In this issue:

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UELAC Head Office July Vacation
Please be advised that the UELAC Head Office in Cornwall will be closed from Monday July 08 until Monday, July 15 when Office Administrator Rod Appleby will be on vacation.
For Emergencies ONLY, the UELAC Office phone number is operational.
…Carl Stymiest UE, UELAC National President

2024 Scholarship Winners Announced
It is with a great deal of pleasure that the Scholarship Committee is ready to introduce our two scholarship recipients to Loyalist Trails readers.
The committee had four entries this year. This was both a rewarding and difficult experience as we only budgeted for two new winners in addition to the four returning scholars who all continue to work hard towards their PhD credentials.
Please join us in congratulating Graham and Blake.  Look for their biographies on the website in the coming weeks.

Graham Nickerson, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, PhD candidate, Historical Studies. Supervisor: Professor Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy.
To be Made Majesties of.
In his submission Graham wrote: “. The evolution of community will help historians better understand the broad motivations of Black Loyalists and their descendants within the broader Black Atlantic as a response to barriers and opportunities. The interactive database will empower future scholars to quickly access source material, including recorded community oral histories. Further, a publicly accessible database will allow community to both access and contribute to the body of knowledge that leverages both traditional archives and community history, centering Black voices, preserving them for posterity. ”

Blake McGready  PhD Candidate in History, The Graduate Center, CUNY. Supervising professor: Dr. Benjamin L. Carp.
Making Nature’s Nation: The Revolutionary War and Environmental Interdependence in New York, 1775–1783.
In his submission Blake wrote: “Paying attention to the Revolution’s environmental legacy can shed new light on the meaning of the war and independence. I’m curious to see what these sources reveal about the extent of anthropogenic assumptions among the revolutionary generation. In what ways did these subjects see themselves as intertwined with the natural, non-human world, and how did they see themselves as superior to or distinct from the environment? As the world grapples with interrelated environmental emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss, we must better reckon with how earlier generations responded to environmental crises. Support from the UELAC will be essential for my research into these vital questions.”
Christine Manzer UE, Chair, UELAC Scholarship Committee

The Sheaffe Family of Boston: A Loyalist Saga. Part Three of Three
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Thanks to the patronage of Hugh Percy, the Duke of Northumberland, Roger Hale Sheaffe steadily rose through the ranks of the British army. Within 18 years of service to the crown, Sheaffe had become a lieutenant in the 5th Regiment of Foot and was stationed in the newly formed colony of Upper Canada. Not bad for Boston born boy who entered the military at just ten years of age.
In 1794, Lt. Sheaffe went to the southern shore of Lake Ontario to fulfill a mission given him by John Graves Simcoe, the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. As the former commander of the Queen’s Rangers, which had fought Patriot forces during the American Revolution, Simcoe was ever aware of the threat of invasion by the army of the United States.
American had created settlement at Sodus Point on the New York side of Lake Ontario. Fearing that this might be used as a strategic launching point for an attack on Upper Canada, Simcoe sent Sheaffe and a military escort to Sodus to deliver a statement of protest. Read by Sheaffe, Simcoe’s statement said in part, “I am commanded to declare that during the in execution of the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States… the taking possession of any part of the Indian Territory, either for the purposes of war or sovereignty, is held to be a direct violation of his Britannic Majesty’s rights.”
When word of this protest reached the American government, it caused an uproar. President George Washington referred to it as the “most open and daring act of the British agents.” Fortunately, it did not amount to more than a tempest in a teacup. Jay’s Treaty, which settled outstanding land disagreements between Britain and America, was signed in November of that year.
That might have been Roger Sheaffe’s one and only moment in the spotlight of history. He returned to England in 1797; over the next dozen years he and his regiment fought in both Holland and the Baltic. In 1802, Sheaffe returned to Upper Canada where he was put in charge of Fort George on the Niagara frontier.
In the following year, he called upon Sir Isaac Brock, his superior officer, to deal with a rumoured mutiny. In the end, 12 mutineers and 7 deserters were sent to Quebec to face a court martial. They were charged with planning to kill Sheaffe, imprison the remaining officers, and desert to the United States. The soldiers claimed that they had been compelled to plan a mutiny in reaction to the severity of Sheaffe’s command.
Brock later blamed Sheaffe for the affair, claiming he was “too zealous and too much the disciplinarian“. The historian Carol Whitfield observes, “Probably the isolation and loneliness of Fort George, coupled with a “follow the rule-book” attitude by Sheaffe, the product of a military academy, created the atmosphere of desperation which induced the men to conspire.”
Despite this incident, Sheaffe received the brevet rank of colonel in 1808. Two years later, he was in Lower Canada where he had become the husband of Margaret Coffin. Her father, John Coffin, was a Boston Loyalist, and since the revolution had become both a justice of the peace and the chief of Police in Quebec City.  Roger, at 47, was a lieutenant colonel in the 49th Regiment of Foot; his bride was 31.
The year 1812 would forever change both Roger Hale Sheaffe’s fortunes and reputation. On October 13, British and Loyalist forces under Sir Isaac Brock were fighting more than 1,000 American invaders at what was to become known as the Battle of Queenston Heights. Following Brock’s death, his Indigenous allies held the Americans back until reinforcements from nearby Fort George could arrive. It was Major General Roger Sheaffe who arrived with 300 soldiers and 250 militiamen, including a regiment of Black men.
Sheaffe trapped the American forces between a cliff and his army. Hearing the roar of battle, New York militiamen refused to join the fight. Following volleys of fire and a charge of bayonets, the Americans surrendered. Brock, the much-loved commander, had died, but Sheaffe had won the battle.
Sheaffe’s success garnered congratulations and gratitude across the colony. But he had become more than a victorious hero; Sheaffe had succeeded Brock as the new commander of His Majesty’s forces in Upper Canada and the new President Administering the Government.  The accolades did not stop there.
On January 16, 1813, King George III expressed his pleasure with Sheaffe’s victory at Queenston Heights by conferring upon him the title of Baronet of the United Kingdom. He would henceforth be referred to as Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe.
However, Sheaffe’s popularity dissipated rather quickly. Some believed that he should have kept fighting, pursuing American forces into New York, rather than signing of a temporary armistice to allow time to attend to the wounded, exchange prisoners, and bury Brock with military honours. Fort George could not contain all of the prisoners taken in the battle, so exchanging or paroling them seemed the most practical solution.
Later historians claimed that Sheaffe’s Boston heritage and his many American connections held him back from invading his homeland. Other historians have contended that because Sheaffe’s commanding officer, Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost, had forbidden offensive moves, the ever cautious and “by-the-book” Sheaffe would not have disobeyed a direct order.
With the death of Brock, Sheaffe also had civilian duties. In the absence of a lieutenant governor, Upper Canada was led by a military officer who served as its government’s “president” or “administrator”.  Sheaffe’s term of office was from October 20, 1812 to June 18, 1813. Under his leadership, the colonial legislature instituted controls over grain, dispersed annuities to the needy, appropriated funds for defense, and authorized a bounty to volunteers who served for the duration of the war.
Sheaffe’s reputation took another hit in April 1813 when American forces attacked York (today’s Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada. The invaders had 2,000 men; York only had 600. Despite several rallies led by Sir Roger, the Americans kept advancing.  Recognizing that his forces could not defeat the larger army, Sheaffe retreated further up the shore of Lake Ontario to Kingston, leaving militia officers to negotiate York’s surrender.
Sheaffe’s superior officer, Sir George Prevost, was very dissatisfied and ordered him to leave Upper Canada to take command of troops in Montreal. By 1814, he, his wife, and their two daughters had sailed for England.  Thirteen years later, Roger and Margaret were living in Edinburgh, Scotland with a family of four children.
By 1842, all of the Sheaffe children had died. Sir Roger designated William Sheaffe III, the eldest surviving son of his brother William, as his heir. “Having adopted him when he was ten years of age; and, it having pleased God to take all my children from me, I regard him as a son. He has a dear little wife, worthy of him.”
Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe died in Edinburgh on July 17, 1851 at age 88.  The son of a Boston customs collector, he had weathered countless battles for the British crown. A victor at the Battle of Queenston Heights, and defeated at the Battle of York, his life was a saga of a faithful officer in the service of the British Empire.
Carol Whitfield summed up Sheaffe’s actions with these words: Overshadowed by his predecessor, who cut the more daring figure and who died having never lost a battle, Sheaffe is forgotten. He did not lead courageous charges, he did not waste lives, but he did defeat the enemy overwhelmingly and he did achieve the legislation he wanted. Had he been more explicit on the reasons for his actions and more demonstrative of his loyalty to Britain, he might have been more trusted. The efforts of quiet, unassuming men are often deprecated simply because they are unknown. Sheaffe was not a brilliant general but he was competent, and he deserves more attention in our history than he has received.”
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Parliament and the American Revolution: The British Perspective
by David Otersen 2 July 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
James III of England, although born as the rightful and lawful heir to the English throne, never became King of England. In early 1689, while he was still an infant, Parliament, after having declared that his father, James II, had abdicated the throne, proceeded to inaugurate William of Orange and his wife Mary as the King and Queen of England. Parliament, exercising its immense and illimitable sovereign authority, had altered the line of succession for the British Crown. History records these events as the “Glorious Revolution,” and one of its primary effects was to cement the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty as the first principle of the British Constitution.
During the British Imperial Crisis, however, American colonists would, remarkably, entirely disavow the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, and they did so by introducing and adhering to a series of radical innovations and interpretations that had no basis in British constitutional law. As Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, trenchantly remarked in 1766, “It is now settled that there is no Restriction to the Legislative Authority of Great Britain. The Americans have adopted on this fatal occasion a new principle that they are not subject to the Legislative Authority of Great Britain. They have refused the law.”
Indeed, during the Revolution, American colonists responded to the various legislative initiatives of Parliament with a deluge of hyperbolic complaints and logorrheic protests, countering that they had established a confederated union among themselves with interests separate and distinct from the British Empire and demanding the right to be treated accordingly. Hans Stanley, a Member of the House of Commons since 1743, was genuinely stunned by the blatant illegality of these acts and, on the floor of Parliament, exclaimed, “They have exceeded what this House has ever done, meeting in a federal Union not to be dissolved by the Crown . . . All their petitions are insults on your authority.” In fact, when the colonists rejected the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and then declared themselves a de facto state within a state (as early as 1765), they flagrantly violated two fundamental maxims of their historic Constitution: parliamentary sovereignty itself and the unitary nature of the British Empire. Read

more…

Our Favorite Quotations About the Declaration of Independence
by Editors 3 July 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
We asked our contributors for their favorite quotation about the Declaration of Independence, by a person who was alive when it was announced.

Haimo Li
Benjamin Rush, physician and statesman, to John Adams in 1808: “I feel pain when I am reminded of my exertions in the cause of what we called liberty; and sometimes wish I could erase my name from the declaration of Independence. In Case of a rupture with Britain or France—what shall we fight for?—for our Constitution? I cannot meet with a man who loves it. It is considered as too weak, by an half of our Citizens, and too strong by the Other half.—Shall we rally round the standard of a popular Chief? Since the death of Washington there has been no such Centre of Union.”

Rick Gardiner, Jack Campbell
Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration, as remembered by Benjamin Rush in 1811: “The Silence & the gloom of the morning were interrupted I well recollect only for a moment by Col: Harrison of Virginia who said to Mr Gerry at the table, ‘I shall have a great advantage over you Mr: Gerry when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.'”

Gregory Urwin
Edmund Burke, British statesman: “A great revolution has happened—a revolution made, not by chopping and changing of power in any one of the existing states, but by the appearance of a new state, of a new species, in a new part of the globe.”

Jude Pfister
Thomas Hutchinson, former royal governor of Massachusetts: “or in what sense all men are created equal; or how far life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness may be said to be unalienable; only I could wish to ask the Delegates of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, how their Constituents justify the depriving more than an hundred thousand Africans of their rights to liberty”
Read more…

 

Television Review: Franklin
Directed by Tim Van Patten. Written by Kirk Ellis and Howard Korder. Featuring Michael Douglas, Noah Jupe, Daniel Mays, and Eddie Marsan. Released April 12–May 17, 2024. Apple TV+.
Review by by Al Dickenson 30 June 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
Franklin, as a television miniseries, is well done. Rarely do we see this time period—the eighteenth century—televised. This eight-hour program has spectacular production value, good writing (if at times a bit sluggish), excellent acting, directing, and cinematography, and a stellar cast, grounded by none other than Michael Douglas, who embodies Benjamin Franklin well. For all these reasons, and more, Franklin should be added to your watch list.
What is bothersome about Franklin, is, unfortunately, the medium. There is significant truncation of time, politics, and persons in this program. Not only are individuals like Silas Deane completely omitted from the narrative, but other important events are either omitted or passed over with little or no attention given, even though they are highly deserved. Some elements are likewise added for dramatic effect (like the revelation of Bancroft’s treasonous behavior). Similarly, as this show is based on Stacy Schiff’s A Great Improvisation, I did anticipate a more careful correlation between book chapters and television episodes (especially given Schiff’s involvement in the program).
One aspect of the program I do wish there would be more attention paid to would be the war itself, both Britain’s and America’s perspectives….a slightly more thorough approach to the Revolution would have been appreciated, at least to place eventful timelines and their significance….Though Franklin has its flaws, it does have a lot of good qualities as well. Perhaps one of the best aspects of the show is its ample use of French in dialogue. Little does more to immerse viewers into a place or time than utilizing another language. As such, Franklin does this well. Viewers are immediately placed in 1770s France, which lets us see Franklin’s perspective, whether jarred or curious or amicable. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: New York – A Soldier’s Life June 1780
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

June 1780: At New York (page 82)
Continuation of Occurences in North America During the Fourth Year, 1780
IN THE MONTH OF JUNE [1780]

22 June. At nine o’clock at night the order came to go forward and to attack the enemy.
23 June. At five o’clock in the morning we moved out and marched through the small city of  Elizabethtown,  which  consists  of  about  three  hundred  houses  and  is  settled  mostly  by Quakers. Just beyond the village, we attacked, and the enemy had to pull back, leaving behind three  6-pound  iron  cannon.  One  mile  beyond  the  village,  the  small-arms  fire  by  both  sides continued  the  entire  morning.  During  the  afternoon  we  reached  Springfield  and  the  small village  of  Spring  Hill,  which  has  sixty  to  seventy  houses  and  lies  in  a  valley.  Here  a  few regiments of regular troops from Washington’s army were advantageously posted behind the hedges and orchard trees, as well as a small river, the Semp Creek; and the many large trees also  provided  cover  for  them.  From  six  12-pound  cannon  on  a  height,  they  kept  up  an uninterrupted fire and held off the English for over an hour without yielding a foot, standing their  ground  as  they  had  never  done  before  during  the  war.  An  English  regiment,  which opposed them from below, suffered greatly. Since we occupied a height in order to cover the flank, we were ordered, with another regiment, to support this English regiment and to assault the enemy with fixed bayonets. We hastened forward and drove him from the orchards with a heavy  fire  and  then  completely  out  of  Springfield,  so  that  he  retreated  as  quickly  as possible.
During  the  afternoon  General  von  Knyphausen  wanted  to  march  farther  to  attack  the enemy. The firing began  in a  frightful  manner. Knyphausen  found  it  inadvisable  to advance farther  because  the enemy was well  entrenched  on  a  height, one  mile  from  Springfield, and was  well  provided  with  defensive  positions  and  cannon,  and  received  continuous reinforcements  from  Washington’s  army  at  Morristown.  Therefore,  an  advantageous withdrawal  seemed  advisable.  On  the  orders  of  the  commanding  general,  Springfield,  in which there were no longer any inhabitants, was plundered and then set on fire. The first fire was set  by  the  English  in  the  beautiful Reformed Church,  which,  with  its  steeple,  soon was destroyed by the flames, because it was built mostly of wood. Springfield, of sixty or seventy buildings  mostly  of  wood,  in  the  period  of  half  an  hour  was  laid  entirely  in  ashes.  Six American men, whose legs had been shot off, unfortunately were burned to death in a house.
Some  storehouses  filled  with  hay  and  straw  made  a  terrible  fire,  and  the  resulting  smoke favored  our  withdrawal.  This  was  also  the  only  reason  why  Springfield  was  set  on  fire. Nevertheless, the enemy discovered our retreat. With great zeal and fury, our pursuers pressed us  from  behind.  We  were  followed  up  to  Elizabethtown,  and  our  rear  guard  suffered  great losses.  Today  more  than  four  hundred  dead  and  wounded  were  counted.  From  our  Jaegers, Captain  [Friedrich  Wilhelm]  von  R€der  and  Lieutenant  [Justus]  von  Diemar  were  fatally wounded. Our regiment  had  only two men wounded, namely,  Private  [Martin]  K€hler,  of Eyb’s Company, shot through the  left  hand  by  a  musket  ball,  and  [Johann]  Schindler  II,  of Quesnoy’s Company, who was hit by  a ricocheting shot in the kneecap of the right leg. The loss to the rebels, according to some reports, amounted to  64o men dead  and wounded, and we made 29 men prisoners.
The enemy did  the  most damage to our  Jaegers  and  the  Royal  Rangers,  who  formed  the rear guard. As we pulled back through Elizabethtown, a shot from  a  house  struck  a Hessian jaeger. He was fatally wounded, and after a few days the jaeger gave up the ghost. We halted immediately;  the  house  was  surrounded,  opened,  and  searched;  but  no  living  person  was encountered therein. On the orders of an English major, the house was set on fire in order to force  the  culprit  out;  however,  no  one  appeared.  At  seven  o’clock  in  the  evening  we  again reached  our  lines  and  entered  our  old  camp  place. We  were  very  fatigued,  as  much  by  the march of twenty-two English miles back and forth as by the great heat, during which we had not a crumb to eat, nor hardly a drink of good fresh water for refreshment on the hasty march.
The Ansbach and Hessian Huyne regiments were not on this  march, but remained behind  in the line.
We had barely recovered a little when we again had to move out. General von Knyphausen hastily moved out during the night with his army and left the province of New Jersey. In the greatest  silence,  we  crossed  to  Staten  Island  over  the  Kills  River,  where  the  single-masted ships stood together like a bridge so that it was possible to cross on foot, riding, and driving.
We  marched  the  entire  night,  until  two  o’clock,  when  we  camped  and  rested  a  little  until daylight.  The  reason  for  our  quick  withdrawal  from  the  Jerseys  was  that  John  Maires,  an inhabitant of Paulus Hook living on that point, brought General Knyphausen reliable reports that  Washington  wanted  to  surround  and  attack  us  with  his  entire  army.  We  were  hardly arrived on Staten Island when the enemy, already  at our camp places,  moved  forward  up to the river and fired on our rear guard. Only some English galleys were able to delay him with strong cannon fire until finally everyone was over the river and the ships used for the bridge were separated and brought away.
24 June. We lay quiet and resting on Staten Island.
25 June.  In the morning  we  were  embarked  on  single-masted  ships  and  sailed  past New York to Kingsbridge and Fort Knyphausen, where we were debarked at the ferry by Philipse’s House.
26 June. We marched on land to Philipse’s Point on York Island. It is twenty-two English miles from New York.
27 June. We camped there. Because of a shortage of tents, which were still in New York, and the great heat, we built huts for ourselves from branches with leaves.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 6 July 1774: “Hour and Half-hour Glasses”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
July 6, 2024

“Hour and Half-hour Glasses … of the neatest sort.”

Simon Greenleaf advertised “VERY neat brass box Binnacle Compasses for Ships” and hourglasses “of the neatest sort” for sale at his store “on the Long-Wharf” in Newburyport in the summer of 1774.  He also hawked a “few barrels of Carolina PORK” in his advertisement in the Essex Journal.  Readers likely considered the decorative border that enclosed Greenleaf’s notice the most distinctive aspect of his marketing efforts.  It certainly distinguished his notice from the other advertisements in the July 6 edition and had done so since its first appearance on June 22.
Greenleaf apparently made a request when he submitted his copy to the printing office or met with the printer, Henry-Walter Tinges, to work out an arrangement for this enhancement to his advertisement. Read more…


Podcast: John Hancock
by Brooke Barbier, July 2024, Ben Franklin’s World
During our conversation, Brooke reveals: Biographical history of John Hancock; impact of Hancock’s family on his political life; Hancock’s role in the American Revolutionary War; the legacy of Hancock and his famous signature.
Brooke Barbier received her Ph.D. in American history from Boston College and has worked as a lecturer at Boston College and Stonehill College in Massachusetts. Read more and listen in…

 

The Complexities of the Duff Family – from enslavement to aristocracy
By Sarah Murden 1 July 2024 All Things Georgian
1722 saw the demise of a John Augier, a Jamaica planter, who had had a relationship with an enslaved woman in Jamaica (consensual or otherwise).  When John Augier died, his 5 daughters were freed from enslavement. One of the children from this liaison was Susannah Augier.
We are going to take a look at the life of one of Susannah’s daughters,  Frances, who, despite her parents not being married, took the surname, Dalzell, for her acknowledged father, Gibson Dalzell, from her birth in 1729.
In 1741 Susannah applied to the Jamaican legislature to grant the rights of a white person for her and her children, including the right to inherit property. A copy of the original document is held by the University of Aberdeen.
Frances and her much younger brother, Robert (1742-1821), were taken by their father from Jamaica to live in London. Gibson Dalzell, (owner of Lucky Hill Estate, Jamaica, with 133 enslaved people), died in 1756 as reported in the London Evening Post, 27 May 1756.
According to his will, he left his estate, Lucky Hill, in Jamaica, amongst many other things, including shares in the Sun Fire Office, of which her father was a Director, to be split between both children, thereby making Frances a very affluent woman and owner of enslaved persons. Her father stipulated in his will that his bequest to Frances was solely for her and that any future husband should not ‘intermeddle’ in it.
Frances wasted little time before she married, and she did very well in the marriage stakes, but as a wealthy heiress it was hardly surprising despite her birth and by marrying into the Scottish aristocracy she put distance between herself and her Jamaican enslaved origins, although the couple would, without doubt,  have benefitted from the profits of her lands in Jamaica. She married into the aristocracy, by marrying the Honourable George Duff (son of the 1st Earl of Fife), by licence, at St Martin in the Fields, on 18 March 1757. Read more…

 

From Chicken House to Palace: 10 Downing Street in the 18th century
The History of [UK] Parliament, 11 March 2021
6 July 2024: (Members of the new government will have to get their heads around the maze that is “10 Downing Street”: an assemblage of houses cobbled together in the 1730s to create a residence fit for a Prime Minister.)

In February 1742, Sir Robert Walpole, newly ennobled as earl of Orford quit 10 Downing Street for the last time. It was expected that his successor, the earl of Wilmington, would replace him there, but in the event it was the chancellor of the exchequer who took up residence instead. As part of our posts marking the 300th anniversary of Walpole becoming Prime Minister, Dr Robin Eagles, Editor of the Lords 1715-90 project, examines the early history of Number 10 and its fortunes after Walpole left office.
10, Downing Street is now one of the most iconic buildings in the country. As the official residence of the Prime Minister it is widely recognizable, even though it appears on the face of it a rather modest terraced townhouse, located in a rather cramped street squeezed in between Whitehall and Horse Guards. Of course, the location is its key benefit, placing the occupant within easy access of the government buildings around them, just a few strides down Whitehall from Parliament, and a pleasant walk across the park to St James’s Palace.
In spite of this, for much of the 18th century, even though Number 10 (actually Number 5 for much of its early existence) remained the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, it was by no means always occupied by the Prime Minister. Many of the premiers possessed their own substantial townhouses in more pleasing locations and in better condition and were content to leave it to the chancellor of the exchequer, or indeed occasionally entirely unrelated tenants. Read more…

 

The History of a Linen Tablecloth
By Viveka Hansen 11 June 2015  ikfoundation.org
To own a substantial number of unbleached or white linen tablecloths in a Swedish nobility home, was a tradition with its roots in Medieval times. This group of interior textiles also represented an important part of the family linen storage and as a valuable heirloom – a practice continuing for several hundreds of years. The aim with this historical essay is to describe a well preserved six metre long linen tablecloth dated “1789”, where the original owners belonged to families of barons and counts. Unfortunately there are no clues to by who or where this tablecloth once was woven, but possibly at one of the leading linen weaving manufacturers in Sweden as Flor, Vadstena or in one of the early factories for such goods in Stockholm. Read more…

 

In the News

Uncovering Canada’s Overlooked Historical Figures and Feats
By Tara MacIsaac 28 June 2024 in The Epoch Times
One story above all others has captivated the imagination of Donald Smith, 78, since his student days. To uncover its details, the University of Calgary professor emeritus of history went on a truth-finding mission decades ago.
It’s the story of Grey Owl, who was something of a ne’er-do-well before a major turning point in his life. He met a young Iroquois woman and two beavers—all three of whom he lived with for years thereafter. They inspired his transformation into an influential conservationist and one of the most lauded authors of the 1930s.
Grey Owl’s story is one of three accounts of the lives of historical figures highlighted for The Epoch Times by Canadian historians.
These stories may not be the ones commonly found in history textbooks and high school curricula, but they are among the threads that make up the tapestry of Canada’s heritage.
Loyalist Elizabeth Hopkins
Elizabeth Hopkins was among some 30,000 loyalists who migrated to what is now Maritime Canada (British North America at the time) during the American Revolution. She and others like her did not “fit the narrow stereotypes of either the helpless daughter or the grieving widow,” says loyalist historian Stephen Davidson.
Mr. Davidson recounted Ms. Hopkins’ story in an article for the Loyalist Trails newsletter he shared with The Epoch Times.
She was born in Philadelphia in 1741, and her life first took an unusual turn in 1776 when she was aboard a ship called the Stanley with her first husband, a loyalist marine sergeant. The Stanley battled three French ships off the New Jersey coast, and Ms. Hopkins joined the fray by helping work the cannons.
…guns and leading them all to safety. Her husband later died in battle, and she married again. Her second husband was a loyalist soldier, whom she accompanied into the midst of battle.
After years of fighting in the United States, she boarded a ship bound for the St. John River in Eastern Canada along with other loyalist refugees. She had a young child at the time and was also pregnant. A fierce storm wrecked the ship off the coast of Nova Scotia, killing many of the passengers.
Ms. Hopkins, her child, and her husband, stayed afloat on parts of the wreckage for two days before they were rescued. The fishing sloops that found a total of 68 castaways couldn’t carry them all, so Ms. Hopkins and her family were among those put ashore on an uninhabited island. Ms. Hopkins’s labour was triggered by the trauma and she gave birth on the island—to triplets!
The family eventually made it to New Brunswick and settled there. Her husband later died and she married for a third time, producing 22 children altogether.
This intrepid woman’s battles were not over, however. She was later present at some of the Upper Canadian battles in the War of 1812 (which involved Americans and their allies fighting the British). This means, Mr. Davidson said, that Ms. Hopkins must have travelled by snowshoe with her husband and sons when she was some 70 years old on a famed 435-mile (700 km) march from New Brunswick to Quebec.
“Canadian history has many such heroic women,” Mr. Davidson said.  Read more… (free registration required)

 

West Haven CT Searches For Remains Of British War ‘Hero’
An archaeologist and his team used a ground-penetrating radar to search for the centuries-old remains of British Adjutant William Campbell.
by Vincent Salzo, 3 July 2024 in Patch, West Haven CT
A state-contracted archaeologist and his two-person team used a ground-penetrating radar on Tuesday, July 2, to determine if the centuries-old remains of British Adjutant William Campbell are buried in a hollow on “Monument Path” near Wade Street in the city’s Allingtown neighborhood.
Nearly 245 years to the day, Campbell, a Scotsman serving in the British army, died hours after saving the Rev. Noah Williston of West Haven’s First Congregational Church from certain death at the hands of British soldiers and Hessian Jager mercenaries during the British invasion of Colonial New Haven.
On the sultry morning of July 5, 1779, the British army invaded New Haven Harbor in an amphibious assault from a fleet of 48 ships, with 1,500 troops coming ashore at West Haven’s “Old Field” under Maj. Gen. George Garth and 1,100 troops landing in East Haven under Maj. Gen. William Tryon. Read more… (contributed by Ken MacCallum)

 

Patriots at the Border
There was a moment when a large chunk of Atlantic Canada almost joined the Stars & Stripes in rebellion against the tyranny of the Crown
By John Hanc 6 July 2024 Edmonton Journal
The sign that hangs from the north-facing wall of Job Burnham’s Tavern in Machias, Maine, creaks gently as an early summer breeze stirs on the nearby river. “Drink for the thirsty,” it reads. “Food for the hungry. Lodgings for the weary.”
The sign that hangs from the north-facing wall of Job Burnham’s Tavern in Machias, Maine, creaks gently as an early summer breeze stirs on the nearby river. “Drink for the thirsty,” it reads. “Food for the hungry. Lodgings for the weary.”
To that welcoming list, old Job might have added one more: “Meeting space for those who would like to invade Nova Scotia.”
The two-storey tavern, built in 1770 and now a museum, stands on a bluff facing the Machias River that runs through this eponymous town in eastern Maine, a hotbed of activity during America’s Revolutionary War. Doubtless, many of the approximately 2,000 residents of modern-day Machias (the name is pronounced with a hard “ch”) joined their fellow citizens at July Fourth barbecues and fireworks displays, but this community’s unique demonstration of patriotic pride took place a few weeks ago — June 14-15 — during their Margaretta Days Festival, a weekend-long celebration featuring parades, demonstrations of colonial life, costumed interpreters and re-enactments around what Machians consider to be the first naval battle of the Revolution.
The two-storey tavern, built in 1770 and now a museum, stands on a bluff facing the Machias River that runs through this eponymous town in eastern Maine, a hotbed of activity during America’s Revolutionary War. Doubtless, many of the approximately 2,000 residents of modern-day Machias (the name is pronounced with a hard “ch”) joined their fellow citizens at July Fourth barbecues and fireworks displays, but this community’s unique demonstration of patriotic pride took place a few weeks ago — June 14-15 — during their Margaretta Days Festival, a weekend-long celebration featuring parades,demonstrations of colonial life, costumed interpreters and re-enactments around what Machians consider to be the first naval battle of the Revolution.  Read more…

{Note, this appeared in pressreader in my browser. If you see it, scroll to the right to read it} – Dave Rolls

Events Upcoming

The American Revolution Institute: “A Perilous Voyage for our Company” 11 July 2024 6:30

“A Perilous Voyage for our Company”: The Misadventures of James Selkirk on the Chesapeake Bay
Historian and documentary editor Robb Haberman examines the perilous voyage of Sgt. James Selkirk and the Second New York Regiment on their way to Yorktown in September 1781, when their transport schooner was separated and ran aground while sailing from Baltimore to Williamsburg. Using Selkirk’s unpublished papers, this talk examines his harrowing experience and the endurance of the Continental forces during the Yorktown campaign. Details and registration…

 

Friends of St. Alban’s Centre: ‘Best of Folk’ Concert, Friday 12 July 7:30

The ‘Best of Folk’, a night of classic songs from veteran voices that will make optimal use of St. Alban’s intimate acoustics.
Some of Canada’s best in Cliff Edwards, Paul Harding, Robyn Ableson and Rob Bradizza will present the songs we all know and love from Gordon Lightfoot, Ian Tyson, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and other iconic artists of the 1960s Folk Revival.
Members of this group individually and with others have played worldwide, appeared with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, and at the Copacabana in New York City, and received multiple Juno nominations.
Buy your tickets now

 

American Revolution Institute: Lord Dunmore’s War, Wed July 17 @ 6:30

By Glenn F. Williams who was the senior historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Fort McNair, D.C.
Known to history as Dunmore’s War, the 1774 campaign against a Shawnee-led Indian confederacy in the Ohio country marked the final time an American colonial militia took to the field in His Majesty’s service and under royal command. Led by John Murray, the fourth Earl of Dunmore and royal governor of Virginia, a force of colonials including George Rogers Clark, Daniel Morgan, Michael Cresap, Adam Stephen and Andrew Lewis successfully enforced the western border established by treaties in parts of present-day West Virginia and Kentucky. As an immediate result of Dunmore’s War, the frontier remained quiet for two years, which allowed colonies to debate and declare independence before Britain convinced its Native allies to resume attacks on American settlements.   Details and registration…

 

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Here’s a sight. The Newfoundland Ensign was the official flag of Newfoundland from 1904-31. Today [July 1)] it’s flying again outside Confederation Building as a three-day laying in state for the unknown soldier begins. This is the flag the unknown soldier served under. flag
  • Thomas Gage had an interesting military career, descended from a line of Catholic sympathizers, his family managed to weather the political upheaval of the 17th century and converted to The Church of England by the start of the 18th century. After purchasing a commission, he experienced devastating defeat at Fontenoy, at the hands of the French, on the 11th of May, 1745. The next year finds him on the winning side at Culloden, against a cause his family line historically supported. He’s at the Battle of The Wilderness in 1755 and survives fighting a desperate rear guard action with George Washington. Gage’s newly minted “light troops” are slaughtered amongst the abatis of Fort Carillon in 1758. He fails to take Montreal via the Old Fort Frontenac in 1760, this allows the French to rout the British at Sainte-Foy, only a British fleet saves the garrison at Quebec. This is the man whom the British Government trusts can pacify the most radical Puritan settlement in North America, one that has already established tentative collaborated tentacles throughout the rest of the 13 Colonies. A man humbled by French arms and then exuberant in their total defeat, was then consumed by the insular nature of Boston politics. Determined not to place colonial brethren as the equal pillar of a transatlantic anglophone empire, but to instead make them understand their true role as colonial subjects. It would be he who would set light to the tinder that was Massachusetts countryside, when he ordered the march to Concord. In a final fit of misdirected frustration, he thought mere militia could be swept from fortified heights with ease, Bunker Hill proved his undoing. He was recalled and turned over command to William Howe in spring of 1776.
  • Townsends, or “anything food”
    • How We Cook: Then VS Now. The whole experience of cooking has changed so much in the last two hundred years. So you still cook over a fire? I’m sure it’s nice that not everything tastes like smoke, even though we want that sometimes.   (16 min)
  • This week in History 
    •  29 Jun 1767, London.  Parliament passed the Townshend Revenue Act . It would be levying taxes on America, helping to intensify opposition to British rule. The legislation was spearheaded by Charles Townshend, for whom the act is  named. image
    • 1 Jul 1775: Congress resolves to forge Indian alliances, hoping to woo tribes that did not align with the British. American efforts did not serve well as most Indian nations viewed the colonists as a direct threat, the British a distant one. image
    • 3 July 1775 Cambridge, MA. Col Thomas Gardner, Mass. political leader & commander of Gardner’s Regiment, dies after being mortally wounded at Bunker Hill. Gen. Washington attended his funeral. image
    • 5 Jul 1775 Philadelphia, PA  Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition written by John Dickinson and directly addressed to King George III. It expressed a hope for reconciliation between the colonies and Great Britain.  image
    • 6 July 1775 After stating their fidelity to King George III & wishing him a long and prosperous reign in the Olive Branch Petition, Congress sets “forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms” against British authority in the American colonies. image
    • June 29 1776 Turtle Gut Inlet NJ Brigantine Nancy carrying gunpowder attacked by 2 British ships &  ran aground. Capt John Barry & his Lexington sailed in to assist. Barry unloaded powder & set the remaining powder-blasting an enemy boarding party.  image
    • 29 June 29, 1776, Virginia adopted the first successful and permanent written constitution in world history. Other states adopted earlier temporary frameworks that were intended to serve only until peace with Great Britain was restored.  image
    • 2 Jul 1776 The 2nd Continental Congress, assembled in Philadelphia voted for and formally adopted Richard Henry Lee’s resolution for independence from Great Britain. The vote was considered unanimous: 12 for, none against, and NY abstaining  image
    • 3 July 1776 Staten Island, NY. Gen William Howe’s expeditionary force disembarks some 10,000 troops. The island provided a base for the British & Hessian forces to rest and prepare for the invasion of Brooklyn), just across the Verrazano Narrows. image
    • July 4, 1776 Philadelphia, PA Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the Independence of the United States and the reasons for the separation. image
    • 5 July 1776 Philadelphia. The barely dry prints of the Declaration of Independence were delivered to the Continental Congress by John Dunlap. image
    • 4 Jul 1777 Ft Ticonderoga, NY British Gen John Burgoyne dispatches Gen William Phillips with a battery of cannons up the wooded slopes of unclimbable Mount Defiance. The battery would send plunging fire into the American-held fort.
    • 6 Jul 1777 Fort Ticonderoga, NY After a desultory bombardment by a small battery of British guns secreted onto Mt Defiance, American forces under Arthur St. Clair abandoned the fortress to Gen Burgoyne’s army. The retreat was met with disbelief at Army HQ & Congress. image
    • 30 June 1778 Battle of Alligator Creek Bridge, E. FL.   Georgia & SC militia attempts an incursion into British East Florida to capture St Augustine, but a force of East Florida militia repulse them in a short skirmish. Last attempt on FL in the #RevWar image
    • 3-4 Jul 1778 Wyoming Valley PA. Capt Walter Butler & War Chief Cornplanter lead 1,200 Iroquois & Loyalists against Forty Fort. Some 3000 defenders under Col Zebulon Butler are lured into the open, ambushed & massacred. image
    • 4 Jul 1778 Brunswick, NJ The court martial of disgraced Continental Gen Charles Lee begins with Gen William Alexander presiding. Charges include disobeying orders, misconduct before the enemy, and disrespect toward the commander-in-chief. image
    • 5 Jul 1778 Sandy Hook, NJ The British Army under Gen Henry Clinton begins to ferry across lower New York harbor to New York by the fleet of Adm Richard Howe, brother of the man he just replaced as commander in chief in North America.  image
    • 2 Jul 1779 Pound Ridge, NY British Lt Col Banastre Tarleton leads a Det of dragoons & infantry in a foray against American pickets. He drives off the 2nd Continental Dragoons. But the dragoons rally when militia fire pins down the British, who withdraw. image
    • 2 Jul 1779 Captain Allan McLane scouts out British defenses at Stony Point, NY, under a flag of truce & his report convinces Gen Washington it was vulnerable to a night attack. Gen Anthony Wayne would lead the assault. image
    • 5 Jul 1779 New Haven, CT Gov William Tryon lands a raiding party of some 2,500 who clash with 4 militia regiments under Gen Andrew Ward. The British scattered the defenders, who suffered 38 casualties & 12 captured to the British 55 casualties. image
    • 3 July 1781 Kingsbridge, NY Le Col Ernst von Pruschenk leads a party of Hessians in an attack against forces under Gen Benjamin Lincoln. After some desultory skirmishing, the Hessians withdraw behind their defense works, and Lincoln retreats. image
    • 30 Jun 1783, Congress reconvenes in Princeton, NJ, after leaving its longtime home in Philadelphia. Many congressional delegations from other colonies did not like Philadelphia, the largest & most commercialized city in the country. image
  • Clothing and Related:

    • Clothing was a powerful tool used by enslaved people seeking their freedom and an expression of individuality in a society that didn’t recognize their humanity. Those who fled their enslavers sometimes brought clothing with them to help them “pass” as a free person of color. See image.   This could be especially useful for enslaved people who labored on plantations where mass-produced garments in coarse, inexpensive fabrics were the norm. Included in our Fashioned in History section of our special “Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design” exhibit at Jamestown Settlement, learn more about this garment and six others on our website.
    • This circa 1720-1750 stomacher is beautifully embroidered with a symmetrical floral design. The background of the stomacher has a vermicelli design typical of stomachers from this period. It is bordered on all sides by metal bobbin lace. Image
    • Need you to know that @nasjonalmuseet has an amazing collection of 18th-century embroidered clothing on their collection website. The embroidery on the clothes is stunning and I would like to wear every single piece  images
    • Pinch Punch! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy July! Print from series of fashion plates, 1781 via @britishmuseum image
    • a gown of c.1794. Narrow silk sleeves have now extended down the arms to the wrists. They are also curved to accommodate the elbow; a style seen in men’s coats of the era.  image

Editor’s Note:
Our trip continues as we sail south from the northern tip of Norway, towards Bergen where we will arrive on Tuesday. We spent a few days in the land of the midnight sun. For us it was a first to cross the Arctic Circle, a bookend to crossing the Antarctic Circle in January.
Hopefully today I will manage to get this newsletter out at or before the usual time. A combination of the time difference and an idiosyncrasy of the mailing system delayed delivery last week. Next week we will be home, where I hear things are much warmer.
…doug

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