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UELAC’s AGM, Sat 3 June: Separate Registration, Agenda and Reports
The following are in the Members’ Section under AGM 2023 at uelac.ca – login required.

  • In order to participate in the AGM and vote, you must register, separate from the Conference.
  • You may assign a proxy, but there deadlines beginning in early May (See the proxy form for details)
  • The agenda has been revised
  • The report package is now available, as is the “Last Post” report

Jo Ann Tuskin UE, UELAC Secretary

Conference 2023: Where the Sea Meets the Sky June 1-4

“Vancouver City Cultural Tour” Tour A: (9:00AM – 4:30PM)
Haven’t been convinced to book the 2023 UELAC Conference, “Where the Sea Meets the Sky,” Tour yet?
“It is not just Vancouverites who say the park is great. According to Condé Nast Traveler, Vancouver’s Stanley Park is “Heralded as one of the best parks in the world”. Stanley Park is almost as old as the city, and has a long and interesting history, including Indigenous and settler communities and a Hawaiian Indigenous community just outside the park. It is home to numerous monuments and a naval gun well over a century old that fires every night at 9 pm, one of Vancouver’s oldest traditions. Want to learn more? Join fellow Conference attendees on the Vancouver Cultural/Sightseeing Tour of Vancouver City, Friday June 2nd.”
Links related to the history and points of interest in Stanley Park and the City of Vancouver Archives which houses the UELAC Vancouver Branch’s archival documentation, right beside the Museum of Vancouver.

UELAC Virtual Guest Speaker #10 “The Voyage of the Psyche“
Presented by Tim Compeau UE
This is the story of British Royal Navy’s attempt to transport four prefabricated warships in pieces from England to be reassembled for service on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Of the four, only the 56-gun frigate HMS Psyche completed its journey.
Tim Compeau is an assistant professor of history at Huron University College, an affiliate of the University of Western Ontario. He teaches and researches topics in public history and the British Empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
More about Tim and this presentation

See more about the Virtual Presentations & Guest Speakers
The virtual guest speaker presentations will be available at a scheduled time (to be announced); Zoom links will be forwarded at a later date.

Early-bird Registration Until 30 April
The 2023 UELAC Conference & AGM “early Bird” registration ends on Sunday 30 April at midnight. Thereafter the fee increases. The venues need to know in advance how many are attending.
For those attending virtually, ensure you are register via the online registration form:. Information about registration and payment options (Paypal or credit card) is outlined on the registration page and on the form itself.

Visit Where the Sea Meets the Sky for all the details

Loyally, The 2023 UELAC Hybrid Pacific Region Conference & AGM Planning Committee uelacconference2023@gmail.com

Unpacking a Chedabucto Muster Roll: The Black Loyalists of Guysborough: Part One of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
In June of 1784, on the shores of Chedabucto Bay, the names of 146 free Black men, women, and children were recorded in the muster roll of the Departments of the Army and Navy. Those enumerated would become the pioneers of Black Loyalist communities extending from modern day Guysborough to Tracadie, Nova Scotia.
Chedabucto Bay is located on the eastern coast of Nova Scotia between the Strait of Canso and the Atlantic Ocean. How Black Loyalists came to settle in this area is a rather convoluted story. Following their escape from American masters based in all but two of the rebelling colonies, Guysborough’s Black Loyalists first fled to New York City to find sanctuary near the headquarters of the British forces. During the course of the American Revolution, they served the crown in a variety of capacities.
The Black Loyalists who left New York City with the last of the British forces were, by and large, members of the army’s civilian staff, having served in positions such as wagon drivers and hospital orderlies. During October and November of 1783, 620 free Blacks and nine slaves boarded eleven ships and set sail for Port Mouton, Nova Scotia, an abandoned French settlement located about 16 km south west of Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
This was to be their new home, but poor soil and a devastating fire in 1784 prompted both white and Black Loyalists to pull up stakes and seek new homes. Some headed for settlements as far away as St. Stephen and Saint John, New Brunswick. Others moved down the coast to Shelburne and Birchtown. At the direction of the colonial government, a group of disbanded sailors and soldiers that included Black Loyalists sailed up the Atlantic coast to a settlement they named Guysborough in honour of Sir Guy Carleton, the last British commander in chief to be stationed in New York City.
Although he was significant to all Loyalist refugees, Carleton was especially important to the Blacks who had allied themselves with the British crown during the revolution. Carleton stood by the British promise to recognize these African allies as free people instead of bending to Patriot pressure to return them to their former enslavers. He also made sure that Black Loyalists received documentation to prove that they were free men and women.
Finally, Carleton oversaw the creation of a ledger that recorded the names and circumstances of every Black Loyalist who left New York City between April and November of 1783. That ledger, the Book of Negroes, contains the stories the Black Loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia’s Guysborough County. An examination of its contents will help to “unpack” the stories and identities of those whose names are found on the muster roll that was compiled at Chedabucto Bay in 1784.
Although the Black Loyalists are the focus of this series, it is important to take a moment to note that there were also enslaved Africans and indentured servants among the Black population of Chedabucto Bay. Nine people of African descent are noted as “belonging to the departments” and are separated from the lists of “Negroes at Chedabucto”. Thirteen Blacks are noted as being the “servants” of 8 white Loyalists. One woman among those 8 was the wife of a man “belonging” to the army and navy departments, so she was probably a slave.
Given that a discharged Hessian soldier and nine other whites are also listed as servants, it is difficult to determine if the Blacks who are described as servants were indentured workers, paid employees, or slaves for life. The presence of these “servants” is a reminder that Guysborough’s Black Loyalists had to forge new lives for themselves in a society that condoned and supported the enslavement of Africans.
More than 4,000 Black Loyalists settled in the Maritimes between 1782 and 1784. 620 of those initially went to Port Mouton; nearly 150 of those from that group would later sail to Chedabucto Bay. And of those, the Book of Negroes only provides details for less than 60 of Guysborough’s settlers.
The stories of those men, women and children begin in bondage in eleven of the rebelling American colonies: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Georgia. At least five of their number had escaped from slavery as early as 1775.
When Guysborough’s Black Loyalists left New York City in the fall of 1783, the oldest was Samuel Minton, who, at 60 years of age, had been a teamster in the British wagon department for four years following his escape from slavery in Norfolk, Virginia. The youngest member of the Chedabucto settlers was Joseph Willis who was just 9 months old when his parents, Samuel and Rachel Willis, boarded the Nisbet for Port Mouton. After enduring a terrible winter and a devastating fire, Joseph would have his name appear in the Chedabucto muster along with his older siblings, Charles and Jenny in June of 1784.
The majority of the Black Loyalists whose names are found in both the Book of Negroes and the Chedabucto muster roll came from South Carolina and Virginia where they would have worked on plantations. Adjusting to Nova Scotia’s harsher climate would have been challenging for them, whereas the Black Loyalists who had been enslaved in New England would have a better idea of what to expect along the Atlantic coast.
Peter Tarbett (perhaps the ancestor of Guysborough’s Tarbot family) escaped his Bostonian master when he was 24 years old, and served the crown as a wagon driver. Phebe Scolly (Phoebe Scully on the muster) was just 17 when she ran away from Massachusetts’ capital city. Paul Jackson did the same when he was 27. Prince Frederick was 25 when he escaped from his master in Boston in 1776. His wife Jenny was given her freedom by Jonah Frederick of the same city. Both Prince and Jenny worked in the wagon department that was based in New York City.
Pompy Clarke once worked in the general hospital department, making good use of what he learned while a slave to Dr. William Clarke of Boston. Pompy’s wife, Phillis Clarke, also worked in the hospital. She escaped from a master who had property along the Santee River in South Carolina when she was 22. The medical knowledge that the Clarke couple brought to Guysborough would have been invaluable to the early Black Loyalist settlements.
Samuel Hawkins fled slavery in Rye, New Hampshire when he was 21 to become a teamster. Sam Cooper (32 in 1783) and John Broughton (Jack Brooken on the muster roll) (21 in 1783) were both simply listed as being from “New England”.
This series on the Black Loyalist settlers of Nova Scotia’s Guysborough County continues in next week’s Loyalist Trails.

To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Shot heard round the world
14 Apr 1775 Boston, MA Royal Gov Gen Thomas Gage receives instructions from Secretary for the Colonies, William Legge, Lord Dartmouth, allowing the use of whatever force necessary to subdue the insurrectionists & enforce the Coercive Acts.
Dartmouth’s letter told Gage it was time to act against the Massachusetts resistance. The first step, he suggested, was to arrest the leaders. Gage chose instead to go after a weapons cache.
The “shot round the world” is a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which sparked the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States.

Hero to Zero? Remembering Horatio Gates
by Mike Matheny 11 April 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
Between heroes like George Washington and villains like Benedict Arnold, the Revolutionary War was full of historical actors of all stripes. But one man in particular defies an easy sorting between hero and villain. Washington’s first adjutant general, Horatio Gates, does not have a secure place in historical memory as either hero or villain. In the beginning of the war, Gates was Washington’s right-hand man and a successful army administrator. Subsequently Gates achieved the war’s most decisive early victory at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, considered to be the war’s turning point for securing the French alliance. Unfortunately, Gates’ life did not finish on such a high note. Despite these early achievements, Gates is often remembered as a lackluster officer, a potential betrayer of Washington, and an ultimate failure after the Battle of Camden. Such a detrimental assessment may be surprising given his victory at Saratoga that did so much to save the American cause. Truthfully, Gates was a highly ambitious man. In his lifetime, his aspirations for fame and success led him to become both a success and a failure. Therefore, Gates presents a conundrum for historians. Who was this man, and where should he land in the war’s historical memory? Read more…

How Pennsylvania Counties Paid Their Taxes to Congress
by Dennis Ness 13 April 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
After the outbreak of hostilities Lexington and Concord in April 1775, Congress met at Philadelphia to address issues of the new war. Initially the decisions made were not made for independence, but to compel the British Parliament to change its policy toward America. Congress took legislative and executive authority into its hands and was an assembly unlimited by legal restraints. Nevertheless, Congress was dependent upon support from the people of the colonies.
The number one issue was financing the defense of the colonies. Congress had engaged in a trade boycott with Britain and hard money became scarce in the colonies. Arms, gunpowder, and other materiel were required to sustain the armies around Boston. Congress appointed a committee of five members to provide an estimate of the amount money that needed to be raised, and how to raise it. In June of that first year of the conflict, the committee recommended Congress issue bills of credit to finance the expenses incurred for the army, including their pay. On July 29, 1775, Congress appointed Michael Hillegas and George Clymer joint treasurers of the United Colonies. Read more…

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Smallpox Inoculation
The first “vaccine”– before the word “vaccine” was invented — was inoculation for smallpox, using actual pus from smallpox pustules. The practice, by varying methods, seems to have been in use well before western medicine took notice of it. Knowledge of the procedure spread to western Europe from several sources during the early 18th century, including Asia and Africa.
The most influential source was reports of the practice in the Ottoman Empire. The most famous conveyor of the knowledge was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, whose husband was British ambassador to the Sultan for several years in the 1710s. She had her children inoculated. Read more…

Book: The Sugar Act and the American Revolution
Author: Ken Shumate (Yardley, Pa.: Westholme, 2023)
Review by John Gilbert McCurdy 10 April 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
In the leadup to the Revolution, several Parliamentary laws evoked the enmity of Americans and pushed them to declare independence. Usually the Stamp Act, Townshend duties, and Tea Act tower over the other laws as they elicited the most dramatic responses. Yet the lesser known laws are also worthy of our attention, and as Ken Shumate demonstrates, they can offer a refreshingly new perspective on the creation of the United States.
The Sugar Act and the American Revolution is an in-depth examination of the 1764 Parliamentary law. Like other books by Shumate, Sugar Act is tightly focused. It quotes liberally from the law itself as well as from pamphlets and letters of the ministers and merchants who interacted with the law. The result is an enjoyable exploration of eighteenth-century Anglo-American rhetoric and politics. Read more…

The Virginia Venture, at Ben Franklin’s World
Misha Ewen, a Lecturer in early modern history at the University of Bristol, joins us to discuss the creation and operation of the Virginia Company with details from her book, The Virginia Venture: American Colonization and English Society, 1580-1660.
During our investigation, Misha reveals details about the Virginia Company and why England had to depend on trading companies, like the Virginia Company, to launch its early programs of colonization; The plans and work the Virginia Company undertook to ensure it could establish a viable colony; and, information about the Virginia Company’s investors and why they may have chosen to support the company and England’s colonial ambitions. Listen in…

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

  • Bob and Grietje McBride have added more information to the records for these people:
    • Sgt. Gabriel Purdy born in Philip’s Manor, West Chester County, Province of New York, served in Colonel James DeLancey’s Regiment and resettled in Westchester Township, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. He married five times, and fathered seventeen children. Read one of the two versions of A Family Divided: Sgt. Gabriel Purdy UE under Family History in the directory.
    • Gabriel Purdy an uncle of Sgt. Gabriel Purdy settled in Clements Twp, Annapolis County, NS.
  • Information from a certificate application to Benjamin Baker was submitted by Jo Ann Tuskin UE. Benjamin was from Albany NY, served with the King’s Royal Rangers of New York and settled in Cornwall area of now Ontario. The certificate application showing a lineage back to Benjamin is included.

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

Introducing UELAC’s first National Office Staff Member in Cornwall
“I am very pleased to announce that we have hired an excellent candidate for the office administrator position. Rodney Appleby recently retired. He had relocated to Cornwall for the last several of his 42 years with Bell Canada (administrative position).” notes Trish Groom UE, President UELAC.
“We have done a preliminary orientation at the office this past week. Jim Bruce, the current office administrator, will be in Cornwall in a few days for more formal training.”
Trish welcomes Rodney in the offices at the Museum in Cornwall. She notes that there is much preparation yet before any facilities can be opened for others to use. Hopefully that will be possible later this year.

Celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III, King of Canada
The Coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey in London. King Charles us also King of Canada, and many in Canada will celebrate the event.
We would like to note those celebrations that any branch of the UELAC is organizing or is actively participating in. Submit these events to loyalist.trails@uelac.org

  • The City of Saint John and the Union club have cordially invited New Brunswick Loyalist Branch members to attend a breakfast at the Saint John Union Club 9am-11am ( tickets required through the Union Club – contact Jennifer Waldschutz <jennywaldschutz@gmail.com> for tickets), The service will be live streamed (and then on repeat) and a Congratulatory Book for the King will be available for you to sign. A 21-gun salute will also take place over the Saint John harbour as well.

Loyalist Celebrations across Canada – New Brunswick is first on 18 May
The arrival of the Loyalists in what is now Canada lead directly to the formation of two of our provinces – New Brunswick and Ontario.
Loyalists and their descendants played a significant role in shaping Canada, right across the nation.
Several provinces and cities officially recognize the contribution, and the New Brunswick United Empire Loyalist Day on Thursday 18 May is the beginning of the activities. For more about the celebrations across the country, see Annual Observances.

The events planned for New Brunswick:

  • Sunday May 14th – Mother’s Day – Loyalist Service at Trinity Anglican Church- Saint John -arrive 10:15am ( enter from Germain St or Charlotte St entrance’s) all welcome
  • Thursday 18 May: Loyalist Flag Raising at City Hall Saint John with DeLancey’s Brigade Re-enactors- 10am , Mayor City of Saint John will be in attendance
  • Loyalist Flag Raising in the City of Fredericton -City Hall and at the NB Legislature Fredericton 9am – President Marc Smith will be in attendance at the Legislature
  • Loyalist Walk Through Saint John (Historian David Goss) from Stone Church – 11am
  • Piano Serenade with period music at Stone Church – 12:15pm (free will offering accepted)
  • Loyalist Dinner at Union Club-Saint John 6pm
    • tickets required, RSVP by 24 April to order tickets – if you did not receive the e-invite, send an email to NB Loyalist Assoc <nbloyalistassoc@gmail.com> to receive the dinner details, how to purchase tickets and information on accommodations.

Upcoming Events

Toronto Branch “The Mills Loyalists of Cumberland County, N.S.” Thurs 20 Apr 7:30pm ET

By Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mills UE, an ordained minister in the Canadian Baptist family of churches. He took an interest in genealogy when his mother became ill and the preservation of the family history took on a new sense of urgency (aka borderline obsession).
His presentation will highlight three major areas including:
1) an overview of his personal journey and his Mills Loyalist roots,
2) his discoveries and progress to the Archives in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and
3) a deep dive into Y-DNA and how it helped solve a 240 year old mystery regarding the relationships between four Mills Loyalists of Cumberland County.
Contact Sally Gustin torontouel@gmail.comfor the zoom link

Kingston Branch, “Fort Frontenac” by Jean Rae Baxter, Sat 22 Apr @1:00 ET

Kingston & District Branch UELAC meets on Saturday, April 22 at 1:00 pm. This will be a Hybrid presentation with many of us in person at St. Paul’s Hall, 137 Queen Street, Kingston (doors open at 12:30 p.m.) Others will join us by Zoom about 1:00 pm. Our Speaker will be Jean Rae Baxter with a talk called “Fort Frontenac: The Rise and Fall of New France’s Key to the West.” This presentation follows the fortunes of Fort Frontenac over the centuries — how it was knocked down, rebuilt, abandoned, rebuilt, blown up, rebuilt again, destroyed by the British in the last days of New France and, finally, became the site for the Loyalist settlement at Cataraqui following the American Revolution. And it all began with the beaver. No registration required, link.

Sir Guy Carleton Br: AGM and “Researching Loyalists“, Sat 22 Apr 2:00 ET

The meeting will be on Saturday April 22, 2:00-4:00 ET. It will include the Annual General Meeting.
Speaker: Reverend Becket Soule. Topic: Researching Loyalist Ancestors: US records
Reverend Soule has researched and written about Loyalists, in particular the connections between Loyalists and the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution.
To register, e-mail the Branch: carletonuel@hotmail.com. The meeting link will be sent the week of the meeting

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.

New Brunswick Loyalist Dinner 18 May 2023 6:00 pm

See “Loyalist Dinner at Union Club-Saint John” above for details about the schedule and ordering dinner tickets (RSVP by 24 April) at the Union Club

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

  • Loyalist Day in Canada’s Loyalist City, Saint John, N.B.. See flyer. Brian McConnell UE
  • In Mount Hanley Historic Cemetery, Annapolis County is headstone of John Hawkesworth (1769 – 1863) & wife Sarah (Slocumb) Hawkesworth (1769 – 1858). Their fathers, Adam Hawkesworth & John Slocomb, a UE Loyalist, were Vestrymen of Old Holy Trinity Church in Middleton.
  • King’s Landing NB: Share this printable poster and help us find people for our 50th anniversary!
  • Townsends
  • This week in History
  • Clothing and Related:
    • Anyway look don’t mind me, I’m just enjoying this 1780s fabric decorated with images of Louis XVI visiting & giving his blessing to a giant seaborne cone. Plus mermaids
    • 18th Century Caraco gown, detail of bodice showcasing the delicate, beautiful silk embroidery, c.1780
    • 18th Century women’s stomacher, a decorative piece that sat over the torso which fastened the overcoat of the gown by being pinned into place. This example shows painted pastoral scenes nestled into elaborate silk & metallic embroidery, French
    • 18th Century dress, rear view of an open dress with linen skirt, England, 1795. This dress had been altered from a Robe a l’Anglaise circa 1785 to follow the changing fashions and rising waistlines.
    • Rear view of an 18th Century Mantua of Spitalfields silk featuring large botanical patterns of sterling silver thread. Here the train of the dress has been folded over and attached at the waist.
    • 18th Century uncut waistcoat (shape). Waistcoats were sold like this and then fitted to the wearer by a tailor. 1780-1795
    • One of the great things about working in museums is wandering round out of hours and noticing the things that you might skip past in a crowded exhibition. 18th century Court jacket buttons
  • Miscellaneous
    • This ca1775 ‘Domestic Scene‘ by an unknown German artist is full of fun details for a time-travelling experience: the patterns on wallpaper & gowns; papa’s red-heeled slippers; mama/big sister’s lace-making; the clutter on the bookcase shelves & top.
    • Amazing that this stunning silk petticoat with damask of flowers and foliage survived after almost 340 years under the sea.
    • Maidstone Carriage Museum reopens on Saturday 15th April. Originally opened in 1946 this International collection of 60 horse drawn vehicles from 17th – 20th Century is the best, original condition, carriage collection in Europe!

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