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Conference 2023: What a steal of a deal for all virtual attendees!
Eleven expert guest speakers from across Canada; all for the price of $50.00 – Canadian Funds!

Introducing Guest Presenter #4: Allister J. Barton (Atlantic Region) “Affirmations of Black Loyalists”

All Guest Speaker Presentations will be available at an appropriate scheduled time and Zoom Invite Links will be forwarded closer to the Conference date.
Virtual attendees ONLY, please fill out the Virtual Portion of the 2023 Conference Registration.
Indicate that you are a Virtual Registrant and pay the necessary Registration Fee via the online, secured Paypal portal OR forward your 2023 Virtual Registration Form and Cheque to

Christine Manzer UE, Conference Registrar
208 – 7180 Linden Ave,
Burnaby BC V5E 3G6

Please make all cheques payable to: The UEL Ass’n of Canada Vancouver Branch
If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact UE2023Registrar@gmail.com.
The 2023 UELAC Hybrid Pacific Region Conference & AGM Planning Committee (01 – 04 June 2023), Vancouver/Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.
See all conference details at https://uelac.ca/conference-2023/

UELAC Scholarships: Current Recipients
The UELAC Scholarship committee would like to remind Loyalist Trails readers who our current Scholarship recipients are. When we introduce the annual Scholarship Challenge, a few months from now, we hope that knowing the names and research focus of the students will reinforce the importance of the fundraising challenge.

Benjamin Anderson is a PhD Candidate at the University of Edinburgh. – Thesis title: The Loyalists of Vermont and the Northern Borderland, 1749-1791. His research project will recover the voices of the Loyalists on the northern borderland and provide a comprehensive account of how they experienced the American Revolution, thus contributing to the historiographies of New York, Vermont, and Loyalism.

Learn more at https://uelac.ca/scholarship/
…Christine Manzer UE

Benjamin adds:
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the UELAC for their funding over the last two years. Without their financial help, it would have been a struggle for me to visit Vermont and New York in the summer of 2022. These visits helped me to access sources that allowed me to refine my central thesis. Further, they allowed me to have an adventure of a lifetime, where I got to connect with amazing scholars in north-eastern U.S.A.

Loyalist Descendants Who Were Early Vancouver Island Settlers
In building towards its 100th Branch anniversary in 2027, the Victoria Branch created a list of Loyalist descendants who made their way West to Vancouver Island in the early days after the founding of Fort Victoria in 1845. The online interactive database or Loyal-List includes over 550 short profiles of UEL descendants who lived on Vancouver Island in the 90 years between 1860-1950.
A major ‘Loyal List’ benefit is facilitating the discovery of UEL descent by those who are not aware they have this ancestry. Given the elapsed time and great distances, many people on Vancouver Island with UEL ancestry and heritage have lost all connection to their past beyond one or two generations. The ‘Loyal List’ identifies Vancouver Islanders of our grandparent and great grandparent generations who are descended from Loyalists. Therefore, instead of needing to search back eight generations for a 5th or 6th great grandparent UE Loyalist, one only needs to search back three or four generations for their great or 2nd great grandparent UEL descendant. This reduces the size of the family tree that needs to be searched by half.
A strength of the online ‘Loyal-List’ is that it fosters interactivity with people searching for their relatives and/or researching early Vancouver Island history. Each overview of a UEL descendant requests feedback (edits, additions, corrections) and provides an easy means to provide this feedback to the ‘Loyal List’ site manager. The ‘Loyal-List’ is a “living document” that has unlimited potential. The greater the number of UEL descendants in the ‘Loyal-List’, the greater the refinement and ongoing growth of the List.
Explore the Loyal-List of Vancouver Island.

We are proud of the team which has pulled this research aid together and look forward to it continuing to grow.
Mike Woodcock UE, President, Victoria Branch

Desperately Seeking Indigenous Allies in the East – Part Five of Five
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
One could forgive Michael Francklin for thinking that the most stressful days of his tenure as Nova Scotia’s Superintendent of Indian Affairs were past. After all, in September of 1778, he had convinced the leaders of the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik Nations to abandon their alliance with the Patriots of the United States and renew their loyalty to the British crown. A year later, Francklin signed a treaty with John Julien, a leader of the Mi’kmaw People of the Miramichi, Pokemouche, and Restigouche regions. It contained Native promises of loyalty and British promises of supplies and increased trade.
1779 was also the year when the St. John River became an important source of masts for the Royal Navy. Francklin saw to it that the local Indigenous People did not interfere with the forest workmen.
All would have gone well for the duration of the American Revolution had it not been for the unwanted interference of a British general.
Pierre Tomah, a Wolastoqiyik chief who had signed a treaty of allegiance with the British, had journeyed to see John Allan in Machias to seek a better deal for his people. Major Studholme, the British commander of Fort Howe, had been ordered by General Allan McLean not to furnish any more provisions to the Indigneous People –despite the fact that this had been a clause in the treaty that Tomah and Michael Francklin had signed the year before. Francklin recognized that this might undo all of the ground gained in securing allies for Britain among the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik. In addition to pushing the Wabanaki Confederacy back into the Patriot camp, such a change in Indigenous allegiance would endanger the New England settlements along the St. John River, disrupt the mail routes to Canada, and interrupt the important cutting of masts for the Royal Navy.
Francklin once again depended upon diplomacy to resolve the crisis. He convened a pow-wow on June 24, 1780 at Aukpaque, which was about 90 miles above Fort Howe. Major Studholme, James White, and Father Bourg met with approximately 900 members of the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy Nations. Deputies from the Ottawas, Hurons, Algonquins, Montagnais, Abenakies, and Canabas (all Canadian First Nations) were also present. The Canadian Natives urged their eastern brothers to abandon their alliance with the Americans, telling them to “remain quiet and in peace”.
The Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik delegates said they would do so as long as “the king of England should continue to leave them free liberty of hunting and fishing” and allow them to worship as Roman Catholics. The British agreed to these terms and sealed the agreement with presents: blankets, shirts, blue and scarlet cloth, beaver bats, ribbons, powder and shot, and one cask of wine for the women and “such men as do not drink rum.”
Sixteen days later, the Wolastoqiyik who had taken refuge in Machias three years earlier left for Fort Howe much to the dismay of John Allan, the Massachusetts superintendent for Indigenous affairs. Later that summer, the Americans lost their most important Wolastoqiyik ally, Ambroise Saint-Aubin. After having served as a courier and spokesman for the Patriots in their dealings with Nova Scotia’s Indigenous People, the chief died very suddenly. Despite rumours that the old man had been poisoned, no evidence was found to confirm the allegations. The American government was never again able to persuade members of the Wabanaki Confederacy or any of its leaders to align themselves with the Patriots against the British.
Writing to Lord Germaine, the British the secretary of state for the colonies, on November 21, 1780, Michael Francklin reported that the “disposition of the Indians during the summer and autumn had been very tranquil” – a fact that he attributed to the June conference at Aukpaque.
It looked as if the tug of war to secure the loyalty of the Wabanaki Confederacy had finally been won. In the final analysis, the Indigenous Nations aligned themselves with the government that offered them the greatest degree of prosperity and security – the British.
Recognizing the importance of diplomacy and conciliation, Francklin met with Wolastoqiyik leaders again in November of 1781. Gathering at Ormocto (downriver from present day Fredericton), the superintendent met with 400 Natives. Matters around the selection of chiefs were settled and presents distributed. Francklin was encouraged to learn that those assembled were eager to defend the nearby British blockhouse. The Natives voiced their appreciation for the presence of their priest, Father Bourg and indicated that they were prepared to settle down and plant corn along the river. Within weeks of meeting with Britain’s Indigenous allies, Francklin learned that American and French forces had defeated Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown, bringing about the end of the American Revolution.
Michael Francklin died on November 8, 1782, just a month before his 49th birthday. Pierre Tomah, the Wolastoqiyik chief who had often met with Francklin and ultimately kept his people loyal to the British crown, died within a few years of the superintendent. He is believed to have been buried at St. Andrew’s Point at the mouth of the St. Croix River.
Of all the key players in the ongoing tug of war to secure Indigenous allies, it was John Allen, the American superintendent of Eastern Indians, who lived the longest. He died at the age of 59 on February 7, 1805. Although American historians credit him with preventing the British from securing the support of the Indigenous People of the northeast, this summation ignores the signing of the Treaty of Fort Howe, the fact that his Native alliances failed to wrest the St. John River Valley from British control or to capture any major British fortification.
In the months before the deaths of Tomah and Francklin, the first fleet of evacuation vessels from New York City and the southern colonies had brought Loyalist refugees to Nova Scotia. Life in the colony was forever changed.
In 1784, the St. John River Valley and the other lands north of the Bay of Fundy became the new colony of New Brunswick. Borders created by Americans and the British would now divide the people of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The traditional land of the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot People eventually became the state of Maine. The Wolastoqiyik Nation now resided in the colony of New Brunswick while the Mi’kmaq Nation was scattered over Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the coast of New Brunswick.
Writing about this period of time, the historian W. O. Raymond concluded that “the Indians never in all their history received such attention as was bestowed on them during the latter part of the revolutionary war. Indeed, they may be said to have lived at the joint expense of the contending parties until the close of the war. For them, the peace of 1783 was a very dismal thing indeed, for with it their supplies from either party ceased, and their friendship became a matter of comparative indifference, while the immense influx of new settlers drove them from their old hunting grounds and obliged them to look for situations more remote.”
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

More About the Passamaquodies
Hello Stephen:
I enjoyed your piece in Loyalist Trails this morning – “Desperately Seeking Indigenous Allies in the East” Part 3.
I am sure Chief Peter AKAGI of St. Andrews, NB would appreciate it very much. He has long been endeavouring to have the Passamaquodies formally recognized as a Tribe by the Gov’t of Canada. Your writing & “evidence” would be beneficial I think. If you agree, I will try to get a copy to him, or perhaps you would like to write him direct.
Thank You Steve – you do great work! – Cal CRAIG, UE.

Response from Stephen Davidson
I don’t think what I have written has the legal “weight” that would convince anyone of that worthy goal. However, a history of New Brunswick that was written by Rev. W.O. Raymond in 1905 is very detailed and is full of useful footnotes and quotations from historical documents. It was the basis for my 5-part series on Indigenous Allies.

GLIMPSES OF THE PAST: HISTORY OF THE RIVER ST. JOHN A. D. 1604–1784: you can find it at : <http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31368>

Here are some highlights:

Page 143 references chiefs of the Passamaquoddy tribe traveling to Halifax to renew a 1725 treaty.

See chapter 25 with regard to the Fort Howe pow-wow and treaty.

Page 294
There is an outline of a speech addressed to “the Malecete, Passamaquoddie and Mickmack Indians” that was given by deputies from the Ottawas, Hurons, Algonkins, Montanagais, Abenakies and Canabas”.
It also says that ” the Indians of Machias and Passamaquody” were invited to make a treaty at Fort Howe in 1780

Page 298 says:
In the sworn testimony submitted to the commissioners on the international boundary in 1797, John Curry, Esq., of Charlotte County says that when he came to the country in 1770 there was an Indian place of worship and a burial ground on St. Andrew’s Point at the mouth of the River St. Croix, and that among those whom he recollected to have been buried there were John Neptune (alias Bungawarrawit), governor of the Passamaquoddy tribe, and a “chief of the Saint John’s Tribe known by the name of Pierre Toma.” There can be little doubt that the latter was our old chief Thoma. His wife was one of the Neptune family whose home was at Passamaquoddy. The burial ground at St. Andrew’s Point was abandoned by the Indians when the Loyalists settled at St. Andrews in 1783. We may therefore conclude that Pierre Thoma did not long survive his old friend and Patron Michael Francklin. Their acquaintance began as early at least as the summer of 1768, when Governor Thoma and Ambroise St. Aubin had an interview with Lieut.-Governor Francklin and his council at Halifax.
I hope that this will be helpful.
Yours in Nova Scotia, Stephen

Government of Canada recognizes Thomas Peters as a person of national historic significance
A West African-born Yoruba man, Peters escaped enslavement on a North Carolina plantation in 1776. He joined the Black Pioneers in New York and rose to the rank of sergeant while fighting on the side of Britain during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After the war, Peters, along with his wife and children, were among the estimated 3,500 Black Loyalists that the British evacuated to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Peters became a prominent leader and influential spokesperson for the Black Loyalists who were frustrated and deceived about the conditions of their postwar resettlement in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Peters fought tirelessly to get British officials to fulfill promises made to Black Loyalists, eventually travelling to London, England, to make an impassioned appeal for justice, racial equality, and land. While in London, he learned that the Sierra Leone Company was looking to establish a permanent settlement of formerly enslaved people of African descent from the Americas. Peters recruited roughly one-third of the estimated 1,196 people of African descent who relocated to Sierra Leone and founded the settlement of Freetown. There, he continued to advocate for land, liberty, and self-rule until his death in 1792. Read more…

BOOK: CAMERON – The Ancestors and Descendants of John Cameron, United Empire Loyalist and Lady Mary Cameron of Cornwall Township, Third Edition
Compiled by Duncan (Darby) MacDonald C.D., U.E., F.S.A. Scot
This book is a detailed genealogy of the CAMERON family, who settled on Lot 6, Fourth Concession of Cornwall Township in Upper Canada (Ontario)after the American Revolution. It includes both the ancestors and the descendants of John Cameron, United Empire Loyalist and Lady Mary Cameron. The genealogy was designed using a genealogy software program. That means that the structure/organization of information is easy to follow and will be familiar to many. The comprehensive nominal Index helps readers locate specific people quickly and easily. The pdf download version is every-word searchable.
The several pages of genealogy charts were hand-drawn by Duncan (Darby) MacDonald.
Contents include:

  • The Clans of the Scottish Highlands: Cameron of Lochiel
  • Map of Township of Cornwall, Upper Canada (Ontario)
  • Plan Lot-6, 4th Cornwall Township
  • Genealogy of John Cameron UE and Lady Mary
  • Index
  • Charts (hand drawn by Duncan MacDonald)

More details and to order

Book: From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne
By Norman S. Poser, McGill-Queen’s University Press (January 30, 2023)
This is a fresh account of Burgoyne, and the first major biography of the enigmatic general in decades.
Known today chiefly for his surrender to the American forces at Saratoga, New York, in 1777, General John Burgoyne was one of the most interesting – and extraordinary – figures of the eighteenth century.
In From the Battlefield to the Stage Norman Poser provides a rounded biography, covering not only the Saratoga campaign but also elements of Burgoyne’s eventful life that have never been adequately explored. At the age of twenty-eight, Burgoyne eloped with Charlotte Stanley, the daughter of the immensely wealthy and influential Earl of Derby. Though initially furious, the earl, convinced of the young officer’s good character, eventually forgave the couple, and the Stanley family became a major influence in Burgoyne’s life and career. He was a socialite, welcome in London’s fashionable drawing rooms, a high-stakes gambler in its elite clubs, and a playwright whose social comedies were successfully performed on the London stage. As a member of Parliament for thirty years, Burgoyne supported the rule of law, fought the corruption of the East India Company, and advocated religious tolerance.
From the Battlefield to the Stage paints a vivid portrait of General John Burgoyne, remembering him not only for his role in one of Britain’s worst military disasters but also as a brave, talented, humane man.

The Big Runaway: Turning Point of the Susquehanna West Branch Settlers
by Chris Yohn 23 Feb 2023 The Journal of the American Revolution
Pennsylvania settlers of the Susquehanna West Branch Valley endured extreme hardship through the first years of the revolution. The men and supplies they provided the Continental army left the frontier exposed and vulnerable.
Fort Augusta, a traditional timber star-fort and vestige of the French and Indian War, stood in Sunbury at the confluence of the Susquehanna North and West Branches. The fort anchored the frontier’s defense.
The productive farms of the West Branch quickly became targets of Loyalist and Iroquois raids. With most of the militia away fighting with Washington, some settlers fortified their homes with log stockade walls large enough to provide room for neighbors to shelter inside. There was soon a string of these forts at regular intervals up the West Branch. When an enemy raiding party attacked, or was discovered approaching the valley, settlers grabbed the ammunition, powder and essential supplies they’d readied for a quick departure and headed to the nearest fort. This set a relay in action in which each settler warned their nearest neighbor. Valley residents congregated to the closest fort and waited until the danger passed. Read more…

The Highs and Lows of Ethan Allen’s Reputation as Reported by Revolutionary-Era Newspapers
by Gene Procknow 21 Feb. 2023 The Journal of the American Revolutionary-Era
Ethan Allen’s prevailing reputation among the general population remains that of a daring hero, but has suffered in the eyes of recent historians. Casual readers, aided by the embellishments of nineteenth-century biographers, remember Vermont’s Allen as the leader of the rebellious but honorable Green Mountain Boys and the conqueror of British-held Fort Ticonderoga. As a result of his widely-touted Revolutionary Era exploits, people commemorated Allen’s contributions to Vermont’s founding by erecting statues in the United States Capitol and the Vermont statehouse and naming national guard units, ships, highways, trains, and mountains after him. On the other hand, twenty-first-century historians are increasingly uncovering a darker side to Allen’s legacy. Recent monographs depict a thuggish brigand whose extra-legal actions thwarted legitimate New York control over the Vermont territory.[1] Further, several historians allege that Allen committed treason by negotiating the return of Vermont to the British Empire during the dark stages of the Revolutionary War.
So, what is Allen’s legacy, and what should be his reputation? Returning to public voices expressed contemporaneously can help answer these questions. Read more…

Uncovering the Black history of 10 Ontario rivers
Canada often tries to erase Black people from both history and the environmental movement, but our presence and love of nature remains, scholar and outdoors enthusiast Jacqueline L. Scott writes
By Jacqueline Scott 22 Feb 2023 in TGhe Narwhal
In this article read about these rivers and associated Black People.

  • Niagara River: Chloe Cooley
  • Detroit River: :ucie and Thornton Blackburn
  • French River: George Bonga
  • Ganaraska River: James Mink
  • Grand River: Sophia Pooley
  • Humber River: Daddy John Hall
  • Rideau River: Solomon Northrup
  • St. Mary’s River: Jean Baptiste Point du Sable.
  • St. Laswrence River: “The Long Trek”
  • Welland River: Harriet Tubman

Parting Ways Cemetery and it’s significance to Black History and Plymouth History.
Over 5,000 African-American men served General George Washington in the American Revolution. These men made up 10% of the entire Army of Revolutionary soldiers.
Among these 5,000 soldiers were four young African-American men from Plymouth – Cato Howe, Plato Turner, Prince Goodwin and Quamany Quash. Cato Howe was a freeman who had probably never been enslaved. Plato Turner and Prince Goodwin were former slaves. Quamany Quash was enslaved and not emancipated until after his military service. Following the war, the Town of Plymouth granted these men acreage near the Kingston border, in an area known as Parting Ways. Howe, Turner, Goodwin and Quash – with their families – established a settlement there known as the New Guinea Settlement.
These four American Patriots are buried at @partingwaysmass
and their gravesites marked with American flags. Archaeological excavations have been conducted at Parting Ways and many ties to the African roots of Quash, Turner, Goodwin and Howe have been documented. Artifacts, architecture and food remains attest to their African cultural heritage. More and reference…

Buttons of the 18th Century
Buttons made in France about 1780 at Victoria & Albert collections. Recommend having a look at description. (Also, Glass buttons, French, ca 1780 via The Met.)
During the eighteenth century buttons were mostly used on men’s clothing rather than garments for women. They served both a practical and a decorative purpose on coats, breeches and waistcoats. A diverse range of materials were used to produce buttons including mother-of-pearl, steel, glass, enamel and textiles mounted on card. From the 1770s picture buttons also became popular, first in France where they were known as ’boutons à miniature’. They depicted anything from architectural views to mythological scenes and historical events, from portraits to flora and fauna and even pornographic images. They were printed, painted, engraved or drawn and usually mounted onto copper frames with a flat or slightly domed glass cover. As with most other types of buttons they were usually sold in sets of 12, 16 or 24 to accommodate the needs of gentlemen’s attire. Read more…

The Next Great Save – by the National Trust for Canada
presented by Ecclesiastical Insurance
The National Trust for Canada’s Next Great Save competition is on a mission. Our mission is to help communities save heritage places that matter to them, with three cash prizes totalling $65,000. The first place prize is a $50,000 prize generously provided by Ecclesiastical Insurance, the second place prize is $10,000 and the third place prize is $5,000. The prize money can be used for a project that will adapt, renew or improve their heritage place for the future, and inspire us all in the process.
One of the competitors was Forward House, which has been mentioned twice in Loyalist Trials. A 200 year old home that was built by United Empire Loyalist Michael Carman II after his service in the war of 1812 and as part of the creation of the initial St. Lawrence shipping routes.
Over 200,000 votes were placed between January 20 and February 22 from coast to coast to coast for ten groups who are saving heritage places that matter. Thank you to the competitors, and to the public who voted for these incredible heritage conservation projects!
The winners are:

  1. Duncan Train Station Duncan, BC
  2. La Vieille Maison Meteghan, NS
  3. Historic 1916 CNR Hope Station Hope, BC

Learn more about each of the the ten heritage sites which were in the final vote.

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
Entries which have been added, or revised, this week, with thanks:

  • Information about Loyalists who settled in what is now Prince Edward Island has been added to the Loyalist Directory by Kevin Wisener
    • Cpl Michael Malone served in the 1st Battalion, Kings Rangers
    • Cpl Samuel Kenney also served in the 1st Battalion, Kings Rangers and received 200 acres of land at Lot 47, Kings County,PEI.
    • Cpl. Daniel Kennedy also served in the 1st Battalion, Kings Rangers and received 200 acres of land at Lot 47, Kings County,PEI.
    • Cpl James Marshall arrived at Charlottetown with his wife having served in the 1st Battalion, Kings Rangers and received 200 acres of land at Lot 47, Kings County,PEI. A Jasmes Marshall is named on three receipts for tailoring in New York City in 1782-83.
  • More information about Capt. John Roy Stuart has been provided by Elizabeth Stuart.
  • Lynton “Bill” Stewart has added a new record for Sgt.-Maj. Joshua Stone from Vermont and he resettled at Keswick, Douglas Township, York County, New Brunswick. He served with the New York Volunteers. He married Chloe Morehouse (1770-1850) and they had eleven children. Joshua was the son of William Stone (1729-1777), executed by the Americans for Treason and Spying, and Martha Hoyt (1737-1790).
    • Note: Bill also provided three more groups of Loyalist land grant records from Sydney County NS. The Loyalist Directory now exceeds 15,400 records.

If you are willing to submit some information, send a note to loyalist.trails@uelac.org All help is appreciated. …doug

In Hindsight: Half a Century of Research Discoveries in Canadian History
Presented by Dr. Donald B. Smith
Produced by The Ontario Historical Society
“In Hindsight” is a Weekly Series (Following the Model of Old-Fashioned Radio) on Different Personalities in 19th and 20th Century Canadian History.
The tone will be relaxed, with an abundance of anecdotes.
Canadians of the past were prisoners of their cultural values just as their latter-day judges are of today’s beliefs. In each episode I try to understand, and to help the listener understand, the individual in the context of their own times.
Written summaries of each episode will be provided, exclusively on the OHS website, including a short bibliography and/or the “back story” as to how the “discovery” was made.
The first sessions include:

  • Introduction: by Chief Dave Mowat of Alderville First Nation
  • Episode 3: Grey Owl
  • Episode 4: Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance
  • Episode 5: Peter Jones and Eliza Field

Visit Announcing a New OHS Podcast for the details, schedule, etc

Upcoming Events

Colonial Williamsburg: Black Coachmen and Horsemen Feb 28 @1:00 ET

In 18th-century America who were the people driving carriages and tending to horses? In this video, we explore the roles of Black coachmen and horsemen in colonial Virginia. Join here…

Gov. Simcoe Branch: “Murder & Mayhem, Settlers & Sinners, Colonists & Criminals: More Thrilling Stories from New France” Wed 1 March 7:30 ET

Presentation by Carol Ufford and Dawn Kelly who return with more fascinating stories from New France — unusual deaths, illegitimate children, and of course a little witchcraft and murder. As they tell the stories, Carol and Dawn will show some of the resources they used to trace their family histories. Details and registration.

Rebellion or Revolution? Understanding the American Revolutionary War

How do we define loyalty? Rebellion? Resistance?
Fri, 3 Mar 2023, 14:00 GMT (9:00 AM ET)
And how were these concepts understood in the context of the American Revolutionary War?
Join 18th-century record specialists, Philippa Hellawell at The National Archives and Corinne Porter of the USA’s National Archive & Record Administration (NARA), for a unique collaboration discussing devotion and duplicity during the American Revolutionary War.
This talk uses highlights from both collections to help us understand both British and American perspectives, including the British reaction to the Boston Tea Party, George III’s Proclamation of Rebellion following Congress’ initial petition for independence, and the subsequent American Declaration of Independence accusing the British King of being the traitor. Read more and register… (pay what you can, even free)

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

Last Post: HISCOCK UE, Keith
The Hamilton Branch is saddened to announce the passing of Keith Hiscock UE, son of Diane and Lanny Hiscock, at the home of his parents in Ancaster, Ontario in January, 2023.
Keith was honoured to have Loyalist ancestors and to attend UEL meetings but his medical condition and shift work hindered consistent attendance.
Keith had four Loyalist ancestors. On his paternal side, Edward Ryckman and Michael Showers. On his maternal side, Jacob Smith and Ebenezer Jones. Keith completed his application for UE designation through loyalist, Edward Ryckman.
The branch expresses its sympathy to Diane, Lanny and sister, Janice, and acknowledge the extent of loss to the Hiscock family. Funeral arrangements will be planned for warmer weather, possibly May or June.
Pat Blackburn, Hamilton Branch UELAC

Last Post: LUETHY UE, Joyce Ross Tremaine
Joyce Luethy passed away on Friday, January 6, 2023 at the age of 91. She will be lovingly remembered by her husband, Ivor Luethy; daughters Andrena (Stan) and Monica (Rod); and granddaughters Anya, Maron and Sophie. She was predeceased by her parents, Lloyd Tremaine and Norma Mollins.
As a science teacher in the Calgary school system, Joyce was committed to mentoring and inspiring junior high girls to pursue careers in science and co-founded both the Alberta Women’s Science Network and Operation Minerva. More details…
Joyce was a former genealogist for Calgary Branch UELAC. Joyce was instrumental in Operation Minerva, a group dedicated to encouraging girls to pursue Science.
Her Loyalist ancestor was Caleb Wood UEL, who immigrated to New Brunswick. She received her Loyalist certificate in 2010.
See the Loyalist Directory entry for Caleb Wood which includes the Story of the family line from Caleb Wood to Joyce Luethy
Suzanne Davidson UE, Calgary Branch


Last Post: REID UE, BA, MA, PhD, Verna Maud (MacKay)
11-Mar-1928 – 04-Oct-2022
Verna Reid cherished wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother passed away in Calgary Alberta on October 4, 2022. Verna was married to her wonderful husband Craig for 60 years and who predeceased her in 2009. Verna will be dearly missed by her three children John Reid (Tae Nosal), Lois Reid (Brian Brunger) and Susan Reid Billington (Richard Billington); and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents, John George MacKay and Edna Josephine (Bell) MacKay and her brother Clifford.
Academic, teacher, artist, wife, and mother, Verna was a member of a transitional generation of women, occupying the space between the traditional world of their mothers and the postmodern world of their daughters and granddaughters. Verna received a BA Honours – Philosophy (English or History) from the University of Toronto, Victoria College in 1950 where she found her studies with literary critic and literary theorist, Northrop Frye, to be most influential. She recently celebrated 70 years since her graduation. More at Arbor Memorial…
Verna was very proud of her UEL heritage and to have the post-nominal UE after her name.
Verna was a long-time member of the Calgary Branch UELAC. Her Loyalist ancestors were Peter Brouse Sr. and John Holmes. Her ancestor story was published by Linda McLelland in the book published for UELAC centennial. Verna’s history is in the Lyalist Directory, in the record for Peter Brouse Sr (here) and is repeated in the record for John Holmes.
Suzanne Davidson UE, Calgary Branch

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