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Scholarship Challenge 2025: Update for 2 Aug
Progress: Several more donations this week, another $500 increased the Challenge tally from $2,150 to $2,650.
Will you help us achieve our goal of $5,000 by 1 Sept? At Challenge 2025 see the status, who has donated and how to donate.

A word from one of our 2025 Award Recipients – Kaitlyn Carter, PhD Candidate, Queen’s University Department of History:

    “I am deeply grateful for the support provided by the UELAC Loyalist Scholarship. Though I have no familial ties to the Loyalists myself, I have long been interested in Loyalist history, and I am thrilled to be pursuing my research at the doctoral level. My research, which is an emotional history of pain during the medical encounter between military physicians and soldiers during the War of 1812 and Napoleonic Wars, will examine how emotional experiences of war can be indicative of the movement of ideas across the British Empire, including the dis/continuities between Loyalists and British soldiers. As my research concerns changes in emotional performance in colonial settings, Loyalists and militiamen offer a unique, and crucial, case study of men and women fighting alongside the British army who have been in North America for a long period of time.
The UELAC Loyalist Scholarship provides me with the financial opportunity to travel to Ottawa and Toronto for archival research at Library and Archives Canada and Archives of Ontario. As a first-generation university student, I am deeply humbled to have received such prestigious support for my studies, and I am appreciative of the prospects the additional funding will provide me over the next three years”.

UELAC typically awards two scholarships each year. A scholarship for a Masters program is for two years, and a PhD program is for three years, but in both cases the scholarships are for an annual amount, renewable each year so long as progress is satisfactory.
At the moment, the UELAC program is supporting six Scholars in their research programs. Your donations make a big difference in our ability to help them. At Scholarship Challenge 2025, please make your donation today.  We – and the scholars – appreciate your assistance.
And only $850 more will trigger the beginning of the donation-matching program. Won’t you help us drain some of that benefactor’s bank account?

Loyalist Church Invasions 
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
Battles between American Loyalists and American Patriots ranged from verbal arguments to outright physical violence. Students of the American Revolution are familiar with the tarring and feathering of Loyalists, of persuasive tracts published by both sides of the conflict, and the imprisonment of those who would not sign rebel oaths of allegiance. Families and friends were divided by the issues of the day, and –in some cases– resulted in the shunning of those with opposing views for the remainder of their lives.
It will come as no surprise, then, to learn that even houses of worship were not immune to displays of partisan assaults. One such example: a Sunday in 1776 when college students in New York City went to church with guns hidden under their academic gowns.
After the Declaration of Independence was issued in July of 1776, prayers said for King George III were an act of political defiance. While Loyalists may have prayed for the health and safety of their monarch in the privacy of their homes, the new republic forbid Anglican ministers to continue praying for the king in their regular worship services. Some Church of England clergymen obeyed this ban; others defiantly continued to pray for George III, asserting that it was an obligation of the vows that they had taken at their ordinations.
One such defiant rector was the Rev. Dr. Samuel Auchmuty (ock-MEW-tee), the pastor at Trinity Church, and the man was in charge of all the Anglican Churches in New York City. Born in Boston in 1725, Auchmuty later received degrees from Harvard, Oxford, and King’s College. At the age of 22, he was ordained as an Anglican minister and became the assistant minister at New York City’s Trinity Church. A royalist through and through, it was inevitable that he would butt heads with William Alexander, a Patriot who was better known as Lord Stirling. It was not long before the two men would enter a battle of the wills on a unique field of combat – the sanctuary of Trinity Church.
When rebel troops had taken command of New York City, Lord Stirling decided to quash the reading of prayers for the king. Using Auchmuty’s son Robert as his courier, the Patriot officer vowed that he would send “a band of soldiers” to Trinity Church if the Rev. Auchmuty read prayers for the monarch at his next Sunday morning service.   “Knowing his father’s indomitable spirit“, Robert did not deliver Stirling’s message. Instead, he and some of his classmates from King’s College took matters into their own hands.
On the Sunday morning at which the Rev. Auchmuty was supposed to omit reading prayers to the king, Robert and his friends made a point of sitting near the pulpit with “arms concealed under their gowns“, ready to protect the Anglican minister.
As soon as Auchmuty began to read the prayers for the long life and safety of the British king, “Lord Stirling  marched into the church with a body of soldiers and a band of music playing Yankee Doodle.  The Doctor’s voice never faltered, but he went on and finished the prayers.”
How the morning congregation reacted to such a brazen interruption in their worship service goes unrecorded. No doubt it intimidated more than a few of the loyal parishioners. Fortunately, Stirling’s men did not carry out the threat to “take {Auchmuty} out of the desk“, and no one at the service was assaulted. Instead, the rebel “soldiers marched up one aisle and down another and went out again without any violence.”
It had been a close call. Had the Patriots tried to capture Auchmuty, the rector’s son and his companions might very well have drawn their weapons to defend the minister, resulting in either an armed standoff or bloodshed.
Auchmuty must have interpreted Stirling’s musical assault on his congregation as a warning shot. Would the Patriot officer escalate his crackdown on prayers for the king? In the end, Auchmuty “sent for the keys of Trinity and its chapels and ordered that they should not be again opened until the liturgy could be performed without interruption.”
Locking the doors of his church, the Anglican rector left New York City for sanctuary in Brunswick, New Jersey. He did not return to his home until the British took possession of the city in September of 1776.
Sadly, Auchmuty’s morning service was not the only one that would be disrupted by the violence of the American Revolution.
One of the most trusted and beloved leaders of the loyalists in Redding, Connecticut was the Rev. John Beach, the Anglican rector of Christ Church. “Obedience to his king was to him as obligatory as obedience to his God, and neither threats nor persecution could move him from the path of duty.”
After July of 1775, Anglican clergymen suspended their church services throughout much of Connecticut as they felt that they “would draw upon themselves inevitable destruction” because of their weekly prayers for the king and his victory over all of his enemies — everywhere that is, except in Newtown and Redding where Rev. Beach presided. Beach is remembered as declaring, “he would pray for the king till the rebels cut out his tongue.”
He absolutely refused to leave out the prayers for the king, a position which “soon brought upon him the active persecution of the local patriots.” One Sunday, a squad of soldiers marched into Beach’s church in Newtown, and threatened to shoot him if he prayed for George III.  One account says that they had their muskets pointed at the clergyman’s head. Beach ignored the men and went on with his supplication for the king without “so much as a tremor in his voice“.
The soldiers were so struck with admiration for his courage that they “stacked arms and remained to listen to the sermon“.
Rev. Beach did not always fare so well when there were soldiers in his congregation. Once a band of Patriots took him to where an axe and block were prepared for his execution. One soldier said, “Now you old sinner, say your last prayer.” Beach knelt down and prayed, “God bless King George, and forgive his enemies and mine for Christ’s sake.” His captors let him go.
On another occasion, seven soldiers were hired to assassinate Beach. In the midst of a worship service, they burst open the door of the Redding sanctuary and shot at Beach. He was delivering his sermon from a pulpit which was directly down the aisle from the church’s main door. A bullet lodged in the sounding board which was only 30 centimetres above Beach’s head. The congregation sprang to its feet to flee the church. Beach quickly quoted Scripture, calming his congregation with the words: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy  both soul and body in hell.” Beach then continued with his sermon as if nothing had happened.
So appreciated was this staunch loyalist rector, that tablets commemorating his years of service were later placed in the churches where he had pastored. The tablet at Christ Church in Redding Ridge contains the bullet which Patriots had shot at John Beach in the midst of a sermon. Someone had retrieved the bullet from the sounding board that had been above the clergyman’s head that Sunday morning and kept it as a memento of Beach’s courage.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.
Added Note: 
Trinity Church: The Two Pauls at St. Paul’s Chapel
by James Melchiorre 13 Oct. 2022 at Trinity Church
St. Paul’s Chapel opened on Thursday, October 30, 1766 with Trinity’s Rector at that time, the Rev. Samuel Auchmuty, preaching a sermon based on the scriptural account in the Book of Exodus of Moses and the Burning Bush.
The building is almost exactly 80 years older than the third (and current) Trinity Church, and an estimated one million people a year were visiting up to the start of the pandemic. The chapel is now once again open to the public, seven days a week.
Ever since its birth in the late colonial period in New York City, the chapel has honored its namesake and patron saint, Paul of Tarsus, tentmaker, prolific epistle writer, and apostle to the Gentiles.
St. Paul is represented both inside and outside, and the month of October is important to the chapel, and its connection to Paul, because of a couple of anniversaries.  Read more…

A Loyalist Monument and My Loyalist Ancestor
By Brian McConnell UE July 2025
On July 24, 2014 I proved my Loyalist ancestry from James Humphrey UEL, who had served during the American Revolution with Jessup’s Loyal Rangers. I received a certificate from the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada. He settled afterwards near Prescott, Ontario.
Despite searching burial records and cemetery lists I have been unable to find where he was buried. However, on June 2, 2019, I visited a monument at Johnstown, Ontario to him and other Loyalists. It is located in a small park entered off County Road 2 at the intersection of Highway 16 across from the Johnstown United Church. Read more and watch a short video…
Note: The record for James Humphrey UEL in the Loyalist Directory contains more information including a PDF biography by Brian McConnell.

Loyalist Monuments
The mission of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association calls on members to “preserve, promote and celebrate the history and traditions of the Loyalist epoch in Canadian history” in a variety of ways.
Over the years the contributions of the United Empire Loyalists have been recognized by the Association, governments, community groups and individuals in the form of permanent monuments, memorials, and plaques
At uelac.ca is a section about monuments  which have been listed geographically from east to west across Canada.
Brian’s information noted above has been added in the Ontario section, in the St Lawrence Valley  at ‘Township No. 6’ Loyalist Monument.

UELAC Conference 2025 Inspiration: Steadfast in Adversity: The Life of David White UEL by Sandra Guinan UE 
I attended my first United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada’s National Conference in Saint John, New Brunswick, in July of this year. The first speaker, Wade Wells, spoke about “Developments at Johnson Hall.” This was a topic about which I knew nothing, but Wade Wells’s presentation served as a catalyst, inspiring me to delve more deeply into any possible connection between my fourth great-grandfather, David White Sr. (1752–1846), and Johnson Hall.
Johnson Hall, a Georgian-style mansion built in 1763 in Johnstown, Tyron County, New York, is now recognized as a National Historic Site. Once the residence of Sir William Johnson— an Anglo-Irish immigrant, British army officer, and colonial administrator—this grand estate played a significant role in the region’s history. Sir William had been appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs and granted a baronetcy by the British crown. Upon his death in 1775, his eldest son, Sir John Johnson, inherited both the titles and his vast estate.
I am always impressed by someone who displays genuine passion for their chosen subjects. Wade Wells, Historic Site Manager of Johnson Hall, personified that passion. From age nine Wade was captivated by all matters relating to Johnson Hall. He has spent his life working on the restoration of the estate and maintaining its place in American history.
The puzzle pieces began to connect when I heard him mention two places: Johnstown and Albany. I knew that David White had lived in Johnstown, that his cattle had been stolen en route to the Albany market, and that he had assisted a Lieutenant John McDonall of the 1st Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment to escape from the Albany gaol. The King’s Royal Regiment itself was commanded by Sir John Johnson1 and was primarily composed of Catholic Highland Scots —tenants whom Sir William had personally recruited.  Read more…
Note:  There is an entry for David White in the Loyalist Directory.

Fires and Explosions at Fort St. John’s in 1780
by Robert Jeffrey 29 July 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
The pivotal military events that transpired in the northern theatre of war during the American Revolution are well known. A chronological list of the main ones would include: the failed American invasion of Canada in 1775-76; the British naval victory on Lake Champlain at the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776; the decisive American victory at Saratoga that foiled British plans in 1777; and the brutal raiding by both protagonists on the frontier borders in 1778-1780. By 1781 through to 1783, the defense of Canada had become the British focus in the northern theatre as well as the ongoing but not to be fulfilled aspiration that the republic of Vermont might join the Empire. Fort St. John’s, a post on the Richelieu River between Lake Champlain and Montreal, was directly connected to most of these renowned events. There were also some fascinating but forgotten happenings that took place there. Though they are obscure in the annals of history, they nonetheless were very significant at the time. Two events that fit into this category were the destructive fires that erupted at the fortification in 1780 and 1783.

A Strong Defensive Headquarters and Naval Shipyard
Fort St. John’s strategic location at the head of the St. Jean rapids on the Richelieu River gave its shipping an unimpeded route to Lake Champlain which was the “logical entryway from Canada into the center of the . . . colonies.” Situated on the west side of the river, south of Fort Chambly, north of Ile aux Noix, and approximately twenty-five miles from the American border, was this dominant fortification. In 1775 the fort was anchored at its north and south ends by redoubts positioned six hundred feet apart that were connected by a palisaded trench. In between the redoubts was a naval dockyard. British officer Thomas Anburey vividly described the naval dockyard and fort on November 30, 1776, as follows: Read more…

“In the Cause of American Liberty:” Catholic Contributions to Independence 
by Raphael Corletta 31 July 2023
Eighteenth-century America was predominantly Protestant, and the Thirteen Colonies suffered from a virulent strain of anti-Catholicism. Despite this, the mostly-Protestant Founding Fathers, while being greatly inspired by their Protestant English forebears, were greatly inspired by Catholic thinkers as well.
The United States was not established as a Christian country, with American diplomats asserting in 1797: “the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.” But while the separation of church and state remains an important tenet of the American republic to this day, the Founding Fathers, while taking many of their philosophical ideas from the rationalist notions of the Enlightenment, believed that virtue was necessary to sustain a republic, with religion being the most common source for virtue. While Christianity was not seen as the only faith that provided virtue, with Benjamin Rush remarking “I had rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mahomed inculcated upon our youth, than to see them grow up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles,” Christianity, particularly Protestant Christianity, was seen as the best source for virtue, with the notion best illustrated in Samuel Adams’ idea of a “Christian Sparta” that combined the best aspects of classical political tradition and Protestantism.
Virtue could be attained through Protestantism in the eyes of many eighteenth-century Americans, but not through Catholicism. Eighteenth-century British Protestants on both sides of the Atlantic were largely anti-Catholic, with this anti-Catholicism stemming from the bloody conflicts over religion in Europe. After Martin Luther started protesting against the abuses of the Catholic Church in the early sixteenth century, Europe split into Protestant and Catholic camps. Because the countries had state-sponsored churches in this time, the divisions caused by the Reformation were not only spiritual but political as well. Read more…
Editor’s Note 1 in the article:
Charles Carroll, the only Catholic  signer of the Declaration of Independence, signed the document mainly to promote religious toleration in America. Carroll was a unique asset to the American cause and was sent by the Continental Congress to Canada in early 1776 (along with his cousin, a Catholic priest), in order to assuage the fears of Catholic Canadians who feared that the American invaders would deprive them of their religious liberties.
Note 2: Anti-Catholicism remained dominant in eighteenth-century-America, as shown in the reaction to The Quebec Act of 1774. The Quebec Act was one of many British decisions that led to the American Revolution.

Podcast: Roger Williams, Rogue Puritan
Ben Franklin’s World 28 July 2025
Three historians reveal the religious convictions that drove Roger Williams to migrate to and then break away from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Roger Williams’ collaborations and relationships with Indigenous leaders. And, details about the founding of Rhode Island, a colony where church and state were formally separated and religious liberty was extended farther than anywhere else in early North America. Listen in…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: in Captivity at Springfield, Long Island. June 1783
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)
  • May 1783: departed Frederick MD to Springfield, Long Island

1783: Continuation of the Notable Occurences in the North American Field Campaign; Marching out of Captivity to Springfield on Long Island, in the Seventh and Last Year, Page 140

1 June.  Second  Lieutenant  Hirsch,  of  the  Colonel’s  Company,  was  transferred  to Quesnoy’s  Company  and  the  previously  second  lieutenant,  Ciriacy,  was  promoted  to  first lieutenant of Quesnoy’s Company. Private [Wilhelm]  Lang, of the  Colonel’s Company, was promoted to corporal and transferred to Quesnoy’s Company.
Our  Quartermaster  Sergeant  Knoll,  however,  was  demoted  by  Colonel  Seybothen  and enrolled  in  Quesnoy’s  Company  as  a  private. We  received  Quartermaster  Sergeant  [Johann Leonhard] Kirchmeyer from our Jaegers.
2 June. Private Purucker, of Quesnoy’s Company, returned to the regiment from Frederick.
3 June. The company received shirts, shoes, and neckcloths.
4 June. It was the King of England’s  birthday. This was celebrated by the English troops on Long Island and New York. Today the Articles of War were  again  read to  us.  I  went on duty as the orderly to First Lieutenant and Adjutant von Streit.
5 June.  Private  Knoll,  on  the  intercession  of  the  entire  regiment,  was  again  pardoned  by Colonel von Seybothen and transferred to Major Beust’s Company as a corporal.
9 June.  Our  regiment  carried  out  punishment.  Two  field  jaegers,  who  had  deserted  and again been captured, had, each, to run the gauntlet sixteen times.
10 June. Punishment was again meted out to these jaegers. The one ran sixteen times again and survived it. The other, however, became deathly sick, and his punishment was therefore dismissed. Today also, we received white cotton trousers.

11 June. I went on duty as orderly to the Adjutant von Streit.
12 June. The regiment received new hats.
13 June. I went on command to Jamaica, Bedford, and Brooklyn. We picked  up baggage and  our  war  chest  from  New  York,  which  belonged  to  the  Bayreuth  Regiment.  We  were measured today, also.
14 June. We returned to Springfield.
15 June.  Chaplain  Erb,  of  the  Jaeger  Battalion,  held  confession  and  communion  for  the regiment.  Chaplain  Wagner,  of  the  Ansbach  Regiment,  had  remained  in  Frederick.  He  had been promised a position in Maryland and planned to marry. We no longer had a chaplain for either regiment.
16 June. We received  our  arrears  in  pay  through  the  end  of  June.  Each  private  received twelve Spanish dollars and twenty-one coppers.
17 June. The company resumed drilling.
18 June. We again received money. Each man received three York shillings and two and one-half pence for arrears in our rations.

21 June.  I  went  on  the  officers’  watch,  which,  on  orders  of  Colonel  Seybothen,  made arrests;  namely,  of  Grenadier  Captain  von  Molitor  and  First  Lieutenant  von  Altenstein,  for marrying American women, permission for which had not been granted.
22 June.  Colonel  von  Seybothen  returned  to  the  regiment  from  New  York  and  took quarters with a resident in Springfield.
23 June. He reviewed his regiment again for the first time and was amazed at the reduced strength, because only about one-third of his regiment had returned from captivity.
26 June. The English Major General Clarkens, as commander on Long Island, mustered us.
27 June.I went on regimental watch as lance corporal.
29 June. I began writing  for Adjutant von Streit. I had to complete three regimental  lists; one for Colonel von Seybothen, one for Major Beust, and one for him.
30 June.  The  companies  conducted  drill  again.  During  this  month  we  had  the  desired weather.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 29 July 1775: ‘All Letters Post free carried gratis for any Subscriber.’

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

“All Letters Post free, and small bundles not exceeding eight ounces, carried gratis for any Subscriber.”

As the Revolutionary War commenced, Thomas Sculley, a post rider, followed a route that connected several towns in Delaware to Philadelphia.  At noon on every Wednesday, he departed from William Dibley’s Fountain Tavern on Chestnut Street and made for Lewis Town (now Lewes).  He stopped at Middletown, Dover, and other towns along the way, delivering letters, newspapers, and packages.  That took three days.  Sculley arrived at Lewis Town by noon on Saturday and started the return trip later the same day.  Presumably he made it to Philadelphia on Tuesday, giving customers an opportunity to consult with him at the Fountain Tavern.
Sculley placed an advertisement for his services in the July 29, 1775, edition of the Pennsylvania Ledger.  Like some other post riders, he did not charge solely by the letter, package, or newspaper subscription but instead marketed a subscription service. Read more…

The perilous role of the Georgian Firefighter
By Sarah Murden 13 Nov. 2023 at All Things Georgian
Should you have the misfortune to suffer a household/business fire in the Georgian period, then let’s hope you had taken out fire insurance. If you hadn’t then you would not be eligible to call on the services of the firefighters to save all your treasured possessions, not to mention your life.
However, this suggestion seems to be a little unfounded, as, if your home/business was on fire, there was a great risk of it spreading to surrounding buildings, so it seems unlikely that, if possible, firefighters would actually allow a neighbouring building to be demolished.
Each insurance company had its own fire service, and the way in which the firemen knew you had insurance was by a metal plaque on your house which would confirm your eligibility, such as this one: Read more…

Fire fighting and insurance in North America
Firefighting and fire insurance in North America around the time of the American Revolution (circa 1770s–1780s) were in their early, formative stages, strongly influenced by European practices but adapted to local conditions.
Volunteer fire companies were the norm. In cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, firefighting was handled by organized volunteer groups. Benjamin Franklin was instrumental in founding the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia in 1736, one of the earliest and most influential fire brigades in colonial America.
Bucket brigades: Most firefighting was done using leather buckets passed hand-to-hand from water sources to the fire.  Hand-pumped engines (sometimes called “squirts”): Crude fire engines had started to appear, often imported from Europe or locally built.  Axes and hooks were used to tear down burning structures or create firebreaks to prevent the spread.
There were no fire hydrants. Water was sourced from wells, rivers, cisterns, and barrels. In urban areas, residents were expected to keep buckets and ladders ready in case of fire.
Narrow streets and wooden buildings in colonial towns made fires spread rapidly. There were no standardized uniforms—firefighters wore civilian clothing or basic gear. Firefighting was as much a community effort as an organized activity.
The first American fire insurance company was the Philadelphia Contributionship, founded in 1752 by Benjamin Franklin and others. It was modeled on British mutual insurance societies and remains the oldest property insurance company in the U.S.
Insured buildings were often marked with a fire mark—a metal plaque mounted on the building indicating which insurance company covered it. In some cases, fire brigades affiliated with a specific insurer would only extinguish fires on marked buildings. This practice varied but was more common in early British cities like London.
Insurance Policies typically covered buildings, not contents. Risks considered included construction materials, proximity to other buildings, and availability of water. The Philadelphia Contributionship was notable for refusing to insure wooden buildings too close together, thereby promoting fire safety through underwriting.
In Canada, organized firefighting and insurance developed slightly later than in American colonies.

Borealia: Exceptional Policing: American perspectives on the Cypress Hills Massacre
By Max Hamon 9 July 2025 at Borealia
It seems rather difficult to make sense of the postures about American international relations these days. History doesn’t offer any real lessons, but recalling previous border tensions might help give us some perspective on how Canada and the United States have charted their relationship.
The basic outline of the Cypress Hills Massacre should be relatively well-known to many readers of Borealia. In the late spring summer of 1873, a band of roughly twelve men left Fort Benton, Montana, in pursuit of “Indian” horse thieves. Travelling more than 250 kilometres north to the prairie oasis called Cypress Hills. There they encountered, threatened, and finally opened fire on a band of Assiniboine encamped in a coulee. Roughly thirty people were killed, and is reputed to be one of the most violent episodes of Canada’s annexation of the Northwest. Its exceptionality was explained by historians north and south of the border as American.
The men from Fort Benton, known to posterity as “American wolfers,” were in fact a mixed group. The involvement of “Canadians” in this group is an underappreciated aspect of this history. Did the news really spark a wave of anti-Americanism? The chronology is significant.
When they returned to Fort Benton news of the murder gradually trickled out through the newspapers and government channels. Negative characterizations of the killings did not begin until 1875 when the efforts by North-West Mounted Police to bring the men to justice were frustrated. News did not reach British officials until August 1873, two months after the event. The kneejerk reaction was to dismiss it. The Manitoba Free Press only reported on the killings in late August, and the initial Canadian public opinion matched American. In this era, the murder of Indigenous peoples along the border was not a legal issue and was dismissed.  Read more…


Personal Comment: Article about Waskaganish
Last week’s issue included “What does the fall of the Hudson’s Bay Company mean to the people of Waskaganish?”
James G. Oborne UE, member of New Brunswick and Assiniboinee Branches, commented:

Re the HBC Waskaganish article. In 1987 this store was bought by the  new NWC as part of its purchase of the Northern Stores division of the HBC and it remained such  until  closure. As a Founding Director of the NWC, I attended a Directors’ meeting there 20+ years ago and I remember the visit vividly. An amazing and historic community!
…Jim
We had 2 private planes – 1 for the eastern directors and 1 for the western/Winnipeg directors. Someone peed in the gas tank of the eastern plane so another had to be sent from Toronto.
I was haggling for a deer antler carved and painted to look like a bird of prey. It was September and the tourism season was pretty much done. The guy wanted $1500 but settled for $600 as he was unlikely to see another interested tourist that season, as I was boarding. I am looking at it now on top of a cabinet
…Jim

The U.S. Tariff Act of 1890 was meant to hurt Canada. Instead, it made us stronger
  A look at the McKinley Tariff, a political weapon that imposed crippling tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Canadian exports to the U.S.
By Craig Baird 28 July 2025 at Canadian Geographic
Member of parliament Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau had a message for Americans when he spoke at the Commercial Club banquet in Providence, Rhode Island, on Nov. 28, 1891. He told them the sudden increase in tariffs on all Canadian goods going into the United States was a measure, “for the passing of which we ought not to feel angry with the United States. It has done us good, caused us to realize that we stand upon our own feet, who before leaned a little for support upon the United States.”
He said these words more than 130 years ago, but with U.S.-imposed tariffs and talk of annexation again rearing their ugly heads, they would not be out of place today.  Read more…  (short)

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

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

Thanks to Karen Stevenson UE

  • Loyalist Portrait: Jerimiah Myers/Meyers
    By Karen Stevenson UE, as published in the PEI Loyalist Beacon, Summer 2005
    Jerimiah Myers was a Loyalist from Pennsylvania thought to be of Quaker, German or Dutch ancestry. Born about 1750, we find him in the “Company of Armed Batteau Men” under the leadership of Captain Peter Van Alstine. He was also listed on the Muster Roll of Artificers and Sawyers” as a carpenter on Staten Island in 1781. On 7 July 1782 his daughter Ruth was born in New York.
    Jerimiah, a woman and 4 children paid their passage in 1783 to Shelburne N.S. They travelled as “Port Roseway Associates” and on arrival were granted 50 acres of land below Shelburne in “Masons division”. In 1786 they sold the land and moved to York, PEI. In the 1798 census, there were one male and one female 16-60 and one male and one female under 16.
    In the 1798 census their daughter Ruth was living next door with her husband Conrad Younker son of Hessian soldier Johann Christian Ernst Juncker. Johann was regimental drummer with General Wilhelm von Knyphaussen in America and died of natural causes fighting for the British.
    Conrad and Ruth had 12 children from July 1798-1824. Ruth lived to be 100 years old and her daughter Barbara 1811-1881 married David Robert Moore Hooper, one time mayor of Charlottetown. Their daughter Emma Jane 1839-1901 married Angus MacKenzie of Cavendish PEI in 1859. Their daughter Clara 1876-1975 married Richard Stevenson in 1901 – my grandparents.

Information provided by Michael Mallery about Loyalists who served in the Prince of Wales American Volunteers was used for a number of Loyalists:

  • Pvt. John Copelin in 1784 petitioned for land on Salmon Creek, New Brunswick
  • Drummer William Cramer settled in the district between Nashwaak and Madam Keyswick, New Brunswick on 29th July 1785 – shown as child above 10 years old.
  • Sgt. Elihu Crofoot from Newtown, Fairfield County, Connecticut in 1784 petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick. In 1785 he petitioned for land in Kings County, New Brunswick but he never received any land grant. He was in Saint John, New Brunswick when he submitted a petition for compensation for his losses on April 17, 1786
  • Pvt. John Cuffman (Demerchant) served with Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarlton and was captured at the Cowpens January 1781. He was a prisoner at Camp Security until his release around April 1783. He returned from Captivity and on June 1783 Muster Roll. June 1783 Muster Roll indicates he has not drawn pay since 23rd February 1781. In 1783 he was issued a complete Privates suite after he was returned from captivity.  On October 5, 1784 he was granted 150 acres, in Nashwaak River, Sunbury County New Brunswick and later involved with land in Miramichi and in York County
  • Capt. James Curgenven from England emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1767, then to New Haven, Connecticutt where he was appointed Collector Customs in May 1775. Soon after he was obliged to escape on the HMS Niger to New York where became a Captain of the Provincials. The Provincials were transferred to Nova Scotia in 1777 and later he served on St. John’s Island (Prince Edward Island). In 1777 listed as Captain of Hierlihy’s Independent Companies which was transferred to Charlottetown, St. John’s Island in 1779. NOTE: The 2nd Battalion of the Prince of Wales American Volunteers never fully formed, it was often called Hierlihy’s Corps or Independent Companies;  they were incorporated into the Nova Scotia Volunteers in 1782.
  • Pvt. John Curry was married to Sarah; they had a son James. He was in the Volunteers of Ireland before that regiment was drafted into the Prince of Wales American Volunteers in October 1782. In 1784 he petitioned for land on Salmon River, New Brunswick. In 1785 he petitioned for land on Washademoak Lake, New Brunswick
  • Pvt. Daniel Cook first appears in Major John Carden’s company on August 1777 Muster Roll. On October 15, 1784 (re-registered in New Brunswick on January 7, 1785) he was granted 160 acres in, Saint Mary’s Parish, York County, New Brunswick. He was a Witness to David Bloomfield’s Will dated 25th February 1800. On June 14, 1806 he was in Stanford, Upper Canada and petitioned for land. On this petition it notes he has a wife and 7 children and came to Upper Canada 5 years ago; On April 13, 1812, he purchased 100 acres in Grantham Township, Lincoln County, Upper Canada.
    • In July 1814, he was in a company that retook Captain Monett’s house that was captured a few days prior. He was a teamster in the Milita during the War of 1812, late January or early February of 1815 Daniel and his team was bringing a load of hay from twenty-mile creek to Fort George when his slay overturned on the sixteen-mile creek hill and was badly injured. He was on the Militia pension list as of February 1, 1815 as a disabled teamster. He died May 1, 1819 in Grantham, Lincoln Parish, Upper Canada.
  • Sgt. Roger Cooper    married Grace ?, son Maurice. First appears on ship Marlin muster as part of the Expedition against Fairfield March 1, 1777. Roger was a Senior Warden in the Masonic Lodge No. 535. On October 5, 1784 (re-registered in New Brunswick on January 19, 1785) he was granted 300 acres, in Block 3 lot 2, in Nashwaak River, Sunbury County New Brunswick.



Events Upcoming

American Revolution Institute: Author’s Talk—Fighting for Philadelphia: Forts Mercer and Mifflin, the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Road to Valley Forge Wed 13 Aug 6:30

Historian Michael Harris focuses our attention on the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign after the Battle of Germantown, by highlighting the strategic, political, and tactical history of the complex operations sandwiched between Germantown and the arrival of the Continental Army at Valley Forge that include the war on the Delaware River and the attacks on Forts Mifflin and Mercer. Read more, registration.

American Revolution Institute:  Lunch Bite—A Recruiting Broadside For the Continental Navy Ship Columbus Fri 15 Aug 12:30.

The Institute’s research services librarian, Rachel Nellis, discusses a 1775 recruitment broadside laying out the terms and benefits of enlistment for sailors on the Columbus, commanded by Abraham Whipple. This presentation will discuss the use of broadsides in the Revolutionary era, the terms of enlistment for sailors, Capt. Abraham Whipple, and the various signers of the broadside. Details and Registration

Calling all Mabee and Secord  Descendants Sat 27 Sept @1:00

Grand River Branch, UELAC, has created a plaque honouring these United Empire Loyalist pioneers. They first settled above the Turkey Point Marsh (north shore of Lake Erie, east of Port Rowan and Long Point) and several were buried in that area. The unveiling of the plaque will take place on Saturday, September 27th 2025 at 1:00 p.m. at the lookout opposite #1553 Front Road just west of the Turkey Point Road. Following the unveiling ceremony everyone is invited to meet a short distance east at the Marsh View Restaurant, # 1730 Front Road for sharing and reminiscing these family histories. Everyone is invited to attend.



From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Brian McConnell UE in his military uniform about to make a road trip on 2 Aug to make a presentation about a UE Loyalist and member of the first Highland Regiment formed in North America
  • A clip from video (2 min) filmed during my presentation “The United Empire Loyalists and You” for the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
  • Here’s ‘Helter Skelter’ (Beatles) one of the songs at last night’s concert by Trio KLM in Old Holy Trinity Church at Middleton, NS
  • Food and Related : Townsends

  • This week in History
    • 26 Jul 1727 Maldon, England. Horatio Gates was born. After serving as a British officer in F&I War, he’d settle in Virginia & as a Continental Army general would lead American armies to great victory (Saratoga) and disaster (Camden). image
    • 26 Jul 1752 Lawrence Washington, American soldier, planter, politician, and prominent landowner in colonial Virginia – and George Washington’s eldest brother, died of tuberculosis at Mount Vernon. image
    • 1 August 1770, Ladysmith, Virginia. William Clark was born. Clark was a soldier, explorer, and leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Raised in a large farming family, Clark honed leadership skills early, joining the militia at 19. His military service included the Northwest Indian War, where he developed frontier expertise. In 1803, Meriwether Lewis, a close friend, invited Clark to co-lead the Corps of Discovery, commissioned by President Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase and find a route to the Pacific. From 1804 to 1806, Clark’s navigational skills, mapmaking, and diplomacy with Native American tribes like the Shoshone and Nez Perce were vital to the expedition’s success. He managed logistics, documented flora and fauna, and maintained morale through harsh winters. After the expedition, Clark served as the governor of the Missouri Territory and an Indian agent. He died in 1838, leaving a legacy of exploration and cultural exchange. image
    • 25 Jul 1775 Cambridge, MA. Dr Benjamin Church was appointed 1st Surgeon General of the Continental Army over Mechanics leader Paul Revere’s objections and concerns that he was a British spy. image
    • 29 Jul 1775 Philadelphia, PA Continental Congress established a redemption plan for its printed currency, mandating colonies assume responsibility for their share of payments. Also established Chaplain & Judge Advocate Departments of the Continental Army. image
    • 31 July 1775, Mass. Militia under Maj Benjamin Tupper attack Nantasket Point a 2nd time. They kill 7 British marines, wound five, and take 33 PWs. The rebels lost 2 KIA & 1 WIA.  image
    • 27 Jul 1776 Emissary Silas Deane writes Congress that he met with Foreign Minister Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes & obtained secret aid – military supplies, & recruited the Marquis de Lafayette into the Continental Army’s officer corps. image
    • 27 Jul 1776 St Pierre Harbor, Martinique, West Indies. Capt Lambert Wickes’s 18-gun Reprisal’s Grand Union Flag is not recognized by Capt John Chapman commanding HMS Shark. Reprisal opens fire & engagement commences.  image
    • 28 Jul 1776 Horn’s Hook, NY. Col Paul Dudley Sargent with the 16th Continental Regt & Col Israel Hutchinson with his 27th Continental Regt, both from MA, arrive just as British ships sail up.  image
    • 31 Jul 1776 Jewish patriot leader from SC, Francis Salvador, was shot & scalped by hostile Cherokee & Loyalists. Though he lived long enough to see the militia defeat the Cherokee/Loyalist attack, Salvador succumbed to his wounds & died at the age of 29. image
    • 26 Jul 1777 Lt Col Barry St Leger begins his march from Oswego, NY, along the Mohawk Valley with 1.8K British & Loyalist troops & Iroquois braves. His goal was to take Fort Stanwix and support Gen. Burgoyne’s army as it moved south from Canada. image
    • 27 Jul 1777, Robert Erskine appointed as Geographer & Surveyor General of the Army by Gen Washington. He designed an underwater cheval-de-frise installed across the Hudson River to prevent passage of British ships. Erskine also drew more than 275 maps-most in NE. image
    • 27 Jul 1777 Philadelphia, PA   Marquis de Lafayette arrived in the American capital. Commissioned a Major General of the Continental Army days later. Johann de Kalb introduced American diplomat Silas Deane to the young Marquis in Paris in 1776. image
    • 29 Jul 1777 Ft Edward, NY. Gen Phillip Schuyler abandons the post & retreats south towards Saratoga, some 30 miles north of Albany. His men fell trees & construct barriers as the withdraw, slowing Gen Burgoyne’s army to a pace of less than a mile a day.  image
    • July 31, 1777, The 19-year-old wealthy French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, accepts a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army–without pay.  image
    • 2 Aug 1777 Lt Col Barry St Leger’s force of Loyalists and Iroquois besieged Fort Stanwix in NY’s Mohawk Valley. American commander Peter Gansevoort refuses St Leger’s demand to surrender, citing a lack of artillery. His 500 men from the 3rd NY Regt stay guarded. image  
    • 29 Jul 1778, French Vice-Admiral Count d’Estaing establishes contact with the Continental Army, waiting for his help to retake RI. D’Estaing arrived off Point Judith and immediately met with Generals Greene and Lafayette to develop their plan of attack.  image
    • 2 Aug 1778 France formally declares war on Great Britain. The French Foreign Minister, Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, had been secretly aiding the rebels in America for two years but waited for signs of British defeat before openly committing. image
    • 28 July 1779, Castine, Massachusetts (now Maine). The Penobscot Expedition, a Massachusetts-led effort to oust British forces from Castine in the Maine district of Massachusetts, launched a crucial assault. The American fleet, consisting of 19 warships and 24 transports under Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, supported a landing of 750 militiamen led by Brigadier General Solomon Lovell. After heavy bombardment from ships like Hunter and Sky Rocket, the American troops stormed the steep, wooded Bagaduce Peninsula. Although they initially succeeded in capturing a British battery, the attack stalled because Saltonstall refused to engage British ships, leading to a prolonged siege and foreshadowing the expedition’s eventual disastrous failure. image
    • 28 Jul 1779 The Penobscot Expedition landed in an amphibious assault in the morning, under cover of naval fire. 200 Militia & 200 Marines charged up the bluff – stopping short of the British fort. The American casualties: 104 (just over 1/4 of the troops).  image
    • 28 Jul 1779 The tomahawk clears out the Wyoming Valley, PA, when 300 Seneca under Chief Hiokatoo & 100 British soldiers capture Ft Freeland’s 80 defenders (many women & children) after fierce resistance. Senecas seize combatants & disperse a relief party. image  
    • 31 Jul 1780 Mrs. Esther Reed & Gen Washington work out the details of a plan to help Continental Army soldiers initiated by the patriot women of Philadelphia. Ladies would canvas the city seeking funds for the creation of more than 2,000 linen shirts.  image
    • 1 Aug 1780, Col Thomas Sumter attacks the British stronghold at Rocky Mount. 200 loyalist NY Volunteers under Lt. Col. George Turnbull hold a highly defensible position, so he refuses a demand to surrender. Sumter’s assault is halted by a sudden storm. image
    • 1-2, Aug 1780 Settlements in New York’s Mohawk Valley raided by Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant, who killed 16 settlers, burned homes & other buildings, killing or driving off over 300 cattle. He avoided military forts but wreaked havoc on the populace.  image   
    • 29 Jul 1781 Moore Co, NC. Loyalist militia under David Fanning & patriot militia under Phillip Alston, owner of the House in the Horseshoe, clash. Eventually, Alston & his forces surrendered to the Tories after both sides suffered numerous casualties. image
    • 1 Aug 1781 Yorktown, VA British Gen Charles Cornwallis occupies Yorktown, on the York River. The British general was planning to use this port as his base for resupply by the mighty British Navy, as he continued his Virginia campaign. image  
    • 29 Jul 1782 Captured British Capt Charles Asgill’s death sentence is commuted, and he is released when his mother petitions the French, who appeal to Gen Washington. Asgill’s execution was to have been a reprisal for Loyalists killing an American prisoner image
  • Clothing and Related:
    • These needlework strawberries are tiny, measuring just 7cm wide!  They are also slightly mysterious. Although it is possible that they could be 17th century ‘favours’ or ‘love tokens’, the stitching technique suggests they could’ve been made in 19th century.
    • A large part of dress history involves less familiar vocabulary, words that have fallen out of common usage. This lemon sherbet striped dress is made from imberline, a type of woven fabric that was often striped with an extra warp. A sunny c1750 robe a la française
    • Riding coat, British, 1760.  The brown coat is really fabulous – the cut is so sharp, and all the little details really make it stand out. The neat collar, oversized cuffs, shiny buttons… Looks uncomfortable, but a lovely piece.  From The Met.
  • Miscellaneous
    •  This c 1750-75  “little garden” bouquet of flowers ring has old-cut diamonds, rubies, and two emeralds, the foliage and the band in two-tone gold. What Austen lady inherited this one?  Western Europe (probably England), 1750-75

 

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