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Message from His Majesty The King to the people of Canada, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the National Flag of Canada
Saturday 15 February 2025

Today my wife and I join with Canadians across Canada and around the world to commemorate an important milestone—the 60th anniversary of the Canadian flag.
On this day in 1965, Canada’s red and white maple leaf flag was raised for the very first time on Parliament Hill.
Since that time, it has become internationally recognized as a symbol of a proud, resilient and compassionate country.
For my own part, it is a symbol that never fails to elicit a sense of pride and admiration, as I recall with the deepest affection my many Canadian visits and friendships.
Charles R.

Comment by the Monarchist League of Canada
What could be more appropriate – and more welcomed by his Canadian subjects – that His Majesty would use the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Canadian Flag to affirm his pride as our Sovereign, and make abundantly clear that the independence and existence of this Realm is not in question.
The timing could not be better.
It will not pass those of a certain age to reflect that in 1964-65 there remained considerable division about the adoption of the National Flag – it was partisan and vehement, with “the Pearson Pennant” as the moniker of the opposition. Within a very few years, and reflecting on a debate which had been bitter rather than illuminating, that negative sentiment largely disappeared. And the “protection” for the Union Flag, legislatively enshrined, showed itself as unnecessary, as the world could but puzzle as to why an independent Canada would fly the colours of another country.
So it is all for the better that Charles, who has been coming home to Canada for more than four decades, now speaks out of long experience and deep recognition. He has spoken for all Canadians. He has chosen the timing to harken back to another once-divisive time, quickly- mended. As we will all hope the current imbroglio with our great friend and neighbour to the South will flee away.

UELAC Conference 2025 – Update: Accommodations and Tramsportation
Accommodations:
The conference hotel is the Delta Hotels Saint John
(New) An alternative is Canadian-owned Chipman Hill Suites with accommodation available in beautiful historic properties located within walking distance. The owner Susan Fullerton and her husband are Loyalists and are members of the New Brunswick Branch.
For more details see Accommodations.

Transportation from/to Saint John Airport
DHR Luxury Transportation offers different capacity transportation to and the Saint John Airport. Pre-booking recommended. More details…

Learn more about the 2025 UELAC Conference July 10-13, 2025 at Saint John, New Brunswick. Registration and accommodation bookings are ready for you.

Johnny Burgoyne and the Loyalists, Part Five of Six: Insights from the Orderly Book
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
General John Burgoyne’s Campaign of 1777 involved some 8,000 men – an armed force of British regulars, German soldiers, Canadians, and loyal Americans. Lasting from June 1th to October 17th, the ill-fated attempt to crush Patriot forces in New York only generated two first hand accounts of the day-to-day experiences of thousands of men as they progressed through enemy territory.
Had it not been for the journal of Frederika Charlotte Riedesel, the wife of the German general Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, and John Burgoyne’s testimony before a parliamentary enquiry, historians would only have the data found in the army’s orderly book to reconstruct the life of an army on the move. Although far from being its intent, Burgoyne’s orderly book has given posterity a small glimpse into the role of Loyalists in the Campaign of 1777.
An army’s orderly book was a daily log used to record promotions, duty rotation, cantonments, work details, marching orders, embarkations, court martial results, and the daily countersigns.
The first entry in Burgoyne’s orderly book was made on June 20, 1777 and was 1,139 words long – a lot for some soldier scribe to note with a quill pen and bottled ink. Like all of the entries to follow, it began with the day’s sign and countersign: “St. Peters” would be the sentry’s challenge word (or parole) and “Florence” was the response (countersign) that would allow its speaker to have entry to the camp. Such passwords prevented Patriot spies (who might pretend to be Loyalists) from joining the advancing army and collecting intelligence.
In addition to the British, German, and Loyalist soldiers, Burgoyne’s army also was comprised of Indigenous warriors and civilians such as wagon drivers, sutlers (merchants who sold provisions to soldiers), officers’ servants, and camp followers. The latter were not prostitutes as is often assumed, but women who accompanied their soldier husbands and provided valuable services as cooks, maids, laundresses, nurses, and seamstresses. The number of women allowed to “follow” the troops was strictly regulated.
Burgoyne’s orderly book notes that regiments were divided into companies. (The 24th regiment had 5 companies. The 47th had 6 companies. Another reference says there were 8 companies in each regiment.) Three women were allowed per company, but as there is no record of how many companies comprised Burgoyne’s army, the exact number of camp followers is not known. It was, however, not 2,000 women as was alleged when Burgoyne later defended himself at a parliamentary hearing in England. Both British and German officers are known to have had their wives with them, but given the Canadian and Loyalist component of the army, some of the women followers would have been loyal Americans.
The seventh entry in Burgoyne’s orderly book noted that every regiment was to submit a return for the number of rations that were daily distributed to “officers, effective soldiers, women, and servants.” It was one method of managing food as well as keeping tabs on the number of camp followers.
By early July, it was evident that both the civilian merchants and the women accompanying the army could be an impediment to a well-run campaign. “It being apparent that Liquor is sold or given to the Savages … the Commanding Officers are to assemble the Sutlers and Women of the respective Regiments, and inform them that the first person found guilty of disobedience shall instantly have their liquors and sutling stores destroyed and turned out of Camp, besides receiving such Corporal Punishment as a Court Martial shall inflict.” A reward of ten dollars was offered for anyone who could identify those disobeying this order.
Within a month of leaving Montreal, the army’s inspector of the hospital declared that having two women from each battalion were absolutely necessary to “take care of the sick and wounded“. Women are later referenced when an order was made to arrest anyone who sold “spirituous liquors” to soldiers, women or Natives without a permit.
Burgoyne’s Canadian and Indigenous allies are mentioned in the July 20th entry of the orderly book, noting that they were treated separately from the British and German troops. “Eight days’ Provisions for the Corps of Savages, Canadian Volunteers, &c. under Major Campbell to be delivered this afternoon to their Commissary that it may be stowed on board their Bateaux immediately afterwards.” (Major A. Campbell was the British officer in command of Canadians and British soldiers when they joined the Indigenous warriors.)
The Indigenous men were enthusiastic allies. British stragglers were warned that those who wandered away from the army were in danger of becoming prisoners of the enemy or shot by the Indigenous warriors who mistook them for enemies or deserters. Orders were given to report the absence of anyone within an hour of the daily roll call in order “parties of Savages may be immediately sent in pursuit, who have orders to scalp all Deserters.”
While the British used their Indigenous allies to mete out quick retribution, they also had to temper their enthusiasm. The orderly book notes, “It is known that there are many men in the Rebel Army who are well affected to the Cause of the King. Some have been compelled into the Service, others engaged only with a view of joining the King’s Troops. The Savages are therefore cautioned against firing upon any single man or small parties that may be endeavouring to come over, and the Army in general will consider these men in a very different light from common Deserters.”
As they fought rebels, the Indigenous warriors often came into possession of their fallen enemies’ horses. A July entry cautions civilian followers that “No private persons are to buy horses from the Savages, as they are designed for the Public Service of the Army.” A month later, followers were reminded that “the prohibition against purchasing from the Savages is still in force.”
On July 29, the orderly book reveals the placement of Indigenous, Loyalist and Canadian corps. “The Indians, Canadians, and such of the Provincials as are arrived, in the front, and upon the Left Flank of the Advanced Corps.”
The late arrivals would march “under proper Officers of their own“, to Fort Anne, in order to assist with the transportation of goods, and afterwards help in transporting the bateaux over the carrying place at Skenesborough, and “from thence to Ticonderoga.” Clearly, these volunteers were used to spare the British and German professional troops a lot of the grunt labour in the march south.
This six-part series about the Loyalists who participated in Burgoyne’s campaign will conclude next week with a further examination of its orderly book.
 To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Loyalists and the War of 1812: James Umphrey (Humphrey) and sons Samuel and James Jr.
During the period of commemoration of the War of 1812, on the occasion of its bicentenary in 2012, we created this page dedicated to Loyalists and the sons and daughters of Loyalists who participated in the War of 1812. See Loyalists and descendants who participated in the War of 1812.
The latest contribution from Brian McConnell UE is about James Umphrey (Humphrey) and sons Samuel and James Jr.

Records show that James Umphrey and his sons Samuel and James served with the Grenville Militia during the War of 1812. James Sr. was also a United Empire Loyalist who fought in the Jessup’s Rangers during the American Revolution. He was my 5th great grandfather and Samuel my 4th.
For more information, see the entry for James Humphrey (Umphrey) in the Loyalist Direcory.

Submissions are still welcome. Send up to 500 words describing the Loyalist’s experience or participation in the war, and where settled before and afterward, to loyalist.trails@uelac.org. Please reference both the Loyalist experience, perhaps to a lesser degree, along with the 1812 history

‘Prince George and Master Frederick’: Another Son of George III
by Rosalind Freeborn 10 Feb 2025 at All Things Georgian
Host Darah Murden “I’m delighted to welcome author, Rosalind Freeborn to All Things Georgian to tell you more about her new book, which is fascinating and beautifully told.”
Did you know that King George III had a secret, firstborn son? No, very little is known about him but, in my book, Prince George & Master Frederick, published by Alliance Publishing Press on 30 January 2025, I’ve researched the true-life story of Master Frederick Blomberg and hope that you’ll agree that he was a royal friend and secret brother.
At nearly four years old, Frederick Blomberg was bundled into a carriage and taken from his rural home to live with King George III, Queen Charlotte and the Royal Family at Richmond Palace. His role was to be a playmate to the then three-year-old Prince George, future regent and King George IV but just what was this child’s secret connection to the king?
Historians and royal biographers hardly ever mention Frederick yet, if you start looking for him in archives, newspapers and magazines of the day you will find him there, listed as a guest at children’s parties, playing a duet with the Prince of Wales, and later, attending dinners and soirees at royal residences; he was often listed as a guest at the huge, set-piece events like weddings, funerals and coronations.
He was so often ‘in the room where it happened’ that, after poring over all this evidence I collected, I realised he was, actually an important and influential character in Georgian royal history who’s been ignored for years. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: POW: on the March – 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)
  • October 1781: to Williamsburg

October, 1781: POW: On the March. (page 114)

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

IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER [1781]
page 114

24 October. We continued our march. Today Private Hof, of Quesnoy’s Company, remained behind and was missing.
On the march some English soldiers resisted the command of the escorting Americans, and it went so far, since they would not give in, that the militia had to fire on them, which resulted in one English prisoner being killed and three men wounded.
25 October. We made a march of eighteen to twenty Virginia miles along a sandy road and through many forests. We passed New Germantown on our right and Hanover Town on our left, two small cities. The latter is a small city on a creek or river that empties into the York River. In this region much Virginia tobacco is grown, and a hundredweight sells for five or six Spanish dollars.
26 October. Rainy weather set in and we had a long and difficult march to Newcastle, a beautiful, pleasant place, which lay to our right. One mile from there we set up our night camp under the open sky and dried ourselves a bit by the many fires that we made.
27 October. Again, a long march in unpleasant weather.
28 October. We continued our march farther.
29 October. We marched to within one and one-half miles of Fredericksburg, where we camped in an opening in the forest. During our march today, we saw many individual houses built in a poor manner of wood and covered with clay and patched together. But inside they were richly and well appointed, and in part furnished with the finest articles.
In the evening we again received Indian flour, that is, flour made from Indian corn or grain, which we baked into bread in a fire of coals or hot ashes. During the evening we received pay from our Major von Beust. Each man received a Spanish dollar.
Quartermaster Sergeant [Peter] Knoll, of Quesnoy’s Company, was arrested during the evening and given over to the American militia command to be watched, because on the march today, when Second Lieutenant von Ciriacy was about to strike him with his sword, he resisted, grabbed the sword from his hand, and at the same time was disrespectful.
Poultry was plentiful here and inexpensive. There is no shortage of good tea in Virginia because everywhere, in the forest, on the heights, and meadows, there is an abundance of such tea herbs.
One shilling sterling has a value in German money of eight good groschen.
30 October. At four o’clock in the afternoon we moved out from here. Our march passed through the small city of Fredericksburg and two miles beyond that place to a main river, the Rappahannock, where we camped. This river contains sweet water and was hardly 100 to 150 feet wide here, and also so shallow that it could be waded across. It had received its name from the savages. The local inhabitants also call it the North Hannah River. It is not to be compared to the James and Potomac rivers. It rises on the South Mountain and is of little value for inland navigation. One to one and one-half miles above Fredericksburg, near Falmouth, it has a waterfall over the granite rocks and becomes navigable from that point to its mouth in the bay, which is a distance of ninety miles. From its source, however, it might measure two hundred miles. Here it is about a half mile wide, and at its mouth, more than four miles wide. Large ships cannot sail as far as Fredericksburg. The Rappahannock is the border here between Old and New Virginia.
In New Virginia many Indians still live and occupy a large section of land.
The Virginians have often been attacked by them. Only seven or eight years ago, they raided into the land, burned and ravaged, wasted and ruined everything, and without compassion killed people and livestock, and advanced nearly as far as Winchester. In the region of Fredericksburg glass bottles can be sold at a high price because they are seldom to be had here. A bottle has a value of eighteen to twenty-four coppers. I sold my own for one shilling sterling, or eight good groschen.
(to be continued)

Sam Langford’s Black Loyalist Land Roots
By Brian McConnell, UE
Samuel “Sam” Edgar Langford was called by the Canadian Press the “Fighter of the Half–century” elected to America’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 1955 and to Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame as well as being an original inductee of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame. His ancestor James Langford was one of the Black Loyalists who acquired land in Nova Scotia after the American Revolution.
It has been estimated 3,550 black loyalists were transported to Nova Scotia and 385 are recorded as having received legal title to land. At Birchtown, near Shelburne, 184 received a total of 6,382 acres. At Little Tracadie in Guysborough County, 74 received a total of 3,000 acres. In Preston, Halifax County, 51 received 2,557.5 acres. At Brindley Town, near Digby, 76 one acre lots were granted to Black Loyalists, 23 of whom served with the Black Pioneers, a British Regiment in the recent American conflict. Read more…

Caleb Raymond Whiting, a Connecticut Yankee in Upper Canada and Mayflower Descendant
By Ross McCurdy Jan 2025
Caleb Raymond Whiting would be born in New London Co., Connecticut in 1771 and was baptized at Bozrah 12 May 1771 [1], the son of Caleb & Lois (Lyon) Whiting and grandson of William & Anna (Raymond) Whiting.
His Mayflower line is Caleb Whiting — William Whiting — Elizabeth Adams — Alice Bradford — William Bradford — Gov William Bradford.
Caleb was dead by the 1851 census, burial place not known, when his widow Margaret was enumerated as “spinster” at Glanford, Wentworth Co., Ontario when with the family of daughter Julia and Hiram “Lobar”. Caleb married in Upper Canada presumable about 1806, Margaret Casselman, daughter of Richard Casselman, a Loyalist. She was born “at Williamsburg” about 1783, a date consistent with the ages given in the censuses, and died age 88 at Glanford of old age 1 Feb 1871 [2], the informant being Fathama LeBarre, her granddaughter. Margaret is buried in Unity Cemetery, Glanford as “wife of the late Rev. Caleb R. Whiting”.[3] She received her Loyalist land as “Margaret, d/o Richard Casselman m. Caleb R. Whiting of Williamsburgh O.C. 26 June 1806″.[4]
Caleb petitioned for land 15 December 1818, stating that he “is a native of the late Province of Connecticut in the new United States of America. That his Grandfather was an officer in the Provincial Service in the old French War & his father altho he did not bear arms was well affected to His Majesty’s cause during the American Revolution & was considered and treated as a Tory by the Americans. That your petitioner removed to this Province 12 years ago and during the late war was employed in supplying the Naval Yard at Kingston with various kinds of Timber by contract and was a sufferer in consequence of the sudden termination of the War. That he has a family of a wife and four children & being of ability and desirous to improve a portion of the waste Lands of the crown humbly prays that Your Excellency would be pleased to grant him such quantity as your Excellency may deem proper”.
On 2 Feb 1830 Caleb again petition the council, complaining that he suffered economic losses when the Kingston naval yard refused to honor his contract and accept the rest of the timber, costing him a $1500 loss. He again mentions “that his Grand father William Whiting held a Capt & Lieut Colonels Commissions under Government in America” and hoped that the Council would “take his case” and Grant him a portion of land.
While Caleb repeatedly mentions four children, all born previous to his 15 December 1818 petition, only one appears easily identified, that of Julia who married Hiram LeBarre, son of Andrew & Margaret (Marr) LaBar.[5] It’s possible there were more children born after 1818.

Issue Whiting born Upper Canada:

i. child born say 1808
ii. child born say 1810
iii. child born say 1812
iv. Julia, born c1815
v. William, possible son b say 1837, a carpenter, seen enumerated directly above Hiram
“Lobar” in 1851 Glanford census when Margaret aged about 4

Sources:

  1. Connecticut Church Records Abstracts, vol. 3, no. 4
  2. vr; Glanford 1871 Mortality Schedule
  3. No evidence has been seen to verify being a preacher; a Rev. R. Whiting is seen performing marriages as a Wesley Methodist after 1851
  4. The Loyalists in Ontario, William D. Reid
  5. It’s seems this branch of the family adopted the LeBarre spelling

NOTE: If you have more information about the Family of Caleb and Margaret (Casselman) Whiting, especially the names and any details of their children, please reach out to Ross McCurdy rwaltermccurdy@comcast.net
Also, if you have more details about Richard Casselman UEL that we could use in the Loyalist Directory, please reach out to Doug Grant loyalist.trails@uelac.org

Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment
by Andrew Lawler 11 Feb 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
European colonial powers often employed enslaved Black soldiers in the New World to combat their enemies. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, Spain freed, trained, and armed fugitive slaves from Georgia and the Carolinas. Britain was an exception. Except for employing enslaved Jamaicans in the failed 1741 effort to conquer the Spanish city of Cartagena in today’s Colombia, that nation generally avoided arming those in bondage.
During a 1676 rebellion in Virginia led by Nathanial Bacon, Black residents briefly joined forces with whites against Gov. William Berkley, and they torched the capital of Jamestown. The insurgency fell apart after Bacon’s death that October. In the aftermath, the colony’s General Assembly passed strict laws forbidding Black Virginians from owning or carrying weapons without government approval. In subsequent decades, the numbers of enslaved Africans brought to the colony soared.
No census was taken in colonial Virginia in the years just prior to the Revolution, but scholars today estimate that about 200,000 of the province’s population of some 500,000 were enslaved. In 1772, Virginia’s royal governor, the Scottish earl Lord Dunmore, recognized that enslaved Africans posed a security threat to white Virginians. “The people with great reason trembled at the facility that an enemy would find in procuring such a body of men,” he noted. Those in bondage were “attached by no tie to their masters or to the country, on the contrary, it is natural to suppose their condition must inspire them with an aversion to both.” That made them ripe “to revenge themselves by which means a conquest of this country would inevitably be effected in a short time.”
At the time, he was thinking of Spanish or French invaders. Three years later, the conflict brewing between Britain and its North American colonies gave a different slant to the presence of enslaved African Americans. Read more…

Book Review: A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution
Author: Andrew Lawler (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2025)
Review by Patrick H. Hannum
Andrew Lawler’s recent text artfully focuses on an important and understudied American Revolutionary period, Virginia in 1775 and 1776, and topic, slavery. The title describes his theme. His text follows the story of John Murray, Lord Dunmore, the last royal governor of the Colony of Virginia, and his efforts to build an army to counter Virginia’s Patriots and retain royal authority in the colony in the early years of the American Revolution. Dunmore’s most loyal and reliable allies in this effort were the thousands of enslaved Virginians that made up one third of the colony’s population.
This is an important work because Lawler gives a voice to thousands of unnamed individuals as he describes events unfolding in Virginia. He follows Dunmore with his assignment as Virginia’s royal governor in 1771 that ends with his first departure from North America in 1776. Although he returned to Great Britian, Dunmore did not relinquish his position as royal governor. The author includes a discussion of Dunmore’s return to North America late in the war in an attempt to regain royal control of Virginia, again advocating for the recruitment and training of Black soldiers. He also explains how effective Patriot propaganda and messaging influenced the negative characterization of Dunmore that continues to this day.
While describing an extensive series of political and military events, the author weaves in his overarching theme addressing the enslaved Virginians that rallied to Dunmore in search of freedom. Read more…

Patrick Ferguson’s Fortification Proposals In South Carolina
by Brian Mabelitini 13 Feb 2025 Jurnal of the American Revolution
In May 1780, British Maj. Patrick Ferguson outlined a plan for constructing fortifications and securing the province of South Carolina. His proposals hinged on fortifying the junctions of major land and water routes from Charlestown (today Charleston) to prominent villages across the interior. Although known primarily for his design of a breech-loading rifle, Ferguson had learned facets of military engineering at Britain’s Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and had overseen the reconstruction of the fort at Stony Point on the Hudson River when it was re-occupied by British forces in 1779.
Ferguson was appointed by Gen. Sir Henry Clinton to Inspector of Militia Corps on May 22, 1780, only ten days after the fall of Charlestown, with the directive of organizing Loyalist militia regiments in the backcountry districts. Like Clinton, Ferguson believed that the backcountry populace was comprised predominately of loyal subjects who would rise to arms upon the arrival of British forces. Ferguson argued that British troops, with the assistance of Provincial regiments and Loyalist militia raised from amongst the local inhabitants, could “very easy afterwards with a very small force, by the establishment of 4 or 5 Block house redoubts, to command at once all the Principle avenues & means of transportation by land & water where they cross each other; so as to check in their infancy all combinations of the disaffected.” In other words, Ferguson maintained that by fortifying a few strategic points throughout the interior of South Carolina, the loyal civilians of the backcountry would assume responsibility for their own security and swiftly subdue the rebellion at minimal expense in casualties and capital to the British government.
Ferguson’s plan called for each blockhouse to be strategically placed in a location that would not only prevent rebel parties from gathering and organizing, but also intercept the transport of provisions and munitions necessary for maintaining the war effort. To accomplish this goal, Ferguson proposed four blockhouses located at road and river junctions to monitor the approaches to Orangeburg, Saltketchers, Camden, Congarees, Ninety Six, and Georgetown. Read more…

Advertised on 14 February 1775: “The great Misfortune of losing his…”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

14 February 1775

“The great Misfortune of losing his House and Store by Fire, with almost every Thing in and about them.”

Peter Frye was a justice of the peace in Salem, Massachusetts, when the town had a fire on October 6, 1774. According to Donna Seger, Frye was a Tory. Tories were also known as Loyalists, colonists who remained loyal to the king and Parliament. In an advertisement that he placed four months after the fire, Frye points out his misfortune of losing his house, store, and belongings due to the fire. “He is now obliged to beg all of those who were then indebted to him by Bond, Note, or on Account” to pay him what they justly owed.
Frye called for sympathy amongst the people of Salem by stating his misfortune of losing his house, store, and belongings. He thought that some readers would hesitate to engage because he was a Tory, either overlooking or disregarding his plea. He knew he was asking a lot of the people to help him recover, so began by noting that he lost everything.
Advertisements calling on readers to settle accounts and debts were common, but most advertisements were due to regular business transactions, not due to fires. Additionally, he not only lost his house and store, but allegedly all that was in them. In this matter, Frye no longer had his ledgers and account books due to the fire, which meant he had no records to confirm who owed him and what amount. Read more…

Podcast: How Black Chefs Shaped Early America
By Diane M. Spivey 11 Feb 2025 at Ben Franklin’s World
Did you know that many of the food traditions that define cuisine in the United States today have roots in African American culinary history?
Diane is a culinary historian who has devoted more than forty years to studying and recording African American food traditions in cooking. She has written many articles and three books on the topics of African and African American cuisine and culinary traditions.
Diane reveals how African and African American cooking made European colonial success possible. The ways African Americans contributed to and supported the Continental Army and the revolutionaries’ success in the American Revolution. And, how African American chefs, bakers, and cooks worked as culinary activists during the anti-slavery and abolition movements. Listen in…

Loyalist Certificates Issued
The publicly available list of certificates issued since 2012 is now updated to end of January 31, 2025.
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 Ross McCurdy UE who contributed information about Richard Casselman who settled in the Williamsburg area in now Eastern Ontario. His daughter Margaret received a and grant as DUE on 26 June 1806. She married Caleb Raymond Whiting, a Connecticut Yankee in Upper Canada and Mayflower Descendant
  • to Brian McConnell for information about Private James Humphrey (Umphrey) who served in Jessup’s Rangers (1775-1781) and King’s Loyal Rangers (1781-1784)
  • To Kevin Wisener for information about Lieut. Kenneth MacDonald who served in the Captain Alexander MacDonald’s Company, 2nd Battalion, His Majesty’s Young Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment of Foot. He was the Aide-de-Camp to General Donald MacDonald at Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina. He came to PEI to claim land available for disbanded soldiers after the American Revolution. He lived on PEI for a period after the War but returned to Scotland prior to 1800

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

Events Upcoming

Kawartha Branch: “My Search for my Loyalist Ancestor, Captain John Ernst Defoe UE, and his son, Abraham Dafoe UE” Sun 16 Feb @2:00

Joan Lucas UE, one of the founders of our Kawartha Branch UELAC,and long-time Branch Genealogist.
Virtual meeting: https:// us06web.zoom.us/j/85840400509? pwd=L6TZfDWYDb7uL0C1CAcTBbvhMYAiBv.1 Meeting ID: 858 4040 0509 Passcode: 850022

American Revolution Institute: The Orderly Book of Edmund Bancroft Fri 21 Feb 12:30

The Orderly Book of Edmund Bancroft from September-December 1775
The Institute’s library director, Thomas Lannon, discusses the orderly book of Edmund Bancroft—the first orderly book acquired by the Institute for its library collections. Initially a non-commissioned officer in Col. William Prescott’s Regiment from May-December 1775, Edmund Bancroft was likely a participant at the Battle of Bunker Hill before becoming an ensign in the Seventh Continental Infantry in 1776, and eventually became a first lieutenant in the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment before he died in service. Notable items include the siege of Boston; and the surrender of Montreal to the Americans on November 13, 1775 Details..

Kingston Branch: The Wreck of HMS Speedy: The Tragedy That Shook Upper Canada Sat 22 Feb,1:00

Kingston and District Branch, United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada (UELAC) will meet on Saturday, February 22 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, 137 Queen Street (doors open at noon); or if you prefer on Zoom (starting 12:30 p.m.). Author Dan Buchanan will speak on his book The Wreck of HMS Speedy: The Tragedy That Shook Upper Canada. Murder, tensions between cultures, Kingston connections, and the repercussions and remaining mysteries of a tragic outcome are all part of Dan “the History Guy’s” explorations around the ship’s final voyage. For the Zoom link, visit www.uelac.org/ Kingston-Branch. All are welcome!

Colonel John Butler Branch: Daryl Learn “Blood Outside the Tavern: The Learn Family Massacre” Sat 1 Mar @11:45

In 1781 at the edge of colonized settlements just north of Philadelphia, a family fell victim to the brutalities of war. Why were they targeted? Who were their attackers? How could it happen? Most histories seem content to just report how it happened and little else, but through connecting the dots of various accounts and histories, the answers to all of these questions can be made clear.
Daryl Learn is a direct descendant of John Learn, a victim of the Learn Family Massacre.
The Branch meets at Betty’s Restaurant, 8921 Sodom Road, Chippawa (Niagara Falls), at 11:45 for a lunch meeting. This meeting will be both in person and by ZOOM.
For those attending in person, the cost of the lunch is $30 for UELAC members and $35 for guests. Cash only, payable at the meeting. No credit cards.
If you plan to attend either in person or by ZOOM, please let us know in advance. RSVP to 283corvette@gmail.com

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Deed dated Sept 26, 1802 from Thomas Cornwall, Esquire of Town of Annapolis to James Langford described as a “Black Man and Ship Wright of the Township of Digby”. Cornwall had served as a Captain in King’s American Regiment in American. by Brian McConnell UE
  • Food and Related
    • Townsends: Candy In The 18th Century (23 min)
      We run the gamut on candy in this episode! There are so many kinds to choose from, and it was a blast to research the subject. Enjoy this sweet treat, and give it a try at home.
  • Event/Resource/Quote of the Day – Revolution 250
    • 9 Feb 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress confirmed its choice of generals for its army: Jedediah Preble (67 years old), Artemas Ward (47), Seth Pomeroy (68), John Thomas (about 50), and William Heath (37).
    • 10 Feb 1775 quote of the day — “An attempt to cram a form of government down the throats of a people, to impose a constitution upon a united and determined people by force, is not within the omnipotence of an English parliament.” — John Adams
    • 11 Feb 1775: quote of the day — “Of all the American papers…none appeared so obnoxious to government as that stiled, ‘A League and Covenant;’ … all the Bostonians who signed it have committed an overt-act of high treason.” —a London newspaper
    • 14 Feb 1775, Massachusetts’s Provincial Congress resolved that the “Commanding Officers of each Regiment of Minute Men” should report on their units’ numbers and selectmen should report on each town’s military supplies:
  • This week in History
    • 12 Feb 1733 The colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe. The 13th and last colony of the “original states.” GA was founded at the site of its first city, Georgia Day (later renamed Savannah) Georgia. image
    • 10 Feb 1763 Paris Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Seven Years’ War ( French & Indian Wa. Britain’s victory awards them an empire, but the war debt & cost of protecting new territory. Resultant policies begin a spiral of invective leading to #RevWar image
    • 13 Feb 1766. Pennsylvania’s agent in London, Benjamin Franklin, speaks to Parliament about the hardships caused by the Stamp Act and the dangers of using the military to enforce it. image
    • 11 February 1768 Boston Massachusetts. Samuel Adams and James Otis wrote a circular letter to colonial assemblies explaining Massachusetts’s Resistance to Townshend Act duties and calling for a united colonial response. The other colonies supported the precepts of the circular. They quickly acceded to the actions proposed in opposing the duties imposed by the Act. They joined Massachusetts by issuing their own petitions to George III, pinning the blame on the Parliament. They also instructed their colonial agents in London to lobby for repeal. The circular and the cause of repeal united them against Parliament for the first time. Meanwhile, things did not go well in Massachusetts, where the Royal Governor disbanded the Assembly and sent several regiments of Regulars into Boston. The resultant disharmony would turn political strife into organized resistance, followed by insurrection and, finally, open rebellion. image
    • 9 Feb 1775 London. King George III declares the colony of Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. image
    • 8 February 1776 Cambridge, Massachusetts. An unsigned letter of this date was delivered to General George Washington from Jonathan Eddy in Cumberland, Nova Scotia, leader of the resistance to the royal government in Nova Scotia, requesting he send American forces to help overthrow the royal government in Nova Scotia. General Washington referred his request to the Continental Congress—but they turned him down. The timing was bad for supporting Eddy as the American adventure in Quebec was imploding, the main army was besieging Boston, and the Royal Navy’s control of the sea would enable the British to maintain control of the littoral. image
    • 10 Feb 1776 Patriot ship America captured on Cape Fear River by two British ships stationed there with credit going to HMS Cruizer. America held three puncheons (1500 liters) of rum and six thousand bushels of salt. What do you do with a drunken sailor? image
    • 11 Feb 1776, Savannah, GA Georgia’s royal governor, Sir James Wright, escapes from his residence to the safety of a waiting British warship, the HMS Scarborough, anchored at the mouth of the Savannah River, and returns to London. image
    • 13 February 1776 Cambridge, Massachusetts. General George Washington writes Thomas Mumford of Connecticut seeking gunpowder to liberate Boston. When Washington assumed command of the Army, he discovered they had only a few days’ worth of gunpowder. Mumford had recently imported powder. The lack of munitions was the new army’s most closely guarded secret, and Washington took pains to disabuse the British garrison in Boston of that fact. British discovery of it would have provided the opportunity for a breakout offensive that would have broken the ring of colonial forces around the city and dispersed the new army, possibly ending the rebellion. image
    • 15 Feb 1776, Gov Francis Legge reports to London that traitorous elements in Cumberland, NS, have contacted American General George Washington, who considered the request for support in bringing NS to the patriot cause. The Quebec debacle ended this. image
    • 8 Feb 1777 Quibbletown, NJ Gen Cornwallis, commanding a force of regulars & Hessians, plans an attack on Col Charles Scott’s 5th VA Regt, & Continentals under Gen Nathaniel Warner. They avoid engagement & harass the British who return to New Brunswick. image
    • 15 February 1777, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Continental Congress attempted to combat inflation caused by the increase in paper currency and decided to adopt a New England proposal to enforce strict price controls. Other states soon followed. Monetary and fiscal policy plagued the revolutionary government since each state controlled its currency and the ability to tax and spend. This situation favored the British, who had “hard” currency backed by gold and silver and a government structure capable of supporting their war effort. Later, French aid and loans from other European powers, particularly the Netherlands, helped the Americans persevere, while British mercantile interests grew weary of supporting the “endless” war in North America. The latter pressured Parliament to negotiate a resolution. image
    • 8 Feb 1778 Paris, France. American commissioners Benjamin Franklin & Silas Deane send a letter to Congress announcing the signing of the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. image
    • 9 Feb 1778 Valley Forge, PA Gen. Washington wrote an angry letter to Gen. Horatio Gates, rebuking him for his posturing regarding the “Conway Cabal,” a group of anti-Washington officers wishing to remove the commander-in-chief and replace him with Gates. image
    • 14 Feb 1778 Hough’s Neck, MA. John Adams boards the warship Boston under Captain Samuel Tucker for a voyage to Bordeaux, France. image
    • 10 February 1779 Carr’s Fort, Georgia. Colonel Andrew Pickens led 350 Georgia and South Carolina militia in pursuit of 150 Loyalist cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel John Hamilton, who took shelter in the fort. The rebels prepare to burn and assault the fort when Colonel John Boyd’s relief column makes Pickens redeploys his men to meet the new threat. Loyalists lost three killed and nine wounded. Pickens, called Old Wizard Owl by the Creek and Cherokee, was an experienced Indian fighter. He fought in the backcountry cane breaks. He would lead numerous small actions in the mountains of North Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina in this little-known but fiercely fought American War for Independence theater. image
    • 12 Feb 1779 Col John Boyd’s 600 Loyalists defeat Capt James Little’s 60 GA & SC militia defending the crossing at Vann’s Creek on the Savannah R. The Americans retreated back to McGowan’s blockhouse after suffering 6 killed, 10 wounded & 16 captured. image
    • 14 February 1779, Kettle Creek, Georgia. A Patriot militia force of 440, led by Colonel Andrew Pickens of South Carolina, along with Colonel John Dooly and Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke of Georgia, defeated 700 Loyalist militia commanded by Colonel James Boyd. Pickens moved in three columns, with him commanding the center while Dooly led the right and Clarke headed up the left. The three American columns moved quickly and caught the Loyalists off guard. The Loyalists held their ground initially, but after Colonel Boyd sustained a mortal wound and Colonel Clarke occupied the high ground on the far side of the creek, the Loyalists began to disperse. Soon, the entire defensive line collapsed. The Loyalists sustained about 40 killed, 75 wounded, and 150 captured, while the Americans recorded only seven killed and 15 wounded. This battle was the only significant American victory in the state, which leaned toward the British and would ultimately fall under British control for most of the war. image
    • 9 February 1780 Mobile Bay, West Florida Spanish General and Governor Bernardo De Galvez’s expedition lands 750 soldiers. Meanwhile, British Lt Gov Elias Dunford decides to defend the old brick bastion, Ft Charlotte, and await reinforcements. When Spain formally declared war against Great Britain in 1779, the Governor of Louisiana, Gálvez, raised a force of men and conducted a campaign against the British along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. Gálvez, in command of 1,400 men (including Americans, French, free blacks, and Indians), went on the offensive in the fall of 1779, defeating the British at Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. Once the lower Mississippi was secured, he turned his attention to a larger prize, the British port and garrison at Mobile. He waged a month-long siege with land and sea forces now numbering over 2,000 and captured the British stronghold of Fort Charlotte on 14 March 1780. image
    • 10 Feb 1780 Mobile, West Florida. Spanish forces under Gov Don Bernardo de Galvez invests the fort and its British garrison. image
    • 12 February 1781 Fort St. Joseph, Michigan. After a long trek from St. Louis, Spanish Militia Captain Don Eugenio Poure’s Spanish troop and Indian allies, 120-strong, storm it by racing across the frozen St. Joseph River before the defenders. A handful of Canadian traders could go to arms. Some 200 Pottawatomie warriors join in to share the plunder. Poure’ had the Spanish colors raised and claimed Fort St. Joseph and the St. Joseph River for Spain. The raiders returned safely to St. Louis with the fort’s British flag. Don Francisco Cruzat, Commandant of St. Louis, had dispatched the Pouré to maintain relations with his Indian allies, but it helped dissuade further British incursions into Spanish-held territory. image
    • 11 Feb 1782 London. A string of strategy failures and political fallout caused British Secretary of State for the Americas, Lord George Germain, to resign. But King George III still refuses to make peace with the rebels. image
    • 12 Feb 1789, Vermont Ethan Allen dies of a stroke on his Winooski River homestead. Leader of the Green Mountain Boys took the British Ft Ticonderoga with Benedict Arnold in May 1775. Captured & imprisoned by the British during the Canadian expedition. image
  • Clothing and Related:
    • #Inthepink Perfect pink & flowers for your #Valentine: Galentine Robe a la francaise, 1760-70 From the Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum
    • Georgian Revival beauties (Shoes):. @LACMA has several pairs of superb E.J. Costa & Sons shoes c1910s-1920s, each pair combines some of the best features of this snazzy, creative era of shoe design while reinterpreting the #Georgian style
    • Cape. American or European. last third 18th century.
      Cloaks in one form or another were popular items of dress in the American colonies from the time of the early settlers. This particular type of cloak, called a “cardinal” because of its color, is made of a closely woven wool cut on the bias and left with a raw edge along the hem. The hooded cape is a variant of the capuchin, or monk’s habit. It is gathered in a circular shape at the back to stand high without crushing the mobcap or coiffure underneath. The vestee is a practical solution for keeping the upper torso warm while leaving the hands free. By the late eighteenth century cardinals could be bought ready-made in England; thus, it is possible that this cape was imported rather than made in the colonies.
    • A rare embroidered linon ‘Merveilleuse’ gown, French, 1796-1800.
      sleeveless with low narrow empire bodice with drawstring, narrow inner panels, inner lacing to centre front, gathered back and long train, embroidered in chain stitch with floral sprigs overall, bust 72cm, 28in; together with a fine Dakha stole/veil of the finest plain Indian muslin; and a plain scarlet pashmina long shawl
      No other dress in this collection better encapsulates the “revealing style” that became popular in France in the late 1790s following the French Revolution. After the French Revolution, the Merveilleuses, female members of the fashionable upper class, popularized these ‘chemise’ style gowns.
    • A burst of sunshine for anybody who needs it today, the cheeriest of yellow silks tweaked, crimped and ruffled into an early #1780s gown, white accents provided by the lace cuffs and soft fichu tucked into the neck.
    • It is rare to see an entire gown of this period quilted from top to toe. It meant the wearer would benefit from the added layers that the density of the quilted fabrics offered, a warmer garment for draughty houses, #1750s
    • Three dimensional flowers blossom on Louise- Marie de France’s stomacher in her 1763 Drouais portrait, as if her dress’s floral silk had come alive. Our stomacher from a rich British farming family illustrates how widely the styles of the French aristocracy were copied across Europe.
    • From 12th Feb to 2nd Nov, visitors to Hever Castle can enjoy costumes from #WolfHall: The Mirror and the Light! I adored working as an historical advisor on the series, so its a joy to have organised the loan of these treasures, displayed with their portraits. Do come & see!
  • Miscellaneous

    • After James II ascended the throne in 1685 his overt Catholicism alienated most of the (majorly Protestant) population of Britain. In 1687 he suspended laws regulating Catholics and non-conformists; the following year, he prosecuted six bishops for sedition.
      In 1688, following the birth of his son, the existence of a Catholic heir drove seven conspirators to contact James’ nephew and son-in-law, William of Orange. A Dutch Protestant, William was invited to come to England and address the issue. He agreed.
      Landing at Brixham on 5 November, William’s army moved slowly toward London, gaining supporters as James began losing his. Following the defections of his own daughter and his best general, James fled to France. William was asked to call Parliament, which met on 22 January.
      On 13 February 1689, Parliament proclaimed that the absent James had abdicated, and William and Mary were created joint sovereigns. They ruled together until Mary’s death in 1694. William died heirless in 1702, and was succeeded by his sister-in-law, Anne.

Published by the UELAC
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