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2025  UELAC Conference:  Old Loyalist Burial Grounds
The conference has lots to offer: learn from expert speakers, visit Loyalist sites, share your Loyalist story — see Conference 2025 details.

Old Loyalist Burial Grounds
    The Old Loyalist Burial Ground in Saint John, New Brunswick, was established on this site shortly after the landing of the United Empire Loyalists in 1783. After its closure as a cemetery in 1848 the site became a memorial garden with tree lined walkways and flower beds.
In 1994 the Irving family undertook a restoration program as a gift to the people of Saint John. They commissioned and carried out a refurbishing of the entire site, including the construction of brick and granite walkways, benches, specially cast memorial gates, railings and light columns. Hundreds of trees and thousands of flowers and shrubs were planted and the magnificent Beaver Fountain was created. Read more and watch a short video by Brian McConnell UE

Honouring the Loyalists at Conference – Sat. 12 JUly 11:30
A wreath-laying ceremony honouring the Loyalists at the Old Loyalist Burial Grounds; we will be assisted by re-enactors of Delancy’s Brigade, and the wreath will be laid at the grave site of Carl Stymiest’s Loyalist ancestor, Jasper Stymiest (1751-1826). The Burial Grounds is located up the street from the Hotel, about a 10 minute walk.
After the ceremony there will be a tour of the cemetery, guided by David Goss. The tour is called “I could tell 14,000 stories in this 4-acre patch, but I won’t.” We will tour the grounds, and stop at various points to discuss such things as why Market McLure’s husband’s name is missing from the market; how the Gold Tree got its nickname; why KC Irving’s statue is not front and centre, even though the company paid for the restoration of the grounds in the 1990s; the woman who jumped in the Bay of Fundy, and why she did it; and more. We’ll visit stone carver James Milligan’s slab monument, and discover his connection to Robbie Burns.  Read more…

Hope to see you there…

The L’Abondance and its Loyalist Evacuees. Part One of Three
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
When the armed transport ship, the L’Abondance, made its second journey to Shelburne, Nova Scotia in September of 1783, it carried a mixture of white and Black Loyalists. While 410 Black Loyalists were the evacuees during the ship’s first voyage, seven free Blacks and two enslaved Africans were the only non-European descendants on board.
Sent from Plymouth, England to evacuate British troops and loyal Americans, the L’Abondance had a crew of 81 men. Separated from the crew and the refugee passengers in the ship’s manifest were 29 British service men, referred to as “supernumeraries“. They included sailors and pilots – civilian employees of the British crown.
The 304 loyalist refugees aboard the L’Abondance had their names recorded in two lists. There were 174 adults and 25 children under ten. Then a second list notes 96 adults and 9 children under ten. Were the latter 105 passengers latecomers? 18th century “stand-by” passengers? There are no clues provided to understand why the refugees were in two separate groupings. Suffice it to say, that with crew, supernumeraries, and Loyalists, the L’Abondance had a minimum of 414 people aboard – nearly the same number it had transport in July of 1783.
An odd omission is a complete list of Black passengers aboard the L’Abondance. The names of the 6 white men who accompanied 9 free and enslaved Blacks are given in both the L’Abondance‘s manifest and the Book of Negroes. However, except for the Black Loyalists John Woody and Nat Turner, and the slave Daniel Black, the names of 6 other known Blacks do not appear in the manifest.
Woody had been a slave in Totowa, New Jersey until he ran away from his master at age 20. Turner, age 30, had been a free man five years before boarding the L’Abondance, having run away from a master in Nansemond, Virginia.  Just 13, Daniel was one of three enslaved Blacks aboard the armed transport. John Brown, a Black Loyalist who was noted in the manifest, but not in the Book of Negroes, became one of Shelburne’s weavers.
Where the Book of Negroes notes the names, ages, physical appearances, and colony of origin for the Black Loyalists and slaves leaving New York City, the manifest for the L’Abondance only differentiates its passengers by age – a somewhat disappointing fact for those seeking to learn more about a particular Loyalist refugee. But by carefully studying the list of 304 names, one can extract some helpful information.
By matching up surnames, it appears that at least 26 families sailed for Shelburne on the L’Abondance‘s fall voyage. In alphabetical order, the parents’ names are as follows with the number of their children in parentheses:
John and Mary Antony (5), John and Mary Barnes (1), Jon and Mary Bridgeson (1), Robert and Mary Brown (1), James and Ann Brushett (2), Ennis Chapman (1), Archibald and Lydia Cunningham (2), Joseph and Mary Day (2), Marty and Ann Gildart (2), Henry and Elizabeth Guest (6), Hugh and Catherine Hamilton (1), Peter and Sarah Harris (4), Benjamin and Esther Hart (5), Lucas and Patience Johnstone (5), James and Ann Marshall (3), George and Mary Maybe (2), Robert and Margaret McCoy (1), Alexander and Elizabeth Murray (2), Andrew and Margaret Murray (4 – perhaps 11 in all), Valentine and Bathsheba Nutter (2), David and Margaret Peate (2), David and Sarah Thompson/Thomson (2), William and Elizabeth Thompson (2), Francis and Susan/na Towse (2), William and Lydia Walter (4),  and William and Anna Whitehouse (2).
Thanks to the exhaustive research of Marion Robertson, author of King’s Bounty, we know a bit about some of those who sailed on L’Abondance in September of 1783.  William Black, one of the slave owners aboard the evacuation vessel, was a cabinet-maker and cooper. Archibald Cunningham later became Shelburne’s postmaster. Henry Guest became one of the town’s volunteer firemen and a school trustee.
Valentine Nutter had his own store, selling fishing and hunting supplies, meant, rum, brandy, snuff and scented hair powder. When he sailed on the L’Abondance in 1783, he travelled with other members of his company of refugees and with men of the 17th Dragoons.  David Thomson became a ship builder.  Robert Somerville was appointed as one of the town’s port wardens. Benjamin Hart established his ropewalk on land near Shelburne that became known as Hart’s Point. Alexander Gay was made one of the loyalist settlement’s two gaugers.
Shelburne’s court appointed Patrick Steel, a tavern owner, to be the clerk of the town’s market to “prevent fraud by butchers and fish-mongers“. Steel’s tavern served as an inn, the meeting place for the Shelburne Court of Sessions, an entertainment centre, and the site of public auctions for enslaved Blacks and vessels.
Nova Scotia’s governor chose Alexander Leckie to serve on the Board of Agents to deal with the fair allotment of land in both Shelburne and Birchtown. He would later become a justice of the peace and a member of the colony’s legislative assembly. Robert Thompson had the thankless task of surveying lots for the area’s loyalist settlers. Within 12 years time, Robert Patterson was the captain of a Shelburne-built merchant vessel, the Mary & Elvira.
James Murray is the only known L’Abondance passenger to have turned to a life of crime. He and 2 other Loyalists violently entered the home of a Shelburne resident and made off with money, clothes, and two handkerchiefs. After authorities captured them, the three men escaped despite heavy chains around their ankles. Captured again, Murray was sentenced to be hanged. Governor Parr’s pardon saved Murray, but his partner in crime was hanged.
Listed as a single woman on the L’Abondance‘s manifest, Jane Paterson may be the Mrs. Patterson who later operated a boarding house in Shelburne.  The stories of female passengers are the most difficult to discover. Wives were busy in their new homes; single women changed their names to those of the husbands they later married in Shelburne. However, one clump of names on the L’Abondance’s manifest provides evidence for some speculation.
Married couples and family groups were recorded together in the passenger list, suggesting that their names were written down in the order in which they boarded the armed transport. Following the names of three single men are the names of Jemima Carter, Jane Ford, Elizabeth Cottins and Evelyn Pierpoint. Were they all widows? With no one else to see to their welfare, were they travelling as a group, supporting one another in their flight to sanctuary?
The Rev. William Walter had been the rector of Boston’s Trinity Church. After serving as a chaplain for a British regiment during the American Revolution, he and his family set sail for Shelburne where he was supposed to become the settlement’s Anglican minister. Within less than a decade, the Walter family returned to Boston where William served as the rector of Christ Church until his death in 1800.
Walter would not be the only Loyalist to return to the United States. As the L’Abondance prepared to leave Port Roseway for New York City on October 25, the ship’s manifest notes that a man named Tim Matthews was to be a passenger on the return voyage. The manifest notes that this was done “by order of Captain Christian” and that Matthews was “a refugee“. Christian was the captain of the Cyclops, one of the many evacuation vessels that had brought Loyalists to Port Roseway. Had Matthews been overwhelmed by homesickness for the United States? His is just another one of the hundreds of stories hidden within the names of the manifest of the L’Abondance.
The British transport ship would make one more journey from New York City to Nova Scotia in November of 1783. That story will be told in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
   To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Uncovering Ridgefield’s Revolutionary Past: Archaeologists Begin Historic Battlefield Study
By Stephen Bartkus 12 April 2025 at Ridgefield Historical Society, CT
Beneath Ridgefield’s quiet streets lies a battlefield waiting to be rediscovered—and this spring, a groundbreaking archaeological project is bringing that history to light.

This spring, Ridgefield is digging into its roots—literally. The Ridgefield Historical Society has hired Heritage Consultants to lead the next phase of its Battle of Ridgefield Archaeology Project, marking a milestone in the town’s effort to uncover new evidence from Connecticut’s only inland Revolutionary War battle. Supported by a second prestigious National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program grant, the initiative represents a major step toward preserving and understanding the April 27, 1777 engagement that once turned Ridgefield’s peaceful streets into a battleground.
Why Now? Why Here?
Few places in Connecticut experienced the Revolutionary War as directly as Ridgefield, where a pivotal clash unfolded between 2,000 British troops under General William Tryon and American defenders led by Generals Benedict Arnold, David Wooster, and Gold Selleck Silliman. The dramatic encounter left a lasting imprint on the town’s landscape and collective memory.
“This is an exceptionally significant site,” said Stephen Bartkus, Executive Director of the Ridgefield Historical Society. “The Battle of Ridgefield took place in the heart of our community. That makes it unique—and especially vulnerable to development. What we discover here doesn’t just deepen our understanding of the past—it helps us preserve it for future generations.”
The Ridgefield Historical Society has spearheaded efforts to investigate and interpret the battlefield, enlisting expert help and forging partnerships with municipal and state officials, property owners, and scholars. This new phase builds directly on earlier successes and returns to the field with renewed momentum—and a team ready to uncover the stories still buried beneath the surface. Read more…
Submitted by Kenneth MacCallum UE whose ancestor probably  participated in the battle

Agrippa Hull: A Revolutionary Story
by Talya Leodari 22 April 2025 Journal of the American Revolutionary
Agrippa Hull was a free black man who enlisted in the Continental Army from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and served for six and a half years until the end of hostilities. In early 2024 the Museum & Archives of the Stockbridge Library Association acquired, through private sale, Agrippa Hull’s certificate of discharge from the Continental Army, dated July 24, 1783 and signed by Gen. George Washington. The return of this extraordinary document to his hometown enhances the ability of the Museum & Archives to more fully interpret the significance of Hull’s life and service and has a treasured place in our collection of Hull-related artifacts that include his portrait and personal items.
Certificates of discharge were routinely submitted as evidence of a veteran’s qualifying service when applying for a military pension and commonly remained part of the pension records. To find one outside of these archives is unusual, and one belonging to a free African American soldier is rarer still. In addition, his discharge certificate figures prominently in Hull’s story: upon applying for his federal pension in 1818 he was loath to part with the certificate because it contained the signature of General Washington, whom he held in great esteem….
…Agrippa Hull was born free, to landholding parents, in Northampton, Massachusetts, on May 13, 1759. Upon his father’s death in 1761 the family fell on hard times, ultimately losing the title to their land. Hull’s mother, Bathsheba, sent the seven-year-old Agrippa to Stockbridge in the care of Joab Benny.  Read more…

Podcast: The Battles of Lexington & Concord, 1775
By David Wood, Curator of the Concord Museum since 1985. April 2025 at Ben Franklin’s World
During our exploration of April 19, 1775, David reveals how the people of Concord prepared—quietly and carefully—for war, months before April 1775. Why the British Army marched on Concord on April 19, 1775, and the resistance it met with at Lexington and Concord. And, the significance of the material culture—like a lantern from Old North Church—preserved in the Concord Museum’s vast April 19 collection. Listen in…


Contributor Question: Stolen or Gone Missing?
by Editors 24 April 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
This month we asked our contributors to tell us about an artifact from the 1765-1805 era known to have existed well into the nineteenth century, that has since been stolen or gone missing.

J.L. Bell
In the mid-1800s James Ward Hall of Cavendish, Vermont, told Henry B. Atherton about a “military cap with its three ostrich feathers” that his father, James Hall, had worn on April 19, 1775. “John Gray of Westford [Massachusetts] pulled off” the cap “and subsequently gave [it] to his daughters.” Neither the cap nor the Gray family can be traced. Which is a shame because, according to his son and corroborating sources, James Hall was a light infantryman in the 4th Regiment of Foot who pretended to be wounded in order to defect to the provincials.

Todd W. Braisted
One of the most striking portraits of a Loyalist officer was that of Lieutenant James Moody of the 1st Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers. After the war Moody, as a half-pay officer, settled in Nova Scotia to start a new life. He settled in Weymouth, where he eventually donated land for an Anglican church to be built in 1790. During a visit to England in 1782-1783, Moody had his portrait, in uniform, painted. This painting passed through his family until 1979, when his descendant, John Moody, donated the painting to the church in Weymouth, which he and his wife thought a fitting place for it. It hung for two years at St. Peter’s in Weymouth until the night of a wedding there, and then disappeared. It has not been since 1981. A replica portrait, based on photographs, hangs in its place.

Stuart Lyall Manson
The surrender of British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777 included his artillery. The victorious Americans subsequently had several engraved with a statement that they were witnesses to that monumental event. They nevertheless continued to serve in the defence of the Republic for decades. During the War of 1812, two of these engraved cannons were recaptured by British and Canadians at the fall of Ogdensburg, New York in 1813. Said to be long iron 12-pounders—although more likely made of bronze—they do not appear to be among those catalogued by Douglas Cubbison in his book “The Artillery Never Gained More Honour.” The cannons’ whereabouts are currently unknown.
Read more examples… 

Book Review: From Trenton to Yorktown: Turning Points of the American Revolution
by John R. Maass (Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2025
Review by Patrick H. Hannum 21 Apr 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
John R. Maass produced a very readable and enjoyable narrative with the publication of his recent text. In his introduction the author points out that warfare remains an important component of human behavior even though some contemporary historians have turned away from the study of military history. He explains that many writers chose different events in the history of warfare to highlight their perspective on what is important. A bit tongue-in-cheek, he infers that authors tend to describe actions as “decisive battles” because of their size or immediate tactical importance. He implies that this approach fails to place events in broader context. He instead uses the term “turning points” that captures the strategic and operational-level importance without over-dramatizing these events or their outcomes. Maass chose to identify five events for development as turning points of the American Revolution.
The five turning points he addresses are the Battles and Campaigns of Trenton and Princeton, Saratoga, Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown, and the winter cantonment at Valley Forge. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: POW: In Camp – A Soldier’s Life. April 1782
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
  • January 1782: to Frederick MD (about 40 km west of Baltimore)

1782: Continuation of the Noteworthy Occurences in Our North American Campaign, and Especially the Captivity in the Sixth Year. Or the Year of our Lord 1782.  Page 124

In the Month of April 1782

2 April. We sent a petition from the  jail, with an American, to Lieutenant Lindemeyer, in which we earnestly requested our release.
4 April. At noon our Quartermaster Sergeant Knoll came and took us out of the jail, after we had been in it for fourteen days. In this prison there were many bugs, lice, fleas, rats, and mice.  Today  Privates  Haas  and  Taubald,  of  Quesnoy’s  Company,  came  out  of  the  field hospital and went into the jail.
7 April.  Grenadier [Adam] Schr€del,  of  Molitor’s  Company  of  our  regiment,  died  in  the poorhouse.
10 April.  Private  Meyer,  of  Quesnoy’s  Company,  was  taken  to  the  jail  because  he  had worked a few days in the city without reporting it.
11 April.  Private  [Johann  Georg]  Bauer  I,  of  Quesnoy’s  Company,  died  in  the  field hospital.
12 April.  Throughout  the  night  I  was  sick,  first  hot  then  cold,  and  also  had  a  severe headache.  There  were many  sick  in  our two  regiments,  and  half  of  our  company  was down sick, most with high fevers, chills, and putrid fever. At present, we receive poor rations, raw bread, almost rotten and stinking, salted meat, and occasionally stinking herring fish. Many of us prisoners went barefoot and half naked; most no longer had a shirt on their body, and many [went] with only a rag, which was full of bugs. What else could we do, as our baggage, which should have come long ago, remained unavailable? It is to be noted that today in the waters of the West Indies,  not  far  from  Saint  Martinique,  a  sea  battle  took  place  between  the  English fleet  under  Admiral  Rodney  and  the  French  under  Admiral  Comte  de  Grasse,  in  which  the English  finally  gained  a  victory  and  the  French  Admiral  de  Grasse  was  captured  with  his command ship, Ville de Paris, 110 guns, and six other large ships. Also, five ships, two large warships of 80 and 84 guns, three frigates, and many people were lost.
14 April.  Quartermaster  Sergeant  Salzmann,  of  the  Colonel’s  Company,  was  buried, having died yesterday in the field hospital.
18 April. The certain and already  long and  longingly  wished-for news arrived concerning our baggage, which has arrived in Baltimore.
21 April. During the evening a few wagons with baggage and uniform articles arrived from Baltimore.
24 April. We were mustered.
25 April. Drummer [Georg] Braun, of Quesnoy’s Company, died here in the field hospital in the poorhouse.
28 April. The baggage, which arrived  here and which had  been  shipped  from New York, was distributed. Each man received two shirts, one pair  of  shoes,  one  pair  of  stockings, one blouse made of ticking, one ribbon for tying a pigtail, one neckcloth, one pair of wool and two pair of linen trousers. This month the weather was beautiful, warm, and invigorating.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 24 April 1775: ‘They shall desist publishing their Papers …’

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

24 April 1775

“They shall desist publishing their Papers after this Day, till Matters are in a more settled State.”

The printers and the public did not know it yet, but the April 24, 1775, edition of the Boston Evening-Post would be the last issue of that newspaper.  Thomas Fleet established the newspaper in August 1735.  His sons, Thomas and John, continued publishing the Boston Evening-Post after their father’s death in 1758.  They even disseminated issues while the Stamp Act was in effect from November 1765 through May 1766, though they did not include their names in the colophon.  The events at Lexington and Concord, however, were too much of a disruption to continue.  The Fleets initially intended to suspend the newspaper and continue publication at some point in the future.  The April 24 issue included only three advertisements, the first one from the printers to “inform the Town that they shall desist publishing their Papers after this Day, till Matters are in a more settled State.”  A newspaper that had served Boston for just shy of forty years ended with “NUMB. 2065.”
By that time, Isaiah Thomas, the printer of the Massachusetts Spy, had already published the final issue of that newspaper in Boston on April 6 and headed to Worcester.  He revived it as the Massachusetts Spy: Or, American Oracle of Liberty in early May.    Read more…

American Revolution Institute: Exhibit: Revolutionary Beginnings: War and Remembrance in the First Year of America’s Fight for Independence, open until 4 Jan 2026
The War for American Independence began on April 19, 1775 — 250 years ago this spring — with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. These initial engagements gave way to the Patriots’ Siege of Boston, a nearly year-long effort to drive the British from the city. But the fighting during the first year of the Revolution did not just take place in Massachusetts. From April 1775 to June 1776, Patriot, Loyalist, and British forces clashed in most of the thirteen American colonies, as well as Canada and the Caribbean. This exhibition explores three of those conflicts — the Battle of Bunker Hill outside Boston (June 1775), the Siege of Quebec in Canada (December 1775), and the Battle of Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina (June 1776), which took place just days before the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Read more…

Podcast: Divided Families of Marblehead and Halifax with G. Patrick O’Brien
Recorded on 25 Feb 2025 at Revolution 250
“Place is of very little consequence,” Mary Sewall of Marblehead wrote to her sister in Nova Scotia in 1799,” except as it brings you near to those whom by nature you are most nearly allied.”  The Sewall sisters had been separated by war, yet family ties endured and complicated their relationships in the post-Revolutionary world.   Patrick O’Brien of the University of Tampa, writing about the divided families of Marblehead, joins us to talk about the ties sundered by the Revolution and those that remained. Listen in…

Ribbons, Bands and Cords
– Observations by 18th Century Naturalists and Artists
By Viveka Hansen 14 Aoril 2025 at ikfoundation.org
Carl Linnaeus’ (1707-1778) three provincial tours in Sweden during the 1740s were financed by the parliament as they were considered politically significant for ascertaining the best development potential for the domestic mercantile economy, to help the start-up of more manufacturing, for instance, which could result in improved conditions for the country as well as for its inhabitants. All sorts of ribbons, bands and cords with practical as well as decorative and fashionable purposes were regarded as essential to produce domestically – via handicrafts, manufacturing and to a small extent as possible by import. This essay will look closer into the famous naturalist’s travel journals from the perspective of ribbons and how this small object had multiple functions for clothes. Assisted by a contemporary dictionary, preserved woven ribbons and a selection of artworks, all in detail, demonstrate how ribbons formed an essential part of clothes for everyday life and festivities alike in local communities.
Ribbons of various qualities were one of many essential textile commodities, either woven or plaited at home or sold via the pedlars. This branch of trade can also be compared with Carl Linnaeus’ travel journals, wherein he mentioned the itinerant pedlars of the Västergötland province. On 7 July 1746, he wrote: ‘The silk ribbon mill: 9 looms were in full action here, all of them weaving their ribbons, some of which were decorated with roses, some with letters, and some with other ornamentations.’ He also mentioned that ‘here 60 ribbons were woven in one week, every 50 ells in length’. They were clearly ribbons with woven designs, which could be used for clothes or furnishings.
Already during the Dalarna Journey in 1734, however, Linnaeus made a rich selection of observations linked to material culture and craft skills and even noted details like ribbons used in the traditional clothing in several parishes in this rural province of Sweden. Read more…

Seeds with a Story
Heritage varieties offer both a sense of history and a promise of tomorrow.
by Bonnie Schiedel, 28 Feb 2025 Canada’s History
For foodies, a good time on a Saturday often means heading to the farmers’ market or a local farm stand. Increasingly, these shoppers opt for goods grown from heritage seeds (also known as heirloom seeds) and generally categorized as having been grown for fifty years or more, unlike mass-produced hybrid varieties.
Heritage varieties are often prized for their tasty flavours or their links to a region’s history and culture. Tancook Island cabbage, for example, has been grown in Lunenberg County, Nova Scotia, since German settlers planted it in the 1700s. Read more… (very short)

A Brief History of Trees
Life, death, and a sharp axe in Canada’s ancient forests.
By Peter Unwin — 16 November 2024 Canada’s History
In 1836 an unhappily married woman named Anna Jameson took a ramble through the New World. When it was over she did what most travellers to Canada did—she wrote a book about it.* This work, which has entered the Canadian canon and become a classic, contains a frequently quoted sentence: “A Canadian Settler hates a tree, regards it as his natural enemy, as something to be destroyed, eradicated, annihilated by all and any means.”
In fairness to Mrs. Jameson, Canadian settlers were definitely not tree huggers. They had their own attitudes toward trees and they had their reasons for having them. By 1822 the Military Settling Department had determined the tree to be a leading cause of death. “Drowned,” “deceased,” and “killed by a tree,” were fingered as the great culprits of Canadian depopulation. The first, of course, was “gone to the States.”
Often, as happened to the Reverend John Scadding, the tree fell on you. More typically the axe-head bounced and cleaved a foot or leg, leading to the most frequent injury in Canadian medical history: the chopped limb. Menard, a Jesuit and one of the first white men to reach Lake Superior, had a tree fall on him while paddling a canoe.  Read more… (longish)

Loyalist Gazette: Spring 2024 Issue Now Available to All
The digital copy of the Spring 2024 issue of the Loyalist Gazette is now available publicly from uelac.ca – following our policy of the Gazette being available to members for almost a year following publication.

Featured: This Spring issue was focused primarily on the Loyalist experience in what is now Quebec.

Inside, you will find great content including articles such as:

  • Loyalist Settlement in Quebec
  • Siege of Fort St. [Jean] John 1775
  • Africans bound for Quebec City
  • The Personal Exodus of a Jewish Loyalist
  • The Amazing Escape of Dr. John Henry Aussem
  • The Spy from Saratoga: John Platt, UEL
  • The Rev. John Doty and the Loyalist Church of Sorel
  • and one from the theme of the previous issue Suffering & Services – Recovering the lives of Military Loyalists in New Brunswick

Enjoy.
Bill Russell UE, Chair of the Communications Committee

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

    Entries which have been added, or revised, this week.

Thanks to Michael Mallery who is providing information about Loyalists who served with the Prince of Wales American Volunteers.

  • Cpl. Silvanus Bishop.   From Litchfield, Connecticut, he owned 115 acres of land and a dwelling house. Father was Jonathan Bishop. In October 1776 he was taken prisoner at White Plains while attempting to get to the British, later escaped and joined the Guides and Pioneers, then into the Prince of Wales American Volunteers. Served twice as a marine first on Scrounge and later on Viper. Settled in Nashwaak River, Sunbury Count NB, but he abandoned his land and returned to the United States in November 1787.
  • Pvt. Jacob Brooker  first appears in Captain James Holden’s company on August 1777 Muster Roll. He settlerd first in the district between Maugerville to Nashwaak, New Brunswick 1785, then granted granted Lot 72 — 200 acres, Northampton Parish, York County, NB. He married Mary Hazen on June 20, 1803. He and his wife sold the 200 acres on September 2, 1805. He was in the New Brunswick Regiment of Fencible Infantry in 1803.

Events Upcoming

American Revolution Institute: Panel: The Battles of Lexington and Concord 29 Apr @ 6:30

To kick off our eight-year-long 250th anniversary celebrations of the American Revolution, join us for a panel discussion highlighting the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Panelists will discuss the prelude of the two events of April 19, 1775, the engagements through the perspectives of the battles’ participants and civilian eyewitnesses; and recent archaeological studies and findings and how they have impacted or enhanced the interpretation of the battles. Register…

American Revolution Institute: The Fourth South Carolina Regiment and the Orderly Book of Capt. Barnard Elliot. Thurs 1 May 2025 @6:30

Elizabeth Chew and Melina Testin of the South Carolina Historical Society discuss a rare orderly book kept by Capt. Barnard Elliot of the Fourth South Carolina Regiment, which was incorporated into the Continental Army on June 18, 1776—ten days before the Battle of Sullivan’s Island—and disbanded on January 1, 1781. Drawing from the orderly book, which will be on view during the program, this lecture will focus on the Fourth South Carolina Regiment’s service during the Revolution and the significance of the orderly book’s contents, including reports of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. Registration…

Col. John Butler Br: “Life and Death on the Welland Ship Canal:  The Forgotten Story of 134 Worker Fatalities” Arden Phair Sat 3 May 11:45

This illustrated presentation showcases a specific aspect of the Welland Ship Canal which is widely regarded as one of the engineering marvels of the twentieth century.  It focuses on the plans to build a Memorial to the workers whose lives were lost during the waterway’s construction between 1914 and 1935.
Until recently, the lives lost had been one of the untold stories of this transportation marvel.  Its 138 fatalities represent one of the largest losses of life in the history of Government of Canada infrastructure projects.
Arden Phair is a local historian and former curator at the St. Catharines Museum.
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 $33 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 RSVP to 283corvette@gmail.com

Sir Guy Carleton Branch:  AGM and luncheon, Sat 3 May

The venue is the Villa Marconi at Baseline Road and Farlane (2016 Baseline Road) in Ottawa. The cost is for the luncheon is $35.00/per person. To register and make arrangements for an e-transfer,  email carletonuel@hotmail.com
Rosemarie Pleasant, President

Gov. Simcoe Branch:  “The British East India Company” by Cale McCurdy Wed 7 May 7:30

The first portion of the presentation will discuss the establishment and corporate governance of the British East India Company. The rationale for the creation of the EIC and theory behind its governance will be discussed. The presentation will provide insight into the company’s operations and show that despite being chartered on New Year’s Eve 1600, the EIC shared numerous qualities with modern corporations.
The second portion of the presentation will focus on the relationship between the EIC and the American revolution. Was the EIC only seen in Boston Harbour, or did it have a larger role to play?
Cale’s Loyalist certificate is to Christopher Harrison UEL. Cale wrote his Master’s dissertation on the British East India Company. Registration…

Glengarry Rambles Charlottenburgh Bus Tour May 24, 25, 31 & June 1 (June 1 is sold out)

The tour runs from 1:00 – 3:30.
– Glengarry’s only two covered bridges back in the day
– One of the 100 most influential Canadians of the 20th century
– One of Ontario’s 14 bicentennial farms
– The solar energy center of Glengarry
– Grant’s Folly: home of Glengarry’s longest running general store
More details and tickets…

The Fort Plain Museum’s American Revolutionary War Conference 250, May 29-June 1, 2025

Speakers and Topics Include:
Pulitzer Prize Winner Rick Atkinson – The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
Bus Tour – We Stood Our Ground: Battles of Lexington & Concord, April 19, 1775 – Led by Alexander R. Cain – Thursday, May 29, 2025
Read more…

 

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • If you thought people in the 1700s walked around in dirty clothes all the time, think again.
    Laundry wasn’t just a chore; it was a big deal. Though washing clothes was seen as women’s work, it played a vital role in keeping people clean and healthy.
    Linen underclothes, like shirts and shifts worked to absorb body oils and sweat. People practiced staying clean by “shifting” from dirty underclothes into fresh, clean ones.
    Wash day was a complex, physical, hands-on, all-day event. Every step required serious effort:
    Step 1: Soaking (Bucking)
    Step 2: Boiling
    Step 3: Soaping
    Step 4: Beating (Clapping)
    Step 5: Drying (Bleaching)
  • Food and Related : Twonsends

  • This week in History
    •  25 April 1711 (by the old-style Julian calendar, or May 7, by the new style Gregorian calendar), Edinburgh, Scotland. Philosopher David Hume was born. The Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, librarian, and essayist is best known today for his highly influential system of philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism. His essay “Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth” greatly affected the ideas of the drafters of the US Constitution in 1787. image
    • 26 Apr 1766 The repeal of the Stamp Act is celebrated throughout the colonies. The British boycott gradually lost steam. image
    • 22 Apr 1768 London. Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Hillsborough, orders colonial governors to prevent their assemblies from drafting pamphlets & orders Mass. Royal Gov Bernard to dissolve the General Court if it refuses to retract its circular. image
    • April  19, 1774, Irish philosopher Edmund Burke warned the British House of Commons that taxing the American colonies would lead to rebellion + revolution.  A year later, the Battle of Lexington & Concord on April 19, 1775 proved him right.  image
    • 19 Apr 1775 Isaac Davis was a militia officer who commanded a company of minutemen from Acton, Massachusetts. He and his men arrived in Concord early on the morning of April 19, 1775 and joined the other assembled companies. His men were the first to advance on the British. Davis was killed in the advance. image
    • 19 April 1775, Lexington, Massachusetts. Captain John Parker and the Lexington militia face a British column marching on Concord. Parker orders his men to leave the field. A shot erupts. The British open fire and charge with bayonets. The action ends with eight militiamen killed and ten wounded.  Later in Concord, Massachusetts, Colonel Francis Smith’s column begins searching for contraband and sets fire to the courthouse and other buildings. A detachment sent to North Bridge is driven back by militia fire. With more militia gathering, Smith’s weary regulars march back to Boston. That evening, in Charlestown, a tired and dejected force of 1,800 regulars under Colonel Hugh Percy arrives after a harrowing march from Concord, enduring withering volleys and sniping from swarms of militia. Colonel Smith is injured, and Major Pitcairn is unhorsed. The British lost 73 killed and 201 wounded. News of the action quickly spread throughout the colonies. Years of political agitation, insurrection, and rebellion had become a war between the American colonies and Great Britain.  image
    • 20 Apr 1775, Boston. Patriot militias surround the British garrison in Boston in a prolonged siege. News of Lexington & Concord brought thousands across New England into what became the Continental Army when Congress adopted it in June 1775. image
    • 21 Apr 1775 Williamsburg, VA. To preempt patriots, Royal Governor John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore, orders Royal Navy sailors to seize colonial powder from the magazine. They transported 15 half-barrels to the HMS Magdalen in the James River. image
    • 22 Apr 1775 New London, CT. 19-year-old Yale graduate  & schoolmaster Nathan Hale received word that the #RevWar had broken out in Mass. That evening, he requested to be released from his teaching contract because he considered it his duty to fight for his country  image
    • 23 Apr 1775 Concord, Mass. The Provincial Congress called for an army of approximately 30K men commanded by Artemus Ward.  As a result, Nathanael Greene from New Hampshire, John Stark from New Hampshire & David Wooster from Conn. arrived with volunteers.  image
    • 23 Apr 1775 NYC. Upon learning of the actions at Lexington and Concord, a mob led by Marinus Willet stormed the city arsenal and seized weapons for the Cause. image
    • 19 Apr 1777 New York The 28-gun frigate USS Trumbull under Capt Dudley Saltonstall seizes two British transports sailing off the coast. image
    • 21 Apr 1777 Danbury, CT. British troops under Gen William Tryon attacked and went on a rampage, setting fire to homes, farmhouses, storehouses & tents. It continued for nearly a week before word reached Continental Army leaders in nearby New Haven. image
    • 25 Apr 1777 Compo Beach, CT. Royal Gov & British General William Tryon lands a force of 1,500 Loyalists & British on the banks of the Saugatuck River & begins a 23-mile march to Danbury. image
    • 21 Apr 1778 Valley Force, PA. Gen. Washington stated that the Continental Army must be reformed, or it would dissolve. “…The necessity of putting the Army upon a respectable footing, both as to numbers and constitution, is now become more essential than ever…” image
    • 22 Apr 1778, Whitehaven, England. Captain John Paul Jones and the crew of his 18-gun brig, the USS Ranger, seized the British town. His force of 31 sailors spiked the guns of the fort, burned several ships, and returned to the Ranger. image
    • 22 Apr 1778 Continental Congress brands anyone who agrees to the terms of Britain’s Carlisle Commission as an enemy of the US. image
    • 23 Apr 1778 King of Prussia, PA. American General Charles Lee was officially exchanged for General Richard Prescott. Lee criticized General Washington and went to Congress to express his grievances about other officers being promoted over him. image
    • 23 Apr 1778 St Mary’s Island, England. Captain John Paul Jones attempted to take the Earl of Selkirk hostage, but he was not at his estate. Angry and frustrated, Jones takes Lady Selkirk’s family silver but soon returns it with his apologies. image
    • 24 April 1778, Carrickfergus, Ireland.   Captain John Paul Jones, commanding the 18-gun sloop USS Ranger, continued his rampage through the British Isles. His ship sights a British vessel, HMS Drake, a 20-gun sloop, cautiously tacking against the wind toward them in the early morning mist. Jones’s crew of hardened and plunder-hungry New Englanders wanted a prize vessel, so Jones taunted the approaching ship, hoping to provoke an encounter. Ranger had the upper hand when the two ships closed, as Drake’s unstable cannon tilted once powder and shot were rammed home. The forward lean sent most of its rounds into the water, missing Ranger’s hull. Poor preparation of cartridges by the British meant Ranger dominated in musket fire, too, fired by sailors stationed high in her rigging. For an hour, broadsides of cannonballs battered the ship while bullets splattered the deck, toppling sailors at their stations. Drake began losing sails, masts, and yardarms. One by one, crew members dropped, including its lieutenant, and finally, a shot struck Drake’s commander, Captain George Burton, killing him. Ranger’s guns had blasted Drake’s colors away, so she could not strike them. Instead, the senior officer alive desperately waved his hat, screaming for quarter as the pop of muskets and the boom of guns drowned out his voice. Finally, Ranger ceased firing, and as the thick cloud of smoke began dissolving into the sea breeze, the Continental Navy had its first military prize in British waters. More importantly, John Paul Jones had made a powerful statement. image
    • 24 Apr 1779 Torbay, England. Adm. Marriot Arbuthnot sailed to take command of the Royal Navy’s American Station. He also brought British and Hessian reinforcements to Gen. Henry Clinton in NYC.  image
    • 18 Apr 1780 Charleston, SC. The British garrison swells to 10K with the arrival of Lord Francis Rawdon’s reinforcements. But Gen Cornwallis would not have enough troops to fully pacify the Carolinas as the “Southern Strategy” called for. image
    • 23-24 Apr 1780 Charleston, SC. Virginia troops storm the British siege works in a 200-strong sortie. Although they take a dozen prisoners, the attack inflicts no real damage. image
    • 21 Apr 1780 Charleston, SC American General Benjamin Lincoln parleys with British General Henry Clinton but is refused a surrender with “honors of war.” image
    • 25 Apr 1780 Charleston, SC. General Henry Clinton’s forces begin a third series of parallels (trenches), closing to within 30 yards of the defenders. This marks the final phase of the siege, placing the American defenses at grave risk. image
    • 19 Apr 1781 Camden, SC. Gen Nathanael Greene, leading a force of 1,500 men, encamps on the site of the great American defeat. He prepares his army for a march on Charleston. image
    • 24 Apr 1781, City Port, VA. British Gen William Phillips lands on the banks of the James River. He joined forces with British General Benedict Arnold, the former American general and notorious traitor, to attack the town of Petersburg, about 12 miles away. image
    • 25 Apr 1781 British General Lord Charles Cornwallis’s weary army retreats to Wilmington, NC, following the intense fighting at Guilford Courthouse the previous month against 4,500 Continental Army soldiers and militia led by General Nathanael Greene. image 1    image 2
    • 25 Apr 1781 British General Lord Charles Cornwallis’s weary army retreats to Wilmington, NC, following the intense fighting at Guilford Courthouse the previous month against 4,500 Continental Army soldiers and militia led by General Nathanael Greene. image
    • 24 Apr 1783 Fort Carlos, AR (Spanish Territory) When news of the peace treaty arrives, British Capt. James Colbert abandons his siege of the Spanish garrison and releases his prisoners. image
  • Clothing and Related:
    •  Jacket, French ca. 1785. Differentiated from the full-fledged Pierrot costume, the Pierrot as a shaped bodice flourished in that gasp of Rococo sensibility and extreme silhouette of about 1780 – 1790. The flared peplum extension of the jacket below the waist and asymmetrically around the back allows for the bulbous billowing skirt of the period. The bodice includes self-fabric ruffles, which would have embellished the skirt as well. The simple low-necked bodice is characteristic of the period, comparable to the “chemise à la reine.”
    • Robe à la française, British ca. 1760.  Monochrome, but in a bright canary yellow guaranteed to catch anyone’s attention across a room, this exceptionally well-preserved robe à la française with trimmings represents the apogee of the form. The absence of ornament, other than basic ruffles, makes this a museum object easy to read: it is a perfect teaching example, free from distractions and affirming thereby the adorned beauty of eighteenth-century silhouette and style, so often masked under frills and coquetry.
  • Miscellaneous

 

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