Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2005 Archive

In this issue:
- St. Andrews West and St. Lawrence Branch Meeting
- "Lessons in Loyalty" by Ron Cooksey now available
- A Rich Resource for Quebec Educators
- Queries
      + Response re John Freeman
      + Responses re Edward Struthers

St. Andrews West and St. Lawrence Branch Meeting

All Loyalists and friends are invited to attend the St. Lawrence Branch fall meeting which will take place Sunday, October 23, 2005 at St. Andrews West, Ontario. This village is located on Highway 138 a few miles north of Cornwall, Ontario. The Church Service at 10.30 am at The Catholic Church south west corner of St. Andrews, junction of County Road 18 & 138, opposite the cemetery. It will be followed by a potluck luncheon at 12:00 p.m. and the meeting at 1:00 p.m. Father Cameron will speak on the history of this historic church.

While there you are welcome to explore the historic Village of St. Andrews West which was founded by Scottish Loyalists. The old pioneers' cemetery contains the graves of John Sandfield MacDonald, the first Premier of Ontario and Simon Fraser, the discoverer of the Fraser River and the son of Loyalist Simon Fraser. Loyalist Captain Miles Macdonell, the son of Loyalist John Scotus Macdonell (Spanish John) also rests there. Captain Miles Macdonell served as Governor of the Red River Colony under Lord Selkirk. His father Spanish John served under Bonnie Prince Charles at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 in Scotland.

Lynne Cook: "I can remember going there more than once, and the late Edwin MacDonald would stand up and rhyme names and dates of the pioneers at that cemetery."

The first St. Andrews Church was built in the pioneers' cemetery. Later a church with three feet thick stone walls was constructed around 1801. During the War of 1812-14 the church was used as a hospital. Now it is used as a parish hall. It is the oldest stone structure in Ontario which was originally erected as a church . . . The present gothic stone church was begun in 1857. Today a replica of the original log church stands in the pioneers' cemetery

QUINN'S INN was built as a hotel, tavern and stagecoach stop on Dundas Street (the King's Highway) between Kingston and Montreal in 1865 by John Sandfield MacDonald. Its basement was used to serve the parishioners of St. Andrew's Church lunches after weddings and funerals, Six hundred to seven hundred Scottish lassies and laddies once packed the inn to dance Scottish reels on St Andrew's Day in 1865.

...George Anderson and Lynne Cook, St. Lawrence Branch

"Lessons in Loyalty" by Ron Cooksey now available

The title is Lessons of Loyalty: The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel's Mission to the Americans. When I began at the University of Toronto I was concerned with the Loyalists. I had never heard about them till my third year at university . The "lecturer" I prefer "teacher" gave a two or three minute spot on those who dared oppose the Revolutionaries. I was amazed. I had been taught that the Americans said "let there be democracy." That was 1962. When I went to Colorado State University in 1968 my advisor asked "What do you want to do with your thesis?" Instinctively, I said "The Loyalists." Well, they got me started. I was fortunate enough to get a teaching fellowship at the University of Toronto. I was privileged to be under the care of William H. Nelson whose book "The American Tory" brought the Loyalists back into history in 1960. They had been buried since the Revolution. There have been some histories written about them, but they got buried, too. I got started, and after a few drafts of my thesis, he said "you have to realize that you are not writing about the Loyalists, you are writing about the Americanization of the Anglican Church in America." So the title of the thesis (1977) is "The Americanization of the Church of England in the Northern Colonies in the 18th Century." It had to be, but I finally came alive in chapters 5 and 6. It's still the Loyalists. Since William H. Nelson published his work, a lot has been written about the Loyalists, it was part of revisionist American history; Afro-Americans, Labour, the underside of the American history when The Bay of Pigs, Cuba Missile Crisis, Vietnam, the American dream of democratizing the world was falling apart. And then they found part of their past: guess who. But I am grateful to the John Stuarts of that time, and you are the better for it.

...Ron Cooksey

The book is now available on Amazon.com: click here to read reviews or purchase it. It is not yet available from Amazon.ca.

Lessons of Loyalty is 340 pages; the publisher is Arima Publishing (July 31, 2005), the IBSN 1845490118. The price (from Amazon.com) is $23.50 US plus shipping. The cover art is a portrait of Rev. John Stuart with St. George's Cathedral in Kingston in the background.

...Doug

A Rich Resource for Quebec Educators

A visit to qesnrecit.qc.ca/.../loyalists/ can be a most worthwhile activity. The Loyalists is the result of the partnership between UELAC and the Task Force on History and Geography in Quebec. Placed on the Quebec English Schools Network, this document will ensure good coverage of the Loyalist heritage in the schools. If you check out the Short Biographies of the Loyalist Era found on the Background Information page, you will see why the third selection is important to the Little Forks Branch. Your Education Committee greatly appreciates the ongoing support from Christine Truesdale, Coordination and Development, QESN-RÉCIT, a division of LEARN Quebec.

...Fred H. Hayward, Chairman Education/Outreach UELAC

Response to query about John Freeman

Thanks for including the response from Lewis Kreger referencing my quest for information about John Freeman of the Battle at Freeman's Farm. I have accessed the Missisquoi Historical Society's website and am ordering a copy of the book Mr. Kreger referred to. I had been aware of the name Lewis Mosher, but my information was he was a son-in-law, not a brother-in-law. I have since found out that there were (at least) two Lewis Moshers, father and son, and the younger was married to John Freeman's daughter Mary. You don't need to include this in the newsletter, but it's up to you .

...Jack Freeman

Responses re Edward Struthers

I would like to donate a copy of the book: From the Richelieu Seignories to the Eastern Townships, an autobiography written by Edward J. Struthers, to the UELAC Dominion Library. I will use the address of the Dominion Office from the Gazette and I will mail it today.

Ed Struthers (1894-1974) was proud of his Loyalist heritage. He wrote articles and gave presentations on the history of the Loyalists. Being a newcomer to all this myself, I do not know anything of his active participation with the UELAC. I assume he was a documented member, but I do not know which Branch Chapter. I wonder if he is known in the Dominion archives? Might he have ever held an elected office in either a Branch or at the Dominion level?

Funeral services were held from Centenary United Church on Tuesday for Edward James Struthers, prominent citizen of this commu­nity and Mayor of Stanstead for 20 years.

Mr. Struthers, born at Noyan, Que., on October 3. 1893, was of United Empire Loyalist stock, his family having come to Quebec in the 1770's with the British Royal Engineers.

...Lewis Kreger

I knew Ed. Struthers as he lived in Stanstead. He was a fine gentleman and quite an historian. I am quite sure that he was a member of the Sir John Johnson Branch as Little Forks did not begin until 1980.

...Bev Loomis, President, Little Forks Branch

Mr. Edward J. Struthers of 12 Dufferin Road, Stanstead Quebec is listed as a charter member of the Sir John Johnson branch. His ancestor was listed as Josephus Vaughan, 1783 on page 187 of The Loyalists of the Eastern Townships of Quebec. He does not appear on the January 1984 membership list on page 188. Likewise, he is not listed as a President for the period 1967-1983.

...Fred H. Hayward

I have a number of articles about Edward Struthers of Stanstead, Quebec. He was the guest speaker at Cowansville, Quebec on June 8, 1968 when Sir John Johnson Centennial Branch received its Charter. On page 16 in the article in The Loyalists of the Eastern Townships, it states, "... Mr. Spencer was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Dominio0n Council."

I'll send a couple of attachments of articles about him, one about his death, in a separate Email.

Pages 9 to 13 of the spring 1968 issue of the Loyalist Gazette includes excerpts from E.J. Struthers speech at the official opening of Sir John Johnson Branch in 1968.

...Adelaide Langtree, President, Sir John Johnson Branch

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