In this issue:

 


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The Royal Canadian Legion National Poppy Campaign begins
Oct 27, 2023 – With thousands of donation boxes across the country, biodegradable poppies, and touching new stories about Canada’s Veterans, The Royal Canadian Legion’s 2023 National Poppy Campaign is now officially underway.
Remembrance through Light. Starting on October 27, 117,000 poppies representing Fallen Canadian Veterans since the First World War will cascade virtually upon the Peace Tower at Parliament Hill and on the Senate building. The Poppy Drop will take place until November 11, from 6:30–9:30 pm ET. On November 5, 10, and 11, the display will extend to midnight. Virtual poppies will also cascade down the National Art Centre’s “Kipnes Lantern” on November 11, from 7:00 am ET to midnight ET.
“This is a special time for the Legion and for all Canadians,” says Bruce Julian, Dominion President. “While we remember our fallen Veterans year-round, this is when the whole country is focused on our collective gratitude for their sacrifices.” Read more…

Rejected: Loyalists Denied Compensation:Part Four of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Loyal colonists who became refugees during and after the American Revolution were given land in what remained of the British Empire in North America as the foundation for a new life. Depending on which colony became their refuge, Loyalists were also given building supplies and provisions of food for a year or more. However, this generosity did not compensate the loyal refugees for all of the property and possessions that had been destroyed or taken from them during the course of the revolution.
The British government created the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists to hear testimonies, review deeds and wills, and finally decide on how much –if any— compensation individual Loyalists should receive. It is interesting to note that the commission was to consider the “services” as well as the material “losses” of Loyalists — and yet it failed to compensate many who had rendered noteworthy service to the crown.
During its five years of deliberations, the RCLSAL rejected 3,365 compensation claims. Given that it considered the merits of 5,656 Loyalists’ petitions, the RCLSAL rejected the claims of more than half of those who appeared before its commissioners. Seen at a distance of more than two centuries, it is difficult to comprehend why some Loyalists had their claims rejected. The following are just three of the more puzzling examples of men whose service deserved to be acknowledged.
Alexander Sharp’s wartime service was noted in New York City’s loyalist newspaper and “received the king’ thanks”. A New York resident, Sharp was often employed as a spy to gather intelligence. This resulted in his imprisonment on three separate occasions.
In 1778, he joined De Lancey’s Refugees, and was one of the defenders of a blockhouse near Bull’s Ferry on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. The Royal Gazette reported that Sharp was wounded as “a few determined Loyalists” repulsed a rebel force led by General Anthony Wayne.
The historian W.O. Raymond recounted, “Capt. Bull used to relate that on a certain occasion some of the British were defending a block house when a round shot crashed through the timbers and Alexander Sharp was struck in the abdomen by a flying splinter that nearly disembowelled the poor fellow. Girding himself with his handkerchief as best he could, he stood at his post using his musket till the enemy were beaten off. A surgeon was summoned and was obliged to take twenty-four stitches in closing up the wound.
The Royal Gazette of New York later reported “no veterans could have behaved better on this occasion than these few Loyalists. And his Excellency the Commander in Chief has expressed his thanks and approbation to this loyal band, for their spirited and gallant behaviour. ”
One of the British officers who visited the hardy little blockhouse was Major John Andre, the adjutant general of the British army in America. General Clinton had Andre write a letter to Colonel Cuyler, the commander of the stockade. It said, ” The Commander in Chief admiring the Gallantry of the Refugees, who in such small Numbers, defended their Post against so very considerable a Corps, and withstood both their Cannon and Assault, desires his very particular Acknowledgement of their Merit may be testified to them.”
But Sharp’s service did not end there. He was wounded in the stomach while fighting at the Battle of Slongo/Salonga on Long Island on October 3, 1781. This time, rebel forces captured and then destroyed the fort that British forces were defending.
After seeking refuge in New Brunswick, Sharp settled in Hampstead below Woodstock on the St. John River. In 1786, he sought compensation for his losses, noting that he was “almost incapable” of earning a living. Three other Loyalists served as witnesses to his service.
Nevertheless, Sharp’s appeal for compensation was rejected.
Jonathon Mowry outlined his case in a letter to the compensation board’s commissioners when they convened in Saint John, New Brunswick in February of 1786. Nine years earlier, he had enlisted in Col. Beverly Robinson’s Loyal American Regiment. He had given his wife the management of his property in New York that had been valued at £600.
Local rebels confiscated the Mowry land and auctioned it off to fund the Patriots’ war effort. Having lost all their earthly possessions, Mowry’s wife and their four children sought refuge in New York City in December of 1777. All that they were permitted to take with them were two beds and 450 pounds of pork and flour.
Within five week’s time, Mowry’s wife died of smallpox. While the fate of the youngest two children is not given, the Loyalist’s two oldest sons also took up arms during the revolution. The Loyal American Regiment left New York for the mouth of the St. John River in September of 1783, disbanding in the following month.
“Trusting on the merits of a faithful soldier“, Mowry submitted a claim for the loss of his land and supplied the commission with the names of two witnesses. His hopes that he was “entitled to a suitable compensation” were rejected.
John Shoals of Newtown, New York let his political views be known in January of 1775 when he was among those who had a notice published in Rivington’s Gazette stating that they would only recognize the authority of the New York General Assembly rather than the Continental Congress.
Within a year, Colonel Nathaniel Heard, a rebel officer, took upwards of 600 men to Long Island’s Queens County where they were to “proceed to disarm every person in said county who voted against sending deputies to Convention, cause them to deliver up their arms and ammunition on oath. ”
Shoals was among those Long Island Loyalists. Rebels arrested him, sent him to Philadelphia with 18 other Loyalists, and then confined him in New York City. He was released on parole after paying for the expenses of his imprisonment.
Shoals joined the British army when it landed on Staten Island in August of 1776. In October of that year, Shoals was one of the hundreds from Queen’s County who signed a declaration of loyalty. It, in part, stated, “we bear true allegiance to his Majesty George the Third, and are sincerely attached to his sacred person, crown, and dignity; that we consider the union of these Colonies with the parent State essential to their well being; and our earnest desire is that the constitutional authority of Great Britain over them may be preserved to the latest ages.”
Described by Judge Thomas Jones “as worthy, as honest, and as steady a Loyalist as ever existed“, Shoals served as an interpreter to the German troops until the end of the revolution.
Among this Loyalist’s wartime losses was a £1,000 bond he had made to the corporation of Newtown on Long Island. Judge Jones went on to say that Shoals was “so obnoxious to the rebel powers on account of his loyalty, that he was obliged upon the evacuation of New York to remove with his family to Nova Scotia.”
Despite this record of noteworthy service and sizeable losses, the commission rejected Shoals’ claim for compensation when it convened in Halifax in 1786. So much for British gratitude – in the eyes of the RCLSAL commissioners, neither his services nor losses merited compensation. However, the Nova Scotia government recognized Shoals status as a Loyalist later that year. Shoals received both a town lot and a wharf lot as loyalist land grants in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
To their credit, all three of these noteworthy Loyalists remained in the Maritimes despite having failed to receive compensation for all that they had lost in the American Revolution.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

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. Passed the Azores, and after almost two months sailing, sighted America on 2 June.
3 June.
We arrived in the neighborhood of Sandy Hook, where on the left a large lighthouse stands on the ocean shore to serve the ships approaching and sailing into the harbor. Next, we entered Hudson Bay, which received its name from Henry Hudson, an Englishman, who first discovered this region and later named the Hudson River after himself. Now we had land on both sides during our entrance from Sandy Hook; on the right the region of Long Island, or in German, „Lange Insel,” on the left the region of Staten Island.
Finally, on 3 June [sic], in the afternoon, between four and five o’clock, happy, healthy, and with the greatest satisfaction, and with joy, we entered the seaport of New York, where a short time previously a strong windstorm had arisen. We had been caught in the middle of a frightful electrical storm the likes of which has never been seen in Europe. We anchored. What is more remarkable, it was just as if this surprising electrical storm had been a signal that we should be allowed to be used to solve the mounting political storm that had arisen in America between the insurgents and their rightful ruler. Therefore, at the time of our arrival in America, we burned with a desire to demonstrate our bravery and to show that the Germans, and especially those of the famous Franconian blood, did not lack courage and wished to demonstrate this also in another distant part of the world.
Our eager eyes also were greeted on our arrival in America, or the New World, in part by the nearness of the beautiful city of New York, in part by the view, of beauty and fertility on both sides, of the ocean, and enough objects of wonderment; and although food prices were high, this was immaterial, as we were all happy that the dangerous sea voyage had ended so fortunately and that we had beautiful and pleasant land before our eyes.
We had spent the time since 27 March on the English ships and had sailed from Portsmouth in England on 7 April so that we completed our voyage across the ocean, or the sea, in fifty-eight days. In all, however, we had traveled on the large and small waters twelve weeks and three days, therefore three months, to America.
4 June.
We remained at anchor in New York Harbor. Today was the birthday of George III, King of England. This was celebrated very magnificently and with great solemnity. All the ships that were in the harbor of New York and the surrounding waters, and those at anchor, put out their flags, and at twelve o’clock noon all the cannon were fired three times on the water by the men-of-war, frigates, and schooners, as well as on the land at all the forts and defensive positions. One could hear a continuous thunder and roar of the cannon, and there must have been over three or four thousand cannon shots.
Next, I should also mention something of the city of New York and the surrounding area, and about North America.
The American land is a good and incomparable land. Where it has been built up and developed by the immigrants from Europe, Germans and other nationalities, it is very rich and fruitful, well cultivated, and with much grain, especially a great deal of Indian corn; and it has many and beautiful forests of both soft and hardwood trees unknown to us. Stock farming is well advanced in the land, and many horses are equal to those of the English in beauty, size, and speed. There are also cattle, swine, sheep, and poultry in a variety and sufficiency. The forests are full of wildlife; the deer, rabbits, and fox are somewhat smaller than in Europe; and there are also bear, wolves, and panthers.
(To be continued)

The Delcastle Cannonball
by Walter A. Chiquoine 26 Oct. 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
Several years ago, I set out to understand the movements of the British army through Delaware and into Pennsylvania in early September 1777. It was a small piece of the Philadelphia campaign of Gen, Sir William Howe, who led a combined army of about 16,000 that landed on Elk Neck on August 25 and captured Philadelphia by mid-October. The campaign is probably best known for the engagements at Brandywine Creek and at Germantown
I was most interested in September 8 through 10, when the British and Hessian troops moved from Pencader, Delaware, to Kennett Square in Pennsylvania, a movement that took them within a mile or so from my former home. There are quite a few records of this period, mostly among British and Hessian sources, but no one in recent times had done an accurate job of actually drawing it on today’s map. I was able to find the headquarters of General Howe on September 8 and 9 and used a sketch made by Capt. John André to locate the encampment along the Limestone Road, and thus could map the British movements. Once properly oriented, the narratives all made sense. It dovetailed with work being done by researchers in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and for the Brandywine Battlefield, kudos to them.
What this research confirmed was an event on September 8 that should be recognized as a meaningful part of Delaware’s Revolutionary War history. Read more…

Mercy Otis Warren: Revolutionary Propagandist
by Jonathan House 24 Oct. 2023 Journal of the American Revolution
On March 26, 1772, The Massachusetts Spy ran an unusual item on page 3 of that day’s newspaper: an advertisement for a dramatic performance of The Adulateur at the Grand Parade in Upper Servia. Filling nearly half the page, the notice contained a list of dramatis personae and a couple of scenes from the play. In the opening soliloquy, Rapatio, the bashaw of Servia, exults in the success of his schemes “To quench the gen’rous flame, the ardent / love / Of liberty in Servia’s freeborn sons.” Then, in reference to the play’s title, the villainous leader says he must seek out the “adulating tongues” of his inner circle to relieve the pangs of his “phantom conscience.” Patriot readers of The Spy quickly recognized the item as a mock advertisement for a fictional dramatic performance, with the character Rapatio (the rapacious one) representing the hated Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson. The Adulateur was the first of a series of dramatic sketches by Mercy Otis Warren, a member of a prominent Patriot family, and their novel approach to satire electrified the emerging revolutionary movement. Read more…


Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American woman, visits the Tower
Date October 22, 2021 — Earlier this month, we learned about three important poets who lived or worked at the Tower of London. Now, for Black History Month, Curator Charles Farris explores the life of Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784) who visited the Tower in 1773.
In October 1773, a woman named Phillis Wheatley wrote to Col. David Worcester of New Haven, Connecticut, describing a recent trip to London where she visited a number of attractions including the Tower of London. As a curator at the Tower, this letter is already of incredible interest. However, the significance is magnified because Phillis Wheatley was an important African American poet, and one who was successful despite being enslaved. This blog will introduce her incredible life and career.
Early Life and Education
Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1753. We do not know her name of birth because she was enslaved and brought to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1761 on the Phillis, a slave ship after whom she was renamed. Arriving in Boston, Phillis was sold by slave dealer John Avery to Boston merchant John Wheatley (whose surname she was subsequently given) to act as a servant to his wife Susanna.
Phillis Wheatley was highly intelligent and, very unusually as an enslaved person, was encouraged in her academic pursuits…
…Phillis Wheatley also visited a host of London attractions including the Tower of London, which she described in some detail. At the Tower, she was escorted by a man called Granville Sharp who worked in the Ordinance Office there at the time. Sharp was also a notable abolitionist and one imagines they had much to discuss. Read more…

History of Papermaking
As an archive conservator, I am fascinated by the structure of paper and the history of papermaking. No, I’m not very fun at parties, why do you ask? If you’ll indulge me, I’ll try and explain how you might find papermaking and watermarks interesting.
Scroll down this page through the various steps and watch the 5-minute video at step 12.
To put a timeline to it, the industrial manufacture of paper began in the 19th century with the expansion of mass-circulation newspapers and the first best-selling novels, which required enormous quantities of cheap cellulose. In 1797, Louis Nicolas Robert created the first Fourdrinier machine, which was able to produce a 60-cm-long sheet.
The second one is a more commonly used method to produce paper with low strength properties. Initially, paper was made manually as single sheets until the invention of paper machine by Louis Robert in France in 1799. Figure 1 illustrates schematics of the first paper machine of Louis Robert.
So it would seem that the advertisements (below) from 250 years ago as printed in newspapers or on handbills were all printed on paper made by hand.

Livestock & Animal Breeds in Early America
Undra Jeter, 24 Oct 2023 Ben Franklin’s World
Undra Jeter, the Bill and Jean Lane Director of Coach and Livestock at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, joins us to explore the animals English and British colonists brought with them to North America and used to build, run, and sustain their colonial farms and cities. As animals provided many benefits to early Americans, Undra is also here to share information about some of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s efforts to bring back the population numbers of some of these historic animal breeds through its rare breeds program.
During our investigation, Undra reveals details about the livestock English colonists brought with them to North America, as well as the indigenous North American animals they encountered; The work livestock performed on farms and in colonial urban sites like Williamsburg, Virginia; And, information about Colonial Williamsburg’s rare breeds program and why a living history museum like Colonial Williamsburg is working to help increase the population numbers of different historic animal breeds. Listen in…

Advertised on 27 October 1773: “…quit Trade and settle his Affairs”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“As he is determined to quit Trade and settle his Affairs, he will sell off all his remaining Goods at public Sale.”
Randle Mitchell advertised a “going out of business” sale in the fall of 1773. He announced that he “is determined to quit Trade and settle his Affairs” and “is now selling off his stock of European and India GOODS, Imported in the last Vessels from London and Bristol.” The merchant outlined the terms of the sale in an advertisement that ran in the Pennsylvania Journal for several weeks in October.
Mitchell ran the advertisement in advance of commencing the sale, hoping to build both anticipation and competition among wholesalers and retailers interested in acquiring his wares. Read more…

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

  • Kevin Wisener, Abegweit Branch, PEI, contributed information about Corporal John Chambers who was born c1737, possibly from New York, and served with the 17th Regiment of Foot. He was captured by the Rebels and was aided by Hannah Tomlinson to escape the rebels and return to service. In 1786 he received a 200 acre Loyalist Land Grant in Shelburne Annapolis Rd., Shelburne County, Nova Scotia. He subsequently moved to PEI where he received a 300 acre land grant on the Pinette River and a 100 acre land grant at Bedeque, Prince County, Prince Edward Island. He later moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island where he was a miller by occupation and the gaoler (jailer) for the colony of St. John’s Island.
  • Kevin Hoeg discovered that the parents of his Loyalist ancestor Nathan Hoeg were in fact not Nathan’s parents after all and asked for that information to be removed. Correcting information is certainly most helpful to others who researching. Nathan before the war was settled in the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York (1775, New York Genealogical Records). He served in Captain Knap’s Troop in Colonel James De Lancey’s Corps of Refugees, Westchester, New York. After the war he resettled in Ramsheg, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. He was married to Abigail Mary Mills (Abagail), marriage date and place unclear. Abigail was the daughter of David Mills, also a Loyalist, and Rebecca Holmes.

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

Loyalists and descendants who participated in the War of 1812: Andrew Miller
When he was eleven years old, his father and uncle were killed at Pine Bush, Ulster County, New York on September 5, 1778, and Andrew was taken captive and brought to Fort Niagara. He was “redeemed” by John Burch, the sutler of Butler’s Rangers, and he lived with John and Martha Burch for twelve years, first at the Bottoms next to Fort Niagara and later in the Burch home above the Falls at Chippawa Creek where John Burch built his grist mill.
In 1791 Andrew Miller married Elizabeth Everett. In 1796 he was awarded his 200 acres as a Loyalist and settled on the Niagara River at Miller’s Creek, five miles north of Fort Erie. Read more…
Submitted by Bruce Miller

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.

Flights of Inspiration: Pathway to the Stars: 100 Years of the Royal Canadian Air Force
Written by Michael Hood and Tom Jenkins — 24 Oct 2023 Canada’s History
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was formed in the wake of the First World War and with the growing recognition of the importance of aviation for diverse civilian and military purposes. Stories of the organization’s people, aircraft, operations, and technological innovations are told in the new book Pathway to the Stars: 100 Years of the Royal Canadian Air Force, by retired RCAF Lieutenant General Michael Hood and Canadian business leader Tom Jenkins, who has a decades-long involvement with the RCAF.
As the authors note, early in the First World War the Canadian Aviation Corps was an “absurdly small unit, made up of two officers and one mechanic” that purchased a single airplane and never saw battle. Instead, thousands of Canadians were trained and many Canadian pilots served with the British Royal Flying Corps or Royal Naval Air Service — including “an impressive total of eighty-two aces (each with ten or more victories).”
After a series of different Canadian aviation and air-defence organizations had been created in just a few years, the RCAF was officially born on April 1, 1924. Pathway to the Stars includes some three hundred photos and illustrations and was produced in partnership with the RCAF Foundation, itself formed in 2021 to recognize and to celebrate the air force. The following are a few of the book’s one hundred stories that together mark the RCAF’s centenary. Read more…

In the News

King Charles III Pin for Beverly Loomis UE
As noted in the Sherbrooke Record 28 August 2023, a number of people were awarded a King Charles III pin. The newspaper provided a few words about each recipient, and a photo of each in turn with the presenter. If it works see the copy and photos. Separately an image of the paper and of the pin with description on the presentation folder.
The third last photo and last description is of Bev. It reads:

Madame Beverly Loomis
Mrs. Loomis has been a tireless volunteer in the community for decades. President with the local Little Forks Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada. President with Patrimoine Ascot / Ascot Heritage. While with Ascot Heritage, Mrs. Loomis orchestrated the full restoration of the Little Hyatt School House.

See more about the “Hyatt One-Room Schoolhouse“, the restoration of which was supported by UELAC.
Congratulations Bev.

Buyer of farmland had other plans
Andrew Hind 28 October 2023, Innisfil Today
Adam Myers built a two-storey tavern on his property when he was courting Mary Hudson, a beautiful girl from Penetanguishene
Adam Myers was descended from a United Empire Loyalist family, his grandfather serving as a captain in a regiment of Tories who remained loyal to King and Country during the American Revolution. Adam’s father, David Myers, was born near Utica, New York, in 1800 shortly before the family moved across Lake Ontario to Upper Canada (Ontario).
As a young married man David Myers lived in Markham for a spell, but by around 1830 the new family had settled a farm in Innisfil on the south half of lot 16 concession 10 (which became known, locally, as Myers’ Corners). It was here, on this quiet farm, that Adam was born to David and his second wife, Mary Ann (his first wife had died in childbirth) on Jan. 10, 1842.
Adam grew into a strong, tireless young man. 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

Sir Guy Carleton Branch “Loyalists in the American Revolution” Tues. 7 Nov. 7-9:00 ET

The presentation is about where to look when researching Loyalists who came to Canada, Great Britain and the Caribbean. Becket is currently Emeritus Professor of Canon Law at St Paul University in Ottawa. He is descended from a dozen Mayflower passengers and is Deputy Governor and Elder of the Canadian Mayflower Society, and Secretary and Historian of the NC Mayflower Society, as well as editor of the George Soule “silver book.”
A virtual meeting; to attend, please contact: carletonuel@hotmail.com

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

  • Townsends – or Food
    • Life Or Death For The Longhunter
    • JYF Museums: Maize corn was a cooking staple among Indigenous peoples, free and enslaved African Americans and colonists living in Virginia. It could be used in one-pot meals, as hominy or grits, or it could be ground for use in breads, cakes or pie crusts.
  • This week in History
    • 25 Oct 1760 London. George William Frederick was crowned King George III of Great Britain & Ireland. George’s reign, which was longer than his predecessors, was marked by military conflicts involving much of Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
    • 26 Oct 1768 Quebec, CA Sir Guy Carleton arrives and begins his long service as Governor General of Canada. His governance would be steady, although rocked by colonists to the south.
    • 28 Oct 1770 NYC Sons of Liberty attacked the King Street office of Tory printers John Mein & John Fleming, whose ads impugned John Adams and listed establishments continuing to import British goods.
    • 25 Oct 1774, 1st Continental Congress sent a petition to King George III to inform his majesty that if it had not been for the acts of oppression forced upon the colonies by the British Parliament, the American people would be standing behind British rule.
    • 26 Oct 1774 Cambridge, Mass. Provincial Congress reorganizes the colonial militia. Making them better trained & prepared & able to turn out at a “minute’s notice,” the famed Minutemen. Other colonies follow.
    • 24 Oct 1775 Norfolk VA. With the arrival of Col Wm Woodford’s forces, the patriot militia drove back British land & sea forces, capturing 2 ships. When the British got back to their ships, VA riflemen began picking off British troops from the decks.
    • 25 Oct 1775 Col Benedict Arnold’s Canada expedition struggles to get through rough terrain & weather near Dead River. Col. Roger Enos abandons the expedition and returns home with his 300-strong brigade. Undeterred, Arnold presses northward.
    • 27 Oct 1775, King George III speaks before the British Parliament to discuss rebellion in America, which he viewed as a traitorous action against himself & Britain. He read a “Proclamation of Rebellion” & urged Parliament to bring order to the colonies.
    • 26 Oct 1776 Benjamin Franklin departed for France on the USS Reprisal with the hope of negotiating a formal alliance. He traveled with his grandson William Temple Franklin and ambassadors Silas Deane and Arthur Lee.
    • 27 Oct 1776 White Plains, NY British advance guard skirmishes with Gen Alexander McDougall’s brigade, reinforced by Col John Haslet’s crack Delaware Regt. American defenders suffered 30 casualties.
    • 21 Oct 1777 Col Karl von Donop crosses Delaware R. with 1,000 Hessians and prepares to avenge the humiliating loss at Trenton with an assault on Ft Mercer and its 1,000-strong garrison under Col Christopher Greene.
    • 22 Oct 1777 Battle of Red Bank. British moved quickly to control the Delaware River. A force of 2000 Hessians under Col von Donop was sent to capture the American Fort Mercer but was turned back by a force of 400 Patriot defenders.
    • 22 Oct 1777 Philadelphia, PA Realizing his support from the Secretary for the Colonies, George Germain was lacking, British General William Howe asked to be relieved of command.
    • 23 Oct 1777 Adm Richard Howe orders a squadron to attack Ft Mifflin on Mud Island on the Delaware R. American armed galleys drive 64-gum HMS Merlin & 18-gun HMS Augusta aground on Hog Island, where they are burned. Merlin is largest British ship lost in #RevWar
    • 26 Oct 1779 Lt Colonel John Graves Simcoe was captured in an ambush by Americans at South River Bridge, NJ. Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers lost 3 killed & 6 prisoners while Americans lost 1 killed & 3 wounded.
    • 24 Oct 1781 British fleet of 25 SOL plus frigates & a relief force of 7K Regulars under Adm Graves enters Chesapeake Bay. But with news of Cornwallis’s surrender & presence of the French fleet blockading the approaches, he turns back to NY on the 29th
    • 24 Oct 1781 Warrenbush NY Some 750 Loyalists& Iroquois under Maj John Ross attack and torch the American settlement.
    • 25 Oct 1781 Johnson Hall, NY Some 750 Loyalists & Iroquois marauders under Maj John Ross are attacked by 400 NY militia under Col Marinus Willet. They escape Willet, but only after losing 65 to the Americans’ 35. Willet vigorously pursues them.
    • On this day in 1812, French & Russian forces clashed in what is (in my opinion) one of the most underrated battles of the Napoleonic Wars: Maloyaroslavets. The fighting was inconclusive, but Napoleon was forced to take an unfavorable route out of Russia, to disastrous results.
  • Clothing and Related:
    • France. Young Girl’s Boned bodice, 1730-40. Silk with polychrome silks brocaded with silver, trimmed with silver lace, lined in linen. ROM Toronto
    • English. Silk possibly woven by Batchelor, Ham & Perigal of Spitalfields, London, 1772-73. America. Dress, c.1837. Silk satin and tobine (cannelé) stripes brocaded with coloured silks.
    • West Chester, Pennsylvania. Rare Round Gown (Robe à l’anglaise), 1775-80s. Cotton plain weave. Rare because gowns like this did not last. They were worn (& reworn & mended) by servant’s or working women.
    • England. Silk dress & petticoat, 1775-85.
    • England. Tailored Jacket of Side Saddle Riding Habit, 1770-80. Fulled wool twill ( a heavy, insulating & resistant to wind & rain textile). I love how vivid the colour is after nearly 250 years!
    • Such was the beauty of Indian #chintz that, by the late #c18th, it would be exported around the world to be made into fashionable gowns such as this. The wood block printing process in regions such as Rajasthan was highly skilled and one that is still practised today
  • Miscellaneous
    • Object of the week is this very decorative Wedgwood solid jasper teapot, dating to around 1795. Solid jasper was created by Wedgwood in the 1770s and came in both jasper dip and solid jasper states, of which the latter was more expensive to produce and purchase.
    • JYF Museums: Welcome to another #MuseumMakerMonday! Today we’re talking about representation of Indigenous material culture. One big issue is that there are really no commercial suppliers of proper reproductions of most of it. This is especially true of basic, workaday items like pottery. Here Roger shows us a larger pot at the leather hard stage, ready to be fired. You can see the incised design at the top. The ubiquitous pointed bottom, allows the pot to stand in a bed of coals to evenly distribute heat and helps keep food from burning during long, slow cooking. While different people had different styles as shown by the Wampanoag pot from @plimothpatuxet and these Powhatan style pots, basic techniques were similar; starting with a pinched base and building up with coils, pots were shaped with various tools and pit-fired.

Last Post: MACNAB UE, La Dema Dorrine (Robertson) Macnab
We were saddened to be informed that Dorrine passed away in December 2022.
She joined Toronto Branch in 1974 and served as Librarian moving up the ranks of Vice President, Finance Chair to President in 1983. We can attribute to her the running of our library and archives on a professional basis, the formation of our branch office, library/archives and meeting room on Eglinton Ave. E., our first set of by-laws, and our branch incorporation with the Ontario Historical Society in 1986. Under her watchful eye Loyalist Lineages was a “Successful best seller by Canadian standards”.
Dorrine did her best at making the UELAC known across Canada, by giving talks to school children, bus trips, producing a brochure of introduction to the general public and by including well known personages such as Pauline McGibbon UE and Roland Michener UE in celebrations over the years.
She was predeceased by her husband E. Nelson Macnab (1919-1997), her adopted son Keith Robertson Macnab (1954-2019) and is survived by her adopted daughter Brenda.
Dorrine is descended from George Woodley UEL, New Jersey Volunteers.
…submitted by Martha Hemphill UE, Toronto Branch

Published by the UELAC
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