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

“Finding Loyalists in the Maritimes and Beyond: Getting the Most Out of Your Research”
By Dr. Leah Grandy

Leah will discuss how to approach researching individual loyalists from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and the types of sources and documents she recommends, which will also likely be applicable to other areas of Loyalist settlement in what became Canada. She will also go over “best practices” for researchers from the perspective of someone who works at a library and archives.

Leah Grandy holds a PhD in History and has been working in libraries and archives for more than 15 years. Her specialties include Atlantic Provinces History, New Brunswick History, Sport History, Loyalists, Genealogy, Palaeography, Working with Primary Sources, and Newspapers. She has been involved in a number of digital history projects such at the “New Brunswick Loyalist Journeys” story maps, “Atlantic Loyalist Connections” blog, and the New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project. She frequently assists UELAC members in their research journeys, and a has a number of the Loyal/Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers in her own family tree.

Hope to see you there…

The L’Abondance and its Loyalist Evacuees: Part Three of Three
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Sir Guy Carleton, the commander in chief of the British forces in North America, was running out of time. Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris, he was supposed to have evacuated all of those under his command from New York City by the fall of 1783. Carleton had deliberately slowed down his troops’ departure to allow for the evacuation of as many loyalist refugees as he could possibly cram aboard naval and rented vessels.
The L’Abondance, an armed transport ship, had been called into service in the summer of 1783, and by the fall had already transported more than 800 loyal Americans to sanctuary in two journeys to Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Now, in November of 1783, the last of the British forces, its civilian employees, and desperate Loyalists waited to board the final evacuation ships to take them to safety.
While other evacuation fleets had taken loyalist refugees to the mouth of the St. John River, Annapolis Royal, and Shelburne, the L’Abondance‘s third voyage would take its passengers to Port Mouton, a former French settlement just 50 km northeast of Shelburne. As early as mid-October, ships had taken white and Black Loyalists – the so-called “Port Matoon Associates” — to a new home on the coast of Nova Scotia.  The Elk left New York City on October 7, followed by the Joseph and Elijah on the 31st. The Jenney and Nisbet sailed on November 9th.
Carleton and the remaining British forces left New York City on November 25th, but only went as far as Staten Island where they prepared for the final departure to England and the Maritime Colonies. The last of the British dependents to leave New York with Carleton and his senior staff were members of the military’s civil service (hospital staff, quarter master employees, the commissary service, teamsters, etc.).
The teamsters – most of whom were Black Loyalists– were among the last of the British support system to leave. They transferred the evacuees’ livestock, furniture, munitions, and personal effects from the flatbeds of their wagons, and then, after joining the ship’s passengers, abandoned their teams and wagons to the victorious rebels. By the same token, other civilian staff members had to pack up all of the papers, supplies, and paraphernalia that the British had used over seven years of being headquartered in New York City.
Finally, on November 30th, the last of the evacuation vessels left New York City. In addition to the L’Abondance, the last fleet to carry troops and refugees to Port Mouton included the Peggy, the Danger, the Concord, and the Diannah. With the data found in the Book of Negroes, we know the names of African descendants who sailed aboard these vessels. And thanks to a recently discovered manifest for the L’Abondance, we can now also identify the non-Africans who sailed on the armed transport.
The transport ship’s manifest notes that it carried 123 men, 65 women, and 31 children under the age of ten. Considered “supernumeraries” (excess passengers), the men were fed what was considered a “whole allowance” of food; the women were given two-thirds, and the children at “half allowance of all species of provisions except spirits“.
While this was standard information for captains to record in their manifests, the ledger for the L’Abondance contains some material that was not so typical. For example, the ship’s clerk made note of the fact that a man named Charles Stuart “made his escape from the ship” at Port Mouton on December 20, 1783. Was he a crewmember who was deserting? Nothing more is recorded to explain the significance of the “escape”.
In addition to the refugees who were headed for Port Mouton, the manifest also records the names of Loyalists who would disembark at Halifax (13 men, 6 women, and 5 children). Sixteen Loyalist men would remain on the L’Abondance during its voyage from Halifax to England.
Another interesting feature of the manifest is that it did not distinguish between white and Black Loyalists. If one only had the manifest of the L’Abondance to analyze, one would not know that 36 of the names recorded belonged to Black Loyalists. It is only by comparing the manifest to the Book of Negroes‘ lists that one can determine the race of the passengers. What is even odder is the fact that the names of 38 Black Loyalists that the Book of Negroes lists as passengers on the L’Abondance are not found in the ship’s manifest.  Despite the practice of having a white loyalist named as an onboard escort for each Black Loyalist – as was done throughout the loyalist evacuation of 1783—no one had such an escort on the L’Abondance’s final journey.
Perhaps this stems from the fact that the last evacuation fleet was in such a great hurry to leave New York City that all the usual procedures around compiling manifests were ignored. It may be that the British felt that they no longer had to satisfy American interests by accurately listing the names of Black refugees – or seeing that they had white escorts.
Thanks to the data found in the Book of Negroes, we know the ages, health, former masters, colony of enslavement, and years of service to the crown for each Black Loyalist aboard the L’Abondance. No such information is noted for the ship’s white passengers other than distinguishing between adults and children less than ten years of age.
An additional factor will frustrate historians and genealogists who analyze the passenger list for the L’Abondance – that being the fate of the loyalist settlement.
The soldiers and civilian refugees who created the new settlement named it Guysborough — honouring Sir Guy Carleton. The loyalist town was initially larger than Nova Scotia’s capital, Halifax. It would not remain so for very long. No amount of government surveys or provisions could compensate for a mediocre harbour and barren, rocky land. After enduring a bitter winter, the loyalists had had enough of Guysborough’s isolation and meager soil. In addition to poor climate, there was also dissension between the veterans and the commissary staff. No one was happy.
As disgruntled Loyalists began to pack up their belongings in late May of 1784, a fire swept through Guysborough, destroying what little clothing and furniture the settlers had brought with them. The roaring flames drove the settlers down to the shoreline. The Loyalists stood in the ashes of their settlement with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
With no means to call for help, death by exposure and starvation seemed inevitable. Miraculously, a ship from Halifax happened to sail into Guysborough’s harbour within days of the disaster. What could have been one of the greatest tragedies of loyalist settlement had narrowly been averted.
This fire’s legacy was the scattering of its loyalists to other settlements in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. No one had any interest in trying to rebuild Guysborough. Some of those whose names appeared on the L’Abondance‘s manifest would ultimately settle in St. Stephen, New Brunswick while others settled in Nova Scotia: Digby, Truro Cumberland County, and Guysborough County. Would descendants of these scattered Loyalists ever think to seek out a manifest for a ship that left its passengers near Port Mouton in December of 1783? Unlikely.
As for the L’Abondance, after putting its passengers ashore at Port Mouton and Halifax, it left Nova Scotia on January 7, 1784, arriving at Spithead, England on February 12th. As of May, Captain Nathaniel Phillips had fulfilled the ship’s commission, and the British admiralty sold the ship later that year. Forgotten within a generation, the armed transport nevertheless was the vessel responsible for bringing over 1,000 loyalist refugees to sanctuary in Nova Scotia.

{Editor’s note: see the transcribed names of the Loyalists bound for Port Mouton, Halifax, and Great Britain.}

To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Loyalist Ships
Many Loyalists came to Canada by ship, especially those who settled in the Maritime provinces and, to a lesser extent, in Quebec. In this section we are developing a list of ships with some basic details about each voyage, along with secondary details including passenger lists etc.
When the terms of peace became known, tens of thousands of the Loyalists shook the dust of their ungrateful country from their feet, never to return. The party sailed from New York, in nine transport ships, on October 19, 1782, and arrived a few days later at Annapolis Royal.
On April 26, 1783, the first or ‘spring’ fleet set sail. It had on board no less than seven thousand persons, men, women, children, and servants. Half of these went to the mouth of the river St John, and about half to Port Roseway, at the south-west end of the Nova Scotian peninsula. All summer and autumn the ships kept plying to and fro.
In June, the ‘summer fleet’ brought about 2,500 colonists to St John River, Annapolis, Port Roseway, and Fort Cumberland. By August 23 John Parr, the governor of Nova Scotia, wrote that ‘upward of 12,000 souls have already arrived from New York,’ and that as many more were expected. By the end of September he estimated that 18,000 had arrived, and stated that 10,000 more were still to come. By the end of the year he computed the total immigration to have amounted to 30,000. As late as January 15, 1784, the refugees were still arriving.
The “Loyalist Ships” table provides basic details on a number of Loyalist ships. Where the name of the ship (in the left-most column) is a link, click for more detailed information. Click on a column heading at the top to sort the table by the contents of that column, in ascending or descending order.

Drum used at the Battle of Bunker Hill
This year marks the 250-year anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. Many who fought were local residents, coming from the Boston area and other parts of New England to heed the call for patriots at the Charlestown conflict. Though only thirteen years old at the time, John Robbins of Acton joined the heroic stand, acting as drummer to mark time for the marching troops. Robbins also acted as a messenger during the war, including bringing news of the British march to Lexington to Acton’s Minutemen Company. See the drum… (Look in 2025 April 2025 Object)

Nicholas Cresswell’s Journey on the Ohio in 1775
by Mike Burke, 11 May 2020 Fort Pitt Museum.
The years after the French and Indian War saw large numbers of Euro-American settlers pouring west over the Appalachian Mountains, steadily encroaching on American Indian lands as they defied the mountainous border meant to contain them…
…Joining the freshet that carried settlers deep into the interior in the spring of 1775, a 25-year-old Englishman named Nicholas Cresswell left a remarkable account of the country south and west of Fort Pitt – down the winding course of the Ohio, up the Kentucky River, and back again.
Read the blog post summarizing the expedition…
Note: Nicholas Cresswell and this expedition to the back country is referenced this week in  Townsend’s Campfire Cooking – Catfish Stew


The Fort Plain Museum’s American Revolutionary War Conference 250
May 29 – June 1, 2025 at Johnstown NY
This content-rich conference features speakers Friday 1:00 pm to Sunday 1:00 pm  and an optional day-bus tour on Thursday May 29 “Touring the Battles of Lexington and Concord 250 Years Later” – Led by Historian/Author Alexander Cain
This is an in-depth tour of where the “first shots” rang out starting the American War for Independence. We will visit the battle sites, battle road and many of the museums and historic sites that are associated with the battles. Lunch and a Copy of Cain’s Book are included.

The expert speakers and topics Include:

  • Pulitzer Prize Winner Rick Atkinson – The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
  • Major General Jason Q. Bohm USMC (Ret) – The Birth and Early Operations of the Marine Corps: 250 Years in the Making
  • Alexander R. Cain – We Stood Our Ground: 250th of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775
  • Abby Chandler – Choosing Sides: North Carolina’s Regulator Rebellion and the American Revolution
  • Don N. Hagist – Marching from Peace into War: British Soldiers in 1775 America
  • and many more

See Conference Details…

Read more about Fort Plain by one of the Conference speakers.
Profile: Fort Plain Museum and Historical Park
by Don N. Hagist 28 April 2025  Journal of the American Revolution
If you’ve travelled on US Interstate 90 in New York between Albany and Rome, New York, you may have noticed the words FORT PLAIN emblazoned on a hillside rising up on one side of the highway. It would be easy to assume that this just announces the town of Fort Plain, but for the Revolutionary War enthusiast, it marks something much more significant. On this hill in the later years of the war stood a large fortification for which the nearby town is named. Today, it is the site of a museum that has become an important hub of historical events in the region.
The fort was built in 1781, effectively replacing a number of smaller posts along the strategic Mohawk River, the vital waterway that connected all of western New York to the Hudson River and the rest of the world. The location was chosen carefully, based on years of experience with the military situation in the area—the hilltop had a commanding view of an extensive part of the river in both directions, as well as one of its tributaries. The Continental Army’s officers and soldiers had, by this time, well-honed skills in building fortifications, and created a formidable system of works that protected the fortified hill from all sides.
Few traces of the original fort survive, but a walking tour will lead you to the excavated site of a blockhouse, the spring that provided water for the fort’s garrison, etc.  Read more…

The War is Here: The Politics of Continental Army Dispositions on the Upper Ohio
by David P. Ervin 1 May 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
Alarming news of violence on the Upper Ohio flooded Pittsburgh in the late summer of 1777. On August 2, Joseph Ogle reported from Wheeling that a Native war party had wounded two men. James Booth, further south in Monongalia County, wrote that a mother and child had been killed and scalped and another captured. Col. David Shepherd of the Ohio County militia feared that the frontier would be evacuated given the “distressed situation.” These backcountry inhabitants begged Continental army officials for relief. None was to be had, even amid disaffection to the Patriot cause so volatile and widespread that one man remembered it as “the Tory Year.”
At that moment, the bulk of the Continental forces raised in the Upper Ohio region, an area also referred to as West Augusta, were marching to the fifes and drums of the Main Army under Gen. George Washington, on campaign against the British in the environs of Philadelphia. It was not the service for which those western Continentals had enlisted. Neither was it what state and local officials hoped for in fostering the creation of those units. The context of how these troops were raised, in particular the 13th Virginia Regiment, and how their dispositions were ultimately decided is a window into the complex political dynamics involved in creating and implementing American military policy. It also illuminates the unintended consequences for the unit and the community from which it originated. Read more…

Paul Revere Wasn’t the Only Midnight Rider Who Dashed Through the Darkness to Warn the Patriots That the British Were Coming
By Ellen Wexler 18 April 2025 The Smithsonian Magazine
Hours before the first shots of the American Revolution rang out, 700 British soldiers stationed in Boston mobilized under cover of darkness, hoping to stop the war in its tracks.
After overpowering a small group of patriots in the town of Lexington, Massachusetts, they marched toward Concord, where they planned to confiscate the local militia’s stash of ammunition. When they arrived around 8 a.m. on April 19, 1775, they found nearly 400 men waiting for them. Someone had warned the rebels that the British were coming.
This warning, as most Americans will tell you, came from Paul Revere, the brave Boston patriot who charged through the night on horseback to spread the alarm. Thanks to the silversmith’s midnight ride, the nascent colonial militia was able to transform into a formidable threat, driving the British into retreat and setting the stage for a new nation.
This narrative is central to America’s founding myth. It also isn’t entirely true. Read more…


“Rebel Yankeys”: Anatomy of a Connecticut Militia Company at Saratoga
by Matthew Novosad 29 April 2025
Ebenezer Lathrop’s company of militia which marched from Norwich, Connecticut, to Stillwater, New York, in the autumn of 1777 makes an excellent case study to understand Connecticut’s militia forces in the middle of the American War of Independence. When Connecticut raised companies that Fall to serve with Gen. Horatio Gates’s army, most were formed by an amalgamation of men from across regiments. The town of Norwich, on the other hand, hybridized a company solely from the ranks of the 20th Militia Regiment for service with Col. Jonathan Latimer’s Battalion of Militia. As the 20th only encompassed Norwich, the sources required to study Lathrop’s Company are concentrated. Additionally, nearly one-third of the company ultimately applied for pensions, and at least two privates left campaign diaries, giving us rich insight into the company’s activities. These sources, combined with demographic and economic data, illustrate the economic and political dimensions of Norwich and its militiamen during the Revolutionary War.
Norwich of the 1770s and its Militia Structure
In 1774 Norwich was the second most populus town in the colony, with 7,321 inhabitants residing across eight ecclesiastical societies. While no single outlying society made up a majority of the town’s population. almost 60 percent of residents in lived outside of the central Norwichtown and Chelsea societies. This is even clearer when viewing the societies as combined into towns:  Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: POW: In Camp – A Soldier’s Life. May 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 125

In the Month of May 1782

2 May.  In  the  morning  I,  Kiefhaber  I,  Schindler  II,  Groh,  Haiden,  and  Haas,  we  six privates, had to report hurriedly to Major von Beust because of our previous excesses with our captain and lieutenant, and also our floor commander, Corporal Frank, who had been demoted by Major Beust because he himself had incited us to resistance and gave us guidance.
During the afternoon we received our full pay in cash from 1 November 1781 to the last of March 1782, a full five months. Each man received ten Spanish dollars, from which each had thirty-six  pence  taken  out  for  the  flour  that  our  officers  had  purchased.  This  night  Private Meyer, of Quesnoy’s Company, left the barracks here and left many debts behind. This night twenty men from our two regiments took off, taking their pay and uniform  items with them. Thirteen  of  them,  however,  were  captured  by  the American patrol  sent  after them,  and  they
were put in the jail.
3 May. Three privates of Major Beust’s Company went into the country.
4 May. Every night people depart from us, as well as  from the Hessians; some to ransom themselves, some, however, to seek work in the country.
9 May. I was bled because of my continuing indisposition.
10 May. Twenty-eight men of Stein’s Company of the Ansbach Regiment voluntarily went into the jail for having previously been disrespectful to their noncommissioned officers.
12 May. During the night I was again very sick, developed a high  fever, and  began to be delirious.
13 May. Very dangerously  ill,  and  my  end  was  near.  I  was  taken  to  the  field  hospital  at noon because I was in no condition to walk.
14 May.  I was somewhat better  again.  I thanked  God  fervently  and  prayed  again  for my health.
16 May. Private [Heinrich] Randovias, of Quesnoy’s Company,  left  here  with Cannoneer M†ller. My illness improved from day to day. The attack of high fever gradually abated, and I once again developed a good appetite.
17 May. Two privates, Kraus and Bauer II, of Quesnoy’s Company, left here.
19 May. It was the Whitsunday holiday, and during the afternoon I returned from the field hospital  here  in  the  poorhouse  at  Frederick  and  moved  into  my  quarters  with  my  captured comrades in our barracks. I was very exhausted, however, and had  lost much strength. Dear God, strengthen me and keep me in good health. That was my daily prayer.
20 May. Major Baily, the commandant over the prisoners,  and  his  agent, Memp, had  roll call (a head count or muster).
21 May. Private Taubald, of Quesnoy’s Company, has deserted for the second time.
22 May.  Our  Quartermaster  Sergeant  Knoll  was  sent  to  Winchester  in  Virginia  with baggage and money for the prisoners left behind at that place.
26 May. Confession and communion were held for our regiment.
27 May. Private [Johann Georg Christian] G‡rtner, of Quesnoy’s Company, was put in the jail  because  he  sold  his  uniform  and two new pair  of  pants  that  he  had  received.  Today we learned  from  Philadelphia  that  Private  Schmidt,  of  Quesnoy’s  Company,  who  had  deserted from  the  New  Frederick  Barracks  at  Winchester,  was  sitting  as  a  prisoner  in  the  jail  in Philadelphia. He supposedly had already been to Staten Island and had been captured there by a few raiding American light horse. In this month the weather was very beautiful.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 2 May 1775: ‘We do not find any Proof of an inimical Temper or Disposition to this Country.’

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

“We do not find any Proof of an inimical Temper or Disposition to this Country.”

Advertisements in early American newspapers often delivered local news beyond the items that printers selected to cover.  Such was the case for an advertisement placed by the Committee of Safety in the May 2, 1775, edition of the Essex Gazette.  Convening in Cambridge a week after the battles at Lexington and Concord, the committee considered the case of “DOCTOR Nathaniel Bond, of Marblehead,” who had been accused of “acting an unfriendly Part to this Colony.”  The committee appointed a “Court of Enquiry” consisting of Joseph Warren, then serving as president pro tem of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Colonel Thomas Gardner, and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Palmer to “examine Witnesses in the Case.”
On behalf of the Committee of Safety, Warren declared that a “full Enquiry” led him, Gardner, and Palmer to the conclusion that “Bond’s general Behaviour, has been friendly to American Liberty; and though he may have discovered an imprudent Degree of Warmth in some Instance, yet we do not find any Proof of an inimical Temper or Disposition to this Country.” Read more…

Accidently digging up skeletons
By Sarah Murden 6 May 2024 at All Things Georgian
Whilst researching something completely different about Chiswick, I came across this newspaper report and whilst I was unable to identify the family concerned, it would be interesting know the outcome.

London Packet and New Lloyd’s Evening Post, 8 February 1809

A few days since, the skeleton of a human body was discovered at Chiswick, in Middlesex, which has excited a very interesting inquiry in that neighbourhood. A new tenant taking possession of a farm, belonging to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, in that parish, in stubbing up roots of some poplar trees, he discovered a skeleton, buried only 18 inches under them, with a fracture in the skull, and without any appearance of a coffin or other usual covering of interment.

Some causes of suspicion arsing amongst the principal inhabitants a Coroner’s Inquest was summoned before George Hodgson Esq. when the following singular circumstances appeared in evidence before them; that Mr B__, father of the late tenant of that farm dying about ten years ago, had bequeathed a considerable property jointly between his two sons, the one who succeeded to the business, and the other who was an idiot. Read more…

A Swedish Weaving Tradition
By Viveka Hansen 1 May 2015 ikfoundation.org
Brocaded tabby type “krabbasnår” was just one of several decorative weaving techniques made by the farmer’s wives in southernmost Sweden during the 18th and 19th centuries. Such a technique in itself is relatively uncomplicated, but the brocading weft pattern picked by hand alternating with the shuttled weft-faced tabby gives the weave a certain complexity. The aim of this historical essay is to share my experience of reproducing one of these beautiful decorative textiles, one which can be compared with an original bench cover and an almost hundred-year-old workshop drawing.
This time-consuming weaving technique was popular in many areas of Sweden and often had various local names, but in the southernmost part of the country, this form of brocaded tabby came to be known as “krabbasnår”. The textiles were primarily woven by farmer’s wives and daughters for the young girl’s dowry or simply as decorative or functional additions to the homes’ textile storage. The uses for these woven treasures included diverse kinds of cushions alongside bench and bed covers – where usually the richly formed patterns almost covered the main weft. Read more…

Loyalist Places in Nova Scotia – a new map
In 2020 Brian McConnell UE published “Loyalist History of Nova Scotia” available at Amazon.ca.  It shares some of the information he has gathered in his Loyalist research to encourage others to learn about and visit the buildings, cairns, cemeteries, churches, monuments, and forts connected to the United Empire Loyalists.
Brian has just created a a new interactive Google Map with 70 places mentioned in the book which allows you to zoom in, click on each for information, and learn more.  See the map.

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. John Bryant first appears in Captain John Bowen’s company on February 1783 Muster Roll. He was in the Volunteers of Ireland before that regiment was drafted into the Prince of Wales American Volunteers in October 1782. He was promoted to Corporal sometime after February 1783 Muster Roll.
    In 1784 he petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick.
  • Sgt. Edward Burgain first appears in Captain John Bridgwater’s company on August 1777 Muster Roll. He also served in Captain Walter Campbell’s company. On Duty in December 1777 Muster Roll. He was shown as on Piquet in February 1778 Inspection Roll. He was promoted to Sergeant sometime after March 1780 Muster Roll. On Command in April 1781 muster Roll. He was demoted to Private sometime after June 1781 Muster Roll. He was promoted to Corporal sometime after December 1781 Muster Roll. He was promoted to Sergeant sometime after February 1783 Muster Roll.
    In 1784 he petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick. In 1785 he petitioned for land on the Nashwaak River, New Brunswick.

 

Events Upcoming

Leeds & Grenville OGS: “Old Hay Bay Church: Loyalist Yesterday & Today” Mon 5 May 7:00

By Angela and Peter Johnson UE who are part of the Board of Trustees since 2012 and 2014 for the Old Hay Bay Church, as well serving on the Restoration Committee, and are Custodians each summer at the church. Angela & Peter are long time members of Quinte Branch OGS and both have served as Branch Chair. More details and registration…

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…

New Brunswick Loyalist Day: Trinity Anglican Church, Service Sun 11 May 10:30 AT

On May 11th -Sunday – Trinity Anglican Church – 115 Charlotte St , Saint John, leading up to Loyalist Day May 18th, the church will be having a Loyalist Service at 10:30am. All welcome, member Rev Steven Scribner & Rev Peter Gillies will be presiding.

New Brunswick Loyalist Day: The Village of New Maryland, NB, Wed. 14 May 6:15 AT

The Village of New Maryland, NB, will mark Loyalist Day, May 18th, by raising the Loyalist Flag. This will take place place on Wednesday, May 14th, at 6:15 pm in front of Victoria Hall, 466 New Maryland Hwy, New Maryland, NB E3C 1G9.
This commemorates the settling of New Maryland by Loyalists. One Loyalist, Mr. Arnold, is said to have named the area after his home colony of Maryland.
All are welcome to attend!             ….Gary Campbell

New Brunswick Loyalist Day: City Hall, Saint John, Loyalist Flag Raising Thurs 15 May 10:00 AT

May 15th – Thursday – NB Loyalist Flag Raising – City Hall Saint John NB – 10:00am  with City of Saint John dignitaries & the Town Crier.  All are welcome.

New Brunswick Loyalist Day: Celebrations on Sunday 18 May in Saint John

10:00 AM     MUSKETRY SALUTE FROM PORTLAND POINT – Join the soldiers of DeLancey’s Brigade as they fire a welcoming volley honouring the Loyalist newcomers of 242 years ago.  Place Fort La Tour will be open to the public free of charge between 10 and 11 am for the Loyalist Day activities.
Location:  Place Fort La Tour, Portland Point on Harbour Passage
10:15 AM     THE BELLS OF TRINITY with Andrew Waldschutz – The uptown area will ring out with  a performance on the recently refurbished bells of Trinity Anglican Church on Germain St. Originally installed in 1882, the bells were dedicated to the Loyalist founders of the city. A second performance will be offered at 12:15 pm
Location:  Trinity Anglican Church, between Germain & Charlotte Streets
10:30 AM     A LOYALIST HOME – Visit the Loyalist House museum – a home built by David Daniel Merritt, who arrived as a Loyalist in 1783 – and talk with historical re-enactors from DeLancey’s Brigade as they animate day-to-day life in the period.
Location:  Loyalist House, 120 Union Street
10:30 AM     EXPLORE YOUR LOYALIST ROOTS – Join members of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society and a representative from UNB’s Loyalist Collection to learn more about how you can explore your own heritage – perhaps find your Loyalist ancestor – and discover just some of the amazing historical research assets we have right here in New Brunswick.
Location TBA
10:30 AM     THE REVOLUTION COMES TO  SAINT JOHN; FORT FREDERICK, PORTLAND POINT AND FORT HOWE – A brief talk, by historical re-enactor Steve Fowler, about how the conflict came to our shores in the early days of the American Revolution.
Location:  Place Fort La Tour, Portland Point on Harbour Passage
12:00 PM     ROYAL SALUTE BY 3RD FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT, RCA – THE LOYAL COMPANY – An artillery salute will be fired by members of 3rd Field Artillery Regiment to mark May 18th. Saint John is the only city afforded, in National Orders, to fire a Royal Salute to mark the anniversary of the Loyalist’s arrival.
Location:   TBA
12:15 PM     TRINITY CHURCH TOURS with guide John Logan – Trinity Anglican Church – The Loyalists’ Church – was the city’s first church community tracing its roots back to the Loyalist’s arrival in 1783. See the treasure they brought with them – the Royal Coat Of Arms that was removed from Boston’s State House during the evacuation of that city.
Location:  Trinity Anglican Church, between Germain & Charlotte Streets
12:15 PM     THE BELLS OF TRINITY with Andrew Waldschutz – a performance on the bells of Trinity Church.
Location:  Trinity Anglican Church
12:30 PM     WREATH LAYING CEREMONY – Join the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada – NB Chapter and the troops of DeLancey’s Brigade for a brief ceremony at the earliest known grave in the Loyalist Burial Ground.
Location:  Loyalist Burial Ground, Sydney at King Street East
12:45 PM     SPRINGTIME OBSERVATIONS FROM MAY 1903 IN THE OLD BURIAL GROUND –  Immediately following the ceremony take a guided walk through the cemetery with local historian and author David Goss. Meet at the Sydney Street Gate.
Location:  Loyalist Burial Ground, Sydney at King Street East
1:30 PM     THE LOYALISTS ACCORDING TO HOLLYWOOD – An entertaining look at the way our Loyalist ancestors have been portrayed in the movies . A talk by  historian Dr. Greg Marquis.
Location:   TBA
2:00 PM     FLUTE MUSIC FROM THE TIME OF SIMONDS, HAZEN & WHITE (1762-1775) – Sonatas, Country Dances, Minuets and Scotch Airs performed by Tim Blackmore and Daniel Britt. Freewill offering in support of the Early Music Studio Of Saint John
Location:  Saint John Arts Centre, 20 Peel Plaza
2:00 PM     LOYALIST DAY AT THE  LIBRARY – A family program with a story time, period games, and a display of books on the Loyalist era and early Saint John, for young readers. A great opportunity for young Saint Johners to learn the story of the Loyalists.
Location:  Saint John Regional Library – Market Square
7:15 PM     WALK ‘N TALK WITH DAVID GOSS  – Join David for stories on the history of the area – Market Square / Market Slip / ihtoli-maqahamok – where the Loyalists first stepped ashore.
Location:  Meet at Loyalist Rock on Fundy Quay (opposite Saint John Ale House)

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Glengarry Rambles Charlottenburgh Bus Tour May 24, 25, 31 & June 1 (All are 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…

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • 1 May 17077 the English and Scottish kingdoms officially became one under the Acts of Union. The road to creating “Great Britain” started in 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England. However, the two countries remained independent of each other despite sharing a monarch. Queen Anne completed the process by opening discussions and appointing commissioners to negotiate a treaty.
  • Food and Related : Townsends

  • This week in History
    •  2 May 1750, London. British Major John Andre was born to a wealthy Huguenot father, Antoine André, a Swiss merchant. His mother, Marie Louise Girardot, was French.  He recruited Benedict Arnold but was caught &hanged after a clan meeting with the traitor. image
    • 27 Apr 1773, London. House of Commons passed the Tea Act to save  East India Company from bankruptcy by lowering the tea tax &  granting it a monopoly on the American tea trade. But American colonists saw this as a manipulation of trade by Parliament.  image
    • 30 Apr 1774 Logan’s Camp, VA. Frontiersmen attack & kill a band of Indians, including Shawnee, Chief Logan’s entire family. The Indian response to the Yellow Creek Massacre began what was known as “Lord Dunmore’s War.” Dunmore was the Royal Gov of VA. image
    • 27 Apr 1775, WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS: “The next news from England must be conciliatory, or the connection between us ends, however fatal the consequences may be,” Joseph Warren writes to Arthur Lee, Massachusetts’s agent in London. image
    • 28 Apr 1775 Castleton, VT. Ethan Allen & the Green Mountain Boys arrive to debate seizing the stores & munitions at Fort Ticonderoga. image
    • 29 Apr 1775 Richmond, VA. Gov. Peyton Randolph persuaded a large force of 700 men at Fredericksburg not to march on Williamsburg after Royal Gov. Murray (Lord Dunmore) threatened to burn the city to the ground and to release all slaves. image
    • 30 Apr 1775 Captain Benedict Arnold meets with Maſsachuſetts Patriot Joſeph Warren and tells him that his militia ſhould try and capture Fort Ticonderoga, New York, as it has 130 pieces of artillery that the Colonials can use to ſhell Boſton. image
    • 1 May 1775 – Capt Mott’s 7th Co of 6th Ct Militia Regt sets out to rendezvous at Castleton in the Hampshire Grants (Vermont) with Ethan Allen. They were part of a larger force of 270 planning to capture the British-held Fort Ticonderoga. image
    • 3 May 1775, Cambridge, MA. Col Benedict Arnold convinces the Committee of Safety to authorize forces to strike Fort Ticonderoga in NY to seize its guns & munitions. He would recruit 400 men for the surprise attack, some 170 miles to the east. image
    • 3 May 1775, London.  William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth & Secretary of State for the colonies for King George III, instructs colonial Governor Josiah Martin of North Carolina to organize an association of Loyalists and raise militias. image
    • 29 Apr 1776 Montreal, Quebec. Benjamin Franklin leads a delegation, including Samuel Chase & Charles Carroll, to encourage Canadians to desert the crown. The Canadians,  French Catholics, demurred, as the Protestant Americans were long-standing enemies. image
    • 29 Apr 1776 After victory at Boston, Gen  Washington orders Nathanael Greene to command Long Island & set up defenses against a British attack on NYC. Greene positioned troops to defend against an assault on Brooklyn Heights across from Manhattan. image
    • 30 Apr 1776 Boston. Sam Adams writes Rev Sam Cooper of hopes for another battle between British & Americans. “One battle would do more towards a Declaration of Independence than a long chain of conclusive arguments in a provincial convention or the Continental Congress.” image
    • 30 Apr 1776 NYC. Lt Col Benjamin Tupper, whose whaleboats effectively harassed British ships & outposts in Boston Harbor, was now in NYC organizing a similar force of whaleboats for the defense of the harbor & adjacent waters. image
    • 1 May 1776, Quebec. While Gov. Guy Carleton awaits reinforcements, command of the American besiegers shifts from Gen. David Wooster to Gen. John Thomas, who prepares to withdraw his 1,900 tired and ill-supplied men.  image
    • 2 May 1776. France & Spain secretly allot munitions valued at 1M Livres to America. King Louis XVI authorized Pierre de Beaumarchais to set up Rodrigue y Hortalez, a front company to covertly ship arms, munitions & clothing in the early days of the war.  image
    • 26 Apr 1777 According to legend, Sybil Ludington began her midnight ride to rouse the militia as the British troops burned Danbury, CT. Her ride was longer than the more famous Paul Revere’s. The 400 men who responded turned the British back at Ridgefield.  image
    • 27 Apr 1777 Ridgefield, CT. British forces under Gov William Tryon faced rebel militia blocking the road & attacking from the rear. American General David Wooster was killed & General Arnold was nearly captured.  image
    • 28 Apr 1777 Saugatuck Bridge, CT. Gen. Benedict Arnold assembles a militia force & some guns, but a spy shows British Gov. Tryon a route around the Americans leading to Compo Hill & waiting ships. Tryon’s raid cost him over 200 casualties vs 100 rebels. image
    • 1 May 1777. A Change in regulations allowed free black men to enlist in the Continental Army. The first was 18-year-old Agrippa Hull OTD in 1777.  Hull became the aide to Gen Tadeusz Kosciuszko in 1779 & saw some of the war’s most decisive battles. image
    • 2 May 1777, Philadelphia. The Continental Congress promotes Benedict Arnold to major general. Arnold is affronted by the delayed promotion and his low seniority vis-à-vis the five other major generals promoted ahead of him. image
    • 27 Apr 1778 London. Lord Germain receives intelligence from the Netherlands of a French fleet leaving for America & requests that Lord North send elements of the Home Fleet in pursuit. image
    • 30 Apr 1778 West Point, NY. To keep the British from dividing the states, rebels chained the Hudson River from Constitution Island —almost a mile across. The chain was augmented by forts, warning towers, beacons & stakes set at the river bottom.  image
    • 29 Apr 1779 Charleston, SC. Gen. Augustin Prevost crosses the Savannah River with 2,500 men and marches on Charleston, SC. In response to this threat, American forces under Gen. William Moultrie withdrew to the Coosahatchie Bridge. image
    • 1 May 1779, Cahokia, IL American forces repulse a British attempt to retake the Mississippi River outpost. Weeks later, Gen George Rogers Clark would laud the town’s support for the cause. image
    • 27 April 1780, Boston, Massachusetts. The Marquis de Lafayette returns after a year in France. The citizens of the city celebrate him before he departs for Washington’s Headquarters at Morristown, New Jersey, bearing news for George Washington. The previous year, Lafayette had requested permission from the commander-in-chief to sail to France. He hoped that his position in the French aristocracy and his war record would help resolve issues that had soured the relationship between his homeland and his adopted country. Lafayette donned his Continental Army uniform and made the rounds in Paris. A meeting with Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, the French Foreign Minister, helped persuade King Louis XVI to provide more support. He dispatched the French Caribbean fleet to North America to fight the Royal Navy and agreed to send more French soldiers to America.  image
  • Miscellaneous

    • Beavers and the art of ecological resilience
      By Abi Hayward and Katie Doreen 30 Apr 2025 Canadian Geographic
      It starts with the sound of running water. There’s something in a beaver’s rodent brain that draws it to the sound, compelling it to build. To dam. To slow the flow. To hold that water in its little chunk of landscape a little longer. The beaver is following its instincts to build a home, with easy access to tasty morsels to gnaw on: aspen, willow, birch, maple. But it’s doing something more. It’s creating a more resilient watershed. Read more…  (2 min read)

 

 

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