In this issue:

 

Twitter:  http:// twitter.com/uelac
Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/groups/2303178326/?ref=share

The First Loyalist Novel for Children
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
There are many ways to interact with loyalist history. One can research one’s loyalist ancestors, read loyalist history books, became a historic re-enactor, visit significant landmarks in loyalist history, or read novels dealing with Loyalists.
It would be easy to fill a library shelf with loyalist fiction ranging from Thomas Raddall’s 1942 classic His Majesty’s Yankees to Lawrence Hill’s 2007 The Book of Negroes – as well as dozens more.
Children and young adults also have their own subset of loyalist fiction to enjoy. But what is the oldest book in this genre?
A recent discovery in a local thrift store suggests that the oldest loyalist novel for a younger audience was published in 1890 by Fannie Ogden Ide (1853 -1927). Under the pen name of Ruth Ogden, this New York author contributed stories and poems to magazines of the era as well as writing a number of popular children’s books.  Two of these were historical fiction works, acquainting young readers with the events of the American Civil War and the American Revolution.
Ogden’s A Loyal Little Red-Coat: A Story of Child-Life in New York is remarkable for the fact that an American author decided to write a book about the War of Independence from the perspective of a loyalist girl rather than from that of a Patriot boy.  Rather than scandalizing the readers of the day, the book was popular enough to be reprinted at least four times, indicating that it was well received.
At a distance of over a century from the events of the American Revolution, Ogden drew on what she described as “those rare and quaint old volumes, carefully treasured by our historical societies, which make possible the faithful recounting of the story of bygone days.” She was quite certain that some of the key incidents that she included in the book were based on actual events, but cautioned her readers that in her “attempt to reproduce the child-life of a time so far removed, I have probably been guilty of some anachronisms“. (Anyone who has attempted to write a historical novel would echo the same sentiments.)
In the 19th chapter of the book, Ogden shares her philosophy of writing historical fiction for children. “Some people think that children’s books ought to be cheery and bright from cover to cover, and so they ought—that is, for the very little children; but when they have gotten beyond the days of rhymes and jingles and colored pictures, and have wit enough and appreciation enough to enjoy a chaptered story, then I, for one, think the stories should be true to life. … Then one certainly does not need to be, say, more than seven years old to get at least an inkling of the truth, that the real things of life are not always bright things.”
However, one needs to remember that Ogden was writing for children raised on Huckleberry Finn, Little Women, and Alice in Wonderland. Her approach to “real things” included neither the gritty the horrific, nor the violent. Her novel had its sad moments when she introduced her young readers to the conditions on prison ships, the cruelty of Patriots toward their loyalist neighbours, and the painful divisions among families at the end of the revolution. If one can imagine the stories of loyalist evacuations told in a Shirley Temple movie of the 1930s, one would get a better feel for the tone of Ogden’s book.
The “loyal little red-coat” of the book’s title is Hazel Boniface, a ten year-old child who lived on the outskirts of New York City in the fall of 1783. When she was born, writes Ogden, “Hazel’s gray eyes first saw the light, and they no sooner saw the light than they saw a wonderful red coat, and just as soon as she was able to understand it, she learned that that red coat belonged to her papa, and that her papa belonged to King George’s army. So, after all, you see it was but natural that she should have been a little Loyalist from the start, and quite to have been expected that she should, grow more and more staunch with every year.” As the girl in the Grimm’s Fairy Tale was known as Little Red Riding Hood for her favourite cloak, Hazel became known in her neighbourhood as “Little Red Coat” for her favourite jacket.
The other characters in the book include Hazel’s 14 year-old Patriot friend Job Starlight, Job’s spinster aunt, Hazel’s parents, two sisters, a Patriot veteran named Harry Avery, a neutral Dutch family, a fictitious British officer, and the very real Alexander Hamilton.
The character who constantly threatens to steal the spotlight from Hazel as one reads the book is Arthur “Flutters” Wainwright, a boy of mixed racial heritage who had run away from home to join a British circus that toured the American colonies. However, Ogden’s references to him are far too racist for the book to be considered reading material for today’s children. The use of terms such as “mulatto”, “savage”, “woolly head”, and “darkey” throughout the book overshadow what could have been important observations, one being: “Hazel had an idea as, sadly enough, many far older and wiser than she had in those days—and, indeed, for long years afterward—that negroes were little better than cattle, and that it was quite right to buy and sell them in the same fashion.”
Contained in 26 chapters, the book’s plot is a series of incidents that trace the decline in Loyalists’ fortunes as British troops prepare to leave New York City. Hazel advocates for a Patriot woman to get her house back from a Loyalist; she and Starlight rescue Flutters from the circus, and put on a show to raise money to buy him clothes. There is a “dancing assembly” at which Hazel’s family is insulted; her father later receives a threatening letter from Patriots and succumbs to a stroke. The children watch the British troops march out of New York. Sustained by a prayer book, Flutters learns his father in England has died and so he remains with the Boniface family as a servant. Hazel’s family leave for England after her older sister marries a Patriot.
No doubt the children who had this book read to them felt some degree of sympathy for the plight of Little Red-Coat and her family, which would have been a major departure from the feelings elicited by most of the era’s books about the American Revolution.  Both Patriot and Loyalist/British excesses are described, and the Loyalists are never demonized or belittled for their political beliefs.
Ruth Ogden expressed the hope that if “I have woven a page of history into a story that, by any chance, shall interest the children, for whom it has been a delight to me to write it, I shall be sincerely grateful.”
The fact that her loyalist novel went through at least four printings indicates that it found an audience and was popular in its day. While the political beliefs that divided a nation are treated with objectivity, the novel comes up short by failing to affirm the equality of all peoples, with its repetitions of racist notions of white superiority and its belittlement of people of colour. Helping children recognize that all lives matter is important now more than ever.
(Editor’s note: A Loyal Little Red-Coat: A Story of Child-Life in New York can be read online in its entirety (with its original illustrations) at:
< https://www.gutenberg.org/files/54132/54132-h/54132-h.htm>)
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: New York – A Soldier’s Life August 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: to Chesapeake Bay.

August, 1781: At Chesapeake Bay. (page 98)

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

IN THE MONTH OF August [1781]
1 August.  At  noon  all  the  troops  were  landed.  We  camped  at  Yorktown  for  a  few  days without tents, close behind the city. Lord Cornwallis was already here with most of his troops, except for a few regiments that had been left behind to occupy New Portsmouth.
3 August.  The  English  troops  vacated  and  burned  down  the  city  of  Georgetown  in  the province of South Carolina.
4 August. We set up our camp just beyond Yorktown.
6 August. I went on regimental watch in the city as lance corporal.
7 August. The American government was reestablished in the province of South Carolina, and the English troops in Charleston were shut in by General Washington.
8 August. I was on detail unloading provisions from the ships.
10 August.  Four  men  deserted  from  our  regiment  this  evening,  namely,  Private  Paul,  of Eyb’s  Company,  and  three  privates,  [Johann]  Eberlein  II,  [Johann]  Beck,  and  D€rr,  of  the Major’s Company.
11 August.  I  went on  watch  at the  defenses  at  Gloucester  in  the  evening.  This  island has defenses everywhere.
15 August. [FOOTNOTE: D€ohla’s  entries  for  15  August  through  25  August  are  even  more  garbled  than  most  of  his  entries concerning events in which he did not participate. Information concerning distant events — and the Battle of the Virginia Capes was a distant battle — had to come considerably after the event, and primarily by word of mouth. Therefore, D€hla often noted the wrong date, the wrong participants, and the wrong place of action. ]
A sea battle occurred in the Mediterranean Sea between the English Admiral Keppel  and  the  Dutch  Admiral  Thomas  Warenthoms.  The  first  had  forty-six  sail,  and  the latter, fifty-seven. The battle lasted more than three hours. Both fleets were heavily damaged and, because night set in, had to withdraw from one another. One Dutch warship of seventy-two guns and one Holland frigate of thirty-six guns sank. Eight ships, including the admiral’s ship,  the  City of Amsterdam,  ninety-six  guns,  suffered  severe  damage.  The  ship  second  in command,  seventy-four  guns,  in  the  English  fleet,  caught  fire,  exploded,  and  caused  great confusion and damage to the English fleet. Also, during the night an English frigate, forty-two guns, strayed too far from the English fleet and into the midst of the Dutch fleet, where it was captured. Both fleets fired a frightful cannonade and fought with much bravery  into the dark of night, when they then withdrew in good order.
20 August. We received news that at Jamaica,  in the West Indies, thirty English transport and merchant ships were driven ashore by a raging hurricane.
(to be continued)

Happy Halloween! Some Spooky Stories from the Revolutionary and Founding Eras
by Editors 31 Oct 2024 Journal of the American Revolutionary
We asked our contributors for their favorite spooky stories from the 1765-1805 era. Here is one response:

By Gregory Safko, William M. Welsch
Along with the story of the Headless Hessian of White Plains, New York – interred in a cemetery in nearby Sleepy Hollow – there is the tale of another pair of Hessian soldiers who suffered the same fate at Fort Mercer in the Battle of Red Bank, New Jersey on October 22, 1777. Over 500 Hessians were killed during that battle.
Two of the Hessian soldiers had their heads blown off, and in haste their bodies were buried with each other’s head. Neither of these soldiers could rest in peace until this horrible mix-up was corrected. On moonlit nights they floated over the battlefield, searching for each other. In their search they frightened young and old alike. For decades these apparitions roamed many miles in Southern New Jersey, from Woodbury to Haddonfield. There were numerous accounts of one soldier appearing and disappearing, just before the other would appear and disappear. They were often seen with their shrouds rustling in the wind before fading into the trees on the banks of the Delaware. One night in the early 1900s they both met on Crown Point Road in Woodbury. They exchanged heads and immediately fell into dust.
Read more…

Sarah Whitehead – The Bank Nun Ghost
By Sarah Murden 3 April 2023 in All Things Georgian
So much as been written about Sarah and ghostly sightings of her around London, close to and including the Bank of England, wearing all black, hence the moniker of Bank Nun, but I thought it would be interesting to revisit the known information about he.
Sarah’s brother, Paul (also incorrectly named Philip) worked for the Bank of England until in 1811 when he was charged with forgery. He stood trial at the Old Bailey on 30 October 1811 at the age of thirty six years and was sentenced to death.
There are numerous reports with differing information about Sarah following the death of her brother.     Most reports seem to confirm that although not witness to her brother’s death, when she did find out it caused Sarah to suffer some sort of mental health issues, to the extent that she continued going to the bank on an almost daily basis searching for her brother, who she could not accept was dead.  Read more…

Something wicked this way comes…and it’s King James’ “Daemonologie”!
Published in 1597 (before he became King James I of England), this is King James VI of Scotland’s treatise on witchcraft.
Topics include the danger of witchcraft to society, and how to identify and punish a witch. During a witch hunt in Scotland in connection with the storms, about 70 people were rounded up, including Agnes Sampson.
After being tortured, Agnes confessed to being a witch, stating that she and her companions had caused the storm by attaching the parts of a dead man to a cat’s corpse and throwing it into the sea. She was executed on January 28, 1591.
In 2022, the Scottish government apologized for the persecution of women like Agnes Sampson. Halloween is a good time to remember all those like Sampson who were tried unjustly.

The Athletic John Adams
by Jack Campbell 28 Oct 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
It is not often that one comes across inspiration for research from a trading card. But sure enough, when this author came across a card produced by Topps featuring John Adams, he was inspired. The card, part of a set commemorating Presidential connections to the game of baseball, mentioned how Adams had mentioned playing a game of “bat and ball” as a child. Now, it appears the card was partially incorrect. The letter stating this does exist but was written to Adams’ dear friend Dr. Benjamin Rush, not to Dr. Benjamin West as the card states. Nevertheless, the inquiry begins. What was John Adams’ relationship to the game of baseball, or sports in general?
The earliest known reference to baseball in print occurred in 1744 in A Pretty Little Pocket Book, a children’s book printed in England; it was reprinted in America for the first time in 1783. For one, this confirms that baseball’s origins are not wholly American. But it does show that it existed in some form during Adams’ lifetime. Another reference comes in the diary of a Princeton student in 1786. These games likely looked different from our modern version of baseball but were still its ancestors. They were likely derived from games such as rounders or stool-ball. Read more…

Advertised on 28 October 1774: “When a boat shall set off from either side”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

October 28

“When a boat shall set off from either side, a boat shall immediately put off from the other.”

Jesse Leavenworth had two years of experience of operating a ferry “to and from East Haven, on the lower road,” but they had not been easy years.  In an advertisement he placed in the October 28, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Journal, he explained that the “hounourable General Assembly … thought fit to establish under his care and direction” the ferry in October 1772.  He accepted the charge, seeking to support “himself and a numerous family.”  That site, however, possessed “many difficulties” due to the “flats and openness of the place to sea” that had previously made it “insurmountable by all those who have heretofore attempted” a similar venture.  At a “vast expence,” Leavenworth “furnished himself with a number of large & sufficient boats.”  Whether they ran ferries or stagecoaches, entrepreneurs who provided transportation frequently underscored the financial investments they made in their businesses.  Leavenworth kept at least two boats on each side and hired staff to give “suitable attendance.”
The ferry was so successful that the operator prepared to introduce another innovation to the service…
…recruiting an employee, a “hardy stout Man … who can be well recommended (for honesty, sobriety, and good nature)…
…The Black man that he had hired as he planned to launch the next stage of his business may have been captured and returned to his enslaver.  Read more…


The Trial That Sparked Maine’s 1840 Abortion Statute
by Patricia Cline Cohen October 2024 in Common Place
Maine passed its first abortion statute in 1840, not long after the pardon of Dr. Call. Could there be a connection?
In the historic courthouse in Wiscasset, Maine, a highly contested trial in late 1836 drew an audience of Lincoln County locals along with legal bigwigs from southern Maine. The state charged Dr. Moses Call of Nobleboro with abortion performed upon Deborah Chapman, age twenty, “a female quick with child.” After a week-long trial the jury found him guilty, with sentencing suspended to allow an appeal.
I recently chanced upon abundant documentation of Call’s case in the Digital Maine Repository of the Maine State Archives. Immediately I recognized how unusual it was. For several years I’ve been hunting up abortion stories carried in U.S. newspapers before 1860, amassing well over 230, the vast majority occurring after 1845. Stories deemed newsworthy typically started with a dead woman and a coroner’s inquest. Surprisingly few progressed to trial and fewer still to conviction. Nonetheless, dramatic accounts entered the news stream, commanding regional and national reprintings.
This Maine case was different: it was conspicuously missing from any and all newspapers, the woman did not die, and no coroner was involved. The convicted doctor appealed the verdict unsuccessfully and then sought pardon from the governor. He submitted dozens of sworn depositions along with petitions signed by over six hundred men and women in Lincoln County, drawing their opinions solely from oral information networks. And the orchestration worked: Dr. Call was pardoned.  Read more…

Book: Chain of Title: An Adventure to Uncover the 350-Year Legacy of the Old Grist Mill
By Christopher Scott
This is a highly engaging story of the trials and tribulations encountered while teasing out a fascinating tale buried within the historical record for three centuries.  The author playfully highlights the challenges in separating fact from fiction when sifting through various primary, secondary and tertiary sources, as well as interpreting entrenched oral traditions.  The book also discusses the impact of biases found in the historical record and advice on how to avoid it while writing.
A common refrain stresses the importance of getting past the dry facts of who, what, where, and when to ask the important question:  why?  By embracing a sense of curiosity, readers experience a scavenger hunt that leads through dozens of archival repositories spanning the globe to answer that important question time and again.
See the Amazon details…

Royal dentist Charles Dumergue, Sir Walter Scott and the Nicolson sisters
By Sarah Murden 28 Oct 2024, All Things Georgian
This article began life as one about the royal dentist, Charles François Dumergue (1739-1814), but rapidly changed into possibly the most complicated story I’ve ever researched, with so many names changes and confusing storylines that you simply couldn’t make up, including three women, known as the Nicholson sisters and their connection to Dumergue, leading ultimately to Sir Walter Scott, novelist, poet and historian  via a very circuitous route. To attempt to make sense of this conundrum, we will begin with a little information about Dumergue, so bear with me as it a complicated and lengthy tale.
It is difficult to know exactly when Dumergue and his family arrived in London, but he had married his wife Ann (believed to be Charpentier), on 20 Jun 1763 at the Catholic church, Royal Parish Church of Saint Germain Lauxerrois at Paris. ..
Their daughter, Sophia, was born in France on 13 August 1768, but by 1769 they were living in Bond Street, London…
Dumergue became one of the most renowned dentists of the Georgia era, caring for the teeth of many in the upper echelons of Georgian society including those in literary, theatrical and artistic circles, but arguably more importantly,  he counted amongst his clients the royal family, who had him on virtual ‘speed dial’ to care for the teeth of Queen Charlotte’s many children. Read mpre…

Finding Fitzjames: the search for Sir John Franklin’s senior officer
By Russell Potter 27 Sept 2024 Canadian Geographic
University of Waterloo researchers have identified the remains of Capt James Fitzjames, who died on Franklin’s failed Northwest Passage Expedition, among an archeological site on King William Island, Nunavut
Of all the echoing voices of the men who vanished on Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition to find the Northwest Passage, that of senior officer James Fitzjames has long stood at the center: astutely observing his fellow officers, expressing his boundless optimism (had the expedition succeeded, he’d hoped to walk home across Siberia!) and always remembering himself to his beloved brother and sister-in-law.
That’s why the University of Waterloo’s announcement on Sept. 24, 2024 that his remains had been identified among an archeological site on King William Island, Nunavut, cuts both ways: toward the relief and recognition his relations then and now would share, and also refreshing the agony of his loss.
Added to this, signs of cannibalism on Fitzjames’s identified mandible speak anew of a long-unspeakable reality that Franklin’s men, in their final days, turned to what explorer John Rae (informed by Inuit testimony) called “the last resource.” This discovery brings together every strand of the Franklin story, and as it closes one small chapter, it opens new vistas of possibility. Read more…

UELAC Fall Issue of the Loyalist Gazette – Update
As noted last week, the digital copy of the Loyalist Gazette is available to members at uelac.ca.
The paper copy was being printed this past week and is scheduled to arrive at the mailing house on Monday 4 Nov. Their objective is to mail it by end of the week. Actual delivery to your mailbox depends of course on many postal factors.
Bill Russell UE, VP UELAC

Notes about the Doan Gang
The Doan Gang attained notoriety status during the American Revolution. If you are interested in more, read on…

  1. Janet Hodgkins of Col John Butler Branch will be speaking about her Loyalist Ancestors at a virtual meeting of the Gov Simcoe Branch – see upcoming events “Loyalists in my Family Tree” this Wed evening 7 Nov.
  2. Two years ago Janet spoke specifically about the Doan gang, also to a Gov Simcoe Branch meeting. A recording is available to UELAC members at uelac.ca in the Members’ section under “Presentations to Branches” in the 2022 section, look for  “My Notorious Ancestors: The Doan Gang” on 6 April 2022.
  3. Janet notes: As the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution approaches, the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania has an exhibition on the Doan Gang.  It opened in. May of this year and will run until December 2026.
    1. See “The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution”  for more details. (Janet plans a visit with family in the near future.) “The Mercer Museum presents an exciting new major exhibition, The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution, that explores the history and intrigue of a group of Revolutionary War-era Loyalists whose legend lives on today. Some called them villains; others hailed them as heroes.”

Events Upcoming

Gov. Simcoe Branch: “Loyalists In My Family Tree” by Janet Hodgkins  Wed 6 Nov 7:30

Zachariah Hainer, John Brown, Robert Cook, Jacob Ott, Casper Ramey, Joseph Doan, and of course the notorious outlaw Aaron Doan are the seven proven Loyalist ancestors nesting in Janet’s family tree. Janet will explain how she discovered them, who they were and what happened to them.
Janet is Programme Chair and a Director of Col John Butler (Niagara) Branch. She lives on part of her grandparents’ farm, close to the land grants of all seven of her Loyalist ancestors. Details and registration, https:// www.uelac.org/Gov-Simcoe/meetings.php

Bay of Quinte Branch: A History of the Murray Canal, Sat. 9 Nov @1:30

The Murray Canal is a canal in the municipalities of Quinte West and Brighton, Ontario, Canada, and runs from the western end of the Bay of Quinte to Presqu’ile Bay on Lake Ontario. It is approximately 8 kilometres in length and has a maximum depth of 9 feet.
During the 1790s, Upper Canada’s first lieutenant governor, John Graves Simcoe, promoted the idea of a canal in the area between the Bay of Quinte and Presqu’ile Bay on Lake Ontario, but his idea did not come into fruition until decades later. Why did it take so long?
Meeting: At Frankford United Church Hall, 61 Mill St. Frankford ON
Free to the public; all are welcome to attend

The American Revolution Institute: A 1780s Chinese Porcelain Punch Bowl Depicting the Battle of the Saintes Fri 8 Nov @12:30

The Institute’s museum collections and operations manager, Paul Newman, for a Lunch Bite object talk highlighting a Chinese porcelain punch bowl depicting the Battle of the Saintes. Produced around 1783, the punch bowl was manufactured for the British market to commemorate the Royal Navy’s victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Saintes that occurred on April 9-12, 1782. Details and registration…

Toronto Branch: “Land Records in Your Pyjamas” by Linda Corupe UE Wed 13 Nov 7:30

Loyalist Certification often depends on finding the appropriate Land Record(s) for our Loyalist Ancestor. Many of us have struggled from time to time with the LAC website.  At this virtual meeting Linda Corupe provides a step by step explanation of how to access and understand them.
Linda Corupe, U.E., has authored over 50 books on genealogy and history over the past 40 years. She is a descendant of a United Empire Loyalist from the Napanee, Ontario area. She is on the recommended researchers list at the Archives of Ontario.
Register with torontouel@gmail.com and a meeting link will be returned.

Kawartha Branch: “The Lost Villages” by Jim Brownell Sun 17 Nov 2:00

Jim Brownell was 10 when the flooding of 16.2 hectares along the St Lawrence between Iroquois and Cornwall began on July 1st 1958. Seven villages and a farming community on Sheek’s Island were inundated. The Lost Villages Museum was dedicated to documenting the history of the lost villages and the families who once lived there, dating back to the Loyalists who came there in the 1780’s.
Jim’s book, A tour, “Through the Lands of the Lost Villages”, is the result of information gathered and tours he has run. He is a member of The Lost Villages Historical Society
Register with uelbob@nexicom.net for the meeting link.

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • On October 28, 1784, Abraham Cuyler, ex-mayor of Albany, New York, arrives on Cape Breton with 140 Loyalists. Some of them stay at St. Peter’s while the others disembark at Louisbourg to spend the winter there. He moves to Sydney in July.
  • The reign of King George III began 25 October 1760.
    His portrait graces the foyer of the Senate of Canada. It was copied from the Joshua Reynolds original by his assistants.
    The painting was a gift from the King in recognition of Canada’s loyalty during the American Revolution.
  • In July 1783, Pvt. Agrippa Hull left the Continental Army after 6 years. The Stockbridge Library recently acquired his discharge certificate and will display it with his portrait and chair on Saturday, November 2, 1230–2pm.
    A letter to the War Dept from Agrippa Hull’s attorney requests the return of his discharge, informing them that Hull would forgo his Revolutionary War pension rather than give up his George Washington-signed discharge. Now, a rare Black Patriot artifact from the Revolution.
  • Townsends, and “anything food”

    • Autumn Beef Soup From 1723  (11 Min)
      A wonderful soup from an early 18th-century English cookbook. Many times meals in the time period are all about what is available in the market at a particular season.  This beef, root vegetable and herb soup will make anyone a tasty meal.
  • This week in History 
    • 1 Nov 1765 In the face of widespread opposition in the American colonies, Parliament enacted the Stamp Act, a taxation measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America. image
    • 26 Oct 1768 Quebec, CAN.  Sir Guy Carleton arrives and begins his long service as Governor General of Canada. His governance would be steady, although rocked by colonists to the south. image
    • 28 October 1770, the Sons of Liberty attacked the King Street office of Tory printers John Mein and John Fleming, whose ads impugned John Adams and listed establishments continuing to import British goods.  image
    • 2 Nov 1773 Boston, MA A 21-member Committee of Correspondence is organized with 3 co-chairmen: Samuel Adams, James Otis & Dr. Joseph Warren. The committee communicated with town and county governments on coordinating resistance to British policies.  image
    • 28 OCTOBER 1774, BOSTON: Additional redcoats arrive aboard a transport from Quebec, bringing the total in the town to twelve regiments. Bostonians wonder where the newcomers can possibly be quartered, as almost every empty building has already been taken.
    • 27 Oct 1775, King George III speaks before the British Parliament to discuss rebellion in America, which he viewed as a traitorous action against himself & Britain. He read a “Proclamation of Rebellion” & urged Parliament to bring order to the colonies. image
    • 27 Oct 1775 A congressional committee recommends the construction and purchase of five frigates of 32 guns, five of 28 guns, and three with 24 guns. image
    • 28 Oct 1775 Gen William Howe issues a proclamation forbidding all Boston residents from leaving the city under penalty of death and requiring military-age males to join a Loyalist defense force. image
    • 27 Oct 1776 Needing to drastically increase the number of sailors to serve in the RevWar, the Royal Navy forcibly impresses some 1,000 sailors from civilian vessels on the Thames River. image
    • 28 October 1776, White Plains, New York. Some 13,000 British & Hessians advance on 14,000 Americans defending a 23-mile front. American commander General George Washington fortified a position between the Bronx and Croton Rivers. On the far side of the Bronx River was an isolated outpost on Chatterton’s Hill held by regiments under Colonel Spencer, Colonel McDougall, and two New England militia regiments under Colonel Rufus Putnam — about 4,000 in all. Continental forces drove back several uncoordinated British skirmishing efforts against their fortifications as Howe arrayed his army in columns.  The British commander, General William Howe, then spotted Chatterton Hill and realized taking it would prove the key to success. He dispatched General Alexander Leslie, supported by Hessians under Colonel Johann Rall — some 3,000. MacDougal and company fought fiercely. Rall’s Hessian force finally got around the hill — turning the American right flank. Washington withdrew from the field and moved his main army to New Jersey, hoping to support his garrisons at Forts Lee on the Jersey side and Fort Washington on upper Manhattan. Approximate Losses at Chatterton Hill: around 300 were killed, wounded, or captured on each side. image
    • 30 Oct 1781 Col Marinus Willet, commanding 400 NY militia & 60 Oneida warriors, catches a group of Loyalists & Indians at West Canada Creek, NY. Willet’s men smash the Loyalist rear guard, wounding 7 and killing Maj Walter Butler. image
    • 31 Oct 1776, in his first speech before Parliament, since the leaders of the #RevWar came together to sign the Declaration of Independence, King George III acknowledged that all was not going well for Britain in the war with the United States. image
    • 31 Oct 1776 Fort Lee, NJ  Gen Nathanael Greene writes Gen Washington apprising him of plans to defend Fort Washington against British & Hessians forces closing the ring on the last American bastion on the Island of New York. image
    • 1 Nov 1776 – North Carolina’s Independent Company of Carteret County attacked and captured the foundered HMS Aurora, along with the entire crew and all supplies. This took place at Ocracoke Inlet, NC.  image
    • 1 Nov 1776 Capt. John Paul Jones begins his cruise on the 24-gun sloop Alfred, which will yield nine captured vessels, including HMS Active. image
    • 2 Nov 1776 Island of New York. An American officer deserts to the British under Gen Hugh Percy, bringing with him detailed plans for the defense of Ft Washington. image
    • 29 Oct 1776 Ft Lee, NJ  Gen Nathanael Greene, commander of Forts Lee & Washington, pens letter to Gen Washington listing supplies needed & costs & suggesting places between Fort Lee & Philadelphia to store them. image
    • 29 Oct 1777 John Hancock resigns as president of the Continental Congress. Served since May 24, 1775. Hancock held this position longer than any other. 1st member of Congress to sign the Declaration of Independence & best known for his bold signature image
    • 2 Nov 1777 Gen Washington marches his army to Whitemarsh, PA, where he can better cover British activities in and around Philadelphia while supporting American defense of Ft Mercer and Ft Mifflin on the Delaware R.  image
    • 31 Oct 1778 Portsmouth, England. With his fleet succumbing to mounting outbreaks of sickness, British Adm Augustus Keppel returns his fleet to its base to rest & refit for the winter. image
    • 26 Oct 1779 Lt Col John Graves Simcoe was captured in an ambush by Americans at South River Bridge, NJ. Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers lose3 killed & 6 prisoners while Americans lose 1 killed & 3 wounded. image
    • 26 Oct 1782 John Adams arrives in Paris to finalize the peace negotiations with the British commissioners. image
  • Clothing and Related:

  • Miscellaneous
    • Postcard: “House and Barn of Mr. Bradshaw, near Morden, Manitoba, Canada“, posted at Rochester, England, 30 October 1905. This is one of a set of 35 known cards distributed in England by the Canadian government in 1905 to promote agricultural emigration. Many featured images of prosperous farms identified by their owners’ names: “Dear Will, You will see by this I have arrived quite safely, also that I have got my Canadian P.P.C.’s + I thought you would like one for your collection. Much Love, fr. Alice.” The recipient was Mr. W. Moore, 2 Bedford Place, Rocky Hill, Maidstone.

 

Published by the UELAC
If you do not now receive this free newsletter directly but would like to, you can subscribe here.