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Call for Nominations for 2024 UELAC Dorchester Award
Deadline for Nominations is 28 February (midnight EST)

Recipients of the Dorchester Award are UELAC members who have:

  • Made a significant contribution through their volunteerism; and
  • Have gone that extra mile with their contribution to the UELAC.

Nominations are made at the Branch or National level, and are submitted to the Volunteer Recognition Committee chair at dorchester.award@uelac.org. The Award is presented at the UELAC Conference. Details and a nomination form are available on the members page at uelac.ca/members (login required).
Diane Faris UE, Chair Volunteer Recognition Committee”

Black Loyalist History: A Brief Outline: Part One of Two
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Known as Black History Month or Black Heritage Month, February provides an opportunity to learn more about the contribution of the ancestors of today’s African Canadians. The first group of free Blacks to settle in what is now Canada were men and women who have come to be known as the Black Loyalists. To prepare for Black Heritage Month, here is an outline of the significant events in the story of Canada’s first free African settlers.
The Black Loyalist story begins in 1775 when John Murray (Earl of Dunmore) was the governor of Virginia. The colony had a huge population of enslaved Blacks as well as a large number of colonists who sympathized with the Patriot cause. To provide more manpower for the British side of the American Revolution and to destabilize Patriot commerce, Dunmore issued a proclamation that granted freedom to all slaves of Virginian rebels who would run away from their masters to serve the crown. (Emancipation was not granted to the slaves of loyal Americans.)
Dunmore’s Proclamation of November 7, 1775 was the catalyst for the first large-scale emancipation of slave labour in colonial British America. Within weeks, hundreds of Blacks flocked to join Dunmore. He subsequently formed the Royal Ethiopian Regiment.
Unfortunately, the smallpox epidemic that raged throughout the British colonies during the course of the American Revolution killed two thirds of those who had taken up Dunmore on his offer of freedom. One historian has estimated that at least half of all Black Loyalists who found freedom under the British flag died of smallpox before the end of the revolution.
The remnants of the Royal Ethiopian Regiment and their families left Virginia for New York in 1776. Nevertheless, that year saw the formation of the Black Pioneers Regiment that was formed in New York with former slaves from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. When the British forces occupied Rhode Island in December of 1776, the Black Pioneers were the only loyal regiment (usually referred to as provincial corps) who served alongside the English army.
In January of 1777, while in Chesapeake Bay, General William Howe followed Dunmore’s example and proclaimed freedom for all rebel slaves. Two years later, the British took Savannah, Georgia; 1,500 slaves fled their masters to become free people.
In June of 1779, Sir Henry Clinton, the commander in chief of the British forces issued the Philipsburg Proclamation. In it, Clinton promised automatic freedom to any Black (man, woman, or child) who escaped from a rebel master and made it to British controlled territory. The proclamation applied to all of the rebelling 13 colonies and promised “protection, freedom and land” to any slaves who joined the British. Military service was not an expectation.
However, many Black Loyalists did serve the empire that granted them their freedom. They contributed to the war effort as spies, wagon drivers, tradesmen, river pilots, guides, musicians, drummers, fifers, foragers, hospital attendants, laundresses, seamstresses, blacksmiths, cooks, and labourers.
In the spring of 1781, General George Cornwallis had at least 300 Black Loyalists join his forces. Typhoid killed many of them, but this did not stop others from seeking freedom with the royal army. At least 3,000 Black Loyalists were among the British forces at the Battle of Yorktown in October, the Patriot victory that brought the revolution to an end.
When the British army left Georgia and South Carolina in 1782, hundreds of Black Loyalists fled with it. Some made their way to Nova Scotia, becoming that colony’s first free Black settlers. David George, who would become a significant leader of the Black community, was among this group. Other Black Loyalists from the southern colonies found sanctuary in New York City, the headquarters of the British forces throughout the course of the American Revolution.
A clause in the peace treaty that ended the revolution required the British to return all property, including slaves. However, Sir Guy Carleton, the commander in chief of British forces in North America decided that any enslaved person who fled his/her rebel master before the last day of December 1782 would not be considered property but would be deemed a free person. This recognition saved thousands of runaway slaves from being returned to their former masters.
In the spring of 1783, Carleton created a ledger to record the names of all free and enslaved Blacks who left New York City with the British forces and Loyalist refugees. Known as the Book of Negroes, the ledger was a ploy that held out the hope to American slave owners that if their property “inadvertently” left the United States, they would be returned. None ever were.
This same year saw the issuing of emancipation documents known as either General Birch Certificates or General Musgrave Certificates. With these in hand, a Black Loyalist had proof that his/her freedom was recognized by the British government.
No less than 4,000 Black Loyalists left New York City between April and November of 1783 to settle in what is now Atlantic Canada. Others made new homes in Canada, Great Britain, the West Indies and the German States. This exodus of Black Loyalists is the most significant act of emancipation in early American history.
The last Black Loyalists to leave New York City in November of 1783 were members of the Black Brigade, a regiment that had guarded the city against rebels in the final months of the revolution. They initially settled in Port Mouton, Nova Scotia.
Although most Black Loyalists left the United States by ship, 500 – 700 travelled overland to what became Upper Canada (Ontario). The most noteworthy of these settlers was Richard Pierpoint who later helped to create the Coloured Corps that fought Americans in the War of 1812. Denied the land that he had hoped to own at the end of the American Revolution, he finally became a property owner at the age of 78 in 1822.
The Blacks who left New York City had set sail for Annapolis Royal, Shelburne, Halifax, Port Mouton, and Digby, Nova Scotia along with white Loyalist settlers. Before the year was out, they established settlements in Preston (near Dartmouth), Brindley Town (near Annapolis Royal) and Birchtown (near Shelburne). At this time, Birchtown was the largest settlement of free Blacks outside of Africa.
On May 11, 1783, Tom Hide, New Brunswick’s first Black Loyalist arrived at Parrtown, at the mouth of the St. John River. Granted land and provisions, most of the African descendants settled in Carleton, a settlement on the western shore of Parrtown’s harbour.
Along the south-western shore of what became New Brunswick, a community of Quakers and Baptists established the settlement of Belle Vew (Bellevuew, today Pennfield). Their purpose was to create the first and only intentional anti-slavery settlement in British North America. The Charlotte County settlement had posted the following sign: NO SLAVE MASTERS ADMITTED. Its Black Loyalist settlers were given the same rights as white Loyalists. Sadly, the town burned down in 1787, dispersing its Black Loyalist settlers throughout the colony.
The conclusion of this quick overview of Black Loyalist history will appear in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

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

The White Savage: Simon Girty
By S.W. O’Connell 31 August 2023 in Yankee Doodle Spies
Frontier Savagery
The sound of frenzied whooping mixed with shrill screams filled the ears of the three frightened boys huddled together for safety. Their hands and feet were bound, so they could do nothing but stare helplessly through eyes stinging from tears. Soon, the crackling of flames began to compete with the savage whoops of the Delaware braves, who became more excited as the burning fires crept up the figure tied firmly to a pole.
Some of the braves shouted what could only be taunts and insults, mainly because the old man remained stiff-lipped as his flesh began to sear and burn, emitting a putrid stench that nauseated the three youths while exciting the blood lust of their tormentors. Finally, the fire completely engulfed the old man, whose head slumped as the dark smoke engulfed him.
One of the boys shouted when the smoke cleared and the fires subsided, revealing a pile of charred wood and bone, “Grandpa!”
“Don’t let ’em know you’re scared,” hissed Simon, the oldest. “Never!”
After this, fourteen-year-old Simon Girty and his two brothers were soon parceled out to different tribes as hostages. This was a typical sequence of events for families who settled along the American frontier, a frontier that was Indian territory. Read more…

Book: Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions
Author: Katlyn Marie Carter (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2023)
Book review by Jeff Broadwater 22 Jan 2024 Journal of the American Revolutions
In our age of freedom of information acts, C-Span, and a never-ending news cycle, we tend to equate transparent government with democracy and sensible public policy. In Democracy in Darkness, however, Katlyn Marie Carter, without writing a brief for secrecy, argues that open government does not necessarily produce good government.
Carter, an assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, sets out to explain “how, why, and with what effect the question of state secrecy was linked to, and shaped, the meaning of representative democracy” (page 5). She posits two theories of representation. “Reflective representation” assumes lawmakers should be guided by public opinion and requires a high degree of transparency. “Insulated representation” assumes elected officials will act as responsible but independent agents, and it allows for more secrecy. Carter’s argument rests on her analysis of the American Founding and the French Revolution. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Evacuating Philadelphia, to Long Island Apr 1778
From a Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
This excerpt from the diary of Johan Conrad Dohla (170 pages).

1778 – April: Philadephia to Long Island (Continued – page 51)
12 April. [1778] Private [Johann Daniel] Gattermann, of Voit’s company, died this evening in the field hospital here.
13 April. Two men of the Ansbach Regiment had to run the gauntlet for dueling with one another while on watch at the field fortifications.
22 April. Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton arrived from New York64 and took command of the entire army from General Howe, as the latter has been called back to England.
16 May. An English soldier was hanged at the outskirts of the city. He had killed his comrade on watch and deserted. Today the Waldeck Regiment arrived here, having been on Staten Island during the past winter.
17 May. One hundred fourteen of the captive Americans escaped during the night from the new jail, a prison, in Philadelphia. There were forty-nine officers among them.66 They had dug a tunnel, in the process of which five men died. Their bodies were found in a pile of old straw the next day. During their breakout, they overran and killed three guards. These were English on watch who had gotten very drunk the day previous and were sleeping during the night.
18 May. A tournament was held outside the city. All the officers of the army were present, and there was a memorable fireworks display at night.
9 June. At two o’clock in the morning we marched with full field equipment out of the city of Philadelphia and embarked in small transport ships on the Delaware River. I went aboard the ship Lord Howe. The English and Hessian troops were carried across the Delaware to Jersey and marched to New York.
As the beautiful city of Philadelphia and the province of Pennsylvania were evacuated by the entire army, all fortifications were demolished and the munitions that could not be taken away were thrown in the Delaware River and sunk. The inhabitants previously had to deposit a million in money. All this was brought about by the arrival of a French war fleet, which intended to blockade the English army and completely cut it off from New York. We sailed from Philadelphia in the morning with a good wind and on our return passed Red Bank, Billingsport, and Mud Island. During the evening a ship, Charlotte, on which our Grenadiers were, collided with our ship. We were thereby placed in great danger, but fortunately we separated again with only the forward cutwater of our ship broken off and a sail and some lines torn.
20 June. Private [Konrad] Bruckner, of Seitz Grenadier Company, died on the hospital ship. As of this time 67 men of the Bayreuth Regiment have died, and from the Ansbach Regiment, 83 men, or all told, is men. At noon today we saw two sailors, who had resisted their captain, hanging on an English transport ship. A yellow flag is raised, which is the death flag, and a cannon fired; and the raising of these two on the forward mast occurred at the same time. They were cut down in the evening and buried on land. We departed from New York in the afternoon and sailed on the river Hell’s Point, or Hell’s Chain, to Long Island, where we landed and again camped for the first time at Hallet’s Cove.
During our disembarkation we had an accident. While entering a boat from the ship, Private [Johann Ullrich] Teufel fell in the Hell River, and because he was wearing his knapsack, cartridge pouch, a field kettle, and other equipment, he fell into the water, immediately sank to the bottom, and was never seen. Today I was on watch on the ship.
Long Island is a province five hundred English miles long, but not wide. It is completely surrounded with water, partly by the ocean, partly by large rivers. In the province there is no open rebellion, but the inhabitants remain neutral. They have sworn an oath to the King of England and are therefore protected inasmuch as possible, although they defend their province with their own soldiers and allow no enemy to enter their land. It is a fertile island, and it is called the granary of New York because the inhabitants of this island daily bring all sorts of food and provisions, grain, fruit, meat, fish, cheese, butter, milk, eggs, poultry, and all sorts of dry and green vegetables, to be sold there. Many rich Hollanders live on this island, who still speak Dutch or Platt Deutsch. There are various places and cities built on Long Island, such as Jamaica, New Utrecht, Jericho, Jerusalem, Huntington, to mention some of them. (to be continued)

The 2023 JAR Book-of-the-Year Award
by Editors 23 Jan 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
Since 2014, the Journal of the American Revolution has recognized the adult nonfiction volume that best mirrors the mission of the journal with its national Book-of-the-Year Award. This year the editors are pleased to announce a winner and two runners-up. All three books are outstanding contributions to the history of the Revolutionary and Founding Eras.
Award Winner
The Lionkeeper of Algiers: How an American Captive Rose to Power in Barbary and Saved His Homeland from War by Des Ekin (Essex, CT: Prometheus Books, 2023).

Runners-Up
Disunion Among Ourselves: The Perilous Politics of the American Revolution by Eli Merritt (Athens,Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2022)

The Untold War at Sea: America’s Revolutionary Privateers by Kylie A. Hulbert (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2023

Read more about them…

Advertised on 24 January 1774: “A LARGE Quantity of LIGNUMVITAE”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

“A LARGE Quantity of LIGNUMVITAE.”

Not with familiar with lignum vitae, we looked for more information about this commodity that appeared in the pages of the January 24, 1774, edition of the Boston-Gazette. Lignum vitae, we discovered, referred to a tree indigenous to the Caribbean as well as wood and resin obtained from the tree and medicines derived from the resin.
Lignum vitae translates from Latin as “wood of life,” a name given to the tree because of its medicinal qualities. The advertisement in the Boston-Gazette did not seem to market “A LARGE Quantity of LIGNUMVITAE” as a remedy. Instead, the “different sizes, uncommon straight and sound,” suggests pieces of wood intended for furniture and decorative items. On behalf of the St. John Historical Society, Eleanor Gibney provides a history of the commodification of the tree in the early modern period in “Lignum vitae: Beauty, Strength, and the Fallibility of Medicine.” She explains that lignum vitae “is among the hardest and heaviest of all commercial woods.” Furthermore, “[w]hat makes lignum vitae wood so valuable is not the density alone, but the combination with the oily resin that permeates the wood, lubricating and making it almost indestructible.”
Gibney also notes that a Moravian missionary, C.G.A. Oldendorp, recorded some thoughts about lignum vitae during his time in the Virgin Islands. In 1767, he described the wood as “difficult to work with, both on account of its hardness and its crooked growth.” Read more…

Rev. Cornelius Flumerfelt, Methodist
Mr. Black’s first helper for the year, Cornelius Flummerfelt, was as both his names would suggest, of German extraction, but born in the State of New Jersey. At the early age of twelve years, he left his numerous relations in that State and came with an uncle, by the name of Clubine, to Canada, then in a very wilderness condition, it being so early as 1800. He grew up a large, muscular, and very active young man. Many were the feats of physical strength and agility he displayed. Those were attributes which would give a young man notoriety in such a state of society as then existed, but which were not likely to conduce to his religious improvement. He was, perhaps, a little less than six feet, broad shouldered and deep-chested, erect, well proportioned, and interesting looking, but not handsome. His complexion was a little embrowned, as if with the sun – his features prominent, and face deeply lined, but pleasant to look upon – and his head was large and massive, and surmounted by a profusion of coarse, curly hair. He grew up with a love for British institutions; and when the war of 1812 took place, being then an ardent young man of twenty-four, he responded to the call of his country, and proved himself an enthusiastic militiaman. The feeling of heroism inspired his uncultured genius, and he wrote several patriotic songs: one of these, said to have been written with the point of his bayonet on his sentry-box, the writer often heard sung in boyhood, and, by the not very critical audiences, was thought very clever. Flummerfelt was then unconverted, and remained in that state till he was twenty-nine.

His awakening occurred in 1817, and was produced by an alarming providence of God, which issued in the death of a neighbor, who was killed by the falling of a timber at the raising of a building, at which he was assisting. He then resided in the township of Reach, far from any religious advantages; he groped his way on as best he could till he found the peace of God, and united himself to the first Methodist class which he had the opportunity of joining. He failed in an attempt to create a business by the manufacture of potash and the sale of some goods, and retired upon a farm in the woods of Scarboro’. Here he first commenced to preach, and soon began to attract attention for the clearness, ability, and simple pathos of his meekly, but well-delivered discourses. When I came into the York Society, in 1824, he often preached in the town, and none of the regular ministers gave more general satisfaction.

He would have been urged into the work long before he was, only that he had a considerable family – was poor – and embarrassed by an overhanging obligation, which, though he declared it unjust, he was willing to give up all he had to satisfy, but which, for reasons which will appear hereafter, was not accepted. At length he resolved to obey the call of the church’s authorities, and went out under the direction of Elder Case, after the Conference of 1827, on the Toronto Circuit. The writer remembers when he first passed up through the town, equipped for his Circuit. He called at the door of our minister, the Rev. William Ryerson: Mr. Flummerfelt dismounted and led his horse; and the two friends were seen, arm in arm, walking slowly up Dundas street, in earnest conversation. Mr. F. told me he received most invaluable counsels in that farewell interview. This was indeed “seeing him on his journey after a godly sort.”

The writer has the very best reason to know that he was received with very great favor in that Circuit, and thought to be one of the most satisfactory preachers they had ever had. He was esteemed, especially, as a very excellent fire-side preacher. He was generally regarded with very great favor by those who claimed to be of other denominations; and being much stronger than his colleague, he took up some extra appointments. One of these was among the Scotch Presbyterians, in a corner of Caledon, through which the preachers passed in going around their Circuit, and had large congregations, although the service was on a week-day. He preached thirty-three or thirty-four times a month; and on his only spare day, rode twenty-three miles to see his family, and the next day rode as far back, in a somewhat different direction, to take up his train of appointments.

The person who held a claim against him, observing how popular he was, thought that by swearing out a capias against him and having him arrested, which he did in the early part of the summer of 1828, that the Methodists would run to the rescue and pay the money for the sake of retaining their preacher; and perhaps they would have done so, had Mr. F. appealed to their sympathies. But he would not consent to their doing it, for he felt he had offered his inexorable creditor every thing that was fair and honorable before. Confinement to the debtor’s “limits” in York was the result. But he immediately addressed himself to honest labor, by which he assisted in supporting his family, in the meantime making himself very useful in the town, particularly by visits to the jail, where he preached to the prisoners. He was instrumental in plucking at least one brand out of the burning, in the person of Charles French, whose case we have not time further to particularize.

From the latter part of April till late in June, 1828, the writer was at study in York, awaiting Elder Case’s decision as to where he was to go. This interval was profitably spent; Mr. Vaux was my instructor in general learning, and sometimes the Rev. Wm. Ryerson, the stationed minister, gave my fellow student, D. McMullen, and myself, a lesson on the branches connected with the Conference course of study. On the 10th of June we all assembled at the camp meeting at Cummer’s Mills. Mr. Case was there, and tried to discourage me about going as a missionary; but I said, “I might be needed on a Circuit.” Finally, after testing me in a variety of ways, he decided, as he termed it, “that Johnny should take Bro. Flummerfelt’s horse and go help Bro. Black on the Toronto Circuit.”

Sources: Case and his contemporaries, or, The Canadian itinerants’ memorial: constituting a biographical history of Methodism in Canada, from its introduction into the Province, till the death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855 Carroll, John, 1809-1884. 512 pages. (Toronto : Wesleyan Conference Office, 1871.) Subject : Case, William, — 1780-1855.; Case, William, — 1780-1855.;
Methodist Church (Canada) – History.; Methodist Church (Canada) — Biography.; Methodist Church (Canada) — History.; Methodist Church (Canada) — Biographies.

Contributed by David Flomerfelt Oak Harbor, WA

Samplers
By Isabella Rosner 24 Jan 2-24 in How-to History
Samplers, pieces of embroidery made to practice or demonstrate needlework stitches, were a central part of a British girl’s (and sometimes a boy’s) education for approximately four hundred years. These objects, usually worked on pieces of linen with colourful silk, wool, or, later, cotton threads, were used to teach children how to sew and embroider in a variety of stitches. The vast majority of these children were middle- or upper-class girls, those whose parents could afford for them to have an education. As time went on, especially in the nineteenth century, poor girls were also given embroidery lessons. Over the centuries, samplers shifted from being stitch dictionaries, used for image and stitch reference as one worked on other embroidery projects, to artworks that displayed a young person’s accomplishments and education. These embroidered documents give us insight into lives less often found in the archive, the many girls who were taught to embroider to learn the patience, dexterity, and piety that would make them appealing potential wives and mothers.
The earliest known dated sampler made in Britain was stitched by Jane Bostocke in 1598. Read more…

Napoleonic Telecommunications: The Chappe Semaphore Telegraph
By Shannon Selin in Blog “Imagining the bounds of history”
The telegraph used by France during the Napoleonic Wars was an optical system based on the use of semaphore signals. When the Chappe semaphore telegraph was introduced during the French Revolution, it revolutionized communications by dramatically reducing the length of time it took for messages to travel. Although the semaphore telegraph was costly and could not operate at night or during bad weather, it was used for over 60 years, and paved the way for the introduction of the more efficient electrical telegraph later in the 19th century.
In early 1790, he began working with his brothers on the development of a long-distance signalling system. Chappe experimented with different designs, trying methods that relied variously on electricity, sound, and smoke. He finally settled on a system in which telescopes were used to observe visual signals that could then be deciphered.
On March 2, 1791, the Chappes offered the first public demonstration, sending a message between Brûlon and Parcé, some 16 kilometres (10 miles) away. The message was: “Si vous réussissez vous serez bientôt couvert de gloire [If you succeed, you will soon bask in glory].” Read more…

Podcast: Cotton Mather’s Spanish Lessons
By Kirsten Silva Gruesz Mid-Jan 2024, Benjamin Franklin’s World
Colonial America was born in a world of religious alliances and rivalries. Missionary efforts in the colonial Americas allow us to see how some of these religious alliances and rivalries played out. Spain, and later France, sent Catholic priests and friars to North and South America, and the Caribbean, purportedly to save the souls of Indigenous Americans by converting them to Catholicism. We also know that Protestants did similar work to help counteract this Catholic work in the Americas.
Kirsten Silva Gruesz, a Professor of Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, joins us to explore the life and work of Cotton Mather, a Boston Puritan minister who actively sought to counteract the work of Catholic conversion, with details from her book Cotton Mather’s Spanish Lessons: A Story of Language, Race, and Belonging in the Early Americas. Listen in…

In the News

Correction to Bath ON article “This town is one of Ontario’s oldest”.

“In the news” from Jan 14 issue “Bath – one of Ontario’s oldest”
One small point about where Bath is located.
Bath, ON is NOT 30 minutes EAST of Kingston. It is actually 27 km WEST of Kingston and a 31 minute drive on Hwy 33, otherwise known as the “Bath Road” and lately “The Loyalist Parkway“. It is the centre of the [Ontario] universe for Loyalist heritage as just down the same road at Adolphustown was the site of the first Loyalist Landing in 1784 (as was Bath) and the township was divided into land grants to those Loyalist landers. The site is now called “UEL Heritage Centre & Park” and is owned and run by Bay of Quinte Branch. You can look up the map of Bath’s location on your cell phone or desktop.
I believe others have made this same mistake of locating Bath relative to Kingston. A noted lady author, who shall remain nameless, of Loyalist history also thought Bath is east of Kingston. People heading east of Kingston on HWY 2 could end up in Gananoque instead and become lost looking for Bath there.
Loyally, Frank Lucas.
PS My wife, Joan Lucas, UE, (nee Creighton, Weese, ) has Loyalist roots in Bath and nearby so we know the area intimately. We visit Adolphustown Park almost every year for Bay Of Quinte Branch’s flag-raising in June. We are also supporting Friends of St. Alban’s church across the road from the Park in their restoration program as well as supporting Old Hay Bay Church restoration program; both Loyalist-built churches near Bath.

Raising funds to bring a sword from the American Civil War back to New Brunswick
By Avery MacRae 21 Jan 2024 CTV News Atlantic
A sword with ties to St. Andrews, N.B., could be making its way back to the province after more than 150 years.
The New Brunswick Historical Society has started a GoFundMe to bring the sword of Dr. John F. Stevenson back to the province.
“I don’t think there are too many civil war swords on display in any museums in Atlantic Canada,” says Greg Marquis, president of the historical society.
Stevenson was a surgeon with the 29th Connecticut Infantry for the United States Medical Corps during the American Civil War.(opens in a new tab) This infantry was one of many where the rank and file were free black men who had volunteered to serve the Union.
“I think its very evocative that a young doctor from St. Andrews, N.B., volunteered to cross the border and serve in that regiment,” Marquis says. Read more…

Canada Post’s Albert Jackson Processing Centre honours Toronto’s first Black letter carrier
By John Loring 19 Jan 2024 at Canadian Geographic
The new Albert Jackson Processing Centre has opened in Scarborough, Ont. and honours Toronto’s first Black letter carrier.
As befits a state-of-the-art distribution warehouse, Canada Post’s vast new Albert Jackson Processing Centre, which opened this past fall in Scarborough, Ont., delivers a collection of breathtaking metrics. Given that it’s twice the size of Canada Post’s previous largest hub, the most remarkable detail is that a package can arrive, get processed and be ready for shipping in just four minutes. But while the massive new processing facility was built with an eye to Canada Post’s future, its name is an acknowledgement of the institution’s past. Albert Jackson, who was born in Delaware in 1857, became Canada’s first Black letter carrier, although attaining that position meant pushing back against the racist views of the postal workers of his era. Read more…

The Bahamas: Opening of the Legal Year

This week an annual historic occasion in The Bahamas took place in Nassau. It is the Opening of the Legal Year.
Involved are the Judiciary led by The Chief Justice, The Attorney-General, Barristers of ‘the Inner Bar ( King’s Counsels)’ other Barristers, The Commissioner of The Royal Bahamas Police Force and members of the Force including The Royal Bahamas Police Force Band.
The Parade begins at The Supreme Court in Parliament Square and proceeds along the main Bay Street to Christ Church Anglican Cathedral. A service is held there stressing the importance of church and state. The Anglican Bishop and The Dean of the Cathedral are normally in attendance. This year The Dean gave the sermon. Prayers and hymns appropriate for the occasion take place. There is always a prayer for strength to serve The Crown in the administration of justice.
It is always worthwhile to attend.
One of the strengths of The Bahamas is our British form.of government like Canada and the British Legal system.The Bahamas’ final Court of Appeal remains the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. Many of the Commonwealth nations remain associated with the Privy Council which is a reassuring presence for international investors and stability in those countries.
See a photo at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral of The Attorney-General of The Bahamas Senator Ryan Pinder K.C. Ryan is a descendant of a well known Loyalist family – the Pinder family – who were Loyalist refugees who fled to Eleuthera Island in The Bahamas after The American Revolution in 1783 because of loyalty to The British Crown. He is serving The Bahamas very well and is highly regarded. He is a staunch defender of historic traditions. It is a lovely photo of Ryan in the traditional formal garb of The Attorney-General.
– Thomas Wardle

Events Upcoming
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

Gov. Simcoe Branch: “Scandal, Slavery and Survival” Wed 7 Feb 7:30 ET

Carol Ufford and Dawn Kelly return with more fascinating stories from New France — unusual deaths, illegitimate children, and of course a little witchcraft and murder. As they tell the stories, Carol and Dawn will show some of the resources they used to trace their family histories. In 2021 Carol and Dawn won the Members’ Choice Award from the Toronto Branch of Ontario Ancestors for their presentations on New France.
More details. Registration on Zoom.

The American Revolution Institute: Mental Maps of the Founders 7 Feb 6:30 ET

By Michael Barone, a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner and resident fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute.
The American founders were men of high intellect, steely integrity, and enormous ambition—but they were not all of one mind. Without reliable maps of even nearby terrain, they contributed in different, and sometimes conflicting, ways to the expansion of a young republic on the seaboard edge of a continent of whose vast expanses they were largely ignorant. Michael shows how how geographic imagination guided America’s revolutionary leaders. More and registration.

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • At King’s Chapel looking at the wooden wineglass pulpit that dates to 1717. It is the oldest pulpit, still in use, on its original site in the United States. ⁦
  • Townsends
  • This week in History
    • 22 Jan 1770 NYC To ease tensions in the wake of the Golden Hill “battle,” British soldiers were confined to barracks unless accompanied by an officer.
    • 25 Jan 1770 London. To build support to repeal the Townshend Acts, Benjamin Franklin, the Colonist’s Advocate, wrote a series of eleven articles. The 5th was published in “The Public Advertiser,” a London newspaper in the 18th century, on January 25, 1770.
    • 23 Jan 1775, London merchants petitioned Parliament for relief from the financial hardship caused by curtailment of trade with N. American colonies. Merchants provided their own history of the dispute, beginning with the Stamp Act of 1765.
    • 21 Jan 1776 Cambridge, MA. Gen Washington requested more weapons quickly be found for the troops. The army was low on everything, especially powder and shot, but also weapons of all kinds. He engaged all regiments to send officers to find & purchase arms
    • 25 Jan 1776, the Continental Congress authorized the first national Revolutionary War memorial in honor of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, who had been killed during an assault on Quebec on December 31, 1775.
    • 26 Jan 1776 Adm Samuel Graves is replaced as commander of the North American Station from the river St. Lawrence to Cape Florida by Adm Molyneux Shuldham. Shuldham would be replaced by Adm Richard Howe later that year.
    • 23 Jan 1777 Hartford, CT Moses Dunbar is hanged for treason. A suspected Tory, he escaped jail & fled to LI but returned to his home state to recruit for the crown. He was caught with a British commission. Local press reported his father provided the rope.
    • 20 Jan 1778 Valley Forge, PA. Capt. Henry Lee’s small troop is attacked by British dragoons while raiding British outposts. Lee flees to Eagle Tavern & holds off the overwhelming force, and tricks them into departing in the face of rebel reinforcements.
    • 23 Jan 1778 The Board of War appoints Gen the Marquis de Lafayette to lead another Canadian expedition, with Gen Thomas Conway as his deputy commander. Gen John Stark declined a command in the expedition, which would never get off the ground.
    • 22 Jan 1779 Goshen, NY. Tory outlaw Claudius Smith (the Cowboy of the Rampos) is hung. Tory outlaws were known as cowboys, while patriot outlaws were called skinners. Smith was a legend in his time and struck fear into travelers in the NY countryside.
    • 23 Jan 1779 Loyalist Simon Girty leads a party of Indian braves in an attack on Americans at Fort Laurens in the Ohio Territory. His attack and siege failed.
    • 26 Jan 1779 Savannah, GA After the British captured the city, Patriots met at Burke County Jail to determine how they would deal with defections from the cause. Col Thomas Brown & 230 Loyalists attack but retreat inflicting 12 casualties & suffering 10.
    • 21 Jan 1780 West Greenwich, NY American militia led by Gen Samuel Parsons repel an attack by Loyalists led by Lt Col James de Lancey inflicting over 60 casualties.
    • 26 Jan 1780 Gen Benedict Arnold court-martialed for financial speculation & malfeasance as commander of Phila. Found guilty on 2 minor chargers. Though Gen Washington gives him only a slap on the wrist, he fumes indignantly at the new wrong suffered.
    • 22 Jan 1781 Morrisania, NY (Bronx) Lt Col William Hull attacks a Loyalist outpost commanded by Lt Col James de Lancey. The rebels withdraw after inflicting 50 casualties, taking 50 prisoners, and suffering 18 casualties.
    • 24 Jan 1781 Georgetown, SC. Lt Col “Light Horse” Henry Lee & Gen Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion & SC militia raid the town defended by 200 British soldiers. Though unsuccessful (no artillery), they capture 3 officers, including commander Col William Campbell.
    • 25 Jan 1781 Ramsour’s Mill, NC. Gen Charles Cornwallis orders his heavy baggage & supplies burned and begins a rapid pursuit of American Gen Nathanael Greene’s army with his “lighter” British force. Race to the Dan River intensifies.
    • 25 – 26 Jan 1782 St. Kitts, West Indies British Adm Samuel Hood’s fleet fails to surprise French Adm comte de Grasse, but Hood’s wily tactics force the French fleet to withdraw & 700 British troops to land. Each side suffered losses of some 300 casualties.
    • 25 Jan 1787, 4,000 insurrectionists led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays march on an armoury in Springfield, Massachusetts. The rebels, all financially ruined by mounting debts, hope to seize weapons and overthrow the government. The uprising is crushed.
  • Clothing and Related:
    • “Thanks! It has pockets!”
      The development of ‘tie-on’ pockets during the 17th century was a defining moment for women, providing a highly practical and extremely popular detachable accessory for carrying their possessions, similar to the function of handbags today.
      In polite society, formal situations, or when travelling, pockets would normally be invisible under a woman’s petticoats, but for working women they might be more visible and immediately accessible, worn just under an apron.
    • Fichu, a square or triangle of light linen or cotton worn around the neck, shoulders & chest. Tucked into a gown or tied at the front for warmth, protection or cover. Cotton example, French, ca. 1793, via The Met
    • Miniature Pencil Post Bed, Unidentified maker c1770-1800. Maple, pine & iron. With miniature bed curtains & bedding made by Nancy Cook c1985 of linen, woolen, and cotton cloth fragments. @TheWarnerHouse
    • Tuesday shoes from 1750-1760s. European, pink figured silk upper embroidered with metallic thread.
  • Miscellaneous

 

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