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Rejected: Loyalists Denied Compensation:Part Two of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
As it convened in England and various points across British North America, the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists heard the testimonies from the refugees of the American Revolution The commissioners learned of how Loyalists were violently persecuted, imprisoned, and robbed of their land and possessions. Despite these often heart-wrenching testimonies, the board’s commissioners rejected a total of 3,365 Loyalists’ claims.
Often such rejection had nothing to do with a lack of supporting documents, insufficient witnesses, or a lack of loyal service. Sometimes it was a case of being in a “politically incorrect” location.
The American Revolution was a civil war in which colonists fought against one another based on whether they were a new republic’s Patriots or the British Empire’s Loyalists. At the end of most civil wars, the victors have to decide whether to banish the losers or allow them to remain as citizens under the new government. In the case of the American Revolution, the majority of Loyalists hoped to remain in their pre-war homes.
Upwards of 60,000 men, women, and children were unable –or unwilling– to stay in the United States of America. Some colonies banished Loyalists on the pain of execution upon their return. Others allowed Loyalists to live among them with reduced civil rights. Some loyal refugees who sought sanctuary in other parts of the British Empire eventually returned home when the animosity of the victors had subsided.
The British throne speech for the 1782 parliamentary session demonstrated the best hopes of the British government for American Loyalists: “that a due and generous attention ought to be shewn to those who have relinquished their properties or professions from motives of loyalty.” But the realities of negotiating a workable peace treaty with the victorious Americans thwarted these hopes.
A British diplomat confessed that “the utmost possible pains were repeatedly taken to procure more substantial terms for the loyalists” but “if more favourable terms for the loyalists had been insisted on, all negotiations must have ceased entirely.” In the end, it fell to the British government – not the new United States — to provide compensation for American Loyalists. And so it created the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists (RCLSAL) to determine who should be compensated and how much those financial settlements should be.
As it turned out, the RCLSAL ended up awarding compensation based in part on where the claimants were living rather than on just the + they sustained during the revolution. And yet, in fairness to its American petitioners it should have only taken into consideration the value of the Loyalists’ losses of “properties or professions from motives of loyalty.”
David Jacques of Woodbridge, New Jersey is a case in point. He joined the British army in 1777 and stayed within British lines throughout the war. His name would later appear on a list compiled by Patriots of “all those Persons whose property was confiscated in the several counties of the State of New Jersey, for joining the army of the king of Great Britain“.
When Jacques submitted his 1786 claim for wartime losses, he and his wife were living on Staten Island where “they were obliged to stay” after the British evacuation of New York in 1783. Because Jacques was still in the United States, his claim was rejected.
Barnard Kane had been a trader in Connecticut before local rebels declared him to be an enemy of the state. He assisted the Prince of Wales Regiment, and was made a prisoner of war with 64 other men. He was able to escape after his trial and eventually crossed into British lines at Staten Island. He later joined Lt. General Sir Henry Clinton’s army of 10,000 and sailed with it to South Carolina where it took Charleston on May 12, 1780. Liking what he saw in South Carolina, Kane settled there with his family and built three houses. His 1786 claim was –like Jacques’– also rejected.
If the RCLSAL had been consistent in denying compensation to those Loyalists who –despite their wartime losses—remained in the United States, its actions would not be so troubling. However, it was known that there were those living in the new republic who had, in fact, been granted financial compensation by the commission.
Isaac Longworth of Newark, New Jersey cited the fact that at least two other Loyalists were known to him who had received money from the British government despite having their “residence in America“. Longworth was living in Hartford, Connecticut when he petitioned the RCLSAL for financial compensation. When he made his claim in Halifax in May of 1786, he was quoted as saying that he thought, “no man who remains in the States, being able to move, deserves compensation for his losses.”
Longworth hoped that because he was unable to leave the United States, the commissioners would allow him restitution for all that the revolution had taken from him. Describing himself as “aged and infirm”, he outlined his service to the crown in his testimony to the board.
Longworth had allowed his home to be used as a headquarters for the British when they entered New Jersey in 1776. A year later, the 51 year-old Loyalist abandoned his Newark store and sought sanctuary in New York City where he and his wife lived for the remainder of the war, “giving every service” to the British. Rebels seized Longworth’s property, but he managed to retain something that was valued by his former neighbours – ledgers that recorded loans for New Jersey’s Essex County.
In May of 1783, a New Jersey Patriot wrote to Sir Guy Carleton requesting the British commander in chief to order Longworth to “deliver up certain books and papers now in his possession belonging to the Trustees of Newark Ferry.” It seems that it was known that Longworth was bound for Nova Scotia with other Loyalist refugees.
However, when the British and their colonial allies left New York in 1783, Longworth was forced to remain behind in Connecticut in the home of his son-law because his 62 year-old wife Catherine had dislocated her ankle. “Emaciated with pain and fever“, she relied on crutches to get around until the spring of 1786. Longworth himself had become lame from a fractured leg and dislocated ankle.
Longworth sought compensation totalling over £1,000, which included the loss of a store, a dock, land, and two Black slaves. Again he pleaded that it was only his wife’s “distress” that kept him in the States.
The RCLSAL commissioners rejected Longworth’s appeal in 1786, but he persisted in his quest for compensation and wrote a heartfelt letter to the British government in the following year.
“Could the king know what we have suffered and with what constancy she {Catherine} has borne her sufferings, always declaring she approved of the part I had taken in adhering to my allegiance to the King, and that she would rather suffer the loss of all of her property than to wrong her conscience and be a rebel, I say could the King be assured of the above absolute truth, I doubt not but some allowance would be made to render her remaining years comfortable.”
It is not known if Longworth finally wrested some compensation from the commission. Appeals on behalf of women who suffered through the revolution did not seem to strike a responsive chord within the RCLSAL. This will be seen in next week’s examination of Loyalist widows whose claims were rejected.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

“In the King’s Service”: Hugh Finlay [Loyalist] and the Postal System in Colonial America
By Alison M. Gavin Summer 2009 US National Archives
Next–day delivery, the Internet, texting . . . never has communication on a personal level been so easy. Telecommunications, which has made enormous progress over the last 10 years, stands alone as a testament to American ingenuity in the world market.
Not even today’s octogenarians can imagine, however, the extent to which communications has improved since colonial times. Getting a letter to a neighboring town was difficult and involved, while trying to get one’s mail across the Atlantic to Great Britain might prove futile.
The emergence of Benjamin Franklin, first as Philadelphia’s postmaster in 1737, and then as deputy postmaster for British North America in 1753, brought much–needed reform to the postal system in the American colonies. He developed a “Dead Mail Office” for undeliverable letters and began a system of fast–sailing “packet ships” for the delivery of mail from abroad.
Franklin was dismissed from his position in 1774 for his association with writings injurious to the Crown and replaced by loyalist Hugh Finlay.
But Finlay’s appointment was short–lived and nearly meaningless. American revolutionaries were destroying British postal routes throughout the colonies and viewed postage paid to the Crown as taxation without representation. The colonists began their own postal system.
A Neighborhood Event–Mail Handling in the Colonies
The Massachusetts Bay Colony led the way in establishing a postal system in America. The introduction to the 1867 printing of Finlay’s journal describes early methods of distributing the mail. As early as 1639, one colonist, Richard Fairbanks, received and sent off letters from his Boston home. He charged a penny for each letter…
Finlay did not begin his civic career as a postmaster. Arriving in Canada from Scotland, shortly after the territory was ceded to Great Britain in 1763, he worked first as a merchant in Quebec and rose quickly among the English and French communities. No doubt his ability to read and speak French fluently added to his value as a businessman. Quebec’s city council soon appointed him a justice of the peace. Later that year, Benjamin Franklin, then joint deputy postmaster general of British North America, put Finlay in charge of the colonial post office in the Canadian territory. Finlay established post offices at Quebec, Trois–Rivières, and Montréal and between these cities and New York…..
Finlay’s public service did not end with the establishment of the United States of America. As a loyalist, he found refuge in Canada when the war began. Always sensitive to the ways in which mail delivery might be improved, he participated in a correspondence with the British Home Office in the 1780s. Urging colonization in Canada, and the creation of postal offices every 10 miles, he advocated the use of snowshoes for postal officers in a 1783 letter: “Till then the Mails must be drag’d on handsleighs by men on snowshoes, a painful and slow mode of Journeying in the winter, but there’s no other way of getting forward in a country four, five, or six feet deep with snow, without inhabitants to beat and keep the way open.”
In 1787 he was given responsibility over the whole postal service of British North America, not including the newly formed United States. His participation in the first–ever international postal convention in New York in 1792 led to a significant decision by the Americans to permit mail from Canada to pass through New York. Read all…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Good weather, and bad; The Azores.
From a Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
This excerpt from the diary of Johan Conrad Dohla (170 pages).
Having set out marching on 28 February, they boarded sip and set sail on 29 March from Dordrecht, crossed the English Channel (first time on ocean waters for most; seasickness), passed Dover, anchored at Portsmouth to add provisions for seven days and finally set sail on 7 April.
25 April. We had a very good wind and sailed so well that we went fifteen English miles in an hour. This evening we saw some fish that had horns. Their color was gray, and they were very big, even as long as our ship. Our sailors said that they were a type of young whale that comes from the region of Greenland and they must have lost their way. Because the water is too warm for them, they must turn around, because whales only stay in cold water, and especially near Greenland.
2 May. [1777] To our right we saw land, which at first appeared to be clouds, but because the sky was bright, it was possible to know it was a large mountain. It seemed to reach the sky because it was so unbelievably high. According to the reckoning of our sailors, we passed about fifty English miles from it. These are the Azores, which lie between Europe and America about half the distance to America; one does not know whether to figure the distance to America, or from Europe. They are called the Azores because of the large number of hawks that one encounters in these islands. It is possible to count many thousands of these birds here These islands, of which there are nine, belong to the Kingdom of Portugal and are all fertile and fruitful. Terceira is the most pleasant of all and the site of the capital city, Angra. This large mountain that we saw is called Michaelis Mountain, on the island of Saint Michael.
28 May. The previously active storm became much stronger. The waves mounted surprisingly high, so that we believed they would engulf us. We did not know which way to turn because of our fear, and it is easy to understand how one must feel when, at any moment, he sees death staring him in the face and expects that his body will find its resting place in the fathomless depths of the sea and its wild waves and be food for the fish. In this storm the waves washed so much water into the ship that the pumps had to be worked constantly. There are two pumps on every ship, so arranged that the water can be pumped out, whether it washes in with a wave or seeps in from beneath. The wind was from the east. Therefore this storm had a good side, because it hastened our journey to America so that we arrived fourteen days earlier. Supposedly, we traveled sixteen English miles in an hour.
31 May. The weather was still beautiful and somewhat windy. Today for the first time, we saw a few birds flying, which is a sign that land is not very far away.
This month of May was very warm. It was nearly impossible to lie in the cabin at night, and we often slept on the ship’s deck.
(To be continued)

Tides of Change: Inside the ingenious Inuit kayak
By Noah Nochasak — 6 September 2023 Canada’s History
Like all cultures across the world, Inuit in taitsumani (olden times) required a way to hunt and to travel. In the far northern hemisphere, where Inuit have lived for millennia, the majority of animals live in or by the ocean. In order to get close to game animals and to travel between settlements, Inuit needed a means of transportation that was adapted to the human body. It had to be fast, ergonomic, made from minimal supplies, and capable of avoiding water intake while floating nearly flush with the water’s surface in order to avoid being buffeted by the wind. Inuit invented a tool that met all of these engineering parameters and called it Kajak.
Inuit span an extremely wide geographical distance that crosses provinces, territories, and also countries. Across this distance there have been varying timelines of contact with traders and missionaries. It is therefore challenging to describe the exact history of the Kajak in each area. However, generally it can be said that before the advent of industrialization the Kajak was sunaujak (important) for day-to-day life, while today its importance exists as a cultural connection to traditional Inuit lifestyles and, to a lesser degree, as a means of procuring food and of travelling.
In the past, Kajait (kayaks) were built by hand by the users and their family and friends. Today Kajattet (kayakers) almost always buy Kajait — made out of materials like plastic, fibreglass, and Kevlar — from commercial companies instead of building the boats themselves. However, there are individuals who take it upon themselves to build Kajait, and they form supportive networks.
Outsiders knew the Kajattet as Inuit, but among Inuit themselves the Kajattet were family members, such as grandparents, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. My great-grandfather Sem Nochasak, who passed away in the 1950s, was one of my family members who paddled a Kajak. Read more – hunting, prey, making a kayak, preserving the culture and skills.

Saratoga Background, 1777. William Clements Library
Online Exhibits, Stories of Spies and Letters. Saratoga Background.
British general John Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, New York on October 17, 1777. The American victory marked a turning point in the Revolutionary War because France became convinced that the Americans could win the war. France contributed money and military equipment, and forced the British to scatter military resources to defend the rest of their empire. Great Britain’s weakened force was no longer strong enough to battle the Americans in the North.
Many factors contributed to the Saratoga defeat, including lack of careful planning and coordination, unwarranted optimism about the war ending in 1777, and mistaken assumptions about loyalist support in America. Two letters in Sir Henry Clinton’s papers at the William L. Clements Library, authored by General William Howe and Clinton and sent to Burgoyne, provide evidence of serious miscalculations in British strategy.
Saratoga fall-out was swift and lasting. Clinton, at the request of the cabinet, took over Howe’s command in January 1778. Howe believed he was not at fault, and defended his actions in front of Parliament. Burgoyne’s parliamentary inquiry began in May 1779. Findings were inconclusive, but Burgoyne was deprived of most of his political offices. Howe and Burgoyne are not entirely responsible for Saratoga. Another man, Lord George Germain, played an important role. Germain was Secretary of State for the American colonies. He was charged with managing Howe’s and Burgoyne’s commands in North America. Germain is blamed for failing to issue clear orders or facilitate communication among participants, and, most importantly, for approving two seemingly incompatible campaigns.
See letters:

John Hancock’s Politics and Personality in Ten Quotes
by Brooke Barbier 10 October 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
Nearly every American knows the name of John Hancock, but often for little more than his signature on the Declaration of Independence. Hancock was one of the most popular men in eighteenth-century North America, winning people over with his style, personalility, and generosity. These ten quotations offer a fuller picture of the character, political temper, and personality of the man behind the pen and help expand our understanding of the leadership of the American Revolution.
1. “Come in Revere, we’re not afraid of you.”–John Hancock to Paul Revere, April 19, 1775. Read more…

Commissary Notes and the Dark History of Revolutionary Financing
by Zac Thompson 12 October 2023 Journal of the American Revolutionary
From the outset of the American Revolution and the outbreak of hostilities with Great Britain, a lingering problem that plagued the minds of the Continental Congress dealt with its financing. Under the Articles of Confederation adopted in 1777, Congress lacked the power to levy taxes. Even had it possessed such power, to exercise it would risk losing popular support for the Revolution given that it was being waged largely over taxation issues to begin with. Without taxation as an option, the Continental Congress needed new methods of financing for both the daunting task of administering a newly-birthed nation, as well as financing a full scale war with the predominant military power of the age.
The generally-accepted and agreed-upon history of the colonies’ means of financing the American Revolution is primary accepted in the following narrative:
As the war for independence commenced, expenses quickly mounted and the Continental Congress began printing a new currency in order to finance itself and the war effort…
… There is, however, a much darker side of Revolutionary finance that is largely ignored by both scholars and the general public alike, and that is the issuance of commissary certificates by the Continental Army under Congress’s authority. Read more…

The role of a pew-opener
By Sarahmurden 9 October 2023 All Things Georgian
Whilst the clue is in the job title, they opened the gates to the pews in church, but there was a bit more to it than that. Did you know that during the Georgian era, most, but not exclusively, these roles were fulfilled by the older and often poorer, women of the parish?
Here we have an image of a somewhat stern looking woman opening the pew gate with her hand outstretched waiting for some pennies to boost her meagre income. Read more…

Advertised on 10 October 1773: “…genteel accommodation for set CLUBS”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“The usual genteel accommodation for set CLUBS, and other private companies large or small.”
Samuel Fraunces (or Samuel Francis) was one of the most prominent American tavernkeepers and restaurateurs in the late eighteenth century. He remains famous today, in part because Fraunces Tavern at 54 Pearl Street in New York City continues to welcome visitors in a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A tavern and restaurant occupy the first floor and the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York operate a museum on the second and third floors.
Fraunces frequently advertised during the era of the American Revolution. In the fall of 1773, for instance, he inserted a notice in Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer to promote the “QUEEN’s HEAD TAVERN, Near the Exchange in Broad-street.” Read more…

Loyalists and descendants who participated in the War of 1812: Levi Doan – Uncle and Nephew
Levi Doan, the firstborn of Aaron Doan, UEL was undoubtedly named for Aaron’s brother Levi Doan. Brothers Aaron and Levi were two of the notorious (Loyalist) Doan Gang of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Although the Treaty of Paris forbid persecution of Loyalists, Levi was hanged as an “outlaw” on 24 September 1788 in Philadelphia. When Aaron Doan escaped to Upper Canada and married Rhoda Cook, daughter of Robert Cook, UEL, they named their first child in memory of the slain Levi Doan. They settled in Humberstone Township, now part of Port Colborne, Ontario.
In keeping with the Doan family’s pro-Crown stance, Levi Doan, like his namesake uncle, supported the British in the War of 1812. Read more…
Submitted by Janet Hodgkins UE

Read about other Loyalists and the sons and daughters of Loyalists who participated in the War of 1812.

Submissions are still welcome. Send up to 500 words describing the Loyalist’s experience or participation in the war, and where settled before and afterward, to loyalist.trails@uelac.org. Please reference both the Loyalist experience, perhaps to a lesser degree, along with the 1812 history.

The Brafferton Indian School, Part 2: Legacies
Ben Franklin’s World
In honor of the 300th anniversary of the Brafferton Indian School building, we investigate the legacies of the Brafferton Indian school, its historical connection to Indian Boarding Schools in later centuries, and how Virginia Indian tribes are working to reawaken dormant cultural practices.
In this episode, we speak with Brooke Bauer, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, a citizen of the Catawba Nation, a potter, and author of Becoming Catawba: Catawba Indian Women and Nation Building, 1540-1840; Raven Cusatlow, an enrolled Mattaponi Tribal citizen and co-founder of Eastern Woodland Revitalization; Tanya Stewart, a citizen of the Chickahominy Tribe Eastern Division and Cultural Resources Director for the Chickahominy Eastern Division; and Kara Canaday, a citizen of the Chickahominy Tribe and Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium. Listen in…

2023 Charles III Coronation Pin – Your letter could help
Robert Wilkins UE, President Heritage-Montreal Branch UELAC became aware that a pin celebrating the coronation of King Charles III had been designed, manufactured and distributed by the Government of Canada in limited numbers to a select few. He wrote a letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Hon. Pascale St-Onge, MP asking for more to be made available so that many Canadians could proudly display their recognition of this event.
The Board of Directors UELAC supported this action and have also written to the Minister, as have others including Bicentennial Branch. The three letters are here:

 

Query: Access to Land Records for New Tecumseh
I have a Loyalist who came north with Perkasie to the Niagara region, and then onto Markham. His name was Johan Haacke… also called John Hickey… He received land in Scarborough and New Tecumseh for participating in the war of 1812… I can find no trace of him in new Tecumseh but I have found them in Scarborough… Are there records available to search in New Tecumseh?
If anyone has access to the New Tecumseh land grants I would appreciate it so much. I don’t drive any more and have to take wheeltrans if I want to go anywhere so a little help with this enigma would be wonderful. Thank you so much
Marilyn MacDonald Willette UE mawillette@yahoo.com

Query: Loyalist Clothing and Accessories
I’m looking for someone to create a Loyalist outfit for me. Unfortunately, but inevitably, I’ve out-grown my two outfits.
I would like to start from scratch with a the whole new outfit – shirt, pants, socks, jacket, neck piece, shoes. Everything that a Loyalist gentleman would have worn.
Of you are interested in helping, or can point me at source(s). it would be appreciated.
Paul Denter UE kingsclearing@yahoo.ca

Loyalist Gazette: Fall 2023 and Fall 2022 Updates
The Loyalist Gazette Editorial Team is excited for the soon to be published 2023 UELAC Fall Loyalist Gazette, early November. The Committee met yesterday Oct 12 to decide the layout for articles. We are honoured to have Stephen Davidson UE as Guest Editor. Theme is “Maritime Loyalists”.

The Fall 2022 issue of the Loyalist Gazette is now in public domain, available to all to read. The Guest Editor was Nathan Tidridge, Honorary Fellow, UELAC. The theme was Canada’s First Nations and the Crown. Articles included:

  • The Loyalist Quill: Editor’s Comments
  • The Chapels Royal in Canada
  • Allies or Subjects: The Haudenosaunee and their place in Canadian History
  • British Indigenous Realations During the War of 1812
  • The Queen is Dead. Long Live the King
  • and more…

Upcoming Events

Revolution Institute: “The Tory’s Wife” Tues 17 Oct 6:30ET

Author’s Talk — The Tory’s Wife: A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America. The Spurgin family of North Carolina experienced the cataclysm of the American Revolution in the most dramatic ways—and from different sides. Jane Welborn Spurgin was a patriot who welcomed Gen. Nathanael Greene to her home and aided the Continental forces. Her husband was a loyalist and an officer fighting for King George III in the local Tory militia. Cynthia Kierner, professor of history at George Mason University, discusses her new book that focuses on the wife of a middling backcountry farmer to show how the Revolution not only toppled long-established political hierarchies, but also strained family ties and drew women into the public sphere to claim both citizenship and rights. Registration.

Sir William Johnson and the Wars for Empire Conference

October 20-22, 2023 in Johnstown, NY
Sir William Johnson was a larger than life character who dominated the Mohawk Valley and beyond during the 18th century in warfare, politics, trade and diplomacy.
This conference will address aspects of Johnson’s historical impact as well as the larger scope of the great wars for empire. This new Fort Plain Museum conference will offer a look at the colonial era when major personalities, like Sir William, dealt with overlapping cultures and the impact of war on society. Bus Tour on Friday, lectures on Saturday and Sunday. See details, registration, accommodation etc

In the News

Enjoy fall and all its splendor in Greater Napanee
by Jessica Foley 6 October 2023, at the Kingstonist
Greater Napanee has something for everyone — in every season. This fall, make the short drive west to take in the colourful scenery, visit unique shops and restaurants, and enjoy some art and history.
The visual highlight of the fall season is the changing leaves. Take a drive along the Loyalist Parkway, Highway 33, and enjoy waterfront views and all the seasonal highlights at these local businesses:
St. Alban’s Centre, a historic former United Empire Loyalist church, was constructed in 1884. Their escape room is open through October. Learn more and book a time. Read more…

Restoring Fredericton’s Old Burial Ground — slowly and carefully
By Sam Farley 11 October 2023 CBC
Hidden in plain sight in downtown Fredericton, one plot of land is getting some much-needed attention.
The Old Burial Ground is getting a makeover, piece by piece.
“The 884 stones in here take a lot of work,” said Mike Walker, the city’s assistant director of engineering and operations.
Nestled between Brunswick and George streets, the burials were recorded to have taken place from 1787 to 1886, at which point the site became crowded and restrictions on further burials were introduced.
Loyalists, British soldiers, prominent citizens and public officers are among those buried here. Read more plus video…
Submitted by Ken McCallum UE

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

  • “We, your Majesty’s faithful subjects…” read the opening line of the July 5, 1775, petition by the First Continental Congress to King George III of England, known as the “Olive Branch Petition,” to fix the issues between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain.
  • October 12, 1773, the Boston overseers of the poor indentured “a poor child named Ann Dumaresque” for eleven years to Elisha and Mary Parks of Westfield, on the western side of the province. Ann was seven years old. Read more…
  • Townsends – or Food
  • This week in History
    • 9 Oct 1769 Anson Co, NC. The Regulators in Anson County signed a petition on taxes & fees. Action is part of the controversial Regulator Movement – resistance to central control of the colony. Regulators would cross Gov William Tryon & battle authorities.
    • 10 Oct 1775 Following Bunker Hill losses & containment of the British Army in Boston, London goes in a different direction. Gen William Howe replaced Gen Gage as Commander in Chief of the British Army in America. Upon his return to England, Gage retired.
    • 13 Oct 1775 Philadelphia, Resolution of the Continental Congress created the Continental Navy under Commodore Esek Hopkins & authorized the purchase of two vessels to be armed for a cruise against British merchant ships – named Andrew Doria & Cabot.
    • 9 Oct 1776 Continental artillery barrages inflict 27 casualties but fail to prevent HMS Phoenix & Roebuck from sailing up North River between Fort Washington & Fort Lee. The ships go on to destroy several American vessels.
    • 11 Oct 1776 Battle of Valcour Island fought over 2 days, the British fleet under Sir Guy Carleton defeated 15 American gunboats led heroically by Benedict Arnold. This delaying action gave the patriot ground forces a chance to prepare a defense of New York.
    • 12 Oct 1776 NY, NY Gen Cornwallis lands 4,000 British troops at Throg’s Neck to push east to Kingsbridge & prevent the rebel army in NY from escaping north.
    • 9 Oct 1777 Saratoga, NY British Gen John Burgoyne withdraws his army, now reduced to some 5,800, through rough terrain and pelting rain to occupy the heights near the village.
    • 12 Oct 1777 Saratoga NY Gen Gates’s army faces an entrenched British force. Col Dan Morgan’s Rifles and Dearborn’s Light Infantry begin to snipe the British camp & Gen Starks’s brigade cuts off Burgoyne’s northern retreat.
    • 7 Oct 1778 Detroit, NW Territory British Lt Col Henry Hamilton departs with 225 regulars, French militia & Indian allies in an attempt to retake Ft Vincennes after learning Col George Rogers Clark has withdrawn most of the garrison.
    • 9 Oct 1779 Savannah, GA. Polish Gen Casimir Pulaski charged a redoubt but was mortally wounded by the blast of a cannon. Impressed by his courage, the British permitted him to be carried from the battlefield, but he died six days later at age 34.
    • 10 Oct 1780 A bold strike by some 800 Loyalists & Iroquois under Maj Christopher Carelton captured Ft Anne, NY, and its 75-man garrison.
    • 10 October 1780 The Great Hurricane of 1780 killed some 22,000 in the Caribbean, hitting Barbados first. Atlantic’s deadliest recorded hurricane. Royal Navy in Caribbean Station lost some dozen warships wrecked or sunk with crews & 7 dismasted.
    • 11 Oct 1780 Lake George, NY Loyalists & Iroquois led by Sir John Johnson & Chief Joseph Brant take Ft George & begin to terrorize settlements south of the lake.
    • 13 Oct 1812 British general Sir Isaac Brock is killed while leading redcoats & Canadian troops against an American invasion force at Queenston Heights near Niagara. His deputy, Roger Sheaffe, rallies the defenders, and, with the help of Mohawk allies, defeats the invasion.
  • Clothing and Related:
    • Robe in a sack (sacque) back or volante style, red silk woven with a dense mirror repeat design of foliage in white, silver & green. Textile c1726-28, dress c1740. This is an interesting dress because it shows a few different things. First, this type of textile is called a “bizarre silk” and is identified by being wildly over the top and abstract. However, this motif would have been out of date by the time this dress was made.
    • Preparing for my next class . Costume & #underpinnings, the perfect opportunity to explore what lies beneath across a range of time periods & shapes. These mid #c18th stays are too gorgeous to be hidden away, sprigs of fine flowers in silk brocade @museumatFIT
    • Charming miniature of Mrs Russell, nee Cox 1781.
      Greens that were fashionable in the eighteenth century were Apple Green, Bottle Green, Corbeau, Forester’s Green, Lime Green, Pea Green, Pomona Green, Spanish Fly, Spring Green, Willow Green.
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Apparently there are only five 18th century Wedgewood chimneypieces known to have survived in a complete condition. Three are in the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight. This is one of the three.
    • A spooky night to celebrate bicentenary of Ann Radcliffe, ‘mighty magician’ of gothic. Best paid author of 1790s, Radcliffe influenced women writers incl #Wollstonecraft #Austen #Brontës but what did she say on women, marriage and maternity?
    • Upfront and personal with garden frescoes from the House of the Ceii @pompeii_sites. First exposed in 1913-14, these vivid scenes of wild hunting on the banks of River Nile are absolutely mind-blowing.
    • Eschif in Périgueux, France; was once a lookout for a toll bridge. It’s an oak timber frame building with wattle & daub infill built in 1347 CE. Built that long ago and it’s still standing and survived both World Wars. Building was a lookout post that made it possible to guard Tournepiche bridge in Middle Ages (500-1500 CE). Apparently, in middle ages, taxes on buildings were levied on soil surface occupied by a building. This would explain why a lot of buildings were narrow based like this one for example with broader upper levels.

Last Post: CRAGUN UE, Carolyn Louise Harris 1932 ~ 2023
Carolyn Louise Harris Cragun, 91, of Cedar Hills, Utah, went home to her Heavenly Father on October 7, 2023. Carolyn died in American Fork after health setbacks from a heart attack in June, and in her advanced age, was unable to fully recover.
Carolyn was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada on April 1, 1932, the daughter of Ormonde Butler Harris and Doris May Thompson. She and her brother, Richard, moved with their parents during WWII in 1942 to Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and later to Paris, Ontario. She graduated from Paris District High School in 1950, earning a bursary to attend Hamilton Normal School where she was awarded a teacher’s certificate in 1951. She attended McMaster University extension classes, and later BYU, where she graduated with a BS in Childhood Education in 1954. She taught school in Dugway, UT, Grande Prairie, Alberta, and Brantford, Ontario. She later qualified to teach kindergarten in Ontario.
After marriage in July 1957 to John Reuben Cragun of Pleasant View, Utah, she taught one year at Woodruff School in Logan, UT. Then she became Assistant Director for Women’s Housing at USU in 1958, consulting on the decorating of student halls there: Lund, Richards, Bowen and Merrill Hall.
Carolyn and John had 6 children: Brian (Leanne), Crawford (Joyce), Sheryl, Margo (Calvin Gaisford), Janiel, and Ormonde (Heidi); 22 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.
After 40 years in Cache Valley where John was on the faculty of USU, in 2007, Carolyn and John retired to Cedar Hills to be closer to grandchildren.
She likened her life to a grand adventure. A convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her parents when she was 18. She and John served in the Logan, Hong Kong, Nauvoo and Mt. Timpanogos temples. Carolyn felt her calling to play the organ in the temples was “the best job in the church.”
Carolyn was a dedicated quilter, preferring scrap quilts, and she collected a vast collection of fabric to work with. She served as the Bear River Area Representative to the Utah Quilt Guild, taught classes in her home, and started quilt groups called Needles and Friends.
A large quilt which Carolyn created was on display at her visitation. The quilt celebrates both her Loyalist and Revolutionary heritage. She was proud of both and reveled in the thought that both sides of her ancestry felt they were doing their duty.
Women’s issues were always close to her heart. She served on the Women’s Center Board and was instrumental in co-chairing Hands Across the Valley, a conference which tried to unite diverse groups in Cache Valley.
She was an ardent genealogist. She wrote and published life histories of her mother and father, and a volume about John’s 26 pioneer ancestors. She qualified as a member of the DAR, and was very proud of her loyalist ancestors as well, qualifying for the United Empire Loyalists (UEL) membership. Carolyn was a member of Col. John Butler Branch. She proved her Loyalist descent from Col. John Butler in 2007.
See obituary for more information.
Submitted by her son Brian Cragun

 

Published by the UELAC
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