In this issue:

 


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

Rejected: Loyalists Denied Compensation:Part Three of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
During the hearings of the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists, widows and orphans pleaded for compensation for the ultimate price that their husbands and fathers paid for their loyalty. One such plea was made by a widow named Tamar who once lived along the Kennebec River in what is now Maine. (Her last name has been variously recorded as Ellis, Ellison and Allenson.)
Tamar’s husband George refused to accept a captaincy in a rebel militia at the outset of the revolution. He left for Boston, where he joined the British army. Tamar followed George to the Massachusetts capital, and in so doing was “stripped of all that she had” by local Patriots. George subsequently died of a leg wound.
Alone in an unfamiliar city, Tamar was taken into General Thomas Gage’s home where she stayed for a year. Gage was both the commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America and the military governor of Massachusetts. It is most likely that Tamar served the Gage family in some capacity as a domestic servant.
Tamar ultimately found sanctuary in Nova Scotia. As she is not listed as one of the evacuees that had fled Boston in March of 1776, it may be that she took refuge in New York City or London until the end of the revolution. By 1786, she was living 50 miles outside of Halifax.
When Tamar learned of the opportunity to receive compensation for her losses as a Loyalist, she travelled to Halifax and remained there for eight days at her own expense. She made a claim for the property that she and her late husband had owned on the Kennebec River. However, being “a stranger in Halifax”, she had no witnesses to support her testimony. Her claim for compensation was rejected despite her connections to General Gage and the obvious efforts she had made to have her case considered.
She was not the only Loyalist widow to have her hopes for financial security dashed by the compensation board.
Isabella McCrea was the second wife of Henry Strum (Heinrich Straum), a German who had immigrated to South Carolina with his family when he was 24 years old. The revolution had taken a heavy toll on Strum by the time he married Isabella. In the winter of 1775, he was among 136 Loyalists arrested by rebels and put on a prison ship in Charleston. Later released, he fled to East Florida in 1778, where he served as a sergeant in the South Carolina Regiment.
When he returned home, he discovered that his wife had died “from grief and hard usage during his absence”. Strum now had to care for 8 motherless children. Forced to hide in the woods to escape death at the hands of local rebels, the Loyalist eventually found sanctuary in British-held Charleston. At some point he met and married Isabella McCrea.
Only two of Strum’s children accompanied him and his new wife to Nova Scotia in November of 1781. The other four had died from “hardship suffered after being banished from their home“. The family had not been in Halifax for two months when Henry and one of his children died “from their sufferings” in January of 1782.
For unspecified reasons, Henry Strum Jr., the sole surviving child, settled in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, while his stepmother made a new home along the Bay of Belleisle in New Brunswick. In 1786, both Strum’s widow and orphaned son appeared before the compensation board.
Isabella made her appeal when the board convened in Saint John, New Brunswick in March of 1786. She sought compensation for a house, crops, and cattle.
Henry Junior appeared before the board in Shelburne in June of 1786. Just 16 years of age, Henry had an uncle speak on his behalf. His claim for losses was more detailed, specifying the number of horses, sheep, cattle, tools, furniture, acres of land, wagons and gears that were confiscated by rebels.
Isabella’s claim for losses was rejected. It seems that young Henry’s claim was not. A marginal note for his case includes the phrase, “They seem all very fine people.” One wonders if Isabella had had a man to speak on her behalf, would she have fared as well as her stepson?
Perhaps not. Martha Snead, another Loyalist’s widow, had two men evaluate her losses on behalf of the compensation board and yet her claim was rejected.
Mrs. Snead had once lived on Thickety Creek, South Carolina. Her husband joined the British in 1780 and served as a militia captain. Following the defeat of British forces under Col. Ferguson, rebels plundered the Snead house and gave Martha four days to leave. She accompanied other Loyalist women to cross over into British lines.
Following her husband’s death, Martha tried to return home, but was driven off. After finding temporary refuge in East Florida, she eventually settled in Cape Breton. Her wartime losses included a gristmill, two slaves, buildings, cattle and 500 acres. Despite being assisted by two men who knew her South Carolina property, Martha received nothing from the compensation board.
Catherine Reading of New Jersey’s Monmouth County saw her husband Richard join the British in December of 1776. When he tried to visit his family in the following spring he was captured and put in jail until he was “released by Loyalists”. Richard was once again imprisoned for 10 months during which time Catherine and her children “suffered much persecution”.
Rebels later captured Richard and his three oldest sons while they we in a vessel off New York’s Sandy Hook. After being held in a Philadelphia jail for 2 months, the three Readings were released as part of a prisoner exchange. The family found sanctuary on Long Island in 1781, but Catherine’s husband was killed soon after. The British provided Catherine with an annual pension of 60 pounds that enabled her to look after her four youngest children until she joined other Loyalists who left New York for Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
The fact that Catherine was given a pension indicates that the British felt she merited this as the widow of a Loyalist. Genealogist Marfy Goodspeed speculates that her husband Richard was a Loyalist due to Catherine’s influence. Her family members were Anglicans, a denomination that regularly prayed for the king’s health and long life. All of Richard Reading’s relatives, on the other hand, were “passionate supporters of the Revolution”.
After arriving in Annapolis Royal in 1783, Catherine’s pension was stopped. Three years later, she appeared before the compensation board to seek redress for the loss of crops, cattle, two slaves, and the cost of supporting Richard and her sons while they were in prison. Her son Ferdinand, a Loyalist veteran, served as her witness. Nevertheless, her claim was rejected.
While widows and orphans were sometimes disappointed by the rejections they experienced at the hands of the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists, the commission’s denial of support to Loyalist veterans must have been particularly hard to bear. The stories of Loyalists who failed to receive support from the British government will be featured in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Comment: About Royal Highland Emigrants Article
In the 8 October issue of Loyalist Trails, Brian McConnell UE, Nova Scotia Branch, contributed two items:

This comment from Harcus Hennigar:

Thank you for your interesting article on the Royal Highland Emigrants. My ancestor, Christian Hennigar (there are other spellings of Hennigar), was a member of this group and received land in (present day) Upper Kennetcook. My grandfather, Addison Hennigar, was the last member of the family to farm that land.

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Burial at Sea.
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 ship 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.

1 June 1777.
During this night the staff servant Weiss, of the Bayreuth Regiment, died, and because all signs indicated that we would soon reach land, he was not thrown into the sea; instead we will wait one or two more days so that he may be buried on land. The Germans find it very shocking and grievous that the dead would be lowered into the sea.
As soon as someone on the ship dies, whether he is a soldier, sailor, or anyone else, he is fastened onto a piece of wood or a board and then a sack filled with sand or a stone, or a piece of iron, or a cannonball, is fastened on the piece of wood or board so that the dead body, which later will become food for the fish, is immediately pulled under the water. It often happens before one’s eyes that, as soon as the dead body is thrown into the water, the fish or other creatures gather and tear him apart and consume him, and there are crabs that are so large that they can hold a man in their pincers and pull him under the water. These are called lobsters and are twelve feet long and as large around as a man’s body, and one claw weighs over twenty pounds. I myself have seen an English soldier thrown into the water who was grabbed by a crab with his claws and pulled under the water.
Also, when an important person dies at sea, such as an admiral, general, or if he be, a colonel or a major or ship’s captain, and no one believes that land will be reached within a few days, the above-mentioned burial will take place, only a casket or chest will be nailed together and, by means of attached objects, sunk. No dead person is allowed to remain on the ship more than three days. Even if he be a general, he has to go into the water, because it is said that no dead person can remain on the ship more than three days and the ship’s regulations state this.
This staff servant Weiss was the only death from our two regiments while we were making the crossing. We were all, therefore, rather healthy and had easily overcome the seasickness (which lasts fourteen days by some, five to six weeks by many, and even longer). We also became a bit accustomed to the English ship’s fare, but it made us have a considerable yearning to reach land, and we were curious to see America, or the so-called New World. This happy day finally arrived, and it was on
2 June.
During the morning we had a good wind and continued our journey swiftly. At twelve o’clock noon we caught sight of the land of America with heartfelt joy and thanked God that He had helped us. This joyful news was first brought to our attention by a young sailor who had climbed to the top of the mast where the pennant is flown. This one, when he first noticed something in the distance and thought he saw land that was part of America, began to shout loudly, „Land, Land, O Lord, I saw the Land!” which in German is „Land, Land, O Herr, Ich sah das Land!” Thereupon the captain himself climbed the mast, took his telescope, and looked carefully in that direction, and then gave us the positive assurance that he could really see land belonging to America.
(To be continued)

The Winter of 1774–1775 in Boston
by Bob Ruppert 17 Oct. 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
On June 1, 1774, in response to the Boston Tea Party, the newly appointed governor, Lt.-Gen. Thomas Gage, shut down the towns’ harbor. All shipping and commerce came to standstill. Ships-of-war appeared in the harbor, army regiments arrived from England and only food was allowed to enter the town (by way of the town of Marblehead, sixteen miles to the north).
By fall, the situation in Boston was deplorable. Wood and goods of any kind could not be brought in by water within a circle of sixty miles without permission, and vessels that were on stocks, which had for some time been ready for launching, could not be put into the water. A fifty-gun man-of-war was stationed in the harbor, another in the Charles River and several others at the mouth of the harbor. The only entrance into the Town, the Neck, was doubly fortified by advanced batteries and a regiment on each side of the road. Four regiments were stationed upon the Common, one on Fort-Hill, another at Castle William. Before the Port Bill, the annual charge for support of the town’s poor was about twenty-four hundred pounds, now the number has increased twofold, if not threefold.
On May 13, 1774, Samuel Adams and the Boston Committee of Correspondence sent a circular letter to each colony’s Committee of Correspondence; in it he explained the situation that was about to befall Boston and asked for their support. Read more…

War and Conflict in the Ohio Country during the American Revolution
by Jason Edwin Anderson 19 Oct. 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
The American Revolution came as a fire storm. No section of America was untouched or unaltered. The British Colonists who were in open rebellion against the crown in 1775 found themselves embroiled in a conflict that would last well beyond the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The war cost them dearly—in resources, money, and manpower. Despite the rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence, which stated on July 4, 1776, “that all Men are created equal,” the American Revolution’s most lasting legacy was its impact upon the Native Indians. Torn between allying with the British or the American colonists, the Indians of the Ohio Country were faced with a dilemma—which side would best defend their lands and their way of life? The Ohio Country became the scene of violent conflict between the British Army and their Indian allies, the Continental Army and their Indian allies, and the American settlers who simply wanted western lands. By 1783 the Treaty of Paris temporarily ended hostilities between the Americans and their British brethren, but it did not resolve the ever-increasing violence in the Ohio Country.
The Indian world and the Anglo-American world viewed each other very differently. To the Indians the encroachment of British colonists ever westward meant a constant seizure of traditional Indian lands which led to an evaporation of their culture. To the Americans the Indians in the Ohio Country were a constant threat which justified removal if only to access the rich lands west of the Ohio River. The Indians understood their foe. They realized that their lands were in jeopardy and would do everything in their power to prevent American westward migration. Read more…

Advertised on 10 October 1773: “French Boarding School, Rev. J. Peter Tetard”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“He continues to teach … whatever is requisite to fit the young Students for Admission into any College or University.”
In the fall of 1773, J. Peter Tetard sought students for the boarding school he operated “near King’s Bridge,” about fifteen miles outside of New York. In an advertisement in the October 14 edition of the New-York Journal, he expressed his appreciation for “the encouragement” he received since opening the school over the summer, suggesting both that the enterprise earned the approval of prominent colonizers and that some parents already enrolled their children in the school. Yet he still had space for more students.
To entice parents to send their sons to his boarding school, Tetard made an appeal that continues to resonate today. Read more…

The Sword: Cold Steel, Symbolic, Weapon of Choice
by S W O’Connell 26 Apr 2014, in blog “Yankee Doodle Spies”
This blog is about cold steel: more specifically, the sword. Despite the steady encroachment of firearms, blades were still an important part of military life during the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies. Although Britain and France manufactured their own blades by the mid 18th century, the best still came from those countries with a long tradition of forging finely tempered steel – Spain, Germany, and Italy. During an age when firearms were primitive, slow, and inaccurate, combat with cold steel at close quarters could be decisive. And the sword was indeed the most versatile blade weapon at close quarters: whether in melee, ambush, or siege. There were practical and symbolic sides to the sword. First and foremost it was a weapon of simplicity, requiring simple maintenance. It could be used by footmen or horsemen. It could kill, cut, and maim.
Symbolic: Throughout most of history, the sword served as a symbol of leadership and distinction.
Weapon of Choice: Before the development of the socket bayonet, every military man carried a sword of some sort. Read more…

Loyalist Certificates Issued
The publicly available list of certificates issued since 2012 is now updated to end of September 30, 2023.
When a certificate is added there, it is also recorded in the record for the Loyalist Ancestor in the Loyalist Directory.

Loyalists and descendants who participated in the War of 1812: George Keefer and son Jacob
George Keifer, fought for the King with the New Jersey Volunteers and died in 1778, at the age of thirty-nine, while on Staten Island. He left behind his widow Mary Catherine, two sons and a daughter. Loyalists were no longer welcome in the United States and, knowing they were living in their New Jersey home on borrowed time, George Keefer and Jacob Keefer left the only home they’d ever known, in 1790, and headed to Canada to find a safe and welcome place to build a home. George was seventeen and Jacob was fifteen. They were able to acquire partially cleared land from a squatter in an area only known at the time as Township No. 9. Today, we know it as Thorold, Ontario. Read more…
Submitted by Gail Copeland (4th great-granddaughter of Jacob Keefer)

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 Blacksmith – JYF Museums
Today we’re beginning our new recurring series #MuseumMakerMonday to acknowledge the importance of the people who make museum magic happen by creating All The Things. And where better to start than with our blacksmiths? The blacksmiths in James Fort are always up to something…
From andirons to hinges, and ploughs to knives, the blacksmiths working in the Fort today produce a wide range of items that would not have been made at Jamestown in the early 17th century- it would have been far easier and smarter to import them from England. But we can’t now.
The most important aspect of any trade practiced in museums is the preservation and passing on of knowledge. All of the interpreters in the Fort learn the basics of blacksmithing. Some continue to learn and practice. And there’s no better place to start than with nails!
One of the coolest projects in recent years has been the andirons for Governor’s Row. There are precious few 17th-century English andirons left these days; Vincent collaborated with our curators to find appropriate pieces from Europe to reproduce.

Muzio Clementi: composer, performer and piano manufacturer
by R.M.Healey 16 Oct 2023 in All Things Georgian
In the Georgian Age, as in any other era, invoices bearing letterheads can be dull or interesting, depending on who is being invoiced or who is invoicing. In the case of the eminent London piano manufacturers Clementi, Collard & Collard of 26, Cheapside and Tottenham Court Road, who on August 17, 1824, invoiced a certain Dr John F. Hallahan, Assistant Surgeon at the Royal Artillery, Montreal, the interest lies very much on the side of Clementi & Co.
He was wealthy enough to purchase for forty two guineas, in the words of Mr Clementi, ‘an elegant new Patent Piano Forte of 6 octaves…with Round Corners on six legs” is testament not only to his large pocket, but also to his connoisseurship in deciding to eschew what was available in Quebec, in favour of shipping over to Canada the best piano he could afford from London. Clementi & Co had the reputation of manufacturing and selling some of the finest instruments in Europe. Not only was the firm piano manufacturers to the Royal Family, but it also included among its clients the Honourable East India Company.
Hallahan’s brother had visited Clementi’s shop in person to pay thirty guineas up front, leaving a balance of £14. 6s 6s, which included shipping expenses at a mere 7 shillings, duty at 12s 6d, Bills of Landing at 3s 6d. and insurance at £1 11s 6d. Let’s hope that the piano arrived safely after its 3,000 mile voyage. Read more…

Have You Seen Me?: Missing Works of Nineteenth-Century American Literature
Zachary Turpin Oct 2023 in Common Place
Knowing what is missing is an important first step.
To students new to the study of nineteenth-century American literature, it may seem that the field has been so thoroughly studied and catalogued that there can be very little left to discover about it. This could hardly be further from the truth. The bodies of work of the most well-studied of American authors from the period—much less writers who are only just beginning to receive their critical due—are almost all incomplete. Indeed, it is probably a rare thing to study a writer who does not have works, either known or suspected, missing from their corpuses. This seems to be especially true of authors of the nineteenth century, for a few reasons. Read more…

Upcoming Events

Gov. Simcoe Branch “Prelude to Brandywine” by Joshua Loper Wed 1 Nov. @7:30 ET

(Previously scheduled for Wed 6 Sept. but problems interfered)
“Prelude to Brandywine: Loyalists, Hessians, the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge, and a Fateful Council of War“. The Battle of Brandywine, fought just outside of Philadelphia on September 11, 1777, resulted in an overarching British victory and the conquest of the rebel seat of government.
However, this presentation is not about Brandywine, but some of the events leading up to it. John Graves Simcoe, participated in this battle.
Joshua made a great presentation in May, mixing historical facts, debunking myths, adding some humour (Recording available in the Members Section.
Joshua is a historian, published author, and educator of many years. He is currently the Director of the Delaware Military Heritage and Education Foundation/the Delaware Military Museum. He is also the Executive Director of the George Washington Witness Tree of Delaware Museum. He has a lifelong love of history, especially the American Revolution. More details or Register now.

The American Revolution Institute “King Hancock” Wed 1 Nov 6:30 ET

Author’s Talk – King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father
John Hancock is often associated with the radical commencement of the Revolution and his audacious signature at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence, but his politics were not nearly as bold as they may have seemed. Throughout the Revolution, he frustrated both patriots and loyalists alike but remained the most popular and powerful man in Massachusetts through his ability to find middle ground amidst political turmoil. By historian Brooke Barbier, about her new book. Details and registration…

Col. John Butler Branch “Bound and Determined: Chloe Cooley” Sat 4 Nov.

Bound and Determined: Chloe Cooley, Enslavement and the Fight for Freedom. By Sarah Kaufman, Managing director/Curator of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum.
The Museum commemorates the 230th Anniversary of the Chloe Cooley incident and the passing of the Act to Limit Slavery with an exhibition, commemorative event and the commissioning of an original art piece for the collection. Sarah will talk about the history and legacy of the former enslaved woman Chloe Cooley (now featured on a Canada Post stamp and through a Heritage Minute) and how the NOTL commemorated this pivotal point in our country’s early history.
Meetings take place at Betty’s Restaurant in Chippawa at 11:45 am. Please let us know if you plan to attend by email to colonel.john.butler.branch@gmail.com

Friends of St. Alban’s book launch Sun. 5 Nov. @2:00 at St. Alban’s Centre

“The Windows of St. Alban’s – A Century of Illumination”
Introducing this detailed and colourful book that explores the intricate stained glass artwork adorning St Alban’s. As well as examining how the windows were made and the symbolism embodied in them, the book chronicles the lives of the people memorialized in the windows and those who sponsored the work. United Empire Loyalists and other early pioneer families are well represented.
The authors will provide a glimpse behind the scenes, revealing their motivation and inspiration in documenting these remarkable windows.
10419 Loyalist Parkway, Adolphustown ON. Refreshments Provide

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

  • Townsends – or Food
  • This week in History
    • October 15, 1773, Paul Revere recorded engraving a plate for printer Isaiah Thomas to be the cover of a 1774 almanac. Crudely copied from a British model, Revere’s picture showed Gov. Thomas Hutchinson attacked by demonic monsters.
    • October 16, 1773, a Philadelphia meeting protested the Tea Act and declared “a virtuous and steady opposition to this ministerial plan of governing America is absolutely necessary to preserve even the shadow of liberty.”
    • 20 Oct 1774, the First Continental Congress created the Continental Association, which called for a ban on trade between America & Britain in response to the Coercive Acts—or “Intolerable Acts” established by Britain to restore order in MA
    • 21 Oct 1774 Taunton MA. Sons of Liberty forced out American Loyalists from Taunton. Rev Caleb Barnum proposed a plan for a symbol of support for American independence. Patriots erected a liberty pole with a red ensign with the words “Liberty and Union”
    • 17 Oct 1775 Falmouth, MA (now Portland, ME) Capt Henry Mowatt’s 8-gun HMS Canceux & 6-gun HMS Halifax bombard the town for hours before landing parties complete the havoc. Fire sweeps through 400 buildings & 14 ships in the harbor. Outrage sweeps New England.
    • 18 Oct 1775. New York Gov William Tryon escapes to HMS Duchess of Gordon in NY harbor, avoiding arrest by angry patriots. He would “govern” rebel-occupied NY from the ship for almost a year.
    • 13 Oct 1776 Split Rock, NY Benedict Arnold fights desperate rear-guard action vs pursuing British navy. He ultimately grounds & burns his vessels and marches overland to Crown Point & then Ft Ticonderoga. Gen Carleton now controls Lake Champlain, but Arnold’s delaying tactics prevent further penetration south.
    • 16 Oct 1776 Gen Washington convenes a council of war, which decides to abandon the Island of New York and move north to White Plains. A garrison of 2,000 is left at Ft. Washington to guard the North (Hudson) River.
    • 18 Oct 1776 Gen Howe’s forces land at Pell’s Point to cut Gen Washington off at Kings Bridge. But Col. John Glover’s 700 Mass. Continentals use terrain to pour murderous fire on advancing redcoats. A day-long delaying action that would thwart Howe’s plans.
    • 14 Oct 1777 Under a flag of truce, British Gen John Burgoyne requests terms. American Gen Horatio Gates demands unconditional surrender but soon agrees to an armistice.
    • 15 Oct 1777 British batteries & a pair of warships pound the walls of Ft Mifflin on the Chesapeake R. The fort’s commander, Col Samuel Smith & his men can only seek shelter behind the mud walls and wait out the onslaught of fire & iron.
    • 16 Oct 1777 Gen Horatio Gates & John Burgoyne meet to discuss terms that result in a “convention” versus a surrender. That allowed the British to march to Boston & sail to England. Congress abrogates this, although Burgoyne would sail home & never return.
    • 17 Oct 1777 British General Burgoyne, surrounded, was forced to surrender his army at Saratoga. Over 5.7K men, 5K muskets, and 37 cannons in the “Convention of Saratoga. It was the first surrender of a British field army in history. Induces France into an open alliance.
    • 17 Oct 1779 Gen. Washington orders the Continental Army to go into winter quarters at Morristown, NJ. This second winter at Morristown would prove colder and more bitter than the more famous Valley Forge
    • 19 Oct 1780 Fort Keyser NY Sir John Johnson leads Loyalists & Iroquois against militia under Col John Brown. They defeat the Americans & devastate the town of Stone Arabia. When the Americans counterattacked. Johnson holds them off but eventually withdraws.
    • 18 Oct 1781 Yorktown, Virginia. Col. John Laurens & Vicomte Louis-Marie Noailles confer with a British delegation on surrender terms. But Gen. Washington insisted on unconditional surrender & no “honors of war” in reprisal for British terms of surrender at Charleston in 1780.
    • Oct 19, 1781: Cornwallis and British Navy Captain Thomas Symonds, sign their surrender documents. At 3PM, the British Yorktown forces were led out by Brigadier General Charles O’Hara. Cornwallis, who claimed illness, wasn’t present.
    • 20-30 Oct 1781 Combined British, Loyalist, & Iroquois raid in Mohawk Valley, NY, led by Major John Ross, fails from lack of Indian interest, muddy roads, and the threat of patriot militia under Col Marinus Willett. Last British offensive in Tryon County.
    • 19 Oct 1782 British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Shelburne, authorizes his agents in Paris to negotiate with the US as a sovereign nation, not 13 separate colonies.
  • Clothing and Related:
    • Possibly england. Short Hooded Cloak (Capelet), 1770-75. Silk grosgrain (corded) tabby, trimmed with silk gimp (bobbin lace). ROMToronto
    • This #frockingFabulous #gravymagnet [dress] is a bit exquisite, isn’t it? C. 1790-1795, via the V&A.
    • This week’s class on classifying the #c18th includes dating by brocade patterns. In essence, the smaller the flower the later the date. Add stripes into the equation & you can bet it is a #1780s garment, beautifully illustrated here in this sculpted sleeved bodice
    • Well…for the ones who followed the process here the toile finish from this Mantua. Such a challenge!
    • I am banishing the wind & rain with this spectacular c1790 Pierrot jacket. The sombre stripes find a counterpoint with the bright rainbow of tufted silk fuzzing at the edges, a rare example.
    • Marie Antoinette was executed on this day in 1793. This single shoe that once belonged to the queen sold at auction in 2020 for a whopping £38,000. The silk and kidskin shoe is inscribed “Soulier de Marie-Antoinette donné à M. de Voisey”.
    • Dunblane Museum has a sampler on display dating back to 1821 when sewing was seen as an important accomplishment for girls to have in Scottish schools. Girls were required to sew samplers demonstrating different kinds of stitches.
    • A beautiful display basket illustrating how different fibers respond to natural dyes From Natural Dye day #ColonelPaulWentworthHouse in Rollinsford NH It was an unparalleled experience w/a community of generous mentors Hope to continue my dye experiments w/ knowledge gained here
  • Miscellaneous
    • In Scotland there’s an 18th century house with a giant pineapple on top. It might seem strange now, but 250 years ago this sort of thing was normal — people once used pineapples to decorate everything from sports trophies to cathedrals…

Last Post: TANNER, Anne
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the sudden passing of Elizabeth ‘Anne’ Tanner, formerly known as Anne Halliday, on October 17, 2023, at the age of 82. Anne graced this world with her presence on April 3, 1941, in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. She was the cherished daughter of Rolf and Amy Halliday and the dear sister of Kathleen Margaret States.
In June of 1965, Anne joined her life with William Thomas Tanner, embarking on a journey of love and unwavering commitment. This union brought forth the beautiful gift of family.
Anne’s profound love and dedication extended to her daughter, Sheila Tanner (Erin), and she held a special place in her heart for her loving nephew, Gordon States. Her professional journey was marked by an impressive 38-year tenure at the Royal Bank, a testament to her dedication and work ethic.
But Anne’s legacy extended far beyond her professional life. She was an active participant in numerous organizations, leaving her mark on the Dickens Fellowship and the United Empire Loyalists, where her passion for community and literature shone brightly. Her priorities in life were clear – her family, Sheila and Gordon, held a sacred place in her heart.
To honour Anne and pay our respects, see photo, service details (Wed 25 Oct), condolences and donations.

Anne and her daughter, Sheila ‘Erin’, have been long time members and supporters of Gov. Simcoe Branch, UELAC. They attended meetings regularly, Anne using a cane most recently until health issues and the pandemic precluded attendance. They have long provided extra support for in-person meetings, notably around prize donations for a Christmas meeting raffle in support of UELAC Scholarship Fund. Erin continues that family support by serving on the refreshments committee and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Branch.

 

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