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2025  UELAC Conference:  Much to learn, and enjoy
The conference has lots to offer: learn from expert speakers, visit Loyalist sites, share your Loyalist story — see Conference 2025 details.  Learn more about our Loyalist history from speakers, including

“Sailing to Sanctuary: Loyalists and their Evacuation Vessels”
By Stephen Davidson
It was the largest displacement of refugees in North American history, and yet it is a story that is largely unknown. Stephen Davidson’s presentation focuses on the evacuation ships that took Loyalists to sanctuary during and following the American Revolution. It’s an opportunity to discover the stories hidden in passenger lists, to appreciate the breadth of the loyalist diaspora, and to learn what resources are available for determining an ancestor’s evacuee experience. Romances, shipwrecks, measles, and revolution souvenirs are all part of what it meant to be a Loyalist seeking refuge in a time of war.

Stephen Davidson UE – One set of Stephen’s Loyalist ancestors was aboard the Union, the flagship of the spring fleet that arrived at the mouth of the St. John River in 1783. His 1975 bachelor’s thesis on an aspect of Black Loyalist history became the basis for his contribution to Volume VII of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Not to mention that he has contributed for Loyalist Trails over 900 articles and the one below to Loyalist Trails.

Hope to see you at Conference.

Loyalist Physicians: The Famous, The Infamous and The Obscure – Part One
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Loyalist Physicians: The Famous, The Infamous and The Obscure – Part One
On March 17, 1776, ships carrying British soldiers and almost 1,100 Loyalists sailed out of Boston for Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It wasn’t too long before the wealthier Americans had set sail for England in what Samuel Curwen described as “six vessels laden with refugees“.
Among the Bostonians who took refuge in the United Kingdom after escaping to Halifax were a number of doctors.  Dr. William Lee Perkins, Dr. Nathaniel Perkins, Dr. Peter Oliver senior, and Dr. Peter Oliver junior were the most noteworthy members of that profession who eventually found sanctuary across the Atlantic.
Massachusetts historian Philip Cash discovered that Loyalists made up one-third of Boston’s physicians. Their departure meant a staggering loss of talent, experience, and leadership. This “gaping hole” produced two affects. The need for medical skills was so great that the city’s five remaining Loyalist doctors were “rehabilitated” (no longer treated as traitors).  Secondly, younger rebel doctors were able to rapidly establish practices and exert more influence than they would have had before the American Revolution.
Dr. Nathaniel Perkins (1715 -1799) was described as Boston’s foremost physician.  A Harvard graduate, he and other Loyalist doctors were attending physicians when hospitals were established on the city’s harbour front to treat smallpox. Perkins became famous for using the then-controversial inoculation procedure to control the deadly disease. When one such smallpox vaccination spared the life of Dr. Edward Holyoke, the latter used the same treatment on more than 600 of his own patients, saving all but two from an early death.
A letter from this era provides a description of Dr. Perkins. He “is a short, thick sett, dark Complexioned, Yet pale Faced, Man, (Pale faced I say, which I was glad to see, because I have a great Regard for a Pale Face, in any Gentleman of Physick, Divinity or Law. It indicates search and study). Gives himself the alert, cheerful Air and Behaviour of a Physician, not forgetting the solemn, important and wise.”
Perkins was in his sixties when he fled Boston with fellow Loyalists. No family members travelled with him, but in time he found himself in a community of fellow evacuees in England.  Samuel Curwen, another Massachusetts Loyalist, was recommending Perkins to other refugees as early as the spring of 1779.  He was, said Curwen, “as safely trusted as any physician in England, and I don’t know but his knowledge and practise is extensive. I should not fail to apply to him”.
A year earlier, the state of Massachusetts proscribed and banished Dr. Perkins, threatening to have him executed if he should return to the former British colony.  In November of 1784, the loyalist doctor sought compensation for his losses. Friends had rescued his “furniture and plate”, but he lost all of his books. He only made a claim for the loss of his profession (£600 a year).  The witnesses on Perkin’s behalf noted that he did not do surgeries, but sold medicines.
Massachusetts’ “most eminent physician” died in England in 1799 at the age of 84.
Other Loyalist physicians who fled Boston in the spring of 1776 were Dr. Peter Oliver senior and his son, Dr. Peter Oliver junior. The senior physician had a practice in Middleborough, Massachusetts where he lived with his wife, the former Love Frye. In addition to his medical career, Oliver was also a chief justice and was, in the words of one historian, “distinguished alike for his piety, public spirit and philanthropy“.
Despite such admirable qualities, being appointed to the colony’s mandamus council in 1774 made the doctor extremely unpopular, and he was forced to seek sanctuary in Boston. Signing the “loyal address” to the departing crown-appointed governor, Thomas Gage, only made matters worse. By April of 1776, Oliver and his son were in England.
By 1781, Oliver’s wife had joined him in London. A letter written to Samuel Curwen by Oliver in the following year reveals that the physician enjoyed taking snuff. “I am much obliged to you for your care and trouble for an irritating powder for an American refugee, and doubt not that it will be of a more agreeable nature than the so many irritables we have all turned up our noses at for five or six years past.”
Lorenzo Sabine notes that Oliver once served as a surgeon in the British army, but it is uncertain as to where he fulfilled this office. The last quotation of Oliver’s that has survived to this day is his evaluation of the loyalist compensation board hearings that he made in July of 1784. Like so many Loyalists, he was utterly disappointed in its deliberations.
“We are obliged to put up with every insult from this ungrateful people –the English– without any redress as witness the cruel neglect from those who had publicly declared in our favour. What are commissioners chose for? Not to make good our losses. What are all the promises of protection and retribution? But to mortify, insult, and disappoint . . . and I have the best authority to say we are well off if our small pittance is not taken from us. Blessed are ye, who expecteth nothing for ye then will not be disappointed.”
Dr. Peter Oliver died in Birmingham in October 1791 at age 79. Love Oliver, his widow, later married Admiral Sir John Knight. She died at her second husband’s estate in 1839 at Camberwell in the southern part of present day London.
The Oliver couple’s second son, Peter, was also a physician, and had practiced in Scituate, Massachusetts before seeking sanctuary in England in 1776. He died at Shrewsbury in September of 1822 at the age of 81.
The fourth prominent Boston doctor to find sanctuary in England was Dr. William Lee Perkins. When General Washington took control of the Massachusetts capital after the evacuation of British troops and Loyalists, he had Perkins’ stock of medicines seized for use by the Continental Army. Within two years of finding refuge in England, Perkins was “proscribed and banished” by the state of Massachusetts.
By October of 1777, the forty–year old William had already made a name for himself. Edward Oxnard, another Massachusetts refugee, noted that he “has saved the lives of many by his skill & I look upon it as a great blessing that he came over. He has been likewise at great pecuniary expense in aiding, generally refusing to receive compensation.”
After becoming a member of the Royal Medical Society, the loyalist doctor enriched British medical knowledge with the publication of a pamphlet and two articles. Perkins and his second wife, Elizabeth Rogers, and their daughter Anna settled at Kingston-upon-Thames. There is no record to indicate that the doctor sought compensation for his wartime losses.  Dr. William Lee Perkins died at Hampton Court on March 30, 1797 at the age of 60, never to return to Massachusetts. Elizabeth, his widow, returned to Boston, and died five years later.
More accounts of Loyalist doctors who ended their days in England will be featured in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Mararet’s Justice: The Story of Margaret Davis in NS
Christiana Margaret Hubbard was born in December 22, 1764 in the Mohawk River Valley settlement of Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York. Her parents were Adam Hubbard and Catherine (Koons) Hubbard.
On August 17, 1783, she married Loyalist soldier Sgt. Ethiel Davis in New York.
Her parents were also Loyalists and left New York with Margaret and Ethiel as refugees on October 24, 1783, originally bound for Quebec on the ship Clinton. They landed in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
They arrived at Westport, Digby Co., Nova Scotia in 1789, the seventh family to settle on Brier Island. In 1828, the widowed Margaret got tied up in a land dispute on Brier and Long Islands, and walked 300 kilometers to the colonial authorities in Halifax to have her claim to the lands successfully settled. She passed away in Westport on February 14, 1858, and is buried with her husband in Hilltop Cemetery.
In Nov. 2016, descendants of Margaret Davis participated in a ceremony in Westport christening a new ferry “Mararet’s Justice” running between Brier Island and Long Island in the Bay of Fundy. Read more about “Naming a Ferry for Grand Passage“.
On Tuesday 20 May 2025, The Islands Historical Society which focuses on the social history of Nova Scotia’s Long and Brier Islands gathered.
The presentation about Margaret Davis and other Loyalists was given by Dorothy Outhouse, Archivist at the Islands Historical Society.  In this part she describes evacuation from New York to eventual settlement at Westport, Brier Island, Nova Scotia. The Hubbards mentioned were the parents of Margaret Davis and travelled with her and husband Ethiel Davis. See a recording (5 min) of that portion of the presentation.
….submitted by Brian McConnell UE

Book Review: The Monmouth Manifesto
Author: James Arnett, Altona MB (Friesen Press. 2024. 363 Pages)
Reviewed by Peter W. Johnson UE, Bay of Quinte Branch UELAC
Historical Fiction can be challenging for the author. While it offers a ready-made cast of characters, it can be hard to fashion a climax when the outcome may already be well known. Author James Arnett rises to the occasion!
The two main characters are Lt. James Moody UE and Capt. Richard Lippincott UE, both Loyalists from New Jersey. Canadians tend to be a bit reticent when it comes to praising the deserving, but if Moody had been on the Rebel side, he would be a national hero in the United States.
While both Moody and Lippincott call New Jersey home, they don’t meet until they are both serving in the New Jersey Volunteers during the American Revolution . They become good friends, which serves as a device for unifying the narrative. Their friendship does not seem artificial, although there is no proof they ever met. They are opposites. Moody is described as an, “alpha Anglican”, and is very much at home in daring military assignments. Lippincott on the other hand is a lapsed Quaker who is trying to navigate the wider eighteenth-century Society.
The author paints a compelling picture of the circumstances Loyalists faced during the War. It’s gritty. There is nothing related to glamour and Loyalists face occasional danger, boredom in New York City as they await new assignments, optimism regarding the War’s outcome, and ultimately shock and depression when the War is lost. Moody’s daring escapades dominate the first half of the book, but upon his retiring to England late in the War, Lippincott steps up as the focus.
Lippincott finds that the New Jersey Volunteers are not offering up the chance for military adventures and glory he desires, so he transfers to the new Board of Associated Loyalists, (not to be confused with the Associated Loyalists who settled in 1784 at Adolphustown in Canada). Lippincott gets his mission and it involves a prisoner exchange and the execution of a Rebel, Joshua Huddy. The hanging of Huddy was in response to the execution of Loyalist Philip White by the Rebels. How prisoners were viewed by both sides was an added complication. The British considered captured Rebels to be Prisoners of War, whereas the Rebels treated captured Loyalists as Civilian Traitors so more subject to execution. The Rebels of Monmouth NJ demanded that the officer in charge be handed over to the Rebels, and this was Lippincott. If that were not possible, the Rebels insisted that a British Officer of equal rank be substituted.
This document is referred to as “The Monmouth Manifesto” and doubles as the book’s title. This episode became a major headache for Washington and the leading British Officers in New York. Ultimately Lippincott was basically put on trial by the British to determine if he were a murderer or simply following orders. Former New Jersey Governor, William Franklin was a leading figure in the Board of Associated Loyalist, and could have supported Lippincott but he sailed to England, likely to distance himself from any unpleasantness that could emerge and effect him. Franklin, George Washington and Huddy are pictured as characters who are less than pleasant.
One of the notable aspects of the novel is the author’s portrayal of Lippincott. It is probably unique. Traditionally he was labelled a murderer or monster, especially by American authors including nineteenth century biographer, Lorenzo Sabine. Arnett’s version of Lippincott is rather sympathetic and paints him as curiously naive. He placed too much faith in his superiors, notably Franklin who weren’t there to support him during the trial. Lippincott lived into the 1820s and settled eventually in the Toronto area. Moody spent his later years in Nova Scotia.

In an ambitious  book of this size there is bound to be something questionable. For example German Troops are referred to as Mercenaries, which is not quite the case. They were Regular Troops in the same way that the British Redcoats were British Regulars. Furthermore there is a reference to “the Union Jack” which is an anachronism.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this book is how the author challenges expectations when it comes to the climax. Surely the adventures of Moody in the first half would overshadow the Lippincott trial in the second half? Mr. Arnett unexpectedly manages to make the trial- potentially dry subject matter- the most compelling part of the book. Probably the author’s years as a lawyer made him feel very much at home with Lippincott’s legal woes.
James Arnett has delivered a work of Historical Fiction that is well crafted and rewarding to read.

Book Review: Shots Heard Round the World: America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War
Author: John Ferling. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025
Review by Sam Short 19 May 2025 Journal of the American Revolutionary
John Ferling gives readers another history of the American Revolution with his 2025 work. Despite that label in this being one of what is surely thousands of histories of the war, Ferling adds a different dimension to his work. As indicated by the title, this is the American Revolution with more international focus than other histories might offer.
First, this is a tale of the American’s triumph over Great Britain to secure independence [in which Ferling documents battles and military leaders].
This is not what makes Ferling’s work different. After all, any history of the American Revolution needs to have a certain degree of European history included because of the involvement of Great Britain and France. Ferling goes a step further in weaving into his narrative the careers of other European statesmen that played an impactful role….
British Secretary of State for the American colonies Lord George Germain gets a similar treatment. Ferling communicates to the reader the difficult task Germain faced during the war in trying to coordinate war plans with General Howe and General Clinton from thousands of miles away, often not able to fully grasp the war effort and the logistics of achieving victory. Spain also gets its due with Ferling stating it hoped to recover Gibraltar, Minorca, and Florida as a result of the war. Read more…

Unearthing Answers to Battle of Ridgefield Mysteries: Using HiTech Archaeology to Reveal our History
By David Naumec, archaeologist and historian
Organized by the Ridgefield Historical Society’s Battle of Ridgefield Archaeology Project
In 2021, with the support of a generous National Park Service (NPS) American Battlefield Protection Program Grant, the Ridgefield Historical Society enlisted Heritage Consultants to research the boundaries of the Battle of Ridgefield, and to recommend goals for future archaeological work. Building on that survey, another NPS grant has been secured by the Ridgefield Historical Society to solve the mysteries highlighted by the first investigation. Over the next two years, hi-tech archaeological methods will be applied throughout Ridgefield to unearth answers to the questions that still puzzle local historians. This lively presentation will describe key findings and unveil the goals of the upcoming second survey. It will also explain the fascinating technology that Heritage Consultants will be using – and how you can participate in this unique effort to reveal our history!
Dr. David Naumec is a Historian, Archaeologist, and Museum Consultant. He is an Archaeology Field Director for Heritage Consultants and is Historic New England’s Revolution 250 Research Scholar, studying New England’s indigenous and African American Revolutionary War veterans.
Watch the presentation… (1 hr, 20 min)

The Army of Observation Forms: Spring 1775 in Massachusetts
by Michael Cecere 20 May 2025
The fighting that raged over miles of Massachusetts countryside on April 19, 1775 finally subsided with the approach of evening. Thousands of Massachusetts militia had converged upon retreating British troops as they made their way back from Concord that fateful spring day and the casualties suffered by the redcoats were shocking. Two hundred and seventy-two officers and men were killed, wounded, or captured on the march from Concord. Over ninety militia from twenty-three different communities also fell that day, a majority of them killed.
Although the redcoats intended to return to Boston, their commander Gen. Hugh Earl Percy decided late in the day to march to Charlestown, instead. Percy had taken charge of the British force in Lexington when his brigade united with Lt. Col. Francis Smith’s original detachment. Charlestown was located on a peninsula across the Charles River from Boston and Percy expected that the Mystic and Charles Rivers would finally protect his flanks, which had been ravaged by the militia for much of the march. He also believed that the narrow passage connecting the peninsula to the mainland would provide a strong position for his exhausted troops to repulse any further attacks by the militia…
…The Massachusetts Provincial Congress had provided some direction on the structure of the Massachusetts militia over the winter, specifying how each soldier should be equipped and appointing several field officers like General Heath….
…But now that the British retreat was over and thousands of militia were gathered outside Boston for what looked to be an extended siege, the logistical challenges of providing for this army of militia became evident. In terms of food and shelter, the troops were on their own until morning. General Heath addressed the issue the next day. Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: POW: In Camp – A Soldier’s Life. August 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 128

In the Month of August 1782

1 August. Private Kreuzer, of Quesnoy’s Company, who had  left  on  29  June,  returned of his own accord.
12 August. Private Fichtel, of Quesnoy’s Company, was put  in  jail  because,  while  drunk, he punched a hole in Private Kl†gel’s head. As of the first of August, all prisoners of war put in the  jail  by Major Baily, as well  as  by our Major von  Beust,  receive  daily  only  two-thirds rations, so as to deter the many desertions into the country.
The following news was read in the Philadelphia German newspapers: Eight  thousand  French  and  twenty  thousand  Spanish  were  assembled  at  Cadiz,  in  Spain, under the command of General Don Cordova — which are to place Gibraltar and the island of Majorca under siege again.
The loss and capture of Comte de Grasse, admiral of the French  fleet in the West Indies, has been made known at Paris. The sea battle that he had on 12 April with Admiral Rodney is one  of  the  most  memorable  in  history.  It  lasted  from  seven  in  the  morning  until  six  in  the evening, with the greatest bravery on both sides.
The  French  admiral’s  ship,  Ville de Paris — 110  guns  and  thirteen  hundred  sailors  and marines, who were captured with Comte de Grasse — is reported to have  fired seventy-nine broadsides. Alone, it had 469 dead and wounded.
Two English  ships  of  60  and  72  guns  blew  up,  and  a  64-gun  ship,  with  670  men,  and  a frigate,  of  32  guns  and  341  men,  were  captured.  Also,  one  frigate  was  sunk.  Many  were heavily damaged, and  the  English  supposedly  had more than  700  dead  and  1,300 wounded. An English ship, the Formidable, supposedly fired ninety broadsides.
The King of Spain is said to have offered twenty ships of the line to replace the  losses of Comte  de  Grasse  and  to  be  called  the  United  Fleet,  under  the  orders  of  Admiral  Comte d’Estaing. It should act in the West Indies and consist of sixty-four ships.
It  is  reported  from  Holland  that the Dutch  fleet  in  the  East  Indies  departed  from  Batavia with thirty sail in order to attack the English possessions on the Malayan coast, which are in a poor defensive condition at present.
The French  Admiral Marquis de  Orleans  is  to  join  the  fleet  with  seven  ships  of  the  line, thirteen frigates, and four thousand men. They are to join near the island of Ceylon and from there go to Bombay in order to attack the English.
Savannah, a city in South Carolina, has been evacuated and abandoned by the English; and in Charleston, it is said, everything is being loaded aboard ship.
Not  far  from  Halifax  is  a  small  place,  Lunenburg,  which  was  occupied  by  the  English troops.  It was attacked  by  five  American  cutters  with  three  hundred  militiamen,  conquered, plundered, and  burned down. Ninety-seven English were made prisoners, and two 24-pound cannon were captured.
Peace proposals were prepared at Paris and offered to England by the ambassadors of the powers, France, Spain, Holland, and the states of America; however, they were rejected by the English because the King and Parliament have made a firm decision to continue the war with double zeal, as long as possible, on water and on land. “Sooner the sun of England should go under, before these peace proposals would be accepted and the rebels in America recognized as free states” — supposedly, this is the response in Parliament.

25 August. Chaplain Wagner, of the Ansbach Regiment,  held  church  in  the  barracks  area and gave a beautiful  sermon.  This  morning the  entire  jail was emptied,  and  all  captives and those  under  arrest  were  released.  Private  Fichtel,  of Quesnoy’s Company, was also  released with the others.
In this month there was extremely great heat, and absolutely no rain.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 23 May 1775: ‘Proper medicines in all stages of the Venereal disease’

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

“Proper medicines in all stages of the Venereal disease put up with the most faithful attention to the symptoms.”

Patrick Kennedy, a surgeon and apothecary, advertised an “assortment of genuine Patent Medicines” available at his “Drug-Store” in Baltimore in the May 23, 1775, edition of Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette.  He carried many familiar items, including Bateman’s Drops and Stoughton’s Bitters, as well as “a few boxes of Patent dentifrice powder, for cleaning and beautifying the teeth.”  He also “compounded [prescriptions] with care and fidelity.”
Beyond those medicines and services, Kennedy devoted a significant portion of his advertisement to addressing readers who contracted syphilis and other venereal diseases.  “Proper medicines in all stages of the Venereal disease,” the apothecary advised, “put up with the most faithful attention to the symptoms.”  In other words, Kennedy devised prescriptions based on the specific symptoms that patients reported to him.  Read more…

Insolvent Brothers: The Generals Ethan and Ira Allen
by Gary Shattuck 22 May 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
“I am drove almost to death for money. We are rich poor cursed rascals. By God, alter our measures or we shall be a hiss, a proverb, and a bye word, and derision upon earth.” Ethan Allen writing to Ira Allen, August 18, 1786.
How could two renowned, high-ranking men from Vermont’s Revolutionary period, the brothers Ethan (1738-1789) and Ira (1751-1814) Allen, have fallen into such dire straits in the nation’s early years that they feared the loss of all they worked for? Unsurprisingly, revolutions inevitably serve up unexpected consequences and the hard times the two men faced in the period between war’s end and the War of 1812 vividly proves that hard truth.
For the historian removed by more than two centuries attempting to unravel the circumstances of their distress, and that of others swept up in their charisma, requires some effort. It is a complicated story, but is one that shines through when the approximately 150 lawsuits in which they are named, one including a future president of the United States, are examined. (You can see a list of lawsuits here.) While there are shadowy other suits lurking in the background, extant records comfortably reveal at least this extraordinary number and the huge financial stakes they posed.
Before the lawsuits began, the frontier the Allens occupied offered an abundance of opportunities to the resourceful entrepreneur. Their early exploits involved removing themselves from Connecticut northwards to thwart the opposing claims of New York and New Hampshire governments to this terrain that later became Vermont in 1791. Read more…


Widening the Story: The Hudson Bay Company
Indigenous peoples played central roles in the success of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Interview by Mark Reid — 11 May 2022, at Canada’s History
In his recent book The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire, Stephen Bown explores in rich detail the first two centuries of one of the world’s oldest business enterprises. Canada’s History editor-in-chief Mark Reid spoke with Bown about the inspiration behind the book, as well his thoughts on the HBC’s historical and cultural legacies.

Q: Many books have been written about the Hudson’s Bay Company. What compelled you to tackle the story of this 352-year-old enterprise?

R: The company is without a doubt the most important business enterprise in the history of northern North America. I had been thinking about the topic for many years, with growing frustration toward the generally inaccurate presentation and understanding of the company’s history, in particular how it changed over time and was inextricably linked to Indigenous peoples through marriage and commerce. Earlier books, the most recent being three decades old, had too narrow a perspective on who were the company’s people, and they totally missed about a quarter of the story.

Q: What surprised you during your research?

R: I was surprised by the extent to which Indigenous peoples were integral to the company’s success and filled out the ranks of all but the most senior positions — particularly the Cree, who expanded along with the company into the nineteenth century such that the Cree language, originally from around the south and west shores of Hudson Bay and James Bay, became one of the most common throughout what is now Western Canada and even in places like Fort Vancouver, along the Columbia River in present-day Oregon, or in Fort Victoria.
Also, for most of the eighteenth century, the dynamic aspect of the inland trade was actually spearheaded and controlled by Indigenous, primarily Cree, business enterprises using the company’s outposts around the bay as wholesale distribution centres while managing and expanding the retail aspect of the trade into new regions and markets.  Read more…


Smuggling Under the Cover of Plague
For 18th-century smugglers in Guernsey and the Isle of Man, plague was a business opportunity.
By Dabeoc Stanley 5 May 2025 in History Today
In May 1720 an infected ship from the Levant arrived in Marseilles, bringing with it the last major epidemic of bubonic plague in Western Europe. The disease cut a devastating swathe through Provence, killing an estimated 119,000 people before it died out in late 1722. Reaction in the British Isles was febrile. Fears that here, too, the pestilence might travel as an unwelcome passenger of maritime commerce led to severe quarantine measures. Yet, as the London Journal wrote in December 1720, these measures could all be brought to nothing if smugglers ‘bring us the French Plague with their cursed Trade on the Sea Coast’.
Seeking to avoid an outbreak the British government tried to impose a maritime cordon sanitaire. Initially, in August 1720, the privy council ordered customs officers to prevent anyone (or anything) coming ashore from ships arriving from the Mediterranean, but in October 1720 the restrictions were extended to require all ships arriving from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man to undergo a 40-day quarantine. Why? Because Guernsey and the Isle of Man were notorious smuggling centres.
Smuggling was endemic in the 18th-century British Isles. Demand for contraband was buoyed by high taxes on desirable commodities – especially East India goods, tobacco, and foreign spirits – imposed after the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to fund British involvement in European wars. Tea, a staple of smuggling cargoes, was, before the 1784 Commutation Act, taxed at the extraordinary rate of 119 per cent.  Read more…

Family ties to Madras, India, by David Crombie UE (May 2025)
Cale McCurdy’s recent presentation on BEI/ British East India company triggered a memory that somewhere in my Manson line I had a man who had died in Madras (India).
I knew the person I was thinking of was not a direct ancestor.  Took some searching on my tree but I finally found David Manson.  He was a son of my 4th gt grandfather, William Manson, (Rick, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland). William’s wife was Nicholas Houston.  My direct ancestor is/was James Manson 1793-1837, David’s elder brother.
Several years ago, my researcher in Scotland was able to check the actual Parish Registers for Bogue Parish.  The MI / Monument Inscription reads –

     “Wm Manson d Rick 1838 67, Nicholas Houston d Rick 1830 63, their s David d Madras 26.8.1844. Eliz Manson 27.11.1877 87” (see photo page 2)

My memory was correct; it just took a while to find the right person. I thought it was weird that David Manson was listed as dying in Madras but since he wasn’t a direct ancestor, I didn’t dig further into him.
If it hadn’t been for Cale’s presentation, I never would have known about the large British presence in India.  So now I have a good idea as to why David Manson (1797-1844) was in India.  Supposedly he died of smallpox, so I’m guessing his name on his parents’ Memorial Inscription was “informational” vs reality.
NOTE: The presentation was recorded and is available to all UELAC members from the Members’ main page, under  “Presentations to Branches; Recordings on-demand”. Login required. The presentation covered the BEI as a business, and also their involvement in the Rev War.

Newsletters by Branches – Archived for Members
A number of branches publish newsletters, periodically. These are submitted for a newsletter archives and are available to members, member login required – From the Members’ Section, look for “Newsletters:”
Two recent newsletters:

  • The May issue of the Grand River Branch “Branches” newsletter
  • The May issue of the Saskatchewan Branch “Prairie Loyalist” newsletter

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.

  • Dianah Carden was a black slave from Rhode Island; she ran off ca. 1776; her former owner was Richard Burk. She was 24 in 1783, no certificate of freedom, in possession of Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Deveber, from Prince of Wales American Regiment. She came to Saint John, New Brunswick on board the ship Montague in 1783.
  • William Carden was a black slave from Danbury, Connecticut; he ran off ca. 1776; his former owner was Joseph Taylor. He had military service. He was 27 in 1783, no certificate of freedom, in possession of Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Deveber. He came to Saint John, New Brunswick on board the ship Montague in 1783.
  • Pte. Thomas Chandler first appears in Captain Andrew Maxwell’s grenadier company on November 1779 Muster Roll.  He was shown sick and present on February 1783 Muster Roll. In 1784 he petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick. He was settled in the district between Nashwaak and Madam Keyswick, New Brunswick on 29th July 1785.
  • Cpl. William Charles first appears on ship Marlin muster as part of the Expedition against Fairfield March 1, 1777. He also served in Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Delancy’s company, Captain John Bowen’s company and Captain Walter Campbell’s company. He was promoted to Corporal sometime after March 1780 Muster Roll. Prisoner with the Rebels on June 1781 Muster Roll. Prisoner with the Rebels from 25th August 1780 to 24th April 1783. In 1783 he was issued two complete Privates suite after he was returned from captivity.  In 1784 he petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick, was referred to as Sergeant. In 1788 it was noted on the petition of Benjamin Ingraham, that lot 108 in Queensbury, New Brunswick was registered to William Charles; however, he has removed to the States.
  • Pte Peter Connor first appears in Captain John Collett’s independent company Inspection Roll dated February 13, 1777. He was at the General Hospital in Charles Town on April 1781 Muster Roll. Sick and Present on June 1781 Muster Roll. Sick on June 1782 Muster Roll. In 1784 he petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick, he was referred to as Corporal in the petition.
  • Pte. William Charley. The 2nd Battalion of the Prince of Wales American Volunteers never fully formed, it was often called Hierlihy’s Corps or Independent Companies. William first appears in Curgenevan’s Company September 2, 1777 Muster Roll at Morrisania, New York, he enlisted June 1, 1777. He served with Emmerick’s Chasseurs and was taken prisoner on January 3, 1778. In 1778 the Independent Companies were shipped to Halifax and then to the Island of Saint John where they remained until incorporated into the Nova Scotia Volunteers in 1782. On October 18, 1784 he was granted 100 acres in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
  •  Cpl. James Clark first appears in Captain James Holden’s company on August 1777 Muster Roll. In 1785 he petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick.
  • Capt. Joseph Clarke.  Raised 33 men for the regiment as a warrant captain, served as Captain for 3 months. Was a surgeon for the Loyalist at Loyd’s Neck, New York. From Stratford, Connecticut. On August 14, 1784 he was granted Town Lot 313 Elliot Row, Parr Town NB. On June 20, 1787 he was granted 220 acres on Oromocto River, Sunbury County, NB. He married Isabella Allyne at Braintree Church, Massachusetts on October 27, 1760.  Both died in Dec. 1813, a week apart, in  Maugerville.

Events Upcoming

St. Lawrence Branch Plaque Ceremony ~ Loyalist Burial Site. Sun. 1 June 10:00

The United Empire Loyalists were the first Europeans to settle our region following the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Here they built the foundation of modern Ontario.
Since 2019, the St. Lawrence Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada has been erecting plaques across Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry to identify local sites where Loyalists are buried.
The newest Loyalist Burial Plaque will be unveiled in a ceremony on 1 June 2025, 10:00am
Salem United Church Cemetery, Summerstown, Ontario
For more information, visit our website

Hamilton Branch: Cemetery Plaquing Ceremony Sun 1 June @2:00

Hamilton Branch will hold its’ 15th cemetery plaquing ceremony All are welcome.
Place:   Mount Vernon Pioneer Cemetery, Harvester Rd. across from Appleby GO Station (behind businesses) in Burlington, Ontario.
First-generation Loyalist:    Clement Lucas Jr. UEL
Members please come in historical clothing, if you can.  This is a rain or shine event and you may need a lawnchair, hopefully not an umbrella.
Light refreshments will be available at Appleby United Church hall after the ceremony.
…Pat Blackburn, Past President Hamilton UELAC

Gov. Simcoe Branch: “The Loyalist Who Wasn’t” by Beth Adams Wed 4 June 7:30

While helping a cousin uncover family history through DNA results, “stories” of connection to “the mountain” in Hamilton and a Loyalist ancestor were discovered. This presentation will review the process that led to the discovery of the family Beth’s cousin never knew, as well as investigating the very surprising possibility of indigenous and UEL heritage. Successful and unsuccessful sources will be discussed. As with most of our family trees, this one is a “work in progress”.  More and Registration…

The American Revolution Institute: The British Army in 1775 Thurs 5 June 6:30

Historian Don Hagist, editor of the Journal of the American Revolution, discusses the state of the British Army in North America before and after the opening shots of the Revolution on April 19, 1775. Drawing from his research, Hagist will also discuss the experiences of the British Army during the initial battles of the war; the tactical, strategic, and logistical challenges it encountered; and how its leaders attempted to overcome and adapt to these challenges.  Don Hagist is the managing editor of the Journal of the American Revolution.  Registration…

Fort Plain Museum: American Revolutionary War Conference May 29 – June 1, Johnstown NY

A bus tour on Thursday is followed by three days of conference from mid-day Friday until mid-day Sunday. There are many expert and noted speakers including:

  • Michael P. Gabriel – Richard Montgomery and the Other Invasion of Canada
  • The James F. Morrison Mohawk Valley Resident Historian – William P. Tatum III, Ph.D. – “To Quell, Suppress, and Bring Them to Reason by Force:” Combatting the Loyalist Threat in New York during 1775
  • Shirley L. Green – Integrating Enslaved and Free: Rhode Island’s Revolutionary Black Regiment
  • Don N. Hagist – Marching from Peace into War: British Soldiers in 1775 America
  • Bruce M. Venter – “It is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones”: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys Take Fort Ticonderoga
  • Wayne Lenig – The Mohawk Valley’s Committee of Safety in 1775
  • Eric H. Schnitzer – Breaking Convention: How a Fussy Detail about British Uniforms Doomed Burgoyne’s Army to Captivity

Read more about the conference...

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • During the American Revolution there was a Hessian soldier encampment of more than 60 Huts on the land of the Dykeman family in New York. Yesterday (16 May 2025) while visiting the Dykeman Farmhouse Museum I viewed a reconstruction of the Hut.    Brian McConnell IE
  • Food and Related : Townsends

  • This week in History
    •  20 May 1774, London. King George III signs the Massachusetts Government Act, annuls the colony’s charter, & signs the Administration of Justice Act, tightening political & legal control. Power reverts to Royal Gov.. These were some of the Coercive Acts. image
    • 18 May 1775, St. John, Quebec. Colonel Benedict Arnold, aboard the sloop-of-war Liberty, raids the shipyards & captures a schooner & a supply sloop named the George.  Arnold led some 35 sailors on the 2-hour raid. The George was later armed with twelve 4-pound guns and ten swivel guns and renamed the USS Enterprise, marking the beginning of a lineage of American warships bearing the same name.  This first Enterprise became the most powerful ship in America’s Lake Champlain fleet—served in the August 1775 expedition to St. Johns, the 1776 Battle of Valcour Island, and in 1777 at Fort Ticonderoga. image
    • 18 May 1775, Philadelphia. The Continental Congress reelects Peyton Randolph of Virginia and Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania as president and secretary.  image
    • May 20, 1775, Charlotte, NC. A committee of citizens of Mecklenburg County supposedly signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, after hearing of the battles of Lexington and Concord, a full year before the U.S. Declaration of Independence.  image
    • 21 May 1775, Boston. The British garrison dispatches four boats to Grape Island to forage. Rebels respond with musket fire, but the British escape with some. Local militia burns remaining supplies on the isle to deprive the British garrison of sustenance. image
    • 22 May 1775, Henry Laurens excitedly writes about South Carolina’s “amazing readiness to contribute to the common cause” after the battles of Lexington and Concord.  image
    • 22 May 1775, 1st New Hampshire Regt formed with Col John Stark as first commander. They fought at the Battle of Chelsea Creek & Bunker Hill in 1775. On 1 January 1776, while engaged in the Siege of Boston, the unit was renamed the 5th Continental Regiment. image
    • 24 May 1775, Peyton Randolph of Virginia resigned as President of the Second Continental Congress. John Hancock was elected to succeed him as President. image
    • 19 May 1776 Cedars, Quebec. American Maj. Isaac Butterfield’s militia attacked by Capt. George Forster’s company of the 8th Regiment &  200 Indians. Butterfield surrenders on the promise that the Indians will not massacre them. image
    • 22 May 1776, New York City. The Continental Army HQ issued General Orders naming the ten batteries and redoubts protecting lower Manhattan with names like Grand Battery, Fort George, Whitehall Battery, Oyster Battery, Grenadier Battery, Jersey-Battery, Bayard’s Hill Redoubt, Spencer’s Redoubt, Waterbury’s Battery, and Badlam’s Redoubt. These were started by General Charles Lee in February of that year. At this point, most of the cannons used in the forts were old British guns, but there were never enough to cover the numerous points of invasion open to a British Army with naval superiority. image
    • 20 May 1777, St. Augustine, FL. Gen Robert Howe’s planned attack on British Gen Augustine Prevost fails when Howe’s militia officers refuse to follow orders. image
    • 21 May 1777 – Lt. Col. Return Jonathan Meigs leads 240 men in a raid against Sag Harbor on Long Island. Due to a storm, they are forced back to Guilford, CT., and have to wait 2 days for the storm to pass.  image
    • 23 May 1777, Lt. Col Meigs restarted the raid with 170 men. They row across Long Island Sound, arriving in Sag Harbor, NY, in a successful daring night raid. Using only bayonets, they take 90 British soldiers & kill 16. 12 British supply ships are torched. image
    • 18 May 1778, Philadelphia, PA. Maj John Andre throws the Meschianza, a medley of lavish celebrations including feasts, balls, shows, and fireworks to farewell the departing British commander-in-chief Lord William Howe. image
    • 18 May 1778 Valley Forge, PA. Gen Washington sends Marquis de Lafayette with a 2.3 K-strong corps of observation to watch the British between the Delaware & Schuylkill rivers. Lafayette deploys two brigades on Barren Hill, some 50 yards from their lines.  image
    • 19 May 1778, Barren Hill, PA. Gen William Howe’s forces stealthily surround Marquis de Lafayette’s division with 11K men, but Lafayette’s Oneida scouts under Capt Allen McLane provide a last-minute warning as dawn breaks.  image
    • 19 May 1779 Martinique, W. Indies. Fleets of Adm George Rodney & comte de Guichen, spar for 3 hours in St Lucia Channel in an indecisive engagement. British lost the SOL, HMS Cornwallis, with 47 killed & 113 wounded. French lost 45 killed & 95 wounded. image
    • 21 May 1779, Philadelphia, PA. Continental Congress, facing (another) financial crisis, requests that states advance funds totaling $ 45 M.  image
    • 23 May 1779, West Point, NY. American traitor, Gen Benedict Arnold, establishes his bona fides with his new masters by sending British commander in chief, Sir Henry Clinton, detailed information regarding the defenses at West Point & surrounding camps. image
    • 19 May 1780 A mix of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover left New England in total darkness starting at 10:30 AM, known as New England’s Dark Day. Panic ensued in many communities, and candles were needed in the middle of the day. image
    • 21 May 1780, Johnstown, NY. Chief Joseph Brant & Sir John Johnston led a force of 600 Loyalists & Iroquois in a raid on patriot settlements, killing scores of settlers & taking 40 captives. image
    • 22 May 1780 Caughnawaga, NY. Sir John Johnson dispatches his forces – some 300 Loyalists & Iroquois, to attack and burn the village.  image
    • 20 May 1781 Petersburg, VA. Major General  (lod)  Charles Cornwallis’s army joins forces with Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, increasing the British army in Virginia to more than 7,000.  image
    • 23 May 1782, Newburgh, NY. Nicola Affair. Gen Washington angrily rebukes Col Nicholas Nicola for his letter suggesting the commander in chief make himself king of the new nation. Nicola apologizes for the suggestion, but his sentiments were widely shared. image
    • 23 May 1783 James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician, dies after being struck by lightning. Helped formulate the colonists’ grievances against the British government leading up to the #AmRev image
    • 20 May 1834 Marquis de Lafayette, American patriot and French revolutionary, dies at 76. He left a life of luxury to serve the American cause as a successful & popular young general, but later his French political life imploded in a cause gone bad. image
  • Clothing and Related:
    • A girl named S. Woodgate completed this simple yet charming darning sampler on 12 April 1771.  Around the border of her square sampler, made of very fine linen, she has worked 12 darning crosses in a variety of patterns
  • Miscellaneous

    •     African culture has significantly influenced modern music. Polyrhythm, call-and-response and storytelling are at the heart of many African music traditions.
      During the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, enslaved African peoples carried their heritage with them and blended it into new cultures in the Caribbean and colonial America. One example is the modern banjo.
      Enslaved Africans reconstructed a West African (not Central Africa) string instrument that is the ancestor to the modern banjo. Throughout the Americas it was known by different names such as the banjar, in 18th-century Virginia.
      Enslaved Africans used their wood carving skills, gourds, and animal parts for string, and they played the banjar in a distinctive African style.
      The banjo we know today is a blend of both African and European musical traditions, with roots in both cultures influencing it.


Last Post: Clark UE, Ronald Marvin  Mar 29, 1929 – May 1, 2025
In Loving Memory of Ronald Marvin Clark. It is with heavy hearts that we announce he left us peacefully on May 1, 2025, at the age of 86, surrounded by his beloved family.
Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Ron was the cherished son of John (Jack) Allen Clark and Evelyn Gertrude Hayward. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from Sir Wilfrid Laurier University and embarked on a career in the insurance industry and in sales.
A true Canadian at heart, Ron was a devoted Toronto Maple Leafs fan, a proud United Empire Loyalist, and a lifelong Tory. His passion for family genealogy and world history made him an active member of the Toronto, Junction, and Swansea Historical Societies where he took great joy in leading local tours and sharing his knowledge. A true gentleman of the 1950s, Ron was known for his deep admiration of Elvis Presley and his enthusiasm for travel, which took him to many corners of the world.
Ron’s legacy lives on through those who loved him dearly. He is survived by his wife, Dawn; his children, Jennifer (Bryan) and Bradley; his stepchildren, Michael (Effie) and Karen; his step grand-daughter Lena; his younger sister, Shirley; nieces and nephews; and his former wife, Lynn. He was preceded in death by his loving parents and the cherished pets who brought him joy throughout his life. More details at Turner & Porter

Ron was a member of Toronto Branch UELAC. He proved his descent from Isaiah (Josiah) Cain in 2010.
…Jennifer Sullivan UE

 

Published by the UELAC
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