittersphere and Beyond
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Scholarship Challenge 2022: Multiplying UE Scholar Opportunities
And the final total is! Wait, wait, hold the drum role. We understand there is mail being forwarded from the new mailing address in Cornwall.
Thank you to all who have taken the 2022 Scholarship Endowment Fund Challenge and donated during this concentrated time called Multiplying UE Scholar Opportunities. The amount raised as of August 26th is $9,556.26, 18% over our target. Watch for a final update in September to allow for slow mail to arrive.
On behalf of the Scholarship Committee, I am delighted to see that the goal has been surpassed. Many asked: Why $8088 as a goal? It is simply four times the 2022 year date. Monday August 22nd was the closing date of the challenge, but the opportunity for donations to towards UELAC scholarships is always available to you at Donate now.
Over the whole year we are grateful for the donations that celebrate an important occasion. Perhaps your 6th or 7th Loyalist certificate? We each have a special reason for supporting causes close to our hearts.
Do you have a friend or relative doing graduate studies in history. Please share the opportunity with them. See “Scholars Wanted” on the uelac website.
Christine E. Manzer UE, Chair, Scholarship Committee
Contact: scholarship@uelac.org
UELAC Dominion Office, Library & Archives Update
Now that UELAC Dominion Office and the UELAC Library & Archives have officially moved into new quarters within the Cornwall Community Museum at Lamoureux Park, Cornwall, ON, the challenge begins to reorganize our space.
The Board of Directors will be hiring a part-time office staff in the fall. This new part-time, hired employee will be managing all Office Administrative duties. Other office needs are being managed by our Office Administrator, Jim Bruce UE working at home on the financial side with the UELAC Treasurer, Barb Andrew UE.
We do not expect to be open as a research facility until the new addition to the museum is built.
The UELAC Library and Archives are separate entities. The library will be re-organized in the fall with the aid of two acquired local volunteers connected to the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Historical Society, operator of the Cornwall Community Museum.
We have one part-time volunteer now working at home on the Archival Records of the UELAC.
Read the full status
Carl Stymiest UE, VP & Patricia Groom UE, President, UELAC
The Loyalist Three Rs Revisited: Returnee Robert Fowle
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
The third “R”-type of Loyalists –and the smallest group– is made up of those who returned to the United States after the great Loyalist migrations. They are an embarrassment to many Loyalist refugee descendants who see them as “lapsed Loyalists”. For patriot historians, returning Loyalists illustrate that the colonial rebellion was something that even its opponents eventually accepted. Like an embarrassing relative, returning Loyalists are not seen as an appropriate topic of conversation.
Of the hundreds of men and women who made the decision to return to their homeland after years spent in refugee sanctuaries throughout the British Empire, Robert Luist Fowle has been selected as the subject of this article. Born into an Anglican minister’s family in Hingham, Massachusetts on April 18, 1743, Robert became a printer and publisher at the tender age of 21. He partnered with his uncle Daniel Fowle with whom he produced The New Hampshire Gazette.
Daniel Fowle is credited with introducing printing at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1756, just eight years before including his nephew in the enterprise. In addition to publishing a newspaper, the Fowles also printed popular sermons and pamphlets. Their partnership lasted for ten years, dissolving over a difference in politics. Daniel sided with the growing tide of rebellion; Robert remained loyal to the crown.
When the assets of their newspaper were divided up, Robert took the press and types, and published his own New Hampshire Gazette in Exeter, 27 km from Portsmouth. In addition to his newspaper, Robert did printing work for the colony’s royalist government until 1775 when he did jobs for the new Patriot government — including a broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence.
While Fowle did not print everything that rebel leaders brought to him, he did print their new paper currency. When the Patriot bills were later counterfeited by persons unknown, suspicion fell on Fowle, as he was known to have Loyalist leanings. After his arrest, Fowle admitted to furnishing the currency printing plates “to one or more Tories, from which to print the fraudulent paper money.” In exchange for this information, the rebels promised to “allow him his liberty on bail”. In the end, Fowle took “leg bail”, escaping prison by his own efforts.
Fowle’s version of these events was somewhat different. He would later testify “He left Exeter in July 1777 because he should have been obliged to join {the rebels}. He should not have conceived it possible that Great Britain could fail.” After Robert found refuge within British lines, his brother Zechariah took over his printing business in Exeter, publishing the Gazette until his death in 1783.
Rather than seeking sanctuary in New York City as many New England Loyalists did, Robert Fowle entered into active service for the crown, joining with General Burgoyne’s forces. He was among the Loyalists who eluded capture after the defeat at the Battle of Saratoga in October. Later in 1777, Fowle joined Governor Wentworth’s Volunteers, a troop of Loyalist cavalry organized on Long Island and named in honour of New Hampshire’s last royalist governor. This provincial corps joined several military expeditions during its existence, but for the most part was stationed on Long Island.
When Wentworth’s Volunteers disbanded in 1781, Fowle relocated to New York City, the headquarters for the British forces. In December of that year, he joined other Loyalist refugees who fled the new United States for sanctuary in England. Within a year’s time, he was receiving a living allowance of £50 a year from the British government.
Having served his king as a printer and then as a soldier, Fowle appeared before the loyalist compensation board in February of 1785 to seek further assistance from the British government. As was customary at these hearings, character witnesses were interviewed. Fowle might have wished for men with a more positive view of his service. The phrase “damned by faint praise” comes to mind.
Samuel Hale, who had known Fowle for 19 years, said that he was “not a Man who was likely to take an active part, yet his Inclinations were always loyal — but he had not resolution enough to refuse to print any seditious paper.” Hale believed “that the Committee (of Safety} were always sent to compel him.” He also mentioned “an instance where Mr. Fowle was very anxious to print a paper calling the rebels together to pull down a Loyalist’s House and the witness took it upon himself to destroy the paper.”
Hale concluded his testimony by saying that he thought Fowle would not be able to return to New Hampshire because of Americans’ indignation and their belief that he was a forger.
George Meserve, the former collector of customs at Portsmouth, had known Fowle for 20 years. He testified that if Robert and his uncle “ever published anything against Government, it must have been by compulsion. Says that if they had refused to publish anything he thinks their property and even their Lives would have been in danger. Knows no particular Act of Loyalty in Mr. Fowle.”
When Robert was interviewed by the compensation board commissioners, he told them that he planned to settle in Nova Scotia where he would “endeavour to get into the printing business”. The final amount of Fowle’s compensation (if issued) is not known, but the commissioners’ notes on his transcript indicate that he “bore arms in Wentworth’s Volunteers” – so his service to the crown was recognized despite the uncomplimentary testimonies of Hale and Meserve.
Fowle did cross the ocean, but if he went to Nova Scotia, he did not remain there for long. By August of 1789, he was once again in New Hampshire where he married Sarah Odlin, his brother’s widow. Robert was 46 years old; his bride was in her early 40s. A year later, the census notes that the Fowle household was comprised of Robert, a son under 16, and five “free white females”. Whether these were relatives or servants is not clear.
Rather than returning to publishing, Robert Fowle became a shopkeeper, operating a small store that sold English goods. He never gave up the hope that he would be compensated for his losses, and placed at least one advertisement demanding that those who “‘plundered him of his printing office, books of account, papers, book-shop, etc., in 1777” should “make satisfaction” or be taken to court. It is doubtful that he ever carried through on his threat.
After living in Exeter, Fowle and his family moved to Brentwood, New Hampshire. He died there at the age of 59 in 1802. His printing press is on display in the museum room of the Exeter Historical Society. It is a strange quirk of history that a Loyalist press is now honoured because it printed the Declaration of Independence. And perhaps even stranger is the fact that the printer was a Loyalist refugee who ended his days back among the people of New Hampshire who had read his newspaper during the American Revolution.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.
Walter Butler—The Dastardly Loyalist
by Richard J. Werther 25 Aug 2022, in Journal of the American Revolution
During the American Revolution, some of the hardest-fought and most bitter battles occurred in the land of the Six Nations, the Iroquois lands stretching from the Hudson River on the east to Lake Erie in the west of what is now upstate, central and western New York State. Both the Americans and British were campaigning to have the various Indian tribes on their side, or at least not against them. Unfortunately, but inevitably, sides were taken, adding the Iroquois Indian Confederation to the already bitter mixture of Loyalists and Rebels and ultimately causing the several tribes to make war against each other because of alliances to the American or British forces.
One villain to emerge from this quagmire, and there were a few, was a Loyalist named Walter Butler. Butler’s story is a good example to illustrate how hatreds developed in what was essentially a civil war.
Walter Butler was born in 1752 near Johnstown, New York, to Col. John Butler and Catharine Bradt. John Butler worked for Sir William Johnson, the famous British Indian agent, and thus was well-immersed in the dynamics of Indian relations. Read more…
On the Road Again: En Train De Marcher—Frenchmen Travel Through Delaware
by Kim Burdick 23 Aug 2022 Journal of the American Revolution
If you ask an outsider about the State of Delaware, they are likely to respond, “Dela-where?” “Do you mean Delaware County???” A few may reply, “Yeah. I think I passed through there once on my way to D.C.” If asked about the French history of the state, others may shrug, saying, “Sure. That’s the DuPont Company’s state.”
From 1638 to 1655, The First State was settled by Swedes, Finns, Dutch, French Huguenots, and others. In 1655 Peter Stuyvesant, the last Director-General of New Netherlands, came south from present-day New York to take possession. In turn, from around 1682 to 1776, England took control, renaming the area “the Lower Three Counties of Pennsylvania.”
As in Dutch and Swedish days, trading vessels under English rule continued to sail the Delaware River and Bay to Philadelphia, New York, the British Isles, Southern Europe, Madeira, and the West Indies. Raw materials were sent to England for manufacture, traded with non-British entities, and proceeds were spent on British-made goods. Daily trips between Cape Henlopen, New Castle and Philadelphia were a key to regional prosperity.
First-person accounts drawn from letters, diaries and journals of Revolutionary French and American soldiers describe what they saw as they travelled back and forth through eighteenth century Delaware. Read more…
Nathan Tidridge Speaks at Canada History’s History Forum
Earlier this summer, Canada’s National History Society brought together Indigenous leaders, educators, researchers, and community members for a crucial conversation about truth and reconciliation at the 14th Canada’s History Forum.
Nathan Tidridge, an Honorary Fellow of UELAC, was a guest speaker.
Mr. Tidridge, in partnership with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, established the Souharissen Natural Area in Waterdown, Ontario. This 55-acre educational and cultural space continues to evolve as an outdoor classroom and inspiration for numerous curriculum-based projects. Watch his presentation. (See all the speakers)
Book: Biographical Dictionary of Enslaved Black People in the Maritimes
Author: Harvey Amani Whitfield
As you know, no other group exceeded the Loyalists for bringing enslaved people into what is now Canada. The biographical dictionary lists 1,465 people who were once enslaved in the Maritimes — most of whom were the slaves of Loyalists. It is sobering –but important— reading. I read my copy from cover to cover, noting some familiar Loyalist names.
Here is an excellent review by Nina Reid-Maroney (Huron University College) of Harvey Amani Whitfield’s new book, Biographical Dictionary of Enslaved Black People in the Maritimes.
Stephen Davidson UE
Query: Information About Jeffery Jenkins
Earlier this week I was doing research at Halifax in the Public Archives looking at the parish of Wilmot, NS. I came across this remarkable entry in the Anglican Church burial records of 1857:
“Nov. 4Th – At Trinity Church Jeffery Jenkins, coloured, originally a slave, liberated since he came to Nova Scotia with the Loyalists of 1783. He was one hundred years of age.”
It means that this black loyalist was buried in Old Holy Trinity Church Cemetery at Middleton. I am also the volunteer Chair of the Old Holy Trinity Charitable Trust which maintains and cares for the church. There is no headstone for him nor any indication he was buried there, however, I am looking into doing something. The earliest marked grave in the cemetery is for renowned United Empire Loyalist General Timothy Ruggles who died in 1795. There are approximately 20 old unmarked graves as well as over 200 headstones. .
I am trying to find out more about Jeffery Jenkins and perhaps it will be of interest to readers.
Brian McConnell UE <brianm564@gmail.com> President Nova Scotia Branch UELAC
Snuff and Snuff-Boxes in the 1700 and 1800s
By Geri Walton 19 November 2014
From the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s, snuff was enjoyed by all classes and was much more popular than smoking. It was particularly popular throughout the 1700s and all the rage among the elite, although it also had its critics. Among the critics were Louis XIV, who had a personal distaste for snuff that resulted in his personal physician, Monsieur Fagon, spewing “a violent oration, against the pernicious effects of the newly introduced and abominable custom.” Louis XV of France also disliked snuff and banned its use at court during his reign.
Despite critics and punishments, people continued to use snuff. In fact, its use increased so rapidly that by the time of George II, the types were infinite, and, according to one source, “new ones are daily invented so that it would be difficult, not to say impossible, to give a detail of them.” Read more…
Washington’s Quill: Confederation Series, Volume 4 (2 April 1786‒31 January 1787)
By Cooper Arnold, 26 Aug 2022
The weak and inefficient government under the Articles of Confederation tested George Washington’s renowned patience and restraint. As shown in the fourth volume of this series, the still young nation experienced a trying and uncertain time. Unfavorable attitudes toward the government in April 1786 became much harsher over the progressing months. A substantial contributor to the growing public unease was the prolonged rebellion in Massachusetts from August 1786 through February 1787. Read more…
UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
Entries which have been added, or revised, this week, with thanks:
- From Matthew Evans, more details about
- Abraham Elston, a rigger, who served with the Loyal American Regiment and settled at Grand Bay, New Brunswick
- From Michele Lewis of Hamilton Branch there is a little information about:
- Barent Roorbach who settled in the Home District of what is now Ontario
- Kevin Wisener submitted information about:
- Alexander Anderson born near Elgin, Scotland, immigrated to New York about 1770, servced in the 84th Regiment of Foot, settled at Rustico, PEI; then Bedeque, PEI and married Margaret MacCallum c. 1790.
- Pvt. Jeremiah Myers from Pennsylvania, and later to New York during the Revolution who was with the Company of Armed Batteau Men raised under the command of Captain Peter Van Alstine of Columbia County, New York, married Mary (possibly Slaughter) and settled at Shelburne NS, then Milton, Queens County, PEI.
- William Myers settled on a 300 acre land grant on the Pinette River, Lot 58, Queens County, Prince Edward Island
- Benjamin Benedict Crawford with 13 children is in the list of The Largest Loyalist Families, story contributed by Ruth (Nichols) Ellis, UE. He is the Son of a Loyalist (SUE) James Crawford from Pound Ridge, Westchester County, N.Y. who served in the Guides and Pioneers and settled in Long Reach, Kings County, New Brunswick.
- From Jo Ann Tuskin information from Jo-Ann Leake’s ancestor John Leake. John moved from West Camp, Hudson Valley, New York to Sussex Vale, Kings County, New Brunswick. He and Sarah Gordon married on 18 July 1793 at Prince William, NB.
If you are willing to submit some information, send a note to loyalist.trails@uelac.org
All help is appreciated. …doug
Old Hay Bay Church, Annual Pilgrimage Service, Sunday, 28 August 2022, 3 pm
The Board of Trustees welcomes everyone to the Pilgrimage Service. Custodians will be on hand to share the history of the Methodist religion, the United Empire Loyalists who established homes and farms in the area and general local history.
This is Canada’s oldest surviving Methodist church. Built on farmland belonging to Paul Huff, just eight years after the Loyalists arrived, it was the first ‘meeting house’ in Upper Canada. The timber frame construction is similar to how area barns would be built. Step up into the pulpit and listen to your voice carry through the church with the help of a wooden sounding board. Read details… (Old Hay Bay Church is between Picton and Napanee ON.
Gov. Simcoe Branch: “Fascinating Facts from Loyalist History” by Stephen Davidson
Historian and author Stephen Davidson has compiled 25 facts from Loyalist history that may have escaped the notice of your Canadian history teachers — facts that prove to be far more fascinating than many of the myths that have clung to these “friends of the king” over the centuries.
Wed 7 Sept at 7:30 ET. See Details and Register
Editor: Significance of 795
No, 795 is not the number of people and groups who donated to the Scholarship Challenge 2022. Nor is it the number of dollars contributed, as actual donations recorded so far have exceeded both ten times that amount, and the objective. For that the members of the Scholarship Committee thank those who have contributed in this way to increasing the knowledge base about the Loyalist era.
So what is “795”? Watch this space.
From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- 24 August 1814, King George III’s forces burned Washington D.C. in retaliation for the attack on York (now Toronto) earlier during the War of 1812. The rebuilt President’s house would be painted white to cover the scorched stone & known after as the White House.
- View inside historic St. John’s Anglican Church in Lunenburg, NS founded in 1753 and 2nd oldest place of Protestant worship in Canada. Brian McConnell UE
- Standing below memorial tablet which mentions Rev. Thomas Shreve, a U E Loyalist, in St. John’s Anglican Church at Lunenburg, NS. He served as Captain in DeLancey’s Corps & later became an Anglican clergyman. When died buried in crypt underneath historic church founded in 1753.
- Spent a successful afternoon of research in Public Archives at Halifax. According to burial records for Parish of Wilmot acclaimed U E Loyalist General Timothy Ruggles was buried in July 1795. Cause of death: rupture (of hernia).
- Interesting deed discovered dated May 5, 1787 for 100 acres at Wilmot, NS from “Robert Robinson, Lieutenant in the late Loyal American Regiment” & his wife Deborah to “Abraham Covert” who is in 1784 Muster Roll for Annapolis as a discharged soldier from Loyal American Regiment.
- This week in History
- 26 Aug 1765 Boston, MA The home of Lt Gov Thomas Hutchinson is torched by a mob protesting the Stamp Act, and the Sons of Liberty ransack the Vice-Admiralty Court, burning its tax records.
- 21 Aug 1775 Quartermaster-General in Cambridge issues broadside requesting provisions.
- 23 Aug 1775 King George III declares American Colonies to be in “open and avowed rebellion,” demands suppression.
- 24 Aug 1775 USS Hannah, first ship of the Continental Navy, acquired.
- 20 Aug 1776 Washington asks Gen. John Sullivan to relieve the ill Gen. Nathaniel Greene in defense of Long Island.
- 22 Aug 1777 British Colonel Barry St. Leger abandons Fort Stanwix for Canada as Arnold’s forces approach.
- 26 Aug 1779 – 3500 American forces depart Ft Sullivan to complete destructive sweep through Haudenosaunee in New-York.
- 25 Aug 1780 The “Swamp Fox” Francis Marion rescues 150 prisoners, only 3 of whom opt to return to the American Army.
- Clothing and Related:
- 24 Aug.79 AD Mt. Vesuvius erupts, killing thousands, destroying the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Naturally the site of such a disaster became a tourist attraction, complete with souvenir fans. Late 18th-early 19th c. and c. 1800
- There’s something irresistible about riding habits This one was made in UK 1770-5. Description & more images here…
- 18th Century dress, Sack-backed gown of Chinese silk painted with flower posies, birds and butterflies on natural ground, 1770’s
- A Robe à l’anglaise, 1763, American (of English fabric), silk plain weave taffeta patterned with supplementary wefts brocaded with polychrome silks. Worn by Sarah Tyng Smith when she married Richard Codman in Portland, Maine, Feb 23, 1763
- Cotton coat, European ca 1790 via The Met
- Pocket detail of an 18th Century waistcoat. Pink was a popular colour for men’s dress, particularly in the 1770s during the period of the Macaronis – young dandies, who dressed in the latest French & Italian styles on returning from the Grand Tour.
- Collar detail of 18th Century man’s waistcoat, cream silk satin embroidered in small green & brown sprig pattern; collar, pockets & border embroidered floral vinework decorated with paste in assorted sizes, 1770-1790
- 18th Century men’s suit and waistcoat, of fine purple silk, metallic embroidery and spangles with delicate buttons, c.1790’s
- Townsends:
- What is an Apple Dumpling? – 257 Year Old Recipe
- No Cars, Just Boats – Travel 300 Years Ago
- Miscellaneous
- This gold mourning slide features two gold putti holding aloft an enamelled skull. The skull is held above a cipher including the letters G.R. In gold thread. The background is woven hair. 18th cent.
- Mudlarking: Yday I found my longest pipe measuring 16 inches made by William Cope of Woolwich. Im astounded that its stayed in one piece after being subjected to the tides for almost 200 years! How’s that even possible? I was a nervous wreck carrying it home without breaking it!
- French-made “souvenir box”, a personal item which contained thin ivory tablets for note taking—to help you remember important details (thus the name). This one was made around 1785 of gold, enamel, diamonds & ivory (inside) & displays a portrait of a woman.
- Jamestown, Yorktown Mueum: Today we’re making a pottage. This traditional European peasant dish (from the French “potage,” or “that which is cooked in a pot”) would have been a staple at Jamestown. Typically a thick soup, pottage is primarily limited only by your garden and your imagination. (Scroll down for the making and serving)
Published by the UELAC
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