In this issue:
- Piecing Together a Loyalist Militia: James Thorne’s Company #46 – Part One – by Stephen Davidson UE
- The Loyalist Scidmores by Brian McConnell UE
- The Raid on Fort William and Mary in 1774
- The Limits of Environmental Mastery in the Highlands Department
- The Captives of the Raid on Remensnyder’s Bush, Tryon County, New York, April 3, 1780
- Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Yorktown. – A Soldier‘s Life October 1781
- A Meddlesome Mother? Queen Charlotte and the Regency Crisis
- Advertised on 13 December 1774: “The WONDERFUL APPEARANCE of an Angel, Devil and Ghost”
- Midwife Marie-Louise Lachappelle (1769-1821) of Paris
- National Trust for Canada Endangered Places List 2024
- Loyalist Certificates Issued
- UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
- Official Appointment of Interim Central West Region Councillor
- Recognizing UELAC Volunteers – Suzanne Morse-Hines Memorial Award
- Events Upcoming
- From the Social Media and Beyond
Twitter: http:// twitter.com/uelac
Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/groups/2303178326/?ref=share
Piecing Together a Loyalist Militia: James Thorne’s Company #46 – Part One of Three
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
In October 1783, the John and Jane sailed out of New York City carrying refugees and veterans north along the Atlantic seacoast, bound for the mouth of the St. John River. This British naval transport ship was one of eight vessels that carried a total of more than 1,000 passengers in the final evacuation fleet bound for what would become the colony of New Brunswick. Among the passengers aboard the John and Jane were 177 members of two militia companies and 55 men from four British regiments. The other seven vessels in what later became known as the October fleet were the Mary, the Mercury, the Jason, the Nancy, the Neptune, the Alexander and the Sally.
The militia company commanded by James Thorne had 134 of its men and their families aboard the John and Jane. Like almost every vessel that carried Loyalists to safer shores, the John and Jane has no surviving muster that lists its passengers. However, a partial list can be pieced together using the victualing musters of Fort Howe. This garrison that overlooked the mouth of the St. John River kept records of the food and provisions it distributed to the loyalist refugees who spent their first year in what would become the city of Saint John. Within those musters are the names of just 25 “heads of households” associated with Thorne’s Company #46.
The musters that recorded the names of the refugees who received supplies also noted the recipient’s employment, colony of origin, family size, and evacuation vessel. (Historians and genealogists have Dr. David Bell to thank for the painstaking work of transcribing and organizing Fort Howe’s victualing musters. They can be perused in his 2015 book, “American Loyalists to New Brunswick: The Ship Passenger Lists“.) Armed with this data –along with references in the Book of Negroes and other documents of the era– it is possible to learn more about the men, women, and children who were once part of James Thorne’s Militia Company #46.
James Thorne came to the mouth of the St. John River as a bachelor farmer from New York’s Dutchess County. Despite his being a militia captain, he was “recommended for charity”, indicating that he came to the colony as an impoverished Loyalist. He would eventually be granted land in Parrtown (Saint John), and then disappears from the historical record.
Another Thorne from New York who sailed on the John and Jane was William Thorne. He, too, was a single man. During the revolution, Patriots arrested William and had him sent to prison in Connecticut. He later became a grantee of land in Saint John, but he eventually settled in Charlotte County’s Beaver Harbour. It is a matter of speculation as to whether James Thorne was William’s brother.
Two men who sailed on the John and Jane and who are known to be brothers were Benjamin and Jasper Stymest. Benjamin, the oldest, came to New Brunswick with his wife Abigail and two children, Maria and Emie. Mary, a third child was born within a year of their arrival. Benjamin and Phoebe were the last of the Stymest siblings. Not to be confused with a loyalist tanner of the same name, this William settled in Bay du Vin in Northumberland County. He died in his 92nd year.
Like his older brother, Jasper Stymest was also born in New York’s Gravesend, Long Island. He and his wife Milcah came to Saint John with two children under ten – one of whom died before May of 1784.
Jasper’s tombstone in Saint John’s Old Burial Ground recounts much of the family’s story. The Loyalist was born on September 10, 1751 and died on March 2, 1826. Milcah, a native of Peekskill, New York lived from September 23, 1762 to January 17, 1828.
Their youngest son Jesse drowned on his passage to England at age 25 in 1828. A merchant, Jesse had drawn up a lengthy will that dispersed sums of money to his sisters (but not their husbands) and paid for the education of his siblings’ children. A silver watch, “chimney ornaments”, and a set of books were among the other worldly goods he bequeathed to friends and family.
The Stymests’ youngest daughter was Charlotte. She was the wife of Solomon Knight until she died at age 28 in 1828. As her death notice says she left an infant daughter, it may be that she died in childbirth. The Stymests’ other daughters were Amelia (Henry McCaddem), Elizabeth (Andrew Hutchinson), Sarah (Reuben Watts) and Deborah (Samuel Spence).
In his will, Jasper bequeathed land in Monmouth, New Jersey to Jane, the widow of his brother Peter. Benjamin Stymest, the Loyalist’s oldest son, was designated as one of his father’s executors, but he died before his father’s passing in 1826.
The Stymests’ daughter Catherine married John Stevens. The latter came to New Brunswick with his loyalist parents as a seven year-old. The Stevens couple had 27 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren in 1870, so there is no shortage of descendants for Jasper and Milcah Stymest.
While some members of James Thorne’s militia company came to New Brunswick in need of charity, one of its members came with both an enslaved African and a servant. Cornelius Vandine (Van Dyne) arrived in Saint John as a widower with a child over ten years of age. The names of Vandine’s child and servant are not known, but the Book Of Negroes identifies his slave as 25 year-old Caesar.
Family tradition states that Cornelius, his father, three sisters, and his brothers Dow and Arthur emigrated from the Netherlands to Long Island, New York about 20 years before the start of the American Revolution. There, Cornelius’ father “acquired immense amounts of land“. All four Vandine men eventually found refuge in New Brunswick, settling at Grand Lake in Queen’s County. Dow Vandine died in York County in 1788.
After the death of their father, Cornelius and his remaining siblings returned to New York. However, Arthur Vandine returned to Grand Lake shortly thereafter and married a Miss Stone. The couple eventually had 7 sons and 3 daughters.
More stories of the Loyalists who were members of Thorne’s Company #46 will be shared in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.
The Loyalist Scidmores by Brian McConnell UE
In the course of recent research I discovered two Loyalist Scidmores who lost their lives fighting on the side of the British in battles on two different continents and for whom there are no marked graves. This was the case with Samuel Scidmore born in Suffolk County, New York and Edwin Sanford Scidmore of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. Nonetheless, one was remembered after his death in an old document, a framed Roll of Honour, which I saved from destruction.
Samuel Scidmore was born at Huntingdon, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York by 1730 and killed in the Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina on September 13, 1781. He was serving in Captain Robert Drummond’s Company of the 3rd Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers and appeared present at Musters taken between 24 February and 24 June, 1781 in Ninety – Six District of South Carolina. No record of his grave remains.
When the American Revolution ended some Scidmores, whose surname also could be spelled Skidmore, left by ship from New York for New Brunswick…
…On June 26, 1917 Private Edwin Sanford Scidmore was killed in action in Vimy, France. He was born on December 29, 1885 at Pugwash Junction, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia and enlisted in the 193rd Battalion, Nova Scotia Highlanders. Read more…
The Raid on Fort William and Mary in 1774
The Seizure of His Majesty’s Fort William and Mary at New Castle, New Hampshire, December 14 – 15, 1774
By Thomas F. Kehr
Thirteen unique rebellions against British authority simmered in America prior to April 19, 1775. Four months before the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, New Hampshire’s rebellion crossed the line into overt insurrection. On December 14, 1774, patriots faced gunfire to storm the colony’s provincial arsenal; a fort in the British empire’s system of American defenses, manned by soldiers who reported to a royal governor appointed directly by the Crown. In the violent course of their assault, the raiders gave three cheers, hauled down the British flag and made off with about 100 barrels of gunpowder. It was plainly treason and New Hampshire’s friends of liberty added to their crime the following evening. On December 15, 1774, they again raided the fort, this time absconding with small arms, miscellaneous military supplies and, above all, 16 cannon clearly marked as the property of the King.
These little-known and often misconstrued incidents marked the effective end of royal authority in one of Britain’s American colonies and warrant a place of honor in our collective memory of the struggle for American independence. Read more…
The Limits of Environmental Mastery in the Highlands Department
by Blake McGready 12 Dec 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
In the fall of 1776, Patriots were desperate for ways to defend the Hudson River from British attacks, entertaining even the wildest ideas. Henry Wisner, a member of the Continental Congress from Goshen, suggested revolutionary soldiers hurl stones at approaching ships from the cliffs north of Peekskill. “Ten men on the top,” he claimed, “might prevent ten thousand passing.” John Jay imagined an even more ambitious solution: using hydraulic engineering to shallow the river to allow only small vessels through. Jay believed that eight to ten thousand soldiers could excavate the Hudson Highlands and deposit the mountains in the river to impede British advances. While Jay’s plan never came to fruition, the Continental Army ultimately engineered a different obstruction—a 600-yard, sixty-five-ton iron chain stretched across a bend in the river at West Point—that prevented navigation through the Highlands.
For both Patriots and Loyalists, controlling the natural world had military and political value. Environmental relationships shaped strategies and public perception. Since each side claimed the land, they hoped to project a sense of environmental mastery to bolster those claims. The chain at West Point was more than a defensive work; historians have noted that it was also a symbol of Patriot environmental dominance that showcased their engineering prowess and knowledge of the Hudson Highlands. Beyond the chain, however, Patriots’ efforts to command nature in the Highlands Department were continually tested. Try as they might to project mastery, the soldiers of the Continental Army were at the mercy of weather, resources, and the land itself. Read more…
The Captives of the Raid on Remensnyder’s Bush, Tryon County, New York, April 3, 1780
by Darel E. Paul 9 Dec 2024 Journal of the American Revolution
No front of the American War of Independence was more consistently violent than the northern frontier in what is today central New York State. Relative to the size of the forces involved, the costliest battle of the war took place at Oriskany near present-day Rome, New York, where the Patriot casualty rate exceeded 50 percent. In the infamous Cherry Valley Massacre southwest of Canajoharie, New York, thirty non-combatant women and children were killed by flintlock and tomahawk. Lying undefended from the north, west and south, the Mohawk River Valley was ravaged by Crown forces descending out of Canada every year from 1777 to 1782, laying waste to homes, mills, and crops. Small raids upon frontier settlements by parties of Native Americans and Loyalists occurred repeatedly with the goal both of destruction and capture. Over the six years of active fighting on the northern frontier, hundreds of men and boys from New York settlements were force-marched to Canada and pressed into Native families, British military service, or prison.
One of the best documented of these frontier attacks was the raid on Remensnyder’s Bush in present-day Manheim, Herkimer County, New York, on April 3, 1780. Precisely because this raid was so well documented, the information we have is often contradictory. Being the third assault on this little settlement in the course of the war and the second that year, no small degree of confusion has cropped up among chroniclers mixing the three incidents together or mistaking the events of one for those of another. No previous writer has produced an accurate list of those captured, nor have any attempted a broad accounting of their fates after the raid.
Even careful historians have fallen short of producing an accurate list of the captives. Historian Jeptha Root Simms devoted two full pages of a book to the event. Based primarily on the testimony of John Windecker, captured that day when just thirteen years old, it stands as the most thorough single description of the raid in print….
A more recent treatment is that of the prolific contemporary Canadian historian Gavin K. Watt. While Watt’s description of the raid is very brief, he includes in an appendix what appears to be a complete list of the captives. Unfortunately… Read more…
Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Yorktown – A Soldier’s Life October 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 (Yorktown).
Octber, 1781: At Chesapeake Bay. (page 103)
Continuation of Occurences in North America During the Fifth Year, 1781
IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER [1781]
8 October. I went on watch in the city. Tonight Private [Konrad] Friedlein, of Eyb’s Company, deserted from a picket post.
9 October. At noon I went to help in the defenses. Until today the enemy had not fired a single cannon shot at us, but continued working on the entrenchments, night and day, for nine or ten days, even though we fired at them the whole time, by day as well as by night, with cannon, bombs, and howitzers. Nevertheless, they continued to work on their positions.
According to some deserters, they made their positions mostly with fascines and sand baskets, as the French customarily do. They completed batteries and communication trenches, one after the other.
Some deserters, who came over from the French, told us that it was their intent to make their approaches right up to us, and that General Washington had come here through Maryland from Jersey. Having brought eight thousand regular troops across near Baltimore, he had joined General Greene,175 and both of them had joined the French. [The latter] were between twelve and fifteen thousand men strong, including a corps of hussars, and five German regiments from Alsace, and one French. Marquis de Lafayette and the Prince of Saarbrcken-Zweibrcken were their commanders.
9 [sic] October. At three o’clock in the afternoon the enemy began to fire on our right wing from his left wing, where he had set up a battery in the woods and bushes. He fired with 18-and 24-pound cannon on our outermost redoubt, which was about one English mile from our lines, close to the York River on a height. Between the redoubt and the lines lay a valley, a creek, and a swamp. He also threw bombs of one hundred and more pounds at an English frigate that stood in the river as cover for the above-mentioned redoubt.
At night, at tattoo, the enemy began, first on our left wing, then against our entire line, to fire bombs, cannon, and howitzers. This removed the belief, which we held previously, that they had only their regimental cannon there and could not bring up heavy weapons because of the many forests and swamps.
During the night a French bombardier set fire to an English frigate in the harbor with a heated cannonball and the frigate could not be saved. It burned completely. It could be seen burning in the river throughout the night. This night two men, namely, Privates [Peter] Bleyer, of Eyb’s Company, and [Georg Simon] Brummer, of the Colonel’s Company, deserted from our detached picket.
10 October. We had to change our camp this morning and set up our tents in the communication trenches, because of the enemy’s heavy cannonade. He threw bombs at us of too and 150 pounds, also of 200 pounds, and his howitzer and cannonballs were of 18-, 24-, 36-, and, a very few, of 12 pounds. It was impossible to avoid the frightfully many balls in or outside the city. Most of the inhabitants who were still to be found here fled eastward with their best possessions on the waters of the York River, and dug into the sand cliffs, but even there they were not uninjured. Many were seriously and fatally wounded by the broken pieces of the bombs that were exploding, partly in the air, partly on the ground, which broke arms and legs, or killed them. The ships in the harbor also suffered great damage because the cannonballs flew across the river and as far as the land at Gloucester. At nine o’clock in the morning our sutler, [Johann Wilhelm] Seewald, of Quesnoy’s Company, was fatally wounded by a cannonball that struck him in the right side while he was in a small house immediately behind the front of our camp, near Yorktown, where he had his store. At noon Grenadier Drrer, of Molitor’s Company, was dangerously wounded on the left leg by a bomb, and during the evening the leg had to be amputated above the knee. During the evening the French, with bombs, set fire to a warship and a transport ship in the river.178 The first was saved. The latter, however, burned completely.
(to be continued)
A Meddlesome Mother? Queen Charlotte and the Regency Crisis
At the History of Parliament 5 Dec 2024 History of Parliament
In October 1788, George III fell ill with an unknown ‘malady’ which rendered him unable to fulfil his duties as sovereign: the beginning of the king’s famous ‘madness’. In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, we welcome Dr Natalee Garrett, who considers the role of Queen Charlotte during the period of the king’s illness, and more broadly.
As the Prince of Wales was 26 years old, it was assumed that he would be made regent during his father’s incapacity. Although Prime Minister William Pitt agreed that the Prince was the obvious choice for a regency, he was wary of taking this step because of the younger George’s well-known friendships with Opposition politicians. The Opposition, led by Charles James Fox, clamoured for their ‘friend’ to be made regent on the assumption that George III would not recover. Meanwhile, Pitt and the government stalled, insisting that a full regency was unnecessary, as the king would recover in short order. Instead, the government suggested a restricted regency, which would limit the prince’s powers and place some responsibility in the hands of the queen: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. This approach was immediately viewed by the Opposition and their supporters as unconstitutional, and as an attempt by Pitt to control the country through Queen Charlotte. Read more…
Advertised on 13 December 1774: “The WONDERFUL APPEARANCE of an Angel, Devil and Ghost”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
December 13
It resembled a Dickens story decades before Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” or anything else! In December 1775, John Boyle published and advertised “The WONDER of WONDERS! Or, the WONDERFUL APPEARANCE of an Angel, Devil and Ghost, To a Gentleman in the Town of BOSTON, in the Nights of the 14th, 15th, and 16th of October last.” His advertisements first appeared in the Massachusetts Spy in early December and very soon after in other newspapers in Boston as well the Essex Gazette in Salem and the Essex Journal in Newburyport.
That gentleman, Boyle suggested in his advertisements, was apparently a Loyalist “To whom in some Measure may be attributed the Distresses that have of late fallen upon that unhappy Metropolis.” The Boston Port Act had closed the harbor to commercial shipping, the Massachusetts Government Act had given the royally appointed governor more authority at the expense of the locally elected legislature and town meetings, and the Quartering Act provided for a greater presence of British soldiers. The unnamed gentleman who supposedly experienced these visitations shared his experience with a neighbor and then agreed to their publication “as a solemn Warning to all those, who, for the sake of aggrandizing themselves and their Families, would entail the most abject Wretchedness upon Millions of their Fellow-Creatures.” J.L. Bell, who has been chronicling Boston in the era of the American Revolution in a daily research blog for nearly two decades, notes, “All but the most credulous readers knew that this presentation was a sham designed to lend a wild cautionary tale some veneer of veracity.”
Bell examines “Wonder of Wonders” in three entries, the first introducing the pamphlet and its publication history, the second relaying the visitation by the angel, and the third recounting the visits by the devil and a ghost as well as interpreting the story in the context of how the imperial crisis unfolded in Boston. Read more…
Midwife Marie-Louise Lachappelle (1769-1821) of Paris
Woman of the Day midwife Marie-Louise Lachappelle (1769-1821) of Paris, who began assisting her midwife mother from the age of ten and is regarded as the mother of obstetrics.
Midwifery was a family tradition. Her grandmother had been a midwife and her mother Marie Jonet was a sworn midwife at the Châtelet.
A sworn midwife meant completing a three-year apprenticeship, passing the qualifying examinations at the College of Surgery (not cheap – 169 livres, roughly £17 which was a lot in the early 18th century) and being registered as one of four “mistress, matron, midwife of the city and fauxbourgs of Paris”. They were expected to attend holy services on the first Monday of every month and they didn’t just attend births. They also helped unwed mothers to conceal births.
Marie learned much of the theoretical and practical knowledge that constitutes the skill of midwifery from her mother. She was a quick learner. By the age of 12, she was performing complicated deliveries, and at 15, she singlehandedly and very competently delivered a baby safely in circumstances that would have been fatal in less capable hands. She was against forceps delivery.
In 1792, 23 year old Marie married a surgeon and continued working as a midwife. She was widowed three years later and lost her mother in 1797.
That’s when she inherited her mother’s position as the Head of Hôtel-Dieu, the largest public hospital in Paris. The hospital served the poor and was supported by Notre Dame de Paris. It was considered to be the leading obstetric hospital of its time and it was renowned for its school of midwifery.
When the Napoleonic regime realised the need for a systematically organised school for midwives, Marie was the obvious candidate. She became head of the maternity and children’s hospital at a newly built teaching hospital, lecturing and publishing textbooks about women’s bodies, gynecology, and obstetrics that continued to be in use for a century.
Her work was considered to be so distinguished that she earned a pension granted to her by the patent of Louis XVI.
Marie died at 52 of cancer. Image…
National Trust for Canada Endangered Places List 2024
On December 12, the National Trust for Canada released its 2024 Endangered Places List. The list shines a national spotlight on heritage places at risk and the challenges they face.
This year’s list highlights many of the underlying barriers to preserving places that are valued by communities. Losing historic places erases part of our shared past, removes landmarks from communities, and throws away embodied carbon. This year’s list illustrates how difficult it can be for historically marginalized communities to save places of importance to them.
“The National Trust Endangered Places List draws attention to the diversity of Canada’s heritage places and the systemic challenges they face,” says Patricia Kell, the National Trust for Canada’s executive director. “We hope the release of the 2024 List will help support local community groups involved in saving these critical heritage places.”
Since its launch in 2005, the Endangered Places list has been an effective tool at bringing attention to places at risk. The goal of the List is to raise awareness, engagement and support in order to find sustainable futures for these important places. Listings are also used by community groups, heritage advocates and cultural heritage stakeholders to promote awareness about special places in danger across Canada.
The National Trust Endangered Places List is developed from nominations, as well as reports and news items the National Trust followed throughout the year. It aims to incorporate a wide range of places in danger across the country, from historic homes, institutional buildings and industrial properties to Indigenous cultural landscapes.
- Église Sainte-Marie (Church Point, Nova Scotia)
- Militia Arms Store (Fredericton, NB)
- Canada’s Chinatowns
- Canada Malting Co. Limited (Montréal, Quebec)
- Boyd Building (Winnipeg, MB)
- Gravelbourg Convent (Gravelbourg, SK)
- Building 200 (Whitehorse, Yukon)]
and previous listings
- Centennial Museums – Royal Alberta Museum & Ontario Science Centre
- Historic Bridges
- Historic Places of Faith
Loyalist Certificates Issued
The publicly available list of certificates issued since 2012 is now updated to end of November 30, 2024.
When a certificate is added there, it is also recorded in the record for the Loyalist Ancestor in the Loyalist Directory.
UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
Entries which have been added, or revised, this week, with thanks:
- To Kevin Wisener UE for additional information about:
- Sergeant Jeremiah Dayley settled in PEI, with wife Jane Burke. They had at least five chidlren – Louisa born in 1801 married William Billings Davison.
If you are willing to submit some information, send a note to loyalist.trails@uelac.org All help is appreciated. …doug
Official Appointment of Interim Central West Region Councillor
Following the UELAC Executive meeting on December 11, 2024, I am pleased to announce the appointment of John Reynaert UE, of the Grand River Branch, as the Interim Central West Region Councillor and Director on the UELAC Board of Directors, effective immediately. This appointment comes in the wake of the passing of our esteemed colleague, David Hill Kanowakeron Morrison UE, and will remain in effect until the 2025 UELAC Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, May 24, 2025, when elections take place.
To support John in this role, the UELAC Operations Manual, outlining the duties, responsibilities, and expectations of a Regional Councillor, has been provided as a reference. We are confident that John will bring his dedication and expertise to this interim position, contributing meaningfully to the mission and vision of the UELAC during this transitional period.
On behalf of the UELAC Board of Directors, I extend a warm welcome to John in this important role. We look forward to working together to advance the legacy and initiatives of our association.
Upcoming Board Meeting:
The next UELAC Board of Directors Zoom meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at 6:00 PM (ET). An agenda and Zoom invitation will be circulated in January.
Please join me in congratulating John on his appointment and supporting him as he steps into this critical role.
cc’d:
- John Reynaert UE, Central West Region Councillor
- Carol Childs UE, Central West Region Vice President
- Doug Loucks UE, President, Grand River Branch
Carl Stymiest UE, President, United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada
Recognizing UELAC Volunteers – Suzanne Morse-Hines Memorial Award
The Volunteer Recognition Committee is currently seeking nominations for the Suzanne Morse-Hines Memorial Genealogy Family History Award. (https:// uelac.ca/honours-recognition/#genealogy)
Do you know of a UELAC member who has made significant progress in researching their family history and genealogy with the goal of obtaining a UE certificate? If so, consider nominating them for the annual Suzanne Morse-Hines Memorial Genealogy-Family History Award.
For more information and to download a nomination form and instructions, members only go to https://uelac.ca/members/. The deadline for nominations is February 28, 2025.
Diane Faris UE, Vice-President Pacific Region, Chair – Volunteer Recognition Committee
American Revolution Institute: Unlikely Soldiers: The Bakers of Washington’s Army, 1778-1781, Tues, 17 December @6:30
In May 1777, Congress commissioned Christopher Ludwick, a Philadelphia gingerbread baker, as the superintendent of bakers in the Continental Army. Upon receiving his commission, Ludwick quickly developed a baking department—the first of its kind in America—to feed Gen. George Washington’s army as they fought and retreated throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Under Ludwick’s supervision, a series of ovens were built in different locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic to satisfy the needs of provisioning the army.
By Justin Cherry is the resident baker of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, where he develops educational programming surrounding eighteenth-century baking and its regional economic influence on the milling industry. Read more and registration…
From the Social Media and Beyond
- Tribute posted on Wall inside Trinity Anglican Church in Digby, Nova Scotia to Loyalist Rev. Roger Viets
- Townsends, and “anything food”
- Christmas Cooking Marathon! (2:51:44 hr)
- This week in History
- 10 Dec 1765 Connecticut Resolutions on the Stamp Act: Government originates from the people; boundaries set by the people are the only limits on the exercise of authority; whenever exceeded, the people have a right to reassume that authority; tax without consent violates English constitution; Stamp Act is an unconsented tax; citizens’ duty is to oppose such taxes lawfully. image
- 11 Dec 1773 London A duel between Thomas Whately & John Temple over who leaked the notorious Hutchinson Letters (evidence of British bad-will towards the colonists). Whately received a wound “more embarrassing than deadly.” But the leaker was Ben Franklin. image
- 13 Dec 1774 Boston, MA. Paul Revere leaves his wife & newborn, mounts his horse, and rides furiously over icy roads to warn the Portsmouth Committee of Correspondence in New Hampshire of a British plan to seize their arms and munitions. image
- 14 Dec 1774 Portsmouth, NH. The Committee responded to Paul Revere’s warning. By mid-day, 400 militia assembled & attacked Ft William and Mary before the British Regulars arrived. It fell quickly, & the rebels retrieved 100 barrels of gunpowder. image
- 8 Dec 1775 Paris, Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, declares Louis XVI has renewed his injunction against loading munitions aboard American ships in French ports. But the injunction is not enforced. image
- 9 Dec 1775 Great Bridge, VA Col William Woodford’s militia defeated Royal Gov. Dunmore’s troops. Dunmore tried to make Norfolk his base of operations. His attack stalled when a sentry, Billy Flora, held his ground & delayed the advance of British soldiers. image
- 7 Dec 1776 Gen Washington starts to move on Princeton, NJ with 1,200 men but encounters the fleeing troops of Lord Stirling (Gen William Alexander) and retreats to Assunpink Creek with both forces. image
- 8 Dec 1776 Trenton, NJ Gen Charles Cornwallis’s advance guard of light infantry moved through the city & reached the banks of Assunpink Creek. But an American battery on the opposite shore stops them and forces them to retreat with 13 wounded. image
- 8 Dec 1776 Weaver’s Creek, RI. British Gen Richard Prescott lands a force of grenadiers and light infantry, dispersing the local militia & departing with cannon & livestock. image
- 11 Dec 1776 Gen Charles Cornwallis arrives at Trenton, NJ, with his columns of redcoats and Hessians. Philadelphia is thrown into panic, and Gen. Washington sends Gen. Israel Putnam there to restore order. image
- 11 Dec 1776 Thomas Paine, traveling with Gen Washington’s battered troops. The hopeless situation inspired Paine to write his famous pamphlet “…These are the times that try men’s souls…” Which would help boost morale & rally patriots to the Cause. image
- 12 Dec 1776 Congress flees Philadelphia for Baltimore, Maryland, fearing a British thrust on the American capital after granting plenary powers to Gen George Washington—which he eschews. image
- 13 December 1776 Basking Ridge, New Jersey. After dragging his feet on General George Washington’s repeated entreaties to unite his division with the main army in Pennsylvania, Major General Charles Lee finally took his men into New Jersey. He began a slow march to the Delaware River. Lee’s delay was in the hope of establishing an independent command as he was convinced he was a superior commander to Washington. On 10 December, he left his troops encamped near Bernardsville and rode to Basking Ridge to stay at White’s Tavern, some 14 miles from his troops. Widow White was a reluctant hostess. Lee began a correspondence with several like-minded officers and hoped to convince Congress to support his independent command. But local Loyalists informed the British of his presence, who sent a column of dragoons to seize Lee. A troop of the 16th Light Dragoons under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Harcourt and a Captain named Banastre Tarleton rode through the winter night. The troopers surrounded White’s Tavern at dawn, and after a brief firefight and Tarleton’s threat to burn down the building and all in it, Lee surrendered. The number 2 officer in the Continental Army was now in the hands of the —not such a bad thing as it would turn out. image
- 8 Dec 1777 Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania. The multi-day series of engagements called the Battle of White Marsh ended when British General William Howe failed to surprise and capture General George Washington’s outnumbered troops and withdrew. The day earlier, Howe tried to turn the rebel left flank at Abington and Edge Hill, a ridge that runs parallel to the lines. But Washington countered Colonel Daniel Morgan’s rifle corps and the Maryland militia. After some bitter exchanges, the Americans pulled back, but the British did as well. Skirmishing, sometimes called the Battle of Edge Hill, continued all day, but Howe did not risk a full-scale battle. He cited a lack of supplies and munitions and the increasingly cold weather. But the Americans had an excellent series of works along a ridge that was difficult to turn. One thinks flashbacks to Bunker Hill might have played a role. What played a role was the warning provided by Washington’s spies in and around Philadelphia, most notably the matriarch spy, Lydia Darragh, who warned Washington of Howe’s plans. Both armies went into winter quarters. The British would slink back to the warmth of Philadelphia while the Americans staggered into a little-known place called Valley Forge. image
- 10 Dec 1777 Off Crane Neck, NY Commander Harry Harmood’s HMS Falcon fires at the grounded Continental sloop Schuyler commanded by Lt. John Kerr, forcing surrender & capture of Col Samuel Webb & 73 Connecticut militia. image
- 10 Dec 1777 Masons Ford, PA. Gen Charles Cornwallis’s forces successfully raided Gulph’s Mill, seizing 2,000 sheep & cattle. image
- 9 Dec 1778 Virginia annexes the western territory conquered by Gen George Rogers Clark and names it the County of Illinois, and names Capt. John Todd as its first governor. image
- 10 Dec 1778 John Jay was elected President of the Continental Congress. Jay was a prominent figure in NY state politics. While Jay opposed British interference in colonies, he was against complete independence from Great Britain. image
- 12 Dec 1778 West Indies. Adm Samuel Barrington & Gen James Grant captured the French naval base at St Lucia using 5.8K men drawn from NYC. But a French fleet & army under comte dEstaing arrive, and British forces entrench. image
- 12 Dec 1781, 2nd battle of Ushant off the coast of France. Adm Richard Kempenfelt, with 12 SOL, attacks a Franco-Spanish convoy under Adm Luc Urbain, comte de Guichen. A storm aids Kempenfelt who captures 15 transport vessels. image
- 13 Dec 1799 Mt Vernon VA George Washington awoke with a painful sore throat & became increasingly hoarse. They summoned Dr. Craik (Washington’s friend), & 2 other doctors. Washington took the medicines that were prescribed. But his condition worsened. image
- 14 December 1799, Mount Vernon, Virginia. Between ten and eleven p.m., George Washington, Virginia planter, commander in chief of the Continental & Allied Army, Founding Father, and 1st President of the United States, died at age 67. While on a routine inspection of his fields in icy rain, he had caught a chill, which resulted in chest congestion, inflamed throat, and difficulty breathing – quinsy. But some believe his doctors’ bleeding him caused it. He faced his end bravely, telling his friend Doctor Craik, “Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go; I believed from my first attack that I should not survive it; my breath cannot last long.” A few hours later, he died after requesting a three-day delay before being interred. He was surrounded by his doctor, aide Tobias Lear, Martha, and a few household slaves. image
- Clothing and Related:
- In an era where there was a lot of wig to accommodate, capes had to match the required dimensions. This late 1790s cream silk cape is covered with hand embroidered floral and fauna including this bouncy little grasshopper
- Miscellaneous
- Question: Did Powhatan people have horses?
Answer: Horses did not evolve in the Americas.
In 1519 Spanish colonists likely reintroduced horses to the Americas when Cortés arrived in Mexico. Indigenous peoples then transported horses north through their trade networks.
There is currently no evidence that shows Powhatan people owned or used horses prior to the English at Jamestown.
The English transported “six Mares and two Horses” to Virginia in 1609. Unfortunately, the first Virginia horses did not survive the “starving time” at Jamestown. - The Frost Fair of the Winter of 1683-4 on the Thames, with Old London Bridge in the Distance. c.1685. English School.
- The Seventeenth Century Lady’s Advent Calendar, 2024. Behind Door No. 9, we have this Necklace, possibly Southern German in origin, and made of gold, enamel, rubies, seed pearls, pearls and other small precious stones, early #17thCentury. Met Museum.
- Question: Did Powhatan people have horses?
Published by the UELAC
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