In this issue:
- Conference 2023: Visit Vancouver, Virtual Speaker Jean Rae Baxter UE, Registration
- Archibald Morrison: The Dispossessed Loyalist, by Stephen Davidson UE
- Tragic Accident at Fort Anne (Montreal): A Story Revealed in Two Primary Source Documents
- Siege of Boston Map
- Letter from an Officer on Board his Majesty’ s Ship Chatham
- They have carried off every thing they could possibly take: Abigail Adams
- BOOK REVIEW: The Great New York Fire of 1776
- Loyalist Quarterly Newsletter, March 2023, by Paul J. Bunnell UE
- In Safe Hands: The Battle for Midwifery
- List of Loyalist Certificates Updated with those issued in 2023 until February 28
- UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
- Upcoming Events
- From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- Last Post: MACKAY UE, Harry Earle
- Last Post: REID UE, Roger William Gaffield April 9, 1932 – March 16, 2023
- Editor’s Note
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Conference 2023: Where the Sea Meets the Sky June 1-4
2023 UELAC Conference Vancouver City All-Day Tour (including Lunch)-(02 June 2023):
Leaving Stanley Park, the tour journeys from the park towards the Burrard Street Bridge on the westside of Vancouver City to Vanier Park.
Here we take time for our lunch, followed by an afternoon group tour of the Museum of Vancouver (see photo).
This exciting museum known for its ever changing and permanent exhibits has something to offer all visitors.
Check out it’s full offerings at: https://museumofvancouver.ca/
Be sure to visit these two special exhibits during your tour: “All We Want Is More: The Tobias Wong Project” and “Dressed for History: Why Costume Collections Matter- WOMEN’S FASHION 1750–2000”
On the Friday, or consider taking Tour “A” – Vancouver
Eleven great topics by expert speakers, and a bargain
For all virtual attendees. Eleven expert guest speakers from across Canada; all for the price of $50.00 – Canadian Funds!
Introducing UELAC Virtual Guest Speaker #7- 2023 “Reading, Writing and ‘Rithemetic”
Presented by Jean Rae Baxter UE (Central East Region)
Jean Rae Baxter UE is the descendant of settlers who arrived in New France in the 17th century, Loyalists who came to the New Settlement on the north shore of Lake Erie following the American Revolution, and immigrants from Germany in the 19th century. There have been many family stories to awaken her interest in Canada’s history.
Baxter holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Toronto and a B.Ed. from Queen’s University. Her historical fiction has won recognition in both Canada and the United States. In 2022 she was nominated for the Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media: the Pierre Berton Award. Read more about Jean and her presentation…
All Guest Speaker Presentations will be available at an appropriate scheduled time and Zoom Invite Links will be forwarded closer to the Conference date.
Registration
To register, complete one of the in-person or virtual portion at 2023 Conference Registration.
Pay the necessary Registration Fee via the online, secured Paypal portal OR forward your 2023 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.
See all conference details at https://uelac.ca/conference-2023/
Archibald Morrison: The Dispossessed Loyalist
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Archibald Morrison is a unique instance of a Loyalist for whom more is known of his childhood than of his years as an adult. In particular, more is known of his early school years than of his military service. And more is known of the seizure of his childhood home than how he came to end his days on an estate in Great Britain.
Archibald Morrison was one of four children born to Malcolm and Mary (Kent) Morrison of Dutchess County, New York. Malcolm had immigrated to the New World from Scotland, becoming a successful landowner and businessman. When he married Mary Kent, he became the brother-in-law to three women who had also married men from Great Britain. With the coming of the American Revolution, all of the interrelated families — with the exception of the sisters’ only brother, Moss Kent— would side with the Loyalists.
Young Archibald Morrison and his many maternal relatives formed their own neighbourhood – living in a succession of large homes about two miles apart for twelve miles along the eastern borders of Dutchess County. In the language of the day, they were “all prosperous and all genteel — and so they continued until they were dispersed and the charm dissolved and their fortunes shipwrecked by the American War.”
Archibald attended the same school as his cousins, an academy run by a Presbyterian deacon who lived in Danbury in nearby Connecticut. He was only ten or eleven years old when the revolution forced the school’s closure, but nevertheless, Archibald was remembered as being more notable “for mischief than study, being particularly noted for a precocious kind feeling toward the fair Yankee girls.” Apparently a boy with his own means of transportation has always been favoured by giddy schoolgirls, since Archibald impressed the local lasses by “carrying them all over the country on his pony, to the great dismay of the anxious matrons of the district“.
Malcolm and Mary Morrison, his parents, constantly pleaded with Archibald to “apply himself more to his books” as did his more scholarly cousin James Kent. But instead of following their advice, Archibald took pride in his physical strength and would give poor James “a good lickin’“.
As the clouds of revolution gathered, back home in Dutchess County, Archibald’s 36 year-old father, Malcolm Morrison, had been serving as a major in the county’s militia. By March of 1776, he wrote a letter of resignation to the colony’s congress, citing the fact that he had “a considerable interest in my hands to settle and {had} a large family to take care of“.
His neighbours would later question his reasons for withdrawing from military service. There were those who believed he had accepted an offer of protection from General William Howe, the British commander in chief in America. Such protection would not have been unreasonable. After all, disgruntled men to the east in Connecticut had occupied a neighbour’s house, and Morrison had to forcibly remove the malcontents.
Local judges accepted Morrison’s word that he had not requested Howe’s protection from Connecticut troublemakers, but nevertheless, they put him in prison. They saw him as a potential threat rather than an actual one.
In February of 1777, Malcolm wrote a letter from his prison cell to authorities, pointing out that he had “always been ready in assisting both officers and soldiers in their public business of the States and in a most generous manner.” He subsequently took the oath of allegiance and was released from prison.
All was relatively quiet for the Morrison family until the passing of the New York Act of Attainder (or Confiscation Act) in October of 1779. It was aimed at those who had “voluntarily been adherent to the said King, his fleets and armies, enemies to this State.” As a consequence for their adherence, the state of New York confiscated their estates. Both Malcolm Morrison and his brother-in-law John Kane were among the 58 Loyalist targeted by the legislation.
What happened next would remain deeply etched in Archibald Morrison’s memory — causing his voice to choke with sobs when he retold the events at the age of 75.
Archibald was fourteen years old when local Patriots came to his parents’ home. He remembered them chaining his father to the cherry tree outside the front porch of the Morrison home where the Loyalist would be forced “to witness the beggaring of his house“. Mary Morrison, her daughters Sophia and Susan, and Archibald’s little brother were also eye-witnesses to the seizure of their home and all of their worldly goods.
“The furniture, the books, the very hobby-horse which his little brother was clinging to, were dragged out into the lawn where the auctioneer was awaiting them. The bed on which his sick sister was lying was dragged from under her.”
Family possessions also included enslaved Africans. “The old family servants were bid off to the highest bidder, and carried off, tied hand and foot … like pigs carted off to the butcher.”
Most poignant of all of Archibald’s memories of that day is the treatment of Violet, an African woman who had been the wet nurse for Archibald and his sisters. The rebel soldiers involved in hauling out furniture and goods to be auctioned off, whipped Violet until the blood ran down her back because she would not let go of the doorpost.
A boy who relied on his strength rather than his words, Archibald could not stand idly by while Violet was assaulted. He ran up to her, with a half formed plan to save her, but then burst into tears. Six decades later, Archibald could still remember Violet’s words.
“Don’t cry for me,” she pleaded, “don’t ‘ee cry for Violet. She not live long. See how white her head is. She die soon and go back to Guinea. Be a good boy. Take care of Mammy. Poor Missus, she want Massa Archie. Good-bye.”
Just as she said this, one of the rebel soldiers struck her a stunning blow over the mouth and carried her off.
The movements of Archibald’s family throughout the remaining years of the revolution have been lost over time. Thanks to a list of commissioned officers serving with the Loyal American Regiment under Col. Beverley Robinson, we know that Archibald Morrison was an ensign with the corps in 1782. He would have been 17 at the time.
In the fall of 1783, Archibald, his parents, and his siblings had found sanctuary in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia surrounded by other Loyalist refugees that included the families of his mother’s three sisters. Although they may have been in Nova Scotia for longer, the last documentary evidence that they were in the colony is dated 1784, when Archibald’s father swore an affidavit to help a sister-in-law receive compensation for her wartime losses.
Archibald reappears in the historical record as an officer with the Middlesex militia in southeast England. He then moved into the militia based in Norwich, England’s most easterly city. There, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Miles Branthwaite of Taverham Hall. Upon her death, he married Sarah, who was 3 years his junior. The new Mrs. Morrison was the daughter of Robert Harvey, who had served as Norwich’s mayor on two occasions and had made his fortune as a merchant. No children are given as the outcome of either of Archibald’s marriages.
At the age of 60, Archibald was properous enough to have his portrait done. He also enjoyed visits from his Loyalist cousins, the majority of whom had returned to live in the United States. When he died on May 1, 1848 at the age of 88, Archibald Morrison was buried in Norwich Cathedral. Archibald M. Morrison, the son of the Loyalist’s brother, had a memorial erected in his uncle’s memory “as a tribute of grateful affection“.
Although he died a prosperous man, Archibald Morrison is best remembered as the teenaged son of a Loyalist who lost everything but his family.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.
Tragic Accident at Fort Anne: A Story Revealed in Two Primary Source Documents
by Mark R. Anderson 23 March 2023 The Journal of the American Revolution
In 1901, the American Monthly Magazine published Rev. David Avery’s journal of the 1776 “Northern Campaign.” Avery had served as chaplain for John Patterson’s Massachusetts Regiment (15th Continental) and his chronicle provided an interesting primary source account of the failed campaign in Canada that spring. The printed journal described a minor, but tragic, accident that occurred near Fort Anne, on May 28:
Capt–of [the] 1st Pennsylvania Batallion accidentally shot Daniel McCullough of his company as he went to discharge his piece [that] was wet—it hung fire & when he went to prime it unexpectedly went off, & killed the young man, who happened to be at a distance by [the] fire. His funeral was decently attended.
The American Monthly Magazine’s editor, Catherine H. T. Avery, did not explain why the captain’s name was omitted in this Daughters of the American Revolution publication. Perhaps she wished to avoid any potential embarrassment to descendants of the officer involved. The Rev. David Avery, however, had no such qualms in his original manuscript. Where Catherine Avery had politely printed a long line, the reverend’s original journal identified the officer as “Jno Nelson.” Read more…
Siege of Boston Map
Boston National Historical Park
Following the battles at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, Boston became the center of a quickly developing war between rebelling colonists and the forces of the British government. Colonial militia from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island formed an Army of New England to surround and contain the British forces occupying Boston. Over the course of the next 11 months, both sides engaged in what became known as the Siege of Boston.
This period included the devastating Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, countless skirmishes and small engagements, regular periods artillery fire, and a constant buildup of defensive lines on both sides. Read more, and play with the map…
Letter from an Officer on Board his Majesty’ s Ship Chatham
on Evacuation of Boston
EXTRACT OF A LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN IN LONDON, DATED ON BOARD HIS MAJESTY’ S SHIP CHATHAM, MARCH 24, 1776.
The retreat of the Troops from this garrison [Boston] cannot fail to be differently represented in England; for which reason I have found time from our great hurry to give you some account of it. In the first place, the General’ s not receiving any letters or despatches from Government since the middle of October, could not fail of making everybody very uneasy; it looked as if we were left destitute to get out of a bad scrape as we liked best. Our provisions falling short, added to our discontent. The fleet afforded us no relief; little indeed was in their power — their own ill equipment was enough to make them as dissatisfied as ourselves. The Provincials, who knew exactly the state of our garrison, harassed us from their batteries, with an intention of making our people more dissatisfied, in hopes of desertions. Read more…
They have carried off every thing they could possibly take: Abigail Adams
17 March 1776 1776 Evacuation Day as British troops finally leave Boston after holding the city for so long. Abigail Adams Writes “they have carried of every thing they could possibly take, and what they could not they have burnt, broke, or hove into the water.” Read her letter…
BOOK REVIEW: The Great New York Fire of 1776
A Lost Story of the American Revolution by Benjamin L. Carp. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2023)
Review by Gene Procknow 20 March 2023 The Journal of the American Revolution
Questioning long-held beliefs about historical events and their causes creates the most notable monographs among the bounteous publications concerning the Revolutionary-era each year. Prominent recent examples include adding women and their contributions to the wartime stories of Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe and depicting King George III as more than mad and not as a tyrant. Benjamin Carp’s new book adds to this impressive list by postulating a controversial but well-supported new ignition theory for the mysterious 1776 New York City fire, which consumed a fifth of the metropolis shortly after its capture by British forces.
An expert on Revolutionary Era urban life, Carp argues that Rebel arsonists intentionally set the inferno, countering many eminent historians who assert the fire was accidental or occurred through unknown causes (page 254). Read more...
Loyalist Quarterly Newsletter, March 2023, by Paul J. Bunnell UE
Published since 2004, the March 2023 issue is now available.eighteen pages, it features:
- New Jersey State Library Loyalist Holdings
- Support Loyalist Trails
- Desperately Seeking Indigenous Allies in the East; Part One
- 2023 UELAC Hybrid Conference & AGM: “Where The Sea Meets the Sky”
- The Loyalist Quaker Settlement, Pennfield, New Brunswick, 1783
- Sandra McCann Fuller
- Well-known Loyalists
- Lt. Col. James Chalmers
- John Malcolm
- William Franklin
Vol. 20 Part 1 Mar 2023 Quarterly Issue “In Publication since 2004”
Editor: Paul J. Bunnell, UE, Author, Koasek Abenaki Chief; BunnellLoyalist@aol.com; 978-337-9085, 49 Pleasant St., #106, Alstead, NH 03602
The Only U.S. Newsletter Devoted to The study of The American Loyalists
Subscription Rate: $22 U.S. $24 Can. $5 each copy — (March, June, September, December issues)
In Safe Hands: The Battle for Midwifery
Posted by Surgeons’ Hall Museums on March 22, 2023
Our Curator, Louise Wilkie, discusses our new temporary exhibition “In Safe Hands: A Battle for Midwifery”.
Our new exhibition has been co-curated by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Archivist Dr. Jacqueline Cahif. It examines the history of midwifery, charting the rise of the man-midwife and the medicalisation of childbirth.
Medical history consistently shows that women were largely excluded from medicine until the latter half of the 19th century due to academic barriers. This obstacle would see women in the 18th century being challenged for the most traditional female role in history – the midwife.
We explore some of the traditional roles of the midwife and the folklore that once dominated this practice.
The entire process was steeped in superstition and ceremony, from the preceding lying-in period until after birth.
Until the 18th century childbirth was a community-focused social and ritualistic event, with the management of births controlled by women and the lying-in chamber a female-only space. Part of a traditional midwife’s role was adherence to superstitions, and she was perceived to be particularly skilled in halting exchanges with evil spirits. Read more…
List of Loyalist Certificates Updated with those issued in 2023 until February 28
The list of UE Certificates issued since late in 2012 — showing the Loyalist ancestor, name of descendant (when permission is granted), branch and date — has been updated with the certificates issued through 28 February 2023.
The list can be seen at Loyalist Certificates Issued
These have also been added to the appropriate Loyalist in the Loyalist Directory.
UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
Entries which have been added, or revised, this week, with thanks:
- Leslie Poole has added more information to the record for Pvt. Holden Turner (disproven as a Loyalist) has been added to the Loyalist Directory. A prerequisite to being considered a Loyalist was being settled in the 13 colonies before Sept 1775. Such was not the case for Turner.
If you are willing to submit some information, send a note to loyalist.trails@uelac.org All help is appreciated. …doug
The American Revolution Institute: The Surveyor’s Eyes: Mapping Empire in the Era of the American Revolution 13 April @6:30
In the second half of the eighteenth century, British surveyors came to North America and the West Indies in unprecedented numbers. Their images of coastlines, forts and frontiers helped win the French and Indian War and pictured a triumphant British Atlantic world. The American Revolution shattered this vision of peace, commerce and settlement.
Max Edelson is a professor of history at the University of Virginia. His studies surround the history of British America and the Atlantic World, and his research examines space, place and culture in colonial North America and the Caribbean. Details and Register.
Kawartha Branch Spring Banquet and AGM Sat 15 April (31 March deadline)
Kawartha Branch UELAC is inviting you to our annual Spring Banquet and AGM at the Baker’s Hill Banquet Centre 555 Parkhill Road East, Peterborough, ON Saturday, 15 April 2023, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Featuring music by Stephen Medd, balladeer For more details, registration (deadline 31 March) etc contact Grietje McBride UE maplegrm@gmail.com 705-295-4556
Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia Conference April 22-23
The Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia (GANS) is hosting a Zoom virtual conference on April 22-23. Nova Scotia/New Brunswick received a large number of Loyalists. The list of presenters also includes two speakers on historical British Military research and one with Black Loyalist heritage. The main purpose of this virtual genealogy conference is to connect speakers and researchers from Nova Scotia to researchers and genealogists all around the world. Visit https://www.nsgenconference.ca/ for details and registration.
From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- Townsends
- This week in History
- 22 Mar 1765 Parliament passes Stamp Act, initiating violent American protests that eventually lead to Revolution.
- 24 Mar 1765 Parliament passes Quartering Act; when US Constitution framed, 3rd Amendment resulted from this Act.
- 18 Mar 1766 Parliament accedes to American resolve and repeals Stamp Act, but later goes on to pass Townshend Acts.
- 23 Mar 1775 Patrick Henry gives speech with famous phrase, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
- 21 Mar 1778 British forces massacre Continentals at Hancock’s Bridge, NJ, bayonetting them in their sleep.
- 19 Mar 1781 Spanish General Bernardo de Gálvez’s armada follows him into Pensacola Bay despite heavy British fire.
- 20 Mar 1782 Prime Minister North becomes only the second British PM in history drummed out of office, over loss of American Revolution.
- Clothing and Related:
- Leather slippers for this week’s Tuesday shoes. French, 1785-90.
- 18th Century dress, robe à l’anglaise, this dress’ stylised Indian floral pattern has the colours as its focus. Red, along with blue, green, yellow, and other various colors, were applied both by hand paint and by woodblock prints. c.1780s
- 18th Century dress, Robe à la Polonaise, painted silk, French, c.1780
- 18th Century dress, Robe à la française, cotton weave with block printed pattern, 1775-1785
- French. Robe a la française, 1760s. Lovely persimmon orange silk satin weave with weft patterning floats (faconee); silk plain weave with discontinous patterning wefts (taffeta); silk plain weave & linen plain weave.
- 18th Century men’s Court matching suit, brown figured silk tailcoat with 11cm-high stand collar, sharply curving front panels, beautifully embroidered in floss silks with sprays of forget-me-nots, c.1800
- 18th Century men’s waistcoat or vest, of classical design, 1790’s
- 18th Century frock coat, silk stripe with delicate silk floral embroidery 1770-1790
- Miscellaneous
- This Scottish sampler is so special! Margaret Bird completed her sampler on 1 February 1844. She was the daughter of Margaret Nicol and blacksmith James Bird, who lived at Boathouse Bridge, Kirkliston, a small town near Edinburgh. Margaret was born on 7 August 1832. Margaret died at 51 years old and is buried at Kirkliston cemetery alongside her parents and grandparents. Her siblings were George, Marion, James, John, Elizabeth, and Ann, all of whose initials are present on the sampler. At the bottom are the initials of her grandparents. They are James Bird and Janet Hardie and James Nicol and Janet MacCaul. Margaret depicts Hopetoun House, located in Southferry. Hopetoun House is less than an hour’s walk from Kirkliston. Margaret’s sampler is an absolute triumph!
- 17th century wall paintings revealed in kitchen in York. Luke Budworth has covered the paintings back up with in order to preserve them while he seeks help for conservation work on the artworks. Luke Budworth uncovered the friezes, believed to be about 400 years old, on a wall at his home in Micklegate. Read more…
- Happy (Julian) New Year! Prior to 1752, England celebrated the New Year on March 25 because they followed the Julian calendar. The English Calendar Change of 1750, a strange time to be alive—when entire weeks of the year disappeared in England to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Video, watch more…
Last Post: MACKAY UE, Harry Earle
Sunday, October 4th, 1936 – Friday, March 17th, 2023
Harry spent his youth in Rednersville, Prince Edward County. Many years later, he still had fond memories of ‘the County’ including teaching eight grades at once at the Salmon Point School at the age of 17. By his own admission, Harry was not an academic success as a young man, spending more time playing snooker and jazz records than he did studying. That all changed when he met “Margie” in 1957. They were both camp counsellors at Lake Kipabiskau near her hometown of Tisdale, Saskatchewan. Matters progressed so well that they were married in Tisdale in September, 1960.
Harry studied divinity both at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto, and at New College, University of Edinburgh, where he remembered well the time he spent at Deacon Brodies Tavern on the Royal Mile. Returning to Canada, he took up his ministry with the United Church, first in Mattawa, Ontario and then in Richmond Hill. It was in Richmond Hill that Harry sought to forge a better connection with parishioners, particularly young people, by creating what was called a “house church”.
While he soon left the established church, Harry continued his efforts to bring the ideals of the social gospel into the lives of people who needed his caring and compassion.
Harry put his sociology education to work, first at the City of Toronto and then in Ottawa with the Canadian Council on Social Development. In retirement, he discovered a passion for genealogy. He worked diligently to prove his descent from several passengers on the Mayflower and United Empire Loyalists. He delighted in extended family gatherings where he could talk over old times, but also hear about the doings of the next generation.
He is survived by his wife Margaret Ann MacKay (née Taras), as well as his sons Michael Harry and Timothy Robin (Colleen).
More details – fascinating life – at Hulse, Playfair & McGarry (service later)
Harry was a member of the Sir Guy Carleton Branch. He received Loyalist Certificates based on proven descent from William Adington, Samuel Buckman, Thomas Dakin, Samuel Hitchcock, Morris Peters, William Saunders, John Spencer, Isaac Titus and John Warwick.
Submitted by Sue Moss.
Last Post: REID UE, Roger William Gaffield April 9, 1932 – March 16, 2023
Roger passed away after a long and wonderful life. He will be greatly missed by his loving family; wife Muriel, daughter Barbara (Daryl), sons William (Rebecca), Gordon (Lori) and Robert (Lisa), grand and great-grand children. Roger grew up in Toronto and spent the WWII years in Castleton where he finished grade school and spent many enjoyable summers working on local farms. In Toronto he attended Jarvis Collegiate. Roger served with the 48th Highlanders (Militia). He found his career in marketing.
Roger was a proud member of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association, Toronto Branch, which led him into his hobby of searching his many ancestors, resulting in publishing several family history books. Organizing travel trips for friends led to an interesting retirement and exciting new places to visit.
Service 16 April, details at Oshawa Funeral Home.
Roger received Loyalist certificates based on descent from Nathaniel Gaffield in 1995.
Editor’s Note: Home sweet home …doug
Published by the UELAC
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