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Countdown to Lexington and Concord: Notices in a Loyalist Newspaper. Part One of Five
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
At one time, it was common for people to save the front pages of newspapers that reported outstanding historical events: the sinking of the Titanic, the outbreak of World War Two, Kennedy’s Assassination, Man Landing on the Moon, et cetera. An especially astute collector might also have newspaper clippings that recounted the stories leading up to those events: accounts of the Titanic’s construction, Hitler’s growing power, Kennedy’s plans to visit Dallas, or the key events of the space race.
Loyalist historians and descendants alike would no doubt be very interested in any 18th century newspaper that could provide accounts of the battles at Lexington and Concord. Recognized as the military actions that launched the American Revolution, those battles were fought in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775, producing the legendary “shot heard ’round the world”  — a shot that would forever change the lives of loyal Americans.
Thanks to the survival of editions of James Rivington’s Gazette, (published under a variety of names from 1773 to 1783) historians not only have a record of some of the era’s defining moments, but can trace the events – both significant and trivial—in the months leading up to the Battles at Lexington and Concord.
Over the next five weeks, this series will examine what was published in Rivington’s Gazette — the loyalist newspaper of New York City– between January and April of 1775, revisiting the events and personalities who were part of the countdown to Lexington and Concord.
When James Rivington launched his newspaper in 1773, he wanted to publish a weekly paper that was a free press – one that was objective and neutral. However, the more rabid Patriots in New York considered that anyone not supporting their goals was by definition a traitor to the cause. There was not toleration for neutrality. By November of 1774, they threatened to tar and feather Rivington for what they perceived as his loyalist views. A contributed poem that appeared in the December 22, 1774 edition summed up the publisher’s dilemma:
“Upon my word ’tis very hard, A man can’t speak his mind, but he must be tarr’ed and feather’d be, And left to the North-West wind.”
As 1775 dawned, there was no indication that it would be the year that would plunge Great Britain’s North American colonies into rebellion.  The Gazette’s coverage of the first two weeks of the year carried the usual notices of runaway servants, marriages, deaths, and real estate matters.
The first military matter reported was the execution of a British soldier named William Ferguson who deserted the 10th Regiment that was stationed in Boston.
The same newspaper carried an account of the wedding of 25 year-old Stephen Payne-Gallway, an Englishman who collected antiquities, and Phila DeLancey the daughter of Oliver DeLancey. Both the father of the bride and the officiating pastor (Samuel Auchmuty) would later be known as Loyalists, retaining their support of the crown.
Oliver DeLancey would later become a Brigadier-General of the Royal Provincial Forces on September 21, 1776. He raised and equipped 1,500 loyalist volunteers to form DeLancey’s Brigade. Following the revolution, DeLancey became a refugee, dying at Beverley in the United Kingdom in 1785, at the age of sixty-eight. The Rev. Auchmuty died in 1777, never to know how the revolution ended.
Other January news included the name of an enslaved teenager of mixed race, skilled as a barber, who had run away from his master in Philadelphia –as had a 25 year-old “Scotch servant girl” in New York. Rewards were posted for the apprehension of both fugitives.
The most political item found in the January editions of the Gazette was the publication of a list of 54 residents of Queens County who disapproved of the Continental Congress and who recognized the members of the General Assembly as the only true representatives of New York’s population. Divisions within colonial society were becoming more visible and more vocal.
That same edition reported the wedding of Polly Jarvis to the Rev. John Bowden.  Ordained in the previous year, the 24 year-old clergyman was the assistant rector at New York City’s Trinity Church.  When hostilities began, he and his wife sought sanctuary in Connecticut until the British occupied New York. Local Patriots knew his loyalty to the crown. A story of his encounter with one band of rebels goes as follows:
As Bowden rode up to a house in Smithtown, New York, a concealed party of whaleboat men captured him. “Why, gentlemen,” said he, “what shall I do! I am too feeble to go with you, it will kill me!”
The Patriots replied, “Then you can sign a parole, and we will exchange you for the Rev. Mr. Mather.”
“That I will readily do,” replied Brown. Following this episode, Brown and his wife sought refuge in the West Indies. After the peace of 1783, they moved back to Connecticut, and later became a professor at New York City’s Columbia College. A Loyalist who was eventually reintegrated into American society, Brown died at 65 in Ballston Spa, New York in 1817.
While January was relatively calm, events during the second month of 1775 began to reveal signs of increasing tensions between rebel and loyal New Yorkers.
In the February 2nd edition of Rivington’s Gazette, one could read of Joseph Bell, who proudly announced that he had “taken a house and a shop opposite the end of Vandewater Street“. The tanner had been an apprentice in London for seven years, and then worked for Mr. Griggs of New York. An ordinary tradesman, Bell eventually became the captain of a group of loyalist refugees who, along with his wife, three children and a servant, settled in Shelburne. In 1792, the Bell family relocated to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, where he died in 1829, aged eighty-nine.
That same edition noted that John Mercereau was selling the New Blazing Star Ferry on Staten Island’s west side. This may have been occasioned by his greater focus on his stagecoach business that transported passengers between New York City and Philadelphia. Details about the prices of stagecoach travel between the two colonial metropolises were in an earlier advertisement. “The price for each passenger in the coach is thirty shillings, and out-passengers twenty shillings. Each passenger allowed to take 14 pounds baggage, and above that to pay two pence per pound.” The journey took two days.
Mercereau was destined to take a much longer journey on July 10, 1783. As the captain of a company of loyalist evacuees, he and Thomas Lydecker, the Black Loyalist whom he escorted, boarded the Townshend for the mouth of the St. John River.  They and the other 987 refugees who made up the July Fleet arrived in what became Saint John on July 24th.  Mercereau reappears in the historical records in 1786 asked for land for his son Jacob on New Brunswick’s Oromocto River. In 1790, he was listed as one of the proprietors of Oromocto Island.  He would later make two additional requests for land in the Maugerville area in the early decades of the 19th century.
Further down the page of the February 2, 1783 Gazette, one could read the names of 135 citizens of Jamaica, Long Island who had signed a Declaration of Loyalty to the King back in January. As the town had between 150 and 160 landowners (which qualified them as voters in colonial elections), it is clear that in early 1775 the vast majority of the community was comprised of Loyalists. Such notices must have reassured Rivington’s loyal readers that –contrary to Patriot propaganda— not all colonists were in favour of the growing sentiment of independence.
Part two of the countdown to Lexington and Concord continues in next week’s Loyalist Trails.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

The Loyal- List: Celebrating Loyalist Descendants on John A. Macdonald Day  
By Mike Woodcock UE, Victoria Branch
This edition of The Loyal-List celebrates Sir John A. Macdonald Day on January 11th, a federal commemorative day honoring Canada’s first Prime Minister and a Father of Confederation. The day focuses on his nation-building role while encouraging reflection on his complex legacy. This article outlines several of the professional, friendship, and patronage connections between United Empire Loyalists (UEL) and their descendants with John A. Macdonald. If you know of other UEL connections with Macdonald, please share!
    Peter VanAlstine, a UEL descendant, built a grist mill in 1806 in Prince Edward County, near present-day Glenora, and operated a ferry between this location and Adolphustown. A small settlement developed around his mill, which remained in the family until the late 1830s. Hugh Macdonald, John A. Macdonald’s father worked there as a miller from 1829 to 1836, marking his last significant investment, which included unsuccessful attempts to expand into carding and dyeing wool. During this period, John managed his uncle’s law practice in Picton.
The Reverend William Macauley Herchmer and Sir John A. Macdonald were lifelong friends and schoolmates in Kingston, Ontario. This friendship led Macdonald, as Canada’s first Prime Minister, to appoint Rev. Herchmer’s son, Lawrence Herchmer, as the Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police in 1886.
One of the initial high-profile trials of Macdonald’s career was the 1837 defense of UEL descendant William Brass in a rape trial. Although Brass was convicted and hanged, the British Whig noted the “very able defense” led by the 22-year-old rising lawyer Macdonald.
After being elected, Macdonald’s legal training positioned him as a likely candidate for Attorney General. In 1856, he appointed David Read to a commission tasked with revising and consolidating Upper Canada’s statutes. That same year, under Macdonald’s persuasion, Philip Michael VanKoughnet accepted roles as President of the Executive Council and Minister of Agriculture within the Taché-Macdonald government. James Buchanan Macaulay concluded his days honored by Macdonald at a retirement dinner in 1856, praised for his “untiring assiduity.”
Despite being a Reformer, David Roblin supported Macdonald on every major issue, including Macdonald’s unpopular stance against representation by population. In 1857, Macdonald wrote of Roblin: “When I was in straits, he stood by me like a man, and I can never forget him.” In contrast, Thomas Street declined Macdonald’s cabinet invitation in 1862 due to his support for representation by population.
For his contributions to Confederation, William McDougall became Minister of Public Works in Sir John A. Macdonald’s 1867 cabinet. Other figures, like Aquila Walsh, sought political rewards for their loyalty but felt resentment when overlooked. Elected to the House of Commons in 1867, Walsh hoped to become its first speaker and expressed his frustrations to Macdonald in October 1867, citing extraordinary sacrifices made for the party. He held the chairmanship of the Intercolonial Railway Commission from 1868 until 1874 and aspired to various high-profile political roles throughout his career.
In the early 1870s, Henry Starnes played a significant behind-the-scenes role in party financing, contributing to the Pacific Scandal that temporarily ousted Macdonald’s government until their re-election in 1878.
On November 14, 1878, John Stoughton Dennis became the deputy minister of the interior under Macdonald, a position he won on merit rather than party loyalty. Their relationship was not without disagreement, notably a heated argument in July 1879 regarding the disposition of 100,000 acres of western railway lands, where Dennis successfully advocated for the new American system of 160-acre homesteads.
In 1882, Roderick William Cameron was nominated by the Canadian government for a knighthood, initially denied by the British authorities. The Macdonald government successfully secured this honor for Cameron, officially awarded on June 16, 1883, for his service as an exhibition commissioner and his general credit with the government.
In 1884, John A. Macdonald offered Frederick De St. Croix Brecken the post of postmaster of Charlottetown and post-office inspector for the province. Although Brecken initially felt unqualified, he accepted the position under the condition that his “claims for professional advancement were not weakened.” Assured by the Prime Minister that the office “would not be considered as a ‘receipt in full,'” he took the post in July 1884. Despite his hopes for a judgeship, Brecken continued to be overlooked and served without incident until his death in 1903.

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 Civil War – 7 January 2026
What do you say as a Loyalist historian and presenter about United Empire Loyalists to an audience of Americans? I was asked during the past summer to make a presentation this month, in January,  to a Genealogical Society in Washington State.
The American Revolution was, in some ways, a Civil War.  At the start of the conflict, both sides were British subjects.  It divided not just communities, neighbours and friends in the American colonies but families.  In the Battle of Kings Mountain the forces on both sides were almost entirely American born.   Benjamin Franklin is known as a leading Patriot, however, his son William Franklin was an ardent Loyalist.  Benjamin signed the Declaration of Independence.  His son William was the last Royal Governor of New Jersey (1763 – 1776) and was imprisoned by Patriots.  Read more…

250 Years Ago: The Invasion of Canada: After the “Battle of Quebec” January 1 – 14, 1776 
American forces, shattered by their failed December 31st assault, were in a grim, freezing state of siege, desperately holding their ground outside the city walls under Benedict Arnold’s command, while British defenders, led by Guy Carleton, solidified their control, having secured victory, reinforced defenses, and prepared for the inevitable spring relief, effectively containing the Continentals in a deadly standoff before the eventual American retreat in May.
Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of the situation:
January 1, 1776: The Aftermath
British Victory: The decisive, multi-pronged American assault on Quebec City failed, with General Montgomery killed and hundreds captured, securing the city for the British.
American Retreat: Remaining American forces, including Benedict Arnold’s division, retreated from the city’s walls, taking heavy casualties from cold, hunger, and combat.
January 2 – 14, 1776: The Siege Continues
American Encirclement: Arnold reorganized the surviving militia, establishing a loose siege line around Quebec City but lacking heavy artillery and reinforcements.
British Fortification: Governor Carleton bolstered defenses, proclaimed martial law, mustered local militia, and prepared for a prolonged siege, burning houses to create clear fields of fire.
Harsh Conditions: Both sides suffered terribly from the brutal winter, but the Americans, exposed and ill-equipped, faced starvation, disease, and dwindling morale.
No Major Engagements: This period was characterized by skirmishes, patrols, and constant tension, with the Americans unable to mount further significant attacks and the British holding a strong defensive position.
Waiting Game: The Americans held out hope for reinforcements, while the British waited for the spring thaw to bring much-needed regulars from Britain, a relief that would ultimately arrive in May.

Major General Richard Montgomery was buried in Quebec on January 4, 1776.
Details of the Funeral
Date: The burial took place on January 4, 1776.
Location: He was initially interred just inside the St. Louis Gate of the Old City of Quebec, near the road to the Citadel entrance.
Attendees: The burial was attended by his two aides-de-camp, Major McPherson and Captain Cheeseman, and a number of his soldiers, who were killed alongside him.
Service: The British, under Lieutenant Governor Cramahé, recovered Montgomery’s body and provided a simple military funeral service. This was a sign of respect for his former service in the British Army.
Preparation: Before the funeral, his body was brought to the nearby house of Jean Gaubert and placed in a proper coffin.
Subsequent Reinterment
Montgomery’s remains did not stay in Quebec permanently. In 1818, at the request of his widow and the State of New York, his remains were exhumed and transported to New York City.
He was reinterred with full military honors beneath a monument at St. Paul’s Chapel, where a marble memorial commissioned by the Continental Congress in 1776 is located.

Friend or Foe?
by Madelaine Drohan and illustrated by Sébastien Thibault 2 May 2025 at Canada’s History
American annexation threats date back to colonial times — but Canadians have resisted being “conquered into liberty.”
“The Unanimous Voice of the Continent is Canada must be ours, Quebec must be taken.”
So declared John Adams, a future American founding father, in a February 1776 letter to James Warren, a fellow rebel from Massachusetts. At the time, an army from the American colonies occupied Montreal and Trois-Rivières and was laying siege to Quebec City. If they captured Quebec City, the seat of power in what was then a British colony, the rebels would be well on their way to satisfying a desire that the English in the Thirteen Colonies had held since their forebears first set foot in North America — control of the continent.
Adams did not realize when he wrote his letter that the nascent American republic’s attempt to liberate Canada from Britain was already all but lost. A desperate attack on Quebec City during a snowstorm on December 31, 1775, had failed miserably. The senior rebel general, Richard Montgomery, was mown down by grapeshot, causing his men to flee. His second-in-command, Benedict Arnold, was wounded while leading a separate attack. More than 300 of Arnold’s men were captured by the defending force of British regulars and French and English Canadians. The remaining American troops, poorly clothed for the harsh northern winter and riven with smallpox, held out until spring. The appearance on May 6 of British warships on the St. Lawrence River sent them scurrying for home, leaving food, weapons and wounded comrades behind.
It was not the first time, nor the last, that residents of the Thirteen Colonies sought to conquer Canada, a vaguely defined territory that first appeared on European maps in the mid-1500s. Its borders expanded and contracted depending on who was drawing the map and when, but the central core remained the area along the St. Lawrence River between Quebec City and Montreal.
Ever since France had begun sending colonists to Canada in the early 1600s to build New France, those colonists had come into conflict with the English settlers of the Thirteen Colonies — now the American eastern seaboard states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
Two centuries of bloody warfare, of attack and counterattack, of burned settlements and slaughtered settlers ensued, continuing — after a slight pause — even after Canada passed from France to Britain in 1763. Read more…

American Ancestors Periodical: Revolutionary Stories: Loyalists, the Hard Winter and more
Fall 2025 vol. 26, no. 3 Available here… (pdf)
The following are some of the articles in this magazine.

The Loyalist Experience During the American Revolution (Page 21)
By Alexander Cain, a noted author and speaker on the Revolutionary War era
It is often said that history is written by the victors, and the American Revolution was no exception. Because the War of Independence was won by the rebels, American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown were often portrayed in a negative light. In historical accounts, legal documents, and popular culture, Loyalists have been shown as corrupt, inept, and greedy individuals whose unwavering loyalty to the Crown ultimately led to their downfall. However, these stereotypes downplay the difficult choices and genuine hardships that American Loyalists faced.

Finding Loyalists in Your Family Tree (Page 26)
By Melanie McComb, Senior Genealogist at American Ancestors.
Loyalists, also known as Tories and Royalists, supported the British during the Revolutionary era. According to historians, approximately fifteen to twenty percent of American colonists (approximately 500,000 people) identified as Loyalists.1 These colonists remained loyal to the British Crown for a variety of reasons, including wanting to remain British subjects and maintain family ties and business relationships. However, Loyalists in the colonies risked the confiscation of their lands, as well as being harassed, arrested, and eventually evicted from the colonies.
The following records are key to researching Loyalist connections.

Loyalist Ancestors (Page 29)
In July, we asked readers of our Weekly Genealogist enewsletter to share stories about their Canadian ancestors. A selection of the responses on Loyalist ancestors is presented here.

“LIBERTY TO SLAVES” Black Loyalists in the American Revolution (Page 30)
By Danielle Rose is the 10 Million Names Volunteer Manager at American Ancestors.
On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation promising freedom to all indentured servants and enslaved people who were willing to join the British forces during the American War for Independence. It’s hard to determine the exact nmber, but some historians estimate that tens of thousands of enslaved people fled to join the British Army over the course of the war. These men and women who bravely escaped bondage are now known as Black Loyalists.
At the beginning of the conflict, the colonial population was estimated to be about 2.1 million people.
Twenty percent were people of African descent, and nine out of ten of them were enslaved.

The Revolutionary War’s Hard Winter (Page 34)
By Judith E. Harper, a historian and professional genealogist researching New York and New England ancestries.
The winter of 1779–1780 was North America’s coldest, harshest eighteenth-century winter. Even so, the “Hard Winter” has received little attention, likely because other cataclysmic upheavals of the Revolutionary era overshadowed it. This wintry siege—which occurred at a time when the war appeared to have no end—had a huge impact on every aspect of daily life for civilians and American and British military forces.
David Ludlum, a noted twentieth-century historian of early American weather, observed that the ravages of the winter of 1779–1780 hit all the colonies from north to south and to the west. “Reports from Maine southward along the seaboard to Georgia, and from Detroit down through the interior waterways to New Orleans,all chronicled tales of deep snow, severe cold, and widespread suffering.”

Loyalist John Brachen (Bracken, Brecken)
He came to Prince Edward Island in 1787 with his wife Ann Wake. He was a successful merchant in Charlottetown, having declined to take the land offered him elsewhere on the Island. He acquired a number of properties and must have been quite prosperous as he could afford to leave his business and return to his birthplace in Yorkshire, England, where he died in 1827.
This tidbit about John was expanded by Kevin Wisener UE and published in PEI’s Abegweit Branch UELAC newsletter The Loyalist Beacon.
John Brecken, United Empire Loyalist from New York, has previously been researched and published in
An Island Refuge, which stated that John arrived in CharloƩetown July 26th, 1784 and was granted 500
acres of land at Bedeque but instead petitoned for a town and pasture lot in CharloƩetown. There he founded his business, John Brecken & Co., at the north corner of Queen and Water Streets. At the Ɵme of publishing, it was not menƟoned where in New York John originated. However, with this memorial we can add to his profile details.
His Memorial, sworn and dated February 25th, 1786 at Sorel, Quebec, most likely indicates that he had returned to Sorel to bring his wife Ann Wake and their son Ralph to CharloƩetown.
A transcript of his Memorial is included. In part it reads:

    The Memorial of John Brachen late of Johnstown, County of Tryon, New York, but now of Sorel in the province of Quebec. Sheweth that from the unhappy rise of the troubles in America that he was strongly aƩached to the BriƟsh Sovereign and the English ConsƟtuƟon, and that he adhered steadfastly to his allegiance and exerted himself to the utmost of his ability, using his utmost Endevours promoƟng the Interest of the BriƟsh NaƟon, that he stood to his Allegiance, and exerted himself according to Sir John Johnson’s direcƟons and cleared his way according to Sir John Johnson’s Command to Canada & conƟnued in his regiment called K’s Rl Regt (King’s Royal Regiment) of New York unƟl the said regiment was disbanded, as may fully appear by his discharge, Evidences & References of Sir John Johnson’s Batt’ etc. & others if required.

Read more…   pdf

The Association of Cumberland County, North Carolina 
by Joseph Westendorf 8 Jan 2025 The Journal of the American Revolution
On June 20, 1775, Patriots of the Cumberland Association met at Liberty Point, the space currently located between the intersection of Bow Street and Person Street in what is now Fayetteville, North Carolina. At the time, Cumberland County, which included the present-day counties of Moore, Hoke and Harnett, was inhabited by a large concentration of Scottish Highlanders, most of whom were loyal to the British government. Yet on this date, Cumberland Patriots took a stand for independence. A table was brought from Barge’s Tavern, and fifty-five men, led by Robert Rowan, signed the Cumberland Association, a document declaring a willingness to defend their rights against the abuses of the British government.
The Cumberland Association said the following:
At a general meeting of the several committees of the district of Wilmington, held at the court-house in Wilmington, Tuesday, the 20th June, 1775;

Resolved, that the following association stand as the association of this committee, and that it be recommended to the inhabitants of this District to sign the same as speedily as possible. …

The Cumberland Association document was very similar to Wilmington-New Hanover’s Association’s statement signed the previous day. New Hanover’s had not been a surprise, as Wilmington was a hotbed of Patriot sentiment. Unlike New Hanover, Cumberland County had a very strong Loyalist presence. At the time, most of Cumberland County seemed sympathetic for the Crown; even those chosen as members of the Provincial Congress would later support the British at Moore’s Creek. Read more…

The loss of HMS Royal George 1782
By Antoine Vanner at the Dawlish Chronicles
The disaster that overcame the first-rate ship of the line HMS Royal George in 1782, while anchored in calm water in sight of shore, was to have as strong an impact on the contemporary public mind as the loss of the RMS Titanic was to have one hundred and thirty years later. The tragedy was all the more terrible for the fact that it would have been avoidable if the simplest of precautions had been taken – and without them over 900 men and women were to die.
When launched in 1756, HMS Royal George was possibly the largest warship in the world at some 2000 tons, a length of 180 feet and armed with over a hundred guns. The 28 42-pounders and equal number of 24-pounders she carried gave her massive ship-smashing power.  She was to see significant action in the Seven Years War, then commencing, and was to serve during it as flagship for two of the Royal Navy’s greatest names, Admirals Anson and Hawke. It was from her that Hawke was to command the fleet that inflicted such a crushing defeat on the French at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, in the course of which she sank the French ship Superbe. She was to render equally valuable service during the American War of Independence, operating against the French and Spanish fleets in the Eastern Atlantic and participating in the “First Relief” of the Siege of Gibraltar in 1780 when troop reinforcements and supplies were landed on The Rock. Thus was not the end of the siege however and it was destined to drag on for another three years. Read more…

Advertised on 9 Jan. 1776 “THIS day was published … COMMON SENSE “

“THIS day was published … COMMON SENSE addressed to the INHABITANTS of AMERICA.”

On January 9, 1776, the first advertisement for Thomas Paine’s Common Sense appeared in an American newspaper.  The notice did not include Paine’s name.  Instead, it stated that Robert Bell, the prominent printer and bookseller, “published, and is now selling … COMMON SENSE addressed to the INHABITANTS of AMERICA, on the following subjects.”  The advertisement then listed the headings for the several sections in the first edition: “I. Of the origin and design of government in general, with concise Remarks on the English constitution.  II. Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession.  III. Thoughts on the present state of American affairs.  IV. Of the present ability of America, with some miscellaneous reflections.”
Over the next several months, printers in many towns would publish and advertise local editions of Common Sense, making it the most widely disseminated political pamphlet during the era of the American Revolution (though, as Trish Loughran convincingly demonstrates, the number of copies has been wildly exaggerated).  Historians also consider Common Sense the most persuasive pamphlet that advocated for the American cause.  Read more…

Book Review: Lydia’s Tale: The Mystery of Lydia Darragh, Irish Quaker, Patriot Spy
Author: by Robert N. Fanelli (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2025)
Review by Kelsey DeFord 5 Jan 2-26 Journal of the American Revolution
Robert N. Fanelli’s Lydia’s Tale attempts to contextualize the life and legacy of the famed heroine spy Lydia Darragh. Fanelli is a contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution; his articles frequently cover Pennsylvania’s role in the revolutionary war. Therefore, it is of no surprise for his first book to cover a legendary figure of the state. Darragh supposedly overheard plans of a surprise attack on Washington’s forces in Whitemarsh. She crossed American lines and indirectly warned Washington. American forces were fully prepared against the British.
Fanelli takes portions of diary entries from acquaintances Sarah Logan Fisher and Elizabeth Drinker to reconstruct Lydia’s thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. He also extensively analyzes her background as a Quaker through the Society of Friends. These reconstructions help historians look at Lydia as a person rather than a mythical figure. This is one goal of the book; the other goal is to examine how this story transformed into American mythology. Read more…

How did [England] employers recruit their servants in the 18th century?
By Sarah Murden 5 January 2026 in All Things Georgian
In a previous article I looked at those who worked at Kenwood House, which led me on to take a look at how employees were recruited.
Many servants acquired their position via word of mouth and were able to supply a good reference from a previous employer, although of course, at that time there was no legal requirement to provide one, but without such a reference it would have been virtually impossible to find employment. I have also looked at the typical wages of servants in a previous article which can be found here. Many employees only lasted for a couple of years in their position, unlike those we looked at last time who remained at Kenwood House for many, many years.
The classified adverts carried numerous examples of potential employees advertising their skills, often giving a shop address, such as a haberdasher, greengrocer and hairdresser, for potential employers to go to, to find out more about them. Read more…

Loyalist Certificates Issued
The publicly available list of certificates issued since 2012 is now updated to end of November 2025.
When a certificate is added there, it is also recorded in the record for the Loyalist Ancestor in the Loyalist Directory.

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

From Kevin Wisener

  • Matthew Griggs from Monmouth County, New Jersey, served with 1st Battalion of King’s Rangers. Settled at Lot 47, Kings County, PEI. In an 1809 petition to the Legislative Council, the petitioner states that “Served as a private Soldier under the command of Lieut. Col. Robert Rogers, late regiment of Kings Rangers and was regularly discharged 10 October 1783”.
  • John Brachen (Bracken, Brecken) from Johnstown, Tryon County, NY, served with the KRRNY, m Ann Wake, at least oen child, and resettled at Sorel, Quebec; then Charlottetown, PEI  (See article above)

From Lynton “Bill” Stewart, a number of entries

  • George Bremmer  1739 Edinkillie, Moray, Scotland – ? Lanark County, Ontario, from Willsborough, Charlotte County, New York in 1776 enlisted with the 84th Regiment of Foot. With Isobel Green or Grant (1740-1820), married 19 Dec 1761, Edinkillie, Moray, Scotland two children.
  • Jesse Brown  born 18 Aug 1731 New London, New London, Connecticut. From Kingsbury, Albany County, New York, served with the KRRNY, then Kings Loyal Americans. With Hannah Gray Leeds (1736-1789), married 12 Feb 1752, Westerly, Rhode Island had seven children all born before the war.
  • Charles Oliver Bruff  born Easton, Talbot County, Maryland. From New York City, New York. With Mary Leteller, married 19 Oct 1763 in New York City five children. He came from a family of silversmiths and jewelers. He set up his own shop in New York in 1763. He made silver tankards, silver bowls, tableware and various types of jewelry. Just before the war began, he started making swords, which he sold to whomever might desire one. In August 1776, following the Battle of Long Island, he openly supported the British side for the first time. Resettled at Shelburne; then Liverpool, Queens County, NS.
  • Samuel Brownson Sr.  16 July 1721, New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut – May 1809, Hay Bay, Fredericksburgh, Upper Canada. From Kingsbury, Charlotte County, New York, serfved with the Kings Rangers. With Elizabeth ‘Lizzy’ Bradshaw (1722-1813), married ca. 1745 in New Milford, Litchfield, Connecticut four children.
  • Joshua Brundage Sr.  10 August 1736, Rye, Westchester County, New York –     circa 1794 in Tidnish, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.  With Sibeal/Siebal Ann Thompson (1736-1784) ten children.  Served wth Captain Knapp’s Company, Delancey’s 3rd Battalion. Resettled at St. John, NB; then Tidnishm Cumberland County, NS.
  • Jeremiah Brundage 1760 White Plains, New York – 16 Apr 1816, St. John, New Brunswick served with ‘Light Horse’ Regiment with Delancey’s 3rd Brigade and settled at St. John, NB. With Elizabeth Dickinson (1761-1857), married 30 March 1780 at Salem, New York had three children.
  • Pvt. Peter Brunner born ca. 1735 in Palanitate, Germany died bef. 1797, Adolphustown. From Albany Bush, Tyron County, New York served with KRRNY. Resettled at Adolphustown, Greater Napanee, Bay of Quinte. With Geertruy Wolfin had two children but possibly more)
  • Richard Bull  b. 29 May 1743, Hamptonburgh, Orange County, New York, d. 30 November 1785, French Village, Kings County, New Brunswick where he resettled after the wayr. With Jemima Budd (1747-1831), married 1765 in Orange County, New York, had four children.
  • Henry Bulyea  b. 20 April 1720 in Philipse Manor, Westchester County, New York, d. 1802, buried St. Peter’s Anglican Church Cemetery, Woodman’s Point, Kings County, New Brunswick where he rsettled. Married twice – Deborah Carpenter (4 children) and Engeltje Storm(10 children)
  • John Bulyea 9 October 1739, Phillipsburgh, Westchester County, New York, d. 10 Dec 1813 Westfield, New Brunswick, sreved King’s American Regiment (1776-1779) and the Loyal American Regiment (1779-1783).  Married 1762 to Susannah Sniffin (b. 1745, d. 1843), fourteen children.
  • Capt. Abraham Bulyea b. 5 Oct 1757 Phillipsburgh, Westchester County, NY, d. 27 September 1833, Greenwich, Kings County, NB where he had resetled. WithCatherine Tabilet (1765-1819), married 1782 in Westchester County, NY, they had seven children
  • James Albert Bulyea b. 1755 Phillipsburgh, Westchester County, NY d. Greenwich, Kings County, NB wehere he had resettled. In 1780 enlisted with Delancey’s 3rd Brigade. With Jemima Purdy (1765-1828), elevewn chidlren.
  • Joseph Carpenter Bulyea  b. 19 Apr 1746, Phillipsburgh, Westchester County, NY, d. 1845, Gagetown, Qieens County, NB. With Sarah Van Kiffin (1747-1839), married circa 1764 in Tarrytown, Westchester, NY, 13 children.
  • William Burtis b. Westchester Co. NY d. 6 Sep 1835, St. John, St. NB. Served Delancey’s 3rd Battalion. Married twice: #1 Lavinia, d. 22 September 1816; #2 Sarah Bonsall Reid (1777-1845). One child.
  • Matthew Burnet/Burnett b. November 1762, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York d.     21 July 1792, Kingston, Frontenac County, Ont.
  • Thomas Burnet/Burnett b. 3 December 1735, Poughkeepsie, Duttchess County, NY, d. 20 Feb 1813, Kingston, Frontenac County, Ontario. M. Margaret ‘Peggy Gibson (1740-1822), sevwen children. A boatman, he took part in the ‘Battle at Block House in Bergen Wood’ on July 19, 1780
  • John Burnet/Burnett b. 16 February 1763. Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, NY, d 11 August 1836, Kingston, Canada West. M. Elizabeth Van Oder (1765-1835), six children.   He fought in the ‘Battle at Block House in Bergen Wood’ on July 19, 1780
  • Julius Bush b. 1743 Hanover, Germany, settled at     Stone Arabia, Montgomery County, NY. Resettled at Northern District: Sorel, Quebec. With Anna Eva Loucks (1752-1790), married 27 December 1770 at least one child.
  • Benajah Burtis b. 1753, White Plains, Westchester County, NY, d.     September 1802, St John, St. John County, NB.
  • Pvt. Frederick Burksdorf from Albany County, New York served with the New Jersey Volunteers and resettled at Fredericton NB

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

Events Upcoming

American Revolutionary Institute: Money and the Making of the American Revolution Wed 14 Jan 6:30ET

Historian Andrew Edwards discusses a fascinating story of power and economic ideas during America’s founding era. The dispute over taxes was really a dispute over money: what it was, who could make it, and how to keep it from being used at the expense of the colonists in North America. Edwards demonstrates that the money that underpinned European empire had established a stronghold in the new republic. Register

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Food and Related: Townsends

  • This week in History
    • 8 January 1735 –Marlborough Town, MD John Carroll, American archbishop & founder of Georgetown University, is born—America’s first bishop. During #RevWar, Carroll was part of an embassy led by Benjamin Franklin to woo French Canadians to the cause. image
    • 8 January 1735 –Marlborough Town, MD John Carroll, American archbishop & founder of Georgetown University, is born—America’s first bishop. During #RevWar, Carroll was part of an embassy led by Benjamin Franklin to woo French Canadians to the cause. image
    • 6 Jan 1759 George Washington married the widow Martha Dandridge Custis on Twelfth Night. The ceremony of the future first couple is believed to have taken place at her home, known as the “White House. image
    • 7 Jan 1765 Boston, MA During the Stamp Act protests, shopkeeper Harbottle Dorr took the Boston Evening Post &wrote his comments on the news in the margins. He collected more newspapers every week and expressed his opinions on the events. image
    • 4 Jan 1776 Quebec, Canada, British burial detail digs up remains of American Gen Richard Montgomery. Gov Guy Carleton orders him buried with full military honors. image
    • 5 Jan 1776 Portsmouth, NH, New Hampshire delegates vote to become the first independent state & replace the colonial charter with a new state constitution with a president and bicameral legislature.  image
    • 5 Jan 1776, the 1st Continental Navy squadron commanded by Commodore Esek Hopkins was ordered to sea by Congress to seek the British off the coasts of the Carolinas and Rhode Island and in the Chesapeake Bay.  image
    • 6 Jan 1776 New York City Capt. Alexander Hamilton establishes the Provisional Company of Artillery of the Colony of New York. The battery would distinguish itself in battles in NY and NJ, most especially at Trenton & Princeton. image
    • 6 Jan 1776 Boston, MA Gen Sir Henry Clinton sails from Boston to rendezvous off the Cape Fear River with a flotilla under Commodore Peter Parker & Gen Charles Cornwallis. The combined fleets/forces would join the Loyalists in the Carolinas. image
    • 7 Jan 1776 Philadelphia, PA Samuel Adams wrote his friend Col James Warren that the idea of a confederation among the colonies “is not dead, but sleepeth.” “I do not despair of it — since our Enemies themselves are hastening it.” image
    • 8 Jan 1776 Charlestown, MA, Maj Thomas Knowlton’s raid disrupts Gen John Burgoyne’s play The Blockade of Boston. Thinking it’s part of the show & a satire of the rebels, the audience laughs as Knowlton’s men take several prisoners & burn several buildings. image
    • 9 Jan 1776 After a long delay, the Continental Congress promotes Col Benedict Arnold to brigadier general. The delay in promotion would be one of many grievances he held against the American government. image
    • 3 Jan 1777 Gen Washington’s forces leave their positions at Assunpink Creek in a cold night march to Princeton. They encounter a British brigade under Col. Charles Mawhood and drive it off, then seize Princeton.  image
    • 6 Jan 1778 Battle of the Kegs: explosive mines invented by David Bushnell were launched on the Delaware River to take out British ships. There was little damage, but much effort was made to find and disarm them. image
    • 8 Jan 1778, Paris: French foreign minister Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, announces France’s intention to seek a formal military alliance with the United States.  image
    • 9 Jan 1779 Eastern GA falls under British control when Maj Joseph Lane surrenders Ft Morris to Gen Augustin Prevost when Prevost places artillery in position to pummel the American defenses. A handful of casualties on each side. image
    • 8 Jan 1780 Philadelphia, PA Irish-born Captain John Barry sails on an Atlantic cruise in his 32-gun frigate, Alliance, and seizes three merchantmen. image
    • 9 Jan 1780 Morristown, NJ A desperate and frustrated Gen Washington dispatches peas to the bordering states for help for his freezing and starving troops who are in need of food and clothing to get through the harshest winter of the war. image
    • 3 Jan 1781 Pensacola, FL A British expedition of 100 regulars & 500 Indian warriors led by Col Hanxleden sail for Mobile (in today’s AL) for a planned attack on the Spanish defending Ft Charlotte  image
    • 4 Jan 1781 New York City: British commander-in-chief Gen. Henry Clinton learns of the mutiny in the Continental ranks. He dispatches secret agent John Mason to solicit their defection to the British crown. image
    • 4 Jan 1781 American turncoat & British General Benedict Arnold arrived in Virginia with 1,600 men he recruited under his command, heading for the capital at Richmond. image
    • 5 Jan 1781 Richmond, VA American traitor British Brigadier General Arnold and Col John Graves Simcoe’s 1,600 British & Loyalists disperse 200 Virginia militia and take the state capital. Arnold later gave the order to burn the city. image
    • 7 Jan 1781 Mobile, AL The combined force of British troops and the German Waldeck Regt, led by Col Johann von Hanxleden, is repulsed by Lieut Ramon de Castro’s 150-man Spanish garrison. Each side suffers some 38 casualties. image

 

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