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In the Bleak Midwinter: December 1784: Part Three of Three
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
On Monday, December 13, 1783 two Loyalists had their opportunity to appear before the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists during its first month in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
James Henderson had been born and raised in Pennsylvania where he worked as a farmer. Although he had been compelled to serve in the local militia – despite having refused to take an oath of allegiance to the rebel cause—he eventually joined the British forces under Sir William Howe in Philadelphia on March 16, 1778.
Making the journey of 60 miles from his father-in-law’s farm to Philadelphia, Henderson brought with him a wagon and four horses in response to the British forces’ desperate need of wagons. However, while he was just a few miles from the British camp, rebels attacked him and stole his horses and wagon. Later, Henderson and a scouting party went into the countryside where they were able to “acquire” 30 wagons for the British army.  For the remainder of the revolution Henderson filled the vital role of wagon master, transporting needed goods much as today’s commercial truckers do.
Given their vital role, those who served in the Wagon Master General Department were among the last Loyalists to leave New York City on refugee evacuation vessels. It was their job to take other refugees’ worldly goods to the ships that would take them to sanctuary throughout the British Empire. Many of those employed in the wagon master general department were Black Loyalists; their names can be discovered in the Book of Negroes, a ledger compiled by the British that recorded all free and enslaved Blacks who left New York in 1783.
In the ledger’s entries, James Henderson comes across as an ally of a family of Black Loyalists who sailed on the ship Nisbet on November 9, 1783. He certified that 42 year-old Fan Barclay and her 6 children who ranged in age from 6 months to 16 years of age (Rachel, Elizabeth, George, Israel and Tishy) were all free. Like most members of the wagon master general department, the Barclay family had set sail for Port Mouton, Nova Scotia.
However, 21 days later, James Henderson and his family board the ship Peggy with a 21 year-old slave named Gilbert Lafferts. He “proved to be the property” of the Loyalist and a “bill of sale {was} produced“.  The man who had verified the emancipation of an entire Black family within the wagon department, nevertheless set sail for Nova Scotia with a slave he had purchased during the course of the revolution.
Following the fire that devastated Port Mouton in the summer of 1784, Henderson moved to Chedabucto in present day Guysborough County.
When Henderson appeared before the RCLSAL, all he requested was compensation for his four horses and wagon that had been stolen by Patriots six years earlier.
The other Loyalist who appeared before the compensation board on December 13, 1784 was Isaac Wilkins, a native of Jamaica who immigrated to New York as a child with his parents. He later represented Westchester County in the colonial legislature where he voted against Patriot motions; he also authored a number of pamphlets against the Continental Congress.  His unflinching support of the British government made him “obnoxious” and he was “constrained” to seek sanctuary in England in the spring of 1775. (An interesting fact emerges from his testimony – a one-way sea voyage to England from New York cost £400 in 1775.)
Wilkins returned to Long Island in the fall of 1776 when British forces established their wartime headquarters in New York. His family, which lived in nearby Westchester County, had Patriots drive them out of their home. Narrowly escaping capture by the rebel soldiers, “his wife {Isabella} fled in such precipitation she could not save more than her clothes“. Thwarted in their plans, the rebels made prisoners of Wilkins’ slaves, stole his livestock, and vandalized his property.
Despite having his home destroyed by rebels, Wilkins remained in New York after the evacuations of 1783 to reclaim and then sell his family estate. This generous treatment of a man the Patriots regarded as a traitor may have been due to the fact that he had an influential relative – his brother-inn-law Lewis Morris was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Wilkins, his family, and “a number of slaves” then set sail for Shelburne, the largest of all loyalist refugee settlements in British North America.
Although he arrived in the city a year after most of its loyalist refugees had settled there, Wilkins was appointed the first judge of the court of common pleas. Among the duties of this office was the inspection of the Black Loyalist school in nearby Birchtown. Wilkins was also a member of the Board of Agents that allocated land and resolved property disputes.
During the Nova Scotia election of 1785, Isaac Wilkins was elected to the colonial House of Assembly as the member for the city of Shelburne, a position he held until 1793. While a representative for his community, Wilkins moved for the creation of a lighthouse at the entrance to Shelburne’s harbor.
Eleven years after his arrival in Nova Scotia, Wilkins returned to the United States to study for the Anglican ministry. He eventually became the rector of St. Peter’s Church in Westchester, New York, ministering there until his death in 1830. The Wilkins’ had twelve children, one of whom went on to become the speaker of Nova Scotia’s house of assembly and then a judge in its supreme court.
The last Loyalist to be considered in this series of those who braved the cold coastal waters of Nova Scotia to appear before the compensation board in Halifax in December of 1784 is William Read. A native of East Chester, New York, he had “married and settled a year before the Troubles as a cooper and farmer“.  A friend remembered him at this time as “beginning the world, getting into trade“.
Although he had served in his local militia unit, Read had never taken an oath of allegiance to the Patriots. He joined the British when they came to White Plains, New York in October of 1775. He served as a “Refugee Light Horse Man” for six months with DeLancey’s Corps, a loyalist militia, before seeking refuge in New York City for the remainder of the revolution.
Read settled in Horton, near present day Wolfville, Nova Scotia. In 1786, he was made the power of attorney for the Rev. John Wiswall, the local Anglican clergyman.  He appears in the poll tax records of 1791 where he is listed as a farmer.
The Acadian Recorder‘s June 10, 1815 edition notes that a farmer named William Reed died at the age of 76 on June second. If this is our Loyalist, he would have been 45 years old when he stood before the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists in 1783.
As an Anglican, William Read would have celebrated Christmas to a greater degree than the Loyalists from dissenting denominations who lived in his neighborhood. Whether he returned home from his December visit to Halifax in a festive mood goes unrecorded – as does the amount of compensation that he was promised by the commission. How bleak was his midwinter – and that of other Loyalists in 1784—is ultimately a matter of historical speculation.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

The Loyal- List: Loyalist Descendants Role in the Public Health Battle Against Infectious Diseases  
By Mike Woodcock UE, Victoria Branch
This article commemorates the United Nations International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, celebrated annually on December 27th. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic highlights how major infectious diseases can devastate lives and disrupt long-term social and economic development.
Here, we honor notable United Empire Loyalist (UEL) descendants who played significant roles in early Canada’s public health movement.
Notable UEL Descendants

  1. George Brock Chisholm: Chisholm was the first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), elected in April 1948 by a 46–2 vote. He championed the importance of international mental and physical health. During his tenure, he successfully addressed major health crises, including cholera in Egypt and malaria outbreaks in Greece and Sardinia. He also introduced shortwave epidemic-warning services for ships at sea, demonstrating the global emphasis on health preparedness.
  2. Samuel Head:  Head’s commitment to improving medical treatment quality is evident through his efforts to establish a hospital. He chaired the Charity Committee of the Charitable Irish Society from 1819 to 1834 and co-founded the Halifax Poor Man’s Friend Society in 1820. Head, appointed as a justice of the peace in 1810, advocated for increased responsibility in healthcare during the 1827 typhus and smallpox epidemics. His initiatives included vaccination orders for impoverished children during the smallpox outbreak in 1831 and the establishment of a lazaret on Melville Island. Tragically, he succumbed to typhus, further underscoring the health challenges faced by society.
  3. Leone Norwood Farrell:  A pioneering Canadian biochemist and microbiologist, Farrell identified microbial strains critical to vaccine and antibiotic development. Her innovations significantly contributed to the mass production of the polio vaccine, marking a significant advancement in public health.
  4. Edward Playter:  An influential figure in North America’s public health movement, Playter’s career represented the shift from the sanitarian era to the scientific era of bacteriology and physiology. He utilized his wealth to advocate for public health reforms and became an early member of the American Public Health Association. From 1874 to 1892, he edited a public health journal and authored pamphlets on various health issues, including tuberculosis and cholera. Dr. William Osler credited Playter with prioritizing public health in late-19th-century Canada, leading to Ontario’s improved health reporting statute in 1875.

Invitation to Contribute
We invite you to help expand the Loyal-List! If you want to add Loyalists or descendants, suggest edits to existing profiles, or provide feedback, please email membership.vic.uelac@gmail.com or use the feedback portal on uelcanada.ca. The Loyal- List is a dedicated project of the United Empire Loyalists (UEL) Association of Canada, highlighting individuals identified through reputable sources and recognized as an official UELAC initiative.

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

A Caribbean Connection – 23 December 2025
During the American Revolution Curacao, a Dutch colony in the Caribbean,  served as a strategic and commercial hub.  It also functioned as a neutral port for the flow of war supplies to the American colonies.
Fort Beekenburg was built in the early 1700s to guard Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao. It was named after Nicolaas van Beek, the Governor of the island from 1701 to 1704.
Curaçao became a Dutch colony in 1634 when the Dutch West Indies Company captured the island from the Spanish. They established it as a key trading post. Read more…

Delancey Town, Bahamas – 26 December 2025
Delancey Town is an old neighborhood in Nassau, Bahamas, named after Stephen DeLancey, a prominent United Empire Loyalist and former Chief Justice of the Bahamas (1790–1797). After the American Revolution, he left New York and first settled in Nova Scotia.
After the American Revolution,  Loyalists, both black and white,  arriving in the Bahamas massively boosted the population.  Between 1783 and 1788, it is estimated 5,000 to 7,000 came. This doubled the white population and tripled the black. Read more…

250 Years Ago: The Invasion of Canada: Events between Dec 24 and Dec 30, 1775
In the final week of December 1775, the American Continental Army, led by General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, prepared for a desperate assault on Quebec City, which was defended by British forces under Governor Guy Carleton. The period was characterized by deteriorating health among American troops and strategic planning to beat expiring enlistments.

British Forces: Governor Carleton remained steadfast, having already rejected surrender demands earlier in the month. He focused on strengthening barricades at Sault-au-Matelot and Près-de-Ville (see below).
American Forces:
24 December: American forces continued their siege operations, though they were severely hampered by a smallpox outbreak and the inability to dig trenches in the frozen ground.
25 December: General Montgomery held a Council of War with his senior officers to finalize a plan for a multi-pronged assault on the city.
26–29 December: Montgomery waited for a snowstorm to provide cover for the attack. He faced the looming deadline of 1 January 1776, when many of his soldiers’ enlistments were set to expire.
30 December:
Afternoon: A powerful “nor’easter” blizzard began, providing the tactical conditions Montgomery required.
Evening: Montgomery ordered his troops to form up. The final plan involved two feints against the western walls (led by Jacob Brown and James Livingston) and two primary attacks on the Lower Town (led by Montgomery and Arnold).
Late Night: American troops began their approach under the cover of the storm, moving toward their designated starting positions for a pre-dawn strike on 31 December.

How had the British under Carleton Prepared the Defenses
To defend Quebec against the American assault, Governor Guy Carleton fortified the Lower Town
—the commercial area beneath the Upper Town’s cliffs—by establishing two primary defensive sectors with fortified barricades.

  1. Près-de-Ville Barricade (Southwest Sector). Located at the narrow base of Cape Diamond along the St. Lawrence riverbank, this was the site where General Montgomery’s column attacked.
    1. The Defenses: A heavy log barricade and a palisade were erected across the narrow road.
    2. Armament: The position was anchored by a blockhouse (a rudimentary wooden guard tower) equipped with several small cannons.
    3. Garrison: The post was defended by a small force of roughly 50 men, consisting of Quebec militia and British sailors. They famously loaded their cannons with grapeshot (multiple iron balls), which devastated Montgomery’s advancing line.
  2. Sault-au-Matelot Barricades (Northeast Sector). This area defended the northern entry to the Lower Town, where Colonel Benedict Arnold’s force attacked.
    1.  Multiple Layers: Carleton established two barricades in this sector to create a “kill zone”.
      1.  First Barricade: Placed on the narrow Sault-au-Matelot Street, it was intended to slow the initial advance.
      2.  Second Barricade: Located further into the city, this stronger position was defended by roughly 150 British regulars and additional cannons.
    2. Tactical Advantage: The British utilized the high ground of the city walls and cliffs overlooking these narrow streets to fire down upon the American troops from above.

General Strategic Measures
Martial Law: Carleton declared martial law, forcing all able-bodied men to either join the defense or be expelled from the city.
Cleared Zones: British forces burned down houses and buildings outside the city walls to eliminate cover that American snipers or raiding parties might use.
Garrison Composition: By late December, the total defending force grew to approximately 1,800 men, including British regulars, Royal Highland Emigrants, local militia, and armed merchant sailors.

Sago Potter, Loyalist of Lot 30 in PEI, and the Black Swamp Rebellion
By Kevin Wisener UE
One of the intriguing Loyalists’ names is that of Segoe (Sago / Seago) Potter. One of his few mentions is his Loyalist land grants. The first, dated September 15, 1784, mentions his arrival in Charlottetown from Shelburne on September 13, 1784. The muster roll also shows that Sago was 46 on that date and therefore born c. 1738. This would make Sago one of the oldest Loyalists coming to Prince Edward Island.
But who is this mysterious fellow who was able to secure 500 acres of land due to his loyalty during the American Revolution? The Ward-Chipman Loyalist Papers have only one reference to Sago Potter and that is the Muster Roll (above) dated Sept 15, 1784, at Charlottetown.
Seago Potter can be traced to England, where he was baptized on January 5th, 1743, at Denham, Suffolk, England, the son of William Potter and Elizabeth Giles.1 By 1760, Seago was apprenticed to Master Edward Goody of Barrow, England while residing in his home. Seago’s apprenticeship was for the trade of wool stapler, but he is by 1777 a foreman at an iron furnace in Delaware,
A rather exhaustive search did turn up a single person of that name during the American Revolution: a Sago Potter of Sussex County, Delaware. Delaware was a colony, consisting of three counties (Newcastle, Sussex and Kent),
Delaware was a colony comprised mostly of inhabitants of English descent and among the highest colonial populations loyal to England. English vessels, both commercial and military, often anchored in Delaware Bay, which separated Delaware and New Jersey.
It appears that Seago Potter resided in Sussex County, Delaware, when a local rebellion of Loyalists occurred in 1780. This uprising, known as the Black Camp Rebellion, was a local reaction to the American Revolution and aimed to secure the county for the British.” The name Black Camp most likely refers to the Loyalist Camp in the Black Swamp and does not specifically infer being African American, as most of the Loyalists were white. However, Lord Dunmore’s proclamation in 1775 offered freedom to enslaved and indentured people who joined the British cause.
“The Black Swamp rebellion, also known as the 1780 Black Camp Rebellion, was a brief Loyalist uprising in Sussex County, Delaware, during the American Revolutionary War that occurred from July 15 to about August 10, 1780. The rebels, primarily poor farmers, were led by Bartholomew Bannum and William Dutton and established a camp in a swamp near present-day Ellendale, Delaware. Pro-American militia forces would later quickly suppress the rebellion, arresting the participants.” Read more… (pdf)

Dress of the Working Class – 18th Century England
By Denise Farmery publishe in Fairhall, July 2019, here from the Johnston Collection
Fashions in the 18th century reflect an era shaped by political and industrial revolutions as well as expanding global trade. There was a growing demand for clothes in all levels of society with clothing being one of the most visible forms of consumption, a sign of collective prosperity and a visible marker of social status.
European visitors to England in the second half of the 18th century were surprised to find the labouring poor relatively well dressed, writing in their letters of a farmer’s wife ‘clad on Sundays like a lady of quality’ and of country girls wearing chintz bodices, straw hats on their heads and scarlet cloaks on their shoulders. Comment was made on the wearing of shoes and stockings, the good quality of the clothes, the wide range of fashions and how fashions crossed social barriers – females of all ranks wore hats which differed less in fashion than in the materials they were made from. The working man’s round hat became popular with the male gentry whilst the working woman’s apron became part of fashionable elite dress for a short period in the early 18th century.
Later in the century, with the emphasis on modest dressing for even wealthy women, white aprons became part of informal dress whilst straw hats were worn outdoors. However, the gentry took a dim view of lower-class women, especially servants, copying their fashions and dressing above their station, bedgowns being of particular note. A front wrapped thigh-length short gown worn with petticoats at home by genteel women it became the staple upper garment of working-class women in the late 18th century. Clothes worn by ordinary people were the subject of newspaper articles and satirical prints with denunciations of inappropriate finery among the poor. In 1761 The Annual Register recorded that ‘dress, fashion and affectation have put all on an equality … it is difficult to tell the milliner from her ladyship, my lord from his groom …”  Read more…

Book Review: New Jersey’s Revolutionary Rivalry: The Untold Story of Colonel Tye & Captain Huddy
Author: Rick Geffken (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2025)
Review by Jeff Broadwater 23 Dec 2025 Journal of the American Revolutionary
This book revolves around two antagonists. Titus was an enslaved man who escaped to British lines and, as the leader of a mixed group of Black and white Loyalists, earned the honorary title Colonel Tye. Josiah “Jack” Huddy was a Monmouth County militia officer whose execution while in British custody triggered an international crisis.
Born to a Quaker family in 1735, Huddy grew up to be an incorrigible scoundrel with a penchant for exploiting vulnerable women. Geffken calls him “an opportunistic ne’er-do-well” (page 34). In one six-year period, he was sued a half dozen times for defaulting on loans, and then, in 1773, Huddy disappeared from his Salem hometown to avoid arrest, apparently on charges of fornication. He reappeared in 1777 as a Monmouth County militia officer in command of an artillery company protecting a powder magazine at Tinton Falls. Despite having shown no aptitude for responsible conduct in his private life, Huddy proved to be a highly competent commander.
Titus was born about 1754 on the Monmouth County farm of John Corlies to an enslaved woman named Sarah. Geffken believes Corlies, or his oldest son, was Titus’s father. Titus ran away in 1775, and until 1779 we do not know for sure where he was. Geffen wisely dismisses a number of popular myths about him, including the legend that he had fled to Virginia. By 1779, and perhaps earlier, Colonel Tye was leading Loyalist raids against supporters of the American Revolution. In a civil war fought by irregular forces and semi-professional soldiers, both sides committed atrocities, with civilians as frequent targets.
Colonel Tye and Captain Huddy’s paths crossed in September 1780, when Tye guided a patrol to Huddy’s home in Colts Neck. After a sharp skirmish in which a blast from Huddy’s musket shattered Tye’s wrist, the rebel commander was taken prisoner.  Read more…

Advertised on 27 Dec. 1775 “A BULL broke into my Plantation.”

“I DO hereby give Information / A BULL broke into my Plantation.”

A stray bull that came to a farm was a nuisance, at best, and placing a newspaper advertisement in hopes of identifying the owner was even more of an inconvenience, yet Thomas Paxson of Middletown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, decided to have some fun with it.  Rather than write a standard notice, the type that appeared in newspapers throughout the colonies, he composed half a dozen rhyming couplets:

I DO hereby give Information,
A BULL broke into my Plantation,
About three Months before this Date,
Whose natural Marks I shall relate;
His Face is white, his Sides are black,
With a white List along his Back;

Read more…

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions
Entries which have been added, or revised, this week – much appreciation to those contributing:

From Kevin Wisener

  • Seago Potter 1739 – 1805/6 (See article above)
  • Pvt. Michael Martin  from New Jersey served with New Jersey Volunteers (Skinner’s Brigade) (3rd) and the Kings Rangers. He received a 100 acre land grant in Lot 47, Kings County, Prince Edward Island

From Nolan Waterhouse

  • Jacob Cook Sr. c1763 – 1820 from Albany County NY he carried dispatches between Haldimand and Clinton, resettled in Saint-Armand QC, m.  Hannah Lampmanand two children. Also Loyalists were father Philip Cook Sr and brothers Philip Jr and
  • Jasper Cook c1768 – 1842 resettled in Caldwell Manor, Seigniory of Foucault. With Sarah Mills (d. 26 April 1848). Married on 9 February 1799 in William-Henry, they had nine children.
  • Henry Dillenback 1749 – 1828 from Stone Arabia, NY. m.  Rosina Cook, daughter of Philip Cook Sr. and they had eleven children. Resettled at Seigniory of Sorel, then Alburgh, Vermont
  • John Daniel Dörge c1748 – 1839 in William-Henry. Served with Brunswick Auxiliary Troops (Riedesel). He resettled at Seigniory of Sorel (William-Henry) with wife Eve Cook (2 Dec. 1761–17 Apr. 1823), daughter of Philip Cook Sr. and they had seven children.

Also from Lynton “Bill” Stewart, a number of entries, to be noted next week.

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

Events Upcoming

Gov. Simcoe Branch: “Matriarchs of the Hoople Creek Loyalists” by John Sliter Wed 7 Jan 7:30 ET

John will speak about his book “Matriarchs of the Hoople Creek Loyalists”, a series of historical fiction stories about seventeen women and their families who helped to settle Upper Canada along a small creek in eastern Ontario.Their stories reflect their struggle to survive hunger, disease, and even war as they married and raised their children in a new, heavily forested and seeming impenetrable land. Read more and register…

Shots Fired [vaccinations]
by Wendy Haaf — 6 November 2025 in Canada’s History
In April 2025, Morgan Birch of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., was awakened in the middle of the night by her four-month-old daughter screaming.
“I was scared,” recalls Birch. “At first, doctors thought it was a heat rash from the fever; then, it spread to her face. Her eyes were almost swollen shut and she wasn’t eating.”
The baby’s great-grandmother recognized the illness before lab tests confirmed her diagnosis was correct: Kimie had measles. She wasn’t yet protected by immunization since the first routine dose of measles vaccine is usually given at 12 months. “I was shocked,” says Birch. “I couldn’t understand how she would get measles in 2025.”
Kimie is among the more than 5,000 Canadians known to have been infected with measles in 2025 as of early October.
Stats like these would have seemed unthinkable not so long ago because the disease was declared eliminated in Canada in 1998. A contagious disease is considered eliminated if it’s almost entirely preventable — typically by vaccination — and “does not circulate in your region for more than 12 months,” explains Salvadori. In the case of measles, which is one of the most contagious human diseases ever known, roughly 95 per cent of the population needs to be fully vaccinated to prevent it from spreading to the wider community if an occasional person gets infected with the illness.
Before routine vaccination against measles began in 1970, the disease was so common that virtually everyone contracted it during childhood. In the pre-vaccination days, Canada saw an average of 54,584 cases per annum; by 1972, the number of cases dropped to just 14 a year. Other childhood diseases saw a similar reduction after routine vaccination was adopted: pertussis (whooping cough) cases dropped 87 per cent; mumps fell by 98 per cent; diphtheria and rubella decreased by more than 99 per cent; and polio came down 100 per cent.
“We’ve done a great job with vaccines, which are probably second only to clean water, the best and most impactful public health intervention” of all time.
While Canada deserves kudos for its pioneering contributions to vaccine development and for the oft-unsung efforts to get people vaccinated, an incomplete understanding of the history of vaccines and the protection they offer threatens that success.
The first vaccine in Canada arrived in 1800 — it was for smallpox. One of the deadliest diseases known to humans, smallpox initially appeared in New France in 1616. Periodic epidemics caused death and devastation for many decades, disproportionately affecting Indigenous communities, which had no natural immunity to this disease brought to North America by settlers. In some of these First Nations communities, more than 75 per cent of the people died from smallpox.
The viral disease started with flu-like symptoms. It then caused rashes and blisters inside the mouth and on the skin that filled with pus and burst. Smallpox typically was fatal in 30 per cent or more cases. It could also cause such serious complications as blindness.
But long before Confederation, variolation — a precursor to vaccination — was used to protect against smallpox, starting in British-held Quebec in 1765. Uptake of variolation, and then smallpox vaccination, was limited and uneven, though some jurisdictions made the latter compulsory, such as the Province of Canada and Prince Edward Island in the 1860s, and Quebec in 1875. But acceptance wasn’t uniform.
Movements against vaccination aren’t a recent phenomenon. For instance, while variolation was fairly well accepted in what is now Canada, some colonies in pre-Revolutionary America passed laws against the practice. The motivations for that resistance may be familiar: religious freedom and distrust of authority.
At the time [1900], pertussis — the so-called 100-day cough — killed five out of every 1,000 Canadian children ahead of their fifth birthdays, most of them before the age of one.
Up until the mid-1920s, diphtheria — then commonly referred to as “the strangler” — was the leading cause of death in Canadian children.
From the 1910s until the mid-50s, outbreaks of polio (also known then as infantile paralysis) occurred relatively regularly, along with periodic epidemics.
“No children played on the city streets,” a September 1987 Toronto Star story recalls of what life was like in the city at that time. “Healthy children were confined to their backyards and didn’t go back to school until Thanksgiving. Sick children languished in bed for six months to a year.” A then-60-year-old polio survivor named Henry Ford said in the article that the experience of being sick and unable to see his parents while in hospital was “terrifying.”
The worst spate of polio outbreaks took place between 1949 and 1954 — and paralyzed 11,000 Canadians…
…[concluding note] Even with the best modern medical care, measles can have serious consequences, with children under the age of five disproportionately affected. Read more…

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Clothing and apparel
  • Food and Related: Townsends

  • This week in History
    • 22 Dec 1774, a load of tea was torched in Greenwich by a group of 40 patriots dressed as Native Americans. The event became known as the Greenwich Tea Burning or the Greenwich Tea Party. image
    • 21 Dec 1775, London, Parliament passed a bill calling for the confiscation of all American vessels and the impressment of their crews into service in the English Navy, the American Prohibitory Act. image
    • 22 Dec 1775, London, King George III signs the Prohibitory Act, allowing confiscation of American ships & imprisonment of American sailors.  image
    • 22 Dec 1775 Congress commissions first naval officers: Commander of the Fleet Esek Hopkins; Captains Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicolas Biddle, and John Hopkins. Their vessels, Alfred, Columbus, Andrew Doria & Cabot – the fleet’s first ships.  image
    • 23 Dec 1775, London, King George III issues a royal proclamation closing the colonies to all foreign commerce & trade, effective March 1776.  image
    • 27 Dec 1775 Philadelphia. A letter is printed in the Pennsylvania Journal by An American Guesser (nom de plume of Ben Franklin) describing a painted rattlesnake on a Marine’s drum with the motto “Don’t Tread On Me.” image
    • 20 Dec 1776 Gen. William Howe writes to Lord Germain, the British Secretary for the Colonies, proposing a campaign to capture Philadelphia. This signaled a major shift in strategy from isolating New England. image
    • 21 Dec 1776 Petticoat Bridge, Burlington Co, NJ, Clashes begin between the American militia forces of Col Samuel Griffin & foraging parties under Hessian Col Carl von Donop. Skirmishes drew away support from Trenton prior to the attack on the 26th. image
    • 21 Dec 1776 Paris, France Commissioners Silas Deane, Benjamin Franklin & Arthur Lee meet with the Congressional authority to negotiate treaties & secure loans with King Louis XVI’s government. image
    • 24 Dec 1776 Merrick House, Newtown, PA To save the rapidly faltering Cause, Gen. Washington holds a council of war where he proposes a bold strike at Hessian garrisons in NJ. Unanimous agreement is reached, and “Victory or Death” becomes the password. image
    • 24 Dec 1776 Gen Washington had every boat collected & hidden behind Taylor Island on the Delaware for a planned crossing. A varied collection of large ferry vessels, small craft from nearby businesses & many Durham boats built to haul cargo.  image
    • 25 Dec 1776 In the evening, Gen Washington crosses the Delaware. Leading a  ragged & greatly reduced army through a storm, freezing temperatures & a river filled with deadly ice, he launches a surprise dawn attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton, NJ. image
    • 26 Dec 1776 Trenton, NJ. 2.4K Americans surprise some 1.4K Hessians under Col Johann Gottlieb Rall. Guns & muskets flush the Hessians from their billets, & they surrender after a firefight. 22 Hessian KIA, 92 WIA, 918 PW, 6 guns. Rall KIA. Patriots: 5 WIA. image
    • 27 Dec 1776   Gen John Cadwalader moves his PA Associators & other militia across the Delaware River & advances on a now deserted Burlington. NJ. He informs Gen. Washington  the British pulled back their garrisons following the American victory at Trenton. image
    • 23 Dec 1777 Gen Washington invites select members of Congress to Valley Forge to discuss leadership issues, specifically the so-called Conway cabal of officers seeking his replacement by Gen Horatio Gates.  image
    • 23 Dec 1778 Tybee Island, GA A British fleet lands 3,500 soldiers under Lt Col Archibald Campbell at the mouth of the Savannah River. image
    • 25 Dec 1778 Tybee Island, GA. Lt Col Archibald Campbell learns that Savannah is poorly defended & decides to attack before he is reinforced by Gen Prevost & before American Gen Benjamin Lincoln reinforces Savannah. image
    • 23 Dec 1779 Philadelphia, PA Gen. Benedict Arnold’s court-martial convenes on 13 counts of misbehavior, including misusing government wagons and illegally buying and selling goods. image
    • 26 Dec 1779 NYC. Hessian Gen Wilhelm von Knyphausen assumes command of the city’s garrison of 10K regulars, Loyalists & Hessians.  image
    • 26 Dec 1779 NYC. Gen Henry Clinton’s 8.7K men depart in Adm Marriott Arbuthnot’s 90 transports & 10 warships, as part of the new British “Southern Strategy.” image
    • 20 Dec 1780 In a letter to Dr. Franklin, Gen Washington recalls a visit by a French officer, the Marquis de Chastellux, near the Great Falls of the Passaic–now the site of the Paterson-Great Falls National Historical Park. image
    • 21 Dec 1781 Great Britain declares war on the Dutch Republic for joining the First League of Armed Neutrality and informally supporting the Americans with money & armaments. They also accused them of giving refuge to John Paul Jones & his squadron. image
    • 26 December 1784, Col Seth Warner dies at 41 in Roxbury, CT. Broken by 3 years as a British prisoner, Warner, who provided leadership at Ticonderoga, Quebec, Bennington & Hubbardton, returned home to find his state negotiating with the British.  image

Happy New Year – 2026 is almost here.
Wishing you and yours a safe, happy and healthy festive season and for the new year 2026 ….doug

Published by the UELAC
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