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The Black Loyalists of Otnabog: Their Paper Trail . Part Four of Four
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
The documents of the early 19th century provide hints as to the make-up of the Black Loyalists who founded the Otnabog Lake settlement and what some of their surnames may have been. However, they fail to give any clue as to what motivated these men and women to establish the settlement they called Elm Hill between 1806 and 1812.
The research of historian Robin Winks says that Elm Hill arose from an unwanted marshland where the nearby forest provided firewood and the opportunity for work as lumbermen.  Winks describes Posnia Hopewell (her surname appears in the Anglican records) and Joseph McIntyre as being community leaders.  Log homes situated on “quite big lots of land” were built on the shore of the lake.
Most histories of the settlement describe the settlers as being primarily from Virginia, but as the entries from the Book of Negroes demonstrates, there were Black Loyalists from New York, South Carolina, and New Jersey as well.
The historian Sue Rickards notes that Elm Hill was fairly prosperous in the 19th century; its isolation allowed its townsfolk to develop their economy without outside interference.  It became a thriving farm community with shipping connections to the rest of the colony. During the age of river steamboats, ships would stop at Elm Hill as a port of call for both passengers and goods. Unfortunately, documents of this era are yet to be found to shed more light on community life and citizenry of Elm Hill.
The paper trail for this Black Loyalist settlement picks up again in the late 19th century with stories published in New Brunswick’s newspapers.  As is true in our own era, news of minority groups tended to focus on violent or tragic incidents – or something out of the ordinary. Even so, they provide a glimpse into some of the community’s hardships.
The November 8, 1887 edition of the Saint John Globe reported the death of Mrs. Ann Wright who died at the age of 101 (making her birth year 1786, just 3 years after the arrival of the Black Loyalists). Born in Queen’s County’s Grand Lake, she became the mother of a large family before moving to Otnabog in 1875.
The May 26, 1888 edition of the Fredericton Evening Capital reported, “About ten or twelve years ago there lived as a servant at Dan McAvoy’s … one Ann Porter, a widow. Dan McAvoy had a tame bear, which one morning took into its head to maul Ann, injuring her a good deal. Ann sued McAvoy and received a verdict in the neighborhood of $1,000. … Ann began to live a wandering life, travelling through the country.”
“About two years ago she made her home at William Allen’s in Gagetown parish … and remained there as a boarder until Thursday after the Dominion election day in 1887, when she disappeared. It is claimed she started out in a snow storm to walk to Lower Otnabog, a distance of four miles, but she never accomplished her object, for she was never heard of again until Friday evening when her remains were found by William Law in the woods.”
The June 23, 1888 edition of the Daily Telegraph reported, “Diphtheria is now prevailing among the coloured people of Otnabog“. Jacob Eatmond lost five children “and others are lying in a dangerous condition“.  James McIntyre (a prominent surname in the community) “lost a boy which he had taken to bring up“.
Perhaps the saddest story related to 19th century news of Otnabog concerns the death of four children. The July 29, 1896 edition of Woodstock’s Dispatch reported that Ettie and Lizzie McIntyre, William McIntyre, and Bessie Williams had taken berries they picked to a store across the Otnabog River, travelling in a dugout canoe.
“They sold their berries and started to return home with some parcels they had purchased. The Otnabog River is not very wide and is very shallow, but contains many bad holes. … It is presumed that the three girls seated themselves in the dugout and the boy shoved them from the shore, springing in after them.”
“In doing so, he upset the dugout and the four occupants were thrown into the water. Some time after the boat was noticed floating bottom up and a couple of hats near it. An alarm was sounded and a crowd gathered around the boat. The bodies were found in a hole about ten feet deep by Samuel Vanwart and were hauled out with a pole. The river at that place is not more than 50 feet wide.”
The grieving fathers were listed as Benjamin McIntyre, John McIntyre, and Abe Williams.
Over the years, the name of New Brunswick’s largest Black Loyalist settlement went through a number of changes: Otnabog (1854–1893), Upper Otnabog (1876–1911), and Pleasant Villa (1911–1933), before the name reverted back to Elm Hill. Many older community members simply called their village “the Bog”.
In 1901, Elm Hill’s population reached a high of 131 people; in 2016, it had just 25 who were described by Statistics Canada as being involved in small scale farming or government jobs.  Small as it may be, Elm Hill is significant for being the last surviving Black Canadian community in New Brunswick.
As this series of articles has demonstrated, most of the story of Elm Hill and its Black Loyalist founders has failed to be secured in the traditional historical resources such as diaries, petitions, letters, newspaper accounts, and church records. Only as the community’s oral tradition is preserved in print form can its story be told with the depth and detail it deserves.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

The Loyal- List: Celebrating United Nations’ International Women’s Day
By Mike Woodcock UE, Victoria Branch
March 8th marks United Nations’ International Women’s Day for 2026. This year’s theme is “Give to Gain” – a call to help forge gender equality through abundant giving. Therefore, this Loyal-List focuses on UE descendants who have given generously to provide further opportunities and support for women.

Notable United Empire Loyalists Descendents
Elisabeth Robinson Scovil (1849–1934): Canadian born teacher, nurse and prolific author of books on nursing, child care and parenting; trained in Boston, led nursing programs in the U.S., became wealthy through writing and investments and was active in church philanthropy and social reform.
Emma Skinner (Fiske) (1852–1914): Linguist, suffragist and social reformer from Saint John who taught languages, lectured on literature and social issues, actively organized for suffrage and social welfare, and worked with groups like the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Red Cross Society, and Women’s Enfranchisement Association.
Jennie Hutchinson MacMichael (1852–1902): Reformer and suffragist in Saint John who organized the Order of the King’s Daughters and Sons and the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association locally, founded the King’s Daughters’ Guild offering practical training and relief services, ran an employment bureau which included meeting immigrant girls who arrived by train or boat at Saint John.
Elizabeth Smith (Shortt) (1859–1949): One of the first three Canadian women to earn a medical degree. After being expelled from Queen’s due to a male backlash, she finished at a women’s medical college, practiced in Hamilton, lectured in Kingston, and was a long time, influential National Council of Women leader focusing on public health, child welfare, mental hygiene, immigrant women’s support, and mothers’ pensions. Elizabeth’s family were the founders of the E.D. Smith preserves company.
Cecilia McNaughton (Spofford) (1859–1938): Teacher, temperance worker, suffragist and long time Woman’s Christian Temperance Union leader in British Columbia; organized women’s civic work, campaigned for Prohibition and women’s suffrage, held public office as a school trustee, chaired health insurance and mothers’ pension boards, and authored civic guides.
Emily Spencer (Kerby) (1860–1938): Teacher, author, feminist and social activist; married to George William Kerby, she wrote on church matters and women’s rights, served in National Council of Women leadership in Calgary, campaigned for female ordination and legal equality, and remained an outspoken critic of the church establishment.
Elizabeth Roberts (MacDonald) (1864–1922): Canadian writer of poetry, children’s literature, essays and short stories who regularly contributed to North American newspapers and was an active leader in the Canadian women’s suffrage movement.
Wenonah Marlatt (1883–1930): Young Women’s Christian Association general secretary and labour advocate in Victoria; organized programs for young women, headed the female department of the provincial labour bureau, worked on minimum wage issues, and helped place thousands of women in employment.
Mildred Osterhout (Fahrni) (1900–1992): Canadian pacifist, socialist, feminist and peace activist; leader in Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Fellowship of Reconciliation, friend of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., opposed WWII militarism and xenophobic policies like interments of Japanese Canadian and Doukhobor children.
Ellen Louks Cook (Fairclough) (1905–2004): Progressive Conservative politician from Hamilton; first woman to serve in the Canadian Cabinet (1957), later Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Postmaster General, advanced women’s rights (including equal pay) and helped liberalize immigration and refugee policy; served briefly as Acting Prime Minister.
Helen Reynolds Belyea (1913–1986): Canadian geologist noted for pioneering research on the Devonian system in Western Canada; an accomplished outdoorswoman and advocate for women in geology. She became the first woman to work in field studies, proving that women were capable of working in the same field as men.
Pearleen Borden (Oliver) (1917–2008): Black Canadian church leader, anti racism activist, educator and historian; founder of the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, co-leader of Cornwallis Street African Baptist Church, campaigned against racial exclusion in nursing and education, and received an honorary doctorate from Saint Mary’s University.
Clara McCandless (Thomas) (1919–2013): Canadian academic and longtime English professor at York University; an early scholar of Canadian literature especially known for studies of Canadian women writers (e.g., Susanna Moodie, Margaret Laurence).
Bronwen Wallace (1945-1989): Born in Kingston, educated at Queen’s (B.A. 1967, M.A. 1969); founded a women’s bookstore in Windsor, was active in women’s and labour activism, worked at a women’s shelter and taught in Kingston, wrote a weekly column, served as writer in residence in 1988; her work focused on women’s rights, civil rights and violence against women and children.

Invitation to Contribute
Help grow The Loyal-List!  Know other United Empire Loyalists and descendants who should be recognized on International Women’s Day? Please contribute information about Loyalists or their descendants, suggest edits to existing profiles, or provide feedback via email at membership.vic.uelac@gmail.com or on the UELAC homepage.
The Loyal-List is a project of the United Empire Loyalists (UEL) Association of Canada, compiled from reputable sources, including the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Wikipedia, and various published works. Learn more about this inspiring project on the national UELAC website.

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

The 1775 Yarmouth Memorial – 2 March 2026
The 1775 Yarmouth Memorial was a petition from 82 residents of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Governor Francis Legge requesting to remain neutral during the American Revolution.  It was rejected as inconsistent with the duty of loyal subjects of King George III.   Governor Francis Legge served as Governor of Nova Scotia from 1772 – 1776.  Born in England around 1719, he had served as an officer in the British army in America during the Seven Years War and while Governor raised The Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment. Read more…

Irish Heritage & Sir Guy Carleton – 3 March 2026
March is officially called Irish Heritage Month in Canada and it can observed that the Dorchester Proclamation, which gave United Empire Loyalists the postnominal UE,  was named after a man from Ireland, Sir Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester.   Irish Heritage Month was proclaimed on 1 March 2022 by the Government of Canada as an opportunity to remember the impact of the Irish on Canada.  It is estimated between 4 and 6 million Canadians are descendants of the 35 to 40 thousand refugees who settled in what became Canada after the American Revolution ended in the 1780s and who are known as United Empire Loyalists.  For their loyalty to the British Crown, the Governor – in – Chief of British North America, Sir Guy Carleton, indicated on 9 November 1789, in the Dorchester Proclamation, that they should be given a mark of honour, the letters UE, representing Unity of Empire, after their surname. Read more…

250 Years Ago: The American Invasion of Canada for the week around 1 March 1776
The stalemate in Quebec City continued with the British under Sir Guy Carleton safely inside the walls of Quebec City. Benedict Arnold worked to maintain a siege but with difficulty due to illness (smallpox was a major disease), departing soldiers whose term had expired, and supply issues due to the weather and distance.

The British 
The British continued preparations to relieve the siege at Quebec City. On 11 March 1776, the 50-gun ship HMS Isis, under the command of Captain Charles Douglas, departed from Portland, England. The Isis carried the grenadier company of the 29th Regiment of Foot, representing the vanguard of the reinforcements destined for Quebec. This departure was part of a larger plan developed by the British Admiralty (specifically Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser) to send a total of roughly 9,000 men to Canada to break the American siege and launch a counter-offensive.
Meanwhile Carleton was aware that relief was being organized in London and prioritized holding the “virtually impregnable” fortifications of Quebec City until those reinforcements could arrive by river once the ice broke.
It is notable that during this exact week (4–11 March), the British high command in North America was severely distracted by events in Boston:

  • On 4 March, American troops occupied Dorchester Heights, placing the British fleet and army under direct threat of bombardment.
  • On 7 March, General William Howe made the decision to evacuate Boston, a massive logistical undertaking that drew British attention away from other theatres of the war, including Quebec.

The Americans
On 6 March 1776, Major General John Thomas was appointed to command American forces in Canada (Quebec). He was located at Roxbury, Massachusetts. He had just successfully led the fortification of Dorchester Heights, which forced the British to evacuate Boston.
He arrived at the American camp outside Quebec City but not until May 1, 1776, where he took command of the Continental Army from Brigadier General David Wooster. Wooster had been in charge of the American forces in Montreal but had arrived in Quebec City with reinforcements on 2 April to relieve Colonel Benedict Arnold.  

When Some Americans First Lost Their Constitution
by Ray Raphael 3 March 2026 Journal of the American Revolution
Let’s start with what was lost: the 1691 Massachusetts charter, which merged Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth into a single royal colony. The document contains 9,755 words, but here’s the gist of it:

An assembly, with delegates “elected or deputed by the Major parse of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the respective Townes or Places who shall be present at such Election . . . Said Townes and Places being hereby impowered to Elect and Depute Two Persons and no more to serve for and represent them.”
A council: “Eight and Twenty Assistants or Councillors to be advising and assisting to the Governour,” selected “once in every yeare” by “the Generall Court or Assembly newly chosen.”

The people had a hand in choosing two of the three arms of provincial government—one directly, the other by their chosen representatives.
This General Court, convening every year in May, was charged with “ordering and directing the Affaires of Our said Province.” To do so, it exercised a full range of powers: appointing “Civill Officers,” imposing fines and punishments, and levying “proportionable and reasonable Assessments Rates and Taxes.” To enforce its measures…
There was one explicit restriction on acts of the General Court: “For the greater Ease and Encouragement of Our Loveing Subjects Inhabiting our said Province or Territory of the Massachusetts Bay . . . there shall be a liberty of Conscience allowed in the Worshipp of God to all Christians (Except Papists).”…
…The people’s authority, however, was not absolute. The governor “shall have the Negative voice…    Read more…

Reuben Mills: Loyalist
Reuben Mills lived in British Colonial America prior to the American War of Independence. During the war, Reuben fought on the side of the British Loyalists. According to the Nova Scotia Public Archives, Reuben Mills was from Bedford, Westchester County, New York. He joined the Loyal American Regiment under the command of Captain W. Fowler in 1779. Reuben’s status as a United Empire Loyalist is confirmed by the land grants received by himself and his children.
Reuben was evacuated from New York City with the Westchester Refugees, arriving in Nova Scotia in 1783. He was awarded lot #18 in the Ramsheg grant, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia in 1785. However, on October 1st, 1785 Reuben sold his property in Nova Scotia to Titus Knapp and Gideon Palmer of Westmorland (Moncton area). It appears that Reuben believed he would have better prospects if he settled in Monkton (Moncton), Westmorland County was part of the newly created Province of New Brunswick partitioned from Nova Scotia in 1784 partly in response to the influx of Loyalists.
Moncton is located at a bend in the Petitcodiac river. The first European settlers were from France. The British expelled the Acadian French between 1755 and 1757, making way for a new wave of British settlement. The first group of settlers, German immigrants who secured their land grants in Philadephia in the 1760’s, arrive at “the Bend” in 1766. When Reuben arrived in 1785, the area was still sparsely populated.
He married Deborah Lewis and they are known to have had 7 children: David, Mary, Lewis, John, Felix, Peter and Samuel.
Reuben Mills was actively involved in building the local community in the County of Westmorland. In the Minute Books of the General Sessions of the Peace (Westmorland County), Reuben’s name appears several times.
Reuben was awarded a land grant Sept. 7, 1792 in Moncton, Westmorland, New Brunswick. It was 495 acres and is located in the boundaries of the city of Moncton today, including the communities of Lewisville and Harrisville.
Reuben died in 1821 or 1822 based on the probate document concerning his will. It is not known where Reuben is buried. There is a Find a Grave profile for Reuben in the Elmwood cemetery, however the cemetery has no record of his burial.
From the existing records it appears that Reuben was a hard working, entrepreneurial man. He dedicated himself to building a future for his family, and he was among the early settlers who helped build Moncton into the city it has become today.
See more about Reuben Mills UE in The Loyalist Directory and at Wikitree.
Contributed by Jonathan Mills UE, Toronto Branch

The Battle of Burke County Jail, Georgia
by Robert Scott Davis 5 March 2026 Journal of the AMerican Revolution
A British writer wrote in 1781 that it was through individual obscure events that the conduct of the American Revolution was demonstrated across the whole continent. The Battle of the Burke County Jail, fought in Georgia on January 26, 1779, was such an incident. This small but brutal gunfight brought to a head the political divide that Americans everywhere faced, not only through that event but also through the representative men who were there.
Lord George Germain, the British Secretary of the Colonies, directed the war. He had ambitious, impractical goals, such as seizing Spanish territories and winning the Revolution by recruiting an army of Loyal Americans. On March 8, 1778, he directed that the 30,000 British troops in America be further divided for his new campaign plans.
Among these ideas, Germain wanted an expedition to be sent from British-held New York to seize Georgia, which was presumed to be the most loyal and militarily weakest of the thirteen United States in rebellion. He believed this could be the beginning of a campaign that could recover all the lost colonies, at least as far north as Maryland.[2]
Sir James Wright, the colony’s former colonial governor, advocated for recovering Georgia for the Crown. In his letters to Germain, until he escaped from the colony, he admitted, that, despite his successes, the support for the rebellion had defeated all his efforts, going back to the Stamp Act in 1765. Read more…

Book Review: The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding 
Author: Joseph J. Ellis  (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2025)
Review by Timothy Symington 1 March 2026 Journal of the American Revolution
New book by Joseph J. Ellis brings the reader back to the meaning of what he has referred to as “The Cause,” that is, the ideals of freedom and equality in the American Revolution. But instead of providing a feel-good, inspirational story of confidence and American exceptionalism. Ellis points out the glaring failures of The Cause. The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding takes the reader on a historical tour, but “Our tour will focus on the downside of the American founding. While we will notice the triumphs in passing, our tour will focus on two unquestionable horrific tragedies the founders oversaw: the failure to end slavery, and the failure to avoid Indian removal.” (page ix) This failure is very much part of the background setting of the current political climate.
“Part I: Overviews” covers the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade and the mistakes people have made in how they view American history, in particular the American founding. The founding was a time of chance, improvisation and contingency. Read more…

Ben Franklin’s World: Common Sense at 250: The Unfinished Work of Democracy, A Live Conversation
This episode features a live panel discussion in the UK held at Bull House in Lewes, England, where Paine once lived and worked.
the panel reveals:

  • Why democracy’s real challenge is the “day two problem,” sustaining self-governance after the thrill of revolution fades, and how Paine’s own struggle with that question mirrors structural weaknesses in American democracy today
  • How women shaped the world of Common Sense, even though Paine’s language rendered them invisible
  • What Bull House, a 15th-century building that Paine shared with his second wife and mother-in-law, teaches us about where democratic ideas actually take root.

Listen in…

Advertised on 6 Mar.  “Whoever doth him safely secure…“

“Whoever doth him safely secure,
Of a reward they may be sure.”

William Moode wanted to increase the chances that his advertisements about his runaway apprentice attracted attention when he ran it in the March 6, 1776, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette.  Instead of the usual paragraph of dense text he composed more than a dozen rhyming couplets that told the story of the young rascal: “Thomas Stillenger he is called by name, / His indenture further testifies the same.”
As Moode told it, Stillenger had never been an ideal apprentice (“He has always been a vexatious lad, / One reason he is so meanly clad”) but instead a troublemaker who told lies (“Believe him not, if you be wise, / He is very artful in telling lies”)  Read more…

A Massacre at Fort Bull in 1756 Revisited
On March 27, 1756, the quiet snow-covered peace on the Oneida Carry in Rome New York was shattered.
The French and Indian (Seven Years) War had begun to invade the Mohawk Valley, and act as a harbinger of thing to come in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.
On the westerly side of the Oneida Carry (Rome NY) a small fort, garrisoned by 35 men of the British 51st Regiment of Foot (One of the Two American Regiments raised in 1755) was over run and destroyed by a 346 man French-Canadian-Indian Force from Fort La Presentation (Modern Day Ogdensburg New York).  The fort died in a violent explosion.
These events should have been a minor footnote in history.  However, the French struck the fort at a key moment- the Ordinance supplies for the British Army and Naval Forces at Oswego were in transit at this post.  The loss of these critical supplies changed the British war plan from offence to defense, and the raid lead directly to the loss of the Forts at Oswego in August of 1756.   That loss (of Oswego) and the evacuation of the Oneida Carry by General Webb and the British Army, caused the Six Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy’s adore for the British Cause to faulter.
It took almost two years of intense diplomacy by Sir William Johnson to repair the British status with the Six Nations.  This lengthened the French and Indian War by two years.
These events changed the course of history and directly lead to a longer and more costly French and Indian (Seven Years) War, which in turn lead to both the American Revolution and the French Revolution due to the crushing war debts of these wars.
For over 200 years the location of this lost fort has been debated.  Using original maps, aerial photographs, Geographic Information Systems and careful reading of French and British Military Reports, Mr. Joseph Robertaccio show you how he rediscovers this lost fort, and what the remains of the fort looks like today.
This Presentation was held at the Fort Plain Museum located at 389 Canal Street, Fort Plain, NY 13339 on Saturday 7 March 2026.

The Tragic Fate of Sarah Arrowsmith: The Pitchfork Poisoning
By Sarah Murden 2 March 2026 at All Things Georgian
Alford is a small market town in rural Lincolnshire, which, in 1823, had a population of under 2,000. In December of that year, however, it gained national notoriety. Why? Sadly, it was due to a young woman named Sarah Arrowsmith, who died at the hands of her ‘partner’, John Smith. He was charged with poisoning her with arsenic and not only her, but other members of the family were poisoned as well.
To return to the start of the story, Sarah, aged 24, her widowed mother, and several of Sarah’s siblings had moved to Alford from Brinkhill after the death of her father, James, in 1820. Presumably not long after they moved, Sarah met a man named John Smith, formerly employed by a gentleman named Mr Ancient, a farmer at Saleby, Lincolnshire. After a while, Smith promised to marry her. It is unclear whether this was because she was already pregnant or whether she became pregnant shortly after the proposal. Read more…

Metis Matriarchs – Lady Lougheed and Buckskin Mary
By Doris Jeanne MacKinnon December 2017 at Canada’s History
“Miss Bella Hardisty, is passing the winter,” said the 1872 letter to Hudson Bay Company chief factor Richard Hardisty in reference to his niece Isabella. The writer was probably Ross MacFarlane, an HBC employee at Fort Chipewyan who was concerned about the young woman’s future. “It is to be regretted that she was removed so soon from the Canadian Institution where she was being educated – two or three years longer would have turned out a high;y accomplished and charming young lady.”
It’s uncertain why Isabella Hardisty was removed from the school in Ontario, but it is known that the Metis girl wasn’t happy there and that she stood out as different – some of her classmates thought she was the daughter of an Indian chief.
Despite the letter writer’s misgivings, Isabella went on to continue her education and to become a “;lady”….
…Maris Rose Delorme Smith was one of the first homesteaders in the Pincher Creek area of southern Alberta. She worked alongside her husband, former robe and whisky trader Charlie Smith, to establish a successful ranch. Known to many as “Buckskin Mary”, Marie Rose established a cottage industry to help support her family and formed long-standing relationships with community leaders. By the time of her death in 1960 at the age of ninety-eight, she was recognized as an important pioneer.
While one known as Lady Lougheed and the other as Buckskin Mary, the life stories of the two women have many similarities.  Read more…

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

From Jonathan Mills some updates to Reuben Mills  (See Reuben Mills above)

From Lynton “Bill” Stewart, a number of entries

  • Capt. Joseph Cunliffe  b. Born 1747 in Ilkley, Yorkshier, England – d. 24 March 1831 in Woodstock, Carleton County, New Brunswick where, after a time in Fredericton he settled after the war. Before the war he lived in Morristown, Morris County., New Jersey and then served Initially 5th Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers; then the 1st Battalion. Married twice,  1. Grace Dixon (1748-1779), married 23 January 1767 in Weston, Yorkshire, England (one son)2. Phoebe Ayers (1754-1829), married 10 August 1775 in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey. Abandoned when Joseph came to the Americas, then 2. Phoebe Ayers (1754-1829), married 10 August 1775 in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey (nine children between 1777 and 1800).
  • Pvt. John Day  b. 7 March 1755, Bergen County, New Jersey – d. 1799, probably where he had resettled after St. John, NB. Parrtown lot 1135; at Washedemoak Lake, Wickham Parish, Queens County sometime after 30 August 1785. Before the war he lived in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. In 1776 enlisted in 2nd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers. With wife Hannah they had five children.
  • Jacob Day (son of John Day) b. ca. 1773, Hunterdon County, New Jersey – d. 7 Oct 1858, Wickham, Queens County, New Brunswick where he had resettled at Craft’s Cove. Maried twice 1. Margaret Hopper (1773-1813), married 1798 (4 cjhildren).  2. Margaret Colpitts (1784-1871), married 1814 (2 children).
  • Capt. Peter (Pierre) Dulyea  b. 1737 in Sorel, Meuse, France – d. 1837 in Adolphustown, Lennox and Addington, Ontario. From Franklin, Bergen County, New Jersey he enlisted in 1776 in the 4th Battalion New Jersey Volunteers. With Geraldine Baumeister (b. 1740, d. 1784 at Sorel, Quebec), married 1763-64 they had five children. He had come to New France in 1754. He was taken prisoner by the British in 1760, and was taken to New York. He remained in the American Colonies following the Seven Years War, settling in New Jersey.
  • William Drake b. 14 June 1761, Goshen, Orange County, New York – d. 10 June 1842, St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario where he had moved before 1792 from Digby Township, Digby County, Nova Scotia. In 1777 he enlisted in the New Jersey Volunteers. With Margaret Dowdle (b. 15 Sep 1768 in Goshen, Orange, New York, d. 3 Dec 1848 in St. Thomas), married 1788 at Digby they had ten children. Later During the War of 1812, William Drake UEL was the Commander of Captain Drake’s Company, 2nd Regiment Norfolk Militia. His Company fought in that war.

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: Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution Tues 10 March 6:30

Independent historian Eric Jay Dolin explores American privateers during the American Revolution. missing from most maritime histories of the war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation’s character―above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos. Register…

New Brunswick Branch: A New Backyard History Story Thurs 19 March 2:00 AT

The guest speaker Andrew MacLean is the creator of Backyard History a series of books about obscure and forgotten stories from Atlantic Canada’s past, the Backyard History column which appears weekly in 20+ newspapers, the popular Backyard History Podcast and the Backyard History TV Show on Bell Fibe TV. Andrew will be sharing with us a new Loyalist story, based in the Fredericton NB area – we are honoured to be the first to hear it.  Note, the AGM for members will follow the presentation.
To register, contact NB Loyalist Assoc <nbloyalistassoc@gmail.com>

Nova Scotia Genealogy Virtual Conference 2026, 2-3 May

Presented by the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia – Registration is now open for this two day conference. This is one of the most affordable – only $69 Cdn – virtual genealogy conferences with a focus on Nova Scotia genealogy. Register by March 18 you can enter into our Brick Wall Buster Session. More information, list of speakers/topics and registration at www.nsgenconference.ca  Recordings will be available for on-demand viewing up to 60 days afterwards!

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Digby County, NS is named after,
  • Food and Related: Townsends
  • Apparel
    •  French Silk Straw hat, c 1806
    • British Leather Mitts 18th century
    • !8th century European Cotton shawl
    • Armchair  made for Marie-Antoinette’s dressing room at the château de Saint Cloud. The queen’s initials are carved on the top rail. and Daybed  from 1788, French from Paris – Carved, painted and gilded walnut; modern cotton twill embroidered in silk.
  • This week in History
    • 6 March 1745 (or possibly March 4), in Warsaw, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Kazimierz Pułaski—known as “The Father of the American Cavalry”—was born. After fighting against Russian influence during the failed Confederation of Bar uprising, he fled to France. There, in spring 1777, he met Benjamin Franklin, who recommended that he serve in the Continental Army. Pułaski arrived in America that summer (July 23, 1777), joining the Revolutionary War effort. image
    • 5 Mar 1770, in Boston, Massachusetts. Violence erupts on the slick cobblestones on a snowy night, with tensions thicker than a nor’easter fog. A rowdy crowd of colonists gathers, eager for a scrap with the Redcoats. Those Lobsterbacks—how some referred to the British regulars—had been stomping around town, enforcing the King’s laws, and locals were getting fed up. A sentry, Private Hugh White, found himself cornered by a group of jeering Sons of Liberty outside the Custom House. Soon, sticks, snowballs, and insults flew like musket balls. Captain Thomas Preston showed up with a squad of reinforcements. Rather than calming the situation, this display of force only fueled the crowd. Read more…
    • 6 March 1770, Boston. The day after the Boston Massacre, an emergency town meeting convened at Faneuil Hall (overflowing into the Old South Meeting House) and was attended by thousands—contemporary accounts estimate 3,000–5,000 citizens.  Under intense pressure (including veiled threats of violence), Hutchinson consulted his council and Col. William Dalrymple; he agreed to relocate both regiments to Castle William on Castle Island.  Read more…
    • 5 March 1772, Boston. Dr. Joseph Warren delivered the second annual Boston Massacre oration at Boston’s Old South Meeting House, marking the second anniversary of the 1770 killings by British soldiers. In a stirring, hour-long address, he passionately condemned standing armies in peacetime as tools of oppression, denounced British tyranny, warned of encroaching threats to colonial liberties, and invoked Enlightenment principles of natural rights and republican virtue to rally patriotic sentiment against imperial overreach. image
    • 7 March 1774, London.  King George III sent a message to Parliament (read by Prime Minister Lord North in the House of Commons) charging that recent events in Boston—particularly the December 1773 Boston Tea Party—constituted unwarrantable practices and violent proceedings aimed at obstructing and injuring British commerce while subverting the constitution. Read more…
    • 1 March 1, 1776, in Philadelphia. The Second Continental Congress resolved to reorganize the military departments in anticipation of British threats to the southern colonies. It ordered Major General Charles Lee to relinquish any prior northern or Canadian assignment, yield command of northern forces to Major General Philip Schuyler (who continued to lead the Northern Department), and assume command of the newly formalized Southern Department   Read more…
    • 1 March 1776. Commodore Esek Hopkins’s Continental Navy squadron—comprising the flagship Alfred, Columbus, Andrew Doria, Cabot, Providence, and others—gathered off Great Abaco Island (at Hole-in-the-Wall) in the Bahamas after departing Cape Henlopen on February 17. Read more…
    • 2 March 1776. Cambridge, Massachusetts. General George Washington ordered Continental artillery (including pieces from Fort Ticonderoga) to bombard British positions in occupied Boston from points such as Lechmere’s Point and Cobble Hill. This cannonade, repeated on March 3, diverted attention and harassed the enemy while preparations advanced to secretly occupy and fortify Dorchester Heights south of the city.  Read more…
    • 3 March 1776, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Silas Deane, a Connecticut merchant and former delegate, sailed secretly for France, disguised as a merchant. The Committee of Secret Correspondence (including Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, and John Jay) instructed him to pose as a trader, Read more…
    • 4 March 1776, in Boston, Massachusetts. Brigadier General John Thomas led approximately 2,000–3,000 Continental troops and workers in a stealthy nighttime operation to occupy and fortify Dorchester Heights. Under the cover of darkness and diversionary cannon fire from other positions, they dug entrenchments and positioned heavy artillery from Fort Ticonderoga. By dawn on March 5, American forces— including infantry, riflemen, and cannons—commanded the heights, threatening Boston and its harbor, rendering the British position untenable. image
    • 5 March 1776, Gen. William Howe looked up at Dorchester Heights and saw that the Continentals had built forts on the two hills overnight. He told London the operation “must have been the employment of at least twelve thousand men.”
    • 6 March 1776, A committee of the New York Provincial Congress ordered Major William Malcolm to dismantle the Sandy Hook Lighthouse (at the entrance to New York Harbor) to prevent it from aiding British naval navigation into New York City amid fears of invasion. Read more…
    • 3 March 1777, in London. Lord George Germain (Secretary of State for the Colonies) approved General John Burgoyne’s plan to invade from Canada down the Hudson Valley to Albany. On the same day, he also approved General Sir William Howe’s revised plan to capture Philadelphia (though with fewer reinforcements than Howe requested, limiting support options). This ambiguous “split decision”…  Read more…
    • 2 March 1778, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The Continental Congress—acting on urgent recommendations from its five-man committee which had visited Valley Forge in January–February to assess the army’s dire supply shortages, hardships, and logistical failures—appointed Major General Nathanael Greene as Quartermaster General of the Continental Army. Read more…
    • 7 March 1778.  Off Barbados, West Indies. The 32-gun Continental frigate USS Randolph, under Captain Nicholas Biddle, exploded in a nighttime battle with the 64-gun HMS Yarmouth, commanded by Captain Nicholas Vincent. A powder magazine detonation killed Biddle and 311 of her ~315 crew; only four survived, rescued later. It remained America’s deadliest naval loss until the USS Arizona in 1941. image
    • 28 February 1780 (O.S.; March 11 N.S.). St. Petersburg. Empress Catherine II of Russia issued her Declaration of Armed Neutrality, proclaiming principles to protect neutral shipping from British searches for contraband during the American Revolutionary War. This initiated the First League of Armed Neutrality.  Read more…
    • 1 March 1780, Philadelphia. “An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery.” The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed this pioneering legislation, the first abolition law enacted by any American state or democratic body. It banned importing enslaved people, required the registration of existing enslaved individuals (failure to register freed them), and declared that no child born in Pennsylvania after the act’s passage would be a slave for life. Instead, children of enslaved mothers became indentured servants until age 28, then were freed—initiating gradual emancipation without immediately freeing anyone already enslaved.  Image…
    • 3 March 1780, in Charleston, South Carolina, Brigadier General James Hogun’s North Carolina Continental Brigade (approximately 700–800 men from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and other NC regiments) arrived after a grueling winter march to reinforce Major General Benjamin Lincoln’s besieged garrison. Read more…
    • 5 March 1780 (or thereabout) Charleston, South Carolina. British forces under Gen. Henry Clinton approached the city (then Charlestown). As the city prepared defenses against the impending siege (March 29–May 12, 1780), Governor John Rutledge — exercising emergency powers — directed the use of approximately 600 enslaved African Americans to dig trenches, build earthworks, and strengthen fortifications. Read more…
    • 28 February 1781.  Fort Watson, South Carolina (built on an ancient Indian mound overlooking the Santee River). Brigadier General Thomas Sumter launched a hasty frontal assault with about 200 partisans against a reinforced British garrison of roughly 400 men. Lacking reconnaissance, the attack was repulsed. Read more…
    • 1 March 1781, Annapolis. Maryland’s ratification (the last of the 13 states) made the Articles of Confederation effective as the United States’ first constitution, adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777. This “firm league of friendship” created a weak central government: Congress held sole authority over war, peace, foreign relations, treaties, and interstate disputes, but lacked the power to tax (relying on state requisitions) or to regulate interstate commerce. It remained in effect until it was superseded by the U.S. Constitution on March 4, 1789.  Image…
    • 2 March 1781. Clapp’s Mill, Alamance County, North Carolina. Patriot forces under Lt. Col. Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee—his Legion cavalry, local militia, and Catawba Indian allies—launched a well-planned surprise ambush on Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton’s British Loyalist mounted cavalry, which was foraging or advancing near Clapp’s Mill. The initial American volley caused confusion, but Tarleton quickly rallied, deployed his troops under cover, and returned heavy fire; the Patriot second line panicked and retreated. Tarleton did not pursue. Read more…
    • 6 March 1781. Newport, Rhode Island. General George Washington’s arrival is greeted by artillery salutes and French troops lining the path to confer with General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, and senior French officers, including Admiral Destouches. The discussions focused on strategy for the 1781 campaign. Read more…
    • 4 March 1782, Beaufort, South Carolina. Loyalist Major Andrew Deveaux, operating from British-held Charleston, led a small naval force—two galleys and one sloop—carrying Loyalist militia in a daring raid. They seized the lightly defended town on Port Royal Island, occupying it for about three weeks (some sources say two weeks) before Patriot militia under Brigadier General John Barnwell forced their withdrawal through harassment and sniping. This late-war action exemplified ongoing guerrilla-style operations in the region amid stalled major campaigns after Yorktown, as British forces sought supplies and disrupted Patriot control in the Lowcountry. Deveaux, a native of Beaufort, later gained fame for recapturing the Bahamas in 1783. image
    • 4 March 1782. The Bronx. Lieutenant Colonel William Hull of the Continental Army led a successful raid on Morrisania (now part of the Bronx, New York), capturing more than 50 Loyalist prisoners—likely from De Lancey’s Refugee corps—while American forces suffered 25 casualties (killed, wounded, and missing). This daring strike penetrated deep into British-held territory. Read more…

 

Published by the UELAC
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