In this issue:

 

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The Loyalist Gazette Fall 2025 Issue is Available
“The Loyalist Gazette Fall 2025 issue has been completed containing fascinating articles  focusing on the Pacific Region of Canada. As well there are other historical items and UELAC information which I am confident readers will find of great interest.
With this issue we complete a cross Canada series of articles about Loyalist descendants that begun in the Fall of 2023 with Atlantic Canada and now ends with the Pacific Region of British Columbia and the Yukon.
Brian McConnell UE, Chair, Loyalist Gazette Committee ”
News has been received of a very successful Dominion Conference held during July in the Loyalist City of Saint John and this issue includes some of the details. The issue also contains reports on the Dorchester and Sue Morse-Hines Award winners, the new Honorary Fellowships appointee, as well as Education and Outreach, and Scholarships.
Also the following articles:

  • Pierre Berton: Son of the Yukon and Loyalist Descendant
  • Erle Montgomery Craig, Enterprising Vancouver Builder
  • Greenlaw & Nason, Loyalists and their Baldwin Descendants in British Columbia
  • Migration of Descendants of Dr. John Dease UE to British Columbia

For members who have requested it, a paper copy will be mailed once the printing has been completed.  The digital copy is available to all current members now including those getting a paper copy – just log in at uelac.ca and you will find it in the Members’ section.

“I Want to Vent Myself”: The Letters of Mrs. Christian Barnes.  Part Two of Four  
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
In April of 1776, Mrs. Christian Barnes received a letter from one of her nieces, a woman only known as “E.F.” Like her aunt, this woman was “a friend of the government” and shared Christian’s horror at the mounting violence and division within Massachusetts as revolutionary fervor continued to grow.
Henry and Christian had found refuge in England two months earlier. A bequest worth almost £2,000 was waiting for Henry to claim in London. Given the growing threats of violence, this unexpected bequest gave the Barneses both a reason and the means to seek sanctuary across the sea. Along with their niece Chrisy, the couple abandoned their home in Marlborough, leaving their slaves and worldly possessions in the care of a relative.
Safe from violence at the hands of the Sons of Liberty, the correspondence with her niece E.F. gave Christian insight into life in Massachusetts following the evacuation of British troops and loyalists to Halifax in March of 1776. E.F.’s letters also provide posterity with a rare glimpse into the trials and thoughts of a loyalist woman in revolutionary Massachusetts.
In April of 1776, E.F. wrote, “Every new scene too fatally convinces me of the melancholy change one twelve month has produced, not only in my present situation, but further prospects, sad reverse, indeed! When will Peace with all her smiling train descend and chase the savage passions from this wretched country? 
The wanton destruction that presents itself to my view wherever I turn my eyes show in the most lively colors of civil war ruin and desolation spread through the peaceful vales of industry, and such enmity planted between children of the same parents as can never be got the better of, and will not yield to time.”
Christian’s niece asked her to try to picture her current plight. “Only imagine to yourself two unhappy females, from some high misdemeanor driven from the Society of the world and every social pleasure into a wilderness surrounded not by wild beasts, but savage men, and destitute of the conveniences of life.”
E.F. and a Miss Elizabeth Murray were alone in a house that had recently been occupied by Patriot soldiers. They were left “without any one necessary about us, except a bed to lodge on and Patrick for a protector & servant, in constant fear that some outrage will be committed if it is once discovered that one of us is connected with {a friend of government}. You would really be diverted, could you give a peep when Mrs. Inman visits us (which is as often as she possibly can), to see Betsey and I resigning our broken chairs and teacups, and dipping the water out of an iron skillet into the pot as cheerfully as if we were using a silver urn.”
E.F.’s letter shows the courage of women who were the targets of Patriot violence.  She put her comrade’s good spirits down to “seeing Mrs. Inman in such charming spirits that prevents our being truly miserable. Tell her friends in England not to lament her being in America at this period, for she is now in her proper element, having an opportunity of exerting her benevolence for those who have neither Spirits or ability to do for them selves. No other woman could do as she does with impunity, for she is above the little fears and weaknesses which are the inseparable companions of most of our sex. One would imagine to see her that all was peace and harmony.”
In a later letter, E.F. began to comment on the toll that the war had inflicted on her part of Massachusetts by early May of 1776. “But stop, my pen, nor dare to stray into a subject which is surrounded with danger and difficulty.” Perhaps in fear that her letters might be seized and read by Patriots – or wishing to avoid the pain of recounting painful incidents—E.F. censored herself.
In mid-May she wrote to Christian again. “I see the few but valuable friends I have remaining upon the point of becoming destitute like myself, my heart sinks within me, and I cannot avoid exclaiming, Great God! Surely for all these things the people shall be brought to judgment…” Like Christian, E.F. needed to vent about “the same tribe of Demons” and “this deluded people.”
“Every social virtue seems to have taken flight with peace to happier regions, and left us miserable mortals involved in clouds and darkness, without one cheerful ray to point the way to happiness. May eternal curses fall on the heads of those who have been instrumental to this country’s ruin.”
Writing on June 9, 1776, E.F. described the condition of the Barneses home and business in Marlborough. Before the revolution, Henry Barnes distilled and exported a medicinal liquor that he made from cider. E.F. reported that now the distillery was being used to produce saltpeter (potassium nitrate) – “a commodity for the destruction of the human species” as it was a constituent of gunpowder. “All your furniture removed over to the shop chamber, except the family pictures, which still hang in the Blue Room, & the Harpsichord that stands in the passage way, to be abused by the children and servants in passing through.”
The Belchers, a loyalist family known to Christian, were “under a necessity of making use of their out houses to shelter them from the weather; the coach house is their dining room, and fowl house their bed-chamber, but the old lady looks majestic even there, and dresses with as much elegance as if she was in a palace. Mrs. Belcher… views her approaching dissolution with less agitation than she beheld the flames consuming her house.” Another family’s “distresses” were “so great that they have disposed of their plate to purchase necessaries.”
E.F. closed her final letter with “every tender wish for your happiness, that you may again be restored to your native country.”
The story of how Christian and Henry Barnes found sanctuary in England, and the letters that Christian wrote while she was there will be recounted in the last part of this series in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Home At Last. November 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 for Springfield, Long Island
  • August 1783: Boarded ship at Denys’s Ferry
  • September 1783: England, The North Sea and Germany
  • December 1783: Home at last

1783: Continuation of the Notable Occurences in the North American Field Campaign;

In the Month of November 1783 – page 153

17 November.  We  were  granted  a  day  of  rest  in  Kulmbach  and  at  noon  received  one month’s military pay of four good groschen per day; a private received six Franconian florin.
18 November.  Still  there.  Today  eight  drummers  and  four  fifers  came  from  Bayreuth  to accompany us to that place.
19 November. Nevertheless, still in Kulmbach.
20 November. We marched from Kulmbach at eight o’clock in the morning and arrived in our  beloved  Bayreuth  at  one  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  a  steady  rain,  with  joyful  and exulting cries of joy from the many people who came to meet us.
We  marched  with  dressed  ranks,  smartly  shouldered  weapons,  and  music  playing  an English march, into the city by the Kulmbacher Gate, through the city, out by the Upper Gate, past the former mint, over the Main River bridge, to the Jaeger Street, and into the barracks, where everything struck us as very strange and would remain so for sometime.
    I  must  remark  that  upon  our  entrance  into  the  barracks,  my  father  was  present.  We embraced and kissed and thanked God for His mercy in  allowing us to be reunited  in  health and happiness, and we shed many heartfelt tears of joy.
23 November.  As  the  twenty-third  was  Whitsunday,  we  again  held  our  first  church formation at the Brandenberger, or Saint George on the Sea. The ordained garrison chaplain, Wolff,  gave  such  a  stirring  welcome  sermon  that  no  one  left  the  place  of  worship  without weeping and pouring out many tears. This afternoon Colonel von Schlammersdorf came from Ansbach and, on
24 November,  during  the  morning  held  inspection  and  mustered  us.  Thereafter  those  no longer needed, as well as those under five feet in height, were discharged.
We were permitted also a period of eight days during which we had no duty of any kind.
30 November. I applied for my discharge and, on
1 December, at noon received my release, as I had served my gracious Prince and Master honorably and faithfully on land and sea for fifteen years, less four months.
From December 1 the English pay, the fifteen kreuzer daily, also ceased, and the men now receive once again the Prince’s pay — two pounds of issue bread and five Rhine kreuzer daily pay.
From  27 November  to  3  December,  a  period  of  eight  days,  I  worked  in  the  barracks  at Bayreuth helping to write the discharges, regulations, rank, and basic lists for the company of the worthy Captain von Quesnoy.
4 December. I left Bayreuth, returned home, and completely ended my military career.  

Washington’s Ten Best Military Decisions 
by David Price 28 October 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
An unbiased observer would likely conclude that the record of George Washington’s generalship in purely military terms was a mixed bag. The intent of what follows—a highly subjective exercise, to be sure—is not to reassess the overall quality of his generalship or weigh wins against losses. It is merely to give credit where credit is due, especially to someone who, objectively, was not equipped by military experience to lead a continental fighting force when he assumed command of the insurgent army in 1775. He was not familiar with artillery or cavalry, had never led a large army in open-field combat, and had less professional military experience than Charles Lee or Horatio Gates, the veteran British officers who had signed onto the Patriot cause.
In terms of his wartime leadership, Washington set an example for two later generals who also ascended to the presidency. Ulysses S. Grant emulated Washington in demonstrating a strength of will and refusal to give up in his role as a military commander, regardless of setbacks on the battlefield. And Dwight Eisenhower opined that the art of leadership is making the right decisions and then getting other men to want to carry them out. Washington clearly did his share of that. While perhaps not a brilliant strategist and allowing that he exhibited a litany of tactical flaws conducing to multiple defeats in the conflict’s early stages (Long Island, Kip’s Bay, Fort Washington, Brandywine, and Germantown), the rebel leader did have his moments of conspicuous resolve that bred success throughout the struggle. The following are Washington’s top ten decisions contributing to the eventual victory of his cherished “glorious cause” of American independence. They are listed chronologically.  Read more…

The Loyalist-List: Authors and Publishers who were Loyalist Descendants
By Mike Woodcock UE, Victoria Branch
This week, I’d like to highlight how the Loyalist- List at uelcanada.ca offers a wonderful way to explore the lives of UELs and their descendants who made notable cultural contributions—in fields such as art, literature, and poetry—to Canada and beyond. Each profile includes brief biographical notes and links to sources like The Dictionary of Canadian Biography or Wikipedia, as well as to their Loyalist ancestor’s record in the Loyalist Directory and to Find a Grave.
It’s well known that writers Pierre Berton and Farley Mowat were UEL descendants, but the Loyalist-List also includes earlier Canadian writers such as Thomas Chandler Haliburton, George Monro Grant, and James De Mille. These authors can be found alphabetically under the UEL Descendant menu option, or by using the site’s search tool—simply enter a word like writer or journalist in the search bar located on the right-hand side of the home page.
While not a writer himself, I was delighted to discover that “Jack” McClelland, of the renowned publishing house McClelland and Stewart, was also a UEL descendant. Under his leadership, the company championed Canadian literature and promoted celebrated authors such as Berton and Mowat.
Invitation to contribute:
You’re invited to help expand the Loyalist-List! To add Loyalists or descendants, suggest edits to an existing profile, or provide feedback, please email membership.vic.uelac@gmail.com or use the Feedback portal on the uelcanada home page.
The Loyalist-List is a website dedicated to United Empire Loyalists (UEL) and their descendants who have been identified in sources such as The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Wikipedia, published books, websites, and even institutions like the Hockey Hall of Fame. Recognized as one of the official UELAC Projects, you can read more about it on the national website.

Blog: About UE Loyalist History
by Brian McConnell UE at UE Loyalist History

Annapolis County, Nova Scotia
By Brian McConnell, UE October 29, 2025
The first monument placed in Nova Scotia to United Empire Loyalists is a cairn with a plaque located in Annapolis County at MacDonald Park in  Middleton . It was erected in 1965 to the memory of United Empire Loyalists who settled in the area including Timothy Ruggles, Samuel Vetch Bayard, and Thomas H. Barclay,
Annapolis County also contains four of the oldest wooden churches in Canada which were built by United Empire Loyalists under the supervision of Bishop Charles Inglis, UE. These are:Old Holy Trinity, begun in 1789 at Middleton. Read more…

The King’s Orange Rangers
By Brian McConnell, UE October 29, 2025
The King’s Orange Rangers were a Royal Provincial (Loyalist) Regiment which was raised in New York in 1775 that saw action there and in New Jersey before being moved to Nova Scotia in 1778. On 17 November 1778, the King’s Orange Rangers arrived at Halifax and were assigned to protect the Eastern Battery.. A company commanded by Captain John Howard was stationed in Liverpool to defend against American privateers. It left the town in August, 1783 and the Regiment was disbanded later that year with the close of the American Revolution.
The King’s Orange Rangers were founded by William Bayard, a leading merchant in New York City,  who went to England after the conflict ended where he died. Read more…

250 Years Ago: The Invasion of Canada: Events between Oct 29 – Nov 5

from Lake Champlain
General Philip Schuyler orchestrated the plans for the attack on Canada, launched on 25 August 1775. The first attack on Fort St. Jean on 6 Sept failed. A second on 10 Sept also failed. Schyler became too ill and Richard Montgomery assumed command on 16 Sept.

  • The siege of Fort St Jean began on 17 Sept.
  • The Americans tried to capture Montreal but were repulsed  at the Battle of Longue-Pointe on Sept 25
  • Fort Chambly, just downriver (north) from Fort St Jean was attacked on Oct 16 and surrendered on Oct 18, blocking any British reinforcements from coming  up the Richelieu River.

Between Oct 29 and Nov 5, 1775

Governor General Guy Carleton attempted to lead a relief force from Montreal across the St. Lawrence River at Longueuil to lift the American siege of Fort St. Jean but was repelled by American forces on Oct 29 and30.
Nov. 1 the new Amercian betteries north of Fort St. Jean began a heavy bombardment
Nov. 2 the British garrison under Major Charles Preston agreed to surrendur
Nov. 3 The garrison surrendered and the Americans prepared to move towards Montreal

The British Preparations

Carleton was in Montreal but the capital and main forces were in Quebec City, and the mouth of the Richelieu Rover at Sorel, about to be in American control, was between the two.

From Maine
Between October 29 and November 5, 1775, Benedict Arnold struggled on the expedition to Quebec.

Oct 25, Col Roger Enos abandons the expedition and returned home with his 300 strong brigade.
Nov. 3, Arnold’s surviving force, reduced to about 600 starving men, finally reached the first French-Canadian settlements along the Chaudière River where they found food and acquired guides.
Nov, 4 and 5, The men rested and resupplied, preparing for the final leg of their march to the St. Lawrence River across from Quebec City.

British Preparations
British naval intelligence had reported the likely destination of Arnold’s troops as Quebec by October 18th, but it had not yet been verified.

Pompey Fleet a Loyalist: Response to a Request for more information
In response to a query from Shea Hendry a PhD candidate at Cambridge UK who had noticed Pompey Fleet in the 12 April 2009 issue of Loyalist Trails,  Stephen Davidson provided more details.
The history of Black Loyalists has interested me since my university student days. My 1975 bachelor’s honours thesis covered one aspect of Black Loyalist history, and I have been researching and writing about this group of refugees from the American Revolution ever since. In the years following the article that you cited, I have written a number of articles about Black Loyalists, spoken about them to interested historical societies, and written two books about them.
Both Prince Frederick and Pompey Fleet appear in the Book of Negroes, a ledger commissioned by Sir Guy Carleton, the commander in chief of British forces in North America. The ledger was begun in April of 1783 and concluded in November of that year. It listed every free and enslaved Black who left  the port of New York City on loyalist evacuation vessels. Digital versions of the Book of Negroes can be found at a number of websites online.
For each Black Loyalist or enslaved Black listed in the Book of Negroes the following information is given: age, brief physical description, white Loyalist escort (given in parentheses in the digital versions),  wartime service, the name of his/her former enslaver, the date the person came within British lines, and the type of emancipation certificate that he/she received.

Pompey Fleet left New York with a General Birch Certificate. Prince Frederick left New York with a General Musgrave Certificate. Both of these certificates testified to the fact that a British officer recognized these individuals as free men. Black Loyalists carried these certificates with them and they would have been shown to the person recording personal information in the Book of Negroes.
Some certificates were used to identify them as free men when they applied to go to Sierra Leone in 1791. (This was a bit unfair as they were made of paper and disintegrated over time. Some Black Loyalists were denied access to the ships that eventually sailed for Sierra Leone in 1792 because they could not produce their Birch or Musgrave certificates.). Only a mere handful have survived to the 21st century.

Here are the entries for Fleet and Frederick as found in the Book of Negroes:

23-27 April 1783 Ship Three Sisters  bound for Port Roseway [Shelburne, N.S.]: John Wardell
Pompey Fleet, 26, short & stout, (Alexander Robertson). Formerly slave to Thomas Fleet, Boston [Massachusetts]; left him at the evacuation of Boston.  GBC.

30 November 1783 On Board the Ship Peggy, [bound for Port Mouton, Nova Scotia]: James Beazley, Master
Prince Frederick, 32 years stout fellow, Wagon Master General Department. Formerly slave to Capt. Frederick, Boston [Massachusetts], New England, left him in 1776. GMC.  {By this time — the last week of evacuations— a white Loyalist escort was no longer noted in the ledger.}
His wife:
Jenny Frederick, 32 years, ordinary wench, Wagon Master General Department.  Certified to be free by Jonah Frederick of Boston [Massachusetts], New England. {Her freedom was ascertained by an official rather than with a GBC or GBM}

Some notes:
“Stout” by the way does not refer to weight. It’s a term used to say that the person was healthy. Except for a handful of women listed in the ledger, the term “wench” is always used.
There were two white Loyalists by the name of Alexander Robertson who settled in what is now Shelburne: a farmer and a printer.
Pompey Fleet settled in Birchtown, a Black settlement outside of Shelburne. He appears in the muster book of Free Blacks that was tabulated in 1784. Whether he was one of those who eventually settled in Sierra Leone is not verified by any documents that I have at hand.
Port Mouton was devastated by fire in the summer of 1784. Most of its inhabitants moved further up the coast of Nova Scotia to settle in what is now known as Guysborough County. None of the Blacks who settled in that area were aware of the opportunity to go to Sierra Leone. Prince Frederick is listed among the names of 74 Black Loyalists who received 40.5 acres as part of the 1787 Tracadie Grant in Guysborough County.

Added Note from Stephen: In addition to that query, in the past month I have received emails from an author in Australia and a Loyalist descendant in New Zealand. Why? Because they had discovered my past articles online. Thanks to the internet, the reach of Loyalist Trails is a global one.

Book Review: The First Fleets: Colonial Navies of the British Atlantic World 
Author: Benjamin C. Schaffer (University of Alabama Press, 2025)
Review by Eric Sterner 27 Oct 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
The United States Navy honors October 13, 1775 as its birthday in keeping with a resolution passed by the Second Continental Congress to acquire two vessels “for a cruize eastward, for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies, and for other purposes as the Congress shall direct.” While that marked the creation of the Continental Navy, rebelling colonies had already established modest seagoing forces and George Washington was already using continental funds to create a small fleet under the auspices of the Continental Army.
As Britain’s rebelling colonies mobilized to challenge its authority, one of the greatest challenges they faced was the Royal Navy’s relative command of the ocean. Still, they were not creating naval power from whole cloth. Benjamin Schaffer’s new book The First Fleets: Colonial Navies of the British Atlantic World, 1630-1775, examines colonial naval traditions and capabilities over the century and a half that preceded the Revolutionary War. It is an often overlooked period in American maritime history and, as Schaffer argues, an important one in understanding both the growing tensions between Britain and its American colonies and the not-so-surprising facility with which thirteen rebelling colonies created their own forms of naval power.
Schaffer finds a surprising degree of naval independence among Britain’s colonies during most of the period covered in his study.  Read more…

Advertised on 28  October 1775: ‘SKETCHLEY’s New Invented CONVERSATION CARDS’

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

“SKETCHLEY’s New Invented CONVERSATION CARDS.”

Like other newspaper printers, John Dixon and William Hunter provided a variety of goods and services to supplement the revenues from subscriptions and advertisements.  The masthead of the Virginia Gazette solicited customers for “Printing Work done at this Office in the neatest Manner, with Care and Expedition.”  In addition to job printing, they also published books, pamphlets, and almanacs and, according to their advertisement in the October 28, 1775, edition, they even sold patent medicines.  Many colonial printers kept a stock of similar “MAREDANT’S ANTISCORBUTIC DROPS” and “Dr. KEYSER’S celebrated PILLS” on hand, promoting them in their own newspapers.
Hawking yet another product accounted for nearly half of Dixon and Hunter’s advertisement in that issue of the Virginia Gazette: “SKETCHLEY’s New invented CONVERSATION CARDS, Ornamented with forty eight Copperplate Cuts.”  Today, conversation cards serve a variety of purposes.  They can be used for icebreakers at social gatherings, teambuilding exercises for businesses and organizations, or discussion starters among people seeking to explore topics of common interest and forge stronger personal connections. Read more…

The Tree of Liberty: Standing Armies and the Struggle to Define American Governance
by Matthew Carroll 30 Oct 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
One the United States’ Founders, writing under the pseudonym Brutus, argued that the new country, spanning too great a distance and too many distinctly interested peoples, was not viable. His predictions were bleak: the government would lack the support of the people, who would feel both neglected and subsumed by its distant authority. To generate real power, the “nerveless and inefficient” state would eventually acquire, through patronage and the vast administrative tasks that the great size of America required, a powerful executive with an “armed force to execute the laws at the point of the bayonet—a government of all others the most to be dreaded.” This analysis of the Constitution’s limited standing army rested upon the assertion that a “free republic will never keep a standing army to execute its laws,” because it possesses the affection of its people, an opinion that long had a place in English political thought. Accordingly, the Continental Army was disbanded upon the completion of its task, victory in the Revolutionary War. In the ensuing years, the disparate interests of the Founders gradually converged on the maintenance of a standing army, which became fundamental to the preservation of the union.
Alexander Hamilton stands out among the Constitution’s most dedicated defenders. He saw a world cut by boundaries across which the new states would watch one another at best warily and at worst jealously, devising their own Western and commercial enlargement and not inclined naturally to cooperation. Mere republicanism did not, according to Hamilton, ensure peace: republics fought “popular” wars as often as monarchies fought “royal” ones. Read more…

Loyalist Projects: Plaques in Parks: Williamsburg and Matilda Townships by St. Lawrence Branch
This Branch Project was completed in October 2025

Honoring United Empire Loyalists With Plaques in Williamsburg and Matilda Townships
At two dedication ceremonies held on Saturday, October 18, 2025, the St. Lawrence Branch of the UELAC—joined by Deputy Mayor Marc St. Pierre—honoured the United Empire Loyalists who settled in Royal Township No. 4 (Williamsburg) and Royal Township No. 5 (Matilda). These former Royal Townships are now part of the Municipality of South Dundas.
The Vice President of St. Lawrence Branch, Scott Harris, summed up our intent for these plaques as follows:

This project began for our Branch in June 2024 and came to life through the steady partnership of the Iroquois Waterfront Committee, the Morrisburg Waterfront Committee and with the support of the Township of South Dundas. Plaques have been placed in both the Morrisburg and Iroquois waterfronts.  Read more…

Branch projects, by a branch as a whole or by a person or a small group within a branch help to preserve and promote our Canadian history, with a particular focus on the Loyalist timeframe of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Loyalist heritage takes many forms from actual buildings of the time to family histories, genealogies, stories, military records, monuments, artifacts, correspondence and so much more. Read more…

How Eli Whitney Single-handedly Started the Civil War . . . and Why That’s Not True
By Ariel Ron October 2025 at Common Place
The real Whitney story is less grand than the legend, but more interesting and, ultimately, more edifying.
This year marks the two hundredth anniversary of the death of Eli Whitney, probably America’s most celebrated inventor after Thomas Edison. Whitney is known for two things: the cotton gin and interchangeable parts. The cotton gin is by far the more famous. Many have been taught that without it, cotton cultivation could not have spread across much of the South. Since cotton was cultivated by enslaved people, and the states most dominated by slavery were that ones that seceded from the Union to protect slavery, it has been said that the cotton gin was a necessary cause for the Civil War.
Necessary, but not sufficient.
This is where interchangeable parts come in. Making standardized and identical products–rather than customized and variable ones–is a core principle of industrial production. Practically, this means breaking production down into a series of highly specialized steps and mass manufacturing each component with machines instead of having skilled craftsmen make entire products from start to finish by hand. In this process, each instance of each component must be made with enough precision to be effectively identical to each other instance of that component—that is, parts must be interchangeable. Without this, industrialization as we know it isn’t possible.
It seems remarkable, then, that this one guy—Eli Whitney, the paradigmatic clever Yankee—invented both the cotton gin and interchangeable parts. It’s as if Whitney single-handedly set the South and the North on opposite courses of economic development that later collided with consequences at once deadly, tragic, and emancipatory.
It’s an incredible story. It just happens to be mostly untrue.  Read more…

Sorcery in New France
Written by André Pelchat, 5 Dec 2016 at Canada’s History
When things went wrong in seventeenth-century Quebec, authorities were not above blaming black magic. 
In the 1660s, New France was a frightening place. Its tiny population of about 3,200 French settlers lived in constant terror of raids carried out by the fearsome Iroquois League. Jesuit missionaries were taken captive, tortured, and killed. Deadly epidemics raged. And everywhere, it seemed, there were omens of more calamities to come.
“The earthquake that happened last winter in Montreal made the settlers tremble in advance, causing them to dread the misfortunes which followed that baleful omen,” said the 1660–61 edition of the Jesuit Relations.
“The lamenting voices that were heard in the air over Trois-Rivières might have been the echo of the poor captives carried away by the Iroquois; and the canoes that seemed to be flying in the air, all on fire, around Quebec, were only a feeble presage of the enemies’ canoes.”
At around the same time, the Ursuline nun Marie de L’Incarnation also wrote of disturbing voices heard in the air and a fiery canoe in the sky, as well as other strange phenomena.
“What’s more,” L’Incarnation wrote in a letter to her son, “it was discovered that there are sorcerers and magicians in this country.”
L’Incarnation observed that the strange events started happening after the arrival in 1660 of a ship carrying new colonists. Among the passengers was sixteen-year-old Barbe Hallé (also known as Halé, Hallay, or Haly) and a man named Daniel Vuil, a Protestant-born Frenchman who had seemingly converted to Catholicism during the voyage.
According to L’Incarnation, during the overseas journey Vuil had tried to seduce Hallé but was refused. After settling in Beauport, near Quebec City, Vuil carried on his trade as a miller, and Hallé went to work as a servant in a manor house.  Read more…

Hope your Halloween was bewitching!

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

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

Pvt. Peter Eamer born 1857 in New York province and settled at Johnston, Tryon County NY at the time of the war, Peter served in the 2nd Battalion, Kings Royal Regiment of NY. He married in 1780 in New York City to Maria Catherine Gallinger. They resettled in Cornwall Township, Stormont County, ON. This information is from a Loyalist certificate application by Leslie Lee Chilton.

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

Events Upcoming

American Revolution Institute: “The American Revolution and the Fate of the World” (Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 6:30 ET)

The American Revolution was a cataclysm that pulled in participants from around the globe and fundamentally transformed how the world worked, disrupting trade, restructuring penal systems, stirring famine and creating the first global refugee crisis. historian Richard Bell, Ph.D., discusses the impact of the Revolution at home and abroad. More…

Gov Simcoe Branch: “The Rebels Invade Canada in 1775” (Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 ET)

Presentation by Doug Grant UE. Tensions continued to build between the British Government and colonists in thirteen of the American Colonies culminating in the “Shot heard round the world”, the battle at Lexington and Concord 19 April 1775. Ten weeks later, the Second Continental Congress formally decided to invade Britain’s Quebec Colony on 27 June 1775; the invasion followed 250 years ago this Fall. Explore the course of the invasion leading to the decisive battle on New Years Eve. Details and registration…

Atwater Library, Montreal “Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada” (Thursday, Nov. 6, 12:30 – 1:30 ET)

In person and by zoom: A Failed 18th Century Invasion of Canada – Author Madelaine Drohan gives an illustrated talk on her new book “He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada“. She gives a fascinating account of “Ben Franklin’s wild two weeks in Montreal.”
To register and get the Zoom link, click here. See this info at Atwater Library.

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Clothing and apparel
    • This is one of my favourite silhouettes, the sharp structure created by a c1790 redingote. It has the trappings of male tailoring whilst retaining the contemporary expectations of femininity. And as for the fabric…..
  • Food and Related: Townsends

  • This week in History
    • 31 Oct 1765 Placards  appeared throughout the city of NY warning, “the first man that either distributes or makes use of stamped paper let him take care of his house, person, and effects.” NY merchants agreed not to sell English goods until the Act was repealed. image
    • 1 Nov 1765 In the face of widespread opposition in the American colonies, Parliament enacts the Stamp Act, a taxation measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America.  image
    • 28 Oct 1766 NYC Merchants adopt a non-importation strategy, boycotting British goods until the Stamp Act is repealed. Other American ports follow suit. image
    • 26 Oct 1768 Quebec, CAN. Sir Guy Carleton arrives and begins his long service as Governor General of Canada. His governance would be steady, although rocked by colonists to the south. image
    • 28 Oct 1770 NYC: Sons of Liberty attack the King Street office of Tory printers John Mein & John Fleming, whose ads impugned John Adams and listed establishments that continued to import British goods. image
    • 25 Oct 1774,  Congress sends a respectful petition to King George III to inform his majesty that if it had not been for the acts of oppression forced upon the colonies by the British Parliament, the American people would be standing behind British rule image
    • 26 Oct 1774 Cambridge, MA The Mass. Provincial Congress reorganizes the colonial militia. Making them better trained & prepared & able to turn out at a “minute’s notice,” the famed Minutemen. Other colonies follow suit. image
    • 25 Oct 1775 Col Benedict Arnold’s Canada expedition struggles to get through rough terrain & weather near Dead River. Col Roger Enos abandons the expedition and returned home with his 300strong brigade. Undeterred, Arnold presses northward.  image
    • 27 Oct 1775, King George III speaks before British Parliament to discuss rebellion in America, which he viewed as a traitorous action against himself & Britain. He read a “Proclamation of Rebellion” & urged Parliament to bring order to the colonies.  image
    • 28 Oct 1775, John Hancock married Dorothy Quincy in Fairfield, CT. He was presiding over the Continental Congress at the time and would soon sign the Declaration of Independence and be the first governor of Massachusetts image
    • October 28, 1775, Gen. William Howe called on the civilian men remaining in Boston to enlist in Loyalist militia companies called Associators. Read his proclamation:
    • 30 Oct 1775, the Continental Congress appoints seven members to serve on an administrative naval committee tasked with the acquisition, outfitting, and manning of a naval fleet to be used in defense against the British. image
    • 31 Oct 1775 Gen Washington tries to encourage re-enlistment in the Continental Army by reserving new supplies for those who commit to another year of service and promising each man time to visit his family during the winter. image
    • October 31, 1775, Gen. George Washington moved to reform the process of enlisting men for 1776. “Commissions in the new Army are not intended merely for those, who can inlist the most men; but for such Gentlemen as are most likely to deserve them.”
    • 25 Oct 1776 London. King George III issued a proclamation urging able seamen to enlist in the Royal Navy, which was reduced at the conclusion of the Seven Years War & defeat of the French navy, and never would reach the size needed for the American War. image
    • 27 Oct 1776 Needing to drastically increase the number of sailors to serve in the #RevWar, the Royal Navy forcibly impresses some 1,000 sailors from civilian vessels on the Thames River. image
    • 27 Oct 1776 White Plains, NY British advance guard skirmishes with Gen Alexander McDougall’s brigade, which is reinforced by Col John Haslet’s crack Delaware Regt. American defenders suffer 30 casualties. image
    • 27 Oct 1776 Fort Washington, NY. A British probing attack by land and sea is driven back, with the British suffering losses. image
    • 28 Oct 1776 In the brisk autumn of 1776, the American Revolution hung in the balance. Fresh from recent defeats in New York City, General George Washington settled in White Plains, a quiet village north of Manhattan.
      With 14,000 Continental Line and militia, he positioned his main defensive line east of the Bronx River, on high ground around White Plains. The American right flank (western side, facing south) was anchored along the river’s east bank, using the waterway and adjacent swamps as a natural barrier. Barricades of fallen trees and earthen fortifications dotted the misty bluffs, a desperate attempt to stop the redcoat advance. Washington understood the importance: if they lost here, the North River (Hudson) Valley—and maybe the entire rebellion—could fall.
      Across the farm fields and rolling hills, 13,000 British and Hessian soldiers under British Major General William Howe gathered in long columns. The Hessians, stern professionals with long mustaches and longer bayonets sharpened for combat, watched the American line with predator-like calm.
      Dawn broke on October 28 with a deafening clash—cannon fire tearing through the harvest quiet, redcoats crossing the fields in organized waves. Muskets cracked like thunder along Chatterton’s Hill, where Colonel Haslet’s Delaware Blues defended the American right flank. Fierce hand-to-hand fights erupted in the foggy woods, men fighting through blood-slicked brambles and mud. Washington’s artillery fired back defiantly, but the British pressed on relentlessly.
      Then the breakthrough—Hessian grenadiers, led by Colonel Johann Rall, turned the Americans’ exposed right flank, and their disciplined volleys weakened the defenders’ resolve. Inexperienced New York and Connecticut militia, holding the exposed right, broke and fled, dragging their officers into the chaos. The Continental Line regiments under Alexander McDougall and John Haslet fought effectively, holding the hill with “stiff resistance” via disciplined musket volleys.
      Washington, atop his sturdy gray horse, watched his lines fall apart from a nearby rise. “We must withdraw,” he told his aides, his voice calm amid the chaos. By late afternoon, Washington’s army began a phased withdrawal northward to North Castle Heights, about 10 miles away. Experienced units like Haslet’s Delaware Regiment carried out the retreat methodically, preserving the army’s cohesion despite heavy rain and fatigue.
      Casualties were uneven (Americans: 150–300; British/Hessians: 200–300). This resulted in a tactical win, but only a strategic tie for Howe, who once again failed to trap Washington, who escaped to fight another day, crossing the North River into the Jerseys for another campaign. image
    • 29 Oct 1776 Ft Lee, NJ Gen Nathanael Greene, commander of Forts Lee & Washington, pens a letter to Gen Washington listing supplies needed, their costs & suggesting places between Fort Lee & Philadelphia to store them. image
    • 31 Oct 1776, in his first speech before Parliament since the leaders of the #RevWar came together to sign the Declaration of Independence, King George III acknowledged that all was not going well for Britain in the war with the United States. image
    • 1 Nov 1776 – North Carolina’s Independent Company of Carteret County attacked and captured the foundered HMS Aurora, along with the entire crew and all supplies. This took place at Ocracoke Inlet, NC.  image
    • 28 Oct 1777 York, PA. Captain James Wilkinson, aide to Gen Horatio Gates, discusses the contents of a controversial letter by Gen Thomas Conway to an aide of Gen William Alexander that impugns Gen Washington’s capabilities as commander in chief. image
    • 29 Oct 1777 John Hancock resigns as president of the Continental Congress. Served since May 24, 1775. Hancock held this position longer than any other. 1st member of Congress to sign the Declaration of Independence & best known for his bold signature  image
    • 31 Oct 1778 Portsmouth, England. With his fleet succumbing to mounting sickness, British Admiral Augustus Keppel returns it to its base to rest & refit for the winter.  image
    • 26 Oct 1779 Lt Col John Graves Simcoe captured in ambush by Americans at South River Bridge, NJ. Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers lose 3 killed & 6 prisoner while Americans lose 1 killed & 3 wounded. image
    • 29 Oct 1781 Philadelphia, PA. Congress authorizes a Yorktown Victory Monument at York, Virginia, to remember the surrender of Lord Cornwallis & the British army, news of which had just reached the Congress. image
    • 30 Oct 1781 Col Marinus Willet, commanding 400 NY militia & 60 Oneida warriors, catches a group of Loyalists & Indians at West Canada Creek, NY. Willet’s men smash the Loyalist rear guard, wounding seven and killing Maj Walter Butler. image
    • 30 Oct 1781, the Confederation Congress appoints Gen. Benjamin Lincoln as Secretary of War. image
    • 26 Oct 1782 John Adams arrives in Paris to finalize the peace negotiations with the British commissioners.  image

 

 

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