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Four New England Loyalist Privateers: Part Two of Two
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
For a period of 10 months in 1779, a loyalist fleet of privateers terrorized the New England coast. Historian Marion Desrosiers points out that an “irregular unit” such as the Loyal Associated Refugees “contributed to a hybrid approach to the war“. The loyalist privateers “complemented the conventional army by attacking rebel militias“, and –in some cases– terrorizing civilian communities. Desrosiers noted that the sea-going militia had three objectives: procuring food supplies for the British army, generating fear by burning vessels and buildings, and capturing “rebels of importance”.
Based in Newport, Rhode Island, the Loyal Associated Refugees had to cease their raids when the British forces left Rhode Island in October of 1799. Its 200 sailors and officers found other ways to serve the crown for the duration of the revolution. Four of those known to be part of the privateer militia eventually settled in the Maritimes.
Lorenzo Sabine quickly outlines the biography of Thomas Hazard, a wealthy Rhode Island merchant who had been forced to abandon his wife and 7 children and flee to New York City during the revolution. In May of 1779, he briefly joined the loyalist privateers in a raid on Point Judith, Rhode Island. After rebels confiscated his estate, he went to England. The British government “in consideration of his loyalty and sacrifices, granted him five thousand acres of land in New Brunswick. He died at Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1804.”
Edward Winslow of Plymouth, Massachusetts, had helped to create the Loyal Associated Refugees and was its senior officer. His far- reaching impact on New Brunswick history has been the basis of many historical accounts, including a 3,366-word biography by Ann G. Condon in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. With regard to the loyalist privateers, Winslow is remembered as leading raids on towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts between March and October of 1779 He died of a stroke in Fredericton, New Brunswick on May 13, 1815 at the age of 70.
The focus of this article will be James Clarke of Newport, Rhode Island, a Loyalist of whom little has been written. Born in September 1740, he married Mary Bennett when he was 21. The couple would eventually have six children – 5 sons and 1 daughter. At the age of 38, Clarke became the secretary of the Loyal Associated Refugees. In March of 1779, he had a proclamation published in New England newspapers that outlined the objectives of the loyalist privateers who had united to fight rebel terrorism. He also wrote William Franklin, the last royal governor of New Jersey, twice to give “an account of the proceedings and success of the association“.
While Edward Winslow and George Leonard, the other two men who had founded the Loyal Associated Refugees with Clarke were members of raiding parties, it seems that Clarke waged war on American rebels with ink and quill. His name does not appear in any of the few accounts of the Refugees’ raids that have survived to this day.
In September of 1779, Clarke went to New York City “upon business of His Majesty’s Service“. A month later, the British forces that had occupied Newport since 1776 withdrew. This not only brought about the end of the Loyal Associated Refugees, but it meant that Clarke could not safely return to what was once again rebel territory. His wife Mary and their children remained in their Rhode Island home until August of 1780, when a request from Clarke for his family’s safe travel to New York was granted.
Clarke’s activities over the next 3 years are unknown. On Christmas Eve of 1783, the family arrived in Halifax aboard a loyalist evacuation ship. With them was two year-old David Shaw Clarke. The family decided to settle in Halifax, but they kept in touch with old friends back in Rhode Island. A letter Clarke wrote to a Newport correspondent in February 1786 reveals his thoughts about his former country.
“I hope Prospects brighten at Newport and that you begin to realise some of the many Benefits which Independence and a new Constitution were to give you – A whole Continent ruined to get rid of ideal Taxes – Without a Friend, unconnected with Great Britain, groaning under the severest Burthens, deprived of the Advantages of Commerce, and forsaken by all the World are Evils of so extensive a Magnitude and in their Consequences so Fatal, that America must fall under its accumulating Pressure – My attachment to our native Country is so fervent and sincere that I could freely give up my Life and Ten Thousand more if I possessed them could I restore dear Rhode Island to its former happy, happy situation.”
Two months later, the events of the revolution would once again replay in Clarke’s mind as he appeared as a witness for Thomas Bannister before the loyalist compensation board. Bannister had been a friend of Clarke’s since their childhood in Newport.
In August of 1786, James and Mary had all of their children christened at St. Paul’s Anglican Church. The newest addition to their family was Horatio Lake Clarke who had been born two months earlier.
Three years later, Clarke became the new sheriff of Halifax and the first secretary of the colony’s newly formed Agricultural Society. In January 1790, the Rhode Island Loyalist placed an advertisement in the city’s newspaper in his capacity as a warden of St. Paul’s Church. It was an appeal for donations for “the relief of orphans” and the 35 children who attended the church’s Sunday School. Chief among the needs was warm clothing “in consequence of the inclemency of the weather“. A month later, Clarke reported that “15 great coats, 64 shirts and shifts, 70 pairs stockings and 35 pairs strong shoes” had been given out to children in need.
On August 22, Mary Clarke died at the age of 53. In addition to recounting her experience as a loyalist refugee, her death notice commended her for her fortitude and composure. “Those virtues, which are the highest ornaments of our nature, those possessed in an eminent degree without an ambition of appearing beyond the humble walks of life. As an affectionate wife, kind parent, and sympathetic friend: she has left many to lament a loss, which probably will not to them be fully repaired.”
James Clarke died at 63 on October 13, 1802. His death notice, which appeared in newspapers as far away as Fredericton, New Brunswick, described the former privateer as an assistant commissary and storekeeper general. “Mr. Clarke possessed a clear and comprehensive mind, was highly distinguished for the benevolence of his disposition, and for his pleasant and agreeable manners–To his family he was affectionate and indulgent, and he will long be remembered with esteem, by a number of extensive acquaintances.”
James Clarke, the former privateer who penned words of retaliation and reprisal as well as threats of war and persecution in 1779, was laid to rest in Halifax’s Burial Grounds 23 years later where he was remembered as a man who helped orphans and children in need.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Book Review: Dishonored Americans: The Political Death of Loyalists in Revolutionary America
Authour: Timothy Compeau, (University of Virginia Press, 2023)
by Kelsey DeFord 15 Jan 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
Early American scholars treated Loyalists of the American Revolution as bystanders and stereotypical villains in the story. This was part of a larger attempt to unify American colonists during and after the war. Some Loyalists wrote their own stories; mainly elites attempted to justify imperial actions or theorize why the British lost the colonies.
Telling a larger picture of these Loyalists means thorough research of primary sources, specifically, ones that tell who these Loyalists were and how the war affected them. There has been growing research in the field of Loyalist studies, particularly in the Ontario and Nova Scotia areas, notable places of Loyalist refugees. Yet, according to Maya Jasanoff, traditional Loyalist studies still examine Patriot and Loyalist ideologies and philosophies. Ruma Chopra also states that Loyalists lose agency when scholars only analyze their treatment at the hands of radical Patriots.
Timothy Compeau’s Dishonored Americans attempts to rectify these issues by placing his analysis in the center of honor culture and masculinity. Patriots encouraged “political death” of Loyalists, which intensified the civil war of the revolution. Patriots perceived Loyalists as dangerous, but each side weaponized honor culture to craft their own identities. Drawing heavily from his 2015 doctoral dissertation, Compeau argues that while Patriots attacked the benchmarks of manhood and honor, each side formed its own ideals. Compeau draws on experiences of mainly white men, notably from South Carolina, which he argues is due to the extensive documentation of Loyalists in this area. Read more…

Scholarships. Much appreciated publicity
A colourful advertisement for the UELAC Scholarship appeared on page 10 of the 2023 Fall Loyalist Gazette. (Volume LXI No.2) The article introduces readers to the 2023 scholarship recipients. The ad at the bottom of the page is directed to potential scholars. The Scholarship Committee is grateful to the Loyalist Gazette & Communications Committee for the generous amount of space to spread the word.
The deadline for new scholarship applications is February 28, 2024.
In October of 2022 letters were sent to the history departments of 38 Canadian universities asking that the department or the funding website list the UELAC Scholarship so that current or future Masters and PhD students become aware of this source of additional income should they wish to apply.
An X (fka) “Twitter” account was established called UELoyalistACScholarship (acloyalist). Following trusted and suitable accounts helps get some UELAC brand recognition but it is a struggle to have accounts follow back.
Please keep our scholars in mind as they face busy and often stressful Spring Semesters. If they are also teaching or research assistants they must balance this with time to write and re-write their theses.
Lastly, please celebrate with us the success of our Scholarship Committee member, Professor Timothy J. Compeau. Tim was a scholarship recipient in 2007. His recently published book Dishonored Americans: The Political Death of Loyalists in Revolutionary America is receiving good press. You can read an interview with him on the publisher’s website. https://www.upress.virginia.edu/author-corner/authors-corner-with-timothy-compeau-author-of-dishonored-americans/
Christine Manzer UE, chair
PS: Note the review of Timothy’s book above. And you can register for his virtual presentation to The American Revolution Institute this coming Wednesday.

Herman Hostetter UEL
Contributed by Robert Ireland UE (5th great grandson of Herman Hostetter)
Many of the UEs who settled in the Niagara District were men who not only served in various capacities during the American Revolutionary War, but who also did their part in protecting Upper Canada in the War of 1812-14. Among them was Herman Hostetter, as well as two of his sons and several of his sons-in-law.
What do we know about the ancestry and life of Herman Hostetter?
Family tradition maintains that the Hostetter family originated in Switzerland, although some genealogists believe that the primogenitor may have been a certain Ulrich Hoechstetter (ca. 1390-1453) who was a merchant and manufacturer at Augsburg in Bavaria in southern Germany.
A Viennese nobleman, Count Ferdinand von Hoechstetter, thought that the North American branch of the family was descended from Christopher Hoechstetter, the great-grandson of Ulrich, who had emigrated to Hungary during the 16th century. The family, who were Anabaptists by the 17th century, fled to England via Germany and Holland to escape religious persecution. The first documented ancestor of the family was Jacob Hostetter (ca. 1690-1761), a Mennonite Bishop, who settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1712. He and his wife Anna Lorenz had a son Abraham (1723-1796) who was married to Catherine Long. Their son, Herman, was the ancestor of the Canadian branch of the family.
Herman’s exact birthdate is not known, but records suggest that it was in July or August 1753. Little is known of his early life and education, but he was sufficiently literate that he could write his name. During his lifetime he engaged in farming and was also a carpenter. During the American Revolution, Herman served under General Howe at Philadelphia in 1778, then joined the Bucks County Volunteers, and was also a carpenter in the Engineer’s Department under Captain William Marshall of the 65th Regiment. Herman was discharged from service “at his request” in late September 1781. Hostetter then fled to the safety of Nova Scotia where he purchased farmland at Birch Town Creek and town and water lots at Shelburne in 1784-86. He estimated that he had sustained unspecified war losses of approximately £1,000.
In October 1783, “Hiram Hosteler” was married at the Anglican Church at Shelburne to Ann Newman Kennedy (ca.1757-Jan. 3, 1851.) She was the daughter of John Kennedy, a Loyalist and “Pilot during the American War.” Ann was a native of the Carolinas, but it is not known whether she was from North or South Carolina. South Carolina, which saw a great deal of action during the war, had been a former “Royal Colony” (1719) and so that may be where her family had settled. There was also a certain John Kennedy who owned a plantation in the vicinity of Wilmington in North Carolina. Further research will be required to confirm this. We know that Ann was also able to write, and she had a reputation in later life of being a rather garrulous, opinionated woman.
Herman and Ann raised a family of eleven children (three sons and eight daughters) who were born between 1784 and 1807. The five oldest children were born in Nova Scotia, and the remainder were born in Upper Canada (Ontario.)
Hostetter, like several other Nova Scotia Loyalists, moved to Upper Canada following the arrival of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. Poor quality land back in Shelburne may have prompted the decision to move, but Hostetter also appears to have been acquainted with Simcoe through his war time service. Herman petitioned for grants of land in various parts of the province in July 1793 (York/Toronto), May 1796 (Long Point), and for “family lands” in October 1796. He did not obtain a patent for the lands at York or Long Point, but he did get a patent for 100-acres (40.47 ha) in Walsingham Township (near Port Rowan on Lake Erie) in 1797. This land was later bequeathed to his sons, Abraham, and Herman Jr.
Hostetter may have lived temporarily at Stoney Creek, near Hamilton, but by 1797 he appears to have settled in Grantham Township (now part of St. Catharines.) He purchased 50-acres (20.23 ha) there in November 1802, and 121 acres (48.96 ha) in May 1805. Herman named this land “Pleasant Valley Farm.”
Herman’s name is found in various local records between 1797 and 1812, including the store accounts of Daniel Servos at Niagara, for the baptisms of some of his children, and as Church Warden for the first church at St. Catharines in 1810-1811. Herman’s name appears to have been entered incorrectly on the old UE List as “John” Hosteder, a matter which was not corrected until January 1812.
Hostetter joined the Lincoln Militia as a private at some point early in the War of 1812; family tradition maintains that he was wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights in October 1812 and that he later succumbed to his injuries. The actual truth is somewhat less heroic: Herman contracted sickness whilst on duty and he and his neighbour, George Darby, “died soon after they returned to their homes.”
Herman made out his last will and testament on December 3, 1812, in which he bequeathed his Grantham farm to his second son, Jacob, subject to various legacies and conditions. Herman died on December 10th and was interred at Catharines Ontario (in the family burial plot overlooking Lake Ontario) two days later. His burial was recorded by Rev. Robert Addison in St. Mark’s (Anglican) Burial Register at Niagara. Herman’s tombstone was later shattered, and the pieces were collected and removed from the site by one of his grandsons. The whereabouts of the stone are not presently known, but a new stone was erected at his gravesite in March 2023, not only for Herman, but for 6 other family members as well. A dedication ceremony for the restored gravesite is in the planning stages. In 1818-19, Ann Hostetter unsuccessfully petitioned the Upper Canadian government for a pension as the widow of a militiaman.
Other members of the family also served during the War of 1812-14: William Westover (1769-ca. 1836) the son of another UEL (John Westover Jr., 1738-1797), was the husband of Herman’s eldest daughter Catherine Hostetter, and served in the Niagara Light Dragoons (1812-13) and also as a private in the 1st Regiment of Lincoln Militia (1813-14.) Frederick Augustus Goring (1785-1868), the husband of Ann Hostetter, served in the Lincoln Militia in 1812-13. Abraham
Hostetter (1786-1868), eldest son of Herman, served in the Niagara Light Dragoons (1812-13) and in the 1st Lincoln Militia (1813.) Captain Jacob A. (“Tomahawk”) Ball (1777-1820, husband of Herman’s daughter Elizabeth) served in the 1st Lincoln Militia throughout the war. Jacob Hostetter (1792-1854), the second son of Herman, also served as a private in the 1st Lincoln Militia in 1812-13. He is reported to have seen action at Queenston Heights, where he was wounded in the thigh, and he was later absent due to sickness in May 1813. Later muster rolls stated that he was “lame and ruptured,” but his name was still recorded in the rolls after the war between 1819 and 1829.
With many thanks to author and researcher Brian Narhi for his patience and diligence in summarizing the information for this article from his 1992 book “Hostetter, UEL”.
Robert Ireland UE pmulder@oricom.ca

Defining the Northwestern Limits of the New Republic
by Merv O. Ahrens 2 Jan 2024 Journal olf the American Revolution
The British Library in London, England, houses an internationally significant and relatively understudied copy of Dr. John Mitchell’s renowned 1755 map, renamed and reprinted circa 1775 A Map of the British Colonies in North America. . . This map garnered particular attention due to its use in the 1782 boundary negotiations conducted by the British and American peace commissioners in Paris. It is commonly referred to as “King George III’s red-lined map” or hereafter appropriately as “Oswald’s map.”
Records of the proceedings that ended America’s War of Independence provide the necessary background for most of the map’s manuscript lines, handwritten notations, and erasures. The manuscript inclusions found in the northwest quarter of this map are significant and played a potential role in shaping the future boundaries of the United States and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) headquartered in London. Read more…

Top 10 Quotes About The Battle of Bunker Hill
by Katie Turner Getty 16 JJan 2014 Journal of the American Revolution
Provincial soldiers defended the redoubt atop Breed’s Hill, their simple homemade clothing streaked with dirt from digging the walls of the earthen fort that surrounded and sheltered them. New England soil shoveled and shaped overnight for the protection of New England men.
Blood met earth, hundreds of times that afternoon, as men in blood-red coats and men in dirt-dusted homespun, fell to the ground, bone shattered by musket ball, and flesh torn by bayonet.
The smoke from burning Charlestown has long since dissipated. The crack and blaze of musket fire has long since faded. The walls of the redoubt have long since returned to the earth—as have the soldiers who scaled and defended them.
All that remains of the Battle of Bunker Hill are the words of the men who were there.
Cpl. Peter Brown
We worked there undiscovered till about five in the morning, then we saw our danger, being against ships of the line, and all Boston fortified against us.
Twenty-two-year-old Peter Brown numbered among the approximately 1,200 provincial soldiers ordered to march from Cambridge and entrench on a hill in Charlestown on the night of June 16, 1775. The troops dug through the darkness, throwing up a fortification on Breed’s Hill that would shock British senses when daylight broke on June 17.
…and nine more quotes including Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne, Lt. Francis, Lord Rawdon and General Sir William Howe. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Life is improving in Philadelphia Feb 1778
From a Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
This excerpt from the diary of Johan Conrad Dohla (170 pages).

1778 – February: Philadephia has changed in two months (Continued – page 50)

15 February. During the night the watch and command at the Schuylkill Bridge was attacked by four hundred Americans under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel [Henry] Lee. Captain von Ellrodt of the Ansbach Regiment was posted there with sixty men. The enemy initially sent him a heavy rain of musket balls, but upon his unfriendly answer, retreated so quickly that they left few dead, but all the more shoes, hats, and bread sacks along the way. Of the Ansbachers, only two men were lightly wounded, one on the hand, the other on the leg.
28 February. Colonel von Eyb arrived here from New York with the troops of our two regiments that had remained behind. In this month the weather has been beautiful, warm and pleasant; everything is in bloom and the earth is as green as it is in May at home. Everything here is also cheap, because many provisions are being brought into the city from the nearby villages. When we arrived here prices were very high. A meager meal at an inn cost one Spanish dollar and consisted of soup, meat, and vegetables. Now it can be bought for half that price. A quart, or a small measure, of English beer costs one piaster, that is, in German money, twenty-two good kreuzer. Birch beer or weak beer is a York shilling, or twenty-eight good kreuzer. One peck, or a fourth measure, of potatoes was twenty-eight kreuzer. A pound of flour was a shilling, that is, eight good groschen. One bread, as large as our Kreuzerbords, costs one York shilling, or fourteen good kreuzer, and initially was not to be had. Now, however, everything is again cheap and to be had at a small price. As most expeditions in this war had to be conducted with dependence on shipping, either to have warships on hand for support or to escort provisions and transport ships, it is easy to see that the commanding general found it necessary to be doubly alert. General Howe had this ability to the highest degree, so that his presence was not disrupted. The Hessian General Knyphausen was also a man who had military knowledge and held fast his attention to duty, but he had a morose and unfriendly appearance otherwise, because he seldom seemed friendly or even smiled.
The English officers are gallant. They wear white stockings daily in winter quarters, but in the field, only when it is nice weather. They move quickly and hastily, and their manners toward people they know are polite. Basically, however, they are surprisingly proud and arrogant, and look down on all other nations, especially the Germans, and see their auxiliaries only as mercenaries. Still, they were rather friendly to us, and the more so because we were not subservient or condescending toward them, either. Many of the officers spoke French, some German also; however, they seldom used the French language, and the German only in the greatest emergency. All orders from the King, Parliament, and the commander in chief were given in English, and all reports were required in the same language. Our officers therefore had to apply themselves diligently to learn this language if they wanted to succeed and did not want to drag along interpreters, which cost money and were not always available.
The common British soldier is swift, marches easily; and in general, the English nation is very swift and light on their feet, and the soldiers have very light and airy clothing and do not carry heavy loads when they are in the field. When they go against an enemy, they are fresh, optimistic, and do not worry about their life. They receive new clothing every year. The infantry is dressed in red, the artillery in blue, the hautboists have white uniforms, and the drummers and fifers, yellow. The cavalry has partly red and partly green and white. The English uniform items are very fine; the shirts of the finest English linen. The English keep their clothing very clean and have only the vices of cussing, swearing, drinking, whoring, and stealing, and these more so than almost all other people.
As America has only been so recently discovered and settled by the Europeans, it is difficult to believe that this land is already so developed. It is nearly on a par with Europe. The most beautiful cities are to be found everywhere, and these are well laid out, mostly large, and with good public buildings; well provided with police supervision and security, and comfort.
Trade, especially from Philadelphia, is with the East and West Indies and with all the world. Everyone has a trade and can pursue it unhindered and earn a living without first belonging to a trade guild as we require. This is a great advantage and draws many thousands of people from other parts of the world.
The farmers live better in America than our cavaliers and nobility. Their homes are exceptionally charming and for the most part are [set] among many varieties of the best fruit trees. The rooms are nicely furnished also, with wallpaper or tapestries and furniture of which the most distinguished cavalier would not be ashamed. In peacetime the citizens in the cities, as well as those on the land, have a silver service, which, however, during the present war mostly has been hidden and buried. No shortage of splendid carriages is to be noted in the city nor in the country, because the simplest craftsmen drive a chaise, finely lacquered and bearing their crest. Their daughters, whose hair is curled twice as high as that of the ladies at home, drive about for pleasure because it is acknowledged that fashion here is one thing that the women follow without thought of position or wealth. Only the Quakers, as already mentioned, are an exception to this. Although they are among the richest people, their daughters dress very plainly. They have a cap or a round silver hat, instead of the coiffures like the others, and never adorn themselves with bright ribbons or ornaments of gold and silver
(to be continued)

Advertised on 18 January 1774: “Workmen who manufacture the Leather”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

“He employs Workmen who manufacture the Leather in the best Manner.”

Stephen Austin sold “Buck-Skin Breeches” as well as “dress’d Deer Skins, and Shammy Leather” at his shop “South of the Court House” in Hartford. In an advertisement that he placed in the January 18, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Courant, he not only highlighted the quality of his products but also the skill of those who labored in his shop. Austin informed prospective customers that he “employs Workmen who manufacture the Leather in the best Manner.” Among his competitors, Cotton Murray, a tailor, also ran an advertisement in the Connecticut Courant. The tailor focused primarily on the services that he performed, but also added a nota bene about an employee who dressed leather. Murray declared that he “carries on Leather Breeches making in all its branches, has a quantity of Leather of the best kind, and has employed a Workman in that business who serv’d his time in Europe.” Read more…

The Mi’kmaw Hockey Stick
Vintage models prized for their sturdiness and craftsmanship.
By Anne-Gaëlle Weber, 9 January 2024 at Canada’s History
In the early days of hockey, the Mi’kmaq-made stick reigned supreme. Indigenous craftspeople on reserves in Nova Scotia made them out of single pieces of wood and sold them internationally, until the making of hockey sticks became industrialized in the 1930s.
The sticks are now collector’s items. Two years ago, Nova Scotia historian David Foster Carter, a self-styled heritage hockey sleuth, was asked to examine one. Carter dated the stick — named the Caruk for its owner, Wayne Caruk of Hastings, Ontario — to 1896. Read more – short read…

Mason-Dixon Lines
Edward G. Gray Jan 2024 in Common Place
The boundary lines preceding Mason and Dixon, everybody knows, were a sham. What’s to follow, despite the weighty authority of astronomical science, will be no better.
my new book, Mason-Dixon: Crucible of the Nation, is a work of non-fiction. It begins with the founding of colonial Maryland and ends in the era of the Civil War. Pynchon’s centers on the eight-year partnership of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the two English astronomers charged with establishing the boundary between the colonies of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. My book ends at the turn of the twentieth century, as Americans were doing their best to forget Mason and Dixon’s line.
Because the Mason-Dixon Line is America’s great divide, separating the nation’s historic sections, the North and the South, the lands on either side have long been understood as separate lands. As my book explains, the opposite is the case. Precisely because of their proximity to so notorious a geo-political demarcation, the borderlands adjoining Mason and Dixon’s original line were bound together. They may have been in-between lands but only very late in their history, following the passage of the 1850 federal Fugitive Slave Act, did they become divided lands. Read more..

In the News

This town is one of Ontario’s oldest communities & hosts The Tragically Hip’s recording studio
This town in Ontario may be tiny but it sure packs a punch! Bath is located in Loyalist township, just 30 minutes east of Kingston. This town is known for its rich history and is the perfect spot to check out if you haven’t yet!
This town in Ontario may be tiny but it sure packs a punch! Bath is located in Loyalist township, just 30 minutes east of Kingston. This town is known for its rich history and is the perfect spot to check out if you haven’t yet!
If you’re visiting Bath you should know, that it is one of Ontario’s oldest communities according to the town’s website, and was first settled by the United Empire Loyalists all the way back in 1784!
Interested to learn more about the history of Bath? Well, you’re in luck. The town features Bath Museum, a spot filled with the history of the community and surrounding areas, such as a collection of WWI memorabilia and Native artifacts. Read more…

Events Upcoming

New Brunswick Branch: “Loyalist Amazon, Elizabeth Beard” Wed 24 Jan @2:00 AT

Journalist Andrew McLean will tell us about Elizabeth Beard was a young Loyalist woman from Philadelphia, who ultimately fought alongside her soldier husband during the revolution. The meeting will include:

  • A welcome,
  • Andrew’s presentation
  • Branch updates on executive actions
  • Future plans and dates

NOTE: Time is 2:00 Atlantic Time
Join Zoom Meeting. Meeting ID: 860 5256 9035 Passcode: 858281
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86052569035?pwd=b4rnq7G2JXG9tXmUkv5QbYtgrJfxEy.1

The American Revolution Institute: “Dishonored Americans: The Political Death of Loyalists” Wed 24 Jan 6:30 ET by Timothy Compeau UE

Dishonored Americans: The Political Death of Loyalists in Revolutionary America Wed 24 Jan 6:30 ET An “Author’s Talk” by Timothy Compeau UE, a reci[pient of a UELAC Scholarship and member of the UELAC Scholarship Committee
In the final words of the Declaration of Independence, the signatories famously pledged their lives, their fortunes and their “sacred Honor” to one another, but what about those who made the opposite choice? By looking through the lens of honor culture of the period, Timothy Compaeau, assistant professor of history at Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario, offers an innovative assessment of the experience of Americans who made the fateful decision to remain loyal to the British Crown during and after the Revolution. Loyalists, as Dr. Compeau explains, suffered a “political death” at the hands of American Patriots. A term drawn from eighteenth-century sources, “political death” encompassed the legal punishments and ritualized dishonors Patriots used to defeat Loyalist public figures and discredit their counter-revolutionary vision for America. By highlighting this dynamic, Dr. Compeau makes a significant intervention in the long-standing debate over the social and cultural factors that motivated colonial Americans to choose sides in the conflict, narrating in compelling detail the severe consequences for once-respected gentlemen who were stripped of their rights, privileges and power in Revolutionary America. More details and registration.

Colonel John Butler (Niagara) Branch: Exploring Wilderness by Dr. Adam Shoalts Sat 3 Feb 11:45

Dr. Adam Shoalts. Explorer, historian, geographer, and national best-selling author Adam Shoalts has undertaken solo expeditions into remote wilderness areas, often in the Arctic. He holds a Ph.D. from McMaster University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and is the Westaway Explorer-in-Residence of the Society. As our guest, he will share with us tales of his latest adventures.
At Betty’s Restaurant, Chippawa, at 11:45 for a lunch meeting. Cost of the lunch is $30 for UELAC members and $35 for guests. Cash only. No credit cards. So the restaurant can prepare, please register in advance with coloneljohnbutler@gmail.com

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Looking forward to making my first presentation of 2024 next month. It will be on the oldest substantially unaltered church in Canada built by United Empire Loyalists – Old Holy Trinity. Deed for land of church at Wilmot dated June 7, 1790 to 5 of them as Wardens & Vestry of Old Holy Trinity. Brian McConnell UE
  • Interesting history of 84th Regiment, first known as Royal Highland Emigrants, from founding in 1775 to disbandment in 1783. (10 min video) noted by Brian McConnell UE
  • Townsends
  • This week in History
    • 17 Jan 1766 London merchants petition Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act. William Pitt & other leading Whigs support them on the basis of no taxation without representation.
    • 19 January 1770 New York City The American Revolution began before the Revolutionary War. Its components were political discourse/political organization/political action/organized resistance. Boston was famously the lead in these areas, but discontent had erupted in all the colonies. Rallies, broadsheets, newspaper articles, petitions, and protests were backed by increased militia activity, tarring/feathering, etc. Repressive acts followed as they invariably do. The first instance of open aggression between opposing forces in America occurred in the Battle of Golden Hill, months before the Boston Massacre. Sons of Liberty fought with British regulars and Loyalists after the 4th Liberty Pole was cut down. The Rev War Minute
    • January 18, 1774, angry Marbleheaders repeatedly tarred and feathered four men caught taking clothing possibly infected with smallpox from the hospital on Cat island. The crowd attacked not inoculation but reckless disregard for public health.
    • 20 Jan 1774, the Boston committee of correspondence hosted a bonfire of 700 pounds of tea on King Street in the center of town. This act was designed to boost solidarity and signal that Boston’s tea sellers would not take advantage of tight supply.
    • Jan 16, 1775, the British army captain John Barker noted that rations for the redcoats were shifting from fresh meat to “salt Provisions” except for beef (which was usually slaughtered in winter because the cold kept the meat good longer).
    • 18 Jan 1775 Savannah, GA The colony’s 1st Provincial Congress assembled, and reps of 5 patriot parishes showed support for the people of Massachusetts, but the 7 Loyalist parishes refused to send delegates to Philadelphia.
    • 15 Jan 1776 Newbury, MA. Rebel volunteers jump into three whaleboats and seize a British provision ship as the winter war for victuals swirls around occupied Boston.
    • 16 Jan 1776 Boston, MA British Gen William Howe wrote Lord Dartmouth that HMS Mercury and HMS Falcon sailed to NC with transports carrying 2K British regulars under Gen Henry Clinton to rendezvous with Loyalists on Cape Fear R. at Brunswick Town, NC.
    • 17 Jan 1776 Gen Philip Schuyler leads 3K NY militia on Johnson Hall, home of Loyalist Indian Administrator Sir John Johnson. Johnson’s force surrendered without a shot fired, eliminating Loyalist resistance in the area around Albany, NY.
    • 17 Jan 1776 Philadelphia PA. Commodore Esek Hopkins sails with a fleet of 8 warships, but the ice-jammed Delaware River prevents him from getting to sea.
    • 8 Jan 1777 Kingsbridge NY Gen William Heath invests Fort Independence and its Hessian garrison with the divisions of Benjamin Lincoln, Charles Scott, David Wooster & Samuel Parsons. The Hessians do not surrender and a siege commences.
    • 19 Jan 1778 Valley Forge, PA Some 9K weary men of the Continental Army struggle into their new winter cantonment. Washington chose the site for its strategic position, covering British-occupied Philadelphia and the supply routes to the north and west.
    • 18 Jan 1780 Eastchester NY Capt. Samuel Lockwood leads a raid & captures Loyalist Col Isaac Hatfield. But Loyalist cavalry pursues and disperses his detachment, killing 23 & capturing 40.
    • 17 January 1781 Cowpens, South Carolina. General Daniel Morgan inspires his militia regiments to hold the line long enough for two volleys. Then, he unleashes his Continentals and cavalry to crush the British Legion under notorious Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Tarleton was in hot pursuit of Morgan and launched head-on at the three lines of rebels arrayed across the open field. American fire took a toll, but vicious up-close fighting ensued. The attack by Colonel William Washington’s dragoons slammed into the unsuspecting regulars. Even a final charge by the 71st Highlanders was stopped in its tracks by American volleys and then dispersed by a counter thrust by John Edgar Howard’s men. This victory was a significant blow to General Charles Cornwallis and his southern campaign. But the morale factor was even more critical. Cornwallis was in disbelief when informed that the rebel pack destroyed Tarelton’s crack troops. The British lost 110 killed, 229 wounded, and 600 prisoners – significant numbers for a battle of its size. The Rev War Minute
    • 18 Jan 1803: President Thomas Jefferson sends a secret letter to Congress requesting financing for a transcontinental exploration that would become the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804–1806.
  • Clothing and Related:
    • A generously sized robe a la francaise might make the perfect dissertation marking ensemble. The sleeves are well proportioned for frantic typing, the loose fit allows for smuggled snacks & the sense of being enveloped in a silky hug is appealing. This 1730s gown
    • Mittens, a popular lightweight alternative to gloves for women, freeing their fingers. These hand sewn, elbow-length examples were made in Gt Britain, 1790-1800, of cream fine cotton. Designs on the flaps often feature flowers and leaf designs and echo the decoration of bodices, skirts and petticoats.
    • Baby boots, 1800-30. Victoria & Albert Museum.

 

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