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Nathan Hubbill: A Connecticut Yankee Loyalist – Part One of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Despite the fact that his remains are buried in Connecticut’s Fairfield County, Nathan Hubbill was a proud Loyalist to the very end of his life. Interred in a graveyard populated by departed Patriots and visited by their descendants, Hubbill was not afraid to have his epitaph remind those who strolled past his grave that he, too had fought during the American Revolution. Beneath his name, the inscription on his tombstone read, “Formerly Lieutenant Colonel in the service of his Britannick Majesty, George the Third“.
Much of Hubbill’s wartime record of service has survived to this day, revealing a man of action and courage. He led raids on his native Connecticut, was among the last to leave New York City, and helped to establish a loyalist settlement in Nova Scotia. During his lifetime, he was a widower and a husband of a second wife, fathering 17 children who lived to inherit his worldly goods.
Hubbill’s story begins with his birth to Jeremiah and Abigail (Wakelee) Hubbill on August 10, 1755. His hometown — Monroe, Connecticut – is considered a suburb within commuting distance of New Haven, Bridgeport, and New York City. At an overland distance of about 74 miles, it was not difficult for the young Loyalist to cross into British lines and offer his services to his distant king.
The details of Hubbill’s enlistment and early years of military service have been lost over time. By the early 1780s, he was based at Fort Franklin that was situated at Lloyd’s Neck on Long Island, just across Long Island Sound from his native Connecticut. He was then a member of the Associated Loyalists, a militia comprised of loyal Americans.
William Franklin, the last loyalist governor of New Jersey, served as the president of the Associated Loyalists. They were a guerrilla force “established for embodying and employing such of his Majesty’s faithful subjects in North America, as may be willing to associate under their direction, for the purpose of annoying the sea-coasts of the revolted Provinces and distressing their trade, either in co-operation with his Majesty’s land and sea forces, or by making diversions in their favor, when they are carrying on operations in other parts.”
One of the objects of the organization was that the Associators (as the “faithful subjects” were titled) could “retaliate for the outrages and murders that {the Patriots} had committed upon the Loyalists“. They were the counterparts to the Association for Retaliation, a group of rebel vigilantes who preyed on loyal Americans.
By 1781, Hubbill had risen to the rank of captain within the militia. On July17, he commanded a “body” of 30 men in a raid on Guilford, Connecticut. A later report to the associators’ board recounted that Hubbill’s men “drove the rebels from {a block house}, and likewise from the adjacent houses, notwithstanding a heavy fire they received from thence. The block house, two dwelling houses, and a storehouse were burnt, on account of the rebels having fired from them, and wounded eight of the Associators.”
Two days later, “Captain Hubbill landed with all his force, and in about two hours brought off a very fine twelve oar’d barge, or gun boat…with two swivels and a blunderbuss, and six very good whale-boats, most of which are entirely new. Every method was taken to discover the rebels on the shore, but without success. In these boats was found a quantity of plunder, supposed to be worth an hundred pounds. The eight wounded men are all likely to recover.” The report of this raid appeared in The New-York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury. While not quite a “medium darling” of the 18th century, Hubbill would become a familiar name in the loyalist newspaper.
In less than a month, Hubbill’s name would be referenced yet again. On July 12, the French allies of the Patriots appeared near Fort Franklin in 3 “large ships” and 5 armed brigs. 450 troops landed just two miles from the British garrison.
Fort Franklin’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Upham, ordered two twelve-pounder cannons to fire grapeshot at the enemy’s troops. This threw the French into “disorder”, and they retreated back to their ships.
After investigating the area where they had fired the grapeshot, Upham’s men found abandoned swords, fragments of coats and shirts, and the grass “besmeared” with blood. They also came upon surgeon’s instruments, bandages, and linen along the shore. The evidence demonstrated that the French had stopped long enough to treat their wounded before returning to their ships, leaving the Lloyd’s Neck shore in a hurry.
Another discovery showed how close Fort Franklin had come to a lethal assault. Port-fire had also been left behind by the enemy. This highly flammable material — the napalm of its day — was evidence that the French had planned to burn down the Lloyd’s Neck garrison and surrounding buildings, including, no doubt, the humble homes of the loyalist refugees.
Upham immediately ordered his men into the forest. The French would have to pass through the woods when they returned to make a second assault on the fort. The loyalist soldiers who went into the forest not only spied on the enemy, but they also threw the French into confusion. With only brief glimpses of loyalist soldiers running through the woods, the enemy could never be sure of how many men were actually stationed at the fort. In the end, the invading forces once again retreated.
Until sunset, Upham’s men continued to search the woods for any remaining French and patriot soldiers. Then the commander received disturbing news. Whaleboats had been sighted heading towards Fort Franklin from across the Sound, and so Upham had to make ready for a night assault. He ordered some of his men to patrol the neck to watch for enemy landings and cautioned the other Loyalists to keep their guns close at hand throughout the night.
Lt. Col. Upham called upon the militia in nearby Huntington for assistance. Hubbill’s men in the town’s garrison gave “every possible assistance”. All officers and their companies were at the ready.
On the morning of July 13th, Upham looked out into the Sound to see the French ships “so far eastward as hardly to be described“. The enemy forces had turned tail and run. There were no French ships and no Connecticut whaleboat raiders. Fort Franklin had been successfully defended with no loss of life, ships, or property.
It had been an eventful year for Nathan Hubbill. While he helped to ward off the enemy, a new fighting force had formed in July of 1781. The Armed Boat Company was a sea-going unit of armed whaleboats. These narrow vessels were about thirty-six feet long, with pointed bows and sterns, and could be armed with small cannon. Several members of the unit were former slaves. With the disbanding of the Associated Loyalists in 1782, Nathan Hubbill continued to fight for his king by joining the Armed Boat Company.
The Connecticut captain’s further adventures with the whaleboat marauders will be told in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

New Directions in Loyalist History and History Now! Speaker Series at Huron University
The Huron University history department hopes you will join us (either in person or on Zoom) Friday Oct. 11 from 1:00 to 4:00 (EST) for an afternoon exploring new research in Loyalist history.

Please register at: https:// huron.jotform.com/Events/LoyalistHistoryandHistoryNow

Schedule:

  • 1:00: Introductions and Land Acknowledgement
  • 1:10: Tim Compeau, Huron University, “The Loyalist Migrations at 250”
  • 1: 40: Erin Isaac, Western University, “Shelburne’s Loyalist Landscapes as Imagined, Designed, Experienced, circa 1783” (UELAC Graduate Scholarship Recipient)
  • 2:10: Graham Nickerson, University of New Brunswick, “The View from Birchtown: Reshaping the Loyalist Narrative” (UELAC Graduate Scholarship Recipient)
  • 3:00: History Now! Keynote Address: Harvey Amani Whitfield, Dalhousie University, “From Slavery to Slavery: A Black Woman Navigates the Chaos of Revolution and Loyalism.”

Professor Whitfield’s paper explores the life of Statia, an enslaved Black woman from New York who emigrated with her owner to New Brunswick after the American Revolution. Once in New Brunswick, she gained her freedom and spent several years as a free person, but then suffered re-enslavement before unsuccessfully petitioning for the freedom of her son in 1805. This is a story that traverses the histories and historiographies of the Loyalists, the American Revolution, and African American Internationalism.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Tim Compeau at tcompeau@uwo.ca
We hope to see you there!

Parliament’s Stamp Act Dilemma
by Rex Payne 3 Oct 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
In 1763, the powers of Europe signed the Peace of Paris bringing an end to the French and Indian War. The Kingdom of Great Britain emerged victorious, seizing from France several new territories throughout Canada and east of the Mississippi. But victory came at tremendous cost. The war debt incurred over the last seven years placed a significant strain on Britain’s financial resources. Even during peace, the cost to maintain and defend the Kingdom’s colonial interests rose significantly due to the newly acquired regions.
George Grenville, the newly appointed First Lord of the Treasury, eagerly searched for a way to relieve Britain’s economic burden. In Grenville’s mind, the American colonies had benefited most from the war and therefore should contribute more toward the debt. But British Americans had mastered the art of tax evasion, making taxing them a tricky business. For decades, the British Government turned a blind eye to the enforcement of trade laws in the American colonies, focusing instead on expanding its influence and power throughout Europe. Lord Walpole, one of Grenville’s predecessors, believed relaxing tax enforcements proved beneficial, not only for the colonies, but for the overall revenue of the Kingdom…
But Grenville came to different convictions. The best way to rapidly increase funds was through the implementation of new taxes. Parliament agreed. In March of 1764, the House of Commons passed the Sugar Tax in order to defray “the necessary expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the British Colonies and Plantations in America.”[3] But Grenville knew the revenue wouldn’t yield enough. During the same session he proposed the idea of a more controversial tax [o charge certain stamp duties]. Read more…

Who was Rodney? – British Naval Officer in the RevWar
by Dr Paul Main, 30 Sept 2024 in All Things Georgian
Walking northwards up the west side of Clifton Down Road in Clifton, Bristol, UK from Princess Victoria Street you pass Rodney Place containing the Rodney Hotel. After crossing Portland Street on the corner is Rodney House, followed by Rodney Cottages. Opposite to Rodney House, across the road, was Rodney Lodge, now renamed Freemantle House.
All these buildings are named after Admiral Lord George Brydges, 1st Baron Rodney, KB (1718 –1792), who was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. He was a national hero, probably not to be surpassed until Lord Nelson. During Rodney’s life, many trinkets, enamelled badges, delftware plates etc were manufactured to celebrate the man and his achievements.
Battle of the Saintes 12 April 1782
Admiral Rodney was appointed commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station in 1761, ‘The Station for Honour’, as Nelson put it later, and sent to the West Indies. Many years later on 12th April 1782 Rodney, now aged 64, had his crowning victory at the Battle of the Saintes off Dominica. With 35 ships of the line, he defeated the Comte de Grasse, who had 33 ships. The French inferiority in numbers was more than counterbalanced by the greater size and superior sailing qualities of their ships. Four French ships of the line were captured, including the flagship, as well as one destroyed after eleven hours’ fighting. The battle is named after the Îles des Saintes, a group of small islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica….

…. In 1749 he was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of Newfoundland, with the rank of Commodore. It was usual at that time to appoint a naval officer, chiefly on account of the cod fishery interests. Read more…

The Indelible Caesar Rodney (Independence Twice)
by T. H. Leighty 30 Sept 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
In 1923, the State of Delaware erected a statue to one its most famous sons in Wilmington, Delaware. The statue to Caesar Rodney showed him on his now famous ride to break the tie between the members of Delaware’s delegation to the Second Continental Congress. Rodney’s eighty-mile ride from Dover to Philadelphia to cast a vote in favor of Independence from Britain was Delaware’s most famous chapter in the history of the American Revolution. The ride signaled Delaware’s resistance to British oppression and the state’s dedication to Independence. The unofficial symbol of the State of Delaware is “The Ride.” Congressman Mike Castle worked to have Rodney’s likeness placed on the quarter representing Delaware. The Ride signs adorn roads up and down the state that help visitors find different housing developments and a high school even bears the name of Delaware’s most famous founding father.
Despite these celebrations for Rodney today, in the eighteenth century he was much more divisive. The citizens of Kent County punished Rodney politically for his stand on independence. The Dover native’s commitment to Independence is amazing when one considers the political situation of the colony of Delaware in 1775 and 1776. It was by no means a forgone conclusion that Delaware would follow Massachusetts and Virginia in formally calling for Independence. It was not even a forgone conclusion that Delaware would become anything more than the three lower counties of Pennsylvania. Of all of Delaware’s founding fathers, Caesar Rodney is the one most responsible not just for getting Delaware to declare independence from Britain but for getting Delaware to declare independence from Pennsylvania as well. The idea of independence was not a completely popular opinion in the most southern of Delaware’s counties. Despite Delaware figures in the American Revolution such as John Dickinson, John Haslet, and Thomas McKean, Rodney is the one who battled both to convince the colony of independence and to keep Delaware Loyalists from upsetting this independence. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: New York – A Soldier’s Life May 1781
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, 1781: At New York (page 95)

Continuation of Occurences in North America During the Fifth Year, 1781

IN THE MONTH OF MAY [1781]
1 May. We sailed from New York to Staten Island, where we anchored. Here the Forty-third English Regiment was embarked with us. We lay at anchor in the Hudson River for eight days.
9 May. We sailed as far as Sandy Hook, where we again anchored.
13 May. During the morning we left Sandy Hook and sailed into the ocean with a favorable wind. Our fleet consisted of forty-six sail, including our escort of thirteen warships and frigates, among which was the man-of-war London, 104 guns, with fourteen hundred sailors and marines on board. During the evening a French privateer was seen, which sailed alongside and observed us. It was immediately chased by the frigate Roebuck, and on
14 May in the morning, brought back in captivity. There were sixteen cannon and 104 men, together with many provisions, on board. Today nine ships of our escort sailed off to the side, so that we were convoyed by one warship and three frigates.
19 May. A heavy fog set in early and our ship became separated from the fleet. In the evening we entered Chesapeake Bay, in Virginia, and anchored.
20 May. We entered the James River. We passed to the left of Hampton, a small city occupied by the Americans, which is important as a defensive post. We passed to the right of New Portsmouth. It is an important town on the James River, which is occupied by six hundred English.
21 May. In the James River the water is not salty and we could drink it. The landscape of Virginia is attractive and magnificent to see on both the left and right sides of the James River. Here there are mostly pine forests. The soil is quite sandy, but still rich and fertile.
Reports came from General Arnold, who has his headquarters about one hundred English miles from New Portsmouth (which is on the right side of the James River, near Nansemond) and forty miles from where Cornwallis has his headquarters with the army at Petersburg.
The rebels have occupied and strongly fortified Richmond and Williamsburg, in New Virginia.
The Americans of the Generals Greene and Wayne, and the French of Comte Lafayette, are there. They are said to number more than thirty thousand men. Eight days ago the English Major General Phillips died at Petersburg.
25 May. During the morning we received orders from General Cornwallis and had to sail back down the James River to the Chesapeake Bay.
27 May. In the morning we sailed past Norfolk and New Portsmouth into the Chesapeake River, and dropped anchor.
28 May. At noon we debarked. We marched through New Portsmouth and, an English mile beyond, set up our tents on a beautiful plain and camped. New Portsmouth is a miserable place of about 130 houses, most of which are made of wood, and a single church or cityhall.
29 May. I went on watch two English miles from our camps and to the left, across the Chesapeake River, toward the burned-out city of Norfolk. This beautiful city, which consisted of six or seven hundred houses, was already burned down and destroyed five years ago, at Christmas time, by the Americans themselves, because several English ships lay at anchor in Chesapeake Bay. The English planned to put some troops ashore at Norfolk, where they wanted to make their winter quarters. Only a few wretched huts stand there, which were built after the fire by Negroes, who now live in them.
During this night Vice-Corporal Erlbacher, of Quesnoy’s Company, deserted from a picket.
30 May. Private P‡then, of Eyb’s Company, deserted from a command detail.

Advertised on 4 October 1774: “Forgive my Error”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
October 4

“Forgive my Error [and] restore me to their Favour and Friendship.”

Samuel Flagg of Salem and Joseph Lee of Marblehead needed to do damage control and rehabilitate their reputations after signing “an Address to Governor Hutchinson, on his leaving this Province” in May 1774. Like Thomas Kidder had done in July, they took to the public prints to confess their error and beg for the forgiveness of their friends and neighbors who believed they did not support the American cause. The reaction they experienced became so overwhelming that they recanted a position that they claimed they never firmly held. Lee, for instance, stated that he signed the address because at the time he “thought [Hutchinson] a Friend to America,” yet he had since reconsidered. He expressed “great Concern” while confessing that “I am now convinced he is not that Friend to America nor the Constitution of this Government that I then thought he was.” To that end, Lee renounced the entire address and “sincerely ask[ed] the Favour of all the good People of this Government to forgive my Error therein, and to restore me to their Favour and Friendship.” His plea, dated October 3, first appeared in the October 4 edition of the Essex Gazette, with a notation that it would run for four weeks. Rather than submitting a letter to the printer that might get printed once, Lee paid to run an advertisement that would present his story and his apology to readers multiple times.
Lee’s notice was brief compared to the one that Flagg inserted on the same day. Read more…

Not a Witch: Public History in a Maine Graveyard
By Daniel Bottino and Hannah Peterson 7 Sept 2024 at Early American Studies
The most famous gravestone in the “old burial ground” of York, Maine is not that of a politician, soldier, or notable author. Rather, it is the gravestone of an ordinary eighteenth-century housewife and mother that draws a constant stream of visitors from across the United States. Standing in an area of the graveyard relatively empty of stones, the finely carved slate marker has endured over two hundred years and remains in good condition today. Mary Nasson, the young woman it memorializes, died in 1774 at the age of twenty-nine. She was interred in the burial ground of the First Parish Congregational Church, across the street from the meetinghouse and below the hill on which the town’s prison still stands. Beneath a finely fashioned portrait, the only one of its kind in the graveyard, a tender epitaph reads:

Here rests quite free from Lifes / Distressing Care, / A loving Wife / A tender Parent dear; / Cut down in midst of days / As you may see, / But—stop—my Grief! / I, soon, shall equal be, / When death shall stop my breath / And end my Time; / God grant my Dust / May mingle, then, with thine.

Behind the headstone lies a large stone covering the grave, likely placed there by Mary’s widowed husband to prevent animals from disturbing her body.
Popular stories today present a different image of Mary Nasson. Likely beginning in the nineteenth century, wholly inaccurate legends of a “witch’s grave” arose. Read more…

George John Scipio Africanus
By Sarah Murden 12 Sept 2019 in All Things Georgian
You may not be familiar with the name George John Scipio Africanus, neither was I until I recently saw his name on a Blue Plaque in Nottingham and wanted to find out more about his life and family.
George arrived in England from Sierra Leone, aged about three and was raised by the affluent Molineux family. Baptised in Wolverhampton, George was given to one of the family as ‘a gift’.
He was well liked by the family who arranged for him to be educated and then sent to complete an apprenticeship in the family town of Wolverhampton.
After completing his apprenticeship, John moved to Nottingham, a county where the Molineux family had connections. There he met a Nottingham girl, Esther Shaw, who, according to the marriage certificate, unlike George, was unable to write, simply signing her name with the usual mark X. Read more…

Quilting and Patchwork in the Whitby Area [UK] from 1700 to 1914
By Viveka Hansen 8 Sept 2020 at ikfoundation.org
Sources relating to warm bed covering, quilted garments, decorative patchwork cushions etc have been found in the Whitby area for the 1700-1914 period, with variations in composition, quality and appearance. This particular art of sewing was so popular not only because double layered fabrics with padding between could be made to be ornamental, beautiful and warm but also because they contributed to the recycling of surplus fabric from discarded clothes and interior furnishings in wool, cotton, silk and linen. Traditions, ownerships and trade linked to quilting and patchwork in this geographical area have been researched from contemporary handwritten documents, local newspapers, photographs, one surviving late 19th century patchwork quilt, some smaller textile objects and a zinc template.
The earliest written sources for this case study are probate inventories dating from the early 18th century, which give a good deal of documentation about bedclothes of various kinds, especially feather beds, bolsters, blankets and quilts. It is unknown if these quilts included patchwork, but the quilts are interesting evidence of a need in Whitby homes for very warm bedclothes, while at the same time during the period 1700-1790 these textiles were often quite valuable financially to their owners. For instance, in October 1701 the master mariner John Clark left among much else ‘1 feather bed, bed stead and hangings, 2 blankets and bolster and 1 quilt’ valued at ‘£2 3s 6d’. Read more…

The Pursuit of Happiness – Podcast
By Jeffery Rosen Oct 2024 on Ben Franklin’s World
What did Thomas Jefferson and the members of the Second Continental Congress mean by “the pursuit of Happiness?” And why is pursuing happiness so important that Jefferson and his fellow Founding Fathers included it in the Declaration of Independence’s most powerful statement of the new United States’ ideals?
Jeffery Rosen, author and law professor reveals the subject of moral philosophy and the Founding generation’s interest in it; How the ideas of Greek, Roman, and Enlightenment moral philosophers shaped the Founders’ understandings of virtue, happiness, and the characteristics of a virtuous citizenry; And, why the Founders described “the pursuit of happiness” as the chief aim of good government. Listen in…

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

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

  • To Chris Wilson for information about:
    • Pvt. William Brittain born in 1754 Oct 15 in Middleton, Monmouth County, Colonial New Jersey, served in 3rd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers and resettled in Greenwich, Kings County, New Brunswick. Married to Christianna Moody. They had seen children.
      William’s parents were William and Mary (Collins) Brittain. His mother Mary was a strong supporter of the colonies during the revolution while his father was devoted to the Crown. This division in the family influenced their children. The three youngest sons, William, James and Joseph were Tories and served in the New Jersey Volunteers. They all settled in New Brunswick after the war. The eldest brothers, Nathaniel, Zeboeth and Samuel fought for Colonies in New Jersey.

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

In the News

Lady Holly Knowles celebrates 100th birthday
NASSAU, The Bahamas — Governor General, Her Excellency the Most Hon. Dame Cynthia Pratt visited Lady Holly Knowles on the occasion of her 100th birthday celebration. Her Excellency presented Lady Knowles — the widow of Olympic gold medalist and community icon, Sir Durward Knowles — with a Message from King Charles III, Message from the Governor General, and an arrangement of flowers, at her home, on Thursday, September 19, 2024. Read more…
Lady Holly is my neighbour living two homes south of mine. Both she and her late husband Sir Durward Knowles who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth are held in the highest respect. They contributed so much to the community of The Bahamas over the years. Both of them are of United Empire Loyalist descent with their ancestors fleeing the southern United States after The American Revolution for their allegiance to The Crown.
Thomas Wardle UE, Bahamas

Events Upcoming

American Revolution Institute: The Marquis de Lafayette Returns Wed 9 Oct 6:30

A Tour of America’s National Capital Region. Against the backdrop of a tumultuous election, a beloved hero of the American Revolution returned to America for the first time in forty years. He visited each state, but the majority of his time was spent in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Public historian Elizabeth Reese traces his route through the Capital Region, highlighting locations and people. Details and register…

Bicentennial Branch: Loyalist Cemetery Walk in Kingsville, ON, Sat 19 Oct. @1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Hear the remarkable stories of seven of the town’s founders who arrived in the 1790s as Loyalist refugees. Interpreters in period costume will describe the courage and resilience that defined the characters of: Philip Fuchs (Fox), Jacob Iler, Simon Girty, Leonard Kratz, Peter Malott, Johannes Weigele (Wigle), and Andrew Ulch, whose descendants are buried in the Pearl St. Cemetery.
Location: Pearl St. Cemetery, Kingsville, ON (Pearl St. W. / Greenhill Lane, 1 block south of Main St. W.)
This is a free event. If you are related to any of these families, please drop by to hear about your Loyalist ancestor(s), or to share old family photos and family lore.
Heather Crewe, Chair, Education and Outreach, Bicentennial Branch, UELAC

Toronto Branch: Loyalists – Early Settlers of Ontario, Sun. 20 Oct @2:00

We will be resuming our Speaker Series with an in-person meeting on Sunday, October 20th at 2:00 pm at our office at 60 Scollard Street, Suite 300, in the Bloor and Yonge area.
Our speaker will be Jo-Ann Tuskin, a member of Governor Simcoe Branch. Jo-Ann will talk about United Empire Loyalists – Early Settlers of Ontario, and their migration and settlement with a particular emphasis on her research into her own family’s journey and women Loyalists.
Jo-Ann’s talk will be followed by tea and treats and a chance to socialize.
Questions to torontouel@gmail.com

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Townsends, and “anything food”

    • Revolutionary Food: Boston Baked Beans: This was a really fun episode to make. Jon and Ryan split the research to see what was happening in Boston during the Revolutionary War and after, and what people were eating. We only skimmed the surface on all there is to learn about this great city and it’s people! Hope you enjoy (20 min)
  • This week in History
    • 1 Oct 1768 London Parliament passes the Suspending Act, dissolving the NY colonial assembly for refusing to support certain provisions of the Quartering Act. image
    • 2 Oct 1768 Boston MA British troops arrive to enforce the Townshend duties (taxes on paint, paper, tea, etc., passed in June 1767) & clamp down on local radicals. Doesn’t sit well with locals. The occupation of Boston lasted until 17 March 1776. image
    • 3 OCTOBER 1774, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS BAY: The towns outside Boston continue arming themselves. The Cambridge town meeting votes “to procure a carriage for the cannon belonging to the town, to purchase another cannon, and to furnish powder and balls for both.”
    • 5 Oct 1774 Boston. MA Gov Thomas Gage dissolves the Mass. General Court, but the assembly reconstitutes itself as the Provincial Congress of Salem with John Hancock as president of the extralegal body. image
    • 29 Sep 1775 London. Lord Charles Cornwallis is promoted to Major General by King George III. He agrees to go to North America to deal with the ongoing rebellion. image
    • 2 Oct 1775, Norridgewock, ME Benedict Arnold’s Quebec Expedition passes over Norridgewock Falls. Arnold’s expedition was part of the Continental Army campaign to capture Canada from the British at the beginning of the American Revolution. image
    • 4 Oct 1775 Cambridge, MA Army surgeon-general Benjamin Church is court-martialed for secret correspondence with British. Gen. Washington refers charges to Congress due to lack of authority under the Articles of War. image
    • 5 Oct 1775 Gen Washington informs Congress the Surgeon General of the Continental Army Dr. Benjamin Church was a spy. “I have now a painful tho’ a Necessary Duty to perform respecting Doctor Church, Director General of the Hospital.” image
    • 1 Oct 1776, Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris receive information the French are going to purchase arms & munitions in Holland & send them to the West Indies for use by the Americans. Silas Deane, secret American rep to France, arranged this covert op. image
    • 4 Oct 1776 Gov Gen of Canada Guy Carleton, commanding some 13K troops sends a fleet of 5 warships, 20 gunboats and other vessels down Lake Champlain as reprisal for the American attacks on Montreal & Quebec. image
    • 30 Sept 1777 Congress convened at York, PA, choosing York so that the Susquehanna River would be between it and the enemy. Congress would make York its home from September 30, 1777, until June 27, 1778 image
    • 3 Oct 1777 NYC Gen Henry Clinton marches some 4,000 men up the North (Hudson) River to Tarrytown as the start of a diversion effort to help relieve Gen John Burgoyne’s beleaguered forces near Saratoga. image
    • 2 Oct 1777 Philadelphia, PA In order to secure their supply line to the sea. Gen Howe’s British forces focused on clearing American forts on the Delaware River. image
    • 3 Oct 1777 Spies inform Gen Washington that British Gen Howe remains encamped in Germantown. Washington devises a complex multi-pronged attack to commence that night. image
    • 4 Oct 1777 Saratoga, NY Gen Burgoyne summons a war council to discuss the military situation. Despite objections from his staff, he decided to conduct a heavy probe of American defenses prior to launching a final attack. image
    • 30 Sep 1778 Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. A detachment of 80 Hessian dragoons is led into an ambush by 120 American dragoons hiding along Edgar’s Lane. They drove the Hessians into a ravine that led to the Hudson River, where those who did not drown were shot. image
    • 5 Oct 1778 Mincock Island, NJ. Capt. Patrick Ferguson leads 250 men on a raid, surprising & bayonetting Polish Count Kazimierz Pulaski’s cavalry in camp… Over 25 are wounded or captured before help arrives. image
    • 28 Sep 1779 Continental Congress elects Declaration Signer Samuel Huntington of CT to succeed John Jay as its president. He spent his time urging state legislatures to support levies for #RevWar . Articles of Confederation were ratified during his term. image
    • 3 Oct 1779 Capt. John Paul Jones’s squadron slips away from pursuit by 8 British warships and reaches the safety of Trexel, Holland. image
    • 29 Sep 1780 Tappan, NY Maj John Andre, head of British intelligence and coordinator of Benedict Arnold’s defection, was sentenced to death by a military tribunal led by Nathanael Greene image
    • 29 Sep 1780 Black Mingo Cr. SC Gen Francis Marion & 50 militia attack Loyalists under Col John Ball. After a repulse, Marion rallies his men & scatters the Loyalists. with 20 casualties. The “Swamp Fox” then slips back into the swamps of coastal Carolina. image
    • 30 Sep 1780 Traitorous American Gen Benedict Arnold burned in effigy throughout the US. image
    • 1 October 1780. Denard’s Ford, NC Maj Patrick Ferguson informs Lord Cornwallis of the enemy that opposed them & issues a broadside that paints a picture of the over mountain men as savages, with hopes of rallying Loyalists against the depraved “mongrels.” image
    • 2 October 1780 Tappan, New York. British Maj John Andre was hanged as a spy. Caught behind enemy lines in mufti, the case against him was open and shut. General Washington wanted a way to spare his life, but the British refusal to give up traitor Benedict Arnold sealed his fate.
      André served as the British commander in chief General Sir Henry Clinton’s Intelligence Officer in New York City. As such, he began a secret correspondence with the disaffected American General Benedict Arnold in May 1779. When Arnold was appointed commandant of the fort at West Point, New York, In August 1780, a plot was set in motion.
      At a clandestine meeting with André on September 21, Arnold agreed to surrender plans to West Point for £20,000 and a possible British Army commission as a brigadier general. On the way back from the meeting, three American militiamen captured him. André failed to use the letter of safe passage provided by Arnold, and the canny militia discovered papers concerning West Point hidden in one of his shoes.
      General George Washington appointed a board of officers headed by General Nathanael Greene. The board found him guilty of spying. Andre might have been spared, but General Clinton refused to exchange him for Arnold, who had fled to British territory. He was mourned on both sides because of his personal charm and literary talent. image
    • Oct 1780 While moving his army through North Carolina, British Gen Charles Cornwallis directs Maj Patrick Ferguson’s Loyalist brigade toward King’s Mountain, SC, to screen his flank while he advances on Charlotte. image
    • 30 Sep 1781 Gloucester, VA French forces under comte de Choissy are held off by the British under Lt Col Banastre Tarleton, who launches surprise attack on an American reconnaissance party, killing its commander, Col Alexander Scammel. image
    • 3 Oct 1781 1781, Gloucester, VA Lt Col Thomas Dundas, leading 1K British troops, encounters French Gen Marquis de Choisy, leading French troops & Virginia militia totaling 800 men across York River from Yorktown, which was under Franco-American siege. image
    • 3 October 1781 The Battle of Fort Slongo (also spelled Salonga) Continental Army forces, under the command of Benjamin Tallmadge, and the British defenders of Fort Salonga. The fort was located near the border of present-day Huntington Township and Smithtown, New York, overlooking Long Island Sound. The only American wounded in the battle was Sgt. Elijah Churchill would personally be awarded a Badge of Military Merit by George Washington, making him the first person to receive a Purple Heart. Pictured below: Benjamin Tallmadge image
    • 2 Oct 1782 Charles Lee, a Controversial English-born American major general & Gen Washington’s controversial 2nd in command, died. Lee was captured by the British, & later court-martialed after Monmouth. image
  • Clothing and Related:

  • Miscellaneous
    • Isabel died in 1722 aged 36 & her husband chose this design for her gravestone. But everyone then would understand, this isn’t about Isabel, she is commemorated by the inscription on the other side. This side is a well intentioned message to all, to be ready for their own death.
    • A rather remarkable publisher’s binding from 1790.

Last Post: REDICK UE, Lloyd Osborne
Passed away sleeping peacefully on September 22, 2024, at the age of 94, in his birthplace of Maple Creek, SK.
He was a dedicated husband to his wife, Verla, for nearly 65 years until her passing in January 2023. Together, they raised two children, Sharon and Clayton. He is also the proud grandfather of six and great-grandfather of ten.
Lloyd, the eldest of five sons, grew up during the Great Depression, facing dust storms and drought. He received his early education through homeschooling and rural schools, completing high school while living with his grandmother in Maple Creek. In 1949, he graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Diploma in Agriculture.
In 1958, he married Minnie Verla Klatt, and together they intended to grain farm. However, over the next six years, they struggled to keep the farm afloat by taking on various jobs while they farmed. Despite their efforts to keep the farm out of debt, it became clear that farming wouldn’t provide a stable lifestyle for their family, leading to the decision to stop farming.
In 1965, the family relocated to Regina, where he traded his farm clothes for a white shirt, tie, and dress shoes after securing a full-time position as a technician with the PFRA Hydrology division.
He was especially proud to trace his “Redick Family” heritage to the United Empire Loyalists, with his great-great-great grandfather having fought for the British in the American Revolution. He was also involved with the UELAC Saskatchewan branch, helping to build a cairn near the Saskatchewan Legislature to honor homesteaders with family ties to the Revolution.
More details, service etc

Last Post: ADAIR, Robert Ralph “Bob” U.E. 8 Dec 1934 – 14 July 2024
In his ninetieth year. He was born in London, Ontario, the son of the late Gertrude Vivian Adair and his recently discovered father, the late John Emerson Graham.
Bob is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marilyn Grace Clay and his six children: John William (Bill) (Katherine Rose Merriman); Michael Robert (Denise Willene Hoekstra); Mary Kathryn Theresa (Kathy) (Steven Peter James Clay); Allan Joseph (late Helen Marcel Guevin) and his stepsons Anthony John Tremmaglia and Fedele Christopher Tremmaglia (Christine Cavan); James Patrick (Shelley Marie McNamara); David Merrill Clay (Astrid Nielsen).
Bob graduated from Carleton College/University in 1958 and, after obtaining qualifications at Queens University, he became a science teacher with the Ottawa Board of Education.
In retirement his interests included his growing family, his cottage at Heney Lake, Quebec where he was continually making improvements, travel with Marilyn as they enjoyed twenty-three cruises to various parts of the world as well as long stays in Portugal and Spain with friends and family, his garden and genealogy. All of which he embraced with enthusiasm and skill. Read more …
Robert was a member of the Sir Guy Carleton Branch. In 2007 he received a Loyalist Certificate having proved his descent from John Adair.

Published by the UELAC
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