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The Loyalist Association of London. Part Two of Two
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
    During the years of the American Revolution, a group of men gathered on a weekly basis for fine dining and good conversation. One of its members was that era’s most famous artist in the English-speaking world. Others had been highly placed government officials or prosperous landowners in Massachusetts. With a membership of about 30 men, the Loyalist Association of London offered banished Americans a place to commiserate with one another and to stay abreast of developments in the colony they had once called home.  While little is know of some of these Loyalists, the stories of others have survived. Here is a brief review of the lives of 10 known members of the Loyalist Association.
Like so many of those he met each week, Robert Auchmuty had once called Boston his home. Before the revolution he had been the judge of the vice-admiralty of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 1771, he and John Adams were part of the defence team for Captain Thomas Preston, the British officer charged with ordering his men to fine on colonists in what became known as the Boston Massacre.
Some of Auchmuty’s correspondence to friends in England fell into the hands of Benjamin Franklin, revealing his loyalist politics. Such a commotion resulted that Auchmuty felt it best to seek refuge in England in 1776. Despite being able to rub shoulders with other Loyalists who gathered for weekly dinners, the former judge and his wife Henrietta lived in what he described as “distressed circumstances“.  His property in Roxbury was confiscated, and he never returned to Massachusetts. Auchmuty died in Marylebone, England on December 11, 1788. Nine years later, John Adams, Amory’s partner at the Boston Massacre trial, became the second president of the United States.
Another Bostonian member of the Loyalist Association was John Amory. He and Thomas, his younger brother, were successful merchants. When he was as young as 28, his business correspondence chronicled many of the events around the protests against the Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party. The letters foresaw a violent reaction to Britain’s treatment of Massachusetts, and the eventual separation of the colonies from the empire.
For business reasons, one of the Amory brothers needed to go to England in 1774. John, his wife Catharine, and their nine children decided to make the transatlantic journey. Catharine became ill at some point and died of a “protracted” condition in 1778. With 9 children to care for, Amory opted to remain in England. No doubt the company of fellow Massachusetts businessmen in London provided a supportive network for the young father.
However, Amory’s absence from Boston was not well received by the Patriot government. Massachusetts considered  him a “refugee” (meaning a Loyalist or Tory) and consequently took possession of his property. Fearing that in time that the state would confiscate and sell off the rest of his estate, Amory wrote his brother Thomas to affirm that his sympathies were “with his countrymen in the struggle in which they were engaged for their liberties“. It is hard to determine if Amory was a Loyalist sympathetic to many of the Patriot grievances or if he was only considered a Loyalist in the eyes of Massachusetts.
Amory eventually left England and lived on the Continent. How he cared for his large family goes unrecorded. Following the peace in 1783, he set sail for New York, arriving sometime before the end of November. Although the peace treaty had been signed, the British army still held the city, and Amory was compelled to take the oath of allegiance to the Crown. Because of this, he could not resettle in Boston and went to Providence, Rhode Island instead. His 1784 petition to the Massachusetts legislature resulted in the restoration of his citizenship. This member of the Loyalist Association died at the age of 77 in 1805, leaving a large estate.
Benjamin Pickman‘s time as a “card carrying” Loyalist ended following Britain’s recognition of the United States as an independent nation. Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1740, Pickman was a Harvard graduate, a merchant, a representative in the general court, and a colonel in the local militia. Despite being described as “very sprightly, sensible, and entertaining“, Pickman’s loyalist leanings compelled him to seek sanctuary in England. He joined the Loyalist Association in 1776. Two years later, he learned that his home colony had banished him. When tempers cooled, Massachusetts reinstated Pickman as a citizen in 1787, and returned part of his confiscated property. He died at Salem at 79 years of age.
Nathaniel Coffin Jr. was a Boston Loyalist who spent some time in New York City after his stay in London. In 1783, he was among the infamous 55 petitioners who sought special access to land in Nova Scotia. Rather than returning to Massachusetts or settling in Nova Scotia, Coffin became the collector of customs at St. Kitts, a British island in the West Indies. It would be his home for the next 34 years. Near the end of his life, he returned to London, where he died in 1831 at the age of 83.
William Hutchinson was another Harvard graduate who was banished by the Massachusetts government. After his stay in London, he was given an office in the Bahamas. He died somewhere in Europe in 1791.
Lorenzo Sabine was only able to gather minimal information about other Loyalists who attended the weekly meetings of London’s Loyalist Association. Joseph Waldo, a Boston merchant, never returned home, dying in London at 94 in 1816.  Elisha and Mary Hutchinson were also Massachusetts exiles.  They both died in England — Mary in 1803 and Elisha in 1824. Although Daniel Silsby, a Quaker Loyalist, spent some time in London, enjoying the company of other New Englanders, he moved to Belgium where he died in 1791.  William Cabot was a Loyalist from Salem, Massachusetts, and was known to be in London by 1776.
Thomas Brinley‘s life as a Loyalist refugee from Boston followed a familiar pattern. The merchant, his wife Elizabeth, and their child fled the Massachusetts capital in March of 1776 for the safety of Halifax, and then journeyed on to England in the summer. Within two years, he had been condemned as a traitor and banished. He died in 1784. Elizabeth would be a widow for the remaining 9 years of her life.
Having served its purpose as a means for New England’s loyalist refugees to gather for support and encouragement, the Loyalist Association of London ceased to exist after 1784. The fact that these New Englanders’ membership in the club became part of their known biographies seems to indicate that it was a memorable and positive experience during their time as refugees.
Formed in 1776, the Loyalist Association had a membership that always hovered around 30 refugees. Of those, we know the death years of 26 men.  Ten members did not live to see the dawn of the 19th century. If the Loyalists had ever considered having a 30th anniversary reunion (highly unlikely given their average age) in 1806, only 12 New Englanders would have been at the party. The last surviving member of the Loyalist Association was Nathaniel Coffin Jr. who died in London in 1831 at the age of 83.

(Editor’s note: This is Stephen’s second article on London’s loyalist club. His first appeared in Loyalist Trails on July 21, 2013. It can be accessed at The Brompton Row Tory Club )
    To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Fighting in the Shadowlands: Loyalist Colonel Thomas Waters and the Southern Strategy
by Robert Scott Davis  11 June 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
Thomas Waters of Georgia was present in crucial events of the American Revolution in Georgia and South Carolina. He represented as an individual the problems of class and conscience affected by British efforts to restore the rebelling Southern colonies by “Americanizing” the war, what has been called the Southern Strategy. After 1778, the King’s ministers risked Britain’s empire in a global war with France and later Spain in hopes that respected local Loyalist leaders like Waters would rally African Americans, European emigrants, indigenous peoples, and native-born white Americans to restore to the Crown the colonies from Maryland southward, and perhaps eventually more.
Waters’ background, like most of his life, remains an enigma to scholars. In the 1783 Spanish census of East Florida, he was recorded as born in England. A descendant believes he was born around 1735, the son of Richard and Mary (died 1747) Morgan Waters of England and Wales. James Wright found Thomas Waters in the Second Troop of colonial rangers when Wright arrived in Georgia in the 1760s to assume the governorship. Thomas and Richard Waters served as cadets in the Second Troop starting on April 1, 1761. By July 1, Thomas had received a promotion to Quartermaster.
The rangers maintained civil order, patrolled for escaped enslaved people, and scouted for marauding whites and indigenous people. Most of that troop had been recruited from the population on the colony’s northwest frontier, near Augusta. Because of having these two provincial troops of soldiers to enforce the law, Georgia was the only one of the twelve colonies that would later rebel that issued the King’s stamped paper during the Stamp Act Crisis of 1766. Because of public sentiment against these tax stamps, the governor had not dared to call out the militia for fear of arming more men against him than for the King. Paying for this colonial equivalent of the modern Georgia Highway Patrol had always been a problem, however. General Thomas Gage finally ordered the two Georgia ranger troops disbanded in 1767. Read more…

John Warren’s Loss of His Brother Joseph Warren
by Salina B. Baker 13 June 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
On Saturday, June 17, 1775, Abigail Adams and her seven-year-old son, John Quincy, stood on Penn’s Hill near her home in Braintree, Massachusetts. They watched sulfuric smoke cloud the sky and heard cannon thunder across Boston Harbor from British ships in the Mystic and Charles Rivers bombarding colonial forces who had built a redoubt on Breed’s Hill on the Charlestown peninsula overnight. The fighting continued throughout the day, and the village of Charlestown erupted in flames. From her view in Braintree fifteen miles south of Charlestown, she must have wondered who she knew and loved was dying in the battle that history calls the Battle of Bunker Hill. She soon found out.
Reports of the battle began to come in and filter to towns and villages throughout colonial America. Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams, who was in Philadelphia serving as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress:

Dearest Friend
Sunday June 18 1775
The Day; perhaps the decisive Day is come on which the fate of America depends. My bursting Heart must find vent at my pen. I have just heard that our dear Friend Dr. Warren is no more but fell gloriously fighting for his Country—saying better to die honourably in the field than ignominiously hang upon the Gallows. Great is our Loss. He has distinguished himself in every engagement, by his courage and fortitude, by animating the Soldiers and leading them on by his own example.

On June 17, twenty-two-year-old Dr. John Warren also heard the sounds of battle from his home in Salem, twenty-three miles north of Charlestown. John’s oldest brother, Dr. Joseph Warren, was the man Abigail referred to as “our dear Friend” in her letter. John and Joseph, both Harvard graduates, were closely united by family, religion, the premature death of their father, Freemasonry, and by professional and patriotic sympathies. Joseph fondly referred to his adoring younger brother as “Jack.” After his 1771 graduation, John served his medical apprenticeship under his brother in Boston and then moved Salem to begin a new medical practice.
Twelve years John’s senior, Joseph was deeply involved in the ten-year colonial America political rebellion that began in the mid-1760s, fueled by the British Parliament. Britain’s attempt to control colonial autonomy through taxes and acts that strangled trade and interfered in colonial government had turned to force by stationing troops in Boston.  Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: New York – A Soldier’s Life May 1780 (Charleston SC)
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

May 1780: At New York (page 80) but describes Charleston SC

Continuation of Occurences in North America During the Fourth Year, 1780

May [1780]
Charleston SC  page 80
(Note: D€hola, who is still in New York, gives no hint about the source of his information on Charleston and the southern campaign. It is possible that it came from conversations with Ansbach Jaegers who participated in the fighting in the southern colonies.)
Charleston, the capital city of the beautiful province of South Carolina, lies on a peninsula between the Cooper and the Ashley rivers and was founded in the year 1682.125 The number of houses  is  estimated  at  fifteen  hundred,  and  the  residents amount to  fourteen  thousand,  of whom, however, more than half are Negroes.
[Charleston]  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  American  cities.  The  governor  of  the  province
and all courts are located here. It contains many attractive, elegant buildings; however, most are made of wood. In planning the houses, the primary consideration is providing rooms that are airy and cool, because in summer the heat is very great. Most of the houses have spacious lawns  and  gardens,  with  separate  buildings  for  cooking,  as  is  common  in  the  southern provinces, to prevent the danger of fire and heat. The main streets are wide, straight, and cut at right angles; however, they are not paved as in Philadelphia. The greatest length of the city is one  mile, and the width  is one-half  mile. The plan  for  its  construction was suggested and carried  out  by  the  English  proprietary  lords  to  whom  King  Charles  II  had  granted  the province.
Captain Sayle, a Scot, had landed with the first planters near the Ashley River in the  year 1669,  and  settled  with  them.  Both  rivers,  Cooper  and  Ashley,  are  navigable,  although  the Cooper  River  is  so  for  trading  ships  only  up  to  twenty  miles  above  the  city.  Merchant shipping  finds safe anchorage between the city and a small  island  in the Cooper River. This part  of  the  river  is  called  the  Bay,  and  along  this  side  of  the  city  the  banks  have  excellent wharves  and  are  planted  with  palm  trees.  A  sandbank  protects  the  entrance  of  the  harbor, which  ships  of  more  than  two  hundred  tons  cannot  pass  without  off-loading.  The advantageous position of the city has been used to fortify it. On the land side, as well as on the southwestern  point,  there  have  been  regular  walled  defenses  for  a  long  time.  Both  the Americans and the English  have  considerably  increased  and  improved them during  the  war, but  they  are  again  deteriorating.  On  the  land  side  the  city  has  only  one  entrance,  which  is protected by a gate as well as some defensive works constructed of oyster-shells and plaster.
Among  the  public  buildings  of  the  city  are  the  beautiful  statehouse,  opposite  the  main guardhouse; the exchange; and the two churches, Saint Philip and Saint Michael. Two rows of barracks, well constructed from wood by the previous English garrison, are also worth seeing. The steeple  of  Saint  Michael’s Church  is  190  feet  high  and  serves  also  as  a  guide  for  ships entering  the  harbor.  It  was  previously  painted  white.  The  American  General  [Abraham] Whipple had the idea to have it painted black on the sea side, from which it could be seen from  a  great  distance,  in  order  to  make  it  less  visible  to  the  English  ships  whose  visit  was feared. This purpose, however was not fufilled,  because  now during  clear  weather the  black side shows  far  more distinctly,  and  on  dull  days  appears  from  a  distance  to  be  even  larger.  There  is also a German Lutheran  parish  here, which  has  its own church  and  preacher  but  is not very rich.
In  the  winter  the  city  is  less  lively  than  in  the  summer.  At  Christmas  most  of  the inhabitants move to their country estates and spend the greatest part of the remaining winter there.  One  of  the  reasons  is  that  during  the  holidays  the  Negroes  on  the  plantations  are allowed  more  freedom  and,  from  fear  of  bad  consequences  that  this  might  cause,  the inhabitants  consider  their  presence  necessary;  and  at  the  same  time  they  supervise  the progress of their affairs. With the start of the hot summer days everyone hurries back into the city,  if  not prevented  from doing so because of  business. The nearness  of  the  ocean  and  the cool breezes there make the summer stay in the city more pleasant and healthier than it can be inland. The many rice and  indigo plantations  near Charleston are very productive sources of wealth for many families. As a rule, there is a better lifestyle and more politeness here than in the northern states of America. All sorts of entertainment are known and enjoyed here. Public concerts are held, and the musicians are mostly Germans and English who deserted from the army or remained behind, as among the native-born there are few connoisseurs.
All  plays  popular  in  England  are  also  popular  here.  As  far  as  clothing  is  concerned, the English  fashions  are  closely  followed;  and  the  clergyman  and  city  councilman  wear  the costumes  usual  in  the  motherland.  All  the  women  take  great  pride  with  their  dress  and appearance and spare no cost in obtaining the newest fashions from Europe. Dressmakers and hairdressers are plentiful and amass considerable wealth.
(to be continued)

Marquis de Lafayette: Washington & The Marquis
by Mary Stockwell at George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Visitors to Mount Vernon might be surprised to see the key to the Bastille, the notorious French prison, on display in the central hall. In 1790, Gilbert du Motier—better known as the Marquis de Lafayette—sent the key to George Washington on behalf of the people of France. To understand why Lafayette did this, it is necessary to understand the special relationship that developed between Washington and Lafayette during the American Revolution.
The bond between the two men grew so strong that they were more like a father and son, rather than a commanding general and his top-ranking officer. For Lafayette, there was no better person to receive the symbol of the end of ancient tyranny than the man who fought so bravely to establish the United States.
At first glance, Lafayette might seem an unlikely supporter of George Washington. Born in 1757, he came from one of France’s oldest families.  Read more…

Advertised on 13 June 1774: “American SNUFF …”

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

“American SNUFF … MANUFACTURED in Pennsylvania.”

George Lawton and Robert Lawton advertised “American SNUFF” in the Newport Mercury as colonizers from New England to Georgia discussed how to respond to the Boston Port Act, legislation that closed the harbor as punishment for the destruction of tea in December 1773.  Simultaneously, newspapers covered other abuses perpetrated by Parliament.  The June 13, 1774, edition of the Newport Mercury, for instance, featured “A BILL for better regulating the Government of the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in North-America” and “A BILL for the impartial Administration of Justice in the Cases of Persons questioned for any Acts, done by them in the Execution of the law, or for the Suppression of Riots & Tumults in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England.”  Although neither had yet been passed when the ship that carried them departed from Bristol more than five weeks earlier, the printer, Solomon Southwick, noted “there is no doubt of their having passed before this time.”  In colorful commentary, he added that “the — [devil] himself can suggest nothing too horrid to be expected from the present administration.”  Another note followed the second bill: “God save the PEOPLE from such Laws!”

It was in that context that the Lawtons marketed “American SNUFF … MANUFACTURED in Pennsylvania” as an alternative to snuff imported from Great Britain.  Read more…

Georgian rings explained
Sam Mee, 10 June 2024 in All Things Georgian
Rings from the Georgian era remain popular because of their exquisite details and fascinating choice of gemstones. Georgian jewellery is so far removed from anything you see today – it’s romantic and eccentric. You can imagine a powdered woman wearing a ring set with a large, foil-backed, pink topaz newly sourced from Brazil, surrounded by seed pearls or perhaps rose-cut diamonds, an oversized decadent wig decorated with ostrich feathers, exotic flowers and ribbons and, of course, an outlandish outfit to match.
The Georgian period was long, however – spanning the reign of five kings (four Georges and a William) from 1714 to 1837 – and techniques and fashion evolved over that time. Distinguishing genuine Georgians can be tricky – given the number of replicas produced, especially those made in the following Victorian era. Here’s an in-depth guide to help you.
Diamond cuts
In the early Georgian period up to the middle of the 18th century, diamonds dominated and were often set in silver to enhance their brilliance. Foiling was used to add a metallic coating to the gem’s back (usually a closed-back setting, where the back of the gemstone was enclosed in metal) to increase the stone’s brilliance under candlelight. Read more…

Book Review: The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman “Not Apt to Be Intimidated”
Author John L. Smith, Jr. (Westholme, 2024, $32.50 hardcover)
Review by Nichole Louise 9 June 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
“I will never consent to have our sex considered an inferior point of light. Let each planet shine in their own orbit, God and nature intended it so—if man is Lord, woman is Lordess.”
The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman “Not Apt to Be Intimidated” offers a fascinating, in-depth, and oftentimes amusing account of the life of Abigail Adams through her letters, steadfast beliefs, keen intellect, and business acumen. While many know Abigail Adams within the context of her husband, John Adams, and the American Revolution, what Abigail achieved in her own right as a woman of her time is remarkable and pioneering. What’s more, she enjoyed a level of equality and true partnership with her husband that some women do not even have in the twenty-first century.
Author John L. Smith, Jr. heavily employs letters written throughout Abigail’s life, as well as letters written to her. The famous texts are of course referenced, such as the now renowned “Remember the Ladies” letter to her husband, but Smith also incorporates lesser known tidbits and life observations that reveal a more personal, intimate portrait of Abigail beyond the Founding Mother persona. While she accomplished much that is remembered by history, she was also a woman of her time with as many complexities, flaws, and idiosyncrasies as anybody albeit with a bit more decorum and grace than her husband, who was infamously known for his.
Throughout her life, Abigail cultivated friendships with other women that were filled with intellectual correspondence, as well as with influential men of the time such as Thomas Jefferson. Mercy Otis Warren was one of the first forged of famous friendships. Slightly Abigail’s senior, Mercy was somewhat of a mentor to Abigail and also very much someone Abigail wanted to emulate not just in motherhood, but also as an intellectual. Smith notes that “Mercy, taken with Abigail’s curious spirit, invited a mentor correspondence with Abigail, who eagerly accepted it.” (page 32) Abigail later divulged the contents of her famous “Remember the Ladies” letter to Mercy in 1776, relaying that she “ventured to speak a word on behalf of our sex.” Abigail also wrote to British historian Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay, explaining the political climate in America near the start of the Revolution. Abigail was taken with the fact that Macaulay, a woman, was a renowned historian, when she herself had had no formal schooling yet had been educated at home and by the books in her father Reverand Smith’s study. Read more…

Sleeping with the Ancestors – Podcast
by Joseph McGill, 11 June 2024 at Ben Franklin’s World
In this special Juneteenth episode, as we honor the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, we will delve into the work of those working to preserve slave dwellings across the United States, safeguarding the essential stories these structures embody.
In our conversation, our guest will share why former slave dwellings are vital to our nation’s history and what they reveal about those who once lived in them. As we explore these poignant remnants of the past, consider: Why is it important to preserve these humble yet powerful symbols of history? What stories do they hold that we risk losing if they are forgotten? And how can understanding this part of our heritage shape a more inclusive and truthful reflection of our nation’s past?
Joseph McGill is a public historian, scholar, and executive director/founder of the Slave Dwelling Project. He joins us to discuss the importance of preserving colonial era housing for the enslaved communities with details from his book, Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery.  Listen in…

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

Entries which have been added, or revised, this week in the Loyalist Directory, with thanks to Andrew Payzant of Nova Scotia Branch who has contributd information about:

  • Sgt. John Coop who was in Emmerick’s Chasseurs, British Legion and Tarleton’s Dragoons. Leaving from Staten Island on 28 Sept 1783 on the HMS Clinton, he resettled in Port Mouton NS.  He and Hannah (Gorham) married 4 Mar 1787.
  • Pvt. Peter Mangard who joined the Loyalist cause, enlisting in Tarleton’s British Legion, initially into the cavalry troop commanded by Captain David Kinloch. Peter was one of 13 dragoons from this troop captured and taken prisoner at Cowpens in January 1781, and he remained in American custody until June 1783, when he returned to the Legion at New York. After the departure of Kinloch in the summer of 1781, command of the troop had been assumed to Captain Nathaniel Vernon. On the disbanding of the Legion, Peter received a 150 acre land grant at Port Mouton.
  • Pvt. John Hillaker who joined the Loyalist cause, enlisting in Emmerick’s Chasseurs in June 1778, which unit was disbanded in the fall of 1789 and John was transferred into Tarleton’s British Legion, initially into the infantry company commanded by Captain John Rousselet. John was one of the few soldiers from this company not taken prisoner at Cowpens in 1781, and he was transferred to Captain Jacob James’ Troop of Cavalry, serving through the Southern Campaign up to the Surrender at Yorktown in Oct 1781. He was held prisoner, but was back on the Muster Roll at New York before August 1782, and remained with the Legion up to its disbanding. He received a 100 acre land grant at Port Mouton, after which his whereabouts are not yet known.

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

Wreck of Quest, famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s last ship, found in Labrador Sea
By Alexandra Pope  12 Jun 2024 at Canadian Geographic
An expedition led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society found the vessel intact and upright at a depth of 390 metres
A Royal Canadian Geographical Society-led expedition has discovered the wreck of the famed exploration vessel Quest in the Labrador Sea. Celebrated polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton died aboard Quest in 1922 while en route to Antarctica, marking the end of what some historians call the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. The wreck lies upright and intact on the seabed in 390 metres of water northwest of St. John’s and east of Battle Harbour, Labrador.
Quest was damaged by ice while on a seal hunt off the Labrador coast in the traditional waters of the Mi’kmaq, Innu and Inuit, and sank on May 5, 1962. The vessel’s ultimate resting place is poignant given that Shackleton originally intended to use Quest for a Canadian Arctic expedition before the government of then-Prime Minister Arthur Meighen pulled the plug. Forced to change plans at the eleventh hour, Shackleton then headed south to Antarctica. The find creates a tangible link between Canada and a towering figure in polar exploration. Read more…

Bartleby’s Insights on Complex Embodiment for a Post-Pandemic World
by Mary Eyring, mid-June 2024 Common Place (a heavy read)
Four years on, a disability-informed reading of “Bartleby” seems to address even more urgently the crises our students face.
Twice in my teaching career, I’ve encountered Herman Melville at the intersection of past and present. When I was an adjunct instructor of English at Pace University’s downtown Manhattan campus, I taught “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street” (1853) in the wake of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Because I taught the class in fall 2013, two years after the first protesters gathered in Zuccotti Park, I expected Melville’s story of Wall Street to resonate with students pursuing an expensive education in the financial center of a city still riven by income inequality. I did not expect the story to seem as urgent when I taught it again at Brigham Young University in Utah in 2020. But several months into a course on writing literary criticism in which I used “Bartleby” as the primary text, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the class online. And once again, the story of a “pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn” scrivener mapped uncannily onto the moment in which I was teaching it. From the bedrooms and living rooms my students converted into makeshift offices in which to conduct remote work, Melville’s “motionless young man” had something to say about our crisis. When domestic and corporate spaces collapse into one another, what form of humanity can one extricate from the mess? Read more…

In the News:

Cornwall 1784 weekend event has history come alive in Lamoureux Park
by Standard-Freeholder staff 10 June 2024
History came alive in Lamoureux Park this past weekend as hundreds of historical re-enactors, historians, and members of the general public descended on Cornwall to commemorate the 240th anniversary of New Johnstown and the Royal Townships, which is now known as the United Counties of SD&G.
The event was put on by the SD&G Historical Society, whose president, Dona Cruickshank, said that the weekend exceeded her expectations.
“We had people come from Ottawa, Montreal, and across SDG,” she said.
The celebration was coinciding with the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada’s 2024 conference, which also took place in Cornwall, so Cruickshank was expecting to get a lot of interest from them. However, she was pleasantly surprised that there was so much interest from other people as well.
The weather cleared up long enough for the two biggest highlights – Saturday’s opening ceremonies, which included a re-enactment of the Loyalist landing and the drawing of the lots which determined who got various patches of land, and Sunday’s Military Tactical Manoeuvres, where living historians garbed in appropriate period dress, depicted what battles looked like in the late 18th century.  Read more with photos…

In Touch With Quinte – United Empire Loyalists Landing Celebration
Sunday (16 June 2024) will mark the 240th anniversary of the United Empire Loyalists landing in the region.
The community celebration in Aldophustown will take place on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the St. Alban’s Centre.
Local musician Stephen Medd will be performing some songs. The guest speaker will be Dr. Tanya Grodzinski, from the Royal Military College of Canada.
Bill Daverne joined us on “In Touch With Quinte” to talk about the significance of the day. Listen to the recording (25 min).

Events Upcoming

Loyalist Day in Ontario, Branches (more details later in June)

  • Toronto and Gov Simcoe Branches. Tuesday 18 June.  Queen’s Park. 12:00 for 12:15 Loyalist flag raising at the guest flag pole in front of the Legislature building.
  • Kawartha Branch will have its Flag Raising Ceremony at Peterborough City Hall, with our Member of Parliament’s representative, Provincial MPP, County Warden’s representative, and Mayor, Jeff Leal, on Wednesday, 19 June, at 10:00 a.m. We’ll be dressed in period attire. All welcome.
  • Hamilton Branch, Loyalist Day at Dundurn Castle Wed. June 19, @11:00
    Gather at the ROCK (plaqued with tribute to Richard Beasley and The United Empire Loyalists of the area) service entrance from the parking lot at Dundurn Castle, 610 York Blvd., Hamilton on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.  Program at 11:00, rain or shine. All are welcome.  Bring a lawn chair is suggested.
    If you wear period clothing, arrive around 10:30, meet at the picnic pavilion.
    Guest speaker Robin McKee, distinguished Hamilton historian about the three, reputed first Loyalist families of Hamilton:  Land, Beasley and Mills.
    Refreshments will be served in the picnic pavilion, before a walking tour to the Land crypt, across the street at the Hamilton Cemetery.
    If you plan to stay for light refreshments, please RSVP to Glenna Marriage gmarriage@rogers.com.  Celebrate Loyalist Day with us.
  • Saturday June 22. Grand River Branch 11:00 at Vittoria. Lunch (fee) and program Flyer

The American Revolution Institute: An 1830s Model of HMS Roebuck, Fri 21 June @12:30

 Museum Collections and Operations Manager Paul Newman discusses an 1830s model of HMS Roebuck, a forty-four-gun British frigate that saw extensive service during the American Revolutionary War. Launched in 1774, the Roebuck found itself performing blockade duty on the Delaware River as early as 1775. The Roebuck later patrolled off Long Island and took part in the attacks on Forts Mercer and Mifflin and the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, before it returned to Great Britain in 1781. This presentation highlights the Roebuck’s service during the Revolutionary War, its technical features, and what daily life was like for her crew—all illustrated by this early model of the ship. Read more, photo and registration..

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • By Brian McConnell UE
    • Great visit & tour in Burlington, Vermont of home of American folk hero Ethan Allen, known for capture of Fort Ticonderoga during American Revolution & leadership of Green Mountain Boys. He lived  with wife Frances “Fanny” Montresor Buchanan a young, attractive Loyalist widow.
    • Faces I spoke to at Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario this week.  (includes a pioneer women washing clothes)
    • Scottish Dirk of Major – General John Small, commander of 84th Regiment , 2nd Battalion, displayed at Fort Ticonderoga . After American Revolution members of 84th settled in Hants County,  Nova Scotia .
    • Powder horn of Timothy Ruggles viewed on display at Fort Ticonderoga.  After American Revolution he settled in Nova Scotia as a Loyalist refugee near present day Middleton. (image includes description)
  • Townsends, or “anything food”
    • Food That Time Forgot: Onion Pie
    • Herbs in the 18th-century were often used medicinally – by both the Indigenous tribes and the European colonists. Horehound soothed throats and, as an expectorant, helped with coughs; bee balm was believed to be an antiseptic and was used as a tea substitute; germander aided in the treatment of inflammation from things like gout; and yarrow, also known as “Achillea” after the Greek warrior Achilles, was an antiseptic, stopped bleeding and, in Europe, was used in brewing to flavor beer.
  • This week in History 
    • 17 May 1733 The English Parliament passed the Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum, sugar & molasses imported to colonies from other than British-held possessions. The act imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports from non-English colonies. image
    • 11 June 1741 Benjamin Franklin, writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, diplomat & American founding father, invented the “Franklin Stove”, also known as the “Circulating Stove” and the “Pennsylvania Fireplace.” image
    • 10 June 1768 Boston, MA Comptroller Benjamin Hallowell & Collector Joseph Harrison seized John Hancock’s sloop, Liberty, for failing to pay duties on a cargo of wine. The sloops are towed & anchored beside HMS Romney. Sons of Liberty attacked the customs officials at the wharf. Hancock’s ship will be released in March. image
    • 9 Jun 1772, Warwick, RI. Colonists led by Cmdr Abraham Whipple, angered by Parliament’s passing of the Townshend Acts restricting colonial trade, blacken faces & board HMS Gaspee, an armed British customs schooner run aground, wound Captn & set it aflame. image
    • 13e June 1774, the Rhode Island assembly prohibited the importation of enslaved people, though the law was written not to interfere with importing enslaved people into other colonies and had other limitations. image
    • 8 June 1775 Yorktown, VA Royal Gov Lord Dunmore (John Murray) finds refuge on board HMS Fowey in the midst of increasing violence between patriots and Loyalists in Virginia. image
    • 9 June 1775 Quebec, Canada. Gov-Gen Guy Carleton declares martial law & suspends provisions of the Quebec Act while beginning to recruit volunteers to augment his military forces. image
    • 10 Jun 1775, Philadelphia, PA. John Adams proposed to Congress that the state militias surrounding British forces in Boston should be a Continental Army led by a general. He suggests the appointment of George Washington to lead the army.  image
    • 12 June 1775 Boston, MA. In a pompous proclamation written by playwright Gen John Burgoyne, MA Gov Thomas Gage declares martial law & entreats rebels (except Sam Adams & John Hancock) to lay down arms & be pardoned. Not well received by the populace. image
    • 14 Jun 1775 Continental Army was created by the Second Continental Congress as a unified army for the colonies to fight Great Britain, with George Washington appointed as its commander. Six companies of rifleman from VA, PA & MD form the first units. image
    • 14 Jun 1775 Boston, MA. British Gen’s Howe, Burgoyne & Clinton pressured Gen Thomas Gage to push British forces onto Dorchester Hts & Roxbury to provide room for the garrison & to stage an offensive against the rebels at Cambridge. image
    • 15 Jun 1775 Cambridge, MA The Cambridge Committee of Safety receives word from spies that Gov Gage plans to occupy heights around Boston & orders Gen Artemus Ward to occupy Dorchester Heights & Bunker Hill. image
    • 7 Jun 1776 Philadelphia, PA Outraged at the use of Hessians to suppress the Americans, Virginian Richard Henry Lee proposed a resolution for independence to the Continental Congress. The resolution would be referred for consideration two more days. image
    • 7 June 1776 Charleston, SC Denied safe harbor at Wilmington, NC. A fleet under Commodore Peter Parker & Gen Henry Clinton enters the Palmetto State’s harbor & lands British troops on Long Island. image
    • 7 June 1776 Newbury-Port, MA After a hard-fought 2-hour battle, the 12-gun American privateer, Yankee Hero, is defeated by the frigate HMS Melford commanded by Capt John Burr. image
    • 8 Jun 1776 Trois-Rivieres, CA. Gov Guy Carleton’s  British regulars defeat the  Americans, inflicting over 160 casualties & capturing over 200. A few escaped through a swamp, but the American campaign to bring the province to the cause was collapsing. image
    • 11 June 1776, Philadelphia.  Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to determine the form of a confederation of the colonies if they became independent. “Resolved, That the committee, to prepare the declaration, consist of five members…”  image
    • 12 Jun 1776 The Virginia Convention, assembled in Williamsburg, unanimously adopts George Mason’s declaration of rights. Virginia’s Declaration of Rights later became the basis for the Bill of Rights amended to the federal Constitution. image
    • 13 Jun 1776 His campaign faltering, Gen John Sullivan begins preparations to withdraw the weary and under-supplied American forces from Canada and back to NY. image
    • 9 Jun 1778, the Marquis de Lafayette swore an oath of allegiance to the United States in front of George Washington. Washington and Lafayette had a great bond throughout Washington’s life. image
    • 13 Jun 1778 Plymouth, England. The Channel fleet sorties under Augustus Keppel with 21 ships-of-line & 3 frigates. Mission: protect British shipping around Brest & watch for the French fleet.  image
    • 6 June 1779 The frigates Boston under Capt Samuel Tucker & Confederacy, under Capt Seth Harding take 3 British vessels, including 24-gun privateer, Pole. image
    • 8 Jun 1781 Gen Nathanael Greene, besieging Fort Ninety-Six in SC, is reinforced by troops under Gen Andrew Pickens &Col Henry Lee. At Camden, British Col Francis Rawdon marches with 3 regiments to relieve the fort. image
    • On 10 June 1781, Gen Anthony Wayne arrived in Virginia with a 1,000-strong brigade and reinforced the Marquis de Lafayette and Gen von Steuben, making the American army 4,500 crack troops. image
    • 7 June 1782 Amsterdam, NL The Netherlands approves a $1 Million loan to the US. image
    • We remember those people who stick by us through thick and thin – like how King Louis XVI of France and King Carlos III of Spain supported the American colonists with substantial financial and military assistance throughout the Revolutionary War. While both countries provided clandestine aid from the conflict’s beginning, neither intended to become involved in an English civil war. American colonists needed to prove themselves an independent country fighting against a common British enemy. And slowly, they did just that. Not only did the French fight alongside the patriots at battles like Yorktown, but the Spanish in Spanish Louisiana attacked British-held Pensacola, forcing the town’s surrender in 1781. And because of both these allies, the American Revolution was able to succeed.
  • Clothing and Related: 
    • 18th c waistcoats hold an endless appeal  Here, an English waistcoat (1780-90), replete w/architectural ornament & embroidered w/silk & chenille, graceful ribbons & appliquéd, painted silk medallions
    • Robe à l’Anglaise, made 1775-85, England, of Spitalfields silk, woven 1755-59, London. The robe à l’anglaise, or English-style gown, was fashionable both in England and across Europe in the 1770s and 1780s. The style is characterised by a close-fitting back, as opposed to the robe à la française, or French-style gown, which featured box pleats that fell loosely from the shoulders to the floor. More images & full description here.
    • Patterns matched, pleats tweaked into place to fashion this pink striped 1770s gown, every single stitch worked by hand. The fabric has been changed this way and that to run in different directions for different effects culminating in the deep V at the back
    • Dress, 1790-1800. Silk mousseline and pailettes.
    • Still taking mostly a break from here (will be back soon), but can’t resist sharing this funky embroidered picture from @mfaboston. It was embroidered by 17-year-old Anne Peartree in Boston in 1739. I love seeing the back — a great reminder that the past was colourful and bright.
    • Exploring the history of Sleeves. This piece was stitched in the 1760s, from silk damask woven in the 1740s. These sleeves (fashionable from the 1750s to early 70s) are finished with flounces and edged with fly fringe.
    • we’re sharing this 19th century skirt lifter. What do you think it was used for? Despite its suggestive name, the skirt lifter actually served a useful purpose!  Read more…
    • 1770 saque. The highlight of which is clearly the fabric, which is a ribbed silk with handpainted floral designs, with a silver outline, which has since turned grey. It was made in China for a Western market and was made in France.
    • Featured in our exhibition “Silken Petals: Flowers, Femininity and Lingerie,” these brocaded silk stays are the earliest object in our museum collection. You can explore the exhibition curated by Caroline Elenowitz-Hess in further detail on our website.
    • a beautiful pink and cream striped taffeta robe a l’anglaise from the early 1770s. This stunning gown with its close-fitting bodice demonstrates the move towards a simpler style of fashionable dress during the later part of the eighteenth century.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: “It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. Read/see more, and look down at the comments…
    • 13 June 1769, Josiah Wedgwood threw six vases on a potter’s wheel. The four vases that survived the kiln firing, known as the ‘First Day’s Vases‘, commemorate the opening of Wedgwood & Bentley’s new factory at Etruria, Staffordshire.
    • This is Conrad Heyer. I have cleaned & enhanced his historically significant portrait, as he is verified as the earliest-born human ever to have been photographed. He was born 275 years ago (back in 1749) a mere 83 years after London was consumed by the Great Fire. It boggles my mind that he could potentially have met people who experienced it. Conrad was photographed here in 1852, at the age of 103.
      There have been other contenders for the title of earliest-born human to be photographed, but their claims are all based on hearsay & oral records, not on verifiable paperwork.

 

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