In this issue:


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“The Story Continues…” at the UELAC 2024 Conference
June 6-9, 2024 at Cornwall, Ontario
The conference has three main groupings of events:

  • Pre-Conference day-tours: Tues June 4 to Thurs June 6
  • UELAC Conference: Evening Thurs June 6 through Sunday June 9
  • 240th Anniversary of New Johnstown & The Royal Townships: Fri June 7 through Sunday June 9
    • UELAC has scheduled Sat daytime for conference attendees to visit and learn.

And so “The [Loyalist] Story Continues….”

Thursday 6 June, Reception
President Carl Stymiest UE will “open” the conference with welcome remarks.
Time to enjoy finger foods, reconnect with old friends and make new ones.

Saturday 8 June. Plan to spend the day at the 1784 program and then the gala banquet in the evening.
There will be activities all day at the 1784 event (buses will run frequently from the hotel to the event). These include:

  • Housing the settlers and their families: brush shelter and habitat construction
  • Sustenance in the post-war era: fishing, foraging, and hunting
  • Midwifery and nursing: demonstrations on women’s’ roles in sustaining life in the new world
  • Means and ways: merchants and the vendors of the military and the post-war settlements
  • Naval life and the frontier: the trades and duties of those operating on the water

and Breakfast service, and Coffee Culture – Paul Supley, of Van Wyckes Chocolate Haus

A highly respected historian, presenter and researcher of colonial culture, medical practices and agrarian life, Paul Supley of the Van Wyckes Chocolate Haus will both nourish the forces of the British army, while discussing and demonstrating the coffee culture of 18th century colonial North America. With years of knowledge and experience, Mr. Supply will be present to meet with all inquiring minds to discuss, and demonstrate the practices and significance of the coffee house, in the lives of the people of early North America.

There are also numerous presentations throughout the three day event, including these on Saturday:

Exploring 18th Century Apothecaries; Women’s Healthcare and Midwifery, by Anne-Marie Russel 9:00 to 10:00 AM

The Loyalist Appearance: Clothing and Grooming, by Trisha da Cunha 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM
A professional tailor by training, and a renowned historian on matters of colonial fashion, beauty, and culture, Trisha da Cunha (owner and operator of Timbrell Cockburn Cunha – Bespoke Tailoring) will lead us on an examination of loyalist and 1770s-1780s fashions, beauty trends, and methods as would have been made use by loyalist men, and women.

After Saratoga: The Agonizing Odyssey of Burgoyne’s Royalist Corps, by Todd Braisted 3:30 to 4:30 PM
and much more – don’t miss this

Register now:
For more details and registration, see “The Story Continues…”

All UELAC Members: The Annual General Meeting Sat. 11 May at 11:30 ET

Registration for the AGM closed on Sat. 4 May.
If you have registered, look forward to seeing you at the virtual meeting.
To provide members with an appreciation for the effort undertaken by those on the Executive Committee and the bigger Board of Directors, and by all those who are chairs and members of the many committees, the AGM Reports Package will remain available in the Members’ Section of uelac.ca – log in required.

Yesterday’s (Loyalist) News. Part Two of Two
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
As was demonstrated in the first half of this series, what interested newspaper readers in the 21st century was of interest to Loyalist readers 239 years ago. The Port-Roseway Gazetteer and The Shelburne Advertiser had its fair share of political news, crime, and business reporting. While the editor’s selection of what was printed revealed the perceived interests of his readership, it is the newspaper’s advertisements that shed the greatest light on what life was like in the Loyalist city of Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
The third and fourth pages of The Port-Roseway Gazetteer and The Shelburne Advertiser feature a number of notices that paint a picture of day-to-day life in a city that had as many as 17,000 inhabitants in 1785. Several of the ads had to do with John Hughes, the local auctioneer.
On the same Thursday that the Gazetteer was available for sale, Hughes was staging a public auction at the Merchants’ Coffee House at eleven that morning. Featured items included rum, molasses, shirts, Irish linen, sugar, cheese and “turpentine soap”. Many of these items (sourced in both the West Indies and the British Isles) were sold at local shops, so Hughes’ auction must have been something like the “big box” discount store of his era.
Hughes also advertised that in the week to come he would be selling much larger items. On the following Saturday, he would be auctioning “a valuable house and lot” on Water Street. What had once been the property of Samuel Marshall was described as being 2 stories high with outside dimensions of 32 by 20 feet. Its inside was “almost finished” with three rooms on the first floor, three on the second and “an excellent garret” as well as “a good cellar under the whole”. The house had a large kitchen adjoining with “a good chimney and an oven therein”. If required, Hughes would allow a credit of 6 or 12 months for half of the purchase money.
On Tuesday the auctioneer would oversee the sale of “a good new house” at the end of St. Andrew’s Lane. It was 25 by 19 feet, had two good rooms on each floor, two good fireplaces, and a large cellar. “It is well known to be a good stand for either store or tavern”. Both houses illustrate what Loyalists were able to build in the two years since Shelburne’s founding. The fact that both buildings were being put up for auction was a foreshadowing of the eventual decline and failure of Shelburne. Its aspirations of becoming the Loyalist equivalent of Boston or New York would never come to fruition.
John Hughes was not the only auctioneer in Shelburne. At the same time he was selling a variety of goods, the firm of Tench, Taylor, Bruce and Company was auctioning off ale, port, flour, and butter. Clearly, Thursdays were a good day to be shopping in Shelburne.
Another indication that the hopes for the Loyalist city were beginning to fade was two notices concerning men who were leaving Shelburne. If you were a creditor of William Livesey, “late merchant of Shelburne”, you should meet at the home of Patrick Steel on Water Street on Friday at 4 where “a state of his affairs will be laid before them.”
Archibald Martin also planned to pull up stakes, and would be leaving as soon as the affairs of A. Martin and Company “can be properly settled”. His debtors were told to make immediate payment, and those indebted to him should send him their accounts. Martin’s stock on hand would be sold “on such terms as they can doubt not will be agreeable to the purchasers”.
The fourth and final page of the Gazetteer carried news from Savannah, Georgia, Barbados, and Charleston as well as the contents of two letters first written in Jamaica and the Netherlands. But the really interesting item on the page was an essay on life and fashion. The writer asked to remain anonymous, being afraid of the public’s reaction “should it be discovered that I am, Mr. Printer, not only a Quixote, but a Female Quixote”. It was highly unusual for a woman to contribute articles to an 18th century newspaper, so the “Female Quixote” would no doubt have created even more of a scandal if she had revealed her name in addition to expressing her opinions.
The last column of the Gazetteer’s final page wrapped up with a series of advertisements (no doubt letting the readers catch their breath after the realization that they had just read two columns of print generated by a woman).
At his “medicinal store”, John Boyd was selling “the most approved patent medicines” including British oil, Hooper’s female pills, Turlington’s Balsam, Daffy’s Elixir, and corn salve. He also had breast pipes, tobacco machines, elastic trusses, smelling bottles, lancets, and a variety of spices.
Meanwhile, the firm of McLean and Bogle advertised that it wanted to hire ship carpenters to build a vessel from “150 to 200 tons burthen”. They wanted the ship ready to take on cargo in October. Those who applied “are to give in their lowest terms per ton”. The same firm wanted Shelburne residents to know that it was selling puncheons of rum, barrels of muscovado sugar, and barrels of fresh limes. Again, both the desire for a trading vessel and products from the West Indies indicate that in 1785 Shelburne was trying to take the place of the rebellious thirteen colonies whose merchants had once carried on trade between the “sugar islands” and Great Britain.
The last advertisement featured in the April 28, 1785 Gazetteer was placed by Kenneth Reach, who wanted to charter a 150 to 200 vessels for the first of May. It would load at Campobello Island (New Brunswick), sail to the Bahamas and then take its cargo to London, Bristol, or Glasgow.
Unfortunately for Shelburne’s Loyalists, their dream of taking over the triangular trade was never realized, eventually contributing to the economic decline of a city that was once the fourth largest city in all of North America. In less than 40 years after its initial settlement, Shelburne’s population would decline to just 300.
The Port-Roseway Gazetteer and The Shelburne Advertiser did not witness the ultimate failure of the Loyalist city. At some point later in 1785, it ceased publication when its publisher moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

May 18: Loyalist Day in New Brunswick – The Significance Of May 18

In March 1968, the New Brunswick Department of Education announced that 18 May, Loyalist Day, was to be observed as a public school holiday in the Schools of the District of Saint John. This was the result of a request by Mrs. Muriel Teed, president of the New Brunswick Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada. The regulation remained in effect until 1997 when the Department decided that school holidays should be province wide. No sector would be given the privilege of a holiday when others were not included.

According to tradition, the Loyalists landed in what became Saint John on 18 May 1783. At that time, the community had a total of 420 souls, including 205 Royal Fencible Americans and their families stationed at Fort Howe. The historian, J.W. Lawrence, stated that the City of Saint John was incorporated on the second anniversary of the landing of the first Loyalists, 18 May 1785, making it the oldest incorporated city in Canada. On 27 April, about 50 ships bound for Halifax, Shelburne, Annapolis and Saint John, set sail from Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Ten of these were headed for Saint John of which The Union arrived first, on the 10 May. The other eight began to come in two days later. Unloading of about 2,150 refugees, disbanding Provincial troops and their dependents with their possessions took about a month. A total of about 10,000 landed in that year. It has been suggested that disembarking began on the 18th, coinciding with the time in which Loyalist Day is celebrated.
The New Brunswick Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association believes that it is important to mark the coming of the Loyalists to New Brunswick and the 18th May is a suitable time to celebrate the event.
Frances Morrisey, UE New Brunswick Branch, UELAC 2007
See Calendar of Provincial Loyalist Days and annual observances

2024 New Brunswick Loyalist Day celebration events – see events

Ten Causes of the Miscarriages in Canada: Why the 1775–1776 Invasion Failed
by Mark R. Anderson 2 May 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
The once-promising Continental invasion of Canada was clearly headed for disaster by May 1776. With British forces chasing the American Army out of the Province of Quebec, Continental leaders started grappling with the fact that their ten-month strategic offensive in the north had failed. Canada would not be joining the Continental Congress as a fourteenth colony, and the northern frontiers would once again be at risk of attack.
Given the magnitude of the Canadian disaster, and its strategic repercussions, Congress set out to find the reasons for this catastrophe. On June 21, it directed Gen. George Washington “to order an enquiry . . . into the causes of the miscarriages in Canada,” and report his findings back to Philadelphia. Then three days later, perhaps recognizing that contributing problems might lie outside the army, Congress appointed its own “Committee to enquire into the cause of the miscarriages in Canada.”
….Historical and strategic analysis suggests at least ten key “causes of the miscarriages in Canada,” many of them interconnected. Read more…

Loyalist Guides at Lexington and Concord
A great portrayal of a Loyalist American guide at the recent Lexington and Concord re-enactment, by William Booth (go check his Facebook page, “Wm. Booth, Draper at the Sign of the Unicorn”!). There were at least 6 guides with the main British column and 7 among the relief image
Besides leading the way, they helped identify caches of arms and ammunition and prominent dissenters among the local populace. The guides included Harvard graduates Daniel Bliss and Daniel Leonard, Dr Thomas Boulton and William Warden, a shopkeeper, grocer and barber
Another, a joiner and carpenter named John Emerson, was tasked with carrying dispatches through hostile territory from Boston to the columns. Another, Abijah Willard, was a veteran of the Seven Years War and the siege of Louisburg, and scouted ahead for ambushes image 2
Another, Walter Barrell wrote of how, “when the Lexington affair of the Rebells firing on His Majesty’s troops occurred, he voluntarily associated with a number of friends to Government who offered their services to General Gage in any capacity to oppose the rebels.”
All the men were from Boston or wider New England. On June 16, 1775, the revolutionary congress stated it would pardon all surrendering enemies, bar the British commanders and…
“All the natives of America, not belonging to the navy or army, who went out with the regular troops on the nineteenth of April last, and were countenancing, aiding, and assisting them in the robberies and murders then committed.”
The recreated figure is dressed in his civilian garb and carries a fowling piece as a firearm, much like the militia opposing him. The blanket is a nice touch, a common English design that was important into the colonies during the period image 3

See also “The Loyalist Guides of Lexington and Concord” Journal of the American Revolution, May 2016

Allegories of Benjamin Franklin
by Louis Arthur Norton 29 April 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
It is common for nations to search for heroes to emulate a lofty standard for their citizens. Benjamin Franklin may be unique in that he ascended to the level of apotheosis, not initially from the acclaim of his own countrymen, but from citizens of the country abroad where he functioned as a diplomat. One of the most important intellectual figures of the Revolutionary War, Franklin was articulate, ingenious, extraordinarily imaginative, an intellectual yet humble man who never indulged in conspicuous finery. To many, especially the French public where he served, he was an eighteenth century everyman.
Franklin’s image was ubiquitous in France, appearing in paintings, sculptures, and engravings. It was found by the fireplaces of the poor, in the boudoirs of the beautiful and in the homes of both ordinary and aristocratic citizens of America’s war-time ally. During the “Festival of Liberty” his bust appeared next to those of Rousseau and Voltaire. Writing to his daughter Sarah Franklin Bache in 1779, Franklin explained about a medallion portrait she had referred to in a previous letter to him. Franklin noted that it had been made of different sizes, some for the lids of snuff boxes and others small enough to be set in rings, making his face as well-known as that of the moon. He said that the term “doll” a children’s toy is derived from the word idle. Therefore, the number of dolls now made of his likeness, in a sense, meant that he was “i-doll-ized” in France. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: New York – A Soldier’s Life Nov & Dec 1779
From a Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
This excerpt from the diary of Johan Conrad Dohla (170 pages).

Major Moves during Johan’s deployment:

  • March 1777: Depart Germany
  • 3 June 1777: Arrive New York, then Amboy NJ
  • November 1777: To Philadelphia
  • June 1778: to Long Island
  • July 1778: To Newport RI
  • October 1779: to New York

November 1779: At New York (page 74)

3 November. It snowed here for the first time.
8 November. I went on work detail at Fort Saint George to make cartridges.
11 November. I went on watch at the Sugar House for the captured Americans.
17 November. I went on the naval-stores watch. We suffered from the great cold in camp because we had little wood, hardly enough for cooking.
19 November. I went on watch at the Sugar House as lance corporal. During the evening, after six o’clock, the regiments in garrison here made a bonfire and fired three volleys from small weapons, accompanied by the cheer „Hurrah for King George!“ loudly resounding. This also took place on the warships and frigates and in the batteries of our forts, where all cannon were fired three times, because of the victory over the Americans and French in Georgia.
21 November. We broke camp and in the evening, toward midnight, entered winter quarters in a brewery, which is situated about a quarter of an hour from the city on the North River.

December 1779
5 December. I went on the new-hospital watch.
14 December. Our invalids, called back to Germany, were embarked. From our Quesnoy’s Company, this included Sergeant [Gottlieb Christian] Britting, Corporal [Johann Adam] Viereckel, and Recruit [Adam] Kunst. I gave the latter two letters to take with him to Wunsiedel and Zell.
16 December. I was transporting wood.
21 December. During the night there was an alarm at Paulus Hook. A strong party of rebels attempted to make an attack, but had to withdraw with the loss of a few dead and wounded.
23 December. I went on regimental watch as lance corporal. It was extremely cold here. The climate is almost like that at home except that the snow does not remain lying long and the cold is not so persistent.
25 December. We held church parade in the city at an Evangelical church, where we conducted our religious services.
27 December. Today the so-called Free Masons held a convention and an anniversary. There were more than four hundred men present. They paraded through all the streets of the city with wonderful music and great ceremony and remained together for three days and nights.
The hautboists of the English and the Mountain Scots received good pay for entertaining them.
28 December. An astonishing wind arose, accompanied by rain, which was almost like an earthquake and lasted twenty-four hours. It severely damaged the ships in the Hudson Bay and New York Harbor. Many ships, which had put out two or three anchors, broke loose and were wrecked. Many old houses in the city collapsed, and the best and sturdiest buildings suffered noticeable damage. The inhabitants of New York remembered no such storms, and it was believed that the world and the city were sinking and that it would be the day of final judgment.
31 December. I went on the naval-stores watch as lance corporal. I have survived another year under God’s gracious help and remained rather healthy, but had to endure many hardships and perils on water and on land. God be thanked, I have survived it.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 2 May 1774: “Rich { Blue, Black and White} Sattins”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

{ Blue }
Rich { Black and } Sattins
{ White }

Joseph Peirce’s advertisement on the front page of the May 2, 1774, edition of the Boston-Gazette stood out thanks to its unique graphic design. The shopkeeper provided a list of merchandise that he recently imported from London, but rather than arrange it in a dense paragraph, as in most advertisements, or create columns with one item per line, as in some advertisements, this one featured one item per line with each line centered. As a result, the text created an irregular shape with a lot of white space on either side. That certainly distinguished the advertisement from the news in the column to the right, justified on both sides.
Advertisers usually generated copy, while compositors made most decisions about format. When merchants and shopkeepers ran advertisements with identical copy in multiple newspapers, variations in fonts, capitalization, italics, font size, and other design elements testified to the creative work done by the compositors in each printing office. Read more…

The Death of Princes Alfred & Octavius and Queen Charlotte’s mysterious pregnancies
By Sarah Murden 19 Sept 2017 All Things Georgian
Queen Elizabeth II was not the only one to have an ‘Annus horribilis’, for King George III and Queen Charlotte theirs, however, lasted somewhat longer than one year. For them, the years between 1781-1783 could, without a doubt be described as being some of the worst years of their lives with the loss of their two youngest sons. Both parents were devastated by such tragic events.
We begin at the end of March 1781 when the newspapers reported that the queen was once again pregnant with what would be her fifteenth child and that a public announcement would be made at court after the Easter holidays. No announcement came – did the queen miscarry or was it merely ‘fake news’?

“Her Majesty is said to be certainly pregnant of her fifteenth child a piece of intelligence that will be publickly communicated at Court after the Easter holidays.”
Kentish Gazette, 28 March 1781

Early autumn of 1781 it was reported that young Prince Alfred (born 1780) was dangerously ill and that the queen was constantly attending to her youngest children in the nursery. By October Alfred was deemed to be much better and out of danger. All fourteen children were now doing well, even if the Prince of Wales (later George IV) was giving concern to his parents over his scandalous relationship with Grace Dalrymple Elliott. Read more…

Canada as America’s Post-liberal Counterpart
By Paul Marshall on April 29, 2024 in The Institute on Religion and Democracy, Washington DC
What is now called “integralism” or “post-liberalism” comprises varied authors, influences, and ideas. Even so, a common theme is that America’s founding can basically be characterized as “liberal” and that the liberalism of the founding, as Patrick Deneen contends, inevitably leads to our present political and cultural woes.
Deneen runs counter to conservatives who claim that it is deviation from the founding that is the source of our problems, arguing instead that our current problems are the fulfillment of the nearly 250-year-old-American constitutional experiment. Further, as he writes in Why Liberalism Failed, “the loosening of social bonds in nearly every aspect of life—familial, neighborly, religious, even national—reflects the advancing logic of liberalism and is the source of its deepest instability.”….
….it is illuminating to compare the United States and Canada, which share a continent and have their origin in America’s revolution 250 years ago. One accepted what may plausibly be called liberalism and the other rejected it. Hence, with many caveats, they can provide useful points of comparison, and give a cautionary tale.
UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS
One of the major shaping influences of English-speaking Canada was the “United Empire Loyalists,” those who sided with the British Crown during the American War of Independence and moved to what is now Canada either during the war or after the American victory and the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783). These included soldiers and civilians, especially from New York and northern New England. Some were evacuated, including from New York City, when they were attacked. Migrations continued into the 1790s and between 80,000 and 100,000 people eventually fled, about half of them to Canada.
Loyalists are sometimes mistakenly depicted simply as members of a suddenly disfavored colonial elite, but they also included farmers, laborers, and tradespeople, and their families. Read more…

Thomas Clark, Eccentric Entrepreneur and multimillionaire
By Sarah Murden On 29 April 2024 in All Things Georgian
Thomas Clark may be a name that most people are unaware of, but many will have heard of Exeter Exchange, also known as Exeter Change on The Strand, London, along with its more famous owners – Gilbert Pidcock, followed by Edward Cross, so we can now add a little more about another occupant of that building – Thomas Clark, who occupied premises there for around 50 years.
So, who was Thomas Clark and how did he become famous in the Georgian period? It is believed that Thomas was born at Balsall Common, near Coventry, Warwickshire in 1737 and there is a baptism in Coventry parish register for a Thomas Clark on 15 May 1737, which is likely, although not definitively his.
Thomas was believed to be the son of a farmer, who at the age of 22 left his home for London, where he got a job as a porter and managed to save some of his earnings, which was dramatically increased upon the death of his father, who left him £200. With his new found wealth he went into partnership which proved to have been a mistake and short lived, as they lost all their money. Thomas went back to work as a porter and started saving again. He was nothing if not resilient. Read more…

Book: The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America
By James L. Swanson
In the tradition of the New York Times bestseller Empire of the Summer Moon comes a spellbinding account of a forgotten chapter in American history: the deadly confrontation between Native Americans and colonists in Massachusetts in 1704 and the tragic saga that unfolded, written by acclaimed historian James Swanson.
Once it was one of the most famous events in early American history. Today, it has been nearly forgotten.
In an obscure, two-hundred-year-old museum in a little village in western Massachusetts, there lies what once was the most revered but now totally forgotten relic from the history of early New England—the massive, tomahawk-scarred door that came to symbolize the notorious Deerfield Massacre. This impregnable barricade—known to early Americans as “The Old Indian Door”—constructed from double-thick planks of Massachusetts oak and studded with hand-wrought iron nails to repel the flailing tomahawk blades of attacking Pocumtuck Indians, is the sole surviving artifact from the most dramatic moment in colonial American history: Leap Year, February 29, 1704, a cold, snowy night when hundreds of native Americans and their French allies swept down upon an isolated frontier outpost and ruthlessly slaughtered its inhabitants.
The sacking of Deerfield led to one of the greatest sagas of adventure, survival, sacrifice, family, honor, and faith ever told in North America. Nearly 100 survivors, including their fearless minister, the Reverand John Williams, were captured and led on a 900-mile forced march north, into enemy territory in Canada. Any captive who faltered or became too weak to continue the journey—including Williams’s own wife and one of his children—fell under the knife or tomahawk.
Survivors of the march willed themselves to live and endured captivity. Ransomed by the King of England’s royal governor of Massachusetts, the captives later returned home to Deerfield, rebuilt their town and, for the rest of their lives, told the incredible tale. The memoir of Rev. Williams, The Redeemed Captive, became the first bestselling book in American history and published a few years after his liberation, it remains a literary classic. The old Indian door is a touchstone that conjures up one of the most dramatic and inspiring stories of colonial America—and now, finally, this legendary event is brought to vivid life by popular historian James Swanson.
Available at book stores.

Book Review: Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics
Authour: H. W. Brands. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 2023. $32.50 cloth)
Review: by Timothy Symington 29 Apr 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
“’We shall be tossed at any rate in the tempestuous sea of liberty for years to come, and where the bark can land but in a political convulsion I cannot see.’”
John Adams was not a firm believer in the idea of democracy, allowing for the people to completely rule themselves. The possibility of his once close friend Thomas Jefferson becoming the President of the United States was a dangerous thought. But regardless of who sat in the chair of the chief executive, the nation would have to endure a stormy political climate. Such is the focus of Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics by the prolific H. W. Brands. The book is an examination of how the new nation tried to find its way as its most famous Founders battled each other over very different visions for it. Read more…

Podcast: Aquatic Culture in Early America – the African Diaspora
By Kevin Dawson, 1 May 2024 at Ben Franklin’s World:
Kevin, an Associate Professor of History at the University of California-Merced and author of Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora, joins us to explore African and African American aquatic culture and how different aspects of that culture impacted the growth and development of colonial America.
During our investigation, Kevin reveals information about the African Diaspora and how it brought African peoples to the Americas and the Caribbean; Why it’s important to view people as working, living, and operating on both land AND water; And, the ways in which water featured into the lives of Africans and African Americans and how their water cultures impacted the development of colonial America. Listen in…

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

Entries which have been added, or revised, this week, with thanks:

  • to Kevin Wisener who contributed information about Emanuel Gracie who served in 1st Battalion, Kings Rangers. He received a 100 acre land grant at Lot 47, Kings County, Prince Edward Island

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

In the News

St. Alban’s [in Ontario] to host annual yard and plant sale May 11
At napaneebeaver.ca on 30 April 2024
Folks looking for a game for the cottage, a widget for the kitchen, a rare vinyl LP, a compelling mystery or history, or just convinced that winter’s over and it’s time for planting, will all find what they’re looking for at the annual yard and plant sale at St. Alban’s Centre on Saturday, May 11.
The Friends of St. Alban’s are holding their popular annual fundraiser at historic St. Alban’s in Adolphustown village at 10419 Loyalist Parkway (Hwy 33) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 11. Read more about the event. and about donating items for it….

National Trust for Canada: The Next Great Save. Two contenders
by Sergio Arangio 20 April 2024 at CTV News
Historic buildings across Canada are competing for up to $50,000 to help with restoration costs – the competition is called ‘The Next Great Save’(opens in a new tab) and it is being held by the charity National Trust for Canada. Two of the twelve finalists:

  • Lasalle Theatre: The Lasalle Theatre on Government Road West in Kirkland Lake was built in 1939 during the gold mine boom.
  • St. Thomas’ Anglican Church: The Old St. Thomas Church located on Front Street on Moose Factory Island was built by the Hudson’s Bay Company in the mid-1800s with the help of the local Cree First Nation community.

Read and watch more…

Events Upcoming

New Brunswick Loyalist Day Events, Thurs 16 May and Sat 18 May

  • Loyalist Flag Raising – Thursday May 16th – 10:00am – in front of Saint John City Hall
  • Loyalist Flag Raising – Saturday May 18th – in front of N.B. Legislature, Fredericton
  • Loyalist Day – Saturday, May 18, 2024 Activities – Saint John
    • 10:00 am – Musketry Salute From Portland Point
      • Join the soldiers of DeLancey’s Brigade as they fire a welcoming volley from Place Fort La Tour.
    • 10:30 am – 12:00 pm – The History Of Fort Howe
      • Hear how Fort Howe came to be and learn about its connection to Portland Point with local historian Don LeBlanc. Hosted & presented by Place Fort La Tour.
    • 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – A Loyalist Home
      • Visit Loyalist House, Saint John’s oldest home, and experience a taste of life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with historical re-enactors from DeLancey’s Brigade. Hosted by the NB Historical Society,120 Union St. (Free Admission / Donations Accepted)
  • and many more activities trhough the day and into early evening. See event schedule…

American Revolution Institute: A Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution, 16 May 6:30

Few in history can match the revolutionary career of the marquis de Lafayette. For over fifty incredible years at the heart of the Age of Revolution, he fought courageously on both sides of the Atlantic as a soldier, statesman, idealist, philanthropist and abolitionist. As a teenager, Lafayette ran away from France to join the American Revolution. Returning home a national hero, he helped launch the French Revolution, eventually spending five years locked in an Austrian prison. Historian/author Mike Duncan discusses the remarkable life of the marquis de Lafayette. More and registration…

The Revolutionary War Conference 250 in the Mohawk Valley – June 14-16, 2024

Johnstown, NY
Bus Tour – “1774: The Rising Tide” Friday 14 June. (only a few seats remaining)
In 1774, the politics of the Revolution had arrived in the Mohawk Valley with a vengeance. At the eastern end of the Mohawk another violent Liberty Pole riot was having a detrimental effect on the local citizens of Schenectady. Meanwhile further west along the Mohawk River, in Johnstown, events took a turn when Sir William Johnson passed away in July, thus starting a new chapter in political unrest.
Speakers include:

  • Nancy Bradeen Spannaus – Alexander Hamilton’s War for American Economic Independence
  • Mark Edward Lender – “Liberty or Death!” – Some Revolutionary Statistics and Existential Warfare

The Bus Tour will include several stops in both Schenectady and Johnstown, such as the Schenectady Stockade, Johnson Hall and more. Details and Registration.

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Admiral Hon. Robert Digby, 1732-1815 was the c-in-c at New York at the end of the American Revolutionary War and settled many loyalist families in Nova Scotia. Curiously for one so well connected and rushed to flag rank, he never went to sea again. image
  • Townsends
  • This week in History
    • 30 Apr 1774 Logan’s Camp, VA.(WVA) Frontiersmen attack & kill a band of Indians including Shawnee Chief Logan’s entire family. The Indian response to the Yellow Creek Massacre begins what was known as “Lord Dunmore’s War.” Dunmore was Royal Governor of VA. image
    • 29 Apr1775 Richmond, VA. A large force of 700 men at Fredericksburg was persuaded by Peyton Randolph not to march on Williamsburg after Gov Murray threatened to burn the city to the ground & to release all slaves. image
    • 1 May 1775 – Capt Mott’s 7th Co of 6th Ct Militia Regt sets out to rendezvous at the town of Castleton in the Hampshire Grants (Vermont) with Ethan Allen. They were going to be part of a larger force of 270 to capture the British-held Ft Ticonderoga. image
    • 2 May 1775. Hanover County, VA. about 150 men under Patrick Henry marched toward Williamsburg. Violence, however, was averted when Carter Braxton persuaded Lord Dunmore to pay £330 for the confiscated gunpowder. image
    • 3 May 1775 Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin arrived from his post as a colonial agent (held since 1757) & eschewed his former stance for conciliation with Britain. image
    • 3 May 1775 London. William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth & secretary of state for the colonies for King George III, instructs colonial Governor Josiah Martin of North Carolina to organize an association of Loyalists and raise militias. image
    • 3 May 1775 Cambridge, MA. Col. Benedict Arnold convinces the Committee of Safety to authorize forces for a strike on Ft Ticonderoga in NY to seize its guns & munitions. He would recruit 400 men for the surprise attack some 170 miles to the east. image
    • 4 May 1775 Mount Vernon, VA. Virginia Col George Washington rides north to take his place as a VA delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress. Neither he nor Martha had any way of knowing he would return to his beloved home just once during the next 8 years. Image
    • 30 Apr 1776 Boston Sam Adams writes Rev Sam Cooper of hopes for another battle with British. “One battle would do more towards a Declaration of Independence than a long chain of conclusive arguments in a provincial convention or the Continental Congress.” image
    • 30 Apr 1776 NYC. Lt Col Benjamin Tupper, whose whaleboats effectively harassed British ships& outposts in Boston Harbor, was now in NYC organizing a similar force of whaleboats for the defense of the harbor & adjacent waters. image
    • 2 May 1776. France & Spain secretly allotted munitions valued at 1M Livres to America. King Louis XVI authorizes Pierre de Beaumarchais to set up Rodrigue y Hortelez, a front company to covertly ship arms, munitions & clothing in the early days of the war. image
    • 28 Apr 1777 Saugatuck Bridge, CT. Gen Benedict Arnold throws together a militia defense force & some guns, but a spy shows British Gov Tryon a route around d the Americans leading to Compo Hill & the waiting ships. image
    • 1 May 1777 Change in regulations allowed free black men to enlist in the Continental Army. The first was 18-year-old Agrippa Hull OTD in 1777. Hull became the aide to Gen Tadeusz Kosciuszko in 1779 & saw some of the most decisive battles of the war. image
    • 2 May 1777 Danbury, CT. Gen David Wooster finally succumbed to his wounds received at the 26 Apr Battle of Ridgefield. His reported last words were “I am dying, but with a strong hope and persuasion that my country will gain her independence.” image
    • 29 Apr 1778 London. After a heated debate, the British PM Lord North decides to reinforce Adm Richard Howe’s fleet in the Americas with 13 ships of the line under Adm John “Foul Weather Jack” Byron. image
    • 1 May 1778 Crooked Billet Tavern, PA. British Lt Col Robert Abernathy’s light infantry & Lt Col John Graves Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers overwhelm 3 PA regiments under Gen John Lacey. The victory was marred by accusations of atrocities on wounded & prisoners. image
    • 27 Apr 1780 Boston, MA. Marquis de Lafayette arrives back in America after a year in France. The citizens celebrate him before he departs for Washington’s HQ at Morristown with news for George Washington. image
    • 3 May 1783 Newburgh NY Sgt Elijah Churchill & William Brown received The Badge of Military Merit from Gen Washington. Award created by Washington to recognize soldiers who exhibited unusual gallantry in battle, but also extraordinary fidelity & service. image
  • Clothing and Related:
    • Pinch Punch! Wishing all of my followers a happy & healthy May! Print from set of twelve fashion plates, 1749
    • The theme of Sleeping Beauties has been explored in different museums this year, of garments uninhabited & fragile that survive as the ghostly outlines of lives once lived. This 1760s Spanish bodice is a remnant. What stories are woven invisibly into its shiny brocade?
    • The Flax Project: Research at The Stratham Historical Society
      By Kimberly Alexander, Project Director, 22 Aug 2023
      In July, the Flax Team spent the morning at the Stratham Historical Society, Stratham, NH. We initially came to see two child’s homespun and hand sewn dresses (c.1827 – 1835) from the Lane family (descendants of Deacon Samuel Lane and his son, Jabez Lane). I viewed the dresses the previous summer (Summer 2022) and was captivated by the textiles, the sewing, the details and the mending, and the stories behind the maker and the wearer. After working to untangle some misattributions on the written receipts, we are now making progress with these two charming dresses. Read blog with photos…
    • A woman’s gown of lustring striped in pale green, cream and two shades of purple, 1775-80, Scottish, striped green, cream and purple silk lustring, English, 1770-80; with a later apron of the same silk.
      The gown has a bodice which meets at the centre front trimmed around the square neck and at the pointed waist with a pinked gathered band of self material. The cuffs are shaped to the elbow and ruched. The skirt is tightly gathered and laid on top of the back bodice in a point. Inside there are two green silk looped cords to gather up the skirt which fasten to the silk covered button above the waist on each side bodice seam. The bodice and sleeves are lined with white linen. There are two bones down the centre back with a tape stitched at the centre back waist. The skirt is faced back with white silk.
      The apron consists of a petticoat panel which has been converted by shortening and mounting it at the waist on a figured blue green ribbon to which is added a long green tasselled cord. Image and more description…
  • Miscellaneous
    • 29 April 1607 – English colonists planted a cross at an area they named Cape Henry, Virginia, claiming the land for King James I. The English hoped establishing a permanent colony in North America would allow them to compete with other established empires like Spain.
      And the English were not the first Europeans to explore the Chesapeake region either. Therefore, the Instructions from the Virginia Company of London to “…have Great Care not to Offend the naturals,” the Indigenous people who’d been there since 18,000 and 20,000 years ago.
      In 1606 Cape Henry was part of Tsenacommacah, the homeland of Virginia Algonquian tribes including the 32 tribes comprising the Powhatan paramount chiefdom. Today Virginia is still Indigenous land with 11 state-recognized tribes thriving throughout the Commonwealth. Image

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