In this issue:


Twitter: http://twitter.com/uelac
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2303178326/?ref=share

Conference 2023: Where the Sea Meets the Sky: Parking, Dates & Deadlines

Free Complimentary Parking
Whether you are coming in for the day’s events or staying at the Hotel venue, Hotel Complimentary Event Parking is available at Lot 970 – Richmond Conference Center – Event Parking. You must register for free parking at https://www.offstreet.io/location/5CG3MJ50

Deadlines and Details
May 21st (today, Sunday) is the Virtual Registration Deadline for those attending virtually to hear our 11 Guest Speaker Presentations being presented 31 May – 04 June. See the list of speakers and topics.
The Zoom notices and links to attend these presentations will be emailed soon to those who have registered for them.

Genealogist and Membership meetings
The Thursday, 01 June 2023 UELAC Conference Genealogist and Membership meetings are CLOSED Meetings. Only open to branch genealogists (10:00AM- (Noon) and branch membership chairs or their alternates (2:00PM – 4:00PM). Virtual Zoom links will be forwarded by those in charge of their respective meetings.

Conference Cancellation and Refunds
As noted in the registration page, the deadline date for 2023 Hybrid Conference Registration Cancellation and Refund – May 15th – has now passed. As of that date, commitments were made with the hotel venue and Tour companies. Cancellations made before that deadline are subject to a 20% Cancellation Fee and an 80% refund.

Looking Forward to Greeting You
The “Where the Sea Meets the Sky” 2023 UELAC Hybrid Pacific Region Conference Planning Committee awaits your arrival at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel and Conference Centre – 7551 Westminster Highway, Richmond, British Columbia.

AGM Registration is Separate
A reminder that you MUST Register separately, whether attending “in-person” or “virtually,” for the UELAC AGM, Saturday 03 June 2023: 9:30AM- (PDT)
The deadline for AGM Registration is Saturday 27th May 2023 (noon). See the AGM Information including registration details in the Members’ Section at uelac.ca – login required.

On behalf of the 2023 Conference Planning Committee – Co-Chairs Carl Stymiest UE, Diane Faris UE, Christopher Wilcott UE, and Coco Aders-Weremczuk

Visit Where the Sea Meets the Sky for all the Conference details

Unpacking Loyalists’ Runaway Notices – Part Two of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
In the fall of 1773 Gilbert Tice and Alexander White placed an ad to notify the public of the reward they were offering for the return of two runaway servants. Little did they know at the time that within ten years’ time they themselves would become notorious – not for being fugitives but for having Loyalist convictions during the American Revolution.
At age 36, Gilbert Tice was already a veteran, having fought in the Seven Years War. When he placed the ad for the capture of his apprentice Joshua Agan, he was a prosperous innkeeper in Johnstown, New York. His patron was Sir William Johnson, the colonial superintendent of Indian Affairs who had founded Johnstown in 1762. It became the county seat for the newly created county of Tryon. (Following the revolution, it would be known as Montgomery County.)
Gilbert Tice and his wife would eventually have four children. Business at the inn must have been brisk as he took on an apprentice to help with its operation. But Joshua Agan came to want more from life and joined up with Jeremiah Boice, the servant of Alexander White, to make a bolt for freedom in June of 1773.
Agan was described as being 5 feet 5 inches in height, “slim made”, and “of a fair complexion”. If those descriptors weren’t helpful enough, his character was summed up with the fact that he “was much addicted to liquor” and “a profane swearing fellow”. Agan’s runaway ad was unusual in that it did not describe the clothing that he wore at the time of his escape from Tice’s inn.
However, if Agan was still travelling with Jeremiah Boice in the fall of 1773, then the public had additional details that might have helped identify the two fugitives from Tryon County. Boice was described as being 25 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches in height, and having “lightish coloured hair”. Boice knew “all kinds of farmer’s business” and was missing one of his large toes. On the day that he ran away, White’s servant was wearing a blue coat and a red waistcoat trimmed with brass buttons.
Agan and Boice were thought to be headed for Egg’s Harbour, a settlement along New Jersey’s Atlantic coast. This would give them access to ships bound for New England, the southern colonies, the West Indies, or Great Britain. Whether anyone ever claimed the 5-pound reward, goes unrecorded. The fate of the fugitive servant and his apprentice friend is not known. Much more, however, can be said of Gilbert Tice and Alexander White.
White immigrated to New York from Ireland in 1760 and within just 15 years had married and acquired “a sizeable amount of land”. Like Tice, he had also served as a captain in the Seven Years War. In the year before he placed the ad for his runaway servant, White had become Tryon County’s high sheriff. His estate included horses, sheep, cows, an enslaved African and “a well furnished home”.
As Americans became increasingly divided over whether to seek independence from Great Britain, White “rendered himself particularly obnoxious from the beginning of the controversy“. Joining Sir John Johnson, the son of Sir William, in a declaration of loyalty to the crown did not win him any friends.
Two years after placing his runaway ad, White came face to face a band of 50 rebels who released a Patriot that he had imprisoned. The band came to White’s door and demanded that the Loyalist surrender himself to them. Instead, he shot his pistol at the mob from one of his windows. (This was considered by many to be the first shot fired in the revolution west of the Hudson River. White is also credited with cutting down the first liberty pole erected in the Mohawk Valley.)
The rebels broke down White’s door and were about to seize him when Sir John Johnson suddenly came to the rescue with a much larger band of Loyalists. A rebel committee later dismissed White from his office of sheriff. He was briefly restored by William Tryon, New York’s last royalist governor — only to be dismissed a second time by the county’s Patriots.
Much like his former servant, White had to flee. Rebels pursued him, and after capturing him on Lake Champlain, put him “in irons” in the Albany jail. He was released, but then seized again and sent to Connecticut. After escaping, he joined General Burgoyne’s ill-fated march. He was among the Loyalists who fled for Canada following the Battle of Saratoga, but was captured and put in prison in Albany yet again. Meanwhile, rebels drove White’s wife and family from their home in Johnstown at some point in 1776. After a year in confinement, he was released in a prisoner exchange.
For the next five years, White lived in New York City, serving as a barrack master. With the evacuation of the Loyalists in 1783, he made plans to seek refuge in Canada. In May of that year, he wrote to Sir Guy Carleton, the commander in chief of British forces, pleading for money for “a passage and some subsistence. Likewise a passage for the poor people of his county and Albany who have left their all“.
Two months later, White was sailing for Quebec City aboard the Blackett, a voyage that would put his name in the Book of Negroes. A former slave owner, White is listed in the ledger as an escort for two Black Loyalists named Nicolas and Lena Clouse who had escaped slavery in Tappan, New Jersey.
Alexander White’s name appeared in British documents four years later when he stood before the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists when it convened in Montreal in October 1787. By this time he had made a new home in Sorel.
Life had been no easier for White’s colleague Gilbert Tice. As rebels grew in strength in Tryon County, the Loyalist innkeeper joined with other Loyalists who took up arms. Tice’s movements during the revolution included serving as an officer in the Indian Department at Niagara, making a trip to England with Joseph Brant in 1776, fighting at Fort Stanwix and Oriskany in 1777, and becoming a captain in Butler’s Rangers.
In 1783, Tice, his wife Christina, their four children, and his 14 year-old nephew David Bastedo settled near Niagara Falls. While the Loyalist innkeeper’s name does not appear in any transcripts of the compensation board or in the Book of Negroes, he is mentioned in the diary of Elizabeth Simcoe, the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada.
In July of 1792, Elizabeth was touring the area around Niagara Falls. She noted that the “heat was so excessive we were obliged to stop on the road and drink milk and water, and eat fruit at Mrs. Tice’s, wife of Lieut. Tice, of the Indian Department, who lived at the Falls.”
So of the four men named in a 1773 runaway ad, it is only the destinies of the two Loyalist masters that have been found in the historical records. How Joshua Agan and Jeremiah Boice fared in the new republic is yet to be discovered.
The stories of two more Loyalists who suffered the loss of their indented servants will be told in the next edition of Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Loyalist Day 18 May 2023 in New Brunswick

Loyalist Church Service in New Brunswick
See the Order of Service and some photos taken at the Loyalist service at the Trinity Anglican church on Sunday 14 May 2023.

Events planned to mark Loyalist Day in Saint John NB
Brad Perry, 18 May 2023 Acadian Broadcasting
A number of events are taking place in Saint John on Thursday to mark Loyalist Day. The United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada – NB Branch has planned a number of events. Read more…

Loyalist Day Celebrations in Saint John NB
There was great attendance at the Loyalist Flag Raising event held on May 18th, Saint John NB to recognize the 240th Anniversary of the landing of the Loyalists. It was also Saint John’s 238th birthday, having been incorporated in 1785. See photos.

Book: “Why be a Loyalist?” By Debra B North
Why Remain Loyal to the King?
The American Revolution was not just a revolution but a civil war that pitted many families, friends and neighbours against each other. Choosing which side to fight on was not an easy decision for many individuals. Some men had no choice at all and many people faced dire consequences whichever side they supported even if they tried to stay neutral. Tragically, many families on both sides of the conflict lost everything. This book considers why one American family fought in the British army and thus were Loyalists. More at Amazon Canada; at Amazon US
Kalmar Publishing (March 23, 2023), 186 pages

Debra comments:
It is an attempt to explain what I believe was the main reason why my ancestors, Nicholas and John Lake, chose to be Loyalists during the American Revolution, despite their family having lived in America for over 130 years before the war began.
To do this I went back to John Lake, the first known member of this family to live in America who is recorded as renting property on Long Island in 1643, when it was part of the Dutch Colony of New Netherlands.
I then traced the family through the generations to show the decisions they made that impacted their choice of which side to support during the Revolution.
The last chapter is on Nicholas Lake’s daughter, Margaret Lake Longwell who had the opportunity to return to the States and/or support the Americans in the War of 1812. Through this chapter I attempt to show whether or not the Lakes had regrets about being Loyalists or if they wish they had been Patriots during the Revolution instead.

Book Launch: “Canada: Brave New World” by Elaine Cougler
This book is an anthology of many shocking stories of beleaguered people who were forced to flee from their home country and chose to settle in Canada many years ago, or in the not-too-distant past. Out of very difficult situations, they created and are creating a home in which they can be successful, happy and fulfilled; Canada is much the richer and better off because these people came here.
The book contains stories of people from Ireland and Zimbabwe, from Latvia and Germany, and from the Netherlands and Great Britain, as well as from many other countries. This is a compilation of those who had the strength and determination to flee, often leaving behind their extended families, never to see them again. These immigrants prove once again the courage of ordinary people who, in perilous times, rise to become extraordinary.
The book will be available in print, Kobo, and Kindle formats. For a signed copy come to the launch on June 4, 2023, at Kirk Hall, St. David’s UC, 190 Springbank Ave, Woodstock, ON N4S 7R1, from 2-4 pm. Many of the contributors will be in attendance as well. Stories of Loyalists are included in the book for the interest of those of UE background. Come and buy a book and enjoy a celebratory piece of cake. More information at www.elainecougler.com.

George Washington’s “Rules of Civility”: An Early American Literary Mystery
by Shawn David McGhee 16 May 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
Tucked away in George Washington’s papers rests a thirty-five-page handwritten folio labeled “Forms of Writing.” In Washington’s neat and ornate cursive, the first roughly two-thirds of this artifact are comprised of carefully copied examples of legal mechanisms such as promissory notes, bills of exchange, short- and long-form wills, and, ominously, a “Form of a Servants Indenture.”
Also included are two poems, “On Christmas Day” and “True Happiness.”
It is the final ten pages of this manuscript, however, that have piqued the interest of some scholars. George Washington’s “Notes of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation,” a compilation of 110 instructions in etiquette and ethics, remains something of a literary mystery. Just where the maxims originated, how they ended up before Washington and what purpose(s) they served, is not entirely clear. The circumstances that produced these papers, however, moved Washington to sponsor educational initiatives at the provincial and national levels both privately and publicly. Scholastic cultivation, Washington came to appreciate, promoted private achievement and the public good, vital contributions to both individual and national success. Taken together, Washington’s own acknowledged academic shortcomings led him to identify equitable access to education as a fundamental component for promoting civic virtue, American identity and national security. Read more…

Hanover County and Patrick Henry: The Locations that made the Legend
by Alexandra I. Griffeth 18 May 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
Hanover County, Virginia is the birthplace of one of the most famous American patriots: Patrick Henry. He spent much of his life in and around Hanover. It was in this county that he learned to practice law, which would make him famous in his own time, as well as the eloquent oratory that would make him famous through centuries. The Road to Revolution Heritage Trail runs through Hanover County, marking several landmarks associated with Patrick Henry’s life. Read about five sites that Henry knew…

Phillis Wheatley’s “Mrs. W—”: Identifying the Woman Who Inspired “Ode to Neptune”
J. L. Bell, mid-May 2023, Common PLace
Who was that traveler? And what did she signify to the poet?
“Ode to Neptune” first appeared in Phillis Wheatley’s 1773 collection Poems on Various Subjects, never having been printed in Boston newspapers or broadsides. Its subtitle, “On Mrs. W—‘s Voyage to England,” has attracted speculation: Who was that traveler? And what did she signify to the poet?
“Ode to Neptune” offers a few clues to “Mrs. W—,” starting of course with the facts that her last initial was W, she was almost certainly married, and she was preparing to sail to England. The first verse reveals the woman’s first name: Finally, the published poem carried the dateline “Boston, October 10, 1772.”
Many people have guessed that Wheatley wrote this ode for the woman who had raised her from childhood as a slave, Susannah Wheatley. Yet Susannah Wheatley never crossed the Atlantic. The poet addressed her mistress in another poem titled “A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W,” but that was in May 1773 when Phillis was about to sail to London while Susannah stayed behind in Boston. Read more…

Panoramic Scene Wallpaper for the Fashionable Home of the Regency Period
by Anna M. Thane 2018/02/07 at Regency Explorer
Wallpaper has been known since at least the 15th century. Starting as a rare luxury item for the elite, wallpaper became more popular in England at the beginning of the 18th century. By then, wallpaper had become a cheap alternative to tapestry or panelling. 1712, the government even imposed a tax on it. Despite the taxation the demand for wallpaper grew in the mid-18th century.
Most wallpapers had been brought to England by the East India Company from China, where Chinese artisans produced hand-painted, dedicated wallpaper for their rich English customers. By the end of the 18th century, producers in France specialized in printed wallpaper became an important competitor on the market.
European wallpaper was printed on sheets using woodblocks. Around the end of the 1790ies, two French wallpaper producers decided to further the idea of woodblock-printed paper. The two men were Joseph Dufour, based in Lyon, famous for its textile industry, and Hartmann Risler (later to become Zuber & Cie.) in Rixheim, Alsace. They founded their respective companies in 1797, aiming at the market of the middle class. Soon, they specialised in special printed panoramic scene wallpaper. They hit on a gold mine. Read more…

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

  • Kevin Wisener has submitted information about David Mathews UEL. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), admitted to the Bar in New York and was County Clerk for Orange County NY. He served as the Mayor of New York during most of the war. He was accused (although he denied involvement) of supporting a plan led by Thomas Hickey to kill the Revolutionary General George Washington. He sailed to England in the Fall of 1783, then on to Halifax in 1784 where he received a 700 acre Loyalist Land Grant in Cape St. Mary’s, Annapolis County, NS. In 1786 he moved to Amelia Point (Westmount) in the newly independent colony of Cape Breton where he was appointed Attorney General and a member of the Executive Council by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres.

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

Upcoming Events

The American Revolution Institute: On Tea, Taxes, and World History: The British East India Company and the Origins of the American Revolution May 24, 2023 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

On May 10, 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, which instituted a tax of three cents per pound on all British tea sold in America. The act effectively granted a monopoly on the sale of tea in the American colonies to the British East India Company, which was looking to reduce its excessive stores of tea and relieve its financial burdens. To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Tea Act’s passage, James Vaughn, a historian of the British Empire at the University of Chicago, examines the developments in Britain, British North America, and South Asia leading to the passage of the act, and discusses why a relatively mundane piece of parliamentary legislation renewed the imperial crisis and led to the outbreak of the American Revolution. Details and registration

Fort Plain Museum: The Revolutionary War Conference 250 in the Mohawk Valley, June 9-11

Friday, June 9: Bus Tour – Forts and Fortified Homes of the Mohawk Valley
Opening Reception and Registration
Saturday, June 10: Program and reception
Sunday, June 11 until noon: Program
See details: schedule, registration, lodging etc

Moore Family Reunion 2023, Sat. 10 June 2023 @ 1:30 ET via Zoom

A gathering of the descendants and friends of Samuel Moore I, of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Province of New Jersey, born c. 1630, and his great-grandson, United Empire Loyalist Samuel Moore of Upper Canada, formerly of the Provinces of New Jersey and Nova Scotia, born 1742, died and buried 1822, Norwich, Upper Canada

  • 1:00 Informal meet and greet
  • 1:30 Welcome, Introductions and 2 presentations, each followed by discussion and a break:
    • Unravelling the DNA by Bob Moore
    • Life in the Aftermath of the Flushing Remonstrance: Assessing Liberalism’s Unintended Consequences at the End of the Modern Age by M. Jane Fairburn

We look forward to sharing stories and insights into the rich historical tradition of the Moore family in North America, all without distance restrictions!
Please share this invitation.
Contact Donna Moore UE d.moore3359@gmail.com for the Zoom link

For Members: Recorded Presentations

Presentations on Demand (member log-in required)

“The Battle for Western Jersey: The Battles of Quinton’s Bridge and the Hancock House”
Joshua Loper presentation to Governor Simcoe Branch on May 3, 2023
These two battles are both almost comical on one hand and heartbreaking on the other. A thunderstorm of epic proportions, charging a bridge, a midnight attack, a pregnant woman, and gunshot-terrified cavalry horses… These events lead to the culmination of our story. Artifacts of the campaign will be included.

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

  • A Happy Birthday to Queen Charlotte of Great Britain and Ireland, the wife of King George III. Born 19 May 1744, they married in 1761. The marriage lasted 57 years and produced 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood.
  • Townsends
  • This week in History
  • Clothing and Related:
  • Miscellaneous
    • A set of notebooks that belonged to a Danish sailor c.1690, six of which have have unusual black pages. One has been written on with chalk, while the others have writing etched into the pages. Below is breakdown of what we have discovered about them with a few observations (scroll down for much more information and interesting comments)
    • Sweet dreams, all. Jane Gilmor holds her very fashionable doll in this painting detail by Charles Wilson Peale, 1788
    • This is a 300-year-old book wheel kept in the Biblioteca Palafoxiana, Puebla, Mexico: it allowed 18th century researchers to have up to seven books open at once. A kind of analog of today’s multi-tab browsers
    • May 14, 1770, Sally Paine, wife of Robert Treat Paine, delivered “a remarkable fine Boy” after “a natural Regular uncommonly tedious & painful Travail for 21 hours.” The baby “weigh’d between 12 & 14 lbs.” His parents had married two months before.
    • While honeybees (which came to Jamestown in 1622) get the most attention, there are over 20k species of bees in the world. Our native species, like this leafcutter bee, do most of our pollinating.

Last Post: SCOTT UE, David Gibson, 1927-2023
The sudden passing of David Gibson Scott, May 3, 2023; predeceased by his loving wife Ursula Scott and his sister Jean Scott Wagener.
Forever remembered by his nieces Nancy Bennett (Chris), Ann Thomas (Peter), his nephews Alan Wagener (Marian), Douglas Wagener and Christopher Lechner (Karen). He will be sorely missed by his beloved Masonic community, his many extended family members in Canada and Germany, his fellow car club enthusiasts and his many close friends in Florida and Toronto.
David served as an Ontario Provincial Court Judge, spending most of his time in Newmarket. He was a dedicated and well respected member of the bench for over 25 years.
A memorial service May 19, 2023. See details at Tallman Funeral Homes

A long-time member of Gov. Simcoe Branch, David received his Loyalist Certificate having proven descent from William Steele UEL in 2016. With his legal background, David had developed a keen interest in the profession. In 2006, with a presentation which spanned two meetings, David spoke about “Law in Early Ontario”.

Published by the UELAC
If you do not now receive this free newsletter directly but would like to, you can subscribe here.